This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[Njaco]

4 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Russians attack Heeresgruppe Don along the Chir, tying up the German troops needed to open a relief corridor to 6.Armee. A new formation; Army Detachment Hollidt, is attached to 3rd Romanian Army. This theoretically consists of the ubiquitous 48.Panzerkorps, now made up of the 11. and 22.Panzerdivisions, the 3rd Mountain, and 7th and 8th Luftwaffe Field Divisions. Most of the 3rd Mountain never arrives; elements are shifted here and there to meet local demands from Heeresgruppe Mitte and Heeresgruppe A, and 22.Panzerdivision is in serious need of a refit. The Luftwaffe Field divisions are incapable of conducting offensive action, and the 15th such division, due to join the 57.Panzerkorps hasn't even been formed yet. With all this working against him, Von Manstein's troops are subjected to a blistering attack by 5th Tank Army, all along the Chir river. Army Detachment Hollidt, instead of launching a secondary thrust north towards the pocket, is forced to spread its forces thin and confront the new Russian offensive. The Russians are attacking from the north and northwest against the 44th Division. The 14.Panzerdivision is rushing in from reserve to help stop the attack. One German regiment lost 500 men. Suddenly the Russians are gone. Again it seems the attack is nothing serious. The Russians are following Zhukov's orders, more or less.

In Warsaw, a group of Polish Christians put their own lives at risk when they set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews led by two women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz. The fates of Kossak and Filipowicz are unclear so it is uncertain whether their mission is successful, but the very fact that they established the Council is evidence that some brave souls are willing to risk everything to help persecuted Jews. Kossak and Filipowicz are not alone in their struggle to help; in fact, only two days after the Council is established, the SS rounds up 23 men, women, and children, and locked some in a cottage and some in a barn-then burned them alive. Their crime: suspicion of harboring Jews.

During the night of 4/5 December, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines off Gdynia.

MEDITERRANEAN: In the first raid on Italy's mainland, 20 B-24s of the 98th and 376th BG (Heavy) of the US 9th AF, attacked the Italian fleet and docks at Naples, sinking the light cruiser "Muzio Attendolo". The cruiser "Montecuccoli" was badly damaged and the cruiser "Eugenio di Savoia" and 4 destroyers were less seriously damaged. Some 159 people died and 358 were injured. Hits were also scored on numerous harbor installations and a railroad yard. The raid by long-range Liberators changed the Mediterranean scene. Naples had been free of raids since Rommel took Allied coastal airfields in North Africa 6 months ago. Now it was back in range of Allied bombers.

NORTH AFRICA: German forces capture Tebourba.

RAF Nos. 18 and 614 Sqdrns lost a whole flight of eleven Bisley (Blenheim V) bombers by some 50 to 60 German fighters from JG 53 and II./JG 2 during an attack on Sidi Ahmed. Lt. Karch of II./JG 2 claimed 1 of the bombers and Oblt. Meimberg of Stab II./JG 53 was credited with 3 of the bombers destroyed. Acting Wing-Cdr Hugh Gordon Malcolm was shot down and killed while leading the bombers of RAF No. 18 Sqdrn. He led his bomber squadron with great daring in previous weeks and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

B-17s bombed shipping and docks at Bizerte while B-26s, with fighter escort, attacked the same target a half hour later. During the attack, the Luftwaffe lost 5 Bf 109s and one Bf 110 while escorting Ju 88 bombers to fighters of the US 1st, 14th and 52nd FG. The 52nd lFG ost Lt. Walter A. Kari who became the 52nd's first combat casuality, shot down over Tunisia. Lt. Stephen Freel was shot up by an attacking Bf 109 over Terbourba, but managed to make it back to Bone, only to die when his aircraft crashed on landing. Multiple kills were claimed by several Luftwaffe fighters including Ofw. Otto Schultz of 4./JG 51 (2 Spitfires), Fw. Erich Paczia from 6./JG 53 (3 bombers and 1 fighter), Lt. Fritz Dinger of 4./JG 53 (2 bombers and 1 fighter) and Oblt. Julius Meimberg of Stab II./JG 53 (3 bombers).

NORTH AMERICA: Two hundred forty four US Congressmen present a petition for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR orders dismantling of Works Progress Administration.

NORTHERN FRONT: During the night of 4/5 December, two RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off the Danish island of Bornholm off the southeastern tip of Sweden.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 4/5 December, 22 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

 

[syscom3]

5 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The USN gunboat USS 'Erie', damaged on 12 November was moved to Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands West Indies to facilitate salvage on 28 November. Before the repairs could be completed, she begins to take on a starboard list, and when counterflooded, capsizes to port and sinks.

CENTRAL AFRICA: Three British antisubmarine warfare trawlers, HMS 'Canna', 'Bengali' and 'Spaniard', are berthed in the harbor at Lagos when a petrol (gasoline) spill catches fire engulfing the three ships. One by one they explode and in the process kill around 200 people. Fishing trawlers are used extensively during the war on escort duties and mine sweeping.

EASTERN FRONT: 7./JG 52's Ofw. Alfred Grislawski's 72nd victory was possibly a I-16 piloted by Starshina Anton Nasonov of 84 IAP - reported shot down by a Bf 109 4 to 5km north of Belorechenskaya at around 12.20 hours Russian time. That area is PQ 44721, where Grislawski's victory was claimed. Belorechenskaya is situated between Ordzhonikidze and Nalchik in the Caucasus. No other German fighter pilot claimed an I-16 in that area on that day.

Uffz. Herbert Bachnick was posted to 9./JG 52.

MEDITERRANEAN: A USAAF Twelfth Air Force F-4 Lightning flies photographic reconnaissance over southern Sardinia.

NORTH AFRICA: B-17s bombed the docks and shipping at Tunis while B-25s hit the Sidi Ahmed airfield followed by a raid by DB-7s as another force of DB-7s hit Faid. Each raid was escorted by P-38s.

The Allied attacks on Luftwaffe airfields were forcing the Germans to move their bases from the front. The Luftwaffe began abandoning all the airfields within 90 miles of the battle front at El Alhelia. In addition to the airfields, the Allies began to target shipping facilities to hamper the flow of German troops and arms. The port facilities at Tunis along with the airfield at Bizerte were heavily targeted. The Allies shot down 2 Bf 109s over the Bizerte airbase.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower's plan to attack on 9 December. Eisenhower is the Supreme Commander Allied Force. The British First Army is handicapped by lack of advanced airfields, overextended supply lines, and lack of reserves. While preparations are being made for the attack, Allied aircraft are conducting strikes against ports to limit the Aixs build-up.

P-38s fly reconnaissance over wide areas of Tunisia, a B-17 photographs the Sousse-Sfax- Gabes area.

NORTH AMERICA: Headquarters USAAF inactivates the I Concentration Command. This unit was tasked for the final preparation for unit movements overseas and this task is now assigned to the First through Fourth Air Forces and the Air Transport Command.

The Selective Service System is placed under the War Manpower Commission by Presidential executive order.

WESTERN FRONT: A USAAF B-17 en route from North America to the United Kingdom crash lands on the beach at Mullaghmore, County Sligo. After interrogation at the local pub, the five man crew is taken to the border with Northern Ireland and released.

During the night of 5/6 December, six RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

 

[Njaco]

6 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The 18,713 ton troop ship SS 'Ceramic' is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-515 about 620 nautical miles WNW of Lagens Field, Azores Islands. The ship had departed Liverpool, England, on 23 November and steaming independently to Australia carrying 633 crewmen, troops and nurses. There is only one survivor, Royal Engineer sapper, Eric Munday, who is taken on board the U-boat to spend the rest of the war in a German POW camp. The rest of the crew and passengers are left to perish in the stormy seas. Allied propaganda claims that the 'Ceramic's survivors are machine-gunned in the water; this is a big lie. It is many months before the British Admiralty learns what happened to the 'Ceramic' as she sank before any distress signal could be sent. (In April 1944, American warships caught up with and sank U-515. Captain Werner Henke, who had already sunk 26 ships, was shot two months later trying to escape from a prison camp in Virginia, though from the way he calmly started to climb the fence in broad daylight in full view of the guards and refuses an order to stop suggests that he was committing suicide to avoid being tried as a war criminal over the 'Ceramic' disaster. Royal Engineer Eric Monday, the only passenger rescued from the sinking would survive the war. - submitted by Hobilar).

EASTERN FRONT: The Gruppenstab of II./SchG 1 and 6./SchG 1 were operating from Rossosh, just west of the Don River and to the northwest of Kharkov, shooting up Russian tanks that were driving deep into the Rumanian 3rd Army and Italian 8th Army, while 7./SchG 1 remained in the Stalingrad area with its Hs 123s, flying from Morosovskaya with 8(Pz)./SchG 1.

GERMANY: During the night of 6/7 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 272 aircraft, 101 Lancasters, 65 Halifaxes, 57 Wellingtons and 49 Stirlings, to Mannehim; 229 bomb the city and one bombs Karlsruhe. Ten aircraft Mannheim, five Wellingtons, three Halifaxes, a Lancaster and a Stirling, are lost, 3.1 per cent of the force. Four more aircraft crash in England. The target area is found to be completely cloud-covered. Most of the Pathfinders withhold their flares and many of the 220 crews who bomb do so on dead-reckoning positions. Mannheim reports only 500 or so incendiary bombs and some leaflets. There are no casualties in Mannheim.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Italian submarine R.N. 'Porfido' is torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS/M 'Tigris' about 80 nautical miles NNE of Bone, Algeria.

NORTH AFRICA: A German attack penetrates the positions of Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, on the El Guessa heights.

Twelfth Air Force DB-7s, with fighter escort, bomb the bridge over the Medjerda River at El Bathan. F-4 and P-38 Lightnings fly patrols and reconnaissance missions over parts of Algeria and Tunisia. Ninth Air Force B-24s sent to attack shipping at Tobruk fail to locate the target due to bad weather, but a few bombers manage to bomb Misurata and two Aix airfields. Meanwhile, P-40s fly top cover for RAF aircraft attacking Marble Arch.

II./JG 27 was to remain nearly a month longer than the rest of the Geschwader before it, too, passed its aircraft over to JG 77 and finally departed. During that time - based at Merduma, just across the provincial border in Tripolitania - it lost 3 pilots killed but claimed 6 Allied fighters destroyed. The last one of all, fittingly a Kittyhawk, went to a pilot of 6 Staffel (Lt. Hans Lewes - it was his first victory) during the Gruppe's final sortie in the morning. Then JG 27's 20 month African odyssey was over.

UNITED KINGDOM: The war in the air reached a stage where German bombers hardly ventured into British skies, while Bomber Command pounded German cities every night. It was, however, a time of some concern for the RAF. Bomber losses during the year were high with 1,453 aircraft lost and 2,724 damaged in action. There were still only 200 Lancasters in service and the Germans had learned how to jam 'Gee', the navigational device. In other areas, Fighter Command continued its often costly sweeps across France; Coastal Command - the 'Cinderella Command' - was at last getting the aircraft it needed. And in the Middle East the RAF had learned how to support an army in the field.

WESTERN FRONT: Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 24: 103 heavy bombers are dispatched with 19 attacking Drucat Airfield at Abbeville; six bomb the target with one aircraft lost; 66 are dispatched against the Atelier d'Hellemmes locomotive works at Lille; 36 bomb the target with the loss of one aircraft. Eighteen other aircraft fly a diversion.

RAF Bomber Command flies Operation OYSTER, a special raid carried out by all of the operational day-bomber squadrons in No. 2 Group. Their targets are the Philips radio and valve (electron tube) factories in the town of Eindhoven. Ninety three aircraft take part in the raid, 47 (PV-1) Venturas Mk. Is of RAF No. 21, RAAF No. 464 and RNZAF No. 487 Squadrons, 36 (A-20) Boston IIIs of Nos. 88, 107, and 226 Squadrons and ten Mosquito Mk. IVs of No.105 and No.139 Squadrons; 83 aircraft actually bomb. One of the Mosquitos is a photographic aircraft. Eindhoven is well beyond the range of any available fighter escort thus the raid is flown at low level and in clear weather conditions. Bombing is accurate and severe damage is caused to two factories in the complex, which is situated in the middle of the town. Because the raid is deliberately carried out on a Sunday, there are few casualties in the factory but several bombs fall in nearby streets and 148 Dutch people and seven German soldiers are killed. Full production at the factory is not reached again until six months after the raid. The bomber casualties are heavy: nine Venturas, four Bostons and a Mosquito are lost over the Netherlands or the sea. This is a loss rate of 15 percent for the whole force; the Venturas, the aircraft with the poorest performance, suffer 19 per cent casualties. Three more aircraft crashed or force-land in England and most of the other aircraft are damaged, 23 by bird strikes! In addition to the force engaged in Operation 'Oyster' 22 B-17s from the 11th CCRC and 306th BG conducted a diversionary raid but the 11th CCRC turned back after an abort signal was given as Luftwaffe fighters were tracked approaching the bomber formations. 6 B-24s of the 68th BS did not recieve the recall signal and continued to the target. Fighters from JG 26 attacked, joined by more fighters from 6./JG 1. Oblt. Leonhardt of 6./JG 1 destroyed a B-17 to become the first 4-engined bomber shot down by JG 1. Uffz. Heinrich Schnell of 3./JG 26 destroyed a 4-engined bomber west of Etaples. Fighter squadrons from 7 Allied countries took part in protecting the bombers part of the way. Among them were 2 from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, a famous Free French squadron and 3 from the USAAF. Crack Polish squadrons flew alongside others from Canada and New Zealand and this truly Allied effort was completed by battle-hardened RAF units. They made independant sweeps to draw off enemy fighters and provided cover for the British light bombers. As the RAF bombers crossed over II./JG 1's airbase at Woendrecht, a Ventura was shot down by the AA fire of the field defenses. The fighters of II./JG 1 were already in the air and began attacking the B-17 force over Lille. Ofw. Hans Ehlers and Uffz. Wloschinski each claimed a bomber shot down - Ehler's 17th and Wloschinski's first kill.

During the night of 6/7 December, 13 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters and Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.

 

[syscom3]

7 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: After 5 days of heavy fighting and suffering serious losses, the Soviets suspended attacks by the Don and Stalingrad Fronts in the Stalingrad pocket. Outside the pocket, the Soviets launched probing attacks against the Germans along the Chir River which were repulsed by counterattacks from the 11.Panzerdivision. Their goal had been the airfields that were supplying Stalingrad.

Further north, German attacks on the west face of the Rzhev salient intensified as 30. and 41.Panzerkorps ( 5 Panzer divisions in all) hit the Soviet 41st Army near Belyi. Fighting was intense.

GERMANY: The Gestapo arrests over 700 young people, alleged members of a group called "Edelweiss Pirates".

NORTH AFRICA: The Jabos of III./ZG 2 attacked the airfield at Souk el Arba and destroyed a number of RAF aircraft on the ground. But the Allies continued their bombing of port facilities. B-17s, escorted by P-38s, attacked docks and shipping at Bizerte. Escorted DB-7s attacked tanks in the Terbourba / El bathan area where elements of the British First Army continued to be hard pressed. Other DB-7s sent to bomb La Hencha and Sousse aborted because of bad weather. Over Sfax airfield, a pair of Ju 52 transports were shot down by P-38s of the US 14th FG.

NORTH AMERICA: The USS 'New Jersey' BB-62 is launched from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. This battleship is one of the Iowa class. One year after the "day of infamy" at Pearl Harbor, the US Navy today launched 15 ships, including the biggest battleship ever built. The huge USS 'New Jersey' slid down the ways at the Philadelphia Navy Yard almost on the hour of last December's attack.

Elsewhere in America, an aircraft carrier, two destroyers, a submarine, six minesweepers, two escort craft, a destroyer tender and what the navy called a "special" ship were launched. All this was a tangible demonstration of Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to the people: that the day of surprise was a year ago, the period of defence is over and the offensive is under way.

"Coral Sea, Midway, the Solomons, New Guinea and North Africa are shining examples of [our] power,"

the president said. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the chief of the Pacific Fleet, said that victory has been assured over the Japanese because the "sea lane across the greatest of oceans has been made safe. The optimism is tempered by official statistics: 58,307 casualties in the year, a massive 35,822 of which occurred in the Pacific theatre. Many are classified as missing and presumed to be prisoners of war. More than one million US servicemen are now in action.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Halifax bomber based at Rufforth airfield near York, after a bombing run to Genoa, ran short of fuel after 11 hours in the air and was forced to ditch into the river Humber. 3 of the crew were killed.

WESTERN FRONT: A Fw 190A-3 of 12./JG 5 crashed at Bodo. Uffz. Engelbrecht Kahlert was killed.

 

[Njaco]

8 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two German submarines are sunk:
- U-254 (Type VIIC) collides with U-221 and sinks about 652 nautical miles NE of St. John's, Newfoundland. Only six of the 47 crewmen survived.
- U-611'(Type VIIC) is sunk about 561 nautical miles SW of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from a British Liberator Mk. III, aircraft "B" of a detachment of No.120 Squadron based at Reykjavik. All 45 crewmen are lost.

EASTERN FRONT: 7./JG 52's Ofw. Alfred Grislawski's 75th victory - noted as a MiG-1 - was possibly a misidentification for the LaGG-3 piloted by 862 IAP's Leytenant Amosov, which crashed burning southeast of Urukh. Other German fighter pilots claimed several Soviet fighters in the Caucasus area, but none of them in the vicinity where Amosov's LaGG-3 was shot down.

GERMANY: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command lay mines off four areas: four aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight off Heligoland Island, two each lay mines in the River Elbe Estuary and Kiel Harbor, and one lays mines in the Fehmarn Channel in the western Baltic.

MEDITERRANEAN: During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 133 aircraft, 108 Lancasters, nine Halifaxes, nine Wellingtons and seven Stirlings, to bomb Turin; 119 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of one Lancaster. The Pathfinders illuminate the target well and bombing is very accurate. Residential and industrial areas are both extensively damaged. Turin reports 212 dead and 111 injured. Fires from this raid are still burning the following night.

NORTH AFRICA: In Tunisia, German counter-attacks hit the American forces at El Guettrar. In the first major contact between the Germans and Americans, US forces fought with great confusion and retreated in disorder. General Gause led the German forces in capturing Bizerte, taking 4 French destroyers, 9 submarines and 3 other warships.

U.S. Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Force, gives British Lieutenant General K. A. N. Anderson permission to withdraw the British First Army from areas west of Tebourba and east of Medjez el Bab to more favorable positions slightly to the west from which to prepare for the move on Tunis.

In Libya, P-40s flew fighter-bomber missions in the battle area east of El Aghelia. In the morning battle with US 57th FG P-40s, 7 Bf 109s were lost over the Marble Arch airfield. Weather prevented operations of all bomber and fighter units in eastern Algeria.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters patrol in the Oran-La Senia- Tafaraoui area. Weather prevents operations of all bomber and fighter units in eastern Algeria. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly fighter-bomber missions in the battle area east of El Agheila; the American claim seven enemy aircraft shot down.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British Parliament lowers the conscription age, by six months, to 18-years-old. The manpower shortage in Britain is becoming severe.

A USAAF Eighth Air Force VIII Bomber Command study of air attacks on submarine pens in France indicates that available U.S. bombs are incapable of penetrating roofs of the pens from any bombing level low enough to maintain accuracy.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 8/9 December, 19 RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

During the night of 8/9 December, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines off Copenhagen while four lay mines in the Great Belt, the strait between Sjaelland and Fyn Island.

During the night of 8/9 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off three areas: 19 lay mines in the Frisian Islands with the loss of one; and five each lay mines in the Cadet Channel, with the loss of one, and The Sound.

 

[syscom3]

9 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The U.S. 7,057 ton armed freighter SS 'Coamo' is en route from Gibralter to New York when she disappears without a trace. There are 186 persons aboard, 133 crew, 37 Armed Guards and 16 Army personnel and all are lost, the greatest tragedy to befall a single crew on a US Merchant Marine ship in WWII. It is later learned that the German submarine U-604 torpedoed and sunk a single-funneled freighter off Bermuda today and the ship sunk by the submarine is probably SS 'Coamo.

MEDITERRANEAN: Two British ships are torpedoed: Destroyer HMS 'Porcupine' is escorting submarine depot ship HMS 'Maidstone' from Gibraltar to Algiers, Algeria, when she is torpedoed by German submarine U-602 about 65 nautical miles NNE of Oran, Algeria. The destroyer is declared a total loss and is scrapped in England on 6 May 1946.

Three Italian S79 torpedo bombers of the 254^ Squadron of Group 105 attacked the ships of convoy 'MKS 31' to the west of Algiers, sinking the British corvette 'Marigold'. Six He 111s of II./KG 26 sank the French steamboat "Mascot' off the east coast of Carbon Head (Bougie).

RAF Bomber Command dispatches 227 aircraft, 115 Lancasters, 47 Halifaxes, 40 Wellingtons and 25 Stirlings to bomb Turin; 200 bomb the city with the loss of two Wellingtons and a Lancaster lost. This is a disappointing raid with the Pathfinders not able to perform as efficiently as on the previous night. Smoke from old fires partially obscures the target area. Turin records 73 more people killed and 99 injured.

NORTH AFRICA: Heavy rains stop most Twelfth Air Force air operations in eastern Algeria and Tunisia; a few P-38s fly reconnaissance south of Gafsa. In Algeria, P-40s flew an intercept mission over Youks-les-Bains. A Ju 88 bomber was shot down by the newly arrived US 33rd FG. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly a fighter sweep over the El Agheila region.

NORTH AMERICA: The U.S. Army is reorganized into three autonomous forces: Army Air Forces, Ground Forces and Services of Supply.

WESTERN FRONT: During the day, one each RAF Bomber Command Mosquitos bomb the marshalling yard at Creil and a railroad tunnel at Vierzy. During the night of 9/10 December, 11 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

During the day, an RAF Bomber Command Mosquito bombs the power station at Hengelo. During the night of 9/10 December, two RAF Bomber Command Stirlings lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

 

[syscom3]

10 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The German's counterattack at Belyi succeeded in cutting off the Soviet's 41st Army, destroying the only success Zhukov had enjoyed in Operation 'Mars'. Little ground is gained at Rzhev by the small German counterattack. Despite the failure of his operation, he doggedly ordered fresh formations thrown into the meat grinder ay Rhzev.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler replaces Colonel General Franz Halder with Colonel General Kurt Zeitzler as chief of staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres (high command of the German Army or OKH).

NORTH AFRICA: German tank-infantry columns attack Medjez el Bab from the northeast and east and are repulsed. The Medjez garrison of four French battalions has been reinforced by the British 1st Guards Brigade. During the night of 10/11 December, the 11th Brigade of the British 78th Division and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division begin a withdrawal to the Bdja area to refit, Combat Command B sustaining heavy loss of equipment as it withdraws.

Due to heavy rains and waterlogged airfields, aerial activity in the Algiers-Tunisia area practically ceased. Major Joachim Muncheberg, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77 had to force land after his Bf 109G-2 sustained battle damage after combat with British P-40 Kittyhawks. A Bf 109 was lost over Marble Arch aitfield, shot down by P-40s of the US 57th FG.

 

[Njaco]

11 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Army retains the initiative, making progress in the Stalingrad sector and in the Caucasus Mountains; sharp thrusts are continued against the Germans on the central and northern fronts without materially changing the situation. The German 6.Armee, isolated between the Don and Volga Rivers on the Stalingrad front, is under strong pressure. German Heeresgruppe A withdraws their main line of resistance in the vicinity of the Terek River in the Caucasus. The Germans finally realized that their attempt to take Baku and the rich oil fields of the Caucasus had failed and began to withdraw from Elista and Mozdok. Zhukov launched fresh attacks from the Vazusa River bridgehead as the Soviet 20th and 29th Armies supported by 350 tanks from the 5th and 6th Tank Corps. Despite the amount of men and material thrown into the attack, the Germans held and inflicted losses on the Russians. General Fiebig and Quartermaster Kurt Stollberger flew into the Stalingrad pocket to discuss the situation with General von Paulus. Paulus berated Fiebig on the complete failure of the airlift and stated he needed 600 tons of supplies a day, not the less than 100 he was getting. Paulus asked if the airlift could be stepped up in order to effect a breakout that was being planned. He ordered that the priority of supplies be fuel and ammunition.

The Soviet submarine SC-212 is lost after 11 Dec near Fiodonisi Island due to a Romanian minefield. All 44 crewmen are lost.

MEDITERRANEAN: Eighteen USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor and surrounding areas at Naples with good results; one B-24 is lost.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 82 aircraft and the Pathfinders, 48 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, eight Stirlings and six Wellingtons, to bomb Turin but more than half of the force turns back before attempting to cross the Alps, because of severe icing conditions; 28 crews claim to have bombed Turin but the city reports only three high-explosive bombs and a few incendiaries, with no casualties. Three Halifaxes and a Stirling are lost.

German submarine U-443 torpedoes and sinks the British escort destroyer HMS 'Blean' about 60 nautical miles WNW of Oran, Algeria; 89 crewmen are lost. The destroyer is escorting the fast convoy KMF-4 (U.K. to Gibraltar to Alexandria, Egypt).

NORTH AFRICA: General Montogomery resumed Eighth Army's advance. Montgomery, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, issues orders for an attack on El Agheila on 14 December. Another German attack on Medjez el Bab from the north and east is repulsed. The British 6th Armoured Division begins arriving in the forward area. Combat Command B, U.S.1st Armored Division, is relieved in the Bedja area by the 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, and is placed in V Corps reserve. Under direct and flanking attacks, Rommel abandoned El Aghelia and withdrew to defenive lines at Beurat on the approaches to Triploi. By now he had decided to make his main stand on the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia.

Air action is stepped up in preparation for the offensive. USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25s with fighter escort, attack the rail bridge at La Hencha while P-38s fly sea patrol off the north coast and over the Gulf of Tunis and reconnaissance over the Sousse region. USAAF Spitfires sweep over Medjez el Bab and Bone. USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly several fighter-bomber missions and sweeps over the battle area in preparation for the ground assault on El Agheila.

One of the Allied fighter sweeps in the afternoon was intercepted by units of JG 77. Hptm. Heinz Baer, Lt Heinz-Edgar Berres and Hptm. Kurt Ubben all added to their scores while Lt. Horst Marotzke of 9./JG 77 went missing after a scramble near Arco Philaenrum.

UNITED KINGDOM: A nighttime Luftwaffe raid on England caused some damage. Two bombs fell in Princess Street, Murton demolishing 4 houses, partly demolishing 2 others and damaging 58 houses and 1 butcher shop. At 05.10 hours a parachute flare fell in Murton Colliery Yard, about 30 yards from an explosive store and stacked lumber. The flare failed to ignite. About the same time 2 delayed action bombs exploded in the sea off Seaham. 2 IBs also fell in Seaham without causing any damage. An IB dropped at Dawdon set fire to a house, bringing down an electric cable and damaging a gas main. One person was killed. The roof of a house on Embelton Street, Dawson was damaged by shrapnel. 2 HEs fell at Littlethorpe, Easington and failed to explode. 200 to 250 IBs fell near Hart, causing no damage or casualties. One HE fell in a field at Hart causing a large crater, damaging a number of houses, greenhouses, hen houses and piggery by the blast. The Germans stated that,

"extensive fires and destruction" was wrought by "waves of bombers"

at Sunderland. The total force overland was in fact less than 10 aircraft and although flares were dropped in Sunderland, it was not bombed at all.

WESTERN FRONT: Cockleshell Heroes Raid. Ten British commandos in five two-man canoes launched from a submarine carry out an attack on enemy shipping in the port of Bordeaux, Three canoes are lost but the remaining two paddle 70 miles up river to plant limpet mines on ships in the harbour. Six vessels are disabled. Two commandos are drowned on route, six are captured and executed, and two make it back to England.

During the night of 11/12 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three Bay of Biscay ports: Six aircraft lay mines off La Pallice, five off Lorient and four off St. Nazaire. Three other aircraft drop leaflets in the Rouen area.

During the night of 11/12 December, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

 

[syscom3]

12 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Wintergewitter - German morale recieved a boost when word spread that Hitler had ordered von Manstein to mount a relief operation and open a supply corridor to von Paulus at Stalingrad. Von Manstein would launch Unternehmen Wintergewitter (Operation Winter Storm) from the southeast under the most improbable of circumstances. A relief column consisting of elements from 14.Panzerkorps would attempt to punch a hole in th encirclement and link up with a 6.Armee detachment driving from the southeast of the city. Von Manstein's relief column was as hopeless an effort as the airlift. General von Manstein commenced Wintergewitter by sending Battle Group Hoth ( a hastily assembled force of 13 divisions, including 3 panzer divisions with about 230 tanks) forward in the area around Kotelnikovo. Initial attacks hit the Soviet 51st Army which gave ground but remained intact. The German panzers did penetrate the outer ring of Soviet forces in spite of a severe blizzard. But Russian resistance stiffened while German supply problems mounted the further they pushed into territory held by the Red Army. Von Manstein must have known his Division-sized force had no hope of accomplishing what the combined efforts of 4.Panzerarmee and 6.Armee had been unable to do - punch through the ring of Red artillery and armour.

Ofw. Alfred Grislawski of 7./JG 52's 82nd victory - shot down south of Bechoy-Urt - was possibly the I-16 of Leytenant Viktor Sukhov (Zveno commander in 84 IAP). No other German fighter pilot claimed to have shot down an I-16 in that area. Actually, Sukhov was the next 84 IAP pilot to get killed after the loss of Starshina Nasonov - also shot down by Grislawski on 5 December.

MEDITERRANEAN: While attacking a convoy in the Gulf of Naples the British submarine HMS/M P-222 is sunk by depth chargers from the Italian torpedo boat R.N. 'Fortunale'.

British submarine HMS/M 'Traveller' left Malta on 28 November for a patrol in the Gulf of Taranto. She also had to reconnoitre Taranto harbour on the Italian "heel" for a Chariot human torpedo attack (Operation PORTCULLIS). She is reported overdue today and is presumed lost on Italian mines in her patrol area.

RAF (B-24) Liberators of No. 205 (Heavy Bomber) Group, under operational control of the USAAF IX Bomber Command, attack the dock area at Naples.

NORTH AFRICA: Blade Force, British First Army, is dissolved, component elements reverting to parent units. The British 6th Armoured Division is in contact with the Germans east and southeast of Medjez el Bab.

Twelfth Air Force B-17s, with P-38 escort, bomb the rail facilities and harbor area at Tunis; B-26s on a mission to bomb at Sousse or La Hencha abort due to very bad weather; and P-38s and P-40s fly widespread reconnaissance operations.

Italian midget submarines sink four ships in the harbor at Algiers.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly sweeps and attack ground forces in the El Agheila and Brega areas.

WESTERN FRONT: During the US 8th AF's Mission 25, 90 bombers were dispatched to bomb 2 targets in France with 78 B-17s dispatched to the Rouen-Sotteville Marshalling Yard. But heavy cloud cover forced all but 17 of the bombers to abort the raid. The remaining bombers dropped their loads on the rail station and lost 2 bombers. A diversion was flown against the Abbeville/Drucat airfield by 12 aircraft but the target was overcast and the planes returned without attacking.

Four merchant ships, one tanker and a naval auxiliary moored in Bourdeaux, 60 miles (97 kilometers) from the sea, erupt in the morning as limpet mines stuck to their hulls by British canoe commandos blow up. This was known as Operation FRANKTON. Royal Marine raiders had paddled 81 miles (130 kilometers) through Europe's most dangerous estuary in icy conditions, for five nights, to reach their target. There is no plan to recover survivors. Initially five heavily-laden canoes carrying ten men left the submarine HMS/M 'Tuna' 10 miles south of the Gironde estuary. They had to paddle north, round Pointe de Grave and then south down the Gironde River, through tidal races. The first casualties were swept away in heavy seas offshore and taken prisoner and executed. Near the Pointe, 5-foot (1,5 meter) waves capsize a second two-man canoe. The men clung to other cockles, but had to be ordered to let go, a death sentence in such cold water. One whispered:

"That's all right sir, I understand;"

One man was never found and the second drowned. In the river mouth a third canoe was swept off course; the two men were captured and executed. Two cockles and four men survived to attack the fast merchant-men vital to Bordeaux's supply line. The men were Major Hasler, aged 28, his partner Marine Sparks, and Corporal Laver with Marine Mills. Hidden in riverside reeds by day, they moved with the floodtide by night. In conditions likely to cause hypothermia they slipped alongside their targets, with nine hours to escape. Major Hasler and Marine Sparks escaped through Spain but Corporal Laver and Marine Mills were captured and executed.

The first B-17 Fortress captured by the Germans was B-17F-27-BO "Wulf Hound" (41-24585) from the 360 BS 303 BG ("Hell's Angels"). Damaged by German fighters during a bombing run and heavily damaged during the return flight by Bf 110s from NJG 1, the pilot, Lt. Flickinger was forced to land on Leeuwarden airfield in the Netherlands. "Wulf Hound" ws eventually repaired and used by KG 200 for operations.

During the night of 12/13 November, 14 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

 

[syscom3]

13 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Battle Group Hoth's tanks continued to make headway against the Soviet 51st Army as the German drive to relieve Stalingrad continued.

GERMANY: Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels records in his journal his contempt for the Italians' treatment of Jews in Italian-occupied territories.

"The Italians are extremely lax in their treatment of Jews. They protect Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and won't permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David."

But in the earliest days of fascism, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had denied any truth to the idea of a "pure" race and had counted Jews among his close colleagues-and was even a Zionist! But with Italy's failing fortunes militarily, Mussolini needed to stress the Italians' "superiority" in some sense, and so began to mimic many of the racial and anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazis. Nevertheless, Mussolini never had the stomach-or the conviction-for the extremes of Goebbels, Goering, and Hitler. And certainly the majority of the Italian people never subscribed to the growing anti-Semitic rhetoric of the regime. In fact, the Italians refused to deport Jews from Italy-or from Italian-occupied Croatia or France-to Auschwitz.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British sloop HMS 'Enchantress' rams and sinks the Italian submarine R.Smg. 'Corallo' about 165 nautical miles NE of Algiers, Algeria. HMS 'Enchantress' was escorting the slow convoy KMS-4 (Gibraltar to Algiers, Algeria). The submarine was depth charged and forced to the surface and then rammed by HMS 'Enchantress'. All crewmen on the submarine are lost.

NORTH AFRICA: The Germans begin withdrawing from El Agheila positions early in morning, leaving rear guards and numerous mines to delay British pursuit. The 51st Division, British Eighth Army, penetrates the eastern sector of the defenses. V Corps, British First Army, is ordered to be prepared to renew the drive on Tunis. The lull ensues as preparations are made for attack.

In Libya, aircraft of the Western Desert Air Force, including more than 100 RAF aircraft and P-40s of the USAAF Ninth Air Force, flew strafing and bombing missions against German ground forces which began withdrawing from El Aghelia during the early morning. The Luftwaffe attempted to cover the withdrawl and lost 2 Bf 109s to US 57th FG P-40s over the battle lines. JG 77 claimed 7 P-40s shot down along with 6 Spitfires.

Fifteen USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s bomb the harbor and docks at Tunis. Over Bizerte, ten B-17s bomb the harbor and docks; they are followed shortly by 19 B-24s which are detached from the USAAF Eighth Air Force in England, that attack the same targets. Meanwhile, six B-25s bomb the harbor area at Sousse while B-26s blast a bridge north of Sfax; P-38s escort both missions. Other P-38s attack several targets including vehicles north of Gabes and a schooner off Cape Dimasse. In other action, P-38s, P-40s and USAAF Spitfires fly reconnaissance and patrols over much of Northwest Africa and C-47 Skytrains fly 17 transport missions between various points in Northwest Africa.

UNITED KINGDOM: The first German wartime naval Enigma machine (M3) was identical to the model used by the German Army and Air Force, but it was issued with additional rotors, VI, VII and VIII, which were reserved for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy). However, the Kriegsmarine also employed codebooks to shorten signals as a precaution against shore high-frequency direction-finding, and some manual ciphers. The most important codebooks were the Kurzsignalheft (short signal book) for reports such as sighting convoys, and the Wetterkurzschlesel (weather short signal book) for weather reports. Naval Enigma signals used different ciphers, each with its own daily key (rotor order, ring settings, plugboard connections and ground setting). The principal cipher was Heimisch (Heimische Gewässer - known to Bletchley Park as Dolphin) for U-boats and surface ships in Home Waters, including the Atlantic. At least 14 other naval Enigma ciphers were used later in the war. The British codebreakers at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, received an Enigma machine and rotors I to V from the Polish Cipher Bureau in August 1939. Marian Rejewski, an outstanding Polish cryptanalyst, had reconstructed the wiring of rotors I to III at the end of 1932 using mathematical techniques, and the wiring of rotors IV and V before the war began. The British recovered rotors VI and VII from the crew of U-33 on 12 February 1940, while rotor VIII was captured in August 1940. The British broke Dolphin cryptanalytically from August 1941 onwards. A massive reverse was encountered on 1 February 1942 when a new Enigma machine (M4) came into service on Triton (codenamed Shark by the British), a special cipher for the Atlantic and Mediterranean U-boats. The combination of M4 and Shark proved devastating. Bletchley Park became blind against Shark for over ten months. Fortunately, M4's fourth rotor (beta) was not interchangeable with rotors I to VIII. Beta increased M4's power by a factor of 26, but rotors could still only be mixed in 336 (8x7x6) different ways - not 3,024 (9x8x7x6). At one setting of beta, M4 emulated M3, which was M4's undoing. Three members of the British destroyer HMS 'Petard' (G 56) seized the second edition of the Wetterkurzschlessel from 'U-559' on 30 October 1942, before it sank near Port Said, Egypt. The U-boats were using M4 in M3 mode when enciphering the short weather reports. On 13 December 1942, Bletchley teleprinted the OIC the positions of over 12 Atlantic U-boats, on dates from 5 to 7 December, as established from Shark weather signals. M4 had been penetrated with the help of the weather broadcasts broken at Bletchley Park. Intelligence from Shark, although sometimes badly delayed, played a critical part in the Battle of the Atlantic, perhaps saving from 500,000 to 750,000 tons of shipping in December 1942 and January 1943 alone.

British Jews observe a day of mourning for their European brethren persecuted by the Nazis.

WESTERN FRONT: In Vichy France, Pierre Laval, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information, holds a press conference and again predicts that Germany will win the war, saying that the only alternative is to be ruled by;

"Jews and Communists." He concludes by announcing, "I must say without any ambiguity that I want Germany's victory."

It is announced that Anton Mussert, head of the Dutch Nazis, had been appointed Fuhrer for Holland following a visit to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's headquarters in the Soviet Union. Dr. Arthur von Seyss-Inquart remained the supreme authority. In the nature of a probationary leader to see if, he can bring the Netherlands people nearer to Naziism. Reluctance to make Mussert a full-fledged Premier is thought to be an indication that the Nazis had learned their lesson in Norway. Mussert is one of the founders of the Dutch Fascist Party and he also founded the all-Dutch volunteer SS unit, the SS-Freiwilligen- Legion Niederlande, in 1941.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Bostons and four Mosquitos on railway marshalling yard attacks in France and Belgium but only two Mosquitos bomb, one each at Laon and Criel.

During the night of 13/14 December, one each RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire on the Bay of Biscay.

 

[syscom3]

14 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The Luftwaffe airlift to Stalingrad brings in 180 tons. This is the largest effort to date and will not be exceeded. The German relief column is making progress in their advance.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British light cruiser HMS 'Argonaut' is torpedoed by the Italian submarine R.Smg. 'Mocenigo' about 43 nautical miles NNE of Bone, Algeria. Two torpedoes strike the ship, and blow off both stern and bow. Amazingly, only three crewmen lost their lives in the explosions. HMS 'Argonaut' manages to get to Gibraltar. Provisional repairs prove to be precarious, and on 4 April 1943 she sets sail to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., escorted by the destroyer HMS 'Hero'. After a brief stay in the Azores, 'Hero' has engine problems and has to leave 'Argonaut' on her own on 9 April. On 13 April the cruiser is sighted by the USN destroyer USS 'Butler', that escorts her to Bermuda, where some additional repairs are made. Escorted by the American minesweepers USS 'Tumult' and USS 'Pioneer', she reaches Philadelphia on 27 April.

NORTH AFRICA: The "Desert Rats" of the British 7th Armoured Division hit the German rearguards at El Aghelia while elements of the New Zealand Division 2d Division attempted a flank move to cut them off. P-40s continued to pound the retreating Germans east of El Aghelia. The 57th FG claimed 1 enemy aircraft destroyed but the Luftwaffe forces actually lost 2 Bf 109s while the Allies lost 1 P-40.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor and shipping at Bizerte while B-17s hit similar targets at Tunis. DB-7s made two attacks on the marshaling yard at Sfax escorted by P-38s and P-40s. P-38s attack vessels off the northern Tunisian coast, the road between Tunis and Bizerte, a train near Kerker, trucks near Chaaba, and El Djem, and a train near La Hencha. P-40s fly sweeps; F-4 Lightnings carry out photographic reconnaissance over areas of Tunisia.

UNITED KINGDOM: Another nighttime Luftwaffe raid on England. In Northumberland 6 HEs and 3 IBs fell on or beside the Broadway between Kennersdene Farm, Tynemouth and the northern boundary of the Borough of Cullercoats. At Whitley Bay 3 houses were damaged and electric power failed. Near Durham, 2 HEs fell south of Blackhall Colliery causing neither damage nor casualties. Another 2 HEs exploded about 21.10 hours at Blackhall Colliery causing slight damage to houses. 2 HEs were dropped in a field at Horden Colliery and an object fell into the River Tyne near a ship lying off Palmer's Shipyard, Hebburn. A single HE made a direct hit on a deflated gas tank at Seaham. The tank was seriously damaged but there was no fire.

An agreement is concluded in London between the British Government and the French National Committee to restore Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and the uninhabited peri-Antarctic islands of Crozet, Kerguelen, Saint Paul and Amsterdam to French sovereignty. The provisional military administration set up by the British authorities after the occupation of Madagascar is to come to an end upon the arrival there of General Paul-Louis Legentilhomme , the newly appointed High Commissioner, when the necessary provisions had been made for the reestablishment of the exercise of French sovereignty over the island.

A USAAF Inspector General report states that the drain of supplies from the USAAF Eighth Air Force for the purpose of equipping the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Northwest Africa is hindering greatly the training and combat program of the Eighth Air Force.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command dispatches four Mosquitos to attack railways in Belgium and the Netherlands but only one aircraft bombs a marshalling yard at Ghent, Belgium.

During the night of 14/15 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 68 aircraft, 27 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters and 18 Wellingtons to lay mines. The Lancasters are recalled but most of Halifaxes and Wellingtons complete their mission: 27 lay mines in the Frisian Islands and six lay mines off Texel Island.

 

[Njaco]

15 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-626 is sunk about 469 nautical miles SSW of Reykjavik, Iceland, by depth charges from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC 'Ingham'; all 47 crewmen are lost. (Syscom)

EASTERN FRONT: The 2nd Guards Army moved into positions along the Myshkova River, backstopping the 51st Army, still retreating before the German relief attacks on the Stalingrad pocket. Zhukov and Konev abandoned the attacks on the eastern side of the Rzhev salient as the 20th and 29th Armies simply burnt themselves out. On the other side of the bulge, the 40,000 men of the Soviet 41st Army attempted to break-out of their encirclement. The force lost all of its tanks and heavy weapons and only about half of the men escaped. Operation "Mars" was over, an inglorious defeat for Zhukov.

GERMANY: Stab and I./JG 101 was formed at Werneuchen from I Jagdfliegerschule 1 (JFS 1) with Obslt. Erich von Selle appointed as Geschwaderkommodore and Hptm. Max Dobislav made Gruppenkommanduer.

MEDITERRANEAN: Royal Air Force Liberators of No. 205 Group, operationally controlled by the USAAF IX Bomber Command, hit Naples harbor during the night of 15/16 December. (Syscom)

The British destroyer HMS 'Petard' and the Greek destroyer RHS 'Vasillisa Olga' capture the Italian submarine R. Smg. 'Uarsciek' south of Malta - however she sinks while in tow. (Syscom)

NORTH AFRICA: While the 7th Armoured Division, British Eighth Army, engages the Axis rear guards from the east, the New Zealand 2d Division drives rapidly to the coast in the Merduma area to block Axis' escape on the west. (Syscom)

The Allies continued to attack ground targets and ports in Libya and Tunisia. Nine B-24s of the 376th BG (Heavy) opening the US Ninth Air Force offensive against Tunisian ports, hit the rairoad yard, repair shop and roundhouse at Sfax dropping 75 500lb bombs. B-26s attacked El Aouina airfield while B-17s bombed the harbour area and other B-17s hit the harbour at Bizerte. Over Libya, B-25s and P-40s struck at retreating troops and vehicles between El Aghelia and Merduma. A Bf 109 was shot down by a 79th FG P-40, the first for the American fighter group. A Ju-87D-1 and a Ju 87D-3 of II./StG 3 were blown up by German troops at Nofilia-North to avoid capture by the Allies.

Twelfth Air Force F-4s fly several photographic reconnaissance missions over coastal Tunisia covering the area from Bizerte to Gabes. (Syscom)

The British First Army is slowly building up strength. The 6th Armoured Division completes concentration in Tunisia and is followed early in February 1943 by the 46th Division. Tanks and selected personnel of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 1st Armored Regiment, are sent back to Oran, Algeria, to rejoin the 1st Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division. (Syscom)

NORTH AMERICA: Beginning of RCAF transatlantic transport operations as W/C R.B. Middleton left Rockcliffe for Prestwick in a RCAF No.168 squadron B-17 mail plane. (pbfoot)

UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that shipping will be available at the end of January 1943 to transport the Australian 9th Division with minimal equipment from North Africa to Australia. Churchill says,

"the 9th Australian Division would carry with them from the African desert a splendid reputation, and the honour of having played a leading part in a memorable victory for the Empire and the common cause."

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 15/16 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off French ports on the Bay of Biscay: three lay mines off St. Nazaire and two lay mines off Lorient. (Syscom)

 

[syscom3]

16 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The British destroyer HMS 'Firedrake' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-211 about 631 nautical miles W of Galway, County Galway, Ireland. The destroyer is escorting the 43-ship convoy ON-153 (U.K. to Canada). The bow section, including the bridge, sinks immediately leaving 35 men stranded on the stern section. Another escort ploughed through 60 foot (18 meter) waves to rescue the men who had jumped into the water. Twenty-seven crewmen are saved, one died later. In all, 168 of the 'Firedrake's crew are lost, plus three survivors who had been picked up earlier from another ship sunk that same night.

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army's Operation "Little Saturn" began as the Soviet Voronezh and Southwest Fronts attacked the Italian 8th Army and elements of the Rumanian 3rd Army. The Italians were utterly destroyed in the initial attacks along with much of the Rumanian army. The 8th Army's precarious position on the Don threatened the Stalingrad relief attempt. At Stalingrad, Operation "Ring" began as a new set of attacks to reduce the German pocket began. Further complicating the rescue effort was the fact that communications between von Paulus and von Manstein had been reduced to a single teletype. Verbal communication between the two might have cleared up misunderstandings about how von Paulus was to proceed once the Donnerschlag order had been issued. Von Manstein was of the belief that Donnerschlag implied evacuation of the pocket and the only possible option, considering the difficulties in maintaining the supply corridor for any length of time. But it is unlikely that a face to face meeting between the two Generals could have resolved von Paulus' predicament. Von Paulus was in no position to comply any way. The 6.Armee's fuel and ammunition situation had deteriorated to the extent that most heavy equipment, trucks and armour would have had to be abandoned. Von Paulus was not about to proceed with an evacuation without Hitler's permission. Hitler steadfastly refused to consider the withdraw of 6.Armee from Stalingrad, saying that without their heavy guns and armour such a retreat could only have a "Napoleonic ending." In other places the offensive falls against Army Detachment Hollidt along the Chir river. The Red Army begins an offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don to cut off the German forces of Heeresgruppe A in the Caucasus.

GERMANY: Reichsfuehrer- SS Heinrich Himmler, commander of the SS, orders that everyone of gypsy or mixed gypsy blood be sent to Auschwitz.

During the night of 16/17 December, eight RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons attempt to bomb a German aircraft depot at Diepholz; three aircraft bomb the general area of the target but "with no evidence of success" and one Wellington is lost.

MEDITERRANEAN: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini realizes that a two front war is unwinnable. He sends Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano to meet with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to discuss a possible peace settlement with the Soviet Union. Hitler discounts this proposal and claims that the Axis can win a two front war.

NORTH AFRICA: German forces, by breaking into small detachments, are able to withdraw from El Agheila positions after hard fighting with the New Zealand 2nd Division, but loses about 20 tanks and some 500 captured.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force DB-7s bomb the rail junction east of Mateur and hit the town area of Massicault and the nearby vehicle dispersal area. P-38s attack ships off the north coast scoring a hit on one vessel while other P-38s fly reconnaissance mission, exchanging ineffective fire with Axis forces.

UNITED KINGDOM: 5./JG 26 led by Uffz. Crump conducted another Fuhrerbefehl raid on England. The unit succeeded in strafing hotels, beachfront and anything that moved including livestock and vehicles.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 16/17 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to lay mines in the Bay of Biscay off French ports: nine lay mines in the River Gironde Estuary and two lay mines off Brest.

 

[syscom3]

17 December 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The U.S. Coast Guard district patrol vessel USCGC 'Natsek', part of the Greenland Patrol, disappears in Belle Isle Strait, the 90 mile long, 10 to 17 miles wide, strait lying between Newfoundland on the east and Labrador on the west. All 24 crewmen are lost without a trace. The most probable cause is that she capsized due to severe icing.

EASTERN FRONT: The Volga River froze, allowing the Soviets to resupply the depleted 62nd Army in Stalingrad as Operation 'Wintergewitter' continued to inch closer to the trapped 6.Armee. Soviet 292 ShAD made more than 100 combat flight to support the 3rd Assault Army. This cost them 6 combat losses. The Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3, Major Wilcke passed the 150 victory score, becoming the 4th pilot to reach that number. By this time, more and more Il-2s equipped with rear gunners began to appear.

GERMANY: During the night of 17/18 December, small numbers of RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly minor missions. Sixteen Stirlings and six Wellingtons are sent to bomb the Opel factory at Fallersleben but only 13 bomb the target and eight are lost. Twenty seven Lancasters are sent on raids to eight small German towns with the loss of six aircraft.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British submarine HMS/M 'Splendid' torpedoes and sinks the Italian destroyer R.N. 'Geniere Aviere' about 45 nautical miles NNE of Bizerte, Tunisia. 'Geniere Aviere' and her sister ship 'Camicia Nera' are escorting the German transport SS 'Ankara'.

NORTH AFRICA: The Germans leave a rearguard to cover Rommel's retreat to Buerat. A lull continues on the British First Army front. The 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and 3d Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 26, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, raid Maknassy, 30 miles northeast of Tobessa.

The port facilities at Tunis and Bizerta and the airfields at Gabes and Sidi Tabet were again targets for Allied bombers. 36 B-17s hit the harbours and docks at Tunis and Bizerte, claiming damage to both targets and the destruction of 1 vessel and 3 aircraft at Tunis. DB-7s and A-20s hit military installations north and west of Gabes airfield and the landing ground near Sidi Tabet. P-38s on a sea mission off the northern Tunisian coast engaged German aircraft in combat. The Luftwaffe lost 2 Bf 109s and a Ju 88 to P-38 fighters of the US 1st FG. Fw. Siegfried Ott of 1./JG 77 was shot down and captured.

B-25s and B-26s sent on a shipping raid in the Gulf of Tunis fail to find the target; and P-38s and USAAF Spitfires escort all bombing missions. P-38s and F-4s fly reconnaissance missions.

Lt. Erich Rudorffer rejoined II./JG 2 after recovering from wounds and flew his first combat missions, attacking A-20s over Cape Serrat.

French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, the civil and military chief of French North Africa, announces that French Fleet units at Alexandria, Egypt; Dakar, French West Africa; and North African ports are joining the Allies.

UNITED KINGDOM: There were attacks at several points in Northeastern England. Most of them were of small account, but at York 2 gasholders were set alight and a school extensively damaged. A Dornier Do 217E-4 from 7./KG 2 flew into a hillside at Crow Nest, near Helmsley, Yorkshire at 22.15 hours. The Staffelkapitaen, Oblt. R. Haussner, Uffz. Erd, Ofw. Hupe and Ofw. Weiderer were all killed. Owing to the remote nature of the crash site, the wreckage was not found for 2 days. Another Do 217E-4 from 2./KG 2 also flew into a hillside at Ravenstones, Wheeldale Moor, near Pickering, Yorkshire at 22.00 hours. Fw. Stoll. Obergefr. Roschner, Obergefr. Wicht and Obergefr. Armann were all killed.

Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, in a written reply in the House of Commons, states that the British Government wishes to see Albania freed from the Italian yoke and restored to her independence.

A powerful declaration is issued simultaneously from London, Moscow and Washington, personally approved by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This public declaration denounces;

"the systematic mass murder of millions of Jews," which it calls "this bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination."

Churchill is also vigilant in trying to help Jewish refugees from Nazidom. When he learns of the rescue of 4,500 Jewish children from the Balkans, via a plan he had himself approved, Mr Churchill says simply,

"Bravo."

WESTERN FRONT: In the North Sea during the night of 17/18 December, RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in two locations: four aircraft lay mines in the Heligoland Bight, the arm of the North Sea extending south and east of the island of Helgoland, Germany; and three lay mines in the Kattegat, the broad arm of the North Sea between Sweden and Denmark.

During the night of 17/18 December, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Cadet Channel, the strait between Storstrom Island, Denmark, and Germany. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines off Bayonne and three others lay mines off St. Jean de Luz. In a separate mission, five aircraft drop leaflets over the country. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft hit two marshalling yards (M/Ys): two hit a M/y at Ghent and one bombs a M/Y at Courtrai. Five RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack the marshalling yard at Roosendaal and one hits a target of opportunity at Vlieland.

 

[Njaco]

18 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Battle of Velikiye Luki - Fighting soon became concentrated around Velikiye Luki, a small town on German Heeresgruppe Center's left (northern) flank, where the Soviets had succeeded in enveloping a German Army garrison in a "samll-scale second Stalingrad". Commanded by Oberst Wilke, a Gruppen of mainly He 111s flew in supplies to the surrounded troops at Velikiye Luki.

NORTH AFRICA: Continuing the pursuit of the Axis forces, the New Zealand 2d Division, British Eighth Army, clashes sharply with rear guards at Nofihia. After the action, the pursuit is largely abandoned for administrative reasons.

USAAF Ninth Air Force P-40s fly reconnaissance and patrol as the British Eighth Army's lead division. USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17s hit shipping and harbor installations at Sousse while RAF Liberators, under the control of IX Bomber Command, follow with a raid on the same target during the night of 18/19 December. Thirty six USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s with 16 P-38s as escort, hit Bizerte harbor and shipping offshore; a direct hit is scored on one vessel. Antiaircraft and attacks by Axis fighters result in the loss of one B-17 and four P-38s; three Axis fighters are destroyed and others damaged. B-26s with P-38 escort attack the marshaling yard at Sousse, hitting the station, roundhouse and other buildings, tracks, and a train; heavy antiaircraft accounts for the loss of two B-26s. DB-7s with fighter escort hit the landing ground and dispersal area near Mateur and attack the railroad yards in the town. P-38s and P-40s fly reconnaissance missions and sweeps and attack ground targets, including a train north of Sfax and trucks near Sainte-Marie- du-Zit.

Lt. Eric Rudorffer of 6./JG 2 scored his first victory in North Africa when he destroyed a Spitfire from RAF No. 72 Sqdn over Mateur. Other pilots of II./JG 2 including Oblt. Buhligen, downed 3 RAF PRU Spitfires. The Luftwaffe lost a Ju 88 and a Fw 190 to US 33rd FG P-40s.

 

[Njaco]

19 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Stalled for several days a mere 30 miles from the pocket, Hoth's troops attacked in an all-out effort to relieve Stalingrad. They succeeded in reaching the Myshkova. General von Manstein, knowing the relief attack would not succeed, ordered von Paulus to breakout. However, von Paulus took the advice of his Chief of Staff, General Schmidt - a sycophant of Hitler's - and stayed in Stalingrad. Meanwhile the Soviets captured Kontemirovka and continued to grind the Italian 8th Army to a bloody pulp. At Stalingrad the airlift was increased in order to assist with von Paulus' possible breakout from the besieged city. Despite a massive effort to supply the surrounded defenders from the air, it failed. This day saw the Luftwaffe fly 250 tons to von Paulus' army, less than half the minimum required simply to sustain his forces. Even this inadequate level was never met again.

During the Luftwaffe's attempts to support the 4.Panzerarmee's breakthrough to the Caucasus, the Staffelkapitaen of 4./JG 54, Oblt. Gerhard Barkhorn gained his 100th kill. But the Luftwaffe continued to lose aircraft. Four Bf 109E-7s of I./SchG 1 were lost between 30 November and 19 December, at least 2 of these to Soviet fighters, as the Gruppe was forced back to Millerovo.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler receives French Prime Minister Pierre Laval at his headquarters in the presence of Italian Foreign Minister Count Gian Ciano, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, head of the German Air Force; and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, to discuss;

"the existing problems of France."

MEDITERRANEAN: While escorting a convoy to Benghazi, Libya, the British corvette HMS 'Snapdragon' is bombed and sunk off Bizerte, Tunisia, by German aircraft.

NORTH AFRICA: Rain curtailed most aerial operations in Tunisia, although A-20s and DB-7s, with fighter escort, hit the marshalling yards at Sfax. A Ju 88 was destroyed by US 33rd FG P-40s near Sfax. Escorting a convoy to Benghazi, the corvette 'Snapdragon' was bombed and sunk off the port by German aircraft.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of 19/20 December, RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons lay mines off three ports on the Bay of Biscay: six lay mines off Lorient, five off St. Nazaire and four off Brest.

 

[Njaco]

20 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: The 4.Panzerarmee's relief column has been making smaller gains and is now at the Myshkova River. Hoth's Battle Group was within 16 miles of Stalingrad and completely spent. They could not break through the Soviet defenses. Von Manstein proposed that von Paulus break out and link up with Hoth. Citing fuel shortages, German General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, refuses to breakout from Stalingrad. Von Paulus was unwilling to do anything without Hitler's authorization. The 6.Armee Chief of Staff, General Schmidt, a committed Nazi Party member, is an important figure in the decision. It would never come. The Germans at Stalingrad were doomed.

Meanwhile, the Caucasus Front opened its offensive to drive the Germans from that region as the Soviets continued to probe the German defenses along the Chir River and Millerovo area. Soviet forces continue to gain ground in a broad offensive. Assault forces from the middle Don River reach Kantemirovka, on the Voronezh-Rostov railroad north of Millerovo.

GERMANY: After 5,000 flying hours instructing at the flying school at Kaufbeuren and the fighter pilot school at Bad Aibiling, Lt. Wilhelm "Willi" Batz was transferred to 2./Erganzung-Jagdgruppe Ost to undergo operation training.

NORTH AFRICA: In Tunisia, operations were severley curtailed as a result of heavy rains. The Zerstorer unit, III./ZG 2 was re-designated as III./SKG 10.

UNITED KINGDOM: From the RAAF No. 467/463 Squadron Record: By the 20th December, at Bottesford, 19 aircraft were available and the Squadron strength was 611 personnel including all ground staff, cooks, and WAAFs. Only training flights are recorded for December. (Heinz)

WESTERN FRONT: 101 B-17s and B-24s of the USAAF were sent to bomb the Luftwaffe servicing base at Romilly-sur-Seine near Paris, 100 miles further inland than any other target attacked by the Allies. 12 Squadrons of RAF and USAAF Spitfires escorted the bombers but turned back near Rouen. After the escorts left, the bomber formations were intercepted by nearly 200 Fw 190s from the 3 Gruppen of JG 26 and III./JG 2 who attacked head-on. The US 91st BG endured nearly one hour of attacks from III./JG 26 and lost 2 B-17s. Lt. Stammberger of 9./JG 26, attacking with Hptm. Egon Mayer's III./JG 2, watched as a B-17's rear section broke off and flipped end over end to the ground. Lt. Stammberger then attacked a B-17 from the 397th BS and destroyed it ;

"I managed to shoot down a Boeing in a head-on attack, the machine turning over on its back and diving down with a jerk, and me being able to just pull up and over it. I felt certain that I must have hit the pilots; a burst of 4 2cm cannons and the 2 machine guns from our Focke-Wulf into the cockpit (which was only built with sheets of glass or plastic) was guaranteed to be deadly, if we managed to score a hit!"

Another B-17 from the 397th BS also crashed in flames. Uffz. Herbert Swoboda of 11./JG 1 attacked a B-17 formation alone and was hit with return fire. With his guns jammed and escorting P-47s arriving, he decided to ram the bombers and hit the B-17 "Green Fury" of the 338th BS 96th BG in the rudder, sending it crashing on Nordeney Island. Uffz. Swoboda successfully baled out, uninjured. Altogether the Allies lost 6 B-17s shot down and 31 damaged while the Luftwaffe lost 6 Fw 190s in the combat. The Allies claim of 53 fighters destroyed was reduced to 21 and then to the actual 6 when it was learned that many Focke-Wulf pilots ran out of fuel during the lengthy battle and disengaged to head back to bases. This was the worst loss of US bombers in a single day so far in the war for the US Eighth Air Force.

Fw. Heinz-Gunther Adam of 2./JG 26 was killed in a flying accident.

The 'Oboe' ground-controlled blind bombing system was first tested by RAF Bomber Command in a raid on a power station at Lutterade in the Netherlands by 6 de Havilland Mosquitoes of No. 109 Squadron.

 

[syscom3]

21 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Chancellor Adolf Hitler uses the report by General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6.Armee, of fuel shortages to refuse a request by Field Marshall Erich von Manstein, commander of Heeresgruppe Don, to order the 6.Armee to withdraw from Stalingrad.

The increase in the airlift over Stalingrad brought 700 tons of supplies since 19 December.

GERMANY: During the night of 21/22 December, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 137 aircraft, 119 Lancasters, nine Stirlings and nine Wellingtons, to bomb Munich with the loss of 12 aircraft, eight Lancasters, three Stirlings and a Wellington, 8.8 per cent of the force. One hundred ten aircraft claimed to have bombed Munich and started fires but their photographs show that all or most of the bombs fell in open country, possibly attracted by a decoy site.

MEDITERRANEAN: HMAS 'QUIBERON' assisted in rescuing survivors from the liner 'STRATHALLAN', torpedoed off the Algerian coast by U-562, later landing them at Algiers. (Heinz)

NORTH AFRICA: Light forces of the British Eighth Army overtake the Axis rearguard at Sirte and are halted temporarily.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24s abort a mission against Sousse harbor due to weather. Six RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, attack the harbor but; results are not observed.

Weather prevents USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s from bombing Sfax or the secondary target, Gabes. P-40s destroy a tank and several cars and trucks with trailers in the Kairouan area while F-4 Lightnings fly three photographic reconnaissance missions over the area between Bizerte and Gabes.

In Algeria, during a raid on their airbase at Youk-les-Bains by German Ju 88s, defending P-38s of US 14th FG destroyed 3 of the raiding bombers.

NORTH AMERICA: The auxiliary aircraft carrier 'Hamlin' (ACV-15 ) is transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend Lease and commissioned as HMS 'Stalker'. This is the seventh ACV to be transferred to the British. The ship is reclassified escort aircraft carrier (CVE-15 ) on 15 July 1943 and is returned to the USN on 29 December 1945.

In Ottawa, Ontario, the Wartime Prices and Trade Board mandates butter rationing.

WESTERN FRONT: During the day, nine RAF Bomber Command Venturas and six Bostons are dispatched to attack railway targets in France, Belgium and Holland but only two Venturas found targets, at Monceau and Valenciennes. No aircraft are lost.

 

[syscom3]

22 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: In the Caucasus, Soviet forces begin strong attacks southeast of Naichik as the Germans start a withdrawal of the spearhead in the area. The Red Army offensive continues to gain ground on the Stalingrad front and in the middle Don sector. Sharp Soviet thrusts toward Velikie Luki, on the central front, are gaining ground. The Soviet winter offensive continued to roll forward as Morozovsk, Fydorovka and Kikolkoe were taken from the Germans.

Heavy fog descended on the airfields around Stalingrad, bringing a halt to airlift operations. What was left of II./SchG 1 at Stalingrad pulled back to Voroshilovgrad. While the rest of II./SchG 1 pulled back, 4(Pz)./SchG 1 remained forward at Tatsinskaya until Russian tanks approached the airfield then the unit moved to Stalino. In a summary of the year's operations II./SchG 1 reported flying a total of 3128 Hs 129 sorties, 1532 Hs 123 sorties and 1938 Bf 109 sorties since its formation and claimed 107 aircraft shot down or destroyed, while losing 20 Hs 129s, 16 Bf 109s and 5 Hs 123s due to enemy action. While operating from Voroshilovgrad, the Gruppe claimed 13 tanks destroyed.

GERMANY: During the day, six RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons are dispatched on a cloud-cover raid to Emden; four aircraft bomb the estimated positions through cloud.

MEDITERRANEAN: On 21 December U-565 reported a hit on a "2 Chimney' ship, possibly the 'Cameronia' within convoy KMF 5 on an eastern route. It was then reported to the Luftwaffe. On the night of 21-22 December, torpedo aircraft from KG 26, based in Grosetto, Italy, were launched against the convoy. KG 26 was the main anti-shipping torpedo Kampfgeschwader of the Luftwaffe in the Med and the favored attack used by its aircrews and probably carried out against the 'Cameronia' was known as the "Golden Comb". This involved aircraft attacking all at once in 'line-abreast formation' at low altitude and preferably at dusk. The 14 He 111H-6 torpedo bombers were initially launched against the convoy and 8 attacked the ships. At 06.35 hours, the convoy was attacked again by 2 Ju 88s armed with bombs and 1 Ju 88 armed with torpedos from III./KG 26 and a hit was claimed by the torpedo aircraft on a 12000 BRT steamer northeast of Bougie. Two hits were claimed on the passenger ship, 'Cameronia'. After these hits the ship burned.

NORTH AFRICA: The British First Army's V Corps renews their drive on Tunis, during the night of 22/23 December. The 2d Coldstream Guards of the 1st Guards Brigade attacks Djebel el Ahmera hill (later known as Longstop Hill), 6 miles northeast of Medjez el Bab, and partially occupies it.

USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators and RAF Liberators are dispatched to bomb the harbor at Sousse; only two bombers reach the target, the others are forced to return to base due to weather, but a few manage to bomb Monastir and the railroads at Mahdia.

A solid overcast prevents USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17s from bombing Bizerte or alternate targets of Sousse and Sfax. P-40s shoot up a train in Kairouan and destroy trucks on the Sfax-Faid road. F-4 Lightnings continue reconnaissance between Bizerte and the Gabes-Medenine area.

The Luftwaffe lost 2 bombers during a mid-day mission against P-40 fighters of the US 33rd FG. These may have been 2 He 111s from 3./KG 26 that failed to return from a mission. The entire crew of one of the Heinkels were rescued and captured and captured by the Allies.

2/17 Battalion: The last tee shaped colour patch was a unique "honours award" to 9 Division, after its sustained gallantry in the Battle of El Alamein (Oct/Nov 1942) which added another fine tradition to the Australian Army's ANZAC spirit. The tee shape is said to symbolize Tobruk and Tel el Eisa which featured in 9 Division's operational successes in Libya and Egypt during the years 1941 and 1942 respectively. Inside the grey border, white was the third battalion colour central to green, the latter being the colour of 20 Brigade, the first brigade in 9 Division. The General Officer Commanding 9 Division in the Middle East, Lieutenant General Moreshead, stated the introduction of the tee patch throughout all units of the Division was for uniformity , as the formation of the Division outside of Australia had brought together a mixture of colour patches of various shapes from the other three AlF Divisions. Thus 9 Division found a special identity and the 2/17 Battalion overcame early reluctance to change and wore with great pride the white over green with a grey border in the regular shape of a tee. It was first universally worn on a divisional parade on 22 December 1942 on the Gaza airstrip, which was inspected and addressed by the British Commander in the Middle East, General Alexander. Thereafter it was worn for the remainder of the Second World War, until the unit's cadre was disbanded on 8th February 1946 after it had returned to the Battalion's first training campsite at Ingleburn and 5 years, 9 months and 13 days service to Australia. (Heinz)

 

[Njaco]

23 December 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Operation 'Wintergewitter" was abandoned as the 3 exhausted Panzer divisions that made up the fist of the attack were withdrawn to the startline at Kotelnikovo.

Outside Stalingrad, the airbase at Tatsinskaya -known as 'Tazi' - came under fire from Russian forces moving on the city. General Martin Fiebig pleaded to get his 180 Ju 52s off the airfield but he did not get his order to leave and waited with his aircrews. At Morosovkaya, the 'sister' airfield suppying Stalingrad and also known as 'Moro', the Russians were attacking but were not so close. After communications were cut with 'Tazi', Colonel Ernst Kuhl ordered his Gruppen of He 111s and Stukas to fly to Novocherkassk airfield while he remained behind.

Oblt. Joachim Kirschner, Staffelkapitaen of 5./JG 3, was awarded the Ritterkreuz for achieving 51 kills in combat.

GERMANY: During the night of 23/24 December, five RAF Bomber Command Oboe Mosquitos are dispatched to bomb steel mills; two bomb the Krupps steel mill at Essen, one bombs a steel mill at Hamborn and one bombs the Krupps steel works at Rheinhausen No results could be observed, because of haze, and later daylight photographs could not distinguish craters caused by these attacks from those of other raids but a map from Essen shows accurate bomb bursts in the middle of the main Krupps factory on this night.

MEDITERRANEAN: Ninth Air Force B-24s attack the harbor at Naples during the night of 23/24 December; one aircraft bombs Taranto.

NORTH AFRICA: The Americans inform General Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie, political affairs commissioner of the French resistance, that Admiral Francois Darlan, French High Commissioner for North Africa, has decided to resign and leave North Africa and they have consented.

A three day period of torrential rain begins. Heavy rains turned the Tunisian battlefield into a sea of mud and combat actions came to an abrupt halt. Elements of Regimental Combat Team 18, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, relieve the 2nd Coldstream Guards on Djebel el Ahmera hill and are forced to withdraw under a German counterattack. Total cloud cover causes Twelfth Air Force B-17s, escorted by P-38s, to abort the bombing mission against Tunis and Bizerte Airfields.

NORTH AMERICA: Bob Hope agrees to entertain U.S. airmen in the Territory of Alaska. It is the first of his many famous Christmas shows for American armed forces around the world. The tradition continued for more than 30 years.

WESTERN FRONT: Over the Bay of Biscay during a transfer flight, P-38s of the US 82nd FG attacked and destroyed 2 Ju 88 bombers.

During the day, 18 RAF Bomber Command Bostons bomb the docks at St-Malo.

Six RAF Bomber Command Venturas bomb naval installations at Den Helder. The Den Helder bombing is particularly accurate and serious damage is caused to a torpedo workshop and other buildings.