From D-Day to V-Day
September 1944
September 30, 1944 - D-Day + 116
It was September 30, 1944, the last day of the month in which Monty attempted to take advantage of the bridges in the northeast of the Netherlands to enter German territory.
more informationSeptember 29, 1944 - D-Day + 115
The First Canadian Army’s II Canadian Corps arranged for a ceasefire in the battle for Calais which allowed the civilian population to leave the city.
more informationSeptember 28, 1944 - D-Day + 114
In the operational zone of the British Second Army, the Germans carried out a strong counterattack against the troops defending the highway bridge in Nijmegen, but did not achieve much success.
more informationSeptember 27, 1944 - D-Day + 113
The 90th Infantry Division’s 359th Infantry Regiment from the US XX Corps under Patton’s Third Army halted the attack on the highway between Gravelotte and the hamlet of St Hubert, while the division’s 358th Infantry Regiment moved to the right of the 359th Regiment and took over the sector of the 3rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized).
more informationSeptember 26, 1944 - D-Day + 112
Daylight halted the retreat of the British I Airborne Corps’ 1st Airborne Division out of the Arnhem area in the Netherlands. About 300 paratroopers remained on the northern bank of the Lower Rhine and only a few were later able to escape to the south.
more informationSeptember 25, 1944 - D-Day + 111
After priming by artillery fire, the II Canadian Corps’ 3rd Canadian Division started to advance out of Boulogne towards Calais. The Polish 1st Artillery Division, which had fought hard against the enemy and had suffered heavy losses, was moved from the eastern flank of the II Canadian Corps to the British I Corps.
more informationSeptember 24, 1944 - D-Day + 110
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division from the First Canadian Army’s British I Corps crossed the Antwerp – Turnhout Canal south of St Leonard and built a bridgehead there, while part of the British 49th Infantry Division advanced to Turnhout.
more informationSeptember 23, 1944 - D-Day + 109
In order to maintain the bridgehead in Oosterbeek near Arnhem, the British XXX Corps provided artillery support to units of the British 1st Airborne Division. In the night from September 23-24, about 250 Polish paratroopers crossed the river with supplies for the British 1st Airborne Division, but the situation in Oosterbeek had become intolerable for the British paratroopers.
more informationSeptember 22, 1944 - D-Day + 108
The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division from the First Canadian Army’s II Canadian Corps accepted the capitulation of the German garrison in Boulogne, France. In the course of the day, the 4th Canadian Armored Division mopped up the northern section of the Leopold Canal and advanced to the mouth of the Schelde River.
more informationSeptember 21, 1944 - D-Day + 108
On September 21, 1944, the weather finally cleared in the Netherlands, making it possible to drop 750 paratroopers from the 1st Polish Independent Airborne Brigade in the Driel zone south of the port of Heveadorp. After landing, the men under Major General S. F. Sosabowski, the commander of the Polish 1st Independent Airborne Brigade, were to reinforce Allied units who were far outnumbered by the German in the Arnhem region.
more informationSeptember 20, 1944 - D-Day + 106
In the course of the day, the Polish 1st Armored Division from the First Canadian Army’s II Canadian Corps conquered Hulst and Axel. In the meantime, the men from the British 1st Airborne Division found themselves in a critical situation in Arnhem, the Netherlands.
more informationSeptember 19, 1944 - D-Day + 105
The 4th Canadian Armored Division under the First Canadian Army’s II Canadian Corps, operating on the corps’ western flank, mopped up the area west of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal and south of the Leopold Canal.
more informationSeptember 18, 1944 - D-Day + 104
In accordance with the plans for Operation Market Garden, the British 1st Airborne Division under the First Allied Airborne Army dropped the second detachment of units and materiel in the Netherlands. In the Arnhem area, allied forces were delayed and the Germans carried out forceful counterattacks.
more informationSeptember 17, 1944 - D-Day + 103
With strong aerial and artillery support, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division from the First Canadian Army’s II Corps launched the battle for Boulogne, a city that till now had been occupied by the strongly fortified enemy.
more informationSeptember 16, 1944 - D-Day + 102
Adolf Hitler submitted his own plan for the German counteroffensive in Arden to his commanders. Three months later, this fiction would become a fact that would cost thousands of lives on both sides of the front. Arden would drain the remaining reserves from the German forces in the West, and give the Anglo-American forces a clear signal that the war had not yet been won.
more informationSeptember 15, 1944 - D-Day + 101
The First Canadian Army’s 4th Canadian Armored Division crossed the Canal de Derivation and built a bridgehead near Balderhock.
more informationSeptember 14, 1944 - D-Day + 100
During the day, General Montgomery issued an order to launch the next phase of the offensive planned for September 17, 1944. According to the combat order, the British Second Army was to secure crossings over the Rhine and Meuse rivers and prepare for the main advance on the Ruhr River.
more informationSeptember 13, 1944 - D-Day + 99
General Eisenhower issued an order to occupy two locations of foremost importance. The Ruhr River and the harbor in Antwerp or Rotterdam, these were to be the priority targets of the Allied forces.
more informationSeptember 12, 1944 - D-Day + 98
The German garrison in Le Havre surrendered to units of the First Canadian Army’s British I Corps. As the German commanders understood that continuing the battle for the harbor would be pointless, over 12,000 German soldiers fell into the hands of the Allies here that day.
more informationSeptember 11, 1944 - D-Day + 97
Advancing toward Le Havre, the British I Corps from the First Canadian Army occupied the hills above the harbor. In the meantime, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division from the II Canadian Corps reached Zeebrugge.
more informationSeptember 10, 1944 - D-Day + 96
After very heavy aerial bombing that dropped 5,000 tons of bombs and naval shelling of the enemy’s defenses, the main attack on the French port of La Havre was launched. It was 1745 hours when units of the British I Corps’ 49th and 51st Infantry Divisions broke through enemy positions.
more informationSeptember 9, 1944 - D-Day + 95
Reconnaissance patrols from the II Canadian Corps that were sent out along the coast entered Ostend and Nieuport, while the 4th Canadian Armored Division crossed the Ghent – Bruges Canal southeast of Brug despite strong enemy resistance.
more informationSeptember 8, 1944 - D-Day + 94
Today’s big news was that the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division from the First Canadian Army’s II Corps surrounded Dunkirk. The same Dunkirk where the remarkable story of Operation Dynamo took place and the greater part of the British expeditionary force was rescued, going on to become the foundation for the British Army fighting in Normandy from June 1944.
more informationSeptember 7, 1944 - D-Day + 93
In the British Second Army zone, the British XII Corps relieved the XXX Corps in Antwerp and Alost, allowing them to advance to the northeast. The XXX Corps then started to advance towards the Meuse – Escaut canal.
more informationSeptember 6, 1944 - D-Day + 92
The II Canadian Corps’ 2nd Infantry Division redeployed to behind the attack units and went through the positions of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the Calais area.
more informationSeptember 5, 1944 - D-Day + 91
The II Canadian Corps' 3rd Infantry Division advanced along the shore during the day, going around Boulogne-sur-Mer to reach the Calais area. The enemy had prepared particularly strong defenses of both ports as it had anticipated that this would be where the Allies would carry out their fateful landing – but instead, D-Day was in Normandy.
more informationSeptember 4, 1944 - D-Day + 90
General Eisenhower ordered the 21st Army Group and the US First Army to advance to the Ruhr River, while Patton’s US Third Army followed orders to head to the Saar River. Hitler reappointed Field Marshall von Rundstedt to the post of Commander of the German Army Command in the West (Oberbefehlshaber West, OB West), dismissing the commander up until then, Walter Model.
more informationSeptember 3, 1944 - D-Day + 89
General Montgomery ordered the British Second Army to rapidly advance to the Rhine River and secure a crossing over the last major obstacle on the path into Germany. According to Monty’s orders, the First Canadian Army was to continue clearing the coastal sector.
more informationSeptember 2, 1944 - D-Day + 88
The British I Corps’ 49th Infantry Division continued to advance along the peninsula near Le Havre towards the harbor, and occupied the enemy’s defense position located here. In the meantime, the British 51st Infantry Division conquered St Valery-en-Caux.
more informationSeptember 1, 1944 - D-Day + 87
After a hectic August 1944, when the German front could finally be broken and the enemy could be forced to retreat while a second front in the south of France was opened, September 1944 came. It was a month full of expectations and faith in the invincibility of the Allied armies.
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