Day 1086 August 21, 1942

Guadalcanal. Japanese Colonel Ichiki believes only a few Americans defend Henderson Airfield along the Tenaru River. At 1.30 AM, he sends 100 troops across the Tenaru River, supported by machineguns and mortars, but 2500 Marines mow them down with machinegun fire and anti-tank guns firing canister shot. At 2.30 AM, Ichiki sends another wave of 150 to 200 troops but they are also wiped out. Marine artillery and mortars find their range and wreak havoc as Ichiki's troops regroup between each attack. At 5 AM, Ichiki sends another wave along the beach but Marines turn their machineguns and artillery to stop them also. At 7 AM, the Marines counterattack inland and surround the remaining Japanese on the coast, who are then eliminated by five M3 Stuart tanks and strafing from US fighters. Japanese casualties are 740 dead, including Colonel Ichiki who is killed or commits suicide, and 15 taken prisoner (only 30 survivors escape back to the landing site at Taivu Point). US Marine lose 44 killed.

Papua. Japanese 41st Infantry Regiment (Yazawa Detachment) lands at Buna. General Tomitarō Horii's South Seas Force, charged with crossing the Kokoda Track through the Owen Stanley mountain range to Port Moresby, now consists of 8,000 infantry, 450 SNLF Marines and 3000 naval construction troops. At the Eastern tip of Papua, Australian 18th Infantry Brigade (veterans of the Siege of Tobruk) arrives at Milne Bay bringing Australian General Cyril Clowes’ Milne Force to 7,459 Australian and 1,365 US troops and 600 RAAF personnel.

US submarine USS Tambor sinks Japanese collier Shinsei Maru No.6 off Ponape Island, 450 miles West of Truk Bay naval base.

Case Blue. At dawn, German 6th Army crosses the River Don at several points in inflatable boats and begins constructing pontoon bridges. On the Black Sea coast, German9th Infantry Division breaks through defences at Abinskaia and pushes on South towards Novorossiysk. In the Caucasus Mountains, German 4th Mountain Division troops reach the highest peak, Mount Elbrus, and raise the Nazi flag.

At 10.43 PM 100 miles Southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-506 sinks British SS City of Wellington carrying 2000 tons of copper ore, 500 tons of chrome ore and 5000 tons of general cargo from South Africa to Britain (7 killed, 61 crew and 5 gunners picked up by British destroyer HMS Velox).

Day 1085 August 20, 1942

Guadalcanal. Overnight, Japanese Colonel Ichiki moves his 770 troops forward to within a few miles of Henderson Field, stopping at 4.30 AM. Ichiki is still fooled by intelligence reports that a minimal American presence holds the airfield. However, after the clash of patrols at Koli Point yesterday, US Colonel Clifton Cates deploys 1st and 2nd battalions 1st Marine Regiment, plus two 37mm anti-tank guns loaded with canister shot, along the West bank of the Tenaru River (known as Alligator Creek to the Americans), while 75mm and 105mm artillery range their guns on the East side of Alligator Creek. In addition, US auxiliary carrier USS Long Island flies off 19 Grumman Wildcat fighters (VMF 223) and 12 Douglas Dauntless dive bombers (VMSB 232) to Henderson Field.

In the North Atlantic 250 miles West of the Faroe Islands, a US Catalina flying boat (squadron VP-73) catches U-464 (a supply U-boat on the first patrol) on the surface. At 5.30 AM, the Catalina drops 5 depth charges, badly damaging U-464 which can make 8 knots but not dive (2 killed). Icelandic trawler Skaftfellingur takes off 51 survivors and, at 8.15, U-464 is scuttled. At 8.45 AM, the survivors are turned over to British destroyer HMS Castleton.

Guadalcanal. In the evening, Colonel Ichiki moves forward to attack Henderson Field. At midnight, they are surprised to run into the US Marine defenses at Tenaru River (Alligator Creek).

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombers mount a small raid on Portsmouth on the South coast of England.

Day 1084 August 19, 1942

Guadalcanal. At 1 AM, Japanese destroyers Kagero, Kagikaze, Maikaze, Urakaze, Isokaze and Hamakaze land 916 troops (Ichiki Detachment) at Taivu Point, 22 miles East of the US positions at Lunga Point. Colonel Ichiki leaves 100 troops as a rear guard and leads 800 men towards the Marines. At dawn, they halt 9 miles East of the Lunga perimeter but send forward a patrol of 38. As a diversion from the landings, Japanese aircraft attack the US airstrip at Henderson Field. However, Australian coastwatchers warn the Americans of the landings and Captain Charles Brush leads a patrol of 60 Marines and 4 native scouts to investigate. At noon, the patrols meet at Koli Point (Japanese lose 33 killed, Marines have 3 dead and 3 wounded). US B-17 bombers attack the Japanese destroyers off Guadalcanal. A bomb hits Hagikaze destroying No. 3 (“Y”) gun turret and damaging the rudder and prop-shafts (33 killed, 13 wounded). Hagikaze proceeds at 6 knots to Truk for emergency repairs.

Allies raid Dieppe, Northern France, to gather intelligence, capture prisoners, destroy coastal batteries and port facilities. Overnight, 5000 Canadian troops (2nd Canadian Infantry Division), 1000 British Commandos and 50 US Rangers cross the English Channel in 9 landing ships, escorted by 8 destroyers (HMS Albrighton, Berkeley, Bleasdale, Brocklesby, Calpe, Fernie, Garth and Polish ORP Ślązak), gunboat HMS Locust, minesweepers and numerous motor gun boats, steam gun boats and motor launches. At 3.50 AM, they exchange fire with a German convoy (steam gun boat SGB5 is set on fire and German UJ1404 is sunk) which alerts the shore defenders. At 5 AM, Allied troops come ashore at 6 beaches around Dieppe with 58 Churchill tanks, covered by 48 squadrons of RAF Spitfires and 8 squadrons of Hurricanes, but naval bombardment is minimal to prevent French civilian casualties. British No. 4 Commando (including the 50 US Rangers) destroys a battery of six 150 mm guns near Varengeville. Elsewhere, British and Canadian troops are trapped on the beaches and slaughtered by German machinegunners (1179 killed). German bombers sink British destroyer HMS Berkeley (33 landing craft are also lost to various causes), while destroyers HMS Calpe, HMS Brocklesby and HMS Fernie are damaged by bombers or shore batteries (550 killed or wounded). With the raid an evident failure, the beaches are evacuated between 11 AM and 2 PM but 2190 Allied troops are taken POW by the Germans and all of the tanks are destroyed or left behind. RAF loses 106 aircraft. German casualties are 311 killed and 48 aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe. Captain Patrick Porteous (No. 4 Commando), Reverend John Foote (Royal Hamilton Light Infantry) and Canadian Colonel Charles Merritt (South Saskatchewan Regiment) win the Victoria Cross (Foote and Merritt taken POW).

At 5.30 AM 10 miles off the coast of Brazil, U-507 stops Brazilian barque Jacyra with 2 rounds from the deck gun. Jacyra is sunk at 8 AM with scuttling charges after all 6 crew abandon ship in a lifeboat.

At 9.07 AM 200 miles off the coast of French Guiana, U-510 sinks British MV Cressington Court (8 killed, 26 crew and 10 gunners picked up on September 10 by Dutch tanker MV Woensdrecht which is attacked 2 days later by U-515).

40 miles West of Grenada in the Caribbean, U-162 and U-564 attack convoy TAW(S). At 4.37 AM, U-162 sinks American SS West Celina (1 killed, 43 survivors). At 10.07 AM, U-564 sinks British SS Empire Cloud (3 killed, 51 survivors) and British tanker SS British Consul (2 killed, 40 survivors).

Siege of Leningrad Day 346. Soviets launch the Sinyavino Offensive to liberate Leningrad. Leningrad Front capture several bridgeheads across the Neva River to help close a 10 mile gap between them and troops of the Volkhov Front. However, Volkhov Front does not start its part of the offensive for several days.

At 4.22 PM 450 miles West of Portugal, U-406 torpedoes British SS City of Manila in convoy SL-118 (1 killed, 84 crew and 11 gunners rescued) which breaks apart and sinks next day.

At 9.12 PM 75 miles Southeast of Bonaire, U-217 mistakes khaki overalls of oil workers for military uniforms and shoots up British sailboat Sea Gull D. which is taking the workers to Aruba (3 killed, 71 rescued by Greek SS Kassos).

Day 1083 August 18, 1942

Between 6 AM and 9.13 hours AM 10 miles off the Southeast coast of Cuba, U-553 attacks convoy TAW-13, sinking British MV Emipre Bede carrying cotton from Egypt to USA (2 killed, 43 survivors picked up by British corvette HMS Pimpernel), American SS John Hancock carrying 10,517 tons of sugar from Hawaii via the Panama Canal (all 38 crew and 11 gunners in 4 lifeboats picked up after 3 hours by a British corvette) and Swedish MV Blankaholm (5 killed, 23 survivors).

U-214, U-333, U-406, U-566, U-590, U-594 & U-653 (wolfpack Blücher) approach convoy SL-118, 565 miles West of Portugal. At 6.52 PM, U-214 fires 4 torpedoes sinking Dutch SS Balingkar (2 killed, 91 survivors) and British SS Hatarana (88 survivors picked up by Corabella and 20 by British corvette HMS Pentstemon) and damaging convoy escort, armed merchant cruiser HMS Cheshire (no casualties). A B-24 Liberator bomber (RAF 120 Squadron from Cornwall, England) seriously damages U-653, which returns to base at Brest, France (Matrosengefreiter Willi Pröhl is washed overboard as U-653 dives but is rescued by a British destroyer).

British submarines disrupt Rommel’s supply lines across the Mediterranean, demonstrating the significance to the British of maintaining Malta. 45 miles South of the Italian island of Pantellaria, HMS United attacks a convoy from Trapani, Sicily, to Tripoli, sinking Italian transport MV Rosolino Pilo (previously damaged by motor torpedo boats). MV Rosolino Pilo explodes causing significant damage to HMS United. 10 miles South of Sardinia, HMS Safari sinks Italian freighter SS Perseo.

Case Blue. German 1st Panzer Army captures Krasnodar in the Kuban. Further South, 1st Panzer enters the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, moving towards the Black Sea oil port of Tuapse, resisted by Soviet 46th Army.

Off Västervik, Sweden, Soviet submarine L3 sinks Swedish steamer C. F. Liljevalch loaded with 6000 tons of iron ore from Luleå, Sweden, to Germany (33 killed, 7 survivors rescued by Swedish destroyers escorting the convoy).

Overnight, in the first use of the Path Finder Force, 31 flare-carrying aircraft (7, 35, 83 and 156 Squadrons) lead 87 RAF bombers to Flensburg in Northern Denmark on the Baltic Sea. They miss the target and mistakenly bomb the towns of Sønderborg and Abenra 25 miles further North (26 houses destroyed, 660 houses damaged, 4 Danish civilians injured). 2 Wellingtons, 1 Halifax and 1 Stirling are lost.

Overnight, 2 transports escorted by cruiser Tatsuta and destroyers Yunagi and Yuzuko land more Japanese troops at Buna.

Day 1082 August 17, 1942

Between 5.26 and 9.20 AM off Matveev Island in Pechora Sea, U-209 attacks a Soviet convoy with gunfire, sinking tugs Komsomolec & Komiles and barges Sh-500 & P-4 (305 crew, port workers and political prisoners killed, 23 survivors picked up by tug Nord and minesweepers T-54 & T-62).

At 6.19 AM in the Windward Passage, West of Haiti, U-658 attacks convoy PG-6 sinking Egyptian SS Samir and British SS Fort la Reine (3 killed, 41 survivors rescued by British corvette HMS Pimpernel and a US patrol boat) and damaging British MV Laguna (no casualties).

In the Mediterranean. 40 miles off the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece, British submarine HMS Turbulent torpedoes Italian transport ship Nino Bixio which is carrying 3200 Allied POWs from Libya to Italy (336 killed mostly POWs, Nino Bixio is towed to shore with the survivors by convoy escorts, Italian destroyers Nicoloso da Recco and Saetta). 10 miles South of Sardinia, British submarine HMS Safari sinks Italian sailboat Ausonia with the deck gun. At 2.08 PM 50 miles North of Port Said, Egypt, U-83 sinks Canadian troopship SS Princess Marguerite carrying British troops from Port Said to Cyprus. Despite explosions of the fuel tanks and ammunition locker, only 5 crew and 44 troops are killed (129 crew and 954 troops picked up by convoy escorts, British destroyers HMS Hero and HMS Kelvin). In Operation Baritone, British aircraft carrier HMS Furious flies off 32 Spitfires to Malta, but 2 crash on takeoff (1 pilot killed). Churchill returns to Cairo, Egypt, by air from Moscow via Tehran, Persia.

Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. 211 US Marines (2nd Raider Battalion under Colonel Evans Carlson and Captain James Roosevelt) land from US submarines USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut. They kill 160 Japanese troops garrisoning the islands (but take no prisoners as planned) and then return to the submarines. Marines lose 21 killed and 9 captured by the Japanese and later beheaded.

U-507 continues attacking neutral ships close to the coast of Brazil, sinking Brazilian SS Itagiba which is carrying 121 passengers, mainly soldiers, at 3.49 PM (36 killed, 145 survivors) and Brazilian SS Arará (20 dead and 16 survivors) as she stops to pick up survivors from Itagiba at 6.03 PM.

At 5.56 PM 200 miles Northeast of the Azores, U-566 sinks Norwegian MV Triton (all 40 crew, 2 gunners and 1 passenger picked up after 30 minutes by British SS Baron Dunmore in the same convoy). At 10.44 PM 200 miles off French Guiana, U-108 sinks US tanker MV Louisiana after a running battle lasting 6 hours (all 49 hands lost).

Overnight, 139 RAF bombers attack Osnabrück, Germany, just across the Dutch border (77 houses and 4 military buildings destroyed, 7 killed, 15 injured). 3 Wellingtons, 1 Lancaster are 1 Stirling are lost.

Day 1081 August 16, 1942

Kriegsmarine believes Allied ships are moving up the East coast of South America in the safety of the neutral Brazilian coastal waters. In a blatant act of aggression, U-507 sinks 3 Brazilian passenger ships SS Baependy (55 crew and 215 passengers, including 145 troops, killed; 36 survivors), MV Araraquara (66 crew and 65 passengers killed, 11 survivors) and SS Annibal Benévolo (67 crew and 83 passengers killed, 4 survivors) between midnight and 9.13 AM off Aracaju, Brazil.

At 7.45 AM 620 miles West of Ireland, U-596 stops neutral Swedish MV Suecia but discovers a cargo of steel, phosphate, tobacco and pulp from USA to Britain. U-596 sinks MV Suecia with a torpedo after all 35 crew and 12 passengers abandon ship (1 man falls overboard and drowns, 46 survivors escape in 3 lifeboats but 8 men in 1 boat are never found).

Operation Baritone. British aircraft carrier HMS Furious departs Gibraltar carrying 32 Spitfire fighters for Malta, escorted by cruiser HMS Charybdis and destroyers HMS Antelope, Bicester, Derwent, Eskimo, Keppel, Laforey, Lookout, Lightning, Malcolm, Somali, Venomous and Wishart. The Spitfires arrived from Britain in crates on the freighter Empire Clive and have been assembled ashore.

Papua. 3 Japanese transports escorted by cruiser Tatsuta and two destroyers land more troops at Buna.

Japanese aerial reconnaissance of Guadalcanal 4 days ago spotted few US troops and no large ships offshore; they are convinced that most of the Marines have been withdrawn and that the island is lightly held. Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki is sent to retake Guadalcanal. 916 troops (Ichiki Detachment) leave Truk naval base for an immediate landing aboard 6 Japanese destroyers, while the remainder of the Regiment follows on slower transports for the journey 1200 miles South.

At 11.34 PM of the coast of Palestine, U-77 continues wreaking havoc on small fishing boats, sinking Palestinian sailboat Daniel with the deck gun.

Day 1080 August 15, 1942

At 3.58 AM 570 miles West of Ireland, U-705 attacks convoy SC 95, sinking American SS Balladier (13 killed, 32 survivors in 1 lifeboat, 2 rafts and a float rescued by another convoy SC 95 vessel, American SS Norluna).

Case Blue. At 4.30 AM, German 6th Army launches an offensive against the remnants of Soviet 4th Tank Army who are surrounded on the West bank of the Don Bend. Further South in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, 1st Panzer Army attacks the oil town of Grozny which is defended by Soviet 9th and 37th Armies. Stalin has decided to defend the oil supply and to stop the Germans at the Caucasus Mountains.

Finnish patrol boat VMV 5 sinks Soviet submarine M-97 with depth charges in the Gulf of Finland, 3 miles off the coast of Estonia near Tallinn.

At 7 AM, tanker SS Ohio arrives at Malta, carrying crucial fuel for the island (Captain Dudley Mason is awarded the George Cross). SS Ohio is kept afloat by British destroyers HMS Penn and HMS Ledbury, and this cluster of ships is protected from further air attacks by Spitfires while coastal batteries chase off U-boats and torpedo boats. SS Ohio finally sinks in Valetta Harbour after her cargo of kerosene and fuel oil is quickly pumped out. Operation Pedestal has cost aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, cruisers HMS Manchester and HMS Cairo, destroyer HMS Foresight and 9 freighters. However, the fuel and 32,000 tons of supplies save Malta from being starved out of the war and subsequent RAF and Royal Navy actions prevent supply ships reaching Rommel in Libya.

140 miles West of Crete, British submarine HMS Porpoise sinks Italian MV Lerici.

On Guadalcanal, 10,819 US Marines have little equipment and enough food for 17 days at 2 meals per day. However, help is at hand. The unfinished Japanese airfield at Lunga Point is completed with capture Japanese equipment, declared open and renamed Henderson Field after Marine Major Lofton Henderson (killed in the Battle of Midway). US transport ships Colhoun, Gregory, Little and McKean arrive with supplies.

Overnight in bad weather, 131 RAF aircraft inaccurately bomb Düsseldorf, Germany. A 4000lb bomb causes much damage in the nearby town of Neuss (1 killed; 13 injured). 2 Lancasters, 1 Hampden & 1 Wellington are lost.

Day 1079 August 14, 1942

Operation Pedestal. Tanker SS Ohio, which is carrying a crucial cargo of fuel to Malta, is still afloat despite listing badly with her back broken. SS Ohio, abandoned overnight, is reboarded and taken in tow by British destroyers HMS Penn, HMS Bramham & HMS Ledbury, and minesweeper HMS Rye. SS Ohio is hit by several more bombs, causing many breaks in the tow line, but she is held together and buoyed up by the warships lashed to her. Despite an enormous hole in the bow caused by a torpedo 2 days ago, British freighter MV Brisbane Star reaches Malta at 4.15 PM (Captain Frederick Neville Riley is awarded the Distinguished Service Order).

Case Blue. German 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army burn forests to smoke out and annihilate remnants of Soviet 62nd Army (8 rifle divisions and 5 artillery regiments) who have been surrounded on the West bank of the Don Bend since the Germans captured Kalach 3 days ago. Other elements of 4th Panzer Army capture Elista in the middle of the Caucasus plain, North of the River Don. Further South in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, 1st Panzer Army reaches the oil town of Grozny which sends oil along a 384 mile pipeline to the Black Sea port of Tuapse.

At 11.55 AM 50 miles Northeast of Pueto Padre, Cuba, U-598 attacks convoy TAW-12 sinking British freighter SS Michael Jebsen (7 killed, 40 survivors picked up by a US patrol boat) and British tanker SS Empire Corporal (6 killed, 49 survivors picked up by US motor torpedo boat PT-498) and damaging British tanker MV Standella (6 killed, 52 survivors).

US submarine USS Seawolf sinks Japanese passenger-cargo ship SS Hachigen Maru in the Sibitu Passage, just off the Northeast tip of Borneo. US submarine USS S-39 is stuck after grounding on submerged rocks off Rossel Island, 380 miles East of Guadalcanal.

Papua. Japanese harassment of Australian positions and rumours of Japanese infiltration to the rear cause Major Cameron to withdraw Australian 39th Battalion from Deniki (Australian losses 5 killed, 8 wounded; Japanese losses 3 killed, 6 wounded). They retreat 4 miles to the Eora Creek at Isurava. Japanese also land 3000 troops of the 14th and 15th Naval Construction Units at Buna to build a major base for operations.

South Atlantic. At 7.30 PM 700 miles Southwest of Cape Verde Islands, Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani sinks British SS Sylvia de Larrinaga (3 killed). On board are 17 survivors rescued 2 days ago from British tanker SS Vimeria, who get back in their lifeboat from SS Vimeria and will be picked up by Norwegian MV Siranger on September 11, after drifting for 28 days. South of St. Helena, German armed merchant cruiser Michel sinks British freighter SS Arabistan with 6 inch shells and machinegun fire from point blank range (23 British crew and 43 Indian Lascars killed, 1 survivor Chief Engineer Edwin Goodridge is picked up next morning clinging to wreckage).

Day 1078 August 13, 1942

In the Mediterranean. At midnight in the Strait of Sicily between Tunisia and Sicily, 7 German and 8 Italian torpedo boats attack the Pedestal convoy sinking freighters MV Wairangi, MV Glenorchy, SS Almeria Lykes and SS Santa Elisa. At 1 AM 4 miles off Kellibia, Tunisia, Italian torpedo boats MAS16 and MAS22 immobilise British cruiser HMS Manchester (10 killed in the explosion, 122 drown abandoning ship, 312 rescued by destroyers HMS Pathfinder and HMS Eskimo, 300 survivors reach Tunisia and are interned by the Vichy French authorities) which is later sunk by torpedoes from HMS Pathfinder. Dive bombers attack at dawn, sinking freighters SS Waimarama (80 killed in an explosion of fuels drums on deck) and MV Dorset. Tanker SS Ohio (damaged yesterday by a torpedo) is bombed all day and brought to a standstill by bomb hits, near misses and 2 crash-landing dive bombers; Ohio is abandoned overnight, although her fuel tanks are mostly intact. RAF fighters from Malta arrive and chase off the bombers, allowing freighters MV Rochester Castle, MV Port Chalmers and MV Melbourne Star to reach Malta between 5.30 and 6.30 PM (all 3 captains are awarded the Distinguished Service Order).

6 Italian cruisers and 17 destroyers (which sortied yesterday from Messina, Sicily, to intercept the Pedestal convoy) return to base for lack of German air cover. 21 miles North of Capo d'Orlando, Sicily, British submarine HMS Unbroken torpedoes cruisers Bolzano (run aground to prevent sinking, towed to La Spezia for repairs) and Muzio Attendolo (loses 60 feet of her bow, towed to Naples for repairs).

Caribbean. U-600 and U-658 attack as 2 USA-South America convoys pass the strait between Cuba and Haiti. At 5.07 AM, U-658 sinks Dutch SS Medea in convoy WAT 13 (5 killed, 23 rescued by convoy escorts). At 9.48 AM, U-600 sinks Latvian SS Everelza (23 killed, 14 rescued by convoy escorts) and American passenger/cargo ship SS Delmundo (8 killed including 3 passengers, 50 survivors including 5 passengers picked up by British destroyer HMS Churchill) in convoy TAW 12.

At 7.50 AM in the Gulf of Mexico 25 miles off the coast of Louisiana, U-171 stops US tanker SS R.M. Parker Jr. with 2 torpedoes and finishes her off with the deck gun (all 37 crew and 7 gunners rescued 8 hours later by US Coast Guard auxiliary craft USS Pioneer).

South Atlantic. At 7.40 AM 400 miles Southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-752 sinks American SS Cripple Creek carrying 7500 tons of war supplies from USA to British 8th Army in Egypt (1 killed, 38 crew and 13 gunners in 3 lifeboats rescued after 4 days by British armed trawler HMS St. Winstan). 1400 miles West of Freetown, Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani sinks American SS California with the deck gun and torpedoes (1 killed, 35 survivors).

Papua. Japanese harass Australians at Deniki to precipitate a retreat without resorting to a full attack, firing their single field gun at Australian positions and probing around the edge of the defenses. Japanese also land more troops at Buna to reinforce the attack along the Kokoda Track.

Day 1077 August 12, 1942

In the Mediterranean. German and Italian aircraft, submarines and torpedo boats constantly attack the Pedestal convoy. At noon, two 500 pound bombs hit British aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, rendering the flight deck unusable, leaving only 1 carrier HMS Victorious to defend the convoy. 10 miles off Bizerte, Tunisia, British destroyers HMS Ithuriel and HMS Pathfinder bring Italian submarine Cobalto to the surface with depth charges. HMS Ithuriel rams and sinks Cobalto (2 killed also 2 British sailors who attempt to board, 41 survivors taken POW by HMS Ithuriel), badly damaging HMS Ithuriel’s bow (under repair until October). At 8 PM, a salvo of 4 torpedoes from Italian submarine Axum sinks cruiser HMS Cairo (24 killed, 320 taken off by destroyer HMS Derwent) and damages cruiser HMS Nigeria (52 killed) and tanker SS Ohio. At dusk (9.30 PM), Italian torpedo bombers sink destroyer Foresight (4 killed, crew is taken off by destroyer HMS Tartar). Italian bombers or submarines sink 3 freighters and blow a huge hole in the bows of MV Brisbane Star.

50 miles Northwest of Algiers, Algeria, Italian submarine Dagabur approaches British aircraft carrier HMS Furious (returning to Gibraltar from Operation Pedestal after flying off Spitfires to Malta) but is detected on the surface by British destroyer HMS Wolverine, which rams and sinks Dagabur. HMS Wolverine’s bow is badly damaged (under repair until December).

At 1.55 PM 10 miles South of Key West, Florida, U-508 sinks 2 small Cuban freighter SS Santiago de Cuba (10 killed, 19 survivors) and SS Manzanillo (23 dead).

British submarines HMS Sturgeon and HMS Unshaken, patrolling separately 20 miles off the coast of Southern Norway, sink German freighters SS Boltenhagen and SS Georg L.M. Russ, respectively.

At 5 PM, Churchill arrives in Moscow, having frown from Cairo, Egypt, via an overnight stop in Tehran, Iraq. At 7 PM, he meets Stalin for the first time, at the Kremlin, and informs him that there will be no “second front” in Europe in 1942 (Stalin has been counting on this to relieve German pressure on USSR). Churchill lifts Stalin’s gloom by informing him about the upcoming Anglo/American invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) and also promising an invasion of France in 1943.

Case Blue. The German drive into the Caucasus is weakened as General Erich von Manstein is sent (along with 4 Divisions of 11th Army) to command the ongoing siege of Leningrad (in its 339th day).

Papua. Japanese troops move up Kokoda Track toward Deniki. Overnight, 3 transports land more Japanese troops at Buna.

Overnight, 138 RAF bombers return to Mainz, Germany, badly damaging the city centre, including the railway station, and industrial areas (40 - 163 killed). The villages of Kempten and Gaulsheim, 15 miles West of Mainz, are each hit by a 4,000lb bomb (130 houses damaged in Kempten, 97 in Gaulsheim). 2 Lancasters, 1 Hampden, 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington are lost.

Day 1076 August 11, 1942

Operation Pedestal. In the Mediterranean, Italian and German aircraft and submarines converge on the Malta supply convoy. British aircraft carrier HMS Furious flies off 37 Spitfires to Malta, then turns back for Gibraltar. At 1.15 PM 70 miles South of Cape Salinas, Majorca, U-73 hits British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle with 4 torpedoes, which sinks in 4 minutes with 16 Sea Hurricane fighters depriving Pedestal of much-needed air cover (160 killed, 927 survivors picked up by British destroyers HMS Laforey and HMS Lookout and tug HMS Jaunty). 4 Sea Hurricanes are airborne at the time and land on other carriers. At 8 PM, Italian fighters and bombers attack in force but do little damage.

Japanese Navy responds to American landings on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Battleship Mutsu, cruisers Atago, Takao, Maya, Haguro, Yura and Myoko, seaplane tender Chitose and 10 destroyers leave Tokyo Bay, Japan, for the naval base at Truk Lagoon. They will ferry in troops and supplies to Guadalcanal, 1200 miles South.

Case Blue. German 6th Army crosses the River Don and meets up with 4th Panzer Army which has been moving South of the Don, capturing the town of Kalach. Further South in the Caucasus, German 1st and 17th Armies race across the flat Kuban plain towards the Black Sea coast, threatening the Soviet port of Novorossisk. Soviet exodus of ships, naval troops and supplies out of Novorossisk continues and many vessels are scuttled to prevent capture by the Germans.

South Atlantic. At 2.27 PM 870 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-130 sinks Norwegian SS Mirlo (all 37 crew abandon ship in 3 lifeboats, picked up by British sloop HMS Banff, destroyer HMS Boreas and armed trawler HMS Canna on August 18 - 20). At 7.13 PM 1050 miles West of Freetown, U-109 sinks British tanker SS Vimeira (7 killed, 37 survivors in 2 lifeboats picked up by British SS Sylvia de Larrinaga on August 12 and British corvette HMS Crocus on August 22).

Overnight, 154 RAF bombers (68 Wellingtons, 33 Lancasters, 28 Stirlings and 25 Halifaxes) raid Mainz, Germany, just across the Belgian border. The centre of Mainz is badly damaged (152 killed). 3 Wellingtons, 2 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster are lost.

Day 1075 August 10, 1942

In the Mediterranean, off the coast of Palestine. At 1.20 AM, U-77 sinks Palestinian sailboat Kharouf with the deck gun. 7 miles off Haifa, British anti-submarine trawler HMS Isley depth charges and sinks Italian submarine Scirè which is on a mission to launch “maiali” manned torpedoes (44 crew and 11 “maiali” operators killed).

At 2.15 AM 50 miles East of Antigua, U-510 hits British MV Alexia with 3 torpedoes. Although badly damaged, MV Alexia does not sink and will be repaired and commissioned into Royal Navy in December 1943 as auxiliary escort carrier HMS Alexia.

At 7.10 AM, 90 miles East of Kavieng, New Ireland, US submarine USS S-44 attacks Japanese cruisers Aoba, Kako, Furutaka and Kinugasa (returning to base at Kavieng after the raid on Allied ships off Guadalcanal). Kako is hit by 3 torpedoes and sinks in 5 minutes (34 killed, 582 survivors picked up by the other cruisers who also depth charge USS S-44 without success).

In the South Atlantic 1500 miles East of Trinidad, Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani sinks British MV Medon with the deck gun (all 64 hands escape in 4 lifeboats; rescued after 7 days by Norwegian MV Tamerlane, after 8 days by Panamanian SS Rosemount, after 35 days by Portuguese SS Luso and after 36 days by British SS Reedpool).

Case Blue. German 13th Panzer and 16th Motorized Divisions (1st Panzer Army) reach the Soviet oilfield at Maikop, having driven West 100 miles from Stavropol in 6 days. They capture Maikop unopposed due to a Brandenburger Commando unit (commanded by Baron Adrian von Fölkersam), dressed as NKVD, who order Soviet troops to retreat. Further East, other elements of 1st Panzer Army reach the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, covering 260 miles in 16 days, but the bulk of Soviet oil production lies on the other side of the mountains.

North Atlantic. U-boats continue to swarm over convoy SC 94, 500 miles West of Ireland. At midday, U-438 and U-660 attack simultaneously from both sides, while Allied escorts are busy chasing submarine contacts at the rear of the convoy. U-438 and U-660 sink 4 merchant ships, including Greek SS Condylis which is hit by torpedoes from both submarines. At 6.50 PM 150 miles Northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname, U-155 sinks Dutch MV Strabo with the deck gun (all 13 crew reach Paramaribo a week later). At 9.30 PM 140 miles East of Turks and Caicos Islands, U-600 stops British sailing ship Vivian P. Smith with a shot across the bow. After allowing all 11 crew to abandon ship (they reach Turks Island), U-600 sinks Vivian P. Smith with the deck gun.

Overnight, a British convoy of 13 freighters and American tanker SS Ohio, carrying 170,000 barrels of fuel oil, passes through the Strait of Gibraltar to make a final effort to resupply Malta (escorted by 4 aircraft carriers, 2 batttleships, 7 cruisers, 34 destroyers). This massive force does not go unnoticed by Italians and Germans who deploy submarines to intercept.

Day 1074 August 9, 1942

At 3.24 AM 450 miles East of Trinidad, U-155 sinks British tanker MV San Emiliano (36 crew and 4 gunners lost, 8 crew picked up by a US Army transport ship).

At 6.49 AM 485 miles Southeast of the tip of Greenland, U-176 continues the attack on convoy SC-94 sinking British SS Radchurch which is drifting after being abandoned yesterday.

Case Blue. 4th Panzer Army reaches the Don Bend on the East side, threatening to surround Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies which are still holding German 6th Army West of the Don. Soviet cruiser Krasny Krym and destroyer Nezamozhnik make another run, evacuating troops from the Black Sea port of Novorossisk further South to Batum.

Solomon Islands. After losing 4 cruisers overnight (plus another cruiser and 2 destroyers badly damaged), the commander of the Allied Fleet (American Admiral Richmond Turner) decides the risk from Japanese bombers and warships is too great. Turner withdraws his ships, but most of the heavy equipment, ammunition and food for the Marines on Guadalcanal has not been unloaded and is still aboard the transports. At 1 AM, Japanese torpedo bombers from Rabaul sink US destroyer USS Jarvis as she limps to Sydney, Australia, for repair by US destroyer tender USS Dobbin following severe torpedo damage yesterday (all 233 on board killed).

Kokoda Track, Papua. Overwhelming numbers of Japanese troops recapture Kokoda airfield from Australian 39th Battalion, Company A.

South Atlantic. At 9.13 PM 400 miles Southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-752 sinks Dutch SS Mendanau (16 Dutch crew escape in a motorboat, 69 killed in the explosion or drown - mostly Indian Lascar sailors). At 10.37 PM 750 miles West of Freetown, U-130 sinks Norwegian tanker SS Malmanger (2 killed, captain and chief engineer taken prisoner and sent to POW camp in France, 30 survivors reach West Africa in 2 lifeboats). German armed merchant cruiser Stier shells British freighter MV Dalhousie then sinks her with torpedoes after the crew of 37 are taken on board.

Overnight, 192 RAF bombers (91 Wellingtons, 42 Lancasters, 40 Stirlings & 19 Halifaxes) raid Osnabrück, Germany, just over the Dutch border (206 houses destroyed, 62 killed and 107 injured). 3 Halifaxes and 3 Wellingtons are lost.

Day 1073 August 8, 1942

Solomon Islands. On Guadalcanal, by 4 PM, US Marines capture Lunga Point airfield unopposed (named Henderson Field after Marine Major Lofton Henderson, who was killed in the Battle of Midway). On Tulagi, after hand-to-hand fighting overnight, US Marines advance on Hill 281 in the morning under a mortar barrage and wipe out Japanese troops in caves using dynamite. 307 Japanese are killed, in a fight to the death that will become familiar to US Marines, and only 3 are taken prisoner (45 US Marines killed). At Gavutu-Tanambogo, US dive bombers and warships pound Tanambogo before Marines land at 4.30 PM and overrun the defenders (476 Japanese killed and 20, mostly Korean labourers, taken prisoner; 70 Americans killed). Japanese aircraft from Rabaul, New Britain, attack US warships throughout the day. Troop transport USS George F. Elliot is set ablaze by a crashing dive bomber and destroyer USS Jarvis is badly damaged by a torpedo bomber (14 crew killed).

At 8 PM 14 miles West of Cape St. George, New Britain, US submarine USS S-38 sinks Japanese troop transport Meiyo Maru, killing 31 crew and 342 troops who are being brought to Rabaul to reinforce Guadalcanal.

However, the Japanese naval response is swift. In the morning, 7 cruisers and a destroyer depart base at Kavieng and Rabaul under Admiral Gunichi Mikawa. All day they steam down New Georgia Sound (known as "The Slot") through the Solomon Islands, evading detection. Overnight, the Japanese execute a night attack, catching the Allied warships napping at anchor off Guadalcanal and sinking 3 American cruisers USS Vincennes, USS Astoria, USS Quincy and Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra (1,077 killed).

Kokoda Track, Papua. Between 6.30 and 8 AM, 3 Companies of Australian 39th Battalion leave Deniki separately to retake Kokoda. Company A reoccupies the airfield, which is lightly defended, but the other Companies run into large Japanese forces and are repelled.
US submarine USS Narwhal sinks Japanese crab fishing boat Bifuku Maru 5 miles off the Northeast tip of Honshu, Japan. At the Southern end of Honshu, US submarine USS Silversides sinks Japanese freighter Nikkei Maru.

U-174, U-176, U-256, U-438, U-660 and U-705 reinforce the wolfpack attacking convoy SC 94, 485 miles Southeast of the tip of Greenland. Convoy escorts hold off all approaches until midday when U-176 and U-379 attack simultaneously and sink 5 ships. Crews of 3 freighters panic and abandon ship without reason. U-379 is sunk by ramming and depth charges from the British corvette HMS Dianthus (40 killed, 5 survivors).

Operation Pastorius. The 6 convicted German saboteurs are executed in the electric chair. President Roosevelt spares the informants George Dasch (given 30 years) and Ernst Burger (life sentence) whose actions had foiled the operation. In 1948, President Truman will free (but not pardon) Dasch and Burger and deport them to the American Zone of occupied Germany.

British submarine HMS Turbulent destroys the hulk of Italian destroyer Strale which ran aground off Cape Bon, Tunisia on June 21 after an attack by British FAA Swordfish torpedo bombers. In the Aegean Sea, South of Naxos, British submarine HMS Proteus sinks Greek sailboat Firesia.

Italian submarine Morosini goes missing in the Bay of Biscay (all hands lost).

Day 1072 August 7, 1942

Allies take the offensive against the Japanese, aiming to push them back to the Home Islands. Their first goal is to recapture occupied territories in the South Pacific starting at the furthest extreme, the Solomon Islands. US warships arrive in the Solomon Islands, taking Japanese by surprise, to land 1st Marine Division. US warships shell the landing sites and dive-bombers from aircraft carrier USS Wasp destroy 15 Japanese seaplanes at anchor. At 8 AM, 2nd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment and Edson's Raiders (1st Raider Battalion) land on Tulagi unopposed and, by nightfall, compress the Japanese defenders into prepared positions on Hill 281 on the Southeast corner of the island. At 9.10 AM, 11,000 Marines come ashore on Guadalcanal unopposed and advance to within 1 km of the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point before halting for the night. More resistance is met at the linked islets of Gavutu-Tanambogo. At noon, 397 troops (1st Marine Parachute Battalion) land on Gavutu under heavy Japanese machinegun fire (taking 10% casualties) but they clear the tiny islet by the evening. Believing Tanambogo to be only lightly defended, 1 company of Marines are sent to capture the adjacent islet but they are repelled by machinegun fire and depart with wounded in their boats or run across the causeway to Gavutu. In response, Japanese send naval aircraft from Rabaul, New Britain, to attack the US warships throughout the day but without success.

Off Wotje in the Marshall Islands, US submarine USS Tambor sinks Japanese auxiliary net layer Shofuku Maru.

At 7 AM 85 miles East of Cape Greco, Cyprus, U-77 sinks an unidentified sailing vessel. In the Aegean Sea 100 miles South of Athens, British submarine HMS Proteus (which has been shooting up Greek sailboats with the deck gun) torpedoes 8467-ton German freighter Wachtfels. At 12.55 PM 50 miles Southwest of Crete, British submarine HMS Thorn attacks an Italian convoy from Benghazi, Libya, to Piraeus, Greece. HMS Thorn is detected and machinegunned by a Ju-88 bomber and then sunk at 1.45 PM by depth charges from Italian torpedo boat Pegaso (all 61 hands lost).

Egypt. A Bristol Bombay (RAF 216 Squadron), flying British General William “Strafer” Gott from Borg el-Arab to Cairo to take command of 8th Army, is shot down by Messerschmitt Bf-109s and crash lands. The flight crew survives but 17 passengers, including Gott, are trapped in the fuselage and burn to death. Churchill gives command of 8th Army to General Bernard Montgomery, later commenting on "the part that the hand of God had taken in removing Gott at the critical moment".

Case Blue. In the Don Bend, Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies resist German attacks by Paulus’ 6th Army West of the Don and by 4th Panzer Army South of the Don. German 17th Army’s advance into the Caucasus threatens Soviet Black Sea Fleet at Novorossisk, on the Black Sea coast. Soviet cruiser Krasny Krym and destroyer Nezamozhnik evacuate troops from Novorossisk further South to Batum.

South Atlantic. At 1.33 AM, U-108 sinks Norwegian MV Breñas (1 killed, captain taken prisoner by U-108 and held in a POW camp until July 1943, 32 survivors rescued and taken to Trinidad). At 2.25 AM 800 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-572 sinks Dutch SS Delfshaven (1 killed, 38 survivors in 2 lifeboats reach French Guinea and interned by the Vichy French until December 1942). At 9.47 PM 1400 miles West of Freetown, U-109 sinks Norwegian tanker SS Arthur W. Sewall (all 36 crew picked up 3 days later by Greek SS Athina Livanos).

Day 1071 August 6, 1942

North Atlantic. Overnight 520 miles Southeast of the tip of Greenland, U-71, U-210, U-379, U-454, U-595, U-597, U-607 and U-704 converge on convoy SC 94, following U-593’s radio signals. U-454 and U-595 are severely damaged by convoy escorts and return to base. Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine brings U-210 to the surface with depth charges, after radar contact by British corvette HMS Dianthus, and then sinks U-210 with 4.7 inch gunfire and ramming (6 killed, 37 survivors). At 5.19 PM 180 miles East of Tobago, U-66 sinks tiny Polish freighter MV Rozewie (3 dead, captain taken prisoner by U-66, 15 survivors picked up on August 10 by Norwegian SS Sørvangen). At 7.08 PM 525 miles Southeast of Nova Scotia, U-86 sinks American 3-masted schooner Wawaloam with the deck gun after wasting 3 torpedoes (all 7 hands picked up on August 11 by Irish SS Irish Rose).

At 7 AM 85 miles East of Cape Greco, Cyprus, U-77 sinks Egyptian sailboat Ezzet and damages Egyptian sailboat Adnan.

Churchill makes changes to Middle East Command (including removing Iraq and Persia into a separate Command) after consulting General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Field Marshal Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa. British General Auchinleck is replaced as commander of 8th Army by his subordinate General William “Strafer” Gott and as C-in-C Middle East by General Sir Harold Alexander. Auchinleck is offered the Persia-Iraq Command but, to Churchill’s disappointment, he refuses. Persia-Iraq Command instead goes to General Henry Maitland Wilson.

Eastern Front. 130 miles West of Moscow, Soviet 20th, 31st, 29th and 30th Armies compress the Rzhev salient. General Zhukov’s 20th and 31st Armies, attacking from the South, advance 25 miles towards Rzhev. In the Caucasus (Case Blue), German 17th Army captures Tikhoretsk, having advanced 100 miles in 12 days since crossing the River Don on July 25.

U-612 sinks after a collision with U-444 as the U-boats maneuver in the Baltic Sea near Gotenhafen, Germany (2 dead, 43 survivors). U-612 is quickly raised and will return to service in May 1943 as a training boat. U-578 departs from St. Nazaire, France, but then disappears in the Bay of Biscay (all 49 hands lost).

2 fresh Australian battalions are sent from Brisbane to Port Moresby, Papua, and 1 battalion to Milne Bay. In the Gulf of Papua, Japanese submarine RO-33 shoots up Australian passenger/cargo ship MV Mamutu with the deck gun and then machineguns passengers and crew as they abandon ship (114 killed, 27 survivors drift to shore on life rafts dropped by a US B-17).

Overnight, 216 RAF bombers attack Duisburg, Germany, just over the Dutch border, but most miss the target (18 buildings destroyed and 24 civilians killed). 2 Halifaxes, 2 Stirlings and 1 Wellington are lost.

Day 1070 August 5, 1942

In a rare display of Axis cooperation, Japanese submarine I-30 arrives at German submarine pens in Lorient, France, carrying 3300 pounds of mica and 1452 pounds of shellac (for use in electronics) and blueprints of the highly successful Japanese Type 91 aerial torpedo. I-30 is greeted by German Admirals Raeder and Dönitz. I-30’s crew will visit Berlin, where the captain Commander Endo meets Hitler, and Paris.

In the Baltic Sea 10 miles off Pavilosta, Latvia, Soviet submarine SC-7 sinks Finnish freighter SS Pojanlahti with the deck gun. Some crewmen escape in a lifeboat including the captain who is carrying a suitcase, which is confiscated by the Soviet submarine and found to contain maps of German and Finnish minefields in the Baltic.

Churchill, who arrived in Cairo, Egypt, by air yesterday, visits the El Alamein front with British General Auchinleck.

At 11.45 AM 325 miles East of Barbados, U-155 stops tiny Dutch freighter MV Draco with the deck gun and then sinks her after all 16 crew abandon ship (1 lifeboat reaches Suriname 300 miles South and 1 lifeboat is picked up by British tanker MV Athelbrae).

The attack on convoy ON-115 concludes when U-458 sinks a straggler, British SS Arletta, at 4.13 PM 170 miles South of Newfoundland (36 dead, 5 survivors rescued after 15 days by US Coast Guard USS Menemsha). However, U-593 finds convoy SC 94 500 miles East of Newfoundland and sinks Dutch SS Spar at 6.48 PM (3 dead, 36 survivors picked up by convoy escorts British corvette HMS Nasturtium and Canadian corvette HMCS Orillia).

In the middle of the Philippines Sea, 450 miles Southwest of Guam, American submarine USS Greenling sinks Japanese troopship MV Brasil Maru, converted liner carrying 400 troops and 200 other passengers to reinforce Guadalcanal (at least 200 drown), and freighter Palau Maru.

Day 1069 August 4, 1942

Operation Pastorius. In the Department of Justice Building, Washington, a special military commission (7 US Army officers appointed by President Roosevelt) convicts 8 German saboteurs of sabotage and sentences them to death in the electric chair, including the informant George Dasch who had turned the operation in to the FBI.

North Atlantic. The attack continues on convoy ON 115, 330 miles East of St. John’s, Newfoundland. At 2.29 AM, U-607 sinks Belgian SS Belgian Soldier damaged by U-553 yesterday (21 dead, 39 survivors). At 3.58 PM 1100 miles southeast of Newfoundland, U-176 sinks British MV Richmond Castle carrying 5250 tons of frozen meat from Argentina to Britain (14 dead, 50 survivors).

At 1.59 AM 200 miles East of Trinidad, U-160 sinks Norwegian tanker MV Havsten (2 killed, Captain and a British radio officer taken prisoner by U-160, 29 survivors in lifeboats reached land on August 14). At 4.15 PM 600 miles East of Trinidad, U-155 sinks British MV Empire Arnold carrying 10,000 tons of supplies, trucks, tanks and aircraft from New York to British 8th Army in Egypt (9 dead, Captain taken prisoner by U-155; 37 crew, 8 gunners and 2 American military personnel in 2 lifeboats rescued on August 11 having sailed 480 miles in 7 days).

Eastern Front. At the Rzhev salient, 130 miles West of Moscow, Soviet General Zhukov sends 20th and 31st Armies to attack Rzhev from the south, complimenting the attack of Konev 29th and 30th Armies from the North.

In the Mediterranean 50 miles Southwest of Haifa, Palestine, an RAF Wellington bomber (221 Squadron) detects U-372 with radar and vectors in British destroyers HMS Sikh, HMS Zulu, HMS Croome and HMS Tetcott (which hunting for the U-boat that sank submarine depot ship HMS Medway on June 30). Depth charges from the Wellington and the destroyers force U-372 to surface, where she is scuttled (all 48 crew picked up by the British destroyers).

Day 1068 August 3, 1942

After losing contact with convoy ON 115, U-552 locates the convoy 330 miles East of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and vectors in U-71, U-217, U-597, U-553 and U-704. The convoy commodore changes course to escape the attack, but a column which does not follow and is isolated becomes the target of the U-boats. Between 3 and 4 AM, U-552 sinks British MV Lochkatrine (9 killed, 81 survivors picked up by Canadian destroyer HMCS Hamilton and corvette HMCS Agassiz) and British tanker MV G.S. Walden (1 killed) and U-553 damages Belgian SS Belgian Soldier.

At 4 AM 80 miles West of Truk Island in the Pacific, US submarine USS Gudgeon sinks Japanese passenger/cargo ship Naniwa Maru (27 crew and 4 passengers killed).

20 miles off Moruya, New South Wales, Australia, Japanese submarine I-175 surfaces to attack Australian trawler SS Dureenbee with machinegun fire and shells from the deck gun (3 killed, 9 survivors). SS Dureenbee is set on fire but, remarkably, does not sink.

At 1.08 PM, a lone Luftwaffe Dornier 217 bombs Middlesbrough, Northeast England, badly damaging the railway station which is busy on the Bank Holiday (8 civilians killed, 56 wounded).
Case Blue. German 4th Panzer Army advances from Kotelnikovo towards Stalingrad, now only 100 miles away. 1st Panzer Army (Army Group A) captures Stavropol, having advanced 100 miles South from Salsk in 2 days.

In the Black Sea, Soviet cruiser Molotov (returning from shelling German positions at Feodosiya on the Crimean peninsula) is attacked by German Heinkel He 111 torpedo bombers and Italian MAS torpedo boats, losing 60 feet of her stern and reducing speed to 10 knots. Molotov reaches Poti under her own steam for repairs lasting 1 year, using parts cannibalized from other ships.

At 4.54 PM 190 miles Southeast of Reykjavik, Iceland, U-605 sinks British trawler SS Bombay (all 13 crew lost).

In the North Sea 200 miles East of the Faroe Islands, British submarine HMS Saracen is running at periscope depth and spots U-335 on the surface at 9.30 PM (both submarines are on their maiden voyage). HMS Saracen fires 6 torpedoes and U-335 sinks within 4 minutes (43 killed but Matrosengefreiter Rudolf Jahnke who is on watch on the coning tower is rescued by HMS Saracen).

In the South Pacific, US destroyer USS Tucker is escorting ammunition ship SS Nira Luckenbach from Fiji to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. At 9.45 PM approaching Espiritu Santo, USS Tucker hits a mine in an American minefield laid yesterday (6 killed; 152 survivors, including 21 wounded, rescued by SS Nira Luchenbach). USS Tucker sinks the following morning despite attempts to tow her.

Day 1067 August 2, 1942

U-510’s Korvettenkapitän Karl Neitzel causes a diplomatic rift with neutral Uruguay during the first attack of his first war patrol. At 5.45 AM 250 miles Southeast of Bermuda, Neitzel misidentifies Uruguayan SS Maldonado as Greek, stops her with shots across the bow and then sinks her after all 49 hands abandon ship in 4 lifeboats. Maldonado’s captain Mario Giambruno is imprisoned by U-510, taken back to Lorient, France, and then immediately repatriated through Switzerland (returning to Uruguay in November). Neitzel will be reprimanded for his conduct but allowed to continue as U-510’s captain.

At 8.42 AM 55 miles West of Penang, Malaya, Dutch submarine HrMs O-23 spots a Japanese convoy of 5 merchant ships of 3000-5000 tons which left Singapore overnight. O-23 sets on fire Japanese Army transport ship Zenyo Maru which burns out and is abandoned (8 crew and 19 anti-aircraft gunners killed) and sinks freighter Ohio Maru.

At 9.27 AM 145 miles Southeast of Reykjavik, Iceland, U-254 sinks British SS Flora II carrying 358 tons of fish and 200 tons of ice (all 25 crew, 4 gunners and 1 passenger in 2 lifeboats picked up by Icelandic trawler Juni and landed at Reykjavik).

Case Blue. German 4th Panzer Army captures Kotelnikovo and is in position to advance 100 miles Northeast on Stalingrad, along the South bank of the Don River. Soviets scramble to defend an attack from this unexpected direction (a fortunate outcome of Hitler’s contradictory orders). Despite fuel shortages, Army Group A continues making rapid progress South into the Caucasus.

At 6.18 PM 200 miles East of Trinidad, U-160 sinks British SS Treminnard (captain taken prisoner by the U-boat, the remaining 29 crew and 9 gunners picked up by Argentinian SS Rio San Juan).

Day 1066 August 1, 1942

At 00.23 AM 30 miles South of Belushya Guba (capital of the mountainous Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea), U-601 sinks Soviet collier SS Krest’janin (7 killed, 38 survivors in 2 lifeboats reach Belushya Guba).

Eastern Front. At the Rzhev salient, 130 miles West of Moscow, Soviet General Konev’s Northern pincer (29th and 30th Armies) makes good progress but heavy rains delay the start of Zhukov’s Southern pincer (20th and 31st Armies). Zhukov uses the time to mount large-scale deceptive troop and tank movements 75 miles further South at Yukhnov. The Germans are fooled, launching air strikes and beginning to move forces South to face the expected attack.

Case Blue. German 4th Panzer Army turns Northeast towards Kotelnikovo, 100 miles Southwest of Stalingrad. Attacking from this unexpected direction (a fortunate outcome of Hitler’s contradictory orders), 4th Panzer meets little Soviet resistance. Further South in the Caucasus, 1st Panzer Army captures Salsk, having advanced 90 miles in a week since crossing the River Don. Fuel shortages hamper the use of tanks and most of the progress is made by light motorised infantry.

North Atlantic. Southeast of Barbados, U-155 sinks Dutch SS Kentar carrying 1500 tons of manganese ore at 2.20 AM (17 killed, 62 survivors rescued after several days, but some die of exposure) and British SS Clan MacNaughton at 6 PM (5 killed, 77 survivors). 100 miles East of Trinidad, Italian submarine Tazzoli sinks Greek SS Kastor (4 killed, 31 rescued).

In the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, US submarine USS Narwhal sinks Japanese freighter Meiwa Maru and small tanker Koan Maru.

After months of denials and numerous Japanese ships not sunk by malfunctioning torpedoes, US Bureau of Ordnance finally concedes that the standard-issue Mark 14 torpedo runs deep. Other problems include magnetic triggers that explode prematurely and contact triggers that fail to detonate on contact (duds).

At 1.35 PM 35 miles northwest of Beirut, Lebanon, U-77 sinks Egyptian sailboat St. Simon with 7 rounds after the crew abandons ship.

Day 1065 July 31, 1942

At 5.47 AM in dense fog 10 miles North of Kiska Island in the Aleutians, US submarine USS Grunion torpedoes and damages Japanese transport ship Kashima Maru. USS Grunion is sunk by the 80mm anti-aircraft gun mounted on the freighter (all 70 hands lost). USS Grunion will be found in 2007 by the sons of the captain, Lieutenant Commander Mannert Abele.

North Atlantic. Following U-754’s sinking of US fishing boat MV Ebb 2 days ago, Squadron Leader Norville Small (commander of RCAF 113 Squadron) searches the area South of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with patrols from RCAF Station Yarmouth. 120 miles Southwest of Halifax, Squadron Leader Small spots U-754 on the surface and sinks her with depth charges from his Lockheed Hudson (all 43 hands lost). 760 miles East of St. John’s, Newfoundland, U-164, U-210, U-217, U-511, U-553 and U-588 harass convoy ON 115 but are driven off by convoy escorts. Canadian corvette HMCS Wetaskiwin and destroyer HMCS Skeena sink U-588 with depth charges (all 46 hands lost). 150 miles East of the Azores, U-213 approaches convoy OS 35 (from Liverpool to Freetown, Sierra Leone) but is detected by the escorts. British sloops HMS Erne, HMS Rochester and HMS Sandwich sink U-213 with depth charges (all 50 hands lost).

Case Blue. With German 6th Army making little progress against Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies, West of the Don, Hitler reverses his order of July 23 (which detached 4th Panzer Army from the attack on Stalingrad). He sends 4th Panzer sent back North to assist 6th Army, causing further logistical confusion.

Tanimbar Island in the Banda Sea. 30 Australian troops in 2 small ships (Plover Force) attempt to reinforce Dutch KNIL troops but they are seen off with Japanese shellfire and return to Australia. Japanese troops land again covered by naval gunfire causing the Dutch to retreat and escape to Australia.

Kokoda track. Another Japanese convoy attempting to land troops at Buna on the North coast of Papua is forced by US bombers to return to Rabaul, New Britain.

US invasion of the Southern Solomon Islands (Operation Watchtower). 75 American and Australian warships and troop transports leave Fiji for Guadalcanal, commanded by US Admiral Frank Fletcher. 16,000 Allied infantry (primarily US 1st Marine Division) are commanded by US General Alexander Vandegrift. Meanwhile, US B-17 bombers soften up the Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal.

Overnight, 630 RAF bombers (308 Wellingtons, 113 Lancasters, 70 Halifaxes, 61 Stirlings, 54 Hampdens & 24 Whitleys) drop 900 tons of bombs on Düsseldorf, Germany (67 large fires started; 453 buildings destroyed, 15,000 damaged; 279 civilians killed, 1018 injured, 12,053 made homeless). 16 Wellingtons, 5 Hampdens, 4 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters and 2 Whitleys are lost. From 2.15 AM to 3.25 AM, Luftwaffe bombers drop 46 tons of bombs on Hull, England, causing extensive damage to Victoria Dock and houses on Grindell Street.

Day 1064 July 30, 1942

At 1.10 AM 100 miles Southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, U-132 (leaving the Gulf of St. Lawrence) attacks convoy ON-113, sinking British MV Pacific Pioneer (all 59 crew members, 8 gunners and 4 passengers picked up by Canadian corvette HMCS Calgary and landed at Halifax).

At 4 AM, Japanese troops land on Maluku Islands, Dutch East Indies (in the Banda Sea between Timor and New Guinea) to shore up their positions North of Australia. The smaller Aru Island and Babar Island are occupied unopposed, while the 28 Dutch colonial troops (KNIL) holding Kai Island are rapidly overcome. The only serious resistance is at Tanimbar Island where Japanese troops land on the jetty at Saumlaki to march into town in formation. 13 KNIL troops open fire with 2 light machineguns at close range, sending the Japanese back to their boats (several killed).

Repatriation of British and Japanese diplomats begins. Japanese liner Tatuta Maru leaves Yokohama, Japan, carrying British Ambassador Sir Robert Craigie and embassy staff to Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa (now Maputo, Mozambique). To ensure safe passage, all exchange vessels have large white crosses and national flags painted prominently on the sides and they sail fully illuminated at night.

In the Philippines Sea 40 miles Southwest of Truk Island, US submarine USS Grenadier hits Japanese oiler San Clemente Maru with 2 torpedoes. The Mark-14 torpedoes, which are riddled with problems including faulty firing pins, cause an audible clang but fail to explode.

In the Baltic Sea 1 mile off Pavilosta, Latvia, Soviet submarine SC-7 sinks German SS Kathe.

Eastern Front. 130 miles West of Moscow, Soviets launch attacks to eliminate the German salient at Rzhev (North of the salient, General Konev’s Kalinin Front sends 30th Army to Rzhev and 29th Army to nearby Zubtsov). Case Blue - German Panzers continue their charge into the Caucasus across the flat terrain South of the River Don, while Paulus’s 6th Army struggles to make progress against Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies on the West bank of the Don Bend.

U-375 joins U-77 shooting up small sailing vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean. At 12.16 PM East of Cyprus, U-77 fires 3 torpedoes at a small warship escorting a convoy but sinks Egyptian sailboat Fany instead (all 10 crew survive). At the same time 110 miles South of Cyprus, U-375 stops 2 Egyptian sailboats Amina and Ikbal with shots across the bow and then sinks both with the deck gun after the crews abandon ship.

At 7.58 PM 250 miles East of Barbados, U-155 torpedoes American SS Cranford which sinks in 3 minutes on the cargo of 6600 tons of chrome ore and 1600 tons of cotton (11 killed, 36 survivors on 1 lifeboat and 2 rafts picked up next morning by Spanish tanker SS Castillo Alemenara and landed at Curaçao).

At 8.48 PM 550 miles South of the Cape Verde Islands, U-130 sinks British MV Danmark (all 38 crew and 8 gunners picked up by Norwegian MV Mosli).

At 10.30 PM 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, U-166 sinks US liner SS Robert E. Lee which is carrying survivors of torpedoed ships to the USA (10 crew and 15 passengers killed; 120 crew, 6 gunners and 253 passengers escape in 6 lifeboats, 8 rafts and 5 floats picked up by submarine chasers USS PC-566 and USS SC-519 plus tug Underwriter). USS PC 566 counterattacks with depth charges and sinks U-166 (all 52 hands lost), the only U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during WWII.

Day 1063 July 29, 1942

Kokoda track. At 2.30 AM, 200 Japanese troops attack the Kokoda airfield, using machineguns and a single 70mm Type 92 Battalion Gun light howitzer. The 77 Australian defenders mount a tenacious defense (7 Australians killed, 6 wounded; 12 Japanese killed, 26 wounded) but when Colonel Owen is killed, Papuan Infantry Battalion’s Major Watson orders a retreat to Deniki. Japanese do not pursue believing they face an Australian regiment (1200 troops); instead, they pause to bring up reinforcements to Kokoda. Another Japanese convoy brings in troops to Buna on the North coast of Papua from Rabaul, New Britain. At 2.45 PM, 8 US Douglas Dauntless dive bombers from Port Moresby escorted by P-39 fighters attack the unloading convoy, hitting Japanese troopship Kōtoku Maru with 1 bomb (troops disembark but no equipment can be offloaded).

Case Blue. German 1st Panzer Army captures Proletarsk and crosses Manych River, having advanced 68 miles South in 4 days since crossing the River Don on July 25. The flat, dry terrain between the Don and the Caucasus Mountains is ideal for rapid movement of the German tanks.

At 10.19 AM 100 miles Southeast of Trinidad, U-160 torpedoes Canadian SS Prescodoc sinks rapidly despite carrying only ballast (16 killed, 5 survivors picked up by Yugoslavian SS Predsednik Kopajtic and taken to Port of Spain). At 8 PM 400 miles East of Trinidad, U-155 sinks Norwegian SS Bill (Brazilian mess boy killed, Captain taken prisoner by the U-boat, 23 survivor escape in 3 lifeboats).

Overnight, 291 RAF bombers raid Saarbrücken, Germany, on the French border. Saarbrücken has little air defense and the bombers come in at low altitude (below 10,000 feet), causing severe damage to an ironworks and an engineering plant (396 buildings destroyed, 324 seriously damaged, 155 civilians killed). 3 Wellingtons, 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings are lost.

Day 1062 July 28, 1942

At 00.40 AM 130 miles East of Tobago, U-66 sinks British MV Weirbank (1 killed, 56 crew and 10 gunners reach Tobago next day). 200 miles further East, U-155 sinks Brazilian SS Barbacena at 7.15 AM (6 killed, 56 survivors in 4 lifeboats) and Brazilian tanker SS Piave at 10.30 PM (Captain killed, 34 survivors).

At 8 AM 60 miles South of Halifax, Nova Scotia, U-754 surfaces and sinks US fishing boat MV Ebb with 50 rounds from the 88mm deck gun (5 killed, 12 survivors including 7 wounded picked up after 14 hours by British destroyer HMS Witherington and taken to Boston).

Case Blue. With the tanks of German Army Group A spreading rapidly South into the Caucasus and Paulus’ 6th Army making progress (slowly) towards Stalingrad, Stalin issues Order No. 227 ("Not a step back!" Russian: Ni Shagu Nazad!) instructing unit commanders to create penal battalions and "blocking detachments" to detain or shoot deserters.

Kokoda track. At noon, Australian Colonel Owen takes 77 troops to hold the Kokoda airfield, leaving 40 at Deniki. 2 Douglas transport aircraft circle the airfield carrying 39th Battalion reinforcements but return to Port Moresby without landing, fearing Japanese infiltration of the airfield.

In the Coral Sea, Japanese submarine I-175 torpedoes French SS Cagou which left Sydney, Australia, for Nouméa, New Caledonia, 5 days ago.

Overnight, 256 RAF bombers (161 Wellingtons, 71 Stirlings and 24 Whitleys) take off to raid Hamburg, Germany. 91 bombers are recalled due to bad weather and many others get separated and turn back. Only 68 bomb Hamburg (13 civilians killed, 48 injured). RAF losses are heavy (20 Wellingtons, 1 Whitley and 9 Stirlings, including at least 5 which are return without reaching the target).

Day 1061 July 27, 1942

First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. 8th Army infantry units capture their objectives overnight, but British 2nd Armoured Brigade and 4th Light Armoured Brigade fail to support. Rommel immediately counterattacks at daybreak, overrunning British 69th Brigade at Deir el Dhib (600 casualties) and Australian 2/28th AIF battalion on Ruin Ridge (400 casualties). 50th Royal Tank Regiment gets stuck in a minefield and loses 13 tanks. With this, the piecemeal British offensives run out of steam and both sides go on the defensive for the time being. Since July 1, Allies have lost 13,250 killed, missing and wounded. German and Italian losses are about the same, with 7000 taken POW by the Allies.

In the morning, a single Luftwaffe bomber flies at rooftop level and bombs Palmerston Street, Hillkirk Street and Russell Street in Manchester, England (3 civilians killed, 7 seriously injured).

Kokoda track. Australian and Papuan survivors from the battle at Oivi (now commanded by Major William Watson) retreat 10 miles back to Deniki, along a creek bed to avoid Japanese troops on the Kokoda track, bypassing the Kokoda airfield. At Deniki, they meet up with Lieutenant Colonel William Owen and 39th Battalion 'B' Company. Owen decides to move forward to hold onto the Kokoda airfield, despite knowing he is greatly outnumbered.

South Atlantic. At 8.47 AM 820 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-582 sinks American SS Stella Lykes (1 killed, Captain and Chief Engineer taken prisoner, 49 survivors in a lifeboat reach Cacheu, Portuguese Guinea, 750 miles East on August 8). At 2.14 PM 450 miles Southwest of Freetown, U-752 torpedoes Norwegian SS Leikanger which sinks quickly on the cargo of 1000 tons of chrome ore (17 crew and 1 British gunner killed, 12 crew and 1 gunner float on rafts and debris for 4 days until picked up by American SS Harry Luckenbach). At 5.40 PM 670 miles West of Freetown, U-130 sinks British SS Elmwood (all 44 crew, 6 gunners and 1 RAF passenger survive).

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombers raid Birmingham, England.

Day 1060 July 26, 1942

North Atlantic. Between 7.57 and 8.11 AM 475 miles East of St. John’s, Newfoundland, U-607 and U-704 both torpedo British MV Empire Rainbow in convoy ON-113 which sinks (all 39 crew and 8 gunners picked up by British destroyer HMS Burnham and Canadian corvette HMCS Dauphin). At 8.15 AM 12 miles East of Tobago, U-66 sinks Brazilian SS Tamandaré (4 killed, 48 survivors in 2 lifeboats spotted by an aircraft and picked up by US patrol boat PC-492).

At 9.45 AM in the Gulf of Mexico off Corpus Christi, Texas, U-171 sinks Mexican SS Oaxaca (6 killed, 39 survivors).

Kokoda track. At 3 PM, Japanese attack 145 troops (Papuan Infantry Battalion and Australian 39th Battalion) holding the track at Oivi. Australians have a tactical advantage of an airfield at Kokoda 12 miles inland to fly in reinforcements but they manage to land only 2 transports during the day bringing in 32 additional troops (and only half of those reach Oivi). At 5 PM, Captain Templeton heads back to Kokoda to find the other reinforcements but he is captured by Japanese who have outflanked his position. Templeton will be interrogated (convincing his captors that there are 10,000 Australian troops defending Port Moresby) and then executed next day with a sword thrust in his stomach. The remaining troops at Oivi sneak out of the trap overnight, heading South into the jungle. Meanwhile, Japanese convoy arrives from Rabaul, New Britain, bringing another 1020 troops and 200 porters.

Case Blue. German Army Group A fans out rapidly into the Caucasus, South of the River Don (while 1st Panzer Army attacks Southeast, 17th Army heads Southwest to secure the Black Sea coast and join up with Manstein’s 11th Army arriving from the Crimea across the Kerch peninsula). German 6th Army breaks through Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies to reach the Don just West of Stalingrad.

El Alamein. Overnight, British 8th Army launches another attack on Miteirya (Operation Manhood). Again, Auchinleck expects infantry to make surprise attacks and mark minefields in the dark to allow tanks to rush through in the morning. British, South African and New Zealand infantry take most of their objectives.

Overnight, RAF sends 403 bombers (181 Wellingtons, 77 Lancasters, 73 Halifaxes, 39 Stirlings, 33 Hampdens) to Hamburg, Germany (5000 houses damaged, 823 destroyed; 337 civilians killed, 1027 injured, 14,000 made homeless). 15 Wellingtons, 8 Halifaxes, 2 Hampdens, 2 Lancasters & 2 Stirlings are lost.

Day 1059 July 25, 1942

At 1.44 AM 75 miles Southeast of Trinidad, U-160 torpedoes Dutch SS Telamon which sinks in 3 minutes (23 killed, 14 survivors picked a few hours later by British SS Canadoc).

North Atlantic. At 3.52 AM 580 miles East of St. John’s Newfoundland, U-552 attacks convoy ON-113 damaging British tanker MV British Meriton on her maiden voyage (1 killed, 32 crew in 2 lifeboats rescued by Canadian corvette HMCS Brandon) and British SS Broompark (4 crew killed, 38 crew and 7 gunners taken off by HMCS Brandon). SS Broompark is taken in tow by tug USS Cherokee, but sinks 3 days later only 40 miles from St. Johns. At 9.55 AM 75 miles South of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, U-89 sinks Canadian fishing boat MV Lucille M. with 20 incendiary and 15 high-explosive rounds from the deck gun (all 11 crew escape in a lifeboat and reach Nova Scotia).

Case Blue. German troops and tanks begin crossing the River Don in force at several points up to 100 miles East of Rostov, as Soviets pull back South of the Don. However, in contrast to Hitler’s notion that Stalingrad can be easily taken, 6th Army makes no progress in the face of stiffening resistance West of the “Don Bend” from Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies.

US B-17 bombers attack Tobruk, Libya, denying Rommel use of the port to supply his offensive at El Alamein, Egypt.

South Atlantic. At 4.53 PM 900 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-130 sinks Norwegian tanker MV Tankexpress (all 39 crew in 3 lifeboats rescued 250 miles from Freetown a week later on August 1 by British destroyer HMS Lightning). At 11.05 PM 185 miles Southwest of Freetown, U-201 sinks British minesweeping trawler HMS Laertes (19 killed).

South Pacific. Invasion of Papua. After 2 ambushes in 2 days, Japanese overestimate the Australian forces defending the Kokoda track, over the Owen Stanley mountains to Port Moresby. They halt their advance and reorganize to face this unexpected resistance. At 11.30 PM 74 miles Southwest of Nouméa, New Caledonia, Japanese submarine I-169 sinks Dutch passenger/cargo liner MV Tjinegara (carrying 477 horses, road grading equipment and 2000 cases of beer for US Army from Brisbane, Australia, to Nouméa). All 24 crew and 12 gunners are picked up 18 hours later by US Destroyer USS Worden but the horses all drown.

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombers attack Middlesbrough, Northeast England, badly damaging shops and the Leeds Hotel in the city centre.

Day 1058 July 24, 1942

Invasion of Papua. At Gorari Creek (in the coastal plain on the Kokoda track), Australian 39th Battalion Company B, under Captain Sam Templeton, ambushes 500 Japanese troops with 2 Lewis machineguns (15 Japanese killed). Templeton (whose instructions to his hopelessly outnumbered troops are “Your action should be contact and rearguard only - no do or die stunts”) then pulls back 2 miles to higher ground at Oivi.

Around the Northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido and the nearby Southern Kuril Islands, US submarine USS Narwhal sinks Japanese guard boat Shinsei Maru No.83 and tiny Japanese merchant ships Nissho Maru and Kofuji Maru. All these ships are sunk with the deck gun.

Case Blue. German troops overrun Rostov-on-Don, which has not been contested by the Red Army, forcing several more crossings over the River Don. SS Wiking motorised infantry Division (consisting of volunteers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Belgium commanded by German officers) captures the airfield and 125th Infantry Division advances into the city centre.

In the North Atlantic 560 miles East of St. John’s Newfoundland, Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix sinks U-90 (which departed Kiel, Germany, on June 30 on the first patrol) with depth charges (all 44 hands lost).

At 6.17 PM 30 miles East of Cape Greco, Cyprus, U-77 sinks Syrian sailboat Toufic El Rahman with 25 rounds after the crew abandons ship.

Day 1057 July 23, 1942

Case Blue. German 13th and 22nd Panzer and Czechoslovakian Mobile Slovak Divisions break through the defensive belts into the center of Rostov-on-Don, capturing the Kommolomny Bridge over the River Don. Hitler, simultaneously flushed with the ease of success at Rostov and frustrated by the slow progress in general, issues Führer Directive No. 45 completely changing objectives for most German forces. Lack of Soviet resistance at Rostov persuades Hitler that Paulus’s 6th Army can take Stalingrad alone (Operation Fischreiher), so 4th Panzer Army (which is North of 6th Army) is redirected South to join Army Group A. This causes chaos as 4th Panzer crosses through the infantry of 6th Army, leaving their already stretched supplies lines inextricably tangled. Army Group A (1st and 4th Panzer Armies, 17th Army and soon to be joined by Manstein’s 11th Army from the Crimea) is given the increased task of capturing essentially the entire Caucasus (Operation Edelweiss).

Invasion of Papua. Japanese advance 20 miles inland from the landing sites at Buna and Gona, across the coastal plain along the Kokoda Track. At Awala, they run into an advance guard of Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB), who withdraw across the Kumusi River destroying the footbridge. Japanese drive off PIB with mortars and machinegun fire to cross the river. PIB pulls back a few miles to where Australia 39th Battalion Company B, under Captain Sam Templeton, is preparing an ambush. This is the first clash on the Kokoda track.

200 miles Southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-752 sinks British SS Garmula carrying 6009 tons of grain from Australia to Britain (21 killed, 67 survivors picked up by British anti-submarine trawler HMS Pict).

At 10.22 PM 5 miles North of Cayo Guillermo, Cuba, U-129 sinks American SS Onondaga (19 crew and 1 passenger killed, 14 survivors picked up by Cuban fishing boat Laventina next morning).

Day 1056 July 22, 1942

There is fighting all along the El Alamein front, Egypt. British 2nd and 23rd Armoured Brigades fail to arrive to reinforce New Zealand 6th Brigade in the El Mreir depression. At dawn, 5th and 8th Panzer Regiments attack overrun the New Zealand infantry (900 casualties). At 8 AM, 23rd Armoured Brigade rumbles forward, straight into a minefield where they are obliterated by heavy German artillery and anti-tank fire (40 tanks destroyed, 47 badly damaged). On the coast, Australian 26th Battalion captures Tel el Eisa ridge (Australia Private Arthur Gurney wins the Victoria Cross for bayonet charges on 3 German machine gun posts that have pinned down his Company and caused many casualties). In the evening, Australian 24th Brigade and tanks of 50th Royal Tank Regiment attack towards Ruin Ridge, 50th RTR loses 23 tanks due to poor coordination with the infantry.

U-77 begins an unusual patrol targeting sailing vessels with the deck gun but not torpedoes, a week after leaving base from the Greek island of Salamis (near Athens). At 4.53 AM, U-77 sinks Greek sailboat Vassiliki (carrying 3580 barrels of oil from Beirut, Lebanon, to Famagusta, Cyprus) with 10 rounds after the crew abandoned ship (they reach Famagusta safely).

At 5.30 AM 5 miles off the East coast of Australia 185 miles South of Sydney, Japanese submarine I-11 torpedoes American "Liberty" ship SS William Dawes carrying a full load of jeeps, trucks, ambulances and explosives. SS William Dawes burns all day and eventually sinks at 4.30 PM (5 killed, survivors in lifeboats rescued by local fishing trawlers).

Invasion of Papua. US 5th Air Force bombers attack Japanese warships off Buna and Gona, damaging transport ship Ayatosan Maru. Destroyer Uzuki is strafed (16 killed). A reconnaissance platoon from Papuan Infantry Battalion (native Papuans and other tribesmen commanded by Australian Lieutenant John Chalk) spots Japanese at Gona. Chalk sends a runner back to the Battalion's commanding officer who replies with a note "You will engage the enemy." Overnight, Chalk’s platoon (40 men with bolt-action .303 Lee-Enfield rifles and 1 Thompson submachinegun) ambush Japanese soldiers moving inland along the road and then quickly withdraw.

American and Japanese diplomatic staffs, stranded in combatant countries by the start of hostilities in December 1941, are repatriated and exchanged at Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa (now Maputo, Mozambique). Japanese liner Asama Maru arrives with 800 American and other foreigners from Japan, Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Italian vessel Conte Verde carries 600 passengers from Shanghai. Swedish liner MV Gripsholm arrives with 1,096 Japanese nationals from New York, USA, and Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Case Blue. German 6th Army reaches the great bend in the Don River (“Don Bend”) near Stalingrad, defended by Soviet Stalingrad Front. At Rostov-on-Don, German 198th Infantry Division, 14th and 22nd Panzer Divisions and Czechoslovakian Mobile Slovak Division attack from North of the city.

At 1.35 PM in the Caribbean 100 miles East of Nicaragua, U-505 sinks Colombian sailboat Urious with 22 rounds from the deck gun (13 killed).

At 8.12 PM 500 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-582 sinks American SS Honolulan carrying 8350 tons of manganese ore and jute from Bombay, India, to Baltimore, USA (all 39 crew in 3 lifeboats picked up 6 days later by British MV Winchester Castle and landed in New York).

Day 1055 July 21, 1942

At 9.07 AM 40 miles Southwest of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, U-84 badly damages US Liberty ship SS William Cullen Bryant. All 40 crew, 12 gunners and 2 Navy signalmen abandon ship, but reboard 2 hours later and are towed to Key West by tugs Moran and USS Willet. SS William Cullen Bryant will be repaired New York and return to service in March 1944. At 10.29 AM 5 miles North of Matelot Point, Trinidad, U-160 torpedoes British MV Donovania (3 crew and 2 gunners killed) which settles in shallow water. 43 crew and 2 gunners are picked up by British motor torpedo boats and US destroyer USS Livermore and landed at Port of Spain.

Operation Insect. British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle flies off 29 Spitfires. 28 Spitfires arrive at Malta but 1 has a leaky fuel tank and ditches in the Mediterranean.

Case Blue. German 1st Panzer Army and 17th Army converge from the West, North and East on Rostov-on-Don, near the Black Sea coast. The city is surounded by 3 defensive belts (bunkers, anti tank ditches and wire entanglements) 40km in depth. German 73rd and 298th Infantry Divisions, supported by the 13th Panzer Division, advance from the West along the road from Taganrog into the first belt.

Invasion of Papua. At 2.40 PM, 3000 Japanese soldiers land at Buna and Gona on the sparsely inhabited North coast of Papua. Japanese troops move inland to prepare roads and supply lines, with 1000 native Tolai labourers brought from Rabaul, to prepare for an overland offensive over the Owen Stanley Mountains to Port Moresby on the South coast.

First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. At 4.30 PM, New Zealand 6th Brigade attack from South of Ruweisat Ridge into the El Mreir depression and hold these positions overnight. British 2nd and 23rd Armoured Brigades are scheduled to join them at daybreak.

Overnight, 15 miles off the East coast of Australia 90 miles South of Sydney, Japanese submarine I-11 sinks American SS Coast Farmer, carrying asphalt, tin plate, wood and general Army stores from Sydney to Melbourne (1 crewman killed, 33 crew and 7 US Navy gunners rescued next morning by an RAAF Crash Boat).

Day 1054 July 20, 1942

Egypt. With Rommel unable to break through Allied defenses at El Alamein, Mussolini returns to Italy. He has waited 21 days in vain to lead a victory parade into Cairo. In the Mediterranean, British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle leaves Gibraltar carrying 31 Spitfires fighters and 4 Swordfish torpedo bombers for Malta (Operation Insect).

Invasion of Papua. 3 transport ships carrying Japanese 5th Sasebo Special Naval Landing Forces and Yokoyama Detachment (17th Army) depart Rabaul, New Britain (escorted by cruisers Tenryū and Tatsuta, destroyers Asanagi, Yūzuki and Uzuki and a minelayer) for landings on the North coast of Papua. 40 Japanese aircraft raid Port Moresby on the South coast.

In the Indian Ocean, 1950 miles West of Australia, German armed merchant cruiser Thor attacks British MV Indus, sailing from Colombo, Ceylon, to Freemantle, Australia. MV Indus attempts to outrun the raider and returns fire but is set on fire by accurate shelling from Thor (22 killed, 49 survivors rescued from the water). 15 miles off the East coast of Australia 75 miles South of Sydney, Japanese submarine I-11 sinks Greek steamer G.S. Livanos, carrying 87 Australian Army motor vehicles.

At 6.39 PM in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, U-132 attacks convoy QS-19 near Anticosti Island. British SS Frederika Lensen is badly damaged (4 killed), is towed by Canadian corvette HMCS Weyburn and beached, but declared a total loss.

Day 1053 July 19, 1942

North Atlantic. At 2.30 AM 200 miles North of the Azores, U-564 attacks convoy OS-34 sinking British MV Lavington Court (7 killed, 41 survivors rescued by British sloop HMS Wellington) and Empire Hawksbill (all 47 hands lost), both carrying military supplies from Britain to the Middle East. At 4.55 PM 675 miles South of Newfoundland, U-332 sinks Greek SS Leonidas M. with the deck gun and a torpedo (all 31 crew survive but 2 are taken prisoner by the U-boat).

Gulf of Mexico. Off the Florida Keys, U-84 sinks Honduran SS Baja California (3 killed, 34 survivors picked up next day by Cuban fishing schooner San Ignacio) and U-129 sinks Norwegian SS Port Antonio (13 killed, 11 survivors in 1 lifeboat reach Cuba 2 days later including Jørgen Edvard Magnussen who previously been sunk on SS Cadmus 18 days ago by the same U-boat).

Kriegsmarine Admiral Dönitz recognizes the success of Allied warships defending convoys on the US East coast and withdraws the last 2 U-boats from the area. U-boat operations in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico continue.

Egypt. There is a lull in ground fighting at El Alamein but US bombers continue their attacks on Tobruk and Benghazi, while British cruisers HMS Dido and HMS Euryalus plus 4 destroyers bombard Mersa Matruh. Off Port Said, German torpedo bombers hit British convoy escort vessel SS Maline (beached but a total loss).

Case Blue. Stalin realizes that the German advance is likely to reach the city on the Volga bearing his name, Stalingrad. He orders Stalingrad Defense Committee to prepare the city for war.

Overnight, RAF sends 99 bombers (40 Halifaxes, 31 Stirlings & 28 Lancasters) to raid the Vulkan U-boat yard at Vegesack on the River Weser 30 miles inland from the German North Sea coast. Due to cloud cover, most bombs fall on Bremen 10 miles up river (3 Halifaxes lost).

Day 1052 July 18, 1942

At an air base at Leipheim in Southern Germany, Luftwaffe test pilot Fritz Wendel makes the first flight in the Me 262 V3 (third prototype) powered by solely by Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines, without a supporting conventional propeller engine.

At 6.25 AM 50 miles East of Trinidad, U-575 hits British tanker SS San Gaspar with 2 torpedoes (12 killed, 40 survivors) but British rescue tug HMS Roode Zee tows SS San Gaspar into Port of Spain for temporary repairs (towed to Mobile, Alabama, in December and returned to service in October 1943). Later in the day 100 miles further East, U-575 sinks 2 tiny British sailing schooners Glacier and Comrade with the deck gun. At 4.33 PM 10 miles North of Trinidad, U-160 sinks Panamanian SS Carmona (4 dead, 31 survivors in 2 lifeboats picked up by US patrol boat USS YPC-68).

Case Blue. 1st Panzer Army captures Voroshilovgrad (now Luhansk).

At port in Nikolayevsk (in the mouth of the Amur River on the Pacific coast of USSR), Soviet submarine SCh-138 is destroyed by an explosion in the torpedo compartment (17 killed), which also damages neighbouring submarine SC-118.

German supply ship Regensburg (servicing armed merchant cruisers in the Indian Ocean) arrives at Yokohama near Tokyo, Japan, carrying prisoners from ships sunk by Thor and other raiders. Mail bags taken from Australian liner Nankin, sunk by Thor on May 10, are found to contain a top secret report from the Combined Operations Centre at Wellington, New Zealand, to the C-in-C British Eastern Fleet in Colombo, Ceylon, showing the Allies knew about the planned Japanese attack on Midway. This implies that the Japanese Navy code JN25 has been broken, leading to a change in codes that will not be deciphered until late 1943.

Day 1051 July 17, 1942

First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. Overnight, Australian 24th Brigade and British 44th Royal Tank Regiment, supported RAF fighters, attack Miteirya Ridge (known by the Aussies as "Ruin Ridge") midway between Tel el Eisa and Ruweisat. They overrun parts Italian Trento and Trieste Divisions (736 Italians taken POW) but are repelled later in the day by German Panzers and Italian Trento Division (300 Australian casualties).

In the morning 1000 miles West of Angola, German armed merchant cruiser Michel catches up with Norwegian tanker MV Aramis (damaged yesterday by Michel’s speedboat Esau) and shadows all day. Michel sinks MV Aramis at nightfall with a torpedo and 6-inch shellfire (20 killed, 23 taken prisoner by Michel). Michel leaves the area having sunk 3 ships in 3 days, sailing West to rendezvous near Trinidad with another armed merchant cruiser, Stier.

In the Bay of Biscay 225 miles Northwest of Corruna, Spain, 2 British bombers (1 Whitley and 1 Lancaster) spot U-751 which left base at St. Nazaire 4 days ago. The bombers drop depth charges sinking U-751 (all 48 hands lost).

Case Blue. German advance slows due to fuel shortages, so Luftwaffe Ju52 transport aircraft fly in supplies including 200 tons of fuel per day. Despite these logistical problems, 1st Panzer Army approaches Voroshilovgrad (now Luhansk) only 90 miles from Rostov-on-Don. Frustrated by the delays in capturing Voronezh (which held up 4th Panzer Army for several days) and the pace of the advance, Hitler moves his headquarters from the Wolfsschanze in Rastenburg in East Prussia (now Poland) 450 miles Southeast to Vinnytsya in the Ukraine. Although this is another 500 miles from the front line (and 730 miles from Stalingrad), Hitler plans to oversee the offensive in person.

Day 1050 July 16, 1942

French Vichy government collaborates with the German Gestapo to send French Jews to concentration camps for extermination. Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in Paris starts at 4 AM and lasts 2 days; 13,152 Jews (3299 men, 5802 women and 4,051 children) are arrested and held at the Vélodrome d'hiver and the Drancy internment camp (unfinished apartment blocks). Most will be sent to Auschwitz (along with 29,000 other French Jews in 1942) but only 811 survive to the end of the war.

British 8th Army commander General Auchinleck wages a battle of attrition at El Alamein, Egypt, secure in the knowledge that he has a steadier supply of troops and equipment (including the new M4 Sherman tanks from America) than his adversary Rommel. At Tel el Eisa ridge, Australian 24th Battalion takes 50% casualties trying to retake ground lost over the last 2 days. Further South, German Panzers attack all along Ruweisat Ridge but are held off by anti-tank guns and artillery of Indian 5th Infantry Brigade and British 2nd & 22nd Armoured Brigades (Germans lose 24 tanks plus armoured cars and anti-tank guns)

In the morning, German armed merchant cruiser Michel spots 2 tankers 1000 miles West of Angola and shadows them all day. At 9 PM, Michel closes quickly and attacks without warning, sinking American tanker SS William F. Humphrey with 60 6-inch shells, anti-aircraft guns, machinegunfire and 3 torpedoes (8 killed, 29 survivors in 2 lifeboats taken prisoner by Michel, 11 survivors escape capture and sail 450 miles in 5 days in a lifeboat until picked up by Norwegian freighter Triton). Simultaneously, Michel’s speedboat Esau hits the other tanker with 2 torpedoes but Norwegian MV Aramis is able to continue. Michel follows.

About 9 AM 30 miles Northeast of Havana, Cuba, U-166 stops 3 American men in a tiny fishing boat (carrying 20 tons of onions from Florida to Havana). The crew heads for the Florida Keys in a 14-foot motorboat which runs out of fuel while U-166 sinks MV Gertrude with gunfire. The 3 men drift for 3 days before being spotted by the Civil Air Patrol 3 miles South of the Keys.

At 9.34 AM 10 miles Northwest of Trinidad, U-160 torpedoes Panamanian tanker SS Beaconlight (1 killed, 38 crew and 2 British gunners in 3 lifeboats rescued 6 hours later by passenger ship SS Trinidad and landed at Port of Spain). The wreck is sunk by British rescue tug HMS Roode Zee.

At 3.43 PM 200 miles South of Bermuda, U-161 attacks convoy AS-4 carrying supplies to British 8th Army in Egypt from New York, sinking American SS Fairport (with 8000 tons of war materiel, including Sherman tanks on deck). All 43 crew, 14 gunners and 66 US Army personnel are picked up by convoy escort US destroyer USS Kearny.

Black Sea. Luftwaffe bombs the Caucasus port of Poti, badly damaging Soviet destroyer Bodry and destroying the minelaying cruiser Komintern (which is already under repair from German bomb damage at Novorossisk on July 2). Komintern’s guns will be removed over the next 2 months and used for coastal defense, while Komintern will be sunk as a blockship in October.

2 miles off the coast of French Indochina, 70 miles North of Cam Ranh Bay, US submarine USS Seadragon sinks Japanese transport ship Hakodate Maru (3rd sinking in 4 days) and returns to base at Freemantle, Australia, 3000 miles South.

21 RAF Stirling bombers raid Lübeck, Germany, at dusk, approaching under cloud cover. Only 8 Stirlings find the target and 2 do not return.

Day 1049 July 15, 1942

In the last act of the dispersed convoy OS-33, U-582 sinks British SS Empire Attendant (all 50 crew and 9 gunners lost) at 3.30 AM 433 miles Southwest of Tenerife, Canary Islands. U-201, which was involved in the attack on convoy OS-33, sinks British SS British Yeoman in the same area at 1.46 AM (43 killed, 10 survivors picked up by Spanish tanker SS Castillo Almenara and landed in Cape Verde Islands).

First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. By dawn, 4th and 5th New Zealand Brigades capture the Western end of Ruweisat Ridge but British 22nd Armoured Brigade does not arrive as planned. Lacking tank support or effective anti-tank defenses, the New Zealanders are assailed by waves of German tanks and finally overrun at 6 PM (730 taken POW). During the fighting, New Zealand Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham wins a bar to his Victoria Cross (the only double VC of WWII and the only combat soldier ever to win 2 VCs). Upham is wounded twice and captured by the Germans. At the Eastern end of Ruweisat Ridge, Indian 5th Infantry Brigade takes it’s objectives by mid-afternoon with the help of British 2nd Armoured Brigade. British 2nd Armoured Brigade then moves West along Ruweisat Ridge, arriving at the New Zealand positions at 6.15 PM and pushing the Panzers off the Ridge for the night.

Operation Pinpoint. British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle flies off 32 Spitfires to Malta. 1 Spitfire is lost en route.

At 7.49 AM in the Gulf of Mexico 125 miles West of Key West, Florida, U-571 torpedoes US tanker MV Pennsylvania Sun (2 killed). The cargo of 107,500 barrels of Navy fuel oil ignites forcing 42 crewmen and 17 armed guards to abandon ship in 3 lifeboats (picked up by US destroyer USS Dahlgren) but MV Pennsylvania Sun does not sink and is reboarded next day. The fires are extinguished and MV Pennsylvania Sun will reach Chester, Pennsylvania, under own power for repairs and return to service (ironically sold to Germany in 1955).

US submarine USS Grunion, on her first patrol, attacks Japanese anchorage at Kiska Island in the Aleutians. USS Grunion sinks Japanese submarine chasers Ch-25 (all 68 hands lost) and Ch-27 (all 68 hands lost) and damages Ch-26.

At 8.25 PM 75 miles East of Cape Fear, North Carolina, U-576 fires 4 torpedoes at convoy KS-520, sinking Nicaraguan MV Bluefields and damaging American SS Chilore, and Panamanian MV J.A. Mowinckel (both damaged ships head for shore and hit mines in a US defensive minefield). U-576 surfaces and is sunk by depth charges from 2 US Kingfisher aircraft and gunfire from US auxilliary USS Unicoi (all 45 hands lost).

At dusk in the South Atlantic 1225 miles West of Angola, German armed merchant cruiser Michel spots blacked-out British passenger/cargo ship SS Gloucester Castle (carrying aircraft, military equipment and petrol in drums on deck, plus 8 women and children as passengers). Michel's Captain, Helmuth von Ruckteschell (whose devastating attack in overwhelming force without warning will lead to a 10-year jail term as a War Crminal) decides to close fast and attack. At 7 PM, Michel begins raining down 6-inch shells on SS Gloucester Castle, which bursts into flames due to the petrol on deck and then rolls over and sinks in 8 minutes (85 crew, 6 women and 2 children passengers killed). 57 crew, 2 women and 2 boys aged 10 and 14 are picked up by Michel and interned at Singapore or Yokohama, Japan (2 will die in captivity).