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September 21st, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. 51 Sqn. Whitley, P5105 overshot Dishforth on night operations. Sgt V.W. Bruce and crew safe.
Bombing - invasion fleet at Boulogne.

51 Sqn. Twelve aircraft. All bombed. Opposition severe.

78 Sqn. Ten aircraft. All bombed. Opposition severe.

London: To Churchill’s suggestion that one Pole is worth three Frenchmen, General Lord Gort replies that it is nearer ten.

London: Official permission is given to use the London Underground as an air raid shelter.

Battle of Britain:

Fighter-sweeps over east Kent. At night London and Merseyside are raided.

Small numbers of Ju88s were also making nuisance raids, one of Lehr 1 flying low-level to Brooklands and placing four bombs, three on the landing ground and one in the Hurricane assembly shop. The latter did not explode though until it had been removed from the building. [see below]

A parachute mine that delivered itself into central Ipswich could not be defused and had to be blown in-situ. The controlled explosion produced a crater 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep, demolished 70 houses, damaged 750 and broke windows 650 yards away.

Night raids on London dropped a mine on Hornchurch’s landing ground which failed to explode, seriously damaged Bethnal Green medical works and started a fire in Howard’s Timber Yard, Poplar, attended by 80 pumps [Fire Trucks in American].

Losses: Luftwaffe, 0; RAF, 0.

Weybridge, Surrey: Lt. John MacMillan Stevenson Patton (b. 1915), Royal Canadian Engineers, towed a bomb from an aircraft factory to a bomb crater, where it went off harmlessly. (George Cross)

Dagenham, Essex: Lt-Cdr Richard John Hammersley Ryan (b. 1903) and his assistant, CPO Reginald Vincent Ellingworth (b. 1898), who had shared many dangerous assignments, were killed when a sensitive magnetic mine, which was dangling from a parachute in a warehouse, went off as they tackled it. (George Cross for both)

Ilford, Essex: Mr. Leonard John Miles (b. ?), ARP, saved several lives when he left his air-raid shelter to warn others nearby of an unexploded bomb. He was fatally wounded when it went off. (George Cross).

Corvette HMS Nigella launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: U-154 laid down.
U-145 and U-146 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

FINLAND: The Finnish negotiatior Juho Paasikivi, accompanied by Finance Minister Väinö Tanner, return to Moscow. (Mikko Härmeinen)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-100 sank SS Canonesa, SS Dalcairn and SS Torinina in Convoy HX-72.
U-138 sank SS Empire Adventure in Convoy OB-216.
U-47 damaged SS Elmbank in Convoy HX-72.
U-48 sank SS Blairangus and damaged SS Broompark in Convoy HX-72.
U-99 sank SS Elmbank, Empire Blythswood and SS Invershannon in Convoy HX-72. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: The motion picture “City for Conquest” is released. This boxing drama, based on a novel by Aben Kandel, is directed by Anatole Litvak and stars James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Donald Crisp, Frank McHugh, Arthur Kennedy, George Tobias, Elia Kazan and Anthony Quinn. The plot has Cagney as a fighter who is blinded with acid on the gloves of his opponent in a “fixed” fight set up by Kazan, a neighbourhood pal turned gangster. The blind Cagney then runs a newsstand and pays for his younger brothers (Kennedy) music lessons. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Arvida launched Quebec City, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)

AUSTRALIA: A Federal election is held today. The United Australia Party narrowly retained government with the help of the Country Party. The United Australia Party won only 23 seats (and lost one when Arthur Coles declared himself an Independent) to Labor’s 32. The Country Party won 14 seats, Lang Labor 4 seats and there was 1 Independent. (Lang Labor was a breakaway group from the main ALP and was based in New South Wales - where the sacking of Jack Lang as Premier and the ALP reaction to the creation of the breakaway group. It had a love/hate relationship with the main party such that they were really torn when they had to choose between the “tories” and the ALP. They eventually amalgamated with the ALP through attrition. Arthur Coles (former UAP and founder of Coles Department stores) and Alex Wilson held the balance of power). (Daniel Ross)