Operation Typhoon. Guderian’s Panzergruppe 2 resupplies with fuel & ammunition and resumes the drive on Moscow from the Southwest despite the rasputitsa. 4th Panzer Division renews the attack near Mtensk where they have been held since October 10 but they are held by well dug-in Soviet infantry.
At 1.42 AM, U-68 sinks British Fleet oiler RFA Darkdale, serving as an oil storage vessel (with 3000 tons of fuel oil, 850 tons of aviation fuel, 500 tons of diesel and lubricating oil) off the island of St. Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic. All 37 crew and 4 gunners on board are killed in the explosion but the Captain, Chief Engineer and 4 crewmen are ashore. U-68 had been spotted the day before by a civilian on the island but his report was not taken seriously. Darkdale is first British ship sunk south of the Equator during WWII.
Romanian HQ in Odessa, Ukraine, is destroyed by a time-bomb left by Soviet Coastal Army during the evacuation of Odessa a week ago (67 killed including Romanian commander General Glogojeanu and 4 German naval officers). Jews and communists in the city are blamed for the blast. Romanian troops begin rounding up suspects and execute 5000 civilians overnight, mostly Jews.
German firing squads execute 48 civilians (mainly communist activists) in France, in retaliation for the killing 2 days ago of Colonel Karl Hotz, Feldkommandant of Nantes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment