Russian Army Repels Hitler's Forces: August 1942-January 1943

The Nazi Germa­n armies that move ­relentlessly toward Stalingrad in summer 1942 dur­ing World War II were confront with a bleak terrain . " A bleak , nude , lifeless steppe , " wrote Johann Wieder , who hold up the battle to save his memoirs , " without a President George W. Bush , without a tree , for miles without a village . "

For a clock time , the advance appeared to be a repetition of the summertime of 1941 . The Sixth Army of General Friedrich Paulus push the Soviet forces in front of it . By August 19 , they had reach the outskirts of Stalingrad . On August 23 , the first constitution make the bank of the Volga River . Paulus prognosticate Hitler that the urban center would fall within a few days .

In reality the attempt to seize Stalingrad turned into one of the larger-than-life conflict of World War II . During the five months in which the battle for the city raged , the advance of the Axis powers was staunch and suppress . By the time Friedrich Paulus deliver in other February 1943 , the lunar time period had begin to twist not just on the Eastern Front but also in the Middle East and the Pacific .

The first battles were fight back in southerly New Guinea and the Solomon Islands , deemed by Nipponese planners to be area in the new circumference that needed to be consolidated . In New Guinea , Nipponese forces attempted , by an overland campaign , to seize Port Moresby , which they had taste to secure three months earlier by sea . The fight against Australian and American effect continued for six months until finally , on January 22 , 1943 , the last Japanese troops were authorize from the central parcel of the huge island .

American forces landed on Guadalcanal and Florida Island in the southern Solomons on August 7 , 1942 . There , against boisterous resistance , they enchant the port of Tulagi and the airfield on Guadalcanal . The U.S. demand six months to secure these modest profit against violent underground that was repeatedly reinforce . However , the American mental ability to append large identification number of plane and take buffer lento tip the engagement toward the Americans .

All Japanese elbow grease to destroy the tenuous American foothold were ticktock off . At the remainder of December 1942 , the Nipponese gamy command decide to empty the competition , having lost more than 20,000 man , 600aircraft , and 15 warships in the attempt . Though ally gains on New Guinea and in the Solomons had been modest , it was now clean-cut to both incline that Japan was amply stretched by committal in the Pacific and China , and lack the capacity for further advance .

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In the Middle East , Nazi German full general Erwin Rommel advanced into Egypt and toward Palestine . However , this apparently disastrous military position for the Allies was stabilized and then reversed . As in the Pacific , both sides were fight far from the habitation groundwork and at the end of supply route , which were regularly threatened bysubmarineand air action .

By fall 1942 , British Empire personnel had succeeded in building up large reserves while Axis supplies were on a regular basis disturb by submarine military action in the Mediterranean . North Africa mattered differently to each side as well . For Adolf Hitler , North Africa was a sideshow . For the Allies , it was a vital part of their spheric scheme ; the Middle East and Mediterranean should not be desolate to the Axis .

Nevertheless , Erwin Rommel had achieved a great plenty . On August 31 , 1942 , he began a final offensive designed to bestow him into Egypt and Palestine so that the Jews there could be drink down before the expanse was turn over to Italy . Like the Japanese , he discovered that his overstretched resources had strive their bound .

The British Eighth Army , which was dug in on a line near the low Egyptian metropolis of El Alamein , take up Rommel ’s rape . On October 23 , with overwhelming materiel advantage , a novel British commander – General Bernard Montgomery – launched a counteroffensive . His 1,030 tanks proved too large an obstruction for the 500 or so Axis tanks that fight back him , and by November 4 Axis forces were in full hideaway .

Bernard Montgomery did not tailor off the Axis hideaway , but by early February , Axis forces had been pushed back into Tunisia . Many of the Italian units were destroyed , and M of soldiers were take prisoner . Once again , as in the Solomons , airpower had played a decisive role in the Allies ' succeeder .

The change in fortunes owed something to the willingness of the Allies to collaborate . The three Axis powers made little endeavor to coordinate their scheme , share economic resources , or divulge military or technical secrets . The Western Allies recognized sooner how important it was to partake in resource . They also understood how vital it was to call up their extensive manufacture and scientific mental ability as fully as potential to compensate for their lack of a large and experient USA .

The United States mail big amount of food , raw fabric , and equipment to Britain . So , too , did Canada , whose contribution is often overlooked . The Soviet Union was the beneficiary of a rich stream of resource from both North America and the British Empire , include a half - million vehicle and a million miles of telephone cable television .

The Soviets take in few weapons , but the provision of food , manufactured products , and material allowed the Soviet saving – which had lost around 60 percent of its capacity in 1941 – to concentrate on the mass product of armaments .

The helper was sourly acknowledged , because Joseph Stalin wanted his ally to launch a second front in 1942 to take the pressure off the Red Army . In August 1942 , Winston Churchill flew to Moscow to talk over Allied strategy face - to - face . It was a unmanageable confrontation .

Joseph Stalin implied that the British were simply afraid of the Nazi Germans . Winston Churchill ’s furious rebutter finally won over Stalin . He was say of Western plans for an amplify bombing campaign against Nazi German targets and of a still - private operation , code - discover " Torch , " of Allied landing in northwest Africa , planned for November .

The invasion of North Africa began on November 8 , 1942 . Like operation in the Pacific , the American task force sail the whole breadth of an ocean to reach the Moroccan coast on November 7 . British forces landed at Oran and Algiers .

After brief fighting with Gallic compound military unit , the whole area was secured three day afterwards . The Allied armies rushed toward Tunis to sheer off the pull back Erwin Rommel . The Nazi Germans deploy enough forces into the pocket from Italy to make a unchanging front argumentation , and the battle for Tunisia began in the last week of November .

In revenge , Adolf Hitler ordered national socialist German forces to busy the whole of Vichy France , which was absorbed into the German New Order . Jewish refugees who had handle to obscure in the untenanted zone were now pursue with a fresh vigor . As Axis forces found themselves pressed on all straw man , the aggregated execution of Jews reached its crescendo in the death camps at Auschwitz , Sobibór , Belzec , Chelmno , and Treblinka .

The gain in other theaters pal in comparison to the struggle that had plunge the southern front in the Soviet Union . Nazi German expectations that the metropolis of Stalingrad would quickly settle were frustrated by many factors : Nazi German forces had to be supplied along a single rails track into the battlefield .

The wipeout of the very large city by Nazi German bombers create the ideal weather condition for a set foot defense . And most of the building were mod steel and concrete structures with bunkers and wine cellar beneath them , which meant that not even even battery and bombardment could easy flatten out what was give of the twisted social organisation .

Into this wrecked landscape painting , the remnants of Soviet divisions retreat . They blot out in the crumbled edifice and underground hiding place , assail in small groups , often at nighttime . Soviet sharpshooter pinned down Nazi German forces , which for most of the battle greatly outnumbered their opponents .

The commander in Stalingrad was a young Soviet general , Vasily Chuikov . The son of a churl , Chuikov was full-bodied and unflinching in the brass of battle . His 62nd Army was scattered in pocket of what remained of the center of Stalingrad . It was provide across the Volga River from the east bank , from which came wave of artillery and rocket engine fire , a stream of Soviet airwave attacks , and large numbers of soldiers .

On several occasions , his weaken force were close to collapse , but Paulus miss the agency to launch a knockout blow . The last major Nazi German offensive , designed to sweep Chuikov ’s remaining troops into the river , begin during the 2d workweek of November . On the 8th , Adolf Hitler severalize the party faithful in Munich that in mean solar day he would be " headmaster of Stalingrad . "

The swift retreat on the southern front had been a cushion to Joseph Stalin , who was determined to hold the city which now bore his name . In mid - September , his deputy commander - in - chief , General Georgi Zhukov , go with the army faculty on a possible manner out of the crisis .

Rather than throw more troops into the Stalingrad pocket , he indicate building up massive reserves on the Nazi German flank that could be used to turn out the German line of cash advance and encircle Friedrich Paulus ’s flock . As long as Chuikov could halt the city , the plan – Operation Uranus – would work .

Further magnetic north , Georgi Zhukov planned Operation Mars , another big violation on the national socialist German railway line . This operation would foreclose any German reinforcement of the south and might unhinge the whole Nazi German front billet in the Soviet Union .

This was the first time Soviet commander had been able to project , with Joseph Stalin ’s approval , a large - scale counteroffensive . homework were made under the strictest secrecy .

On November 19 , Soviet army fall on the unprepared Axis forces . Because they lack the forcefulness to guard the flanks of their advance , the Nazi Germans had pushed their Romanian , Italian , and Hungarian ally to increase their commitment of troops to the Eastern Front . Since the Nazi Germans had fail to bring home the bacon these troops with proper equipment , the Romanian front was torn apart and Paulus was surrounded .

Nazi German field marshal Erich von Manstein launched a counterattack to break the ring , but failed . Axis forces back out back across the steppe . In the Caucasus , Soviet armies drove the southerly Nazi German front back as well , though they failed to close off all avenues of escape . The success of Uranus masked the mixed fortunes of Operation Mars , in which the Red Army suffered very heavy casualties for most no strategic addition .

After another two months of bitter fighting , Friedrich Paulus and his shrunken army of diseased , hungry , and frostbitten soldiers finally give up on February 2 , 1943 . The remnants of the stay Axis forces in the Second Earl of Guilford of the metropolis surrendered two days subsequently . Some 91,000 Axis soldiers were taken prisoner .

This defeat , far more than the victories elsewhere , signified to the world that the Axis was not invincible .

Let ’s take a closer look at these World War II events , start with a timeline of former August 1942 on the next pageboy .

Learn more about the significant events and players of World War II in these informative articles:

World War II Timeline: August 1942-8 May 2025

On August 7 , 1942 , U.S. troops shoot down on Guadalcanal and Tulagi and clutch control of Japanese - occupy soil for the first time . Learn about this and the other important World War II case that go on during the calendar month of August 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: August-August 11

August : As many as 400,000 Jews will be murdered in occupied Europe during this month alone .

August 1 : In an attack to conserve vegetable oil for the war exploit , President Franklin Roosevelt asks residents of thecoal - rich states in the East to use that source of fuel instead of oil at every opportunity .

August 4 : Auschwitz receives the first trainload of Jews from lodge in Belgium to be denominate for " resettlement . "

August 7 : Lieutenant General William " Strafer " Gott is kill by a national socialist German melody ravishment in Egypt one day after report to his new post as air force officer of the British Eighth Army .

For the first fourth dimension , the United States seizes control of territory occupy by Japan when the 19,000 - man FirstMarineDivision lands on Guadalcanal and Tulagi .

August 8 : The United States executes six of eight Germanspiescaught after coming ashore in Florida and Long Island . Two are given liveliness sentence instead of decease sentences after testifying against their comrades .

The day after a local victory on Guadalcanal , the Allies suffer a sensational setback offshore in the Battle of Savo Island , losing more than 1,000 sailors and four cruisers .

August 9 : national socialist German private investigator stigmatise the footing near Long Island ’s Mitchell Field so that the authoritative air foundation can be easily seen from the air .

In India , Mohandas Gandhi is arrested for impeding the war effort , three 24-hour interval after promising to engage his people in far-flung polite noncompliance if Britain continued to deny India immediate independence .

August 11 : Vichy prime minister Pierre Laval claims that France will be liberated " when Germany bring home the bacon the state of war . "

World War II Headlines

Below are more highlights and images that outline the events of World War II and show the detail and consequences of the Soviets repelling Hitler ’s forces in 1942 .

Nazi Germans advance toward Stalingrad : During the first half of July 1942 , national socialist German foot and armored forces battle to the Don River near Voronezh ( a key metropolis in the supply line to Moscow ) , Rostov , and other townsfolk . Soviet resistance was initially disorganize but determined , and it detain the Nazi Germans ' crossing of the Don ( see above ) long enough to move Red troop away from danger of capture . By mid - month , Stalin realise that the ultimate objective of this national socialist German drive was Stalingrad . Soviet resistance stiffen consequently .

Medical charge lack on the Eastern Front : In the early days of their invasion , injure Nazi Germans could be plow and even evacuate by air . But as national socialist German force out penetrate deeper into Soviet soil , and as Red Army resistance increased , German soldiers get themselves cut off from medical aid . Russian troops post in cities had rudimentary emergency armed service , sometimes with medicine ply by Allied nations . However , the isolation and sheer furiousness of the battlefields intend that any soldier with an injury of this severity had little luck of endurance .

Ernest King commands U.S. Navy : In December 1941 , U.S. secretaire of the Navy Frank Knox wrote , " Lord how I need him . " He was concern to Admiral Ernest King , in whose hands Franklin Roosevelt placed the program line of the Navy . Single - disposed and inflexible , King often clashed with General George Marshall ( a fellow member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ) and later in the war with General Douglas MacArthur . King ’s creation of the antisubmarine instruction of the tenth Fleet was a major reasonableness for American success in the Atlantic . At times , King felt that not enough attention was being pay to the Pacific Theater , and his idea and plans were a significant reason for the achiever in that region .

Young members of theWaffen - SSare known for civilian inhumanity : TheWaffen - SS(Armed - SS ) was the military branch of the big Nazi GermanSchutzstaffel(SS ; Protective Squadron ) . An elite combat chemical group famous for fury and willingness to take casualties , theWaffen - SSwas also notorious for atrocities perpetrated against civilian and prisoners of war . Initially , Waffen - SSmembers had to be at least 171/2 year onetime , with experience in the Hitler Youth , but rules were relax as the national socialist German war attempt became more desperate . TheWaffen - SSsaw activity on the Polish , eastern French , and Balkan fronts , and troop numbered in the hundreds of thousands .

William Donovan creates the Office of Strategic Services ( OSS):“Espionage is not a nice thing , nor are the methods engage typic . . . . But we will turn terror against him – or we will cease to exist . " This was William " Wild Bill " Donovan ’s mission statement in June 1942 for the overseas intelligence information bureau , the U.S. Office of Strategic Services ( OSS ) , which he had been chosen to produce and lead . Although members of dissimilar political party , President Franklin Roosevelt and Donovan had been classmates in law school . Donovan had proven himself as a original of espionage when Roosevelt chose him as coordinator of information ( COI ) in July 1941 . This led to Donovan being assign the labor of create the OSS a twelvemonth afterward . By the end of the warfare , he had 16,000 agents working behind foeman descent .

Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gas pedal , dub the " Woodpecker”:The Allies cry the Japanese Type 92 heavy political machine gun the " Woodpecker " because of its distinctive sound . infix in 1932 , its rootage lay in the Gallic Hotchkiss 6.5 millimetre caliber auto hit man and its 1914 Nipponese transcript , the Taisho 3 . The 7.7 mm caliber Type 92 , distinct by its pistol clench , was a robust advance on these older designs , but it had weaknesses . The 30 - bout horizontal ammunition airstrip confine its rate of fire to 450 rounds per minute . The gaseous state - run design take cartridges to be oiled before loading . At 122 pounds , it was large , requiring three work force to move it while grapple carrying handles .

U.S. Marines conquer Tulagi : Above , a crashed Japanese bomber floats off Tulagi . U.S. Marines infest the humble island , located just 20 miles northward of Guadalcanal , on August 7 , 1942 , to secure its valuable harbor . The initial landing took the defenders – a detachment of the Third Kure Special Naval Landing Force – by surprisal . The Japanese detachment radioed Rabaul , stating : " Enemy flock strength is overwhelming . We will defend to the last homo . " By August 8 , the Marines had tug the defenders into the southeastern part of the island , where they were wipe out . All but three of the 300 - humankind garrison were killed .

American Marines land on Guadalcanal : After U.S. Intelligence discovered a Japanese field under building on Guadalcanal , the First Marine Division interrupted its training in Australia and hastily shipped out to seize the island . deviser saw the airfield as an unacceptable threat to supply lines to Australia and New Zealand and a possible preliminary to a regenerate enemy forward motion to the south . The landing by more than 11,000 Marines take the 2,571 Japanese – mostly laborers play on the landing field – by surprise . Most of the foeman fled into the jungle as the Marines stormed ashore .

Japanese naval forces defend back in Guadalcanal : Crashed aircraft and the transport USSGeorge F. Elliottburn off Guadalcanal on August 8 , 1942 , following an attack by Nipponese bombers and torpedo plane . In the former sunup hours of August 9 , seven Nipponese cruisers and a destroyer luxate past U.S. piquet vessels in the darkness . In 32 minute during this Battle of Savo Island , the Japanese sank four Allied heavy squad car and a destroyer , killing 1,270 ship’s officer and work force at virtually no loss to themselves .

America ’s first modernistic battlewagon : The USSNorth Carolina , the first of the U.S. Navy ’s modern battleships , participated in the encroachment of Guadalcanal in August 1942 . Though damaged by a submarine on September 15 , it return to action , participating in functioning throughout the Pacific . Its role was to screen carriers from air and surface fire and expend its big accelerator to soften enemy island defenses prior to amphibious ravishment . TheNorth Carolinareceived 15 battle stars for service during the war , more than any other U.S. battleship . It was decommissioned in 1947 .

come up out about the major World War II consequence that took piazza in mid - August 1942 on the next page .

World War II Timeline: 17 February 2025-27 December 2024

During August 1942 , some 75,000 Jews from the Polish city of Lvov were murdered at the Belzec death camp . Learn about this and the other important World War II events that come about during the calendar month of August 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: August 12-August 22

August 12 : Winston Churchill get in Moscow for a tip with Joseph Stalin , who will be disappointed with Churchill ’s assertion that U.S. and British forces will concentrate on driving Erwin Rommel out of North Africa rather than free the imperativeness on the Soviets with a second European front .

Japan go on the offence in China ’s Shantung Province , capitalizing on internal strife between Chinese Nationalist and Communist troops .

August 16 : TheUnited States Army Air Force(USAAF ) fancy its first action in the sky over Egypt , arrange raid against Erwin Rommel ’s troops .

August 17 : USAAF high - height " Flying Fortresses " attack Rouen , France , in the first all - American air maraud of the warfare .

A contingent ofMarinecommandos get it on as Carlson ’s Raiders attacks Japanese units and a seaplane theme on Makin Island , kill the integral Japanese fort .

August 19 : A racing pigeon key out Tommy observe its way back to England from the Netherlands . It carry a message from the Dutch immunity that let out the position of an importantU - boatbase .

August 20 : With a portion of Guadalcanal in the hand of the Allies , 31 American fighters land safely on that island at Henderson Field .

August 21 : The Nazi swastika is planted at the 18,500 - substructure summit of Mt. Elbrus in the Soviet Caucasus Mountains .

The Japanese suffer 800 casualties in an endeavour to recapture the airfield on Guadalcanal .

August 22 : In the past two weeks , some 75,000 Jews from the Polish metropolis of Lvov have been murdered at the Belzec death camp .

Below are more highlights and ikon that delineate the detail of World War II , including anti - Nipponese propaganda and the enjoyment of war dog .

Japan ’s unwise assault against U.S. defenders : Grossly underestimate the identification number of U.S. defenders , Colonel Ichiki Kiyono used only 900 men for a head-on assault on Marines defending Henderson Field on Guadalcanal on August 20 - 21 , 1942 . Nearly 800 Japanese were killed by the dug - in Marines . It was a mistake Japanese air force officer repeated throughout the campaign . First Marine Division commander General A. A. Vandegrift wisely kept his forces in a justificative attitude to protect the worthful airfield , move reinforcements to critical points as needed .

Anti - Nipponese propaganda delivered by the OWI : The U.S. Office of War Information ( OWI ) was created in June 1942 to consolidate the release of propaganda at home and overseas . It was uncouth to utilise a stereotyped trope of Nipponese soldier with diagonal oculus engaged in malefic acts . Nipponese soldier would be depicted with very sharp characteristic carrying an American woman from a prospect portray hell . The content was that unless the Allies stopped the Japanese in the Pacific , horror like this would happen in America .

War dogs ( " K9 Corps " ) used in engagement : The U.S. " K9 Corps " was make weeks after the U.S. entered the war . It initially accepted more than 30 strain , but as the program progressed , the K9 Corps limited the breed to German shepherds , Belgian shepherd dog , Doberman pinscher , farm collie , and giant schnauzers . To trail each firedog took from eight to 12 weeks . During the Battle of Guam in 1944 , 25 Marine dogs were killed while serve as lookout , scouts , messengers , and onmineand pinhead - trap detection . America ’s ally and enemy also used dogs for these purposes . Nazi Germans principally chose German shepherd and Doberman pinschers . Above , a sentry dog-iron notice a nocturnal sneak .

The next timeline ingest us through the World War II events that take place during the eternal rest of August and into early September 1942 .

World War II Timeline: 1 April 2025-2 March 2025

On August 26 , 1942 , about 500,000 Nazi German and Romanian soldiers snipe the Red Army near Stalingrad . Learn about this and the other significant World War II upshot that occurred during 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: August 23-September 10

August 23 : The fortifications around Stalingrad are beginning to succumb to the dateless national socialist German onslaught , as some 600Luftwaffeplanesbombthe city .

August 25 : Theplanecarrying the Duke of Kent ( crony of King George VI ) crashes in Scotland en path from Britain to Iceland . He becomes the first member of the mod Royal Family to die on active responsibility .

August 26 : As many as a half - million Nazi German and Romanian soldier attack the Red Army near Stalingrad .

August 28 : The first of thousands of Japanese - launch incendiary balloon bombs pass on an Oregon woods .

September 2 : British commandos raid a beacon light off the Channel Islands ( in the English Channel ) , seizing seven Nazi German shamus and secret codebooks .

September 3 : Erwin Rommel ’s troop come under hard Allied fire as they attempt an nightlong retreat from Alam el Halfa in the North African desert .

September 5 : Allied leaders see that the encroachment of northwest Africa , computer code - constitute Operation Torch , will include the landing place of troops near Casablanca , Morocco , as well as Oran and Algiers , Algeria .

Soviet gentle wind raids bring nightly blackouts to the Hungarian capital of Budapest .

September 8 : In a interior broadcast , Franklin Roosevelt qualify the global conflict as " the toughened war of all prison term . "

September 10 : In a language before the House of Commons , Winston Churchill reports that troop have been transmit to India to quell the revolutionary impulsion of the Congress Party .

Nazi Germany nominate a renewed attempt to disrupt American East Coast shipping when aU - boatplants 12 mines in and around the Chesapeake Bay .

Below are more contingent that delineate the consequence of World War II that followed the Nazi German encroachment of the Soviet Union .

soviet hold strong at Stalingrad : Ferocious Soviet resistance at Stalingrad stalled the Nazi German military Jagannatha that had smashed through Russia . Even though national socialist German bombardment had turn 80 percent of the city to burnt rubble and killed tens of M of civilian , the Soviets moderate tight .

soldier fight among the junk in Stalingrad : When Nazi German troops extend to the suburbs of Stalingrad on August 23 , 1942 , they found little more than ruins . But national socialist German claims to victory were dilute short by Russian soldiers and civilians fight back from those remains . The war broke down into smaller battle in which , as a Nazi German superior general sound out , " The mile , as a measuring stick of length , was substitute by the G . . . . " Above , in the fall of 1942 , Soviet soldiers fight the enemy in an area already devastated by warfare .

German troops meet strong electrical resistance in Stalingrad : Even when the Germans had claim most of Stalingrad , they met unassailable resistance in the city ’s northerly industrial areas . mill workers fall in militias , grow tank and weapon system ( which they sometimes take into struggle themselves ) , and mend damaged Soviet tankful near or on the field . chew up struggle at the Red October brand factory , Dzerzhinsky tractor factory , and Barrikady gun mill lasted far beyond national socialist expectations .

Soviets move factories out of the enemy ’s reach : Within a little time of the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union , they captured an orbit that contained 40 per centum of the Soviets ' population , 60 per centum of the armament industries , and huge deposits of its natural resources . The Soviet leadership decide to move any major manufacture plant not yet in national socialist German hands out of the enemy ’s scope , relocating them to the Ural , Volga , and Siberia regions . industrial plant workers were also shipped to these areas , even though they were unprepared for the severe weather and poor living conditions . Those industries that would stay closer to the Soviet cities were moved underground to bunk national socialist German submarine sandwich and artillery .

chink out the next page for a timeline and headlines of World War II events that occurred during mid - September 1942 .

World War II Timeline: 21 April 2025-9 May 2025

The British Royal Air Force ( RAF ) attack Düsseldorf , Germany , on September 10 , 1942 . find out about this and the other authoritative World War II events that happen during the month of September 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: September 10-September 20

September 10 : Düsseldorf is inflamesfollowing an vivid , one - hour RAF foray that dropped more than 100,000firebombson the German urban center .

September 12 : The British linerLaconiaistorpedoedand sunk off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic . To the horror of the attackingU - boatcrew , some 1,500 Italian POW are among the victims . The U - gravy boat crew attempts to rescue the Italians but comes under with child Americanaircraftfire , leading Nazi Germany to resolve to repudiate a 1936 accord ring for the deliverance of vanquished bunch .

September 13 : Operation Torch preparation gets underway in London , with U.S. world-wide Dwight Eisenhower in command .

Some 1,200 Japanese die in a desperate command to wrest control of Guadalcanal ’s Henderson Field from theU.S. Marines .

All Vichy French workforce 18 to 50 eld of age , and exclusive char ages 20 to 35 , are dictate to labor for the Reich ’s war machine .

September 14 : The U.S. emerges triumphant from the Battle of Bloody Ridge at Guadalcanal when a large Japanese contingent is storm into retreat by 11,000 U.S. Marines .

September 15 : The carrier USSWaspgoes down in waters to the south of Guadalcanal after being torpedoed by a Japanese Italian sandwich .

September 18 : The merchant marine lanes into Charleston , South Carolina , are mined by a Nazi German U - gravy boat .

September 20 : General Dwight Eisenhower and his military team make up one’s mind to schedule Operation Torch , the encroachment of the French associated state of Morocco and the dependency of Algeria , for November 8 .

The situation in Stalingrad has so drop that Nazi German and Soviet troop are engaging in business firm - to - sign combat on the streets of the devastated city .

Below are more highlights and images that outline the event of World War II , as well as more information about the Japanese army .

The USSEnterprisesurvives bombing : Above , a gun position lies in ruin after turkey fall upon the USSEnterpriseon August 24 , 1942 . A vet of Midway and the Doolittle Raid , the " bragging vitamin E " survive thanks to effective wrong mastery . The carrier was struck again in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands , but run low on to participate in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal , the " Great Marianas Turkey Shoot , " the Battle of Leyte Gulf , and numerous other engagements , receiving 20 battle star for World War II divine service . Though coin by a kamikaze off Okinawa in May 1945 , theEnterprisesurvived the state of war and was decommissioned in 1947 .

Finland fights alongside Nazi Germany : A Finnish combat patrol kick downstairs into a Soviet situation in 1942 . Finland had lost some 16,000 square miles to a 1939 - 1940 Russian onslaught have a go at it as the " Winter War . " From 1941 to 1944 , in hope of regaining that territory and perhaps more , Finland allied with Nazi Germany against Russia . Though they were dependent on Nazi Germany for food , fuel , and weapon , the Finns did not go along with most Nazi policies . They observe a democratic government , keep armed forces from falling under Nazi German ascendance , and did not persecute aboriginal Jews .

Japanese flier drop off their boundary : Japanese naval pilots in the Pacific were without adequate at the offset of 1942 . breeding was extremely selective . Of 1,500 naval pilot applicant in early 1937 , only 70 were accepted and only 25 graduated . The drawn-out program require 260 to 400 hours of basic flight training , accompany by gunnery , combat tactic , and aircraft carrier operation . This training regime fracture down in the latter months of 1942 , as pilot burner passing soared in the conflict for gentle wind supremacy over the Solomons . The qualitative edge dull and then vanished as veteran Japanese pilot were killed and the vacuum was fill up by hastily direct replacements .

Japanese repulsed on Papua New Guinea : Two Nipponese Type 95 Ha - Go sluttish tanks are bogged down along a narrow-minded jungle road follow a fail amphibious violation at Milne Bay , Papua New Guinea . About 2,400 Nipponese Special Naval Landing Force troops assault the Australian base on August 25 , 1942 , intending to seize its strategically significant aerodrome . The Japanese spark tanks impose severe casualties on an Australian foot battalion . But Australian Kitty Hawk ( Curtiss P40 ) ground attack aircraft retaliate with a vengeance , wedge enemy landing place operation farther and farther from the air basis . encounter fierce resistance from a superior Australian force , the Nipponese commander ordered a withdrawal on September 5 .

discover a timeline and headlines of the major World War II outcome that go on in late September and former October 1942 in the next section .

World War II Timeline: 20 January 2025-9 March 2025

Britain and the United States bring down their military induction minimal age to 18 in October 1942 . Learn about this and the other crucial World War II events that fall out during 1942 below .

World War Timeline: September 21-October 2

September 21 : Thewomenand child of Stalingrad are evacuated from the decease urban center .

Boeing Field in Seattle is the situation of the maiden voyage of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress , a high - altitude , foresighted - range bomber .

September 24 : Soviet pilot Olga Yamschchikova becomes the first woman to record an aerial " kill " when she downs a national socialist German plane over Stalingrad .

September 25 : Madagascar becomes control by British forces after Vichy governor universal Armand Léon Annet refuses to bear peace of mind terms and the British amplification control of the island Carry Amelia Moore Nation ’s independent porthole .

September 29 : The RAF ’s Eagle Squadrons , comprised of American pilot , are officially transferred to U.S. command .

September 30 : In a speech extradite at the Berlin Sportpalast , Adolf Hitler mocks the Allies , phone them " military idiots . "

October : Britain and the United States begin sending flock and materiel convoys to North Africa in preparation for Operation Torch .

Both Britain and the United States lower their military trigger minimum age to 18 .

October 1 : Bell test airplane pilot Robert M. Stanley assign the XP-59 Airacomet , the first U.S.jet , through its paces in the skies over the Mojave Desert .

The Lisbon Maru , a Nipponese ship carrying 1,816 Allied prisoners of war , goes down with its human cargo when the USSGroupertorpedoesit and the Japanese crew seals the exits before abandoning ship .

October 2 : TheQueen Mary , sailing in an evasive zig pattern off the seacoast of Ireland , unintentionally slice through its date , the Curacao , which go down , claiming 338 lives .

Below are more highlights and images that outline the details of World War II , including Nazi Germany ’s most feared tank and Allied raids over Germany .

Japan firebomb Oregon to make panic : On September 9 , 1942 , the Japanese submarineI-25surfaced off the glide of Oregon . The sub carried a Yokosuka E14Y , a modest , folding - annex seaplane type dubbed a " Glen . " Not long after the aircraft was catapulted from the I-25 ’s deck , Chief Warrant Officer Fujita Nobuo and Petty Officer Okuda Shoji dropped two incendiary bombs on Mount Emily , near Brookings , Oregon . Their promise was to conflagrate colossal timber fires and create affright . However , the incendiaries had small effect .

Robert Capa photograph the war : The American world ’s window to World War II was supply by civilian photojournalist and military photographer whose work appeared in the illustrated news magazines of the Clarence Day . Some , such as Hungarian - born Robert Capa , became celebrated . Capa first find acclaim for his coverage of the Spanish Civil War . During World War II , he worked forCollier’smagazine and by and by forLife . He hazard his biography by jumping into Sicily with an airborne unit in 1943 , and landed under fire at Normandy on June 6 , 1944 . Though Capa survived the war , he was pop while on naming in Indochina in 1954 .

Adolf Hitler oust the well-thought-of champaign marshall Wilhelm List : Competent field marshal Wilhelm List was commander - in - chief of Army Group A in the Caucasus in 1942 when Adolf Hitler unreasonably commanded him to promote on to the Soviet city of Grozny and its nearby oil centerfield . Faced with fierce Soviet resistance along a sprawling front , List failed to carry out theFührer ’s order . Hitler angrily relieved List of his program line on September 9 , create a rift between himself and some of his high officers .

The monolithic Tigers are Nazi Germany ’s most feared tanks : The Tiger I was Germany ’s most famous and feared tank . After its innovation on the Leningrad and Tunisian front in 1943 , Allied soldiers ' first instinct was to identify every enemy tank as a Tiger . This huge , fearsome artillery ’s 88 mm gunman could destroy any confederate cooler at longsighted range , and its armor was virtually heavy frontally . Its elite crews appreciate these qualities , but because it was underpowered and mechanically unreliable , they nickname it " furniture vanguard . " By war ’s end , the Henschel company had construct about 1,350 Tigers .

Allied raids over Ruhr , Germany : By tardy 1942 , American assembly lines were able to build up enough bombers and fighter plane to defend the United States ' entry into the melodic phrase war over Europe . Allied commander began formulating a plan for around - the - clock bombing over the industrial centers in the Ruhr area of western Germany . In this new campaign , the Royal Air Force continued its cover bombardment of German cities at nighttime while American planes struck industrial centers that were important to the national socialist German war effort during the day .

Krupp arms the armed forces in Nazi Germany : Inspectors test shells at the Krupp munitions work in Nazi Germany . Krupp made an enormous contribution to rearm Germany before and during World War II . The business firm supplied the Third Reich with stupefying amounts of military computer hardware ranging from submarines to weapon . But Krupp ’s wartime profits get along at a steep human price . Some 100,000 striver laborers , about 23,000 of whom were prisoners of war , worked for Krupp under brutal conditions . After the war , the company ’s CEO , Alfried Krupp , was convicted of crimes against humanity .

agree out the next pageboy for details on the major World War II case that occurred during October 1942 .

World War II Timeline: 6 April 2025-4 January 2025

On October 4 , 1942 , Hermann Göring called World War II " the War of the Races . " memorize about this and the other important World War II event that occur during the calendar month of October 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: October 3-October 14

October 3 : Wernher von Braun , the Nazi roquette scientist who will ultimately go to the U.S. after the warfare and become one of the dandy minds atNASA , sees Nazi Germany successfully launch one of his earliest creation , the A4 ballisticmissile .

October 4 : emphasise the Nazi fixation with Judaic genocide that will finally contribute to the fall of the Reich , ReichsmarschallHermann Göring exact that the warfare is " not the Second World War , [ but ] . . . the War of the Races . "

October 5 : Nationalist Formosan drawing card Chiang Kai - shek call for the withdrawal of all Soviet forces from Sinkiang Province .

October 7 : In a concept that will develop into the Nuremberg Trials , Franklin Roosevelt say that the perpetrators of mass murder and other wartime atrocities will be judged at the conclusion of the warfare .

October 10 : Citing the " splendid testify the Italians in America " have made during the war , U.S. attorney superior general Francis Biddle debar the " enemy alien " status of some 600,000 resident Italian citizen .

October 12 : The RAF ’s new long - mountain range Coastal Command Liberator slump its firstU - boatin the North Atlantic .

October 14 : Guadalcanal ’s Henderson Field is ill damaged in abombardmentby the Japanese battleships Kongo and Haruna .

The Red Army wangle to stand against yet another vivid , five - sectionalisation Nazi German attack in Stalingrad .

Below are more highlight and images that outline the details of World War II , including selective information on U.S.aircraftcarriers and Ukrainian hard worker travail .

Ukrainian slave laborer starved and ill-treat : Delighted by the 1941 Nazi conquest of the Ukraine , Hermann Göring considered off all of the part ’s male person over the age of 15 to make aliveness space for the " sea captain wash . " But national socialist German childbed shortages shortly persuaded Göring to knead Ukrainian to last as slave labourer . As 1942 wear down on , a little number of Ukrainians were enticed to come and work in " beautiful Germany . " Many more were contribute by push transportation . Considered subhuman allot to Nazi political theory , Ukrainian proletarian were starved and mistreated . Well more than 10 million Ukrainians are believed to have been killed from 1939 to 1945 , many in Allied bombing .

France ’s Pierre Laval aligns with Germany:“If the Germans are vanquish , General de Gaulle will generate , " predicted Pierre Laval , prime minister of the Vichy government , in September 1942 . " He will be supported by . . . the French multitude , and I shall be hanged . " After the Nazi Germans invaded France in 1940 , Laval was distinguish frailty PM in Philippe Pétain ’s Vichy government . Laval , convince Nazi Germany would win the war , press for a Nazi German - Gallic military confederation . mistrustful of his subordinate , Pétain had Laval dismissed , but Laval came back even stronger with the funding of Nazi Germany and was named prime minister . When the Vichy government activity fall in 1945 , Laval was shoot by a firing squad – not attend .

Japanese pigboat go down the USSWasp : Commissioned in 1940 , the USSWaspwas a smaller model of the largerYorktownclass carriers . Prior to the war , it engaged in Atlantic patrol duty and ferried RAF planes to Malta . Sent to the Pacific in June 1942 , theWaspparticipated in the Guadalcanal landings and later provided cover for resupply convoy to the Solomons . It was subside by the Japanese submarineI-19southeast of San Cristobal Island while escorting troop tape drive to Guadalcanal .

Find out about other primal World War II event that take stead during October 1942 in the next section .

World War II Timeline: 15 December 2024-2 February 2025

On October 21 , 1942 , Franklin Roosevelt O.K. an all - meter high $ 9 billion tax nib . Learn about this and the other important World War II outcome that occur during 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: October 16-November 2

October 16 : The supply railway line to the Burma front is cripple by a cyclone that claims 40,000 life and devastates India .

October 18 : Adolf Hitler issues a directive call off for the execution of all British ranger who decrease into Nazi detention .

October 21 : With defence expenses skyrocket , Franklin Roosevelt signs legislation calling for an all - metre high $ 9 billion tax bill .

October 23 : The American M4 Sherman armoured combat vehicle , equip with eminent - explosive shells and capable of speeds up to 24 miles per hour , makes its battlefield debut in the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt .

October 29 : An overland military supply path to Alaska is opened with the culmination of the 1,500 - Swedish mile Alaska Military Highway through the Yukon Territory .

October 30 : As gold - boatsinks , two British sailor boy rescue a GermanEnigma simple machine . Before they swim , the sailors pass it into Allied paw .

October 31 : The cathedral metropolis of Canterbury , England , abide extensive harm in a retributory foray for the RAFbombingof the Italian city of Milan .

November 2 : Operation Supercharge , a massive confederative attempt on Erwin Rommel ’s line in Egypt , is successfully launched . Defeated Axis military unit will retreat by November 4 .

Some 100,000 Polish Jews from Bialystok and the surrounding domain are differentiate for deportation to the Treblinka death camp .

Berlin ’s so - call Ancestral Heritage Institute , a quasi - scientific governance search for biologic " proof " of Jewish inferiority , obtains the army corps of 150 Judaic Bolsheviks for dissection .

Bohemian target for extermination by nazi : nazi classed the Sinti and Roma people – nomadic chemical group commonly call Gypsies – among the " substandard races . " During the 1930s , Nazis arrested Gypsies , sterilizing some adults and making many children Ward of the state of matter .

In December 1942 , Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation of Gypsies and part - Gypsies to immersion summer camp . Scarce information on Sinti and Roma populations makes it hard to estimate how many were kill , but historians believe the number to be between 220,000 and 500,000 . Pictured above is a Gypsy brace at Belzec , a cantonment in eastern Poland build in 1942 to carry out the " Final Solution . "

Residents of Le Chambon - Tyre - Lignon , France , harbour Jews:“Things had to be done , and we happened to be there to do them . It was the most natural thing in the world to help oneself these people . " This sentiment was shared by the citizen of Le Chambon - Tyre - Lignon , a small mountain town in southern France . Under the leaders of a local pastor , Andre Trocme , and his married woman , Magda , the citizen of the town commence hiding Jews in their homes . A internet of informants warned Trocme when searches of the town were to be made . Trocme encouraged a first cousin , Daniel Trocme , to run a refugee theater for children , but Daniel and his wards were get wind and shipped to the Majdanek concentration bivouac , where Daniel snuff it . The townspeople save nearly 5,000 life story .

U.S. Wildcat fighter plane figure luck of action : The Grumman F4F Wildcat was virtually the onlyNavyandMarinefighter that opposed the Japanese air strength between Pearl Harbor and August 1943 . The Wildcat was tiresome due to its humble locomotive engine , but its big , square - cut , folding wings made it agile in battle . It was also more robust than its Japanese adversaries . It call for only a curt takeoff , and the final exemplar , the FM-2 , was the standardfighteron U.S. escort carrier in 1945 .

Adolf Hitler overstrain his military force : Above , Nazi German troops pass on in the Caucasus in October 1942 . Adolf Hitler seek to seize this oil - robust area while other Nazi German scout troop advanced on Stalingrad . His determination immensely overextended his military group ; German men and tanks in the Caucasus quickly outpace their supply lines . Moreover , they faced impossibly narrow-minded roads and impenetrable walnut tree woodland . In one superfluous routine , alpine soldiery scaled 19,500 - metrical unit Mount Elbrus and planted a Nazi German iris at the meridian . Hitler raged at this , and in the end the Caucasus misadventure destroy whatever respect he retained for his generals .

Oil fields burn in the Caucasia : With their optic on the area ’s rock oil backlog , the Nazi Germans began their ominous - fated invasion of the Caucasus on June 28 , 1942 . In response , the Soviets , as they recede , carry out the scorched - earth maneuver that they had followed in 1941 . When the advancing Nazi Germans entrance the North Caucasus rock oil substance of Maikop , they find themselves faced with the demoralizing spectacle of burning oil fields .

See the next segment for a timeline and headline of the World War II events from early November 1942 .

World War II Timeline: 2 January 2025-24 April 2025

On November 8 , 1942 , Vichy France break up diplomatic ties with the United States . Learn about this and the other authoritative World War II events that occurred during the month of November 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: November 5-November 11

November 5 : General Dwight Eisenhower start the in operation headquarters for the Allied intrusion of North Africa on the British island of Gibraltar .

November 6 : Angling one more sentence for a second European Front , Joseph Stalin complains that the Soviets are dealing with the far bully Axis personnel while the British and Americans concentrate on the relatively quiet North African front .

General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Port Moresby , the uppercase of Papua New Guinea , to manage operations in that sphere of the Pacific Theater .

November 8 : confederate military unit land at their North African target area , with Algiers capitulating almost like a shot . The U.S. and Britain plan to practice occupy North Africa as a base for launching operation against Southern Europe .

Vichy France announce the severance of diplomatical ties with the United States adopt the intrusion of French North Africa .

November 9 : unit of the German and Italian armies occupy Tunisia without opposition by the French colonialists .

November 10 : In a Mansion House speech covering Britain ’s triumph over Erwin Rommel , Winston Churchill famously gag , " This is not the end . It is not even the beginning of the death . But it is , perhaps , the ending of the beginning . "

All traffic into and out of one of the reality ’s busiest ports ceases for two days when it is discovered that the Nazi Germans have mine the waters off New York Harbor .

November 11 : Adolf Hitler ends the armistice between Free and Vichy France , occupying the entire country northwards of the Riviera .

The Moroccan urban center of Casablanca falls to the Allies .

Below are more details that sketch the events of World War II , including the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands .

sign of the zodiac - to - home fighting ensues between Nazi Germans and Soviets : The Soviet maneuver of " embrace " – keeping their soldiers close to or even intermingled with the enemy – nullified Nazi air and artillery superiority . It reduce the war to business firm - to - family fighting , which the Nazi Germans calledRattenkrieg(rat war ) . In October 1942 , a national socialist German officer wrote , " We have fight for fifteen days for a single house with trench mortar , grenade , machine gunsand bayonet . " He append that the battlefront had become " a corridor between burnt - out rooms " or " a lean cap between two floors . "

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands : Above , a Japanesetorpedoplane set about the battlewagon USSSouth Dakotaduring the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands . The engagement on October 25 , 1942 , stemmed from a Nipponese program to employ carrieraircraftto support a ground attack on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal ( which , along with the Santa Cruz Islands , was part of the Solomon Islands ) .

The Santa Cruz engagement pitted two U.S. postman and support ships against four Nipponese carrier and their backup . U.S. pilot burner damaged two enemy carrier and a cabin cruiser , but the carrier USSHornetand a waster were go down in the interchange .

The Japanese lay claim a tactical victory , but their failure to crush U.S. naval forces in the Solomons leave the strategic advantage with the Americans . Indeed , Japanese losses in precious first - wrinkle aircrews made the struggle a far large Japanese frustration than Midway .

The dependable Curtiss P-40s vanish with confederative force : The Curtiss P-40 won external celebrity in previous 1941 when the " Flying Tigers , " American-

manned version paint with shark tooth , oppose the Japanese in China . P-40 fighters were built in the United States and flew with virtually every Allied air force . They proved valuable in France and with the RAF over the North African desert , and they shot down Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor in December 1941 . Though not especially tight , they were stable and sturdy . More than 14,000 were built , and numerous rendering and designation exist , including Hawk , Mohawk , Tomahawk , Kittyhawk , and , most commonly , Warhawk .

Lewis Burwell Pullerbecomes most decorated Marine : Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell Puller was the most decorated Marine in U.S. story . He have five Navy Crosses , a decoration secondly only to the Medal of Honor . nickname " Chesty " on account of his drum chest , Puller was a gruff , no - meaninglessness warrior . Shown a fresh - simulation flamethrower , he is said to have grumble , " Where do you put the bayonet ? " Puller pull in his third Navy Cross when his outnumbered battalion fight down off a Japanese attempt to seize Henderson Field on the night of October 24 - 25 , 1942 , and he earn a 4th for the Cape Gloucester campaign . Puller realise his fifth Navy Cross for heroism during the Korean War . He retired in 1955 .

The Persian Corridor opens up supplying dividing line to soviet : The Soviet Union and the British government became allies following the Nazi German encroachment of the USSR . The Soviets were in desperate penury of supply , but a unafraid supply line had to be opened . They chose the new completed Trans - Persian Railway as the Persian Corridor to start the provision line from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union . Necessary permissions were secured from Iraq and Iran to use the corridor . Once the United States participate the warfare , it institutionalize troops to defend and maintain the railway .

Find out about the other key World War II events of November 1942 on the next page .

World War II Timeline: 5 April 2025-22 December 2024

TheU.S. governmentchooses a site in Los Alamos , New Mexico , to build a science lab devoted to the evolution of theatomic bombon November 25 , 1942 . ascertain about this and the other important World War II events that fall out during the month of November 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: November 12-November 28

November 12 - 15 : The United States loses nine ships and the Japanese miss five in the waters off Guadalcanal . This is one of the most fierce naval battles of the war , and a tactical triumph for the United States .

November 15 : The cruiser USSJuneausinks off Guadalcanal , claiming the lives of five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo , Iowa . Despite democratic myth , no law or executive order inspired by the Sullivan tragedy is created that would disallow family fellow member from serving together . However , the recitation is discourage .

November 20 : The RAF establish its most destructive raid against Italy in this warfare , devastating the northern industrial city of Turin .

In an reference to the French citizenry , Vichy prime pastor Pierre Laval encourages the Vichy alliance with the Third Reich in the nerve of continued threats from " Jews and Communists . "

November 22 : In a arresting turnaround , some 270,000 soldiers of the national socialist German Sixth Army are surrounded by the Red Army in Stalingrad .

November 23 : The U.S. Women’sCoast GuardReserve is established .

November 24 : The Japanese start construction of a new airfield at Munda , New Georgia , their new base of operations in the Solomon Islands .

November 25 : The U.S. government activity selects a site in Los Alamos , New Mexico , to work up a laboratory devoted to the development of the nuclear dud .

November 27 : Citing betrayal by Vichy France , Adolf Hitler disbands the Vichy army .

November 28 : Against the passport of Erwin Rommel , his accomplish general on the ground , Adolf Hitler insists that his beaten Nazi German effect fight to the death in the North African desert .

Below are more highlights and images that limn the event of World War II , including the Gallic reaction to Operation Torch .

Erwin Rommel dare Adolf Hitler and retreats in Egypt : On October 23 , 1942 , British police lieutenant general Bernard Montgomery ’s Eighth Army struck Nazi Germany ’s Afrika Korps near the settlement of El Alamein , Egypt . After 12 days of heroic fighting against an army twice the size of his own , German general Erwin Rommel finally ordered his corps to draw back – in defiance of Adolf Hitler ’s control to fight until they won or die . In those 12 days , the Nazi Germans lost 12,000 men and 350 tanks . Rommel had no more than 80 armored combat vehicle remaining for the 1,400 - international mile retreat through the desert to Tunisia , where he hop to find strengthener and supplies .

Operation Torch extend as substitute for encroachment of France : Above , Allied force make an amphibian landing near Algiers on November 8 , 1942 . Few American troops establish in Europe had been under fire , and they did not know whether Vichy Gallic defenders would jib the landings . Military considerateness away , Torch was tricky politically because Joseph Stalin was insist that U.S. and British forces commit significant numbers of men to European scrap with an invasion of France . Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have it away such an assault was not yet potential and offered Torch as a replacement .

French amazingly resist Torch invasion : It have Franklin Roosevelt ’s intervention in July 1942 to answer a serious dispute between U.S. and British military advisers . He sided with the British plan to overrun North Africa for engage the Nazi Germans as soon as potential . Gallic Morocco and Algeria were chosen as the sites for this onslaught since the Allies would front only Gallic troops , who might let the Allies land unopposed . That is not how it turned out .

After the November 8 , 1942 , landing , the French troop did champion the landing website . Here , a British ship takes a hit not far from shore . Negotiations with the French troops ' air force officer , Admiral François Darlan , were needed to end the fighting on November 10 . Darlan was assassinated in December by a French royalist .

tick out the next plane section for a timeline and headline detailing World War II events from other December 1942 .

World War II Timeline: 14 May 2025-19 April 2025

On December 2 , 1942 , physicists achieve the firstnuclearchain response , a breakthrough that will makeatomicweaponry a realism . pick up about this and the other important World War II events that occurred during the calendar month of December 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: December 1-December 13

December 1 : The United States establish agasoline - ration program across the land .

December 2 : In a breakthrough that will make atomic munition a reality , University of Chicago physicists Enrico Fermi and Arthur Compton reach the first nuclear mountain chain reaction .

December 3 : attack American bombers hamper the elbow grease of Japanese engineers to build an field on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands .

December 4 : Long - grasp U.S. Liberatorbomberssink ships in a raid on Naples , Italy .

December 5 : The national socialist German infirmary shipGrazsinks after beingtorpedoedoff the coast of Libya .

December 7 : More than 700 vernal German Edelweiss Pirates , a radical form in answer to the inflexibility of the Hitler Youth movement , are check by the Gestapo in Düsseldorf , Cologne , and several other cities .

The USSNew Jersey , the largest battleship in the U.S. fleet , is launched from the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard on the first anniversary of the Nipponese tone-beginning on Pearl Harbor .

December 8 : Spanish potentate General Francisco Franco delivers a oral communication in Madrid . He defends his Axis alliance by claim he ’d rather be a Fascist than a Communist .

December 11 : Adolf Hitler orders that the surrounded and surround German Sixth Army may not retreat from Stalingrad .

December 13 : The " Shark " Enigma code , which was specially unmanageable to crack due to its use of an extra rotor , is finally decrypt . This intelligence breakthrough allow the Allies to resume intercept national socialist German communicating to uranium - sauceboat in the Atlantic .

Below are more highlights and images that outline the point of World War II , such as the involvement of African American soldiers in the state of war .

B-17 Flying Fortresses have mixed results : Above , B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Lae , New Guinea . Many B-17s were destroyed on the solid ground by Japanese attacks in the opening twenty-four hour period of the war , and the heavy bombers that survive attempted to interdict foe shipping , with sundry results . Pacific - free-base B-17s proved more useful in attacks against enemy ground in the island - hopping effort that followed Midway . The B-17 was tough , though other models were vulnerable to attack from the backside . The " venter cannoneer " also faced a horrifying fate if the plane was forced to land without its landing place paraphernalia .

Barbed - wire beach on Hawaii : Once a vacation retreat for the fat and famous , the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was hire by the U.S. Navy as a major rest and relaxation center for military personnel . The average stop was 10 days at $ 1 a day for officers and a stern for enlisted men . Barbed wire in front of the Royal Hawaiian stretched the distance of Waikiki Beach . An air of suspicion existed across the quietus of the Hawaiian Islands because some 118,000 civilians were of Japanese declivity . architectural plan had been build up to evacuate 100,000 to the continental U.S. , but when discourse ended , only about 1,000 were transferred .

Five brother kill in action:“I am writing to you in respect to a rumor going around that my five sons were stamp out in natural process in November , " Alleta Sullivan began in a letter to the Bureau of Naval Personnel . Soon after she sent the letter , she learned that all five of her Word serve on the USSJuneauhad not hold up its sinking feeling in November 1942 . The War Department rick this tragedy into a propaganda piece by sending the boys ' parent on a lecture tour across the United States and by get Mrs. Sullivan christen the USSThe Sullivanson April 4 , 1943 . The disaster led to a Navy policy that discouraged family members on the same ship .

Find out about the key World War II upshot that took place during the residue of December 1942 in the timeline on the next Thomas Nelson Page .

World War II Timeline: December 14,1942-28 February 2025

The beingness of national socialist death camps is first officially made public on December 17 , 1942 , in the British House of Commons . Learn about this and the other important World War II outcome that occurred during the month of December 1942 below .

World War II Timeline: December 14-December 31

December 14 : Despite an airlift of supply , the German Sixth Army remains trapped , inadequately equipped , and under siege in Stalingrad . The airlift is blockade by the weather , the Red Air Force , and the need to use many transportplanesto financial backing Axis force out in Tunisia .

December 16 : Adolf Hitler issues a directive that Germany is to be throw up of Gypsies , and anyone with any amount of Gypsybloodis to be sent to " resettlement " inner circle in the East .

December 17 : An Allied official makes the first public financial statement confirming the Nazi death camp when British foreign secretary Anthony Eden tells the House of Commons that Adolf Hitler has begun to make good on his threat to wipe out Europe ’s Jews .

Vichy full admiral François Darlan harbinger that Gallic ship and resources at North African interface will be at the administration of the Allied causal agency .

December 22 : A group of Judaic partisans sets offbombsin two Kraków cafés , killing 20 national socialist German army officers .

December 26 : Former German prisoner of state of war general Henri Giraud succeeds Admiral Darlan as mellow commissioner for French North Africa following Darlan ’s character assassination in Algiers two daylight sooner .

December 28 : Despite the wartime confederation between the two country , Franklin Roosevelt admonishes the Los Alamos scientific discipline - enquiry team against sharing atomic secrets with the British .

December 31 : In the Barents Sea north of Norway , national socialist German ships attack a British convoy that is attempting to deliver materiel to the Soviet Union .

Below are more highlighting and image that outline the details of World War II , including weapons and propaganda used during the war .

Soviets take revenge on German prisoner of war : During the winter of 1941 - 1942 , and again the following winter , national socialist German mechanized transferral , tankful , artillery , and aircraft froze up , while frostbite pop and maimed inadequately habilitate soldiers . Since Adolf Hitler still banned retreat , capture must have seemed a better alternative to many Nazi Germans . However , the Soviets study revenge for the crimes that Nazi Germans had committed against civilians during the invasion . The Soviets executed some POW and sent others to body of work camp , where many pop off of photo , famishment , and overworking during forced labor . Nearly 500,000 of the more than three million prisoners take by the Soviet Union die in captivity .

Multibarrel rocket - launcher has psychological impingement on foe : Early duringOperation Barbarossa , theWehrmachtnoted the efficaciousness of the Red Army ’s multibarrel rocket - catapult and rapidly dev­eloped similar weapon system , with the six - barrel , 150mmNebelwerfer(“fog launcher " ; project above ) entering service of process in 1942 . Over a 10 - second period , while operated by a four - man bunch , it fired salvo of six projectile up to 7,000 meters .

Due to the heat and blast it produced , theNebelwerferwas fire electrically from a situation 10 meters aside . With great trail of fire , hummer , and a whistle noise in flight , the artillery simultaneously inflicted destruction and had a hurtful psychological impact on the foe . It was nicknamed " Moaning Minnie " by Allied troop .

Europeans apply mythology as propaganda : European nation drew on history , expansive legends , and mythology to build patriotism , inspire their citizen , and goad their militaries to action . In the Soviet Union , propaganda posters compare 1942 to 1242 , the twelvemonth when Russian prince Alexander Nevsky lead his troops in a rout of German invaders . In Germany , Hitler presented his Third Reich as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire and claim to be set up the 1,000 - year utopia forebode in millenarian stories . In Italy , Mussolini justified expansionism as the creation of a New Roman Empire .

German brutality in Russia : In 1942 , a immature adult female from a Greenwich Village near Moscow was hang by Nazi German troops . Although beaten and tortured , she pass her capturer no information before her destruction . A photograph of the hanging was line up on the body of a Nazi German ship’s officer killed in natural action near Smolensk . The fair sex ’s rebelliousness and the officer ’s grotesque keepsake both testify to a violent antipathy between Nazi Germans and Slavs – a loathing that helped make the Eastern Front a particularly fell theater of performance .

The major World War II case of early January 1943 can be found on the next page .

World War II Timeline: January 1942-26 January 2025

The Chinese Nationalists form an prescribed alliance with the United States and Britain on January 11 , 1943 . take about this and the other important World War II events that occurred during the month of January 1943 below .

World War II Timeline: January-January 13

Jan : The German Sixth Army , pin down in Stalingrad , is in desperate motivation offoodand supplies themenneed to survive .

January 1 : Americans ' yearly salaries are capped at $ 25,000 , part of a curtly - lived programme design to curb inflation . The law will be revoke within the class .

January 4 : After draw the Japanese to quit Guadalcanal , theU.S. Navyattacks Japan ’s new Solomon Islands base at Munda , New Georgia .

January 5 : In an seek to put a stop to the Axis practice of seizing property and commodity from occupied nations , 18 Allied nations agree that dimension transfers and interchangeable business conducted under Nazi German or Italian line of work can be hold null and void at the discretion of the occupied government .

January 6 : Ion Antonescu ’s forces detain and execute scores of disband Fascists after another attempt by the Iron Guard to wrest away dominance of Antonescu ’s Romanian government .

January 10 : A Soviet force of nearly 300,000 men closes in on the encircled national socialist German Sixth Army at Stalingrad following the refusal of Nazi German general Friedrich Paulus to negociate a giving up .

January 11 : The Chinese Nationalists form an prescribed confederation with the United States and Britain . This come two years after their Nipponese - creature counterpart in Nanking declared state of war against the Allies .

January 13 : The Nazi Germans savagely curb dissent in occupied Bulgaria , execute 36 anti - Nazi dissenter in the capital of Sofia .

Below are more highlights and images that outline the events of World War II , including the first artificial atomic chain chemical reaction .

French opening warships before hand them over to Nazis : When the Nazi Germans invaded France , they signed the truce of 1940 with the Vichy governing . This agreement stipulated that the Gallic United States Navy would disarm and persist in its port , including Toulon . When the Nazi Germans learn that the fleet there was peradventure on the brink of link the Allies , they broke the truce and attacked Toulon . Before the ships fell into the Nazis ' hands , they were scuttle on November 27 , 1942 ( project above ) . The sunken ships included three battleship , 15 uprooter , 13 torpedo boats , 12 submarines , and more than 80 extra vessels .

Scientists create first artificial atomic chain chemical reaction : A bit of scientists and dignitaries gathered together on December 2 , 1942 , on a platform next to a great oblong complex body part of bricks and wooden timbers . They were in a racquet court under the Cicily Isabel Fairfield stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago . Physicist Enrico Fermi nearly monitor a hardening of instruments , and at 3:25 p.m. directed a colleague to draw a rod cell from the structure . For 28 minute of arc , Fermi and onlookers witnessed the first stilted self - sustain nuclear chain response . The experiment produced only about 1/2 James Watt of insure get-up-and-go , but it was the first footfall in break the atomic bomb .

Government put up impermanent caparison for state of war defense plant workers : Above , Mrs. Emma D. Gaw serves dinner party to her husband , a worker at the Glenn Martin aircraft plant , in their dawdler home in Middle River , Maryland . raw or expanded war defense plants attracted tens of thousand of worker , creating a decisive need for employee lodging . The U.S. government eventually get about two million domicile units for workers nationwide , range from impermanent economy units and trailers to dormitories and converted apartment building . Due to wartime shortages , impermanent housing was constructed with materials that did not meet prewar standards .

Ernie Pyle chronicles the state of war : Ernie Pyle ’s coverage of the war lead off in 1940 when he traveled from his home country , the U.S. , to England to write stories of the London Blitz . In November 1942 , he join American troops in North Africa and beyond . His storey of GIs in fight brought the true experiences of sons and husbands to the families back home . In 1945 he wrote to his wife about the war : " I ’ve been part of the misery and calamity of it for so long that I feel if I left it , it would be like a soldier deserting . " On April 18 , 1945 , Pyle was killed by a sniper on Ie Shima , an island Rebecca West of Okinawa .

Wartime comic book superheroes : Spy Smasher , an American comic book superhero innovate in 1940 , outwit up Axis leaders on the covering fire of a 1942 British variant . Comic Scripture wedge Captain America , enclothe in red , whitened , and blue , also reach astounding popularity for his anti - Axis escapade .

confederative propaganda thrived in comic books , pulp novel , radio set , and movies . Spy Smasher appear in a motion-picture show series in 1942 , as did Captain America in 1944 . Perhaps the most unlikely propaganda superhero was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ’s straight-laced tec , Sherlock Holmes . take on by an unbelievably everlasting Basil Rathbone , Holmes jibe brain against the Nazis in a series of wartime motion picture .

British houseman foe aliens : The British government ’s wartime insurance of restricting or intern most enemy ( German , Austrian , and Italian ) aliens reside in Britain or get as refugee was unedifying and frequently unfair . However , it was an inevitable consequence due to the fearfulness of spy , " fifth columnist " ( insurgent agents ) , and Nazi partner . Some 73,000 people were interned under military guard in temporary camps , partly constructed housing estates , and on the Isle of Man , or they were deported to Canada and Australia . Such indiscriminate government activity activeness provoked a public outcry . By mid-1941 , only 5,000 political detainee remained in hold .

The next incision plow the key World War II events that took place during mid - January 1943 .

World War II Timeline: 4 May 2025-20 January 2025

On January 18 , 1943 , the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto fought back for the first fourth dimension after actualise " resettlement " is a charade . Learn about this and the other important World War II events that occurred during the month of January 1943 below .

World War II Timeline: January 14-January 21

January 14 : The British Royal Air Force ( RAF ) raid Nazi GermanU - boatports at Lorient and Cherbourg in occupied France .

January 14 - 24 : The Allied leadership encounter in Casablanca , Morocco , to strategize the next phase of the global warfare . First priority is assigned to the defeat of the U - gravy boat . In addition , Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill announce publicly that they will demand the unconditional surrender of the Axis countries .

January 15 : act on self-assurance from Hermann Göring , Adolf Hitler calls for the day-to-day delivery of 300 tons of supplies to the trapped Sixth Army in Stalingrad . While 300 tons would meet the needs of themenon the ground , it is far beyond what theLuftwaffecan accomplish .

January 16 : For the first time in month , the RAFbombsBerlin .

January 18 : After two and a half years , the siege of Leningrad comes to an close . With some 20,000 civilian deaths a day , reliever has get too late for many of the city ’s residents .

The national socialist German army field its new weapon , the Mark VI Tiger heavy armored combat vehicle , in a battle on the outskirts of the Tunisian capital of Tunis .

Realizing that the national socialist German conception of " resettlement " is a lampoon designed to direct them quiet to their deaths , the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto fight back for the first time .

January 21 : Dr. Nahum Goldmann , Chief Executive of the World Judaic Congress in New York , invite a telegram from prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto . They plead for aid and say , in part , that they are " poised at the verge of . . . annihilation " and that they " live with the awareness that in the most terrible Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of our history you did not come to our aid . "

Below are more highlight and images that sketch the event of World War II , such as FBI maraud and important military leaders of the state of war .

Tanaka Raizo ’s claims to fame : Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo was the leading tactical commander of Japanese guided missile destroyer forces during the war . His fine time of day came during the Battle of Tassafaronga off Guadalcanal on November 30 , 1942 , when his eight destroyers were ambushed by U.S. war vessel . hard outgunned , Tanaka sank one American patrol car and damaged three others with " Long Lance " torpedoes , while losing only a single uprooter . Tanaka also arrive at celebrity for his tenacious effort to resupply Nipponese troops on Guadalcanal via the so - call " Tokyo Express . " He was exiled to a shoring statement in 1943 because of his critique of Japanese strategy and tactic in the Solomons .

Plotters and predictors of the Women ’s Auxiliary Territorial Service : meet at body of work is a plotter with the Women ’s Auxiliary Territorial Service , the woman ’s limb of the British Army , in which women process in many capacities normally apportion to men . Working in Britain , mapper used microwave radar to collect data about incoming foe aircraft . Meanwhile , predictor stood on rooftop looking for planes . Together , their information was used to direct antiaircraft gun ardor , vector hero plane toward the Nazi German intruders , and alarm the world to strain raids .

Erich von Manstein , successful leader and supporter of Nazi political party : GeneralfeldmarschallErich von Manstein devised theSichelschnitt(sickle - cutting ) plan that allowed troop to move past France’sMaginot Linein 1940 . Sent into the Soviet Union in tardy 1942 to rescue the trapped Sixth Army , Manstein push through blizzard to within 30 mi of Stalingrad on December 19 before being block by the Red Army . Put in cathexis of Army Group South , Manstein halted the Red Army offensive and went on to capture Kharkov . A firm supporter of the Nazi Party , he take huge bribe from Adolf Hitler . However , theFührerrelieved him of control in 1944 .

FBI adds sabotage and espionage to its list of duties : In 1936 , as the Fascist motion acquire momentum in Nazi Germany and the scourge of warfare grew stronger in Europe , President Franklin Roosevelt believed that America would soon become a target for insurgent activity . The function of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) was expanded to include the investigation of those types of treasonable schemes . In 1939 the FBI ’s responsibility were again expanded to include sabotage and espionage investigations . foray into homes of suspected subversives proved fruitful in the dresser ’s fight against terrorism in the state .

Americans listen in on Japanese shortwave wireless : An NBC technician man a hearing post in North Hollywood , California , monitoring shortwave radio receiver broadcasts from the Far East . Numerous listening situation were maintained by American pressure associations , broadcaster , and government means – such as the Federal Communications Commission – to supervise foreign program . Though such broadcasts run to be hard lace with propaganda , they also provided clue about foeman design , policy change , and other utile information .

In our final segment , we ’ll get over the key World War II result that occurred during the end of January 1943 .

World War II Timeline: 25 March 2025-8 December 2024

Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Red Army at Stalingrad on January 31 , 1943 . Learn about this and the other authoritative World War II events that occurred during the month of January 1943 below .

World War II Timeline: January 21-January 31

January 21 : Six teachers and 38 students , most under the historic period of seven , are kill when theLuftwaffedestroys the Catford Central School for Girls during abombingraid of London .

January 22 : Adolf Hitler refuse to deliberate the fall of his forces at Stalingrad despite a desperate subject matter from General Friedrich Paulus report direful weather on the ground .

January 23 : The British Eighth Army enamour Tripoli , the capital of the Italian dependency of Libya .

The United States seizes mastery of Kokumbona and Mount Austen , Japan ’s last two strongholds on Guadalcanal .

January 27 : Americanbombersattack the critical larboard at Wilhelmshaven , Germany , causing all-embracing damage . It is the first melody raid against Nazi Germany conducted alone by American forces .

January 29 : Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner take the post in Adolf Hitler ’s internal rophy reverse by the assassinated Reinhard Heydrich . Kaltenbrunner will oversee the death summer camp , theEinsatzgruppen , the SS , and the Gestapo .

January 30 : As Nazi Germans in Berlin gather to note Adolf Hitler ’s tenth anniversary asFührer , RAF bombers sweep down over the urban center in their first daytime foray on the Nazi German capital .

The H2S bombingradar , a twist that displays the contours of the earth below a bomber , is made functional by the RAF .

January 31 : To Adolf Hitler ’s disgust , newly promoted field marshall Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Red Army at Stalingrad . Hitler made the promotion because no field of honor marshal in national socialist German story had surrendered .

Below are more highlighting and images that limn the event of World War II , including the surrender of General Friedrich Paulus to the Soviets in Stalingrad .

U.S. takes controller of Guadalcanal : By January 1943 , the Japanese concede defeat and start to empty outlast troops from Guadalcanal . As the war moved on , U.S. engineer transformed the island into a bustling rear - area base , all over with full amenities . The campaign had be Japan closely 25,000 beat , irreplaceable resources , and command of the key destiny of the Solomon Islands . At a cost of approximately 1,600 Marines and soldier killed , the U.S. had turned the lunar time period of the background warfare in the Pacific .

Franklin Roosevelt , Winston Churchill meet in Casablanca : President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill foregather in Casablanca , Morocco , January 14 - 24 , 1943 . Because the strategy to defeat the Nazis was discussed , the Combined Chiefs of Staff also attended . The drawing card agreed that the campaign against the U - boat must have the highest priority in 1943 . They also match on a combined submarine offence against Nazi Germany . A landing place on Sicily was to comply the death of the fighting in Tunisia , and might in turn be followed by a landing place in Italy . They also decided to make public their policy that the war against Nazi Germany , Italy , and Japan would end only with the unconditional surrender of those enemy .

Friedrich Paulus surrender in Stalingrad : In November 1942 , storm Soviet offence isolated the Nazi German Sixth Army in Stalingrad , led by General Friedrich Paulus . Adolf Hitler refused to allow Paulus to fail out while dodging might have been possible , even though the Nazi German forces were not equipped with sufficient clothing , food for thought , or aesculapian supplies to withstand the Soviet winter . On January 30 , 1943 , theFührerpromoted Paulus toGeneralfeldmarschall , assuming that a man of such social rank would either fight to the last or commit self-annihilation rather than surrender . Paulus , trust to relieve some of his military man , is seen above cede to the Soviets on January 31 .

The Nazi German casualties of Stalingrad : TheBattle of Stalingradhas been called the bloody battle in chronicle . More than a million Nazi Germans and Soviets ( conflate ) were stamp out , wounded , or capture . The 91,000 taken as Russian prisoner of war were already exhausted , starving , and weakened by disease and untreated injury . Only 6,000 of them would survive the overworking and malnutrition of Soviet Department of Labor camps and return home after the war . Some of the 22 confined aged military officer , including General Friedrich Paulus , sign anti - Hitler financial statement that were used in Soviet propaganda broadcast .

Bernard Montgomery both despised and admire : General Bernard " Monty " Montgomery , wear his stylemark beret with two badge , inspired conflicting emotion in others , swan from Erinyes to trigger-happy loyalty . Montgomery was deep dislike by many of his policeman for the discipline he levy on them , and profoundly admire by his soldiers for the confidence he instilled in them . He was frequently at betting odds with other Allied full general .

For illustration , his vain and boastful personality provoke legendary dustup with the as vain and boastful General George Patton , and General Dwight Eisenhower considered him a special strategian . Above all else , Monty was methodical , conservative , and reluctant to throw by the lives of his men – characteristics that made him slow but highly effectual .

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

John S. D. Eisenhower , Senator Daniel K. Inouye , Richard Overy Ph.D. , David J. A. Stone , Wim Coleman , Martin F. Graham , James H. Hallas , Mark Johnston Ph.D. , Christy Nadalin M.A. , Pat Perrin , Peter Stanley PhD