This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Njaco]

12 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Germans extracated their 13.Panzerdivision after it was encircled south of Terek in the Caucasus. General Richthofen's Luftflotte 4 attacked the Russian bridgeheads at Kletskaya and Serafimovich on the Don River outside Stalingrad. After several pontoon bridges were destroyed, the Russians built new ones, constructed just below the surface of the water so they were invisible from the air.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine U-660 is scuttled about 32 nautical miles (58 kilometers) northwest of Oran, Algeria, after damages by depth charges from the British corvettes HMS 'Lotus' and 'Starwort'; 45 of the 47 crewmen survive. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: In Libya the British Eighth Army retook Sollum and Bardia while Panzerarmee Afika continued its withdrawl towards Tripoli. Bone was occupied in a joint operation by the British 3rd Parachute Battalion and the 6th Commando from 2 destroyers. The British First Army took Bone, 150 miles (241 kilometers) east of Bougie, without opposition, but German planes make damaging attacks later in day. The British No. 6 Commando lands by sea and secure the port. Allied fighters flew patrols over a wide area around Oran and escorted C-47s which dropped the 3d Parachute Battalion at Duzerville Airfield, southeast of Bone. The airfield was later bombed by Axis aircraft during the night. For the British, the "Third Benghazi Stakes" were off and running. And at this time it was to be a one-way race. The Germans were not only able to build up forces in Tunis and Bizerte but were allowed to take control of the unoccupied French areas in North Africa. General Walther Nehring was assigned to take over a new unit to be formed in Tunisia.

Units of the British 1st and 7th Armored Division enter Tobruk. (Syscom)

Major 'Edu' Neumann's JG 27 was to spared this final ignominy. After retiring to fields in western Cyrenaica, and having been forced to abandon many of their machines along the way, Stab, I and III Gruppen handed over most of their remaining Bf 109s to JG 77. they were then evacuated from North Africa. Newly arrived in North Africa, Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 was apponited Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 77. By this time the Luftwaffe in Tunsia had reached a total of 81 fighters and 28 dive-bombers and there were a handful of parachute troops and panzergrenadiers on the ground. Ju 52s began landing troops at a rate of 750 a day and at sea armaments poured in, including the formidable Tiger tanks, the dreaded 88 AA gun, field artillery and transport, despite interference from Maltese based British aircraft and submarines.

The Paratroop Task Force (USAAF 60th Troop Carrier Group and the 2d Battalion of the U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment) is placed under operational control of the British First Army at Algiers. In the air, USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters fly patrols over a wide area around Oran. (Syscom)

The US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) is dissolved and replaced by Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Ninth Air Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton. The major components of this unit are: IX Bomber Command (Brigadier General Patrick W Timberlake) at Ismailia, IX Fighter Command (Colonel John C Kilborn) en route to Egypt, and IX Air Service Command (Brigadier General Elmer E Adler). (Syscom)

The Ninth Air Force begins combat operations in Egypt, providing tactical air support to the British in the drive westward across North Africa. (Syscom)

German submarine U-130 slips in among the ships anchored in Fedhala Roads and fires three torpedoes at three USN transports. All three transports, USS 'Edward Rutledge', 'Hugh L. Scott' and 'Tasker H. Bliss', are hit and burst into flames and are abandoned. The first two ships sink shortly but USS 'Tasker H. Bliss' burns until 0230 hours tomorrow before sinking. (Syscom)

NORTH AMERICA: The Air Corps Board, which had been established before World War II to develop and determine military requirements, is redesignated the Army Air Forces Board. (Syscom)

NORTHERN FRONT: German submarine U-272 is sunk about 8 nautical miles (15 kilometers) north-northeast of Hela, Poland, after a collision with U-664; 19 of the 48 crewmen are lost. (Syscom)

UNITED KINGDOM: In London, Free French Brigadier General Charles DeGaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, informs Admiral Harold Stark, Commander, U.S. Forces in Europe, that there is no chance of the Free French coming to an agreement with Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, the civil and military chief of French North Africa. (Syscom)

 

[syscom3]

13 November 1942

GERMANY: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are sent to bomb Emden but only one aircraft drops bombs, which hit fields.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine U-411 is sunk about 185 nautical miles (343 kilometers) northwest of Casablanca, French Morocco, by four depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. V, aircraft "D" of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria; all 46 crewmen are lost.

During the night of 13/14 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 67 Lancasters and nine Stirlings to bomb Genoa, Italy; 70 aircraft bomb the city and docks.

NORTH AFRICA: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, Commander in Chief of the Vichy French Army, and U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Force, sign a formal agreement recognizing Darlan as head of the French civil government in North Africa. U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief Allied Force and French Generals Charles-Auguste Nogues, high commissioner of Morocco, and Alphonse-Pierre Juin, commander of Vichy forces in North Africa, will ratify it later. General Henri-Honer Giraud will command the French armed services. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, flies to Algiers to conclude the agreement with Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan.

Allied convoy arrives at B6ne and unloads 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group (later called Blade Force), 1st Parachute Brigade (-), transport of the 78th Division (-), and Advance Headquarters of the British First Army.

The main body of the 36th Brigade, 78th Division, advances to Djidjelli, 40 miles (64kilometers) east of Bougie.

Tobruk falls to the British Eighth Army's X Corps.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains, with P-38 Lightning escort, fly antiaircraft guns and aviation gasoline (petrol) to Duzerville Airfield. USAAF Spitfires patrol the Oran-Tafaraoui area.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 13/14 November, 12 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are dispatched to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: five lay mines off St. Nazaire and four off Lorient.

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos set out to Flushing to attack a damaged merchant ship but do not return. It is believed, however, that they did hit the ship again. Two more Mosquitos and six Bostons then take off to carry out a sea search for the crews of the two lost Mosquitos. These are not found and one of the Bostons is then lost.

 

[syscom3]

14 November 1942

MEDITERRANEAN: Two German submarines are sunk by RAF Hudsons:
- U-595 is sunk about 57 nautical miles (106 kilometers) north of Oran, Algeria, by depth charges from two Hudson Mk. IIIs of No. 608 Squadron based at Gibraltar; all 45 crewmen are lost.
- U-605 is sunk about 43 nautical miles (80 kilometers) north-northeast of Oran, Algeria, by depth charges from a Hudson Mk. III, aircraft "B" of No. 233 Squadron based at Gibraltar; all 46 crewmen are lost.

At 1947 hours, the Italian cargo/passenger ship SS 'Scillin' is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M 'Sahib' (P 212) in the Tyrrhenian Sea 10 nautical miles (18,5 kilometers) north of Cape Milazzo, in northern Sicily. The ship is carrying about 815 Commonwealth POWs from Tunisia to Sicily. 'Sahib' rescues 27 POWs from the water (26 British and one South African) plus the 'Scillin's' captain and 45 Italian crew members. Only then, when the sub captain hears the survivors speaking English, does he realize that he has sunk a ship carrying Allied POWs and some Italian soldiers and has drowned 783 men. At a subsequent inquiry into this "friendly fire" tragedy, the captain is cleared of any wrong doing as the ship was unmarked and at the time he firmly believed that it was carrying Italian troops. The Ministry of Defence keeps this incident a closely guarded secret for 54-years, telling relatives a pack of lies, maintaining that they had died while POWs in Italian camps or simply "lost at sea." It is not until 1996, after repeated requests for information from the families of the drowned men, that the truth came out.

NORTH AFRICA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires fly routine patrols in the Oran-Tafaraoui area and escort C-53 Skytroopers carrying paratroops from Gibraltar to Algiers.

Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to attack the harbor at Bengasi but only one locates the target and drops its bombs.

French Lieutenant General Georges-Edmond Barré, Commander-in- Chief Tunisia, prepares to go over to the Allies, by moving his troops away from the coastal towns in Tunisia.

NORTH AMERICA: At the Colorado River Relocation Camp for Japanese-Americans near Poston, Arizona, two popular inmates are arrested accused of attacking a man widely perceived as an informer. This incident soon mushrooms into a mass strike.

WESTERN FRONT: The 20,107 ton British troop transport SS 'Warwick Castle' in convoy MKF-1X (Mediterranean to U.K.) had landed troops for the North Africa landings and is empty on her return voyage. The ship is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-413 about 203 nautical miles (376 kilometers) west of Lisbon, Portugal. Of the 428 men aboard, 314 survive. This is one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats in World War II.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 19: 34 bombers are dispatched to hit U-boats pens at La Pallice but the target is covered by 10/10 clouds and 15 of 21 B-17 Flying Fortresses and nine of 13 B-24 Liberators hit the secondary, the port area at St Nazaire; one B-24 is damaged. Six B-24 Liberators fly a diversion for this mission.

 

[syscom3]

15 November 1942

GERMANY: The He 219V-1 prototype flew with test pilot Peter at the controls, only 11 months after the design request. The He 219 was concieved by Ernst Heinkel in the summer of 1940 as Project P.1060, a private venture multi-role aircraft. The design was rejected as too radical by the RLM, where Heinkel had a few enemies. By late 1941, night-bombing by the RAF had reached such serious proportions that the existing Ju 88 and Bf 110 night-fighters were unable to counter it. At the urging of Major General Josef Kammhuber, the RLM asked Heinkel to redesign the P.1060 as a radar equipped night-fighter. The Germans first used aerial intercept radar in early 1942 and the radar antennas, which looked like an array of toasting forks, slowed the Ju 88 night-fighter by some 40 kph (25mph). More speed was needed. The 'Uhu' was found to have excellent handling and performance qualities. The Uhu was the only piston-engined night fighter capable of meeting the British de Havilland Mosquito on equal terms.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Stonehenge; A convoy from Alexandria, code-named 'MW 13' - consisting of 4 merchantmen, 5 cruisers including HMS 'Euryalus' and 16 destroyers - set out to deliver 35,000 tons of supplies to Malta. Although the cruiser 'Arethusa' was badly damaged by German torpedo aircraft on the 18 November and had to return with over 150 casualties, the convoy got through. HMS 'Penelope' was damaged in this convoy but all the ships otherwise made Malta despite passing through a November gale. 3 Spitfires based on Malta were lost due to the severe weather. The convoy's arrival effectively marked the end of the long and bloody seige of the island. Since Operation Excess in January 1941, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 16 destroyers and 5 submarines had been lost in the many attempts to supply and reinforce the island, and in the heavy air attacks launched against the island.

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 78 aircraft, 40 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters and 11 Stirlings, to continue the raids on Genoa with further accurate bombing; 68 bomb the target without loss.

German submarine U-259 is sunk about 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers) north of Algiers, Algeria, by depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. V, aircraft "S" of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria; all 48 crewmen are lost.

NORTH AFRICA: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan assumes the position of High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa, appointing General Henri-Honer Giraud as commander in chief of French armed forces in North Africa.

The British First Army's 36th Brigade, 78th Division, captures Taberka on the coast road to Bizerte 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Tunis. The Germans have rapidly built up their forces in Tunisia and now count over 10,000 troops and over 100combat aircraft based on French fields. The Allied aircraft are flying from temporary fields which are not as close to the front. The British Eighth Army's X Corps captures Martuba Airfield which is soon occupied by the USAAF 57th Fighter Group.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators from two groups are sent to bomb Tripoli, but unfavorable weather prevents them from reaching the target. However, one group bombs a motor convoy, as well as an airfield and crowded roads in the Bengasi area. P-40s fly sweeps and fighter-bomber missions against the retreating enemy west of Martuba.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains transport the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Youk-les-Bains, near Tobessa and 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Bone.

UNITED KINGDOM: Church bells across Britain, silent since June 1940, pealed out this Sunday morning to celebrate victory at El Alamein. The bells of Westminster Abbey were broadcast by the BBC to occupied Europe and Germany. The bells of Coventry Catheral's only surviving bell-tower were heard with the 0900hour news on the second anniversary of the city's great Luftwaffe raid. Many bellringers had to be "lent" from the services.

WESTERN FRONT: British escort aircraft carrier HMS 'Avenger' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-155 about 47 nautical miles (87 kilometers) south of Faro, Portugal. The ship had participated in the Operation TORCH landings of North Africa and departed Gibraltar with convoy MKF-1 (Mediterranean to U.K.) yesterday. Early in the morning, U-155 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the convoy and one of the torpedoes hit the port side amidships, which in turn ignited her bomb room, blowing out the centre section of the ship. Her bow and stern sections rose in the air and sunk within two minutes, leaving only 12 survivors of the 526 crewmen aboard. Later in the day, German submarine U-98 is sunk about 72 nautical miles (134 kilometers) WSW of Ca¡diz, Spain, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS 'Wrestler' which is escorting convoy MKF-1; all 46 crewmen are lost.

During the night of 15/16 November, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off thee French ports in the Bay of Biscay: seven aircraft lay mines off La Pallice, three of Lorient and two off St. Nazaire. One aircraft is lost.

The Regent of Iceland, at the opening session of the newly elected Althing, speaks of Iceland's excellent relations with Britain and America. (The British troops had, now left Iceland, and have been replaced by Americans. The British had come against the will of the Icelanders but quickly gained their respect and sympathy; the Americans came at their request and according to their free agreement, and Iceland's respect and sympathy for the United States had increased on closer acquaintance. )

 

[syscom3]

16 November 1942

GERMANY: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb marshalling yard in three small towns: two each bomb Emmerich and Julich and one bombs Lingen.

During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomb Command aircraft lay mines off port cities: four lay mines in the Heligoland Bight south and east of the island of Helgoland with the loss of one aircraft; three mine the Elbe River Estuary; and one lays mines off Swinemunde. Twenty seven RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. Two RAF Bomb Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the strait between Sweden and Denmark.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine U-173 is sunk about 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) north of Casablanca, French Morocco, by depth charges from the USN destroyers USS 'Woolsey', 'Swanson' and 'Quick'; all 57 crewmen are lost.

NORTH AFRICA: Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander-in- Chief Free French Forces, announces that the Free French will not accept French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlana's authority; Darlan assumed the position of protector of French interests in North Africa yesterday. To the U.S. the arrangement is useful, while the British share the French apprehensions.

The British First Army continues their movement into Tunisia. The 1st Parachute Battalion lands at Souk el Arba, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tabarka. Several thousand Germans form a bridgehead in the Bizerte-Tunis area. The French XIX Corps reports contact with a German patrol on the Badja-Djebel Abiod highway. French forces at Oued Zarga and Mateur drive off Axis patrols. General Nehring arrived to command the Axis defenses in Tunisia. While the Vichy French in Northwest Africa came to terms with the Allies, Nehring was trying to get Vichy leaders in Tunisia away from possible neutrality and into active collaboration. Instead it was decided they would be made to remove their troops from positions or they would be seen as the enemy.

The newly arrived Jabo unit, III./ZG 2 began operations with low-level attacks on Allied shipping, harbours and airfields. The Gruppe flew their new Fw 190 jabos, having converted onto them in August and undergoing anti-shipping training at Cognac. III./ZG 2 (to be re-named III./SKG 10 in December 1942) was particularly succesful with the Focke-Wulf. The unit operated throughout the Tunisian campaign and attacked a variety of Allied targets including airfields, harbours, tanks, AA positions and on one occasion, a British submarine.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force C-47 Skytrains drop British paratroops at Souk el Arba. Six B-17's, of the 97th BGroup based at Maison Blanche, Algeria, raid Sidi Ahmed Airfield at Bizerte; thus the 97th which flew the first USAAF heavy bomber mission from the U.K., on 17 August, becomes the first Twelfth Air Force bombardment group to fly a combat mission in Africa.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Germiston area.

UNITED KINGDOM: In London, Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander-in- Chief Free French Forces, meets with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to protest the continuation of the regime of Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa. Churchill assures him that he understands his concerns and that the measure is only a temporary expedient aimed at facilitating the ouster of the Axis forces from North Africa.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 16/17 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five ports: eight aircraft mine the Gironde Estuary; three each lay mines of Bayonne and Lorient; and two each lay mines off St Jean de Luz and St. Nazaire; two aircraft are lost. Four other aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

 

[Njaco]

17 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: During the night of 17/18 November, an RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the port of Gdynia. (Syscom)

GERMANY: During the night of 17/18 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines: five lay mines off the Heligoland Bight the body of water south and east of Heligoland Island, three lay mines off the port of Danzig and two off Pillan. (Syscom)

MEDITERRANEAN: Convoy MW 13 - consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the light cruisers HMS 'Euryalus', 'Dido' and 'Arethusa' and ten destroyers, and known as Operation Stonehenge - passed Gibraltar bound for Malta.

German submarine U-331 is sunk about 35 nautical miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Algiers, Algeria. The sub had been badly damaged by depth charges from an RAF Hudson Mk. III or V of No. 500 Squadron based at Tafaraoui, Algeria, and the crew signaled surrender to a seaplane but is attacked and sunk by a torpedo-equipped Fleet Air Arm Albacore Mk. I from the British aircraft carrier HMS 'Formidable'; 17 of the 49 crewmen survived. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: The advance of the British Eighth Army reaches Derna on the coast and Mechili, inland. British troops at Djebel Abiod and French troops at Medjez el Bab repelled simultaneous German Attacks. The General Officer Commanding British First Army orders the 78th Division to concentrate for an advance on Tunis. The 36th Brigade, 78th Division makes contact with the Germans west of Djehel Abiod, 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Tunis. To the south, the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, occupies Gafsa Airfield. Elements of the British 78th Infantry Division tangled with German paratroops 70 miles west of Tunis, the first combat action in Tunisia, while the first clashes occurred between the newly landed US and German forces.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force air action is limited to routine patrols in the Tafaraoui area. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over Tobruk and the Derna road.(Syscom)

NORTH AMERICA: President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes the following statement regarding the U.S. political arrangements in North and West Africa:

"The present temporary arrangement in North and West Africa is only a temporary expedient, justified solely by the stress of battle. . . . Temporary arrangements made with (French) Admiral (Jean-Francois) Darlan apply, without exception, to the current local situation only."

WESTERN FRONT: Two locations in France were targeted by the US 8th AF. 65 B-17s and B-24s - including the Fortresses of the 303st BG flying its maiden mission - attacked the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. 15 Fw 190s attacked the last formation of the group -the 306th BG - and badly damaged several bombers, a total of 9 B-17s and 7 B-24s. 6 B-24s were dispatched to hit Maupertus Airfield at Cherbourg but aborted due to the cloud cover. 10 B-17s flew a diversion to cover the mission.

The Fw 190s of II./JG 2 began their transfer from Beaumont-le-Roger in France to Sicily and finally to Tunisia in North Africa.

During the night of 17/18 November, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the Danish island of Bornholm. (Syscom)

In Vichy France, Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain appoints Pierre Laval his successor, which reflects increasing German control over the Vichy French government. After the Germans invaded Vichy on 11 November, Petain had become nothing more than a figurehead. Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, receives the power to make laws and issue decrees. (Syscom)

The USAAF Eighth Air Force's flies Mission 20: 2 locations are targeted: Twenty three B-17's and 12 14 B-24's bomb the U-boats pens at St Nazaire but six B-24s dispatched to hit Maupertus Airfield at Cherbourg abort due to cloud cover. (Syscom)

During the night of 17/18 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country with the loss of one Halifax. Eleven other aircraft lay mines off two Bay of Biscay ports: six lay mines off Lorient and five lay mines off St. Nazaire. During the night of 17/18 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. (Syscom)

 

[Njaco]

18 November 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Spanish tanker SS 'Campares' rescues nine survivors (including six Armed Guard sailors) from the U.S. freighter SS 'West Kebar', sunk on 29 October. This is the third group of survivors to be rescued. The first group of 34 was rescued on 8 November and the second group of eight on 10 November. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: Three Finnish motor torpedo boats sink enemy gunboat 'Krasnoye Znamya'. The ship was raised on 13 November 1943 and recommissioned on 17 September 1944. (Syscom)

MEDITERRANEAN: The British convoy of 4 merchant ships, code-named MW 13 Operation Stonehenge and escorted by the 15th Cruiser Squadron under Rear Admiral Power, proceeded from Alexandria to Malta. The convoy, comprising 'Arethusa', 'Dido' and 'Euryalus' and 10 destroyers, was attacked by 6 He 111s of 6./KG 26, 150 miles to the northeast of Benghazi. The escort cruiser 'Arethusa' was damaged by a torpedo north of Derna with over 150 casualties and was towed back to Alexandria, remaining out of service for 12 months.

Twelve RAF Spitfire fighter-bombers from Malta each slung with two 500 pound (227 kilogram) bombs attack a chemical factory at Pachino, Sicily. During the night of 18/19 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 77 aircraft to bomb Turin; 71 hit the target. Many fires are started in the city center area and hits are also achieved on the Fiat motor factory. Turin records show that 42 people were killed and 72 injured. (Syscom)

The British minelayer HMS 'Welshman' arrives at Malta with more essential supplies. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: The British First Army's 36th Brigade, 78th Division, repels a German attack at Djebel Abiod, but the Hart Force (11th Brigade), spearheading the drive, becomes isolated in the region east of Djebel Abiod. Simultaneously, French forces of the XIX Corps at Medjez el Bab, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Tunis and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Mateur also repelled an attack. General Louis Barre, C-in-C of the French XIX Corps , rejected a German ultimatum to evacuate, signalling a switch from Vichy to the Allies.

Several USAAF Twelfth Air Force P-38's are damaged in an enemy air raid on Maison Blanche Airfield. (Syscom)

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17's bomb the marshalling yard and docks at Bengasi. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's flies Mission 21 and returned to raid the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire. 65 bombers were dispatched to hit targets against bases in France and lost 2 B-17s from AA fire and defending fighters. One bomber from the 367th BS 306th BG crashed in the Bay of Biscay and another from the 328th Bs 93rd BG crashed upon returning to England. Fw. Walter Ebert and Uffz. Herbert Gumprecht from 8./JG 2 claimed the 2 Fortresses. 21 of 34 B-17s hit La Pallice and 20 B-17s and 6 B-24s flew diversions for the missions.

In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, is granted, by Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain, the Head of the Vichy State, the authority to issue decrees solely on his own authority. This move underscores the decreasing practical importance of Petain. (Syscom)

During the night of 18/19 November, four RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country. (Syscom)

A little before 11.00 hours a Ju 88A-5 belonging to IV./KG 30 was observed circling Sejlflod, Denmark when one engine burst into flames and the bomber crashed into Kirkebakken hill. Only the wireless operator managed to bail out and landed safely. Navigator Gefr. Alfred Weber was thrown out of the aircraft when the Junkers hit the ground and was found next to the burning wreckage while the remains of pilot Uffz. Johann Freese and air gunner Uffz. Ernst Stock were found in the wreckage when the fire died down.

 

[Njaco]

19 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army unleashed Operation Uranus, a counter-attack on the German Forces at Stalingrad causing total surprise and mayhem. The attack was planned in strict secrecy by Zhukov and was aimed initially at the weakest links in the Axis positions - The Rumanian forces north and south of the city. The attacking Soviet units under the command of General Nikolai Vatutin consisted of 3 complete companies, the 1st Guards Army, 5th Tank Army and 21st Army, including a total of 18 infantry divisions, 8 tank brigades, 2 motorized brigades, 6 cavalry divisions and 1 anti-tank brigade. The preparations for the attack could be heard by the Rumanians who continued to push for reinforcements, only to be refused. The offensive, along 250 miles involved the forces of 3 Russian fronts, the south-west under General Vatutin, the Don under General Rokossovsky and the Stalingrad under General Eremenko. They were supported by 1,100 aircraft, one quarter of all of the Red Air Force. Equipped with the new La-5 and Yak-9 fighters, a new version of the Sturmovik battlefield bomber and US supplied Boston bombers, they were facing a worn-down Luftwaffe, depleted by the need to reinforce North Africa. At 07.30 hours, on a foggy, dank morning, 3,500 guns of Vatutin's Southwest Front opened fire on the positions of the 3rd Rumanian Army along the Don, 70 miles northwest of Stalingrad. The barrage lasted 80 mintes and was followed up by an immediate infantry assault. Elements of the Soviet 5th Tank Army overran the Rumanian left wing. Soviet 21st Army, spearheaded by the new 4th Tank Corps, struck the right wing. The Rumaninans held briefly, but they were soon routed. Thinly spread, outnumbered and poorly equipped, the 3rd Rumanian Army, which held the northern flank of the German 6.Armee, was shattered after an almost miraculous one-day defense. It was in a difficult position. Its 8 divisions were each holding at least twice the normal divisional frontage. Four of those divsions had every battalion of footsoldiers - even the engineers - actually in the frontline. The other 4 divisions each had one battalion in reserve, instead of the recommended two. Shortages of mines and barbed-wire left much of 3rd Army's extended front inadequately fortified (3rd Army was also short of every type of munitions except grenades, 60mm mortars and anti-tank ammo.). The Rumanians were largely situated on open terrain - perfect for tank attacks. Since late August, the Russians had established 2 bridgeheads across the now frozen Don river, the only natural barrier in the 3rd Army sector. Although some Rumanian units resisted staunchly, the powerful concentrations of Russian forces quickly achieved breakthroughs (in part because the 47mm and captured Soviet 45mm anti-tank guns used by most Rumanian units could not stop the heavier Russian tanks). The intact lines of the Rumanian 6th Division - under Mihai Lascar, one of the best Rumaninan commanders - formed a rallying point for other Rumaninan units driven back by the onslaught. The 13th Division resisted stubbornly, knocking out 25 Soviet tanks before its right flank was overwhelmed by 3 Russian infantry divisions. Part of the division managed to fall back into the pocket forming around 6th Divison. Mazarini's 5th Divsion (Rumania) was overrun by Soviet tanks, but most of this unit also fell back into the 3rd Army pocket. Sion's 15th Division, on the shoulder of the breakthrough area, defeated an attack by 35 Soviet tanks supported by infantry, knocking out 5 tanks and taking 45 prisoners. Later a significant portion of 15th Divsion would break out and reach Axis lines, but Sion would be killed during the attempt. Despite the tough Rumanian resistance in most places, the Soviets achieved their planned breakthroughs in both sectors. The central portion of the Rumanian 3rd Army's front - consisting of all or part of 5th, 6th 13th and 15th Divisions - was bypassed and soon completely encircled, while the Soviet spearheads raced on deep into the Axis rear, making for Kalach, where the road and rail lines supporting the Germans in Stalingrad crossed the Don. An Axis armoured corps stationed in reserve behind 3rd Army and consisting of the German 22.Panzerdivision and Rumanian 1st Armoured Division, attempted to counter-attack to seal off the breach, but found themselves attacked and seperated instead and were quickly forced over to defensive fighting. The surrounded 3rd Army pocket would hold out for 5 days before surrendering, the Rumanian Army Chief-of-Staff Steflea's pleas to Hitler for an early breakout attempt denied. Losses to the 3rd Army would reach 75,000 men and 34,000 horses in less than 5 days. Aside from parts of 15th Division, only one detatched battalion of 6th Division - which held a rear-area airfield with Luftwaffe help until early December - would manage to breakout and regain Axis lines. The 6.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee's hurriedly dispatched mobile units to bolster the unprepared and crumbling Rumanian defensed west and south of the Don. In the Rumanian 4th Army sector, the Russians took 10,000 prisoners. The Germans were desperately trying to stem the tide, but they faced 10 new Russian armies spearheaded by 900 T-34 tanks backed by 13,500 heavy guns. Soviet 1st Tank Corps was advancing southeast to the Don river in a deep flanking move. Soviet 26th Tank Corps was heading to the important supply center and major Don crossing point at Kalach. Meanwhile, Soviet 4th Tank Corps was aimed at Golobinsky, to hit the immediate area behind Stalingrad. All the Germans had to halt the attack was the much depleted 48.Panzerkorps. In the midst of all this, Hitler relinquished his command of Heeresgruppe A to von Kleist. The Battle of Stalingrad had entered a new phase.

Romanian chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ilie Steflea, urges Antonescu to authorize a break-out of the trapped units in the 3rd Army pocket at once. But the Romanians are operating under German command. Chancellor Adolf Hitler refuses a withdrawal plan by General Kurt Zeitzler, who had replaced General Franz Halder as Army Chief of Staff, that would have allowed General Friedrich Paulus, commander of 6.Armee, to pull out of Stalingrad and strike the Soviet forces from the rear, crippling their offensive.

GERMANY: In order to test the new ejection seat to be used in He 219 'Uhu' night-fighters, GenLt. Josef Kammhuber, Kommandeur XII. Fliegerkorps, allowed himself to be shot to a height of 4 meters at 6g acceleration on a ground rig.

John Amery, son of Leopold Amery, Churchill's Secretary of State for India and Burma, makes his first broadcast from Berlin, attacking the British government for its alliance with the U.S.S.R. and "the Jews." Amery himself is, possibly unwittingly, half-Jewish, but his actions are enough to ensure his execution as a traitor a little more than three years later.

NORTH AFRICA: The British Eighth Army recaptured the key Libyan port of Benghazi as Rommel's Africakorps continued to retreat westwards, but that was the only good news for the Allies in North Africa. Elsewhere their armies were meeting tough resistance from German forces, now being reinforced by an airlift into Tunisia. Already the Germans had forced the British back to Djebel Abiod. The Germans launched limited attacks at Djebel Aboid and Medjez el Bab but were stopped by British and Free French forces. The French garrison withdrew from Medjez el Bab to Oued Zarga after repulsing German attacks that utilized tanks and infantry under General Nehring. The British engaged a German tank column only 30 miles from Tunis while the British Army occupied Cyrenne in Lybia. B-17s, escorted by p-38s, bombed El Aouina airfield, Tunisia.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, bomb Carthage Airfield, 1.6 miles (2,6 kilometers) west of El Aouina.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Wellingtons to lay mines off two Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft lay mines off St. Nazaire with the loss of one and four lay mines off Lorient.

 

[syscom3]

20 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The second half of the Soviet offensive designed to encircle the German 6.Armee at Stalingrad is launched, this time striking the Romanian 4th Army, holding positions south and east of the city. Most of the blow falls on the depleted Romanian 1st and 2nd Divisions. The main Soviet attacks target an 18-mile (29 kilometer) stretch of front held by five battalions of the 1st Division, and an 11-mile (18 kilometer) sector defended by four battalions of 2nd Division. The Soviets have almost 400 tanks available to support these efforts, while the Romanians have no tanks at all (the only Romanian armored division in existence was supporting the Romanian 3rd Army north and west of Stalingrad). The Red Army's assault achieves a stunning success almost at once (and much more easily than in the previous day's attack on 3rd Army). More than two Soviet divisions overwhelm the four battalions of the Romanian 2nd Division, and that afternoon a full mechanized corps is pushed into the breech in the lines created. Part of this force then swings north and smashes into the right flank of the Romanian 20th Division. This unit's 84th Infantry Regiment is virtually wiped out after resisting six Russian tank attacks, and its engineer battalion suffers a similar fate. Nonetheless, the division commander, Major General Nicolae Tataranu, manages to retreat with the remnants of his unit into the Stalingrad pocket, where his men will be trapped along with the Germans (for this he was awarded the German Knight's Cross). Tataranu himself, however, will later fly out of the pocket, feeling it his duty to report personally to the high command on the appalling conditions inside the Stalingrad perimeter, and on what he feels is the shabby treatment accorded to the Romanians there. Prime Minister Ion Antonescu, the Romanian military dictator and commander-in- chief, sees it differently, and Tataranu narrowly escapes a court-martial and potential firing squad for deserting his post. The Red Army takes 10,000 prisoners from the 4th Army on the first day of the assault, and make a complete breakthrough. Probably their biggest setback during the day comes when the three tank brigades of the Soviet 4th Mechanized Corps run into one of the few Romanian minefields, leading to the disabling of 50 vehicles. The Romanian motorized 6th Rosiori (cavalry) Regiment is hurled into a counterattack, but quickly find themselves surrounded. They will eventually fight their way back to Axis lines, but only after losing 65% of their men, including the regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel Harconitza, killed while leading an attack with a rifle in his hands. The Soviet spearheads race toward Kalach in the German rear, where they will soon link up with the forces that broke through the Romanian 3rd Army front the previous day, thereby trapping more than a 250,000 Germans in Stalingrad. Although the 18th Division will subsequently prove helpful in limited offensive operations to assist the Germans, the bulk of the Romanian 4th Army is virtually finished as a fighting force, its officers and men demoralized at all levels. The malaise includes the commanders of the VI and VII Corps, as well as the 4th Army commander General Constantin Constantinescu- Claps. These two corps will virtually melt away before a renewed Soviet offensive against their new positions just before Christmas, and the Germans will find it necessary to withdraw what is left of the 4th Army from the front by the end of December.

MEDITERRANEAN: During the night of 20/21 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 232 aircraft, 86 Lancasters, 54 Wellingtons, 47 Halifaxes and 45 Stirlings, to bomb Turin; 200 aircraft bomb the target, the largest raid to Italy during this period. Three aircraft, a Halifax, a Stirling and a Wellington, are lost. This is another successful attack, with large fires being started. Dense smoke prevents further observations of the effects of the bombing but the casualty roll in Turin, 117 dead and 120 injured, confirms that many bombs fall in the city.

Convoy MW-13 (Egypt to Malta) consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the light cruisers HMS 'Euryalus' and 'Dido' and ten destroyers, arrives at Malta with 35,000 metric tonnes (38,581 tons) of supplies. The Maltese people have been surviving on 1,500 calories per day and are close to starvation. This effectively ends the siege of Malta.

NORTH AFRICA: During the night of 20/21 November, Axis aircraft bomb the harbor and Maison Blanche Airfield at Algiers, destroying several aircraft.

Benghazi falls to X Corps, British Eighth Army. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the battle area near Bengasi.

French XIX Corps units, together with British and attached U.S. forces, withdraw from Medjez el Bab to Oued Zarga, 10 miles (16 kilometers) west, where forward elements of Blade Force (former 17/21 Lancers Regimental Group), British First Army, are located. The main body of Blade Force is concentrated in the Souk el Arba area. The British 1st Parachute Battalion is holding Badja.

NORTH AMERICA: The USAAF Antisubmarine Command activates HQ 25th and 26th Antisubmarine Wings at New York, New York, and Miami, Florida, respectively. These two wings will have administrative and operational control of all USAAF antisubmarine squadrons based in the eastern U.S.

UNITED KINGDOM: In Essex, Mr. Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin (b.1912), assistant works manager, helps put out a fire after a massive blast at a munitions factory, preventing further explosions and deaths. He is awarded the Empire Medal.

WESTERN FRONT: In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, broadcasts a message to the. nation stating that he intended to collaborate even more closely with Germany than in the past. He states that the United States and England are now;

"tearing France limb from limb. . . . It is in the interests of France and in the interests of the peace to come that we are attempting reconciliation with Germany.... The entente with Germany is the sole guarantee of peace in Europe."

During the night of 20/21 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly two missions: four Stirlings lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary and eight drop leaflets over the country.

 

[syscom3]

21 November 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USN destroyer USS 'Somers' intercepts German blockade runner SS 'Anneliese Essberger' in the South Atlantic. The German ship was spotted by aircraft on 7 November when the ship was outward bound through the Bay of Biscay. The ship is scuttled by her crew about 720 nautical miles (1 334 kilometers) southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

A German submarine is listed as missing and one is sunk:
- U-184, with 50 crewmen, is listed as missing about 318 nautical miles (590 kilometers) ENE of Saint John's, Newfoundland; there is no explanation of her loss.
- U-517 is sunk about 479 nautical miles (888 kilometers) southwest of Cork, County Cork, Eire, by depth charges from a Fleet Air Arm Albacore Mk. I, aircraft "I" of No. 817 Squadron in the British aircraft carrier HMS 'Victorious'; 52 of the 53 crewmen survive.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviets have 34 divisions advancing on a 50 mile (80 kilometer) front opposite the Rumanian Third Army. At Stalingrad, the situation in the rear of 6.Armee is deteriorating fast, not least owing to the fact that Army HQ is being relocated which leads to serious disruptions in communications with the troops in and outside the city.

NORTH AFRICA: Axis enemy aircraft again hit Algiers, damaging several aircraft and destroying a B-17.

Fourteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24's bomb Tripoli harbor, scoring a direct hit on a warehouse and during the night of 21/22 November, RAF bombers follow the U.S. raids with staggered attacks. P-40s patrol the battle area south of Bengasi.

Elements of the British Hart Force (mobile task force based on the 11th Brigade, 78th Division), succeed in rejoining the 36th Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. The Axis forces withdraw to the east bank of the river at Medjez, but the 78th Division is too weak to follow up and is ordered to await reinforcements. The 2d Battalion of U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment withdraws from Gafsa to Fariana, 40 miles (64 kilometers) north.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17's bomb Carthage Airfield west of El Aouina.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 21/22 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 30 bombers to lay mines off five ports in the Bay of Biscay: eight lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary, six each lay mines off Bayonne and Lorient, five lay mines off St. Nazaire and two lay mines off St. Jean de Luz.

 

[syscom3]

22 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Nazis liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Dunilowicze, Poland by herding the Jews into a large barn and then murder all 888 men, women, and children.

A Soviet counteroffensive against the German armies pays off as the Red Army traps about a quarter-million German soldiers south of Kalach, on the Don River, within Stalingrad. As the Soviets' circle tightened, German General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, requests permission from Berlin to withdraw. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler will not allow a withdrawal and it is then only a matter of time before the Germans will be forced to surrender.

GERMANY: During the night of 22/23 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 222 aircraft, 97 Lancasters, 59 Wellingtons, 39 Halifaxes and 27 Stirlings, to bomb Stuttgart; 191 aircraft bomb and ten, five Lancasters, three Wellingtons and two Halifaxes are lost, 4.5 per cent of the force. A thin layer of cloud and some ground haze conceals Stuttgart and the Pathfinders are not able to identify the centre of the city. Heavy bombing develops to the southwest and south and the outlying residential districts of Vaihingen, Rohr, Mohringen and Plieningen, all about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the centre, are hit. Eighty eight houses are destroyed and 334 seriously damaged; 28 people are killed and 71 injured.

NORTH AFRICA: U.S. Major General Mark Clark, Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Force, acting on orders from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, agrees to recognize French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan as High Commissioner for French North Africa providing he acts in accordance with American wishes.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Derna area.

The 36th Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army, repels an attack at Djebel Ahiod. The 11th Brigade of the 78th Division completes concentration at Badja. French and U.S. troops reoccupy Gafsa.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 22: 68 B-17's and eight B-24's are dispatched to hit the Keroma U-boat pens at Lorient; only 11 B-17's find a gap in the 10/10 cloud cover and bomb at 1410 hours local without loss.

During the night of 22/23 November, an RAF Bomber Command aircraft drops leaflets over Paris.

 

[syscom3]

23 November 1942
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-172 torpedoes and sinks the 6,630 ton British freighter SS 'Benlomond' about 254 nautical miles (470 kilometers) north of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The ship is en route from Port Said, Egypt, via Cape Town, South Africa, to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. The only survivor of the 47-man crew is Poon Lim, the 49-year-old chief steward, who climbs into an empty raft and spends the next 133 days floating in the Atlantic Keeping alive with fish he catches with a crude fishing line and hook, he eventually is rescued by a Brazilian fishing boat which takes him to Belim Para, Brazil, 595 nautical miles (1 101 kilometers) west of where the ship sank. There, the British consul arranges for him to return to the U.K. where he is awarded the British Empire Medal and the Ben Line Shipping Company presents him with a gold watch. Poon Lim now holds the world's record as the longest lifeboat survivor.

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet forces capture the bridge over the Don River at Kalach in a surprise attack. Linking up with the tank forces of the Soviet 51st Army the encirclement of Stalingrad begins. The priority is to methodically destroy the Germans at Stalingrad. They believe there are 85,000 that will be cut off. The German forces actually number some 300,000.

MEDITERRANEAN: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 Lightning escort, sent to bomb the airfield at Elmas abort due to bad weather.

NORTH AFRICA: French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner for French North Africa, announces that French West Africa now accepts his authority.

Retreating before the British Eighth Army, Panzerarmee Afrika reaches El Agheila, the starting-point of its great counter-offensive that began on 21 January 1942.

Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) is moved from Gibraltar to Algiers. A verbal agreement is reached that all troops north of the Le Kef Zaghouan Line are to be under command of the British First Army and those south of it under French command.

Dakar, Senegal, falls to Allied forces without a shot.

NORTH AMERICA: The Bill authorizing the Women's Reserve, U.S. Coast Guard (SPARS) is signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Secretary of State Cordell Hull announces that a satisfactory agreement had been reached between the American negotiators and local authorities in French Martinique, Windward Islands, West Indies. He states that it will be unnecessary for American troops to occupy Martinique or other French possessions in the West Indies, and that the new agreement covered all French Caribbean possessions and French Guiana.

UNITED KINGDOM: Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Lord of the Admiralty, writes to Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker, Commanding USAAF General Eighth Air Force, praising the effects of the US bomber attacks on disorganizing the servicing schedule of the German U-boat bases on the French west coast.

WESTERN FRONT: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 23: 50 B-17s and eight B-24s are dispatched to hit the St Nazaire submarine base for the fifth time in two weeks; the cumulative effect of the operation on the base is large though the sub shelter shows little permanent damage. Twenty eight B-17 and eight B-24s hit the target with the loss of four B-17 Flying Fortresses; the USAAF crews report a change in fighter tactics from rear to head-on attack as the Luftwaffe learns that the B-17 and B-24 are weak in forward firepower.

During the night of 23/24 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off five Bay of Biscay ports: four lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary; three each lay mines off Bayonne, Lorient and St. Nazaire; and two lay mines off St. Jean de Luz.

During the night of 23/24 November, 15 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.







24 November 1942:
EASTERN FRONT: German General Erich von Manstein, commanding 11.Armee, is ordered south to restore the situation with the German Army Group Don. He finds nonexistent resources. Other than the surrounded 6.Armee at Stalingrad and two remaining divisions of the Rumanian 3rd Army he has one division holding positions at Elista. Other commanders reluctantly hand over some reserves resulting in a slow buildup of his forces. Much of his problem is created by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's order to hold on at Stalingrad. He issues this order after the wild claim by the commander of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Hermann Goering, that Stalingrad could be held by resupply by air. Goering's Luftwaffe will lose about 500 aircraft in the process of failing to resupply 6.Armee. He will evacuate 42,000 wounded and some specialists. Soviet forces of the Stalingrad Front are exploiting their breakthroughs; on central front, are attacking in vicinity of Veliki Luki and Rzhev.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British submarine HMS/M 'Utmost' is sunk NW of Sicily by depth charges from the Italian torpedo boat 'R.N. Groppo'.

NORTH AFRICA: The presidents of the General Councils of Oran, Algiers and Constantine denounce French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, High Commissioner for French North Africa, for acting under the authority of Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain, Head of the Vichy French State. The Presidents express their opinion that in doing so the Admiral has shown that he has fulfilled none of the conditions which would allow him to assume the powers of an independent and legal government.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol the Oran-Nouvion-Tafaraoui area, and fly sea patrol off Oran and destroy several aircraft and attack ground targets in the vicinity of Gabes, Tunisia. USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 Lightning escort, are dispatched against the harbor at Bizerte but must abort because of bad weather. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna areas.

The front is quiet generally as General Bernard Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, plans an assault on the El Agheila bottleneck. The British army forces must be regrouped and supplies and reinforcements amassed. The British First Army is ordered to advance on Tunis, with Tebourba and Mateur as first objectives. The main body of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, begins a move from Tafaraoui, Algeria, to Tunisia; forward elements (1st Battalion of 1st Armored Regiment) arrive at Bédja and are attached to Blade Force.







25 November 1942
MEDITERRANEAN: A British Special Operations Executive (SOE) team uses 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of plastic explosives to blow up the Gorgopotamos Railway Bridge over the river of the same name. Up to 50 trains a day carrying supplies to support the Axis forces in North Africa rumble over the bridge in central Greece bound for the port of Piraeus. The bridge is located on the Salonika-Athens rail line about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from Athens. Protective cover is provided by two mutually suspicious Greek guerrilla detachments, one made up of E.D.E.S. nationalists and the other of E.L.A.S. Communists. In reprisal, 14 Greek hostages are executed by the Italian occupation forces. Ever since, Communists and rightists have argued about whose guerrillas deserved the greater glory at the bridge and in the war generally.

NORTH AFRICA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force Spitfires and P-38 Lightnings fly widespread reconnaissance missions over coastal regions. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s escort minesweepers in the vicinity of Bengasi harbor. During the night of 25/26 November, RAF bombers bomb Tripoli harbor.

NORTHERN FRONT: Five hundred thirty one Jewish women and children are seized and deported from Oslo to Auschwitz concentration camp in the suburbs of Oswiecim, Poland . Of the 740 Jews deported from Norway, only 12 survive the war. As many as 930 Norwegian Jews escape into Sweden.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 25/26 November, RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: three aircraft lay mines off Brest, two off Lorient and one off St. Nazaire.

Five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines in the Frisian Islands during the night of 25/26 November.

 

[Njaco]

26 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Red Army forces closed the Don River, capturing Krasnoye, Generalov and Selo. The Russians noted the increased number of Luftwaffe supply missions over Stalingrad and changed tactics in order to destroy the German air force and starve the Germans in the city. It became the primary mission of the Soviet Air Force. At most of the airfields expected to assist in the Stalingrad airlift, the Russians were starting to press attacks on the ground. At the airbase at Oblivskaya, a motley crew of defenders led by Flak officer Eduard Obergehtmann repulsed a Soviet attack. The group was supplied by anti-tank Hs 129s and even a squadron of Hs 123 biplanes belonging to SchG 1. After moving from Millerovo to Frolov and Oblivskaya, II./SchG 1 began a maximum effort around Stalingrad at the cost of at least 8 Hs 129Bs, Hs 123As and Bf 109Es lost in ground attack missions or blown up to prevent capture by the on-coming Russians. Stab./SchG 1 was forced to abandon its base at Oblivskaya and withdrew to the west. 4 (Pz)./SchG 1 was deployed along the Chir front, west of Stalingrad. The airfield was used as the HQ for VIII Fliegerkorps and in the middle of the battle, General von Richthofen landed and asked for his Chief-of-Staff, General Fiebig. When told he was manning a machine gun, von Richthofen ordered General Fiebig and his staff back to Tazinskaya. Almost no supplies were dropped on Stalingrad during the day. As General Fiebig noted in his diary;

"Weather atrocious. We are trying to fly but its impossible. Here at 'Tazi' one snowstorm succeeds another. Situation desperate."

Despite the weather 12 aircraft did take off and brought only 24 cubic meters of fuel to Pitomnik airfield. Because of this poor showing by the Ju 52 units, General von Richthofen began gathering all available He 111 units to the area to drop supplies. Colonel Ernst Kuhl was given command of the situation and he ordered 2 Gruppen from his own KG 55 along with planes from I./KG 100, KGzbV 5, KGzbV 20 and KG 27, totaling about 190 Heinkels, to assist in the supply problem. For cover of the bombers-turned-transport he was given JG 3 and a Gruppe each of Stukas and anti-tank planes.

Operation 'Mars' continued as Konev (West Front) committed his second echelon and mobile forces to the breakthrough operations. Casualties in the lead 20th and 31st Armies were devestatingly high and little headway was made against the German defenders. The Soviet follow-up forces were being jammed into a desperately small bridgehead and German artillery played havoc with their approach march. The Germans countered by releasing 9.Panzerdivision to shore up their defense. On the western face, the Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps was committed. This attack was very successful tearing a hole in the German lines 20 km wide and 30 deep. The Germans countered by committing the 1.Panzerdivision and the elite Grossedeutschland division.

In the first 3 months after returning to operational duty, Oblt. Gunther Rall, Staffelkapitaen of 8./JG 52, raised his score to over 100 victories, being awarded the Eichenlaub by Hitler.

NORTH AFRICA: The British First Army continues to advance. Blade Force engages in its first armored battle on the plain south of Mateur.The British 78th Division re-took Medjex el bab while US tank forces raided the airfield at Djedeida. Caught by surprise, the Luftwaffe suffered many losses on the ground, yet surprisingly the raid did not badly disrupt German air operations. The offensive began in the morning with a spearhead of more than 100 tanks from the 1st Battalion, US 1st Armoured Regiment. In the afternoon, 17 M3 tanks of Co. 'C' (Major Rudolph Barlow) on a recon mission pushed through German forces at Tebourba and El Bathan and arrived at Djedeida airfield. When the Americans realized the oppourtunity that they had, they quickly moved onto the airfield and began crushing or shooting up the many Axis aircraft located there. The tank crews claimed 20 or more aircraft destroyed and shot up buildings, supplies and the defending German troops. After the attack, the tanks fell back to join the rest of Blade Force, which bivouacked near Chouigui overnight. The Luftwaffe units based at Djedeida were I. and III./JG 53 with Bf 109Gs and II./StG 3 with Ju 87Ds. Most of II./StG 3 had moved to Djedeida on the afternoon of 20 November, although some of the unit's Ju 87s were still at El Aouina airfield near Tunis. II./StG 3 flew 4 successful missions earlier in the day and 48 sorties against vehicles and tanks. I. and III./JG 53 flew scrambles, sweeps and provided escort for the Stukas. Lt. Munzert of 2./JG 53 made the only claim by Djedeida-based fighters, claiming a Spitfire west of the airfield. Shortly afterwards the tanks appeared. There was great activity as the fighter pilots ran to their aircraft to take off. Arndt-Richard Hupfeld of 1./JG 53 recalled;

"There was a mad scramble when British tanks reached out base. Messerschmitts took off in every direction. All of a sudden I saw a '109' coming straight toward me - a head-on collision would have been unavoidable had the other aircraft's cowling not flown off just as it was about to lift off, wherupon the other pilot closed the throttle and did not take off. I just cleared the other aircraft and thus avoided a catastrophe."

Some fighter pilots got into the air and began to stafe the tanks, including Ofw. Hans Kornatz of 2./JG 53. The JG 53 pilots claimed to have set 8 tanks on fire. Lt. Jurgen Harder of 7./JG 53 wrote in a letter home;

"We were at a rather exposed forward airfield, and at about 16.30 a big surprise raid by tanks hit our base. Suddenly there was shooting; 800m away there were 20 tanks rolling toward us. I just made it to my machine and took off 200m in front of the leading tank. To make a long story short, the fellows drove over the field firing wildly, setting the aircraft on fire and shooting up everything. And how! Several aircraft got airbourne and it happened that 6 were already in the air going after Spitfires that had made earlier strafing attacks. Now we set upon the tanks. Me's dove from all sides. It was a terrific scene, and machines burned on the ground below. We succeeded in setting 5 tanks on fire - 2 of them by me. Our men crouched down in their slit trenches and let the monsters roll past. Everything went according to plan; the servicable trucks fled the field overloaded and all reached Tunis by the next day. One could still call this good luck in bad - no aircraft lost and no men. Its a good thing we were in the air and were able to beat off the attack; otherwise it would have gone badly for the Gruppe. All this happened 30km from Tunis and we all figured that our encirclement would be completed during the night."

Although there are some inaccuracies in Lt. Harder's account, it gives a good idea of the chaos caused by the American tanks. I. and III./JG 53 were not seriously affected by the raid and both flew many missions during the last 5 days of November. II./StG 3 lost 24 Ju 87s. I./JG 53 flew at least 4 missions from Djedeida before transferring to Sidi Ahmed. III./JG 53 moved to El Aouina. One of these units escorted 2 Ju 87s from II./StG 3 to attack tank concentrations. II./StG 3 flew just 2 sorties then transferred to El Aouina.

Twelve USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly three missions against the port area at Tripoli, scoring direct hits on two vessels, one B-24 bombs a ship at Homs harbor while P-40s patrol over the Bengasi and Derna area. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 26/27 November, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off two Biscay Bay ports: two each lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire. (Syscom)

During the night of 26/27 November, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands. (Syscom)

 

[Njaco]

27 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Heeresgruppe Don (von Manstein) was formed to relieve Stalingrad. Manstein was tasked with holding the line between Heeresgruppe Sud and Heeresgruppe A as well as conduct a relief attack to Stalingrad. Meanwhile, Red Army infantry and artillery poured across the Don River as new lines facing Stalingrad and facing outward against the expected relief attempt began to form. On the eastern end of the Rzhev salient, after regrouping from the disorganized appraoch march and river crossing against constant artillery attack, Konev and Zhukov launched their reserves against the German 39.Panzerkorps. Soviet casualties were appalingly high, but the bulk of 6th Tank Corps and some elements of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corp slipped between German strongpoints into the rear of the German lines. To the west, German resistance in the city of Belyi had been fierce. Russian reserves were being bled white in futile attacks against the city. Meanwhile the breakthrough south of the city went unexploited for lack of troops.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Lancasters and Stirlings to bomb Stettin but they are recalled and jettison their bombs in the North Sea.

MEDITERRANEAN: Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Portolago Bay, Leros Island, hitting two vessels.

NORTH AFRICA: British troops were only 22 miles from Tunis. Tebourba, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Tunis, falls to the 11h Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. A German counterattack on the town, supported by tanks and dive bombers, is thrown back. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British First Army.

Pilots of II./JG 2 scored several victories against the RAF. Oblt. Buhligen claimed 2 kills and one each went to Oblt. Dickfeld and Ofw. Goltzsch for a total of 4. Over Tunsia, II./JG 51 attacked a formation of Spitfires and claimed 7 shot down for no losses. Hptm. Hartmann Grasser claimed 2 Spitfires as did Fw. Anton Hafner of 4./JG 51. RAF 324 Wing recorded that of 5 sweeps made, two were badly bounced from cloud cover, but no details of the actual losses were recorded. Fw. Rudolf Beck of 9./JG 51 was killed in a flying accident.

UNITED KINGDOM: Under a Fuhrerbefehl (Hitler Order) that vengeance attacks on southern England were to be carried out by fighter units, 2 Fw 190s from 5./JG 26 made the first attack on a railroad train on the Dungeness peninsula. The locomotive exploded and the flying debris damaged one of the Focke-Wulfs and it crashed, killing the pilot.

French Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, broadcasts from London a message to the French people stating that the Toulon fleet had scuttled itself to be spared;

"...the supreme shame of seeing French ships become the ships of the enemy."

"Patriotic instincts" had swayed the spirits of the crews and their commanders.

WESTERN FRONT: To bolster the defenses around Paris, 9./JG 26, led by Lt. Otto Stammberger, flew to Beaumont-le-Roger airfield, south of Le Harve and became subordinated to III./JG 2.

The port of Toulon is occupied by the German 7.Panzerdivision, supported by the SS 'Battalion Langemarck' (from the "Das Reich" division) and the 10.Panzerdivision. Forewarned, Admiral Jean de Laborde, commander of the high seas fleet, orders his fleet scuttled and three battleships, seven cruisers 16 submarines and 50 other craft lie on the bottom of the harbor. He ensures that all ships scuttled will rest on even keels in the hope that some day they can be salvaged to sail for France again. It is not the French, but Italian engineers who are the first to salvage the ships. In nine months, Italian engineers are able to salvage 30 ships. They then confiscated the 30 vessels along with
everything that is salvageable above the waterline. Some items confiscated are the aircraft catapult and turret armor of the Battle Cruiser 'Strasbourg', and the interior fittings of the battleship 'Dunkerque'. Seven French destroyers and a submarine are either towed or sail on their own power to ports in Italy.

During the night of 27/28 November, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines in the River Gironde Estuary.

During the day, two RAF Bomber Command A-20's bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden. During the night of 27/28 November, five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Texel Island.

 

[syscom3]

28 November 1942

EASTERN AFRICA: Nearly one third of the Vichy-controlled garrison of Djibouti crosses into British Somaliland and declares its adherence to the Allies.

EASTERN FRONT: In the Rzhev battles along the eastern face, local German counterattacks slowed the Soviet advance. The advanced elements of Konev's forces (6th Tank and 2nd Guard Cavalry Corps) were isolated from the rest of the front.

INDIAN OCEAN: The 6,796 ton troop transport HMT 'Nova Scotia' en route from Aden to Durban, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-177 about 132 nautical miles (244 kilometers) northeast of Durban, South Africa. The ship is carrying 780 Italian POWs and 130 South African troops acting as guards plus 127 crewmen. Of the 1,037 aboard, 863 are lost.

Free French destroyer FFL 'Leopard' enters the harbor at St. Denis, Reunion Island. A battery on the Galets peninsula opens fire but is quickly silenced and Vichy Governor Pierre Emile Aubert agrees to yield without further resistance. This 969 square mile (2 510 square kilometer) island is located about 425 miles (684 kilometers) east of Madagascar and about 110 miles (177 kilometers) west-southwest of Mauritius.

MEDITERRANEAN: For the third time this month, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Turin. During the night of 28/29 November, 228 aircraft, 117 Lancasters, 47 Stirlings, 45 Halifaxes and 19 Wellingtons are dispatched: 195 bomb the target with the loss of three aircraft, two Stirlings and a Wellington. Part of the force bombs before the Pathfinders are ready but the remainder carry out very accurate bombing, some of it around the Royal Arsenal. Turin records 67 people killed and 83 injured.

The Italian submarine R. Smg. 'Dessie' is sunk by the British destroyer HMS 'Quentin' and the Australian destroyer HMAS 'Quiberon', now part of cruiser Force Q operating out of Bone, off the Tunisian coast northwest of Bone.

NORTH AFRICA: The British First Army's 11th Brigade of the 78th Division and elements of Combat Command B (2d Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment), U.S. 1st Armored Division, reach the outskirts of Djedeida, 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Tunis. This is the point nearest Tunis to be reached until the final phase of the campaign. To the south, the Germans evacuate Pont-du-Fahs, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Tunis. At Gafsa, elements of the U.S. 1Ist Infantry Division (3d Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 26) are attached to the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

The British destroyer HMS 'Ithuriel' is badly damaged in bombing attacks on the port area of Bone and not repaired.

Reinforcements for II./StG 3 were brought over from Sicily and on the 28th the unit was able to fly 5 missions and 24 sorties. II./StG 3 lost 27 Ju 87D-3/Trops and 4 Ju 87D-1/Trops to enemy action in November. Records of the Fliegerfuhrer Tunis indicated 8 Ju 87s lost to enemy action, and if the 24 were added from the Djedeida tank raid, the figures match almost perfectly.

In Tunisia, 35 B-17s of the US 97th BG (Heavy) and the newly-arrived 301st BG (Heavy) bombed Bizerte airfield and dock area and killed Lt. Theodore Eichler of II./JG 2 and his aircraft, an FW 190A-4, was damaged. Because of mud, no P-38 escort was provided. Two B-17s were lost to fighter attacks. B-26s of the newly-arrived 319th BG (Medium) bombed oil tanks, warehouses and rail yards at Sfax, marking the debut of US 12th AF medium bombers in North Africa.

NORTH AMERICA: The first production Ford-built B-24 Liberator rolls off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In February 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed. Built specifically for Ford's war production, Willow Run is the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that has made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hopes to produce 500 B-24s a month. After a gradual start, that figure is reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July 1944, the Willow Plant is producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who work at Ford's Willow Run plant have produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably has a significant impact on the course of the war.

The Air Forces Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida, is redesignated Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command.

WESTERN FRONT: The Vichy admiralty issues a statement on the scuttling of the fleet at Toulon. The action was taken;

"...in accordance with the standing instruction dating from the time of the Franco-German armistice, which had ordered the fleet to scuttle rather than be taken over by a foreign power. When the Vichy Ministers for the Navy, Army, and Air Force were informed of the German Government's decision to occupy Toulon, Admiral Jean-Charles Abrial, Minister of Marine and Minister of Industrial Production in the Pierre Laval government, tried immediately to get in touch with the local authorities at Toulon, but could not do so."

During the night of 28/29 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 19 aircraft minelaying off Bay of Biscay ports: six lay mines off St. Nazaire; five off Lorient; four off Brest; and one in the River Gronde Estuary. Five other aircraft drop leaflets over French cities.

 

[Njaco]

29 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Konev's tank and cavalry force, cut off in the Rzhev battle, began breakout operations, moving west in an attempt to meet up with the 1st Mechanized Corp still advancing on that front. The carnage was incredible but large portions of the trapped forces escaped.

Oblt. Detlev Rowher, Staffelkapitaen of 2./JG 3, was badly wounded by flak during a low-level attack near Chir. He managed to bring his Bf 109G-2/R1 to friendly territory where he landed safely. His recovery period was a lengthy one.

MEDITERRANEAN: Lancaster bombers demonstrated their unique lethality by dropping a new 8,000 lb bomb on Italian soil for the first time. There were 11 raids on Turin in the last 8 days and now, as well as the new Blockbuster bomb, the RAF hit the city with 100,000 IBs and other HE bombs. Two Stirlings and a Wellington went missing during the raids.

Following a raid on the Fiat works at Turin, F/S Rawdon Hume Middleton, RAAF, flew his aircraft back to England then ordered his crew out of his badly shot-up Stirling, and died when he crashed into the sea to avoid civilian casualties. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

NORTH AFRICA: In Tunisia, the British First Army, after taking Tebourba on 27 Nov., was stalled at Djedeida. A Ju 87D-3/trop of II./StG 3 was badly shot up by AA fire and crashed on its return to Djedeida, killing the crew. In an effort to rejuvenate the drive on Tunis, elements of the British 1st Parachute Brigade were dropped at Depienne by US 12th AF C-47s, but the objective of capturing Oudna airfield and threatening Tunis failed because of an overwhelming defense of the airfield. The German infantry put up a heavy resistance. Over 300 casualties were suffered by the paratroopers.

P-38s and DB-7s attacked Gabes airfield while other US fighters operated with the RAF out of Bone, Algeria, furnishing air cover for ground units in the battle area.. Fw. Fritz Karch downed a Spitfire of RAF No. 152 Sqdrn on patrol over Bone airfield. Oblt. Buhligen and Ofw. Goltzsch from II./JG 2 also had kills this day. But with the victories came the damage. Fw. Ernst Bossecket of 5./JG 2 was wounded in a collision with a Bf 109 from 5./JG 53 at Bizerte airfield. And Fw. Alois Schnoll was wounded when he crash-landed at Bizerte following combat.

5./StG 1 arrived at Tunis / El Aouina after being delayed enroute by bad weather.

 

[Njaco]

30 November 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet forces began to probe German positions along the lower Chir River. Von Manstein managed to form up a scratch defense that was able to hold against the limited attacks.

The moment for withdrawing 6.Armee had passed. Vatutin, Rokkosovsky and Yeremenko had pushed well past the rear areas of von Paulus' forces, bringing 'Uranus' and 'Saturn' to a halt at the banks of the Don and Chir rivers. The 6.Armee was now over 40 miles from the front lines. Hitler felt that a fighting withdraw through the consolidated Russian positions without adequate armour or transport could only have a "Napoleonic ending". Unable to do anything meaningful about relieving the predictament of 6.Armee, Hitler resorted to propaganda. Now that the beseigers had been turned into the beseiged, Hitler proclaimed von Paulus' forces as 'Fortress Stalingrad'.

The first of Colonel Ernst Kuhl's combination transports and bombers was flown when 40 He 111 bombers flew with the few Ju 52s left available airlifting supplies to Stalingrad. After trying for almost an hour, the bombers finally landed at Pitomnik airfield, bringing - for the first time - 100 tons of supplies.

As the attacks by the 20th and 31st Armies against the Rzhev salient faltered, Zhukov reinforced failure by committing the 29th Army and 5th Tank Corps to the area.

Deportations of Polish Jews approach completion. Since the concentration camps opened, 600,000 Jews have been murdered at Belzec located on the Lublin-Lvov railroad line near Zamosc; 360,000 at Chelmno near Chelmno; 250,000 at Sobibor near Wlodawa; and 840,000 at Treblinka near the small town of the same name. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: As the 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, continues a losing battle at Djedeida, the British First Army prepares for an attack on Tunis by Blade Force and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division on 2 December. Combat Command B is concentrated in the Medjez el Bab area and Blade Force in the vicinity of Chouigui. By this time, Axis forces have about 15,500 fighting troops in Tunisia. (Syscom)

In Tunisia, B-17s bombed the north quay at Bizerte. B-26s hit the airfield and railroad at Gabes and DB-7s attacked a bridge and railway station at Djedeida. P-38s escorted all 3 missions. Other P-38s strafed Gabes airfield and shot down a Bf 109 in an aerial battle near Tunis. Lt. Horst Wunderlich of 6./JG 51 went missing after combat. Fw. Anton Hafner of 4./JG 51 claimed a P-38 southwest of Tunis. Elements of the British 1st Army remained hard pressed at Djedeida.

5./SchG 1 at Tunis - El Aouina flew its first combat mission against British tanks and vehicle columns near Tebourba.

NORTH AMERICA: The New York Times runs one of the first articles on the unfolding story of the Holocaust. That article, under the headline: "1,000,000 Jews Slain by the Nazis, Report Says" is only six paragraphs long and buried on page 7. (Syscom)

UNITED KINGDOM: In a meeting between RAF and USAAF officers at the Air Ministry, a joint decision is made on the allocation of responsibility, with the RAF to provide aerial defense of sectors in which U.S. airfields are located while the USAAF Eighth Air Forces VIII Fighter Command operates principally as escort for bomber strikes against the Continent. (Syscom)

WESTERN FRONT: Luftflotte 2 listed 89 Ju 87s on strength with 50 of them servicable. 3./JG 1 was renamed 6./JG 51. A new 3./JG 1 was formed at Wangerooge on the same date.

During the night of 30 November/1 December, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off La Pallice without loss. (Syscom)

 

[syscom3]

1 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the English Channel, the British antisubmarine warfare trawler HMS 'Jasper' is torpedoed and sunk by the German motor torpedo boat S-81.

EASTERN FRONT: The Russian 8th and 16th Air Forces were assigned the destruction of the Stalingrad Airlift. A heavy snow brought down the tonnage of supplies delivered by the Luftwaffe from the high of 100 tons from the day before. The full impact of the harsh Russian winter set in. The Volga froze solid, allowing the Soviets to supply their forces in the city more easily. The trapped Germans rapidly ran out of heating fuel and medical supplies, and thousands started dying of frostbite, malnutrition and disease.

In early December KG 50 was transferred to Zaporozhye in south Russia for winter trials with 20 He 177As. Due to the worsening situation at Stalingrad, the unit was promptly applied to the transport role, although only 7 aircraft were servicable. On the first operation, the Gruppenkommanduer, Major Kurt Scheede was lost and the Heinkels were found to be totally unsuited for the transport role. The unit quickly reverted to bombing missions in support of the Army. I./KG 50 flew 13 missions and lost most of its aircraft.

2./JG 4 was formed in Mizil (Rumania) and joined 1./JG 4.

NORTH AFRICA: The Germans launched a counter-offensive at Chouigni, Djedeida and Tebourba with air support including 23 Fw 190s of III./ZG 2. Later in the day, Fw 190s from II./JG 2 shot down a P-38 of the US 49th FS . I./KG 54 was employed to support the Wehrmacht south of Tebourba. The Axis forces forestalled an offensive, intended for 2 December, counterattacking strongly toward Tebourba with tanks and infantry supported by aircraft. Blade Force falls back with heavy tank losses. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British 78th Division to help hold the Tebourba area and moves forward to the vicinity of Tebourba. The concentration of the 78th Division, the first full division of the V Corps, British First Army, on the Tunisian front, is now complete.

From December 1942 onwards, the Luftwaffe attacked Tebessa and the nearby 12th AF airfields reguarly. The Luftwaffe bombed the railyards and trains traveling to the front. The US Air Force members in Eisenhower's Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Coast Defense Committee routinely screamed for more protection for the forward air bases.

The Allies began attacking Axis air bases in the Tunis / El Aouina areas. DB-7s and later B-17s, bombed El Aouina with P-38s escorting both forces. The first attack occurred at 09.00 hours and destroyed 30 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. A Bf 109 was shot down out of the sky by a 14th FG P-38 over the airfield. In the afternoon another Allied attack destroyed a further 15 airplanes on the ground. In the Djedeida area, P-38s on a sweep attack tanks northwest of the town.

With the support of the American and British governments, Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan assumes authority as the Chief of State in French North Africa.

NORTH AMERICA: The U.S. government imposes gasoline quotas to conserve fuel. The armed forces overseas have fuel aplenty, but in the U.S., gasoline becomes costly and hard to get. People start using bicycles and their own two feet to get around.

At major league baseball meetings in Chicago, Illinois, travel restrictions are the order of the day. Owners decide to restrict travel to a three-trip schedule rather than the customary four. Spring training in 1943 will be limited to locations north of the Potomac or Ohio Rivers and east of the Mississippi River.

UNITED KINGDOM: Major General Ira C. Eaker replaces Major General Carl Spaatz as Commanding General USAAF Eighth Air Force. Spaatz flies to Algeria to serve as air adviser to Lieutenant General Eisenhower, Commanding General European Theater of Operations and Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force.

 

[Njaco]

2 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Stalingrad and Don Fronts launched massive attacks against the Germans encircled in Stalingrad. Fighting was very heavy and losses were high on both sides although little progress was made in reducing the perimeter. Further north, at Rzhev, the German 41.Panzerkorps began a counter-attack on the west face of the salient. That attack succeeded in destroying the Soviet 47th Mechanized Brigade.

Heavy snows and ice prevented the Luftwaffe from flying many missions over Stalingrad. It took hours to thaw out the airplanes and machines because there was no cover for repairs and aircraft were serviced in the open. Consequently the availablity rate fell to 25%.

GERMANY: A Canadian bomber crew gets key data on German airborne radar in a prelude to a big bomber offensive. They return badly shot up. During the night of 2/3 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 112 aircraft, 48 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 22 Stirlings and 15 Wellingtons to bomb Frankfurt;84 bomb the target and six aircraft, three Halifaxes and one each of the other types, are lost, 5.4 per cent of the force. There is thick haze and the Pathfinders are unable to establish the location of Frankfurt. Most of the bombing falls in country areas southwest of the city; it is possible that a decoy fire site is operating. Two aircraft bomb Mainz and one attacks Hochst.

MEDITERRANEAN: At 17.05 hours on 1 December HMS 'Quentin' left Bone harbor with four other units of Force 'Q', - the British light cruisers HMS 'Aurora' (Capt. W. G. Agnew, flying the flag of Vice Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt), HMS 'Argonaut', HMS 'Sirius' and "Quentin's" sistership, the Australian destroyer HMAS 'Quiberon'. The purpose of the sortie was intercepting an Italian / German convoy in the Sicilian Narrows carrying tanks and 2,000 troops to North Africa. This convoy, designated 'H', sailing from Palermo and heading towards Bizerte, consisted of the Italian freighters "Aventin', 'Puccini', 'Aspromonte' and the German 'KT 1' and was escorted by Italian destroyers 'Nicoloso da Recco', 'Camicia Nera', 'Folgore' and the Italian torpedo boats 'Procione' and 'Clio'. Force 'Q', proceeding at high speed, attacked the convoy on the night of 2 December, destroying it completely. The British naval squadron was guided to its target by RAF aircraft dropping flares. All 4 freighters and the 'Folgore' were sunk, while 'Nicoloso da Recco' and 'Procione' sustained severe damage. Nearly 2,000 Italian soldiers and important supply goods for the German units in Tunisia were lost. The British suffered no damage, demonstrating once more their mastery of night attacks. As soon as the attack on the convoy became known, II Fliegerkorps received orders to intercept. The following morning, while returning to Bone, the ships of Force 'Q' were 50 nautical miles from Cap de Guarde (Algeria) when they came under air attack, first from German torpedo bombers of KG 26 then by a formation of 13 Ju 88s. At 03.15 hours, 12 He 111 torpedo bombers of I./KG 26 and 4 Ju 88 torpedo bombers of III./KG 26 took off from Sardinian airfields. These were followed shortly by aircraft from Sicily, who could put in the air 13 Ju 88 bombers of KG 54 in 3 groups of 3, 4 and 6 planes respectively. The first to attack the British ships were the torpedo bombers but due to poor weather, they reported attacking a convoy off La Galite island. The majority of the aircraft failed to find Force 'Q'. At 06.36 hours, in the uncertain predawn light, HMS 'Quentin' was then attacked by 3 Ju 88s of I./KG 54 and the crews reported one 500 kg bomb hit in the side of the destroyer, leaving her dead in the water. The 2nd wave, of 4 more Ju 88s, dropped their bombs on 'Quentin' while the 3rd wave - 6 Ju 88s of III./KG 54 - bombed 'Quiberon', which was seen to stop and started trailing a large oil slick. The bombers then proceeded to Bone to attack harbor targets. 'Quentin's' condition appeared to be desperate and the crew was removed by HMAS 'Quiberon' while under attack. 'Quentin' sank within 4 minutes, at 06.40 hours with 20 dead. At 08.55 hours - well over 2 hours after HMS 'Quentin' had been hit - 8 S.79 torpedo bombers took off from Elmas airfield to search for and attack what remained of Force 'Q'. Five planes belonged to the 238th Squadriglia (Major Franco Melley) and 3 to the 280th Squadriligia (Capt. Guiseppe Cimicchi). Once in the air, Major Melley's plane had engine trouble and aborted the mission, while the remaining 7 planes carried on in single formation. Approaching the British ships, they were attacked by Spitfires. North of Bizerte, P/Os Hamblin and Lindsay, of RAF No. 242 Sqdrn, attacked first followed by Wing Cmdr Hugo, CO of RAF 322 Wing. Between them they shot down 4 of the torpedo bombers. The remaining 3 dropped their loads and reported overly optimistically to have hit a cruiser and a freighter. P/O Hamblin was shot down by defensive fire from the bombers and bailed out, never to be seen again.

NORTH AFRICA:The Allies continued attacks on German airfields with raids on the Tunis/El Aouina, Bizerte/Sidi Ahmed and Gabes airfields along with the harbor at Bizerte. Allied troops beat off an attack on Tebourba but lost 40 tanks. U.S. forces (2d Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment with the 3d Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 26, U.S.1st Infantry Division) in conjunction with French troops attack Faid Pass, 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Gafsa. B-17s hit the Bizerte/Sidi Ahmed area and B-25s attacked AA guns near the Gabes airfield. OB Sud reported bringing 174 aircraft into action this day: 53 bombers, 55 fighters, 13 fighter-bombers and 28 recon aircraft. The Luftwaffe lost 9 fighters shot down by the Allies during the day.

III./ZG 2 lost its Gruppenkommandeur when Hptm. Wilhelm Hachfeld - known as "Bomben Willi" because of his success with the Fw 190 Jabo - was killed when he collided with a landing Bf 109 as he was taking off. Hptm. Hans-Jobst Hauenschild of the 8th Staffel replaced him as Gruppenkommandeur. Oblt. Buhligen of II./JG 2 destroyed a Spitfire from RAF No. 72 Sqdrn over the German counter-offensive.

A Ju 87D-3/trop of II./StG 3 was shot down by a British fighter over Tebourka on the coast near the Tunisian-Algerian border. The Staffelkapitaen, Major Hans Einwachter and one other was killed. II./StG 3 and its Stukas then moved to Protville northwest of Tunis.

NORTH AMERICA: At the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, the first manmade, self-sustaining atomic chain reaction is achieved. In a squash court under the university (American) football stadium a group of scientists led by the Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, allows the "pile" of uranium, insulated by graphite rods, to run for 4.5 minutes, which produces just one half-watt of power, but proves man can control atomic power. Scientists wait in awe as the neutron counter clicked faster. Then Fermi raises his hand.

"The pile has gone critical,"

he said. Someone telephoned Dr. James Conant, the head of defense science in Washington.

"Jim," he said, "the Italian navigator has just landed in the new world."

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 2/3 December, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets.

 

[Njaco]

3 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: In the English Channel, the British escort destroyer HMS 'Penylan' is sunk by a torpedo from the German Motor Torpedo Boat S-115, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Start Point, Devon, England. She is escorting coastal convoy PW-257 at the time.

EASTERN FRONT: In the past two days, the Russian Air force had destroyed 28 Luftwaffe aircraft over Stalingrad. From this date onwards, Luftwaffe losses increased from 30 to 40 aircraft demolished per day.

Several German divisions, previously stationed in France, began arriving in Heeresgruppe Sud, southwest of Stalingrad, in preparation of Operation "Winter Tempest" (Unternehmen Wintergewitter), the relief of the encircled 6.Armee.

NORTH AFRICA: 10.Panzerdivision launched limited attacks, capturing Djedeida and Terbourba. Major Herbert Wallace Le Patourel, Hampshire Regt., led 4 men at Terbourba, who after silencing several guns, all became casualties. He fought on alone until his capture. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

The British 1st Army finally withdrew from Terbourba as the German forces, through continous attacks, occupied the city during the night. The air battle intensified over Terbourba and Djedeida. Oblt. Buhligen, Oblt. von Bulow and Lt. Bansch of II./JG 2 each downed a Spitfire of RAF No. 152 Sqdrn but the Gruppe lost 2 pilots wounded against Spitfires from RAF No. 72 Sqdrn.

B-17s of the 97 BG (Heavy) hit the docks and shipping at Bizerte harbor. DB-7s, with P-38 escort, bombed El Aouina airfield. Six pilots of 11./JG 26 - half the strength of the Gruppe - were killed on the ground during another bombing raid by B-17s of the US 12 AF on the JG 26 airbase outside of Tunis. The B-17s were attacked by Bf 109s who were alerted to the raid by radar and were in the skies early. But the Messerschmitts were bounced by the escorting P-38s of the US 1st FG. Five P-38s were shot down for a loss of 3 Bf 109s. But the aerial losses combined with the loss of pilots on the ground forced the personnel of 11./JG 26 to disband and the remaining components to be incorporated within II./JG 51. Three additional Bf 109s were lost to fighters of the US 14th and 52nd FGs during the bombing attacks. II./KG 26 reported the loss of one Heinkel.

Bad weather and the ferocity of German dive-bombing attacks slowed the two-pronged Allied offensive, with American officers complaining to Lt.-General Eisenhower during a visit to the front-line. One officer asked him,

"Why do we see nothing but Heinies?"

Allied troops advancing towards Tunis came face-to-face with a monster new weapon - 56 ton "Tiger" tanks mounting 88mm guns. Hitler had sent 5 of these giants to Tunisia as an "experiment". Two of these tanks played a significant part in the defeat at Terbourba.

French and American troops captured the Faid Pass in southern Tunisia. General Nehring reacted quickly to the Allied advance. Small detachments, mostly paratroopers, raced to take the vital towns of Sousse, Sfax and Gabes from the bewildered French garrision. The main Allied thrust along the hilly coastal road was checked by a German ambush at Djefria. British and American commandos landed on the coast to the east of this battle and blocked the road, but a fresh assault failed to relieve them and they were forced to withdraw.