German Stuka dive bombers of the type used to attack to Soviet naval facility at Kronstadt in Leningrad. clipart.com

By: Phil Kohn. Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who have answered the country’s call in time of need. Phil can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.

On September 19, 1941, the Germans complete their capture of Kiev, Ukraine, with 500,000 prisoners taken. Red Army defenders have suffered many casualties. The Luftwaffe conducts a 276-plane air raid on Leningrad, killing over 1,000 civilians.

Italian midget submarines enter the harbor at Gibraltar on September 20 and sink two Allied ships. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the new Shah of Iran, restores the constitutional monarchy and becomes head of a neutral regime. During his reign, Iran becomes a major corridor for aid to the U.S.S.R. from Great Britain and, later, also from the United States.

The Luftwaffe on September 21 begins repeated attacks against naval facilities and the Soviet Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt Harbor outside of Leningrad.

The town of Reshetylivka in the Ukraine is occupied by German forces on September 22. King George II of Greece arrives in England, in exile with his family and members of his government.

On September 23, in Washington, President Roosevelt announces the possibility of arming U.S. merchant vessels as protection against German attacks. German Stuka dive bombers attack the Soviet naval facility at Kronstadt, Leningrad’s main seaport, sinking the docked Soviet battleship Marat.

The first German submarine enters the Mediterranean Sea on September 24, slipping past Gibraltar. On the Eastern Front, panzers from German Army Group South approach within 40 miles of Kharkiv, Ukraine. In London and Washington, 15 Allied nations (including governments-in-exile) sign the Atlantic Charter, which outlines the Allies’ goals for the post-war world. In German-occupied western Serbia, Yugoslav partisans capture the town of Užice and its rifle factory. They will hold the town for two months.

On September 25, the Crimea is cut off from the rest of Ukraine by forces of German Army Group South, pushing southward towards Kharkiv.