Year 1942

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, July 25, 1942: Eastern Front Southern Russia: Kleist’s Panzers begin crossing river Don. Africa French Northwest Africa: British and American Chiefs of Staff decide to […]

WW2 War Diary for Friday, July 24, 1942: Sea War Atlantic: Admiral Doenitz, broadcasting from Berlin, describes the ever-increasing threat to his submarine operations from British and American warships and

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, July 23, 1942: Eastern Front Southern Russia: Hitler orders simultaneous operations against Stalingrad and the Caucasus, thereby compromising the chances of capturing either objective. Hoth’s

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, July 22, 1942: Air War Germany: 250 RAF bombers attacking Duisburg and dropping 577t of bombs. Home Fronts India: Ban on Communist Party lifted.

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, July 21, 1942: Pazifik New Guinea: Japanese division lands at Buna, north of Port Moresby, which they plan to capture by advancing over Owen Stanley

WW2 War Diary for Monday, July 20, 1942: Air War Arctic: Russian planes bomb airfields in North Norway. Western Europa: 200 Spitfire V fighters strafe ‘targets of opportunity’ over Northern

WW2 War Diary for Sunday, July 19, 1942: Air War Eastern Front: Captain Antonio Lavat, commander of Esquadra Azul (‘Blue Squadron’) – Spanish volunteer fighter unit in Russia – killed

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, July 18, 1942: Home Fronts Germany: First flight of Me 262 V3, prototype jet fighter, at Leipheim, near Ulm. Air War Germany: Lancaster bombers fly

WW2 War Diary for Friday, July 17, 1942: Eastern Front Ukraine: Germans capture Voroshilovgrad, chief town of Donets coalfield.

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, July 16, 1942: Sea War Mediterranean: Turkish tanker Antares torpedoed by Italian submarine Alagi and beached on Lebanon coast.

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, July 15, 1942: Air War Western Europa: 200 Spitfire Mk Vs carry out offensive sweep over Northern France. Wing Commander ‘Paddy’ Finucane – 21-year-old ‘ace’

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, July 14, 1942: Occupied Territories France: Free French movement is renamed La France Combattante. Home Fronts India: Congress Party Working Committee calls for ending of

WW2 War Diary for Monday, July 13, 1942: Sea War Pacific: 3 Japanese submarines operate off Sydney (5 ships sunk in July to August). Secret War USA: Roosevelt creates Office

WW2 War Diary for Sunday, July 12, 1942: Eastern Front Stalingrad: ‘Stalingrad Front’ army group established to defend city. Home Fronts USA: Stern Park Gardens, near Joliet (Illinois), renamed ‘Lidice’

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, July 11, 1942: Air War Europe: Lancaster bombers raid Schichau U-boat yards at Danzig in thunderstorm (longest daylight raid to date); several aircraft stray over

WW2 War Diary for Friday, July 10, 1942: Sea War Atlantic: German U-boats U-160 and U-66 commence successful operations around Trinidad (15 ships sunk in 2 months).

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, July 9, 1942: Occupied Territories Holland: Anne Frank and family (Dutch Jews) go into hiding in the Prinsengacacht, a large building in centre of Amsterdam.

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, July 8, 1942: Occupied Territories France: Death of Marshal Franchet d’Esperey, hero of the Salonika Campaign, where he crushed the German-Bulgarian forces in 10 days

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, July 7, 1942: Eastern Front Ukraine: German troops capture Voronezh on river Don, 300 miles northwest of Stalingrad. Sea War Baltic: Russian marines attempt to

World War One Diary for Saturday, July 7, 1917: Air War Britain: 22 Gotha bombers (2 lost including 1 shot down, 3 written off in crash landings on return) attack