World war II timeline - September 1941

3 September 1941	British Major General Grasett proposes to the British Imperial Chief of Staff and war office Chief of Staff that the Hong Kong garrison be strengthened by two battalions from Canada.
4 September 1941	American destroyer USS Greer and a British plane attack a German submarine in the Atlantic ocean. The submarine retaliates with several off-target torpedoes. (The incident is misrepresented to the American nation as an unprovoked attack.)
5 September 1941	German Army Group North completes occupation of Estonia.
6 September 1941	Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 35. Army Group South is to make a surprise movement north-west, and Army Group Centre is to launch an attack against the Russian Army east of Smolensk at the end of the month.
8 September 1941	In Russia, German forces cut off and set siege to Leningrad. (The siege lasts 900 days.) British Admiralty diverts Atlantic convoy SC-42 north to hug the eastern coast of Greenland to avoid German submarines.
9 September 1941	In the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Winston Churchill insists that Article 3 of the Atlantic Charter could not apply to the British Empire. Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic is attacked by German submarines. U-432 torpedoes and sinks SS Muneric. Two more merchant ships are torpedoed before midnight.
10 September 1941	Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic is attacked by German submarines. U-432 torpedoes and sinks SS Winterswijk. Seven more merchant ships are torpedoed by the end of the day. A proposal to send two Canadian battalions to Hong Kong reaches British prime minister Winston Churchill's desk for approval. He accepts the recommendation. In Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic, Canadian destroyer Skeena seriously cripples German submarine U-85. In Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic, Canadian corvettes HMCS Chambly and Moosejaw sink German submarine U-501. 76 aircraft from Britain attack targets in Italy. They do little damage to military targets.
11 September 1941	Convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic is attacked by German submarines. U-207 torpedoes and sinks SS Stonepool. Three more merchant ships are torpedoed by the end of the day. As part of Atlantic Convoy SC-42, British destroyers Veteran and Leamington sink German submarine U-207.
12 September 1941	German armored columns meet up at Lokhutsa, 125 miles east of Kiev, surrounding about 500,000 Soviet forces insidide. Japan begins preparations for war to the south, to secure oil supplies.
15 September 1941	Soviet spy Richard Sorge in Tokyo, Japan, informs the Soviet Union Government that "The Soviet Far East can be considered safe from Japanese attack." The Foreign Office in Tokyo, Japan, requests the Japanese consul in Honolulu to report on the deployment of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Adolf Hitler authorizes deportation of German Jews into occupied territories. Canadian naval forces come under American co-ordinating supervision. The USSR recognizes Charles de Gaulle as the leader of the Free French. In Persia, Shah Reza Pahlevi abdicates the throne. His ignoring an Anglo-Russian request to expel German agents lead to his downfall. Following his abdication, British and Russian troops invade the country.
16 September 1941	As convoy SC-42 across the Atlantic nears Scotland, German submarine U-98 torpedoes and sinks MV Jedmoor.
17 September 1941	Atlantic convoy SC-42 from Canada reaches Loch Ewe, Scotland. Of the initial 67 ships, 15 were sunk, one severely damaged. Over 203 sailors were killed. The loss of 70,000 tons includes 21,000 tons of iron ore and steel.
18 September 1941	German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein is appointed Commander Army group II (Russia).
19 September 1941	In the Grand Harbor of Gibraltar, the British naval tanker Denbydale, cargo ship Durham, and tanker Fiona Shell explode from charges attached by midget submarines of the Italian navy. 120 miles east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, Atlantic convoy SC-44 loses four merchant ships to submarine attacks. U-74 torpedoes and sinks Royal Canadian Navy corvette Levis. In the Soviet Union, Kiev falls to German Army Group South forces. 665,000 men are captured, the largest number of prisoners ever captured in one battle, and the largest single military success in history. Kiev was defended for 72 days.
22 September 1941	Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 36, ordering a halt in attacks toward Murmansk, but to attempt to cut off Murmansk rail communications before winter, and prepare for a renewed attack toward Murmansk. Each government in exile in London, England, signs adherence to the Atlantic Charter.
23 September 1941	Canada's War Committee of the Cabinet discusses Britain's request for two battalions for Hong Kong. They agree, subject to opinions from the Minister of National Defence and General Andrew McNaughton. Atlantic Convoy SC-48 loses 9 merchant ships, two Royal Navy escorts, and a United States Navy destroyer to submarine attacks.
24 September 1941	A Japanese mail letter is decoded via Operation Magic, revealing enquiries about berthing information of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
26 September 1941	Adolf Hitler orders an attack commence on Moscow.
27 September 1941	The US launches the first "Liberty Ship", the SS Patrick Henry. This type of ship is built for single use, to transfer cargo to England. (A total of 2700 are built by the US during the war.) SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich arrives in Prague, as new commander of Czechoslovakia.
28 September 1941	The first PQ convoy sails from Iceland bound for Archangel, Russia.
29 September 1941	Adolf Hitler issues an order regarding the future of Leningrad. The entire city and all inhabitants are to be "wiped from the face of the earth".
30 September 1941	Operation Typhoon begins, an attack by German forces on Moscow. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock commands 70 divisions of Army Group Center with Günther Von Kluge's 4th Army and Strauss' 9th Army.