September 1943

September

• 01

  • The mobilisation of British manpowerAccording to the Ministry of Labour, 22.75 million Britons were in the forces, civil defence or war work. The country had reached the limit of its manpower.
• 03

  • The Armistice of CassibileOn 3 September 1943 Castellano and Bedell Smith signed a secret “short armistice” in Sicily. Italy surrendered, but this was announced only on 8 September.
  • Operation BaytownOn 3 September 1943 the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps crossed the Strait of Messina to Calabria. The Allies were back on the mainland almost unopposed.
  • The evacuation of BerlinAfter Hamburg, Goebbels urged Berliners without work in the city to leave. After raids around the turn of August and September the evacuation was accelerated.
• 04

  • Bulgaria after the death of Tsar Boris IIIIn September 1943 Bulgaria buried Tsar Boris III, and a regency council took power for six-year-old Simeon II. There was not yet any war with the USSR.
  • The landing at Lae and the drop on NadzabOn 4 September 1943 the Australian 9th Division landed east of Lae, and on 5 September American paratroopers seized Nadzab. Lae fell on 16 September.
• 08

  • Key eventThe Italian surrender announcedOn 8 September 1943 Eisenhower announced Italy's surrender on the radio, and Badoglio had to confirm it. At noon B-17s bombed Kesselring's HQ at Frascati.
  • Operation AchseOn the evening of 8 September 1943, minutes after Italy's surrender was announced, Germany launched Operation Achse and disarmed the Italian army within days.
• 09

  • Key eventThe landing at SalernoOn 9 September 1943 Mark Clark's American-British Fifth Army landed in the Gulf of Salerno. Despite Italy's surrender, the Germans were waiting on the beaches.
  • Iran declares war on GermanyOn 9 September 1943 Iran, occupied for two years by the British and Soviets, declared war on Germany, opening its way into the ranks of the United Nations.
• 10

  • The Germans occupy RomeOn 10 September 1943, after two days of fighting by Italian troops and civilians left by their commanders, Rome capitulated to the Germans. Occupation began.
  • The surrender of the Italian fleetOn 9–11 September 1943 the Italian fleet obeyed the armistice and sailed for Malta. En route German guided bombs sank the battleship Roma and Admiral Bergamini.
• 11

  • The British at Taranto and BariOn 9 September 1943 the British 1st Airborne Division landed from warships at Taranto; on 11 September the British entered Brindisi and Bari on the Adriatic.
• 12

  • The rescue of MussoliniOn 12 September 1943 German paratroopers freed Mussolini from a hotel on the Gran Sasso. Skorzeny took the glory; Hitler made Mussolini head of the Salò state.
• 14

  • The Viannos massacresOn 14 September 1943 the Germans began a punitive operation around Viannos in Crete. In three days they killed over 460 civilians and burned about 20 villages.
• 15

  • Chiang Kai-shek demands Stilwell's recallOn 15 September 1943 T. V. Soong put to Roosevelt a plan to remove General Stilwell. The crisis around the American in China lasted until 17 October.
• 16

  • The Dodecanese campaign beginsAfter Italy's surrender the British lost the race for Rhodes, but in mid-September 1943 they occupied Kos, Leros and Samos. The Dodecanese campaign had begun.
  • The crisis at SalernoOn 13 and 14 September 1943 a German counter-attack nearly split the Salerno beachhead. On 16 September Eighth Army patrols met the Fifth Army.
• 19

  • The Germans leave Sardinia and CorsicaBy 19 September 1943 the Germans had withdrawn from Sardinia to Corsica, where Italians, partisans and Giraud's troops attacked them. They left on 4 October.
• 21

  • The end of the fighting on New GeorgiaOn the night of 20–21 September 1943 the Japanese abandoned Arundel Island. The fighting for the New Georgia group was ending, but not the Solomons campaign.
  • Key eventThe massacre of the Acqui Division on KefaloniaOn 21 September 1943 the Germans on Kefalonia began shooting surrendering men of the Italian Acqui Division. Thousands died, General Antonio Gandin among them.
• 22

  • The landing at FinschhafenOn 22 September 1943 the Australian 20th Brigade landed near Finschhafen on the Huon Peninsula. The town fell on 2 October, but fighting went on until December.
  • Operation SourceOn 22 September 1943 British midget submarines laid charges under the Tirpitz in Kåfjord. The battleship was put out of action for half a year.
• 25

  • Key eventThe liberation of SmolenskOn 25 September 1943 the Western Front drove the Germans from ruined Smolensk. Nearby Katyn also fell to the Soviets, and the NKVD began covering its tracks.
• 26

  • German air raids on LerosOn 26 September 1943 the Luftwaffe opened its air offensive against Leros. The destroyers Vasilissa Olga and HMS Intrepid were sunk in Lakki harbour.
• 27

  • The Germans take CorfuAfter two weeks of resistance the Italian garrison on Corfu gave in. On 27 September 1943 the Germans shot its commander, Colonel Lusignani, and many officers.
  • The execution of Mao ZeminLate on 27 September 1943 in Ürümqi, on Sheng Shicai's orders, Mao Zemin, Mao Zedong's brother, and the communists Chen Tanqiu and Lin Jilu were killed.
• 28

  • The Four Days of NaplesOn 28 September 1943 the people of Naples took up arms against the Germans. After four days of fighting the occupiers left, and on 1 October the Allies entered.
• 30

  • Key eventThe rescue of the Danish JewsIn late September 1943 Danes began hiding Jews from a round-up and ferrying them by boat to Sweden. More than 7,000 were saved; about 470 were deported.