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• In Britain, gasoline price rose to 2 shillings and 2 pence per gallon. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Japanese troops occupied Lang Son, Indochina. ww2dbase [Indochina Campaign | TH]
• Operation Menace: Overnight, Governor of French West Africa, Pierre Boisson, rejected Free French demand for the surrender of Dakar. At 0700 hours, British destroyer HMS Fortune detected Vichy French submarine Ajax, which was forced to surface by depth charges and then sunk with gunfire after the crew of 61 was captured. British battleship HMS Barham shelled French battleship Richelieu in Dakar harbor; Richelieu was damaged with two shells and a misfire of her own. French coastal batteries was able to force back the British fleet at 1000 hours. In the afternoon, the British fleet returned. French coastal artillery opened fire again, hitting Barham with four shells, and forced back the British fleet once again. Far to the north, 64 Vichy French bombers from Algeria and Morocco bombed Gibraltar in retaliation, damaging one ship. ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | AC]
• King George VI of the United Kingdom instituted the George Cross medal to award those who displayed courage not in the face of the enemy. ww2dbase [George VI | CPC]
• Douglas Bader was promoted to the war time rank of flight lieutenant. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | CPC]

• British submarine HMS Cachalot attacked a German submarine in the Bay of Biscay off France without success. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | Cachalot (Grampus-class) | Bay of Biscay | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Tuna sank German catapult ship Ostmark 35 miles west of Saint-Nazaire, France. ww2dbase [Bay of Biscay | CPC]
• German motor torpedo boat S-30 sank British ship Continental Coaster in the North Sea 10 miles off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, killing 4. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
• Alpino Bagnolini sighted a Sunderland aircraft at the distance of 2,000 meters in the Atlantic Ocean. The Italian submarine fired on it with her machine guns and claimed to have hit the aircraft and forced it to turn around. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]

• Scirè departed La Spezia, Italy for Gibraltar with three manned torpedoes on board. ww2dbase [Scirè | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]

• At 0830 and then again at 1115 hours, 200 German bombers, escorted by 400 fighters, were launched to attack targets in Kent in southern England, United Kingdom; Portsmouth, Southampton, and the nearby Spitfire fighter factory at Woolston were among the targets. Meanwhile, as the British government announced plans to expand evacuation, 444,000 children had already been evacuated from the London area. The arrival of German bombers on this night marked the 18th consecutive night in which London had been bombed; Liverpool, Dundee, and other cities and towns were also bombed. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | England | CPC]

24 Sep 1940 Interactive Map