Events on October 19 in history

MS Sinfra (October 19, 1943)

The cargo vessel Sinfra is attacked by Allied aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete, and sunk; 2,098 Italian prisoners of war drown with it.

Sinfra was a cargo ship built in 1929 as Fernglen by Akers Mekaniske Verksted in Oslo, Norway, for a Norwegian shipping company. The ship was sold to Swedish owners in 1934 and to a French company in 1939, on the last occasion having her name changed to Sinfra.

Sinfra was confiscated by German authorities in 1942, and used by them in the Mediterranean. On 19 October 1943, Sinfra was bombed and sunk by Allied aircraft north of Souda Bay, Crete. Around 2,000 people were killed in the sinking, the majority being Italian POWs.

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Events on 1943

11 Feb

Dwight D. Eisenhower
World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
30 May

Auschwitz concentration camp
The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.
19 Jun

Pittsburgh Steelers
The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL merge for one season due to player shortages caused by World War II.
6 Nov

Kiev
World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Kiev. Before withdrawing, the Germans destroy most of the city's ancient buildings.
4 Dec

Josip Broz Tito
World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.

Events on October 19 in history

MS Sinfra (October 19, 1943)

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1943

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Auschwitz concentration camp

Pittsburgh Steelers

Kiev

Josip Broz Tito