Today in World War II History—December 23, 1942: 80 Years Ago—Dec. 23, 1942: US First War Loan Drive ends, raising $13 billion (quota was $9 billion). Read more: War Bonds in World War II.
So notes Sarah Sundin.
On the same day, Operation Winter Storm officially ended, dooming the German soldiers at Stalingrad to death or imprisonment at the hands of the Red Army.
Today in World War II History—December 19, 1942: 80 Years Ago—Dec. 19, 1942: Free French take Pichon, Tunisia from Germans.
From Sara Sundin's blog.
Today saw the high water mark of Operation Winter Storm, the German effort to relieve Stalingrad. German troops advanced to a point 30 miles south of Stalingrad, which is not close in military offensive terms. They could not advance further, and the trapped forces had insufficient fuel to commence an effort to break out.
The attention of the Belgian, Czechoslovak, Greek, Jugoslav, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norwegian, Polish, Soviet, United Kingdom and United States Governments and also of the French National Committee has been drawn to numerous reports from Europe that the German authorities, not content with denying to persons of Jewish race in all the territories over which their barbarous rule has been extended, the most elementary human rights, are now carrying into effect Hitler's oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe.From all the occupied countries Jews are being transported in conditions of appalling horror and brutality to Eastern Europe. In Poland, which has been made the principal Nazi slaughterhouse, the ghettos established by the German invader are being systematically emptied of all Jews except a few highly skilled workers required for war industries. None of those taken away are ever heard of again. The able-bodied are slowly worked to death in labor camps. The infirm are left to die of exposure and starvation or are deliberately massacred in mass executions. The number of victims of these bloody cruelties is reckoned in many hundreds of thousands of entirely innocent men, women and children.The above-mentioned governments and the French National Committee condemn in the strongest possible terms this bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination. They declare that such events can only strengthen the resolve of all freedom-loving peoples to overthrow the barbarous Hitlerite tyranny. They reaffirm their solemn resolution to insure that those responsible for these crimes shall not escape retribution, and to press on with the necessary practical measures to this end.
The Germans launched Operation Winter Storm, an offensive that aimed to break through to trapped forces at Stalingrad.
The Soviets launched Operation Little Saturn on south of the Don.
The Knights of Columbus Hostel fire occurred in St. John's Newfoundland. The fact that many suspicious items are associated with the fire, that other fire attempts happened in the same locality within a proximate time frame, and that the Catholic hostel housed many military and shipping personnel at the time have caused it to be suspected that the fire arose due to a Nazi act of sabotage. 99 people died as a result of the fire.
Sarah Sundin notes:
Today in World War II History—December 12, 1942: M3 submachine gun enters service with US Army. UCLA football team beats USC for the first time, 14-7; a war bond drive at the game raises $2 million.
The M3 was a wartime design that made use of stamping technology. The goal was to produce a reliable submachine gun at a much lower cost than the competing machined examples that then existed, a goal which was largely achieved.
As it was a Saturday, the Saturday weekly magazines were out.
The Saturday Evening Post had an illustration of a hunting dog by tools of the trade and a photo of its owner, now in the service.
For the past thirty-six hours I had received no orders or information from a higher level. In a few hours I was liable to be confronted with the following situation:(a) Either I must remain in position on my western and northern fronts and very soon see the army front rolled up from behind (in which case I should formally be complying with the orders issued to me), or else(b) I must make the only possible decision and turn with all my might on the enemy who was about to stab the army from behind. In the latter event, clearly, the eastern and northem fronts can no longer be held and it an only be a matter of breaking through to the south-west.In case of (b) I should admittedly be doing justice to the situation but should also - for the second time - be guilty of disobeying an order.(3) In this difficult situation I sent the Fuhrer a signal asking for freedom to take such a final decision if it should become necessary. I wanted to have this authority in order to guard against issuing the only possible order in that situation too late....The airlift of the last three days has brought only a fraction of the calculated minimum requirement (600 tons = 300 Ju daily). In the very next few days supplies can lead to a crisis of the utmost gravity.I still believe, however, that the army can hold out for a time. On the other hand - even if anything like a corridor is cut through to me - it is still not possible to tell whether the daily increasing weakness of the army, combined with the lack of accommodation and wood for constructional and heating purposes, will allow the area around Stalingrad to be held for any length of time.
The Red Army completed encircling the German 6th Army, which was trapped in Stalingrad.
In a matter of mere days, the Red Army had blasted through Romanian lines north and south of the city and completely routed it. German efforts at counter-attacks failed. 250,000 German troops were besieged in the city. It was a brilliantly planned and executed Red Army offensive, featuring massive use of artillery and rapid advancement of armor and horse cavalry.
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The offensive also showed that the Germans had committed a fatal error in trusting the front near Stalingrad to their allies. To the north of the city the front was defended by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian armies. To the south, Romanian. The Romanian Army had already shown itself to be worn out earlier in 1942.
The Governor General of French West Africa accepted the authority of Admiral Darlan.
Japanese general Tomitarō Horii, age 52, was swept out to sea after trying to canoe to his troops in the Battle of Buno-Gona. This resulted in his death due to drowning.
Hitler issued an order precluding the German 6th Army from retreating from Stalingrad.
Hitler and Stalin were both fans of the "not one step back" type of order, which is easy to decree, harder to make a reality, and robs the local commanders of operational flexibility.
Tweety Bird appeared in a Warner Brothers cartoon for the first time, the same being A Tale of Two Kitties.
Today In Wyoming's History: November 20: 1942 NHL abolishes regular season overtime until World War II is over.
Operation Torch commenced, that being the Anglo American invasion of French North Africa.
The landings were a compromise between British and American concerns, designed to knock the Axis out of North Africa by opening up the territory of theoretically neutral French North Africa. While it tends to be obliquely noted, it was an active of aggression against a party that had resisted going into war fully and which was not a declared belligerent.
The Western Task and Center Tasks Forces were made up of all American troops, while the Eastern Task Force included some British troops as well as Americans. The naval contingent was Anglo-American. French loyalty to Vichy was already wavering and Admiral Duran, in Algiers, quickly convinced the Vichy authorities not to oppose the landings. Duran was in Algiers at the time, visiting his son, which worked out freakishly well given that it was soon clear that Giraud did not have sufficient command over Vichy forces to influence them. Casualties would be overall low for the operation, which lasted a little over a week.
Vichy France broke off diplomatic relations with the United States on this day, but as a practical matter this was the beginning of the end for Vichy, which had been fighting the British nearly continually in Africa for most of the year, and had been beaten by Japan in the Pacific. It was reduced to a rump state after this, with the Free French increasingly being the legitimate French authority.
Sarah Sundin noted the day on her blog, of course, and included the naval Battle of Casablanca:
Today in World War II History—November 8, 1942: Operation Torch: 400,000 American and British troops land in Morocco and Algeria. In Naval Battle of Casablanca, US ships sink nine Vichy French warships.
The operation proved to be a masterful strategic and logistical success. In very short order, it became clear that the tide that was already turning was rapidly rising. And at that, it's worth noting that rolling back the Axis in Europe really started with British successes in North Africa, followed by Operation Torch, prior to the Red Army commencing to advance in any meaningful manner. Having said that, simply holding the line by the fall of 1942 was a major Soviet success.
Torch, by the way, pitted 107,000 Allied troops against 125,000 mostly Vichy troops. It was, therefore, spread out over a long axis and while the landing forces were concentrated, they were actually outnumbered in terms of overall numbers. Armor landing in support of Torch was, moreover, weak.
Hitler, in a speech in Munich, declared Stalingrad to be in German hands. The speech was his annual one to his "old fighters".
The Germans eliminated the Piaski ghetto, spreading their genocide further.
Hitler moved his headquarters from Werwolf in Ukraine back to the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia (now part of Poland) confident that Stalingrad would soon fall.
Hitler seemed oddly possessed of the notion that his physical presence close to the front served the Nazi war effort, whereas the Allied leaders generally governed from their capital cities, with certain exceptions from time to time.
Hitler's HQ's also demonstrated an odd fascination with wolves, which are native to Germany but which had been extirpated by the 1940s. They returned to Germany only in recent years.
The Luftwaffe hit Canterbury in their largest raid on England since the Blitz. However, as Sara Sundin notes on her blog, their efforts were hampered by barrage balloons. During the raid, famous German fighter pilot Paul Galland, brother of the more famous Adolf Galland, was shot down while flying a FW190 by Spitfires.
White Christmas by Bing Crosby took the number one position on Billboard's singles chart.
In spite of the Christmas themed song on the charts, it was Halloween. In the U.S. kids were out trick or treating, but on coastal cities, for the first time, that was during the day, due to blackouts at night.
The Germans took control of the Stalingrad Tractor Factory. Fighting for the factory had been at the epic level, but the Germans took control of the factory earlier in the battle than I'd realized.
B-26 Marauders sank the Japanese destroyer Oburo northeast of Kiska.
The Oburo.
Washington D. C. experienced flooding due to heavy rain.
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Today in World War II History—September 22, 1942: Germans split Soviet 62nd Army in Stalingrad and occupy the southern half of the city. US Army raises grade of first sergeant to that of master sergeant.
From Sarah Sundin's blog
Clearly, the item about the Battle of Stalingrad is the important item, but I've linked this in here due to the item on U.S. Army ranks. On this day in 1942 the grade of the rank of First Sergeant was made equal to that of Master Sergeant.
We've discussed enlisted Army ranks here before, indeed more than once, I think.
First Sergeant are the senior enlisted NCO's in a company, battery or troop. It's an important rank, and it's been around for an extremely long time. He is, literally, the "first" sergeant and for enlisted soldiers often the most senior soldier they typically engage with, commonly nicknamed "top".
When the Army was reorganized in 1920, 1st Sergeants were given the grade of E-6. That would surprise modern soldiers, as that's the grade now held by Staff Sergeants, who at that time held the grade E-5. E-5 today is held by the rank of Sergeant, but at that time, Sergeants were E-4s, as they still are in the Air Force.
Master Sergeants, that title indicating a senior status to that sometimes indicated for master tradesmen, were E-7s. Today, that grade is held by the rank of Sergeant First Class. That rank didn't exist in 1920.
On this day in 1942 the Army adopted a new enlisted structure, changing some of the enlisted ranks. Technician grades, which we've earlier discussed, were adopted, foreshadowing the later introduction of Specialists. Enlisted ranks remained the same up through Staff Sergeant. First Sergeants were moved from E-6 to E-7, making them the equivalent of Master Sergeants, and an additional rocker was added to their insignia to indicate their equivalency. In the E-6 position the rank of Technical Sergeant, which had already coexisted with First Sergeant, remained.
This basic structure remained until 1948 when technicians were eliminated, but new rank insignia were introduced for non combatant NCO's, only barely distinguishable from those of combatants. Technical Sergeant, at that time, was renamed to Sergeant First Class. Moreover, the rank of "Recruit" was introduced for what had been "buck privates", and introduced at the E-1 level, making there three grades of privates. The rank of Staff Sergeant was eliminated, and buck Sergeants took their insignia.
Specialists were added in 1955.
n 1959 a jump in grades happened in enlisted ranks overall. Staff Sergeants were reintroduced as E-6s, acquiring their prior insignia, and Sergeants became E-5s and reacquired their three chevron and no rocker insignia., Sergeants First Class took the E-7 grade and First Sergeants (and Master Sergeants) E-8s. The rank of "Recruit" was renamed Private E-1. Privates at the E-3 level worse the single chevron, as they had since 1948. This is basically the structure we've had since then, except that PFC's obtain a rocker in 1968, and Private E-2 reclaimed the single stripe insignia that they hadn't had since 1948.
The upper Specialists insignia over E-4 have also largely disappeared.
As this recitation also notes, the Technician grades were introduced during the same year as Top got a promotion and pay raise. They'd existed since January.
In a manner that only made sense to the Army, two stripe technicians were introduced at the grade of E-3, but with the title of Technician 5th grade. If that doesn't quite made sense, its because the "E" structure that I've been using here wasn't introduced until 1949. Prior to that, while the E grades noted here offer equivalency, so that it's easy to tell the actual changes over time, pay grades went by a simple number. Pay grade 7 was the lowest, and it was the one that applied to buck privates, or what we'd later refer to, most of the time, to Private E-1s. Pay grade 1 was the highest, which was equivalent to the post 1949 E-7.
That right there helps explain some of this evolution, by the way. There was nothing higher than pay grade 1, in enlisted ranks, and that was equivalent to E-7. Now, the highest enlisted grade normally encountered is E-8, which Master Sergeants and First Sergeants occupy, as of 1959. In that same year, 1959, the rank of Sergeant Major was introduced at E-9, as was Specialist E-9. E-9 remains the highest enlisted grade today, although there are several different types of Sergeant Majors that occupy it, some being exceedingly rare.
Anyhow, back to technicians. Introduced in January, right after the war started, their existence reflected the much more technical Army of 1940 as compared to earlier. The creation of the rank was an attempt to create a rank and pay scheme for men who were not combatants. Something had to be done, but the experiment wasn't really successful, leading to the change to combatant and non-combatant ratings in 1948, and ultimately to the not hugely successful creation of specialists ranks in 1959. On that latter creation, the number of specialist ranks was already being reduced by 1967 and was further cut back in 1978. When I joined the National Guard in 1981, there were still Specialist E-6s, but in 1985 that was changed so that only Specialist E-4 remained. At the same time, however, the increasingly professional nature of the Army after the elimination of the draft meant that the number of men occupying lower enlisted ranks increased, and therefore the Army reduced the number of Corporal E-4s in favor of Specialist E-4s, the distinction being that Corporals are NCOs and Specialists are not.
Prior Related Threads:
A United States Army Air Force B-24 attacked the U-156 while survivors of the Laconia were on the foredeck. The U-156 dove, leaving the survivors abandoned at sea, although later German U-boats surface and try to recover the survivors. Karl Donitz thereafter issued the following order:
On the same day, the Germans penetrated the northwest suburbs of Stalingrad.
The Communist Albanian National Liberation Movement was founded.
Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri delivered a speech on developments in the War Program.
The Japanese effort at Edson's Ridge on Guadalcanal draws to a close in a Marine Corps victory.
US bombers stationed at Adak bomb the harbor at Kiska, damaging two Japanese submarines.
Stalingrad experienced fierce fighting and. . . frost.
The Japanese reached Ioribaiwa Ridge and attack, but the Australians hold out.
The Chinese take Wuyi.
Day two of Operation Agreement proves an Allied failure.
The Yankees took the 1942 American League Pennant, beating out the Cleveland Indians.
Marine Corps artillery and aircraft, from nearby Henderson Field, cause the Japanese to retreat from Edson's Ridge. The Japanese, under the command of Gen. Kiyotaki Kawanguchi, tried again that night and broke through the line, but the were stopped by machinegun fire from Hill 123 as well as artillery.
The U-156 picked up survivors from the Laconia. The U Boat commander sought additional help, and even broadcast in English for assistance.
The Germans commenced a large-scale offensive at Stalingrad resulting in house to house fighting, the commencement of that type of combat in the city. It made little progress.
Commonwealth forces commenced Operation Agreement near Tobruk, a series of amphibious and ground raids. They'd take large scale losses to little effect.
By this day in 1942 the Germans had taken 1,500,000 since the commencement of Operation Barbarossa.
The Germans took Pitomnik Airfield in Stalingrad on this day. It would become the main German airfield during the battle, although there were six additional ones.
The British suffered setbacks at Alam el Halfa when an attack went amiss, leaving the British without armor support.
Franco removed Phalangist Ramón Serrano Suñer as Spanish Foreign Minister due to the Basilica of Begona incident a few days prior. As a result, Franco now had full control of the government. The sacked foreign minister remained active in far right politics and died in 2003 at the age of 101.
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.
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.
Today in World War II History—August 23, 1942: 80 Years Ago—Aug. 23, 1942: Battle of Stalingrad officially begins: German Army Group B reaches the Volga River near Stalingrad.
Stalingrad is claimed to be the largest battle in history.
In addition to what is noted above, the Luftwaffe bombed the city, resulting in 40,000 civilian deaths and the reduction of much of the city to rubble. Troops of the German 16th Panzer Division almost reached the Stalingrad Tractor Factory, the USSR's largest tank producer.
Martha Hanson, age 45, was mauled by a bear at Yellowstone National Park near her tourist cabin. She would die from her injuries on the 27th.
Brazil, having endured several days of German U-boat attacks, declared war on Germany and Italy. The Germans has presumed, incorrectly, that Allied ships were taking refuge in South American territorial waters.
Brazil would contribute some ground forces to the war in Europe, but its major contribution would be in regard to providing its massive coastline in the war effort.
On this day, the German 16th Panzer Division crossed the Don, with the path to Stalingrad now open before it.
A renewed naval battle in the Savo Sound occurred between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early morning hours, resulting in the ultimate loss of the USS Blue.
The Chinese captured Yuijiang.
In the Caribbean, an American B-18, a plane we hardly think of in the context of World War Two, sank the U-654.
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The USS Ingraham sank off of Nova Scotia after she was hit in fog by the oil tanker Chemung.
Today in World War II History—August 10, 1942: Germans cross the Don River and enter outskirts of Stalingrad. Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital opens for employees of Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, CA.
