Sternenbanner 14 September 1944
Title
Sternenbanner 14 September 1944
Description
The Allies’ summer offensive is outlined, with five European capitals liberated and six allied army groups threatening Berlin from the western border. Further countries are fighting back.
There is a description of allied army successes in the West. The allied Commander-in-Chief has warned citizens in the Ruhr and Rhineland areas of forthcoming air strikes to transport hubs and military installations. There are over 400,000 German prisoners and their army has huge losses of equipment. A total of 27 generals have been lost or imprisoned.
Large airstrikes have taken place from much closer airfields with over 100 in France. There have been heavy attacks on fuel plants, affecting the German war effort. Germany lost 280 aircraft on 11th and 12th September. There were 600,000 incendiary bombs dropped on the key hubs of Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
On the southern front, allied forces have penetrated the Gothic Line and Italian partisans liberated towns in northern Italy. The Germans have had to declare martial law in several provinces.
In the Balkans there are further advances by Russian and Romanian troops, Slovakian and Yugoslav partisans. They are supported by allied bombers, warships and troops.
In Poland the red army has gained an advantageous position for the southern entry points to East Prussia. Polish partisans continue their fight, and Germans are in increasing danger from the Russians’ approach.
On the northern front, the Finns have sent a peace delegation to Moscow and given an ultimatum to the Germans to leave Finland by 15th September.
Germany is said to be losing the economic war, refuting Hitler’s claim on 8th November 1942 to have sufficient raw materials to get through the war. It compares the crisis to 1918. It has now lost most of its cast iron from Ukraine, Sweden, Spain and France. It is left with inferior Austrian iron deposits and some German ones. With the loss of alloy metals from South Russia and the Balkans, it cannot produce high quality steel.
Romania’s situation has meant that Germany has lost a third of its oil and the allies have systematically destroyed fuel plants, oil refineries and oil depots. The air force increased these attacks on 11th and 12th September to new levels.
Germany’s loss of territories has had an impact on its food supplies with only a mediocre harvest. Those areas abandoned by the Germans are likely to be fed first and the situation will be exacerbated by the imminent invasion of Germany. Germans are advised to be frugal with their food supplies.
Several neutral countries are refusing to give asylum to fleeing Nazis. Those close to the regime have been making trips abroad; they are described as “rats leaving the sinking ship”.
There have been 96 German generals lost since 6th June 1944.
Many of the German leaders have sent offshore large amounts of money, securities, precious stones, stolen artwork, gold and other assets; a sign that things are not going well.
According to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison there will be a staged removal of blackout restrictions throughout the country. Fire watchers will also no longer be required. This has not yet happened in London because of the V-1 flying bombs whose number has reduced with fewer reaching their target. Air strikes on the research institute in Peenemünde and launch sites in Northern France delayed their use for nearly six months.
Roosevelt and Churchill met in Canada for the seventh time since 1941 to discuss the end of the war in Europe and the Pacific.
The main armistice conditions are laid out for Romania.
A shipment of over than $100 million to Italy will be paid for by the Italian government.
Sweden has closed German transit traffic between Norway and Germany.
The United Nations relief and reconstruction agencies are convening on 15th September to fight starvation, look at economic reconstruction and the repatriation of 12 million foreign workers in Germany.
The second lot of defendants have been sentenced to death by hanging because of their plot to remove Hitler on 20th July. This was not a small clique but military generals in the first trial and administrators, diplomats and politicians in the second. Carl Friedrich Gördeler, Mayor of Leipzig, was one.
Newspapers in neutral countries are reporting on Germany’s precarious situation.
There is a description of allied army successes in the West. The allied Commander-in-Chief has warned citizens in the Ruhr and Rhineland areas of forthcoming air strikes to transport hubs and military installations. There are over 400,000 German prisoners and their army has huge losses of equipment. A total of 27 generals have been lost or imprisoned.
Large airstrikes have taken place from much closer airfields with over 100 in France. There have been heavy attacks on fuel plants, affecting the German war effort. Germany lost 280 aircraft on 11th and 12th September. There were 600,000 incendiary bombs dropped on the key hubs of Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
On the southern front, allied forces have penetrated the Gothic Line and Italian partisans liberated towns in northern Italy. The Germans have had to declare martial law in several provinces.
In the Balkans there are further advances by Russian and Romanian troops, Slovakian and Yugoslav partisans. They are supported by allied bombers, warships and troops.
In Poland the red army has gained an advantageous position for the southern entry points to East Prussia. Polish partisans continue their fight, and Germans are in increasing danger from the Russians’ approach.
On the northern front, the Finns have sent a peace delegation to Moscow and given an ultimatum to the Germans to leave Finland by 15th September.
Germany is said to be losing the economic war, refuting Hitler’s claim on 8th November 1942 to have sufficient raw materials to get through the war. It compares the crisis to 1918. It has now lost most of its cast iron from Ukraine, Sweden, Spain and France. It is left with inferior Austrian iron deposits and some German ones. With the loss of alloy metals from South Russia and the Balkans, it cannot produce high quality steel.
Romania’s situation has meant that Germany has lost a third of its oil and the allies have systematically destroyed fuel plants, oil refineries and oil depots. The air force increased these attacks on 11th and 12th September to new levels.
Germany’s loss of territories has had an impact on its food supplies with only a mediocre harvest. Those areas abandoned by the Germans are likely to be fed first and the situation will be exacerbated by the imminent invasion of Germany. Germans are advised to be frugal with their food supplies.
Several neutral countries are refusing to give asylum to fleeing Nazis. Those close to the regime have been making trips abroad; they are described as “rats leaving the sinking ship”.
There have been 96 German generals lost since 6th June 1944.
Many of the German leaders have sent offshore large amounts of money, securities, precious stones, stolen artwork, gold and other assets; a sign that things are not going well.
According to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison there will be a staged removal of blackout restrictions throughout the country. Fire watchers will also no longer be required. This has not yet happened in London because of the V-1 flying bombs whose number has reduced with fewer reaching their target. Air strikes on the research institute in Peenemünde and launch sites in Northern France delayed their use for nearly six months.
Roosevelt and Churchill met in Canada for the seventh time since 1941 to discuss the end of the war in Europe and the Pacific.
The main armistice conditions are laid out for Romania.
A shipment of over than $100 million to Italy will be paid for by the Italian government.
Sweden has closed German transit traffic between Norway and Germany.
The United Nations relief and reconstruction agencies are convening on 15th September to fight starvation, look at economic reconstruction and the repatriation of 12 million foreign workers in Germany.
The second lot of defendants have been sentenced to death by hanging because of their plot to remove Hitler on 20th July. This was not a small clique but military generals in the first trial and administrators, diplomats and politicians in the second. Carl Friedrich Gördeler, Mayor of Leipzig, was one.
Newspapers in neutral countries are reporting on Germany’s precarious situation.
Date
1944-09-14
Language
Type
Format
One double sided printed sheet
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
MMorrillDA1867345-190318-030001, MMorrillDA1867345-190318-030002
Collection
Citation
“Sternenbanner 14 September 1944,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/50413.