September 1942

Sep

11

1942

Escorting a ‘resettlement train’ to Belzec

Jews are forced into boxcars destined for the Belzec extermination camp. Lublin, Poland, 1942.

The ever-increasing panic among the jews, caused by the intense heat, the overcrowding in the wagons, the stink of the dead bodies – when the wagons were unloaded there were about 2,000 dead in the train – made the transport almost impossible.

Sep

10

1942

Bomber Command target Dusseldorf

Vertical aerial photograph taken over the centre of Dusseldorf at 11 pm on 10 September 1942, at the height of the major night raid by 479 aircraft of Bomber Command. Most of the area photographed is covered with widespread incendiary fires, from which flame and smoke are rising to obscure the target.

Among them were six factories making steel products or machinery, two factories making steel tubes, one making machine tools and magnetic mines, two chemical works and many other factories producing a variety of commodities such as enamel, paper, boilers, wire, insulating materials, railway wagons and harvesting machinery.

Sep

9

1942

Montgomery prepares for the big assault

Men of the 51st Highland Division (known as "The Ladies from Hell") charging with fixed bayonets during a training exercise in the desert, 23 September 1942. Scottish regiments had stopped wearing kilts in action after the campaign in France in 1940, however their First world War nickname stuck.

I had told Alexander privately that, in view of my promise to the soldiers, I refused to attack before October; if a September attack was ordered by Whitehall, they would have to get someone else to do it. My stock was rather high after Alam Halfa! We heard no more about a September attack.

Sep

8

1942

Holding out on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal

Wreckage of a SBD scout-bomber, still burning after it was destroyed by a Japanese air attack on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 1942.

The formations would join later in the air. The P-400′s and dive-bombers would fly away to work over the Jap territory. The Grummans would climb for altitude, test-firing their guns on the way. The whining of engines at high r.p.m., the chatter of machine guns, and settling dust.

Sep

7

1942

Hitler falls out with his High Command

German Gebirgsjäger operating a 2 cm anti-aircraft gun in the Central Caucasus near Teberda, September 1942.

F. got more worked up minute by minute, sensing the failure of the offensive, had harsh words for supply service, deficiency of initiative on the part of the higher field commanders, placed all blame on OKH, Chief of the General Staff and Jodl.

Sep

6

1942

HMS Saracen arrives in Malta

The First Lieutenant, Lieutenant R Bulkeley at the forward periscope of HMS TRIBUNE. Helmsman at the wheel, messenger on the telephone and a rating.

We also had a surprise packet to deliver to Malta, nothing less than a “human torpedo,” similar to an ordinary torpedo but with a detachable warhead and adapted to take two men sitting astride in diving-suits; some of these weapons were at this time being assembled in Malta with the object of attacking the Italian naval bases.

Sep

5

1942

Japanese defeated at Milne Bay

Milne Bay: Australian Troops plough through mud at Milne Bay shortly after the unsuccessful Japanese invasion attempt. (AWM 013335)

He returned to his section for more grenades and again advanced and silenced the second post. Armed with a Thomson submachine-gun, he then attacked the third post, firing from the hip as he went forward. He was seen to be badly hit by the fire from this post, but he continued to advance.

Sep

4

1942

Nazis order that children be ‘deported’

More children leaving the Lodz ghetto for the death camp at Chelmno. Co-operation by the Jews made the Nazi mass murder easier to achieve - whether there was any alternative remains controversial.

Well, we – that is, I and my closest associates – thought first not about “How many will perish?” but “How many is it possible to save?” And we reached the conclusion that, however hard it would be for us, we should take the implementation of this order into our own hands.

Sep

3

1942

Coastal Command strike again

On board a Whitley VII of No 502 Squadron during an anti-submarine patrol, August 1942. In the cramped cockpit the skipper consults with his navigator while the second pilot flies the aircraft.

On board a Whitley VII of No 502 Squadron during an anti-submarine patrol, August 1942. In the cramped cockpit the skipper consults with his navigator while the second pilot flies the aircraft.

Sep

2

1942

Japanese threaten British POWs in Singapore

On 30 August 1942, the Japanese ordered the 20,100 prisoners of war in Changi Jail, Singapore, to sign an undertaking not to escape. The POWs refused and they were crowded into Selerang Barracks (which had accommodation for 120) until they signed under duress on 4 September. The photograph shows the crowded Barrack Square during what became known as the 'Selerang Incident'.

Outside of the crammed barracks in the parade ground there was very little cover for the men and we baked in the sun. Our officers warned us that we would face a court martial if we signed and that the japanese were breaching the Geneva Convention that allows prisoners the right to attempt to escape without facing punishment. The japanese could not have cared less about the Geneva Convention and had no intention of observing it.

← Earlier in the war

Later in the war →