This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

2 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS 'Treminnard' sunk by 'U-160' at 10.40N, 57.07W. At 0927, the unescorted 'Flora II' was torpedoed and sunk by 'U-254' 60 miles SE of Vestmannaoerne, Iceland. The master, 24 crewmembers, four gunners and one passenger were picked up by the Icelandic trawler Juni and landed at Reykjavik. At 0612, the unescorted 'Maldonado' was stopped by 'U-510' with gunfire and sunk by a coup de grace.

Destroyer HMCS 'Hamilton' sighted and attacked a U-Boat; forcing it to submerge.

Between 0048 and 0109 on 20 Jul 1942, 'U-66' laid one CGC, two MRB and three TMB mines in the entrance of Port Castries, St Lucia. On 29 July, a USCG cutter was damaged by a mine detonation and on 2 August the HM MTB-339 and MTB-342 were also damaged by mine detonations.

EASTERN FRONT: Unaware of their destiny, lured by German promises of extra bread and jam, many Jewish families are volunteering for deportation "to the east" from the Warsaw Ghetto rail terminus. Others are rounded up by brutal Ukrainian and German SS guards. Resistance is punished by death. Only those working for German factories in the ghetto are spared the transports. Crammed 200 to a goods van, 60 wagons to each train, many suffocate in the airless heat as the train trundles the 50 miles to Treblinka station. There it waits for Polish rail workers to uncouple the wagons. Franciszek Zabecki, a railman, alleges some appalling atrocities: "One mother threw a small child wrapped up in a pillow from the wagon, shouting "Take it, there's some money to look after it". An SS man ran up, unwrapped the pillow, seized the child by its feet and smashed its head against a wagon wheel. This took place in full view of the mother, who howled with pain ..." The wagons are shunted into the death camp 20 at a time. Whip-wielding Nazi guards sort the human cargo into men, women and children. Forced to strip, the deportees walk naked down a lane to camp's three gas chambers. Twenty minutes later, they are all dead. The empty wagons go back to Warsaw to pick up another load. It is estimated that the Treblinka camp is murdering 40,000 Jews a week.

Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of III./JG 51 brought his score to 102 victories after shooting down 9 Russian planes. He became the first pilot of JG 51 to surpass General Werner Moelders score of 100 victories. The Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla, was severley wounded in combat, losing the vision in one eye as a result. Oblt. Herbert Wehnelt was made Gruppenkommandeur in his place.

Promoted to the rank of Hauptmann, Wolf-Dietrich Huy, Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 77 returned to combat duty with the staffel - now based in the Leningrad area - from Oblt. Walter Lucke. Hptm. Hans Philipp scored a victory over Leningrad, farther to the south and in connection with another operation other than Unternehmen Klabautermann.

Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Rostov IV to Kertsch IV. Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 moved from Malaja Orlowka to Jegorlyk.

NORTH AFRICA: Allied aircraft in North Africa began concentrated attacks on Rommel's extended supply lines.

 

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3 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Heeresgruppe B continues the attack on Kletskaya, Russia. The 4.Panzerarmee has crossed the Don and is advancing east around Kotelnikovo. The 1.Panzerarmee attacks from the Kuban east toward Stavropol and south toward Maykop.

JG 77's Oblt. Anton "Toni" Hackl of 5./JG 77 shot down 3 Russian aircraft to bring his score to 100 victories. But Oblt. Gottfreid Schlitzer of 9./JG 51 was wounded in action against Soviet fighters. Ofw. Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of III./JG 51 was awarded the Eichenlaub for his 102 victories.

In the morning over the Black Sea, 10 Heinkels of 6./KG 26 flew torpedo attacks through very heavy defensive fire from several cruisers and their destroyer escort in the largest torpedo attack against Soviet warships. Two or three torpedo hits were observed, some on the cruisers, including the cruiser "Molotov" (put out of action until 1944) and some on the destroyers. Nothing more could be achieved because the defensive fire put up by the Soviet warships was too intense for a textbook torpedo attack. 2 Heinkels and their crews were lost during the attack.

The first victory attained by JG 54's Petajarvi unit, Detachment Philipp, was achieved by 1. Staffel's Uffz. Heinrich Bruhn against a Pe-2 near the island of Yalamo in the northern part of Lake Ladoga

NORTH AFRICA: British PM Churchill and General Brooke arrive in Cairo. They are on an inspection trip which includes the 8th Army. Churchill is disappointed with the results the 8th has so far achieved given the resources furnished.

 

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4 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Advance units of 4.Panzerarmee (von Hoth) crossed the Aksai River in their drive toward Stalingrad. Having completed the crossing of the Don, 48.Panzerkorps turned northwest, driving toward Stalingrad.

Lt. Walter Nowotny of 1./JG 54 described his day's action over Leningrad:

"It was a clear, blue sky and it was filled with Soviet fighters attempting to attack our bombers. I picked an I-18(MiG 1) and made a sharp turn, putting my Bf 109 in a good position. A few bursts sent him burning to the ground. The remaining fighters tried to escape, but my Messerschmitt was faster. Flying above the docks on the Neva mouth, I got the backboard plane in a finger-four formation into my gunsight. Two bursts of fire and the Rata blew up. Fuselage and wings tumbled down on fire. The flak fired fiercely from below. I made a 180 degree and spotted 4 I-18s attacking our bombers from behind. Pulling up the nose of my plane, I made one of the Soviet fighters pass through my bullet tracers. The success stunned me. He immediately went into a steep dive, started spinning and left a thick, black trail of smoke. This was my 6th victory today. Number 7 didn't last long. I was just about to return home, as suddenly a Rata pulled up underneath me. I pushed my stick forward and seconds later the enemy went down in spirals."

Lt. Nowotny scored 7 victories over Russian aircraft near Leningrad to bring his total to 54 kills.

I./JG 52 moved from Tuleblja to Dugino. After a stay of 2 days, Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 moved from Jegorlyk to Bjelaja-Glina. Hptm. Walter Spies I./JG 53 left Frolow for Bereska.

 

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5 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-Boats return to large scale operations on the main north Atlantic routes with attacks beginning on convoy SC-94 today. These attacks will continue through the 13th. The convoy loses 11 ships and 2 U-Boats are sunk, 4 are damaged. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: 1.Panzerarmee captured Voroshilovsk over 200 miles to the southeast of Rostov, threatening the oil fields at Maikop. Soviet forces deployed newly raised formations of the 57th and 64th Armies west of Stalingrad in an attempt to stem the advance of 4.Panzerarmee. The German spearhead, moving northeast, ran straight into the new Soviet armies. Heavy fighting resulted in serious losses to the green Russian formations and the important road center of Kotelnikovo, 100 miles northeast of Stalingrad, was captured by the Germans.

Oblt. Egger's Panzerjaegerstaffel./JG 51 (also known as 13(Pz)./JG 51) moved from Deblin-Irena to Vitebsk. The unit used Hs 129s for operations. Stab./JG 52 and Major Alfons Orthofer's StG 77 moved from Rostow to Bjelaja-Glina. Major Hans-Joachim Ritter's I./KG 51 and Major Ernst Freiherr von Bibra's III./KG 51 moved from Stalino to Kertsch.

NORTH AFRICA: Hptm. Georg Christl's III./ZG 26 transferred from Fuka to Kastelli while 8./ZG 26 went to Derna joining 10./ZG 26. Churchill visited the British 8th Army at El Alamein and decided to replace Auchinleck.

In Egypt, Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Commanding General U.S. Army Middle East Air Force, in his first strategic estimate of the Middle Eastern war, indicates that the 3 major objectives for the Allied Air Forces are to assist in the destruction of General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps by support to ground troops, secure sea and air communications on and over the Mediterranean, and carry out a sustained air offensive against Italy and against oil installations at Ploesti, Rumania and in the Caucasus, if the latter should fall under Axis control. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: US VIII Fighter Command dispatched its first mission -11 Spitfire Mk Vs of the 31st FG on a practice run over France.

 

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6 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Units of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) crossed the Kuban River at Armavir.

Oblt. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77 was awarded the Eichenlaub for achieving 106 victories. Benno Gantz of 7./JG 51 with 16 victories was killed in action and Oblt. Gottfreid Schlitzer of 9./JG 51 died of his wounds suffered on 3 August 1942.

NORTH AFRICA: Allied B-24s hit the harbour at Tobruk, Libya.

 

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7 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Units of the 6.Armee (von Paulus) crossed the Don River at Kalach in their advance toward Stalingrad. The Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla, was injured again in a collision with a loading Ju 52 that put him out of action for several days.

I./JG 4 was formed in Mizil (Rumania) from Oblt. Gunther Hannak's Olschutzstaffel./JG 77. Obstlt. Franjo Dzal's 15(kroat.)./JG 52 moved from Rostow to Bjelaja-Glina and began recieving Bf 109Gs to replace their outdated Bf 109Es.

MEDITTERANEAN: Submarine HMS 'Thorn' is sunk by a depth charge attack from Italian destroyer 'Emmanuale Pessagno', east of Gevdo Island, Crete. There are no survivors. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: A schwarm from 5./JG 27, led by Ofw. Emil Clade, chanced upon another of the occasional Bombay transports of No. 216 Sqdn. But this machine was not carrying SAS troops (who had long since taken to using jeeps for their forays behind Axis lines). It was instead on the daily flight from Heliopolis to pick up wounded from the front for transport back to hospital in Cairo. At one forward landing ground, the Bombay's 18 yr old pilot, Sgt H.E.James was ordered to wait for a special passenger. This turned out to be Lt. Gen. W.H.E. Gott, who, only hours previously, had been appointed Commander of the British 8th Army and who now needed to get back to Cairo for an urgent meeting. Rather than fly at the stipulated 50 ft to escape the attention of Axis fighters, the pilot elected to climb to 500 ft on account of an overheating engine. It was his undoing. Clade's first pass forced the lumbering Bombay to crash-land in the desert to the southeast of Alexandria. Some of the crew and passengers attempted to escape from the still moving machine. All but one of those remaining inside, including Lt. Gen. Gott, were killed when Uffz. Bernd Schneider carried out a strafing run to finish off the stricken machine. Lt. Gen. Gott was the highest ranked British officer to be killed by enemy fire in World War II. His death led to the hurried appointment of a replacement commander for the 8th Army - a relative unknown named Bernard Law Montgomery. The Luftwaffe had quite possibly caused its own defeat in the desert.

UNITED KINGDOM: The creation of the Palestine Regiment, of the British Army, is announced by Sir John Grigg. It will consist of separate Jewish and Arab battalions. (Syscom)

 

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8 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine 'U-379' is sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 57.11N, 30.57W, by ramming and depth charges from the RN corvette HMS 'Dianthus'. 5 of the 45 man U-boat crew survive. (Syscom)

German submarine 'U-98' sows mines off the waters of Jacksonville, Florida. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: Heeresgruppe A continues to advance south from the Kuban. Heeresgruppe B captures Surovniko.

Hptm. Karl-Heinz Schnell was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51 when Hptm. Richard Leppla, despite his injuries of the day before, was posted to JG 105.

Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 and his wingman, Uffz. Robert Wolter, attacked a formation of LaGG-3s and shot down 2 aircraft each.

Hptm. Gunther Hoffmann-Loerzer's IV./KG 1 was transferred from Stara-Bychow to Riga-Spilve. 11./KG 1 left Brjansk and joined the Gruppe at Riga-Spilve.

NORTH AMERICA: In the U.S., six of the eight German spies that landed on Long Island, New York, and Florida in June are executed in the electric chair in Washington, D.C. The other two spies, who turned themselves in to the FBI, were sentenced to 30-years and life imprisonment respectively. Both are released in 1948 by order President Harry S. Truman and returned to Germany. (Syscom)

Roosevelt and Churchill agree that command of "Operation Torch" will be vested in General Eisenhower. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: 11(Hoh.)./JG 2 was formed at Liegescourt.

 

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9 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Units of 1.Panzerarmee (von Kleist) captured the first Soviet oilfield at Maikop, near the Black Sea. The Red Army blew up the wellheads and the oilfields were left burning furiously, so little refined fuel was found and the Germans were denied the main prize of the summer campaign. Krasnodar and Yeysk, a port of the Sea of Azov, were captured by the German 17.Armee which was advancing behind the 1.Panzerarmee.

Oblt. Max-Helmuth Ostermann, the Staffelkapitaen of 7./JG 54, was shot down and killed over Lake Illmen in combat with 9 Soviet fighters. Oblt. Ostermann had 102 victories at the time of his death.

Pilots of JG 3 and I./JG 53 claimed 50 enemy planes around Kalach and Stalingrad. In fact, 8 VA and 102 IAD PVO lost only 19 planes.

Stab./JG 52 moved forward from Bjelaja to Armavir.

 

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10 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: German forces capture Soviet positions at Kalach on the west bank of the Don. (Syscom)

Lt. Walter Nowotny of 1./JG 54 crash-landed his Bf 109G-2 after shooting down 2 Soviet MiGs. The next victory attained by JG 54's Petajarvi unit, Detachment Philipp,was made by Uffz. Bruhn against a Curtiss P-40 over Lake Ladoga.

Rolf Diergaardt, a 29 kill Experte with JG 3, went missing in action as did Werner Schow of JG 53. Schow had 15 victories.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation PEDESTAL, a convoy bringing supplies from the U.K. to Malta, passes through the Straits of Gibraltar during the night of 10/11 August. The convoy of 14 merchant ships is escorted by two battleships, HMS 'Nelson' and 'Rodney'; four aircraft carriers, HMS 'Eagle', 'Furious', 'Indomitable' and 'Victorious'; seven light cruisers, HMS 'Cairo', 'Charybdis', 'Kenya', 'Manchester', 'Nigeria', 'Phoebe' and 'Sirius'; 33 destroyers; two tugs; four corvettes; four minesweepers; and seven motor launches from Malta. The Germans and Italians begins attack the convoy and In the late morning, the German submarine 'U-73' maneuvers past four destroyers, and from a distance of 500 yards (457 meters), fires four torpedoes at HMS 'Eagle'which strike the carrier on the port side. The ship sinks within six minutes about 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) north of Algiers, Algeria (38.05N, 03.02E). Two officers and 158 ratings (enlisted men) are lost but 927 crewmen survive and are picked up by two destroyers and a tug. Before HMS "Eagle" sank during Operation 'Pedestal', the British carrier delivered 37 Spitfires to the island of Malta during Operation 'Bellows'. (Syscom)

 

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11 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: In their advance south toward the Grozny oilfields, units of Heeresgruppe A (List) captured Elista near the Caspsian Sea. Soviet attacks against German positions at Rzhev stalled. Heavy losses were reported on both sides, with little territory changing hands. Chuguyev in the Kharkov sector falls to the Soviets. The advance on Poltava threatens to cut off the German units at Kharkov and further south. Therefore the III Panzerkorps is brought north from Taganrog. The use of Panzer forces as a mobile reserve is indicative of the weakness of the German Army on the Eastern Front.

On one of Hptm. Horst Carganico's missions over the Liza front and Murmansk, Hptm. Carganico of Stab II./JG 5 in his Bf 109F-4 trop, was involved in air combat with Russian fighters. His aircraft was hit from the rear starboard quarter with bullets passing through the fuselage and wings, and significantly, through the radiator - one bullet even crashing through a propellor blade - sufficent damage to cause an emergency landing but not enough to bail out. He was trying to get back to his own lines when the engine seized. Force landing, wheels up, in an area called Motowka (Motovskj Fjord) behind enemy lines and, again went missing overnight (it was nearly full daylight at that time of the year) and was again picked up by a Storch on the 13 August, returning to his unit.

Lt. Freidrich-Karl Mueller of I./JG 53 shot down 5 Russian aircraft while Uffz. Crinius of I./JG 53 downed 3 Russian aircraft. Hptm. Walter Spies' I./JG 53 then left Bereska for Tusow. Lt. Walther Hagenah of 2./JG 3 began his scoring by destroying a LaGG-3.

The fighters of JG 77 lost several pilots when Uffz. Hans Hoger of 6./JG 77 was shot down and captured while Fw. Franz Schulte of 6./JG 77, with 46 kills and Werner Steddin with 9 kills, went missing in action.

Major Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke was officially posted as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3, taking the place of Oblt. Gunther Lutzow.

The Bf 109s of III./JG 52 were shifted from Armawir in the southeast to Plastunovskaya, providing cover for the crossing of the Kuban River, which constituted a natural obstacle in the advance toward the large Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

British PM Churchill arrives in Moscow to meet with Stalin. The major reason for this trip is to inform Stalin there will be no 2nd Front in western Europe in 1942. (Syscom)

MEDITERRANEAN: The attacks on the Operation PEDESTAL convoy continued. At 09.15 hours, 20 Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the fleet. 2 cruisers, a destroyer and 2 merchants are sunk. One tanker and HMS 'Indomitable' are damaged. Then at 12.15 hours, the 'Deucalion' was damaged and sunk by a combined force of Italian and Luftwaffe aircraft totaling 70 planes. At 18.00 hours, 100 warplanes managed to sink the 'Foresight' and damaged the carrier 'Indomitable'. HMS 'Foresight' was attacked by Ju 87 and Ju 88 bombers and Italian S.79 torpedo bombers. 'Foresight' is disabled by a torpedo hit and taken in tow by 'Tartar' towards Gibraltar. Later it is decided to scuttle 'Foresight' by torpedo from Tartar rather than risk both destroyers being sunk. There were 4 casualties but 140 survivors. Location: 13 miles SW of Galita Island at 37 40N 10 00E. But at 20.00 hours the Luftwaffe had its most success. 20 German aircraft along with 2 submarines were able to sink the 'Cairo', 'Clan Ferguson' and 'Empress Hope'. The 'Nigeria', 'Brisbane Star', 'Kenya' and 'Ohio' were damaged. Cruiser HMS 'Cairo' is attacked by the Italian submarine 'Axum' which fired four torpedoes. 'Axum' claimed hits on a cruiser and a destroyer, but in fact he had hit cruiser HMS 'Nigeria' which had to return to Gibraltar, another torpedo hit the tanker 'Ohio', and the other two hit HMS 'Cairo' and blew off her stern: and made it necessary to scuttle her the next day, thus taking away the only two ships fitted for fighter direction. 'Axum's achievement of one cruiser sunk, another damaged, and a tanker damaged with a single salvo is unique in submarine history. Location: NE of Bizerta at 37 40N 10 06E. (Syscom)

NORTH AMERICA: The US light cruiser USS 'Cleveland' (CL-55), operating in the Chesapeake Bay, demonstrated the effectiveness of the radio-proximity fuze against aircraft by destroying 3 radio-controlled drones with 4 proximity bursts fired from her 5-inch (127 mm) guns. This successful demonstration led to mass production of the fuze. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: Oberst Hans Wolter was appointed Chef des Stabes of IX. Fliegerkorps.

 

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12 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three U.S. merchant vessels are sunk by German submarines off the U.S. coast. 1) 'U-171' sinks an armed tanker by torpedo and shells in the Gulf of Mexico in position 28.37N, 90.48W while the ship is en route to Port Arthur, Texas. 2) Later in the day, an unarmed freighter is sunk in the Atlantic in position 4.55N, 18.30W. 3) 'U-600' sinks an armed freighter in convoy TAW-12 in the Windward Passage in position 19.55N, 73.49W. The survivors are rescued by RN destroyer HMS 'Churchill' [ex USN destroyer Herndon (DD-198 ).] (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: German advances in the Caucasus reached Mineralniye Wody. Stab./JG 52 moved from Armawir to Mineralniye Wody and began converting to the Bf 109G. Major Hubertus von Bonin's II./JG 52 followed the Stab to Mineralniye Wody.

Lt. Ernst Weissmann of 12./JG 51 with 69 victories, went missing in action. Gefr. Karl Schnorrer of I./JG 54 claimed a Pe-2 between Yalamo and Lake Ladoga's northwestern shore.

GERMANY: The RLM suddenly gave orders to immediately halt construction of the He 177A-1/U2 and not to produce any more standard weapons equipment. This order followed a report by 1./FKG 50 that as a result of trials, the additional armament was responsible for a loss of speed around 100kmh (62mph). These results were subsequently proved incorrect with flight trials at E-Stelle Rechlin.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation PEDESTAL made port at Valetta but not before the Luftwaffe sent another 12 aircraft to attack the convoy. They succeeded in sinking the SS 'Wainarama' and further damaging the 'Ohio'. The 'Wainarama' was sunk by German Ju 88 dive-bombers off Cape Bon. Direct hits by 4 bombs ignited aviation fuel stored in cans on her deck. The ship exploded in a sheet of flames and smoke. In less than 5 minutes the ship was gone. Of her crew of 107, only 27 men survived. Later at 19.00 hours, the Luftwaffe sank a merchant straggler. The Operation PEDESTAL convoy was the most bombarded convoy in the entire war. (Syscom)

 

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14 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: German forces crossed the upper Kuban River at Krasnodar in the Caucasus. The German 6.Armee has almost finished clearing the elbow of the Don River in Russia. Because of a lack of mobile forces the Germans consider that too many potential prisoners have escaped to the east.

Fw. Richard Quante, a 49 victory Experte of 6./JG 51 was killed in action as was Oblt. Heinrich Kraft of 8./JG 51 who was killed by Russian AA fire.

Uffz. Otto Durkop of 1./JG 54 claimed a Pe-2 between Yalamo and Lake Ladoga's northwestern shore.

The Italian torpedo boat MAS 527 engages three Soviet gunboats on Lake Ladoga, sinking an 800-ton Bira-class gunboat. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: Two Ju 52s of III./KGzbV 1 were shot down into the sea by fighters over the Gulf of Sollum in northwest Egypt. 6 were killed and 2 were wounded.

US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) B-24s bomb the harbor at Tobruk during the night of 14/15 August. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: US 2d Lieutenants Joseph D Shaffer (33d Fighter Squadron) and Elza E Shahan (27th Fighter Squadron) jointly shoot down an Fw 200 Condor off the coast of Iceland. This is the first aerial victory of the USAAF in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). (Syscom)

Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower, Commanding General, European Theater of Operations US Army (ETOUSA), is appointed Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Forces. (Syscom)

 

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15 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Units of Heeresgruppe A reached the foothills of the Caucasus. 6.Armee (von Paulus) started its final drive from its Don bridgeheads toward Stalingrad.

Walther Dahl was appointed Geschwaderadjutant of JG 3, which was now based on the Russian Front. But the Geschwader lost Erich Schopper when he was killed in action. He had 7 kills to his credit.

Hptm. Philipp was instructed to transfer his Detachment Philipp I./JG 54 to Vyazma-North, but a couple of I./JG 54's aircraft and pilots remained at Petajarvi. Five Bf 109s of 3./JG 54 were tasked to perform fighter-bomber missions against Soviet naval vessels in Lake Ladoga. Hptm. Philipp was transferred to Vyazma-North but shortly afterward he became sick and was sent to hospital in Konigsberg. He would return to combat status only in early October 1942.

Major Hans Keppler of III./KG 1 was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of KG 1 in place of Oblt. Peter Schemmel. Hptm. Werner Kanther was appointed to command III./KG 1 in Keppler's place.

Hptm. Helmut Bennemann's I./JG 52 moved from Kertsch IV to Orel-Nord.

WESTERN FRONT: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning made its operational combat debut against the Luftwaffe when a pair of P-38Fs flying out of Iceland, shot down a Fw 200, assisted by a P-40.

 

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16 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The former Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51, Hptm. Richard Leppla was again seriously wounded in combat and was put out of combat operations for several months. In battles with Soviet aircraft, III./JG 51 lost 3 Staffelkapitaene along with Hptm. Leppla.

Major Johannes Steinhoff's II./JG 52 moved from Mariupol to Kertsch IV with their brand-new Bf 109Gs and replaced I./JG 52. Hptm. Otto Kohnke's II./JG 54 was ordered to the Eastern Front and began moving from Beauvais to Chatalowka.

GERMANY: The Geschwaderkommodore of KG 30, Hptm. Werner Baumbach was awarded the Schwerten, becoming the first bomber pilot to be honored with the award.

NORTH AFRICA: For the first time in the war, US Army Air Corps planes, operating out of Egypt, provided tactical air support for the British 8th Army.

 

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17 August 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-108' torpedoes and sinks an armed U.S. merchant tanker about 150 nautical miles (277 kilometers) north of Cayenne, French Guiana, in position 07.24N, 52.33W. Although the U-boat crew sees three men escape from the burning ship, they are never found. There are no survivors from the 41 merchant sailors and the 8-man Armed Guard. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: German forces in the Caucasus met their first serious opposition since crossing the Don at Rostov. The Germans capture Russian positions in Pyatigorsk and Yessentuki in the Caucasus.

GERMANY: Luftwaffe Test pilot, Heinrich Beauvais arrived at Augsburg to test fly the Me 262. Messerschmitt test pilot Wendel explained the unique characteristics of the jet including how to get airbourne by tapping the brakes. On the 3rd try to get aloft, Beauvais tapped the brakes but was not traveling fast enough and the jet crashed into a nearby field. The test pilot was unhurt but shaken and the jet was badly damaged.

MEDITERRANEAN: British submarine HMS/M 'Turbulent' fires two torpedoes that strike the Italian motor transport MV 'Nino Bixio'. One of the torpedoes explodes in a hold full of Allied POWs and 336 of them, including 120 New Zealanders, are killed. The ship does not sink and is taken under tow by an escorting Italian destroyer and twoed to Navarino, Greece. The survivors are shipped to a POW camp near Bari, Italy. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: B-25s of the 81st Bombardment Sqdn. (Medium) hit stores, depot and tank repair shops at Matruh, Egypt. This marked the debut of the B-25s of the 12th Bombardment Group in the Middle East.

NORTHERN FRONT: The recon flights of Luftflotte 5 were halted after 2 weeks of fruitless searching for an enemy that wasn't there. No Allied convoys to Russia were launched in August as all forces were occupied with Operation PEDESTAL in the Mediterranean.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF's VIII Bomber Command in England flies Mission 1. Twelve B-17E Flying Fortresses of the 97th Bombardment Group based at Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, takeoff at 1527 hours. The lead aircraft of the first flight of six is named "Butcher Shop" and is piloted by Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, the group commander; the co-pilot is Major Paul W. Tibbets, (the pilot of the B-29 "Enola Gay" which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.)The lead aircraft of the second group is "Yankee Doodle" and this aircraft carries Major General Ira C. Eaker, Commanding General, VIII Bomber Command. The B-17s rendezvous with four squadrons of RAF Spitfire Mk. IXs and proceed to the target, the Sotteville marshalling yard at Rouen France. A second diversion force of six B-17s took off at 1512 hours from Polebrook, Northamptonshire, headed for France but then turned around and returned to base. All 12 aircraft bomb at 1739-1746 hours; the bombing was reasonably accurate with about half the bombs falling in the general target area. The escorts kept Luftwaffe fighters at bay but one Bf 109 got within range and was claimed as damaged by a ball turret gunner. The main force returns to base shortly after 1900 hours. (Syscom)

 

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18 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Detachment Philipp./JG 54 reported only one aerial victory, a Pe-2 claimed by the Petajarvi unit's Uffz. Mayer near the island of Yalamo in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. 7./JG 54 was transferring from Relbitsy to Siverskaya and reported no victories.

 

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19 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The German 6.Armee was ordered to attack Stalingrad by General von Paulus. His 6.Armee began to take the city itself, although von Paulus had still not been joined by Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee. Major Hans-Joachim Ritter's I./KG 51 moved from Kertsch to Tazinskaja.

NORTH AFRICA: Obfw. Erwin Sawallisch of II./JG 27 was killed in a flying accident. He had 33 victories.

Between 4 and 19 August, all that 6./JG 27 had managed to bring down was a pair of Kittyhawks and 5./JG 27's only claim during the same period was the Bombay carrying Lt. Gen. Gott on 7 August. But 4./JG 27 - or to be more precise, just one schwarm of the Staffel - submitted claims during that time for no fewer than 59 Allied fighters destroyed. This huge discrepancy in numbers, and the lack of any witnesses other than the schwarm members themselves, gave rise to grave suspicions. But rathet than take the matter to higher authority, and possibly throw doubt and disrepute on the whole Gruppe, it was decided simply to break up the offending schwarm. It should be noted that a full 2 months were to pass before the erstwhile Schwarmfurhrer claimed his next victory and that one of his NCo pilots disappeared over the Med on 19 August for "reasons unknown" (some suggested he chose deliberately to dive into the sea rather than face accusations of making false claims and possible court-martial). The other 2 members however, went on to attain legitimate and respectable scores.

UNITED KINGDOM: F/O Bryan, flying Whirlwind P7046 and Sgt. Roberts in Whirlwind P7121 of RAF No. 137 Sqdn, were scrambled from Matlaske at 10.10 hours an directed towards a 'bandit'. While flying at an altitude of 4,000 ft off Happisburgh, they sighted a Do 217 about 1,000 feet below them. they dived on the Dornier together and opened fire. the German gunners returned fire. Bryan opened fire with a 3 sec burst and saw pieces flying off the Do 217. He then used up his remaining ammunition in 2 short bursts. Roberts moved in closer astern of the Dornier and fired 3 bursts. the 4 man crew of the Do 217E-4, belonging to 5./KG 40 were seen to bail out. The aircraft, by this time on fire, pulled up sharply before stalling and crashing into the sea.

WESTERN FRONT: THE DIEPPE RAID - The Dieppe Raid or Operation JUBILEE was an Allied attack on the German occupied port of Dieppe, Seine-Maritime on the northern coast of France. Over 6,000 infrantrymen, predominately Canadian were supported by large British naval and air contingents. Intended to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials while assessing the German responses, the raid was also intended to use air power to draw the Luftwaffe into a large planned encounter. Operation JUBILEE relied on the 2nd Canadian Infrantry Division under major General J.H. Roberts to attack Dieppe, Puys and Pourville, while the paratroop assaulted the flank gun batteries by an amphibious assault by Commandos. The massive Allied air support amounted to about 70 squadrons, with the overwhelming majority coming from RAF Fighter Command including 48 squadrons of Spitfires including all 3 famed Eagle squadrons, 4 squadrons of recon Mustangs and 7 squadrons of Blenheim and Boston light bombers, The opposing Luftwaffe forces were JG 2 and JG 26 comprised of about 200 fighters, mostly the new Fw 190, and about 100 bombers from II./KG 40 with Do 217E-2s, KG 2 with Do 217E-4s and 1(F)./123 with a variety of single and twin-engined recon types (including a single Fw 190A-3). On paper, at least, the Allies had a manifold numerical advantage. The flanking assaults failed for the most part. The ships carrying No. 3 Commando, approaching from the east and due to the ad hoc nature of the operation, not warned of its known schedule, ran into a Germany convoy. German S-Boats torpedoed some of the LCTs, coastal defenses were alerted and 80% of the attacking force was destroyed. Only a handful of the scattered Allied craft landed and from these only 18 Commandos reached and engaged their targets. Unable to destroy any of the guns, they were able to snipe on gun crews and prevent them from firing on the main assault. No. 4 Commandos landed in force and destroyed their targets, providing the only success of the operation. Most of No. 4 safely returned to England. This portion of the raid was considered a model for future commando raids. The Canadians in the center suffered greatly, at least in part due to the inexperience of Roberts, who unwisely committed the reserve force to the main beaches. The landing at Puys by the Royal Regiment of Canada was delayed and the potential advantages of surprise and darkness were lost. The well-placed German forces held the Canadians that did not land on the beach with little difficulty. 225 men were killed, 264 murdered and 33 made it back to England. The beach was defended by just 60 Germans, who at no time felt the need to reinforce their position. The main attack was at 3 points: The 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment (Calgary Tanks) in the middle with the Essex Scottish to the east and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry to the west. Attacking 30 minutes after the flanking assaults and onto a steep pebble beach, all the groups were met with intense fire. The eastern assault was held at the beach. The western assault gained a hold in a shorefront casino but few soldiers made it across the road and they were soon stopped. The tanks arrived a little late, only to discover their landing point was difficult. 29 tanks disembarked but only 15 managed to climb the beach and cross the sea-wall onto the esplanade under unrelenting fire. However they were completely stopped by anti-tank blocks, were immobilized or returned to the beach. The engineers whose job it was to clear such obstacles were unable to do so because of heavy fire which the tanks could not suppress. Back on the beach, the tanks provided fire support as best they could and covered the retreat. The supporting naval bombardment was supplied by destroyers, which did not have sufficent weight of broadside or range to destroy the German strongpoints without themselves coming under heavy fire. They were not able to communicate directly with those on the beach to make their bombardment effective. At 10.50 hours, a general order to retreat was issued. In the air over the landings, the RAF, USAAF and RCAF tried their best to support the operation. Air lossses consisted of 64 Spitfires (including 6 USAAF aircraft), 20 Hurricane fighter-bombers, 6 Boston bombers and 10 US P-51 Mk I 'Mustang' rmy cooperation aircraft - for 62 killed, 30 wounded and 17 POW. The P-51 'Mustang' made its combat debut over the skies of Dieppe. One of the Mustang-flying RAF pilots was credited with a German fighter kill. Luftwaffe losses were 23 Fw 190 fighters - 16 from JG 2 and 7 from JG 26 - and 25 Dornier Do 217s, mostly from KG 2. 14 pilots were killed - 8 from JG 2 and 6 from JG 26. The raid was generally considered to be an unmitigated tactical disaster, with no major objectives accomplished. 4,384 of 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded or catured. The RAF and RCAF failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle and lost 119 planes, whilst the Royal Navy suffered 555 casualties. The very inexperienced American pilots had performed reasonably well but they were clearly outclassed by the JG 2 and JG 26 Focke-Wulfs. Despite the inevitable overclaiming, this was clearly a victory for the Germans. The catastrophe at Dieppe later influenced Allied preparation for Operation TORCH and Operation OVERLORD.

 

[pbfoot]

I'd like to add a few things missing about Dieppe. Firstly you can't blame Roberts - most of the blame should be pointed at Mountbatten, it was his baby and plan. Now the Canadians asked to do something as the troops were getting pissed at sitting in the UK for 3 years away from home doing nothing but training so we got picked for Dieppe. The original plan called for thr RN to bombard the beaches with heavy naval units but the RN vetoed this as they feared losses of the capital ships leaving only destroyers to provide fire, also Bomber Command was reluctant to use the heavy bombers for the same reason.

The attack on the right flank at Varengeville and Pourville was a surprise but the South Saskatchewn Regt was landed on the wrong side of the of the Scie river and to perform their task had to take a bridge which by the time they got there was well defended. (I assume the 60 germans at the bridge) On the left flank The Royal Regiment of Canada, plus three Black Watch platoons and one artillery detachment, experienced unbelievable bad luck on the Puys beach. Their task was to neutralize machine-gun and artillery batteries protecting the Dieppe beach. Problems started during the crossing of the Channel and the barges arrived in disorganized waves, the first ones already twenty minutes behind schedule. By then, the darkness and smoke screens that should have concealed their arrival had been lifted and German defences were on high alert. As soon as they reached the shore, the men found themselves pinned against the seawall and unable to advance otherwise than in full view of the enemy. Since no ship could get close without being targeted and probably sunk, the survivors of the Royals and Black Watch were forced to surrender. Of the 556 men and officers of the Royal Regiment of Canada who sailed for Dieppe, over 200 lost their lives in action and 264 were captured, among them several wounded.

In the centre the same thing occured when the troops arrived before the tanks and therefore without artillery. Could you imagine Tarawa without artillery

"Almost all concerned believed that a raid on Dieppe was now out of the question; however, though Montgomery wanted it cancelled indefinitely, Mountbatten did not. He began reorganising the raid from 11 July as Operation Jubilee. Despite not receiving Combined Chiefs of Staff authorisation, Mountbatten instructed his staff to proceed in late July. This lack of top-level go-ahead resulted in certain dislocations in the planning. For example, the failure to inform the Joint Intelligence Committee or the Inter-Service Security Board meant none of the intelligence agencies were involved, consequently the operation was mounted on information that was months out of date."

'Dieppe,' the miniseries - The Contentious Legacy of Dieppe - CBC Archives interesting clip with a couple of historians discussing Dieppe. They do not care for Mountbatten

 

[Njaco]

20 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Russians counter-attacked to the north of Stalingrad, but elsewhere German troops reached the Volga. The German 48.Panzerkorps attacked northeast from Abganerovo, but could not break clear of the Russian defenses in the hills of Tundutovo. On their northern flank, 4.Korps was also facing resolute Russian resistance. The titanic struggle for Stalingrad had begun.

Major Hans-Joachim Blechschmidt was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./ZG 1 in place of Hptm. Wolfgang Schneck who was transferred to Schnellkampfgeschwader (SKG) 210. Major Johannes Steinhoff's II./JG 52 moved from Kertsch IV to Tusow. Major Ernst Freiherr von Bibra's III./KG 51 moved from Kertsch to Tazinskaja and joined the I Gruppe.

NORTH AMERICA: HQ US Twelfth Air Force is activated at Bolling Field, Washington, DC. This unit is tasked with supporting the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. (Syscom)

UNITED KINGDOM: In England, the principle of coordinated day and night bombing receives its first formal definition in the "Joint British/American Directive on Day Bomber Operations involving Fighter Cooperation. " The emphasis is placed on achieving continuity in the bombing offensive from the UK.

WESTERN FRONT: Two Spitfires were claimed shot down near Caen by Ofw. Josef Wurmheller of 1./JG 2. Over the Bay of Biscay, 2 RAF Halifaxes were claimed by aircraft from 13./KG 40, southwest of La Coruna.

The US Eighth Air Force flies Mission 3; 11 B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Longeau marshalling yard at Amiens, France at 1801 hours without loss. (Syscom)

 

[Njaco]

21 August 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Advancing along the east coast of the Black Sea, elements of the German 17.Armee (Ruoff) took Krymsk. Uffz. Gustav Horn of 4./JG 77 went missing in action and presumed dead as was Waldemar Semelka, an experte of JG 52 with 75 victories.

Major Kurt Ubben's III./JG 77 flew to Jesau from Charkow and gave up their Bf 109Fs for brand new Bf 109Gs.

MEDITERRANEAN: B-24s from 2 US squadrons hit a convoy southwest of Crete, claiming 2 ships probably sunk. Luftwaffe fighters attacked a straggling B-24 and forced it to crash-land at sea, Uffz. Hans Lauff of 7./ZG 26 making the claim.

NORTHERN FRONT: Oblt. Hans-Joachim Hartwein of Stab I./JG 5 with 16 victories, went missing in action.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF attacked the Wilton shipyards at Rotterdam with 12 B-17s from the 97th BG. As 25 Bf 109s along with Fw 190s from II./JG 1, led by Oblt. Detlev Rohwer, attacked the formation, the bombers were recalled because of a lack of fighter escort. Despite the bombers turning around, the Focke-Wulfs pressed home their attack and succeeded in inflicting the first combat fatality of the war upon the US 8th AF, although the damaged B-17 made it back to England with 1 airman killed and 5 wounded. The fighters of II./JG 1 suffered 2 aircraft damaged as a result of the battle.