Category Archives: Montana During World War II

The history of Montana during World War II

Montana During World War II

November 1943 in Montana

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November 1943 in Montana

• November 1 – American Marines landed on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.

• November 5 – American carrier planes and heavy bombers attacked Japanese warships at Rabaul.

• November 7 – A natural gas explosion in Anaconda leveled a block–long federal housing project, injuring two.

• November 11 – Henry L. Myers, former U.S. Senator from Montana (1911-1923) and associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court (1927-1929), died in Billings.

• November 17 – Two Great Northern “speeder” cars carrying members of a track repair crew crashed 35 miles east of Libby, with three killed and 12 injured.

• November 20 – U.S. Marines landed on Tarawa Atoll and Makin Island.

• November 22 – President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo.

Cairo Conference National Archives

•November 23 – A fire caused $11,000 in damages at the Albemarle Apartment building in Butte.

• November 25 – The Missoula Spartans defeated the Billings Broncs for the state football title.

• November 28 – Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt met in Tehran and agreed on the planned invasion of Europe.

Montana History Calendar 1942

Montana History Calendar 1941

Montana History Calendar 1930s

October 1943 in Montana

December 1943 (coming soon)

Learn more about what was happening October 1943 in Montana and check out  Montana’s Home Front During World War II

Montana During World War II

October 1943 in Montana

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October 1943

• October 1 – Start of a statewide scrap drive. Nine men were killed when their B-17 bomber crashed east of Big Sandy.

• October 7 – A pilot was killed when his fighter plane crashed east of Stockett.

• October 9 – Antelope season ended after 657 antelope were harvested statewide.

• October 11 – Three Gore Field fliers were killed in a B-24 crash at Colorado Springs.

• October 13 – Italy declared war on Germany.

• October 14 – One passenger died, and 58 were injured when the Milwaukee Road Olympian train derailed near Miles City after the tracks washed out. Most of the victims were servicemen and WACs.

• October 16 – A fire in Billings caused $170,000 damage to the Stockman’s Bar, the Elks Club, and the Midland Bank Building.

• October 20 – Two dead, two injured in a Billings house fire.

• October 23 – A fighter pilot was killed in a crash near Lewistown. A hit-and-run driver killed a Billings woman.

• October 28 – Havre hosted 400 Farm Union delegates.

Montana History Calendar 1942

Montana History Calendar 1941

Montana History Calendar 1930s

September 1943 in Montana

November 1943 (coming soon)

Learn more about what was happening October 1943 in Montana and check out  Montana’s Home Front During World War II

Montana During World War II

September 1943 in Montana

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• September 2 – Ten men from the 612th Bomb Squadron stationed at Great Falls were killed in a B-17 crash five miles east of Ft. Benton during a training exercise.

• September 3 – British forces invaded southern Italy. Thousands viewed the pet and doll parade in Great Falls.

• September 8 – The surrender of Italy was announced.

• September 9 – The U.S. Fifth Army landed at Salerno, Italy and the Third War Bond drive began.

• September 10 – Convicted murderer Philip Coleman was executed at the Missoula County Jail. Two aviation instructors and two students were killed in a collision of their planes near the Missoula airport.

• September 12 – Australian troops and the 163rd Infantry captured Salamaua, New Guinea. The Italian dictator Mussolini was freed from captivity by Nazi commandos.

• September 13 – Gen. Chiang Kai-shek was declared president of China.

• September 16 – Australian troops on New Guinea captured Lae.

• September 24 – A 7th Ferrying Group pilot was killed in an air crash at Great Falls. The Germans evacuated Smolensk. A welder started a fire that resulted in $60,000 damages to the American Crystal Sugar Co. in Missoula.

• September 25 – Duck season opened.

• September 26 – O.F. Goddard, former chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court, died in Billings at age 90.

• September 27 – Residents of Naples revolted against German occupiers upon the approach of British troops.

• September 30 – Silk recycling was halted because it had been so successful.

Montana History Calendar 1942

Montana History Calendar 1941

Montana History Calendar 1930s

August 1943 in Montana

October 1943 (coming soon)

Learn more about what was happening September 1943 in Montana and check out  Montana’s Home Front During World War II