Tuesday, August 25, 1942. The Battle of Milne Bay.

The Japanese, again acting with poor intelligence, landed marines at Milne Bay in New Guinea.  The battle would rage until September 7, in part because Australian aircraft destroyed Japanese landing craft and therefore the Japanese force, which was outnumbered from the onset, could not withdraw and chose to push inland.  Ultimately, it would be defeated by the Austsralians in what is regarded as the first defeat for Japanese ground forces against the Western Allies of the Second World War.

Today in World War II History—August 25, 1942: RAF officer Prince George, Duke of Kent is killed in a plane crash in Scotland, the first death of a member of the Royal family in military service in 450 years

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

Shott Sunderland MkV, the type of aircraft Prince George was flying at the time.

Prince George, like much of royalty everywhere, is not without a collection of rumors regarding personal vices.  He married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in 1934, which interestingly featured first an Anglican ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at Buckingham Palace.  The couple had three children.  Prior to their marriage there were strong rumors that he had engaged in affairs with at least three individuals, one woman and two men.  He had an extramarital affair with a woman of nobility after his marriage.

He'd originally served in the Royal Navy, and then as a civil servant while remaining a naval reservist.  He'd been aide-de-camp to King Edward VIII and then naval aide-de-camp to George VI upon Edward's resignation.  He was to have been Governor General of Australia before the Second World War caused him to return to naval service, during which he took a voluntary reduction in rank so as to not disrupt service among younger pilots.  He was one of fourteen passengers killed in the crash.  He was 39 years old.

All three of his children are living.

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons, addressed yesterday, concluded on this day, during which B-17s obtained a rare success against a ship, sinking the Japanese destroyer Mutsuki with a fatal direct hit.

The Soviets began to evacuate the civilian population of Stalingrad.

Monday, August 24, 1942. The Battle of the Eastern Solomons.

Stricken Japanese aircraft descending on the USS Enterprise.

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons commenced between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. 

This day saw the sort of action that the naval war in the Pacific is recalled for.  Even though the battle for the Solomons had already featured a lot of surface action, this was a carrier battle, although, like at Midway, bombers of the United States Army Air Force participated as well.

Japanese aircraft exploding on the deck of the USS Enterprise.

Most of the action was on this day.  The Japanese lost the light carrier Ryūjō, a destroyer and a transport.  The USS Enterprise was heavily damaged, with a stricken Japanese aircraft hit her deck.

USS Enterprise under attack.

The battle was an American victory. 

Ryūjō under attack from B-17s.

Today in World War II History—August 24, 1942: Italians successfully charge Soviets at Izbushensky, Russia.

So notes Sarah Sundin.

Unit creast of the Savoia Cavallerria

The Italian cavalry charge by the Savoia Cavallerria was dramatic in the extreme, against heavy odds, and deployed the time tested cavalry tactic of charging into an ambushing enemy.  It worked, moreover, although the charging Italian elements took heavy losses.  Soviet losses, however, were in fact much higher.

The unit still exist, although dismounted, today.  It was saved as an Italian unit to some degree by the actions of Count Col. Pietro de Vito Piscicelli who, after the Italian surrender, found his unit in a position in which it could not surrender to the Western Allies.  Instead, he took the unit into Switzerland, where they were interned.  Interestingly, officers were allowed to keep their horses and sidearms while under Swiss authority until the end of the war.

Churchill arrived back in the UK after his trip to Moscow.

War information sheet put out by the United States.

In Peru, an earthquake killed 30 people.