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WWII On This Day: September 23

What happened on September 23 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1942 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
A German tank commander in southern Soviet territory in June 1942, shortly before the opening of Case Blue.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-218-0528-30 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Case Blue and the Drive to the Caucasus

The Tuapse drive begins

On 23 September Seventeenth Army began a renewed advance along the Maikop–Tuapse road, with additional corps entering the effort over the following days. The straight-line distance to the port concealed the difficulty of the route. Forested ridges, mountain rivers and narrow valleys broke the advance into small-unit fights. Soviet Eighteenth Army occupied positions that had to be cleared individually, while heavy rain turned roads and river crossings into recurring engineering problems. Ruoff reported within days that many of his experienced troops were gone or exhausted and replacements lacked the same…

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1944
Men of 1st Airborne Division use parachutes as ground signals for supply aircraft in the grounds of Hartenstein at Oosterbeek on 23 September 1944.
Men of 1st Airborne Division use parachutes as ground signals for supply aircraft in the grounds of Hartenstein at Oosterbeek on 23 September 1944. Lewis (Sgt), No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit / Imperial War Museums, BU 1119 · Public domain (UK Government) Source
Operation Market Garden

The road reopened and the resupply fails

The corridor was cleared again and traffic resumed, though the road was now a target along its whole length. Further Polish crossings went in that night. In the perimeter the division was down to a few rounds per gun. Resupply aircraft continued to fly onto the original drop zones, several miles inside German lines, and their crews continued to press the runs through heavy flak.

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Warsaw Uprising: Two medics and a soldier (right) from "Parasol" battalion after coming out of sewers at Warecka Street near Nowy Świat (North Śródmieście district). In the center Maria Stypułkowska-Chojecka "Kama". On the right Krzysztof Palester "Krzych".
Warsaw Uprising - Soldiers from Parasol on Warecka Street 1 September 1944 · Jerzy Chrzanowski · Public domain · Source
The Warsaw Rising

The river bridgehead is destroyed

The final organised positions in Czerniaków were overrun. Some defenders crossed the river or escaped through the city; many were killed or captured. The limited September crossing had failed to produce a bridgehead capable of relieving Śródmieście or changing the outcome of the Rising.

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