Tuesday 27 January 1942

"Flight Lieutenant Tadeusz Czerwiński, the CO of "A" Flight of No. 306 Polish Fighter Squadron, and Flight Lieutenant Stanisław Skalski, the CO of "B" Flight, with the Polish national emblem. RAF Churchstanton, 26-28 January 1942." Colorized from © IWM (CH 4793).

Battle of the Pacific: The Battle of Endau has been a disaster for the British both on land and in the air, but on 27 January 1942 they attempt to turn the tide at sea. Rear-Admiral Ernest Spooner, commander of naval forces at Singapore, has sent his only combat-ready warships, destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire, to attack the Japanese invasion fleet off Endau. However, while the landings and related air battles resolved the situation during daylight hours on 26 January, the Royal Navy ships do not arrive until the early morning hours of 27 January.

A rare original color photograph from World War II. "A pilot, thought to be Flight Lieutenant A J H Finch, DFC, is about to settle into the cockpit of Bristol Beaufort I N102/'MW-S' of No 217 Squadron, Royal Air Force prior to flying for photographers at St Eval, Cornwall." © IWM (TR 25).

Commander William Moran, captain of destroyer Vampire, is the overall commander of the small force, which also includes destroyer Thanet (Commander Bernard Davies). The British figure the forces are roughly equal and that surprise at night will give them an advantage. The Japanese, meanwhile, have received erroneous reconnaissance reports of British ships operating to their north and thus shift their escorts in that direction, away from the approaching Royal Navy destroyers. The British could have mounted a much stronger effort if they still had battleship Prince of Wales and cruiser Repulse available, but those ships, of course, were sunk in December 1941.

Look magazine, 27 January 1942.

The two Royal Navy destroyers approach undetected and pass at least one Japanese ship without being spotted. At 02:37, Vampire firest two torpedoes at Japanese minesweeper W-4 but misses with both. Inexplicably, W-4's crew spots but does not report the two destroyers, and the British are free to continue searching for the Japanese transports. While this search is unsuccessful, at 03:18, the British spot and attack Japanese destroyer Shirayuki. However, despite launching a total of five torpedoes, the two British destroyers make no hits. Shirayuki spots the British but is unsure if they are friend or foe. After a period of indecision, Shirayuki opens fire at 03:31. Commander Moran returns fire but also orders both ships to withdraw. Destroyers Thanet and Shirayuki both sustain hits and are put out of action, but other Japanese ships quickly close. Destroyer Vampire makes its escape undamaged and reaches Singapore at 10:00, but Japanese ships Sendai, Fubuki, Asagiri, Amagiri, Hatsuyuki, and W-1 close on the immobile Thanet and sink it at 04:18.

"Commander in Chief Rosyth, Vice Admiral Sir C. Gordon Ramsey, KCB. 27 January 1942, Rosyth." © IWM (A 7246).

Destroyer Shirayuki rescues 31 men from Thanet, while 12 British sailors perish in the battle itself. Commander Davies and 65 other men manage to swim to shore and make it back to Singapore. The "rescued" British sailors are never seen again and are presumed to have been executed by the Japanese out of spite, contrary to the rules of war. The Japanese landings continue without interference. The British failures at the Battle of Endau are probably the most significant single event leading to the evacuation of Johore and the ultimate fall of Singapore. Commander Moran submits a report on the battle, however, in which - despite the loss of Thanet - he stresses how poorly the Japanese reacted to his attack. This gives the Allied navies a false sense of confidence which is greatly misplaced.

Female metal workers in Leningrad, January 1942. Tank construction continued in Leningrad throughout the siege, sometimes with factories in sight of the front.

On the Malay Peninsula, the battle is rolling south toward Johore Bahru. The War Diary states that the Australian defenders holding the outer line at the Luo Tye Estate have made a "clean break" from the Japanese. Withdrawals are taking place efficiently and quickly. However, Indian troops fighting on the outskirts of Johore itself take heavy losses, including the death of their commanding officer, Major-General A.E. Barstow.

In Singapore, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, sees the writing on the wall from the lost Battle of Endau. He requests and receives permission from General Archibald Wavell for the complete abandonment of the mainland. Percival immediately orders a general withdrawal through Johore Bahru and across the causeway to Singapore Island. This withdrawal is scheduled for the night of 30/31 January. There is one piece of good news for the defense of Singapore - the civilian workers who have refused to work on fortifications on the island's vulnerable north shore finally reach terms on a salary that they will accept and get to work. The British remain under the illusion that Singapore Island can hold out by itself without retaining a foothold on the mainland.

USS Cassin (at right, DD-372) and Downes (DD-375). "Under salvage in Drydock Number One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 27 January 1942. They had been wrecked during the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid." U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph Photo #: NH 54563.

In the Philippines, the Japanese launch a major assault against the Allied Main Line of Resistance (MLR) during the afternoon. The Japanese make quick gains into the MLR and secure a bridgehead across the Pilar River. The Allies in the western I Corp section have the most success in stopping the attack. However, they still have the annoyance of the Japanese landing far behind the MLR at Quinauan Point and Longoskawayan Point. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, Commanding General I Corps, sends troops from the 45th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts to attack the former and troops from the 57th Infantry Regiment of the Scouts to attack the latter. A fierce battle develops, but despite being backed up within 1000 yards of the beach, the Japanese continue to hold out. The Japanese successfully land a relief force north of the trapped Japanese, and the defending 1st Battalion of the 1st Philippine Constabulary quickly gives up. Thus, the Allied defenders are fighting two separate battles in opposite directions and are unable to win either of them.

A photo from Luftwaffe magazine Der Adler, 27 January 1942, showing pilots who are training using gliders.

In Borneo, the Japanese continue expanding their hold. They take Ledo, Pemangkat, Sambas with its Naval Air Station, Singkawang, and Singkawang II airfield. Sinkawang is a small city on the northwestern coast of about 145 km north of the regional capital Pontianak. While not of much economic importance, Sinkawang is in a militarily useful location. Singkawang also is a regional center for Roman Catholic missionaries who maintain the "Apostolic Vicariate of Dutch Borneo," which includes a leprosy colony.

"British Troops disembarking from tugs and lighters at Malta." Malta, 27 January 1942. © IWM (A 7325).

US Navy submarine USS Gudgeon (Lt. Cmdr. Elton W. "Joe" Grenfell), on its first war patrol, is returning to base from the first patrol by a US submarine along the Japanese coast when it spots a target. Grenfell fires three torpedoes and sinks Japanese submarine I-73 about 240 miles west of Midway Atoll. This is the first victory by a US submarine against an enemy warship (as opposed to an enemy freighter, already accomplished). Grenfell thinks that he has only damaged I-73, but Station HYPO (also known as Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC) intercepts and decodes Japanese fleet signals admitting the loss. So, Grenfell and the Gudgeon's crew have a welcome surprise in store for them when they return to Pearl Harbor.

"HMS MAORI entering Grand Harbour." Malta, 27 January 1942. © IWM (A 7333).

The Gudgeon's victory is important for a much more important reason than just the sinking of one ship. Its torpedoes contain RDX/Torpex (RDX stands for Research Department Explosive), a powerful new explosive that is twice as powerful as TNT. Some people believe that RDX/Torpex is a major reason why the Allies win World War II, as it ultimately is used in a wide variety of munitions including air bombs, torpedoes, C-4 plastic explosives, anti-submarine "hedgehog" weapons, and even the trigger for the atom bomb "Fat Man" dropped on Nagasaki. Gudgeon's success proves the usefulness in combat conditions of this deadly substance.

HMS Barham rolls over and explodes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British Admiralty finally admits the loss of HMS Barham, sunk in the Mediterranean on 25 November 1941. It explains the lengthy delay by stating that "it was important to make certain dispositions before the loss of this ship was made public." Dramatic footage of this sinking by Pathé News, filmed aboard Barham's sister ship HMS Valiant, eventually is shown on the newsreels. It shows Barham still covered with men when it blew up. There were 862 deaths on Barham, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell, and 487 survivors. The Germans, who now have official British confirmation of the loss, quickly award U-331's captain, Oblt. Tiesenhausen, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross today.

"German Beauftragte [Plenipotentiary] orders the Kyiv City Administration to Allow a Ukrainian Woman to Purchase Furniture Owned by Jews, 27 January 1942." (EHRI Online Course in Holocaust Studies)

Eastern Front: The Red Army has a tremendous opportunity to destroy the German Army Group North on 27 January 1942. A major battle is brewing around Vyazma, on the main highway between Smolensk and Moscow. Through a series of operations, the Red Army has parachute troops south of Vyazma, General Yefremov's 33rd Army is approaching along the highway from the east, and XI Cavalry Corps has reached the highway fifteen miles west of Vyazma. The highway serves as the main supply route for German forces west of Moscow, and the German guards and drivers of the trucks bringing food and ammunition east have to fight off attacks. Nowhere except in the east do the Soviets have enough strength to truly the German forces in Vyazma, but they can isolate it. The German supply difficulties are compounded by the lack of trains and train crews able to run on the railway line just south of the highway. Because the rail lines are of a different gauge than the German rail system, Soviet trains must be run, and only Russian train crews can keep them running. Both are in short supply.

Wilhelm Spies, pointing to his 19th (of an ultimate 20) victory marking.

Hauptmann Wilhelm Spies, Staffelkapitän of the 1./ Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel," a 20-victory ace with over 300 sorties flown, is shot down and killed. He is shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Sukhinichi (Suchinitschi), Russia. A rare Luftwaffe ace whose victories were evenly divided between the Eastern and Western Fronts, Spies holds the Ritterkreuz at the time of his death and is posthumously promoted to Major and awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. Losses of experienced pilots like Spies are difficult for the Luftwaffe to make good because he developed a wealth of combat experience beginning in the Spanish Civil War and continuing through all of the subsequent major campaigns.

A WAAF of the RNZAF, Hobsonville, January 1942. She is sitting in what appears to be a Harvard trainer (Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library).

Partisans: German Fourth Army has been fighting desperately to keep its lifelines, the Rollbahn highway and nearby railway line running northeast from Roslavl to Yukhnov, open for two weeks. The difficulty for the Germans is that these lines run parallel to the front, meaning the understrength Wehrmacht units in the area have to defend the entire length. Both sides have brought up reinforcements in bitterly cold weather, and General Gotthard Heinrici, the 43 Corps commander who took over Fourth Army from General Ludwig Kübler on 21 January, has had some success. The Germans have kept their supply line open most of the time by turning every journey along the road and highway basically into a naval convoy using armored trains and troop escorts (or, to use another analogy, into a wagon train escorted by the US Cavalry in the Old West). The defense of the Rollbahn and the rail line, however, has come at the expense of giving up large areas behind them to partisans. On 27 January 1942, the Soviets complete a large movement across the Rollbahn by the Red Army's I Guards Cavalry Corps under General Nikolay Belov. The Rollbahn and railway are closed on 27 January due to Belov's activity, but the Germans have sufficient forces nearby to reopen it in a few days when absolutely necessary.

New York on 27 January 1942, Norfolk Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships Photograph 19-N-27366, National Archives and Records Administration, Still Pictures Division, College Park, Md.).

Goering is unusually candid with Mussolini about the turn of the war on the Eastern Front. He admits at the train station that "We are having a hard time." Today, however, Goering strikes an air of bravado at a formal meeting, saying:

Such difficulties [relating to the bitter winter] will not recur. Whatever happens in the coming year, the Fuehrer will halt and take up winter quarters in good time.

The main subject of the discussions, which last until 5 February, is the issue of getting supplies to General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in Libya. Goering loftily suggests that Italian submarines make the supply missions, though they are almost all committed in the Atlantic and cannot possibly carry enough supplies.

"HMS BRECONSHIRE entering Grand Harbour, Malta." 27 January 1942. © IWM (A 7330).

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a lengthy address on the war situation to the House of Commons. The gist of his message is that Operation Crusader in Libya was a success:

Whether you call it a victory or not, it must be dubbed up to the present, although I will not make any promises, a highly profitable transaction, and certainly is an episode of war most glorious to the British, South African, New Zealand, Indian, Free French and Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen who have played their part in it.

Churchill, of course, knows that the tide already has turned in North Africa (there are no operations today due to a sandstorm) and that General Rommel once again is on the offensive. However, this is a well-earned victory speech, if a bit tardy and outdated.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt announces rationing of all consumer goods and commodities until the war is won. It will be administered by the Office of Price Administration (OPA) using rationing books.


1942

January 1942

January 1, 1942: Declaration By United Nations
January 2, 1941: Manila Falls to Japan
January 3, 1942: ABDA Command Announced
January 4, 1942: MacArthur on His Own in the Philippines
January 5, 1942: Soviets Plan General Offensive
January 6, 1942: US Army in Europe
January 7, 1942: Soviet General Offensive Opens
January 8, 1942: Hitler Sacks Hoepner
January 9, 1942: Battle of Dražgoše
January 10, 1942: Building the Jeep
January 11, 1942: Japan Takes Kuala Lumpur
January 12, 1941: Rommel Plans Counterattack
January 13, 1942: First Ejection Seat Use
January 14, 1942: Operation Drumbeat First Sinking
January 15, 1942: U-Boat Off NYC
January 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Crash
January 17, 1942: British Take Halfaya Pass
January 18, 1942: Soviet Paratroopers in Action
January 19, 1942: FDR Approves Atomic Bomb
January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference
January 21, 1942: Parit Sulong Bridge Battle
January 22, 1942: Parit Sulong Massacre
January 23, 1942: Japan Takes Rabaul
January 24, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
January 25, 1942: Kholm Surrounded
January 26, 1942: GIs Land in Europe
January 27, 1942: Battle of Endau
January 28, 1942: Rommel Takes Benghazi
January 29, 1942: First US Coast Guard Ship Sunk
January 30, 1942: Singapore Isolated
January 31, 1942: Army Group South Averts Disaster

2020

Tuesday 25 November 1941

German Panzer IV tanks and armored personnel carriers attacking a Soviet-held village in the vicinity of Istra on the Moscow-Riga railway on 25 November 1941 (Tannenberg, Hugo, Federal Archive Figure 183-B17220).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British Operation Crusader, an offensive whose goal is to liberate Tobruk, has been going badly since its start on 21 November. British 7th Armored Division of Eighth Army has been pummeled by General Erwin Rommel's panzers and fierce artillery fire by well-sited Italian gunners. On 24 November Rommel decided to launch a counteroffensive, and today, 25 November 1941, he sets in motion more forces whose aim is to relieve a trapped German garrison at Bardia and threaten British lines of communication back into Egypt. This is known as General Rommel's "dash to the wire" because it sends Afrika Korp panzers behind the British outposts to the area of the Egyptian/ Libyan border where a wire barricade stretches inland from the coast.

Battleship HMS Barham ((Capt G.C. Cooke, RN)), covered with sailors, explodes in the Mediterranean north off Sidi Barrani, Egypt after being hit by three torpedoes from U-331 (Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen) on 25 November 1941. Total casualties number 56 officers and 806 men.

With part of Afrika Korps and the Italian Ariete Division already heading toward Sidi Omar, the 15th Panzer Division today heads northeast toward Sidi Aziz. To their shock, the German tankers find no enemy to be seen and their only opponents the omnipresent RAF Desert Air Force. The 5th Panzer Division of the 21st Panzer Division hits the 7th Indian Brigade at Sidi Omar, but are fought off with great difficulty by the 1st Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. The German tanks try again, but the Royal Artillery picks the panzers off over open sights at 500 meters and destroys or damages almost all of them. It is a brilliant defensive victory by the British caused by their valor and the overconfidence of the panzer commanders. The rest of the 21st Panzer Division heads unmolested to the border at Halfaya, the key to the vital coastal road.

HMS Barham listing to port shortly after being hit by three torpedoes. Barham becomes the only Royal Navy battleship to be sunk by a submarine during World War 11. This photo was taken from HMS Valiant.

The Germans reach the area west of Sidi Aziz by sunset, but they have taken heavy tank losses during the day. They have only 53 panzers remaining with no possibility of reinforcement. The 5th New Zealand Brigade is located further up the coast between the panzers and their closest supply dumps, posing a logistical problem. The Germans camp here for the night and prepare to bypass the New Zealanders on the 26th in order to liberate Bardia and resupply.

HMS Barham.

One of the paradoxes of the war in North Africa is that it is actually won at sea. The Royal Navy has done a very efficient job of disrupting supplies sent from Naples to Tripoli. Today, however, the Germans take their revenge when  U-331 (Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen) somehow evades the Royal Navy destroyer screen and pumps three torpedoes into battleship HMS Barham. The Barham sinks quickly and takes the better part of 1000 men with her.

"Members of the Mine Recovery and Disposal Squad towing away a naval mine from the beach at Tayport with the aid of a Bren gun carrier being operated by troops of the 1st Polish Corps, 25 November 1941." © IWM (A 6427).

Eastern Front: General Guderian's men continue to put pressure on the Red Army units defending Tula, but it is an increasingly hopeless battle. Today, the 17th Panzer Division (Brig. Gen. Rudolf Eduard Licht) approaches Kashira, about 50 km north of Venev, which looks impressive on the map as it is a great deal closer to Moscow than Tula. However, Lictht's advance causes as many problems as it solves, because it is extremely difficult to supply his panzers. Meanwhile, the bulk of Guderian's forces are making no progress at all on the direct road to Moscow through Tula. The Germans only control the territory within reach of their guns, with large stretches in between their isolated forces virtually undefended. This gives the Red Army units the ability to cross between the different Wehrmacht positions. The 239th Siberian Rifle Division, for instance, escapes from the 29th Motorized Division near Epifan, southeast of Tula, simply by driving around the German units. Lacking strong infantry support, the German effort south of Moscow is turning into the equivalent of tank raids rather than a full-fledged offensive.

"An early Christmas present for a member of the crew, the dog's name is 'Mosquito'." This photo was taken aboard a Royal Navy torpedo boat at Naval Base Granton. © IWM (A 6380).

North of Moscow, the German 18th Army continues to hold the strategically important city of Tikhvin despite brutal winter weather and increasing Red Army attacks. The commander of the 18th Army, Colonel General Georg von Küchler, accepts the inevitable after his men have made no progress since taking the city and orders them to cease all offensive operations. This leaves the most advanced German troops isolated at the tip of a dead schwerpunkt (spearhead) with long supply lines that are open to Soviet assault from both the north and south.

HMS Barham exploding in a fireball, 25 November 1941.

US/Japanese Relations: For several days, United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull has been preparing a modus vivendi agreement to restart stalled peace talks with the Japanese. This is a counter-proposal to the Japanese Proposal B submitted on 21 November which was completely unacceptable to the Americans. The modus vivendi would prohibit "any advance by force" in the Pacific - an obvious restriction on Japanese ambitions - and require a Japanese withdrawal from southern French Indochina. In exchange, the United States would resume limited trade with the Japanese to the extent of $600,000 worth of cotton, oil "for civilian needs" and medical supplies. The agreement by its terms would only last for three months and would be a stop-gap measure to reach a longer-lasting agreement.

Der Adler, 25 November 1941 (Heft 24, 25. November 1941.: Deutsches Reichsluftfahrtministerium).

The US War Council debates this very mild counterproposal on the 25th and decides that it would make sense to submit this modus vivendi to the Japanese. The obvious alternative is war, and the Army and Navy want more time to prepare for that. However, the decision to submit this counterproposal to the Japanese - who it is expected would take it - does not lie with the US War Council. Only one man can make that decision. Hull, who personally thinks the modus vivendi is pointless, schedules a meeting with President Roosevelt for the 26th.

The proposed B-36 bomber would feature dramatically greater bombload, range, and service ceiling in addition to its unprecedented size. Two prototypes are ordered from Consolidated on 25 November 1941.

US Military: The US Army Air Force contracts with Consolidated Aircraft (later Consolidated Vultee and then Convair) to produce two prototypes of a new experimental bomber. Consolidated is an experienced military plane manufacturer, having built the successful B-24 Liberator heavy bomber and the PBY Catalina. The overall wing area of the new plane is to encompass just under 5000 square feet and hold six engines placed at the back of the wings to push its 163-foot fuselage. This is a massive design that dwarfs current bombers, and the plane is designed to be able to fly from the continental United States, bomb targets in Europe, and then return without landing or refueling. The fixed fee payable to Consolidated is approximately $800,000 for each prototype and the first plane is scheduled to be ready by mid-1944. This plane ultimately is developed and becomes the B-36 Peacemaker.


"MS of HMS Barham listing heavily to port, towards the camera - her secondary 6-inch guns already underwater. MLS off the port bow as she begins to roll over. The capsizing ship suddenly blows up in a huge explosion, only her bows remaining visible, steeply canted at the edge of the smoke pall. Debris from the explosion rains into the sea. Various shots emphasize the extent of the smoke pall remaining after the ship has disappeared. The film then cuts to an MS off the starboard quarter of Barham steaming in quarter line with HMS Queen Elizabeth - Queen Elizabeth fires after 4.5-inch AA. Final shot reverts to the sinking - Barham is shown listing, Queen Elizabeth in the background." © IWM.

HMS Barham right before it explodes and sinks. This apparently is a capture taken from a film made of the sinking. If one looks closely, men clinging for their lives are seen on the upraised hull and the decks.

Captain C. E. Morgan, commanding nearby HMS Valiant, gave an account of the sinking of HMS Barham:

"Our battleships were proceeding westwards line ahead, with the Valiant immediately astern the Barham and with a destroyer screen thrown out ahead of the battlefleet. At 4.23 p.m., carrying out a normal zigzag, we turned to port together, thus bringing the ships into echelon formation.

Suddenly, at 4.25, I heard a loud explosion, followed by two further explosions a couple of seconds later. Fountains of water and two enormous columns of smoke shot skywards. The smoke formed an enormous mushroom, gradually enveloping the whole of the Barham, except the after part, which was subsequently also blotted out as the ship slid into a vast pall of smoke.

As the explosions occurred the officer on watch gave the command “ Hard to port,” to keep clear of the Barham.

Fifteen seconds later I saw a submarine break the surface, possibly forced there by the explosion. Passing from left to right, the submarine was apparently making to cross the Valiant’s bows between us and the Barham. He was only about seven degrees off my starboard bow and 150 yards away, though he must have fired his torpedoes from about 700 yards.

As the periscope and then the conning tower appeared I ordered “ Full speed ahead, hard starboard.” But, with the helm already hard to port, I was unable to turn quickly enough to ram him before he crash-dived only 40 yards away on our starboard side. The submarine was visible for about 45 seconds, and, simultaneously with our ramming efforts, we opened fire with our starboard pom-poms. He was so close, however, that we were unable to depress the guns sufficiently and the shells passed over the conning-tower.

I then gave the order “Amidships” again to avoid turning into the Barham, which was still underway with her engines running but listing heavily to port. As we came upon her beam she heeled further about 20 or 30 degrees, and through the smoke, I could see all her quarter-deck and forecastle. Men were jumping into the water and running up on the forecastle.

The Barham was rolling on a perfectly even keel with neither bows nor stern sticking into the air. For one minute she seemed to hang in this position; then, at 4.28, she suddenly rolled violently, her mainmast striking the’ surface of the sea sharply a few seconds later.

I saw water pouring into her funnels. There followed a big explosion amidships, from which belched black and brown smoke intermingled with flames. Pieces of wreckage, Hung high into the air, were scattered far and wide, the largest piece being about the size of my writing-desk.

I immediately ordered “ Take cover ” as the wreckage started flying, and that was the last we saw of the Barham, which had run almost’ a mile since the moment she was hit. When the smoke cleared the only signs left were a mass of floating wreckage.
…

The 35,000-ton ship disappeared with unbelievable suddenness; it was only 4 minutes 35 seconds exactly from the moment the torpedoes struck until she had completely disappeared."


November 1941

November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

2020