Summer, 1942
Chapter 18
The Gathering Storm
July-August
As the warmer months began the war had again escalated in Europe. With the Germans on the brink of taking Sevastopol and resuming their offensive in the East, as well as pushing the British back in North Africa, the race was now on for the oilfields of the Caucasus, as well as to close the North African Theater before the arrival in force of US troops. In the Pacific, the Japanese had been checked spectacularly at Midway, and now the Americans were poised to take the initiative.
Europe: The Eastern Front
The Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina sunken in Sevastopol harbor after the city fell to the Germans
German Federal Archives
On the southern edge of the Eastern Front, the Germans had commenced the final assault into the center of the port city of Sevastopol on 30 June. The city had been holding out under siege since October of 1941, but as the Germans overran the outer perimeter defenses one by one, the Red Army had proven unable to relieve the Black Sea Fleet anchorage. Vice Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky, a fanatical communist and the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, evacuated the city by air on 1 July, followed later by General Ivan Petrov, who fled the city by submarine after his aids intervened to prevent his suicide. Over the following days fighting raged in the streets with what remained of the Soviet Marines and Red Army soldiers in the city, even as some desperately took to sea in whatever could float to escape. On 4 July the last organized holdouts were overrun, and the flags of Germany and Romania were hoisted over the city.
German mountain troops man a 20mm flak cannon in the Caucasus mountains
German Federal Archives
As Sevastopol fell, the Wehrmacht and its allies were continuing with Case Blue, and driving toward the Don River. This obstacle was crossed in early July, opening the door to the oil rich Caucasus. It was at this point that the Germans decided to split their forces into two groups, one heading east toward the Volga River to cut the Soviets line of supply into the region while the other pressed southward into the Caucasus itself. Rostov-on-Don, previously relinquished by the Germans in the winter, was retaken on 23 July, Field Marshal Wilhelm List’s Army Group A began its push for the mountains.
German Gebirgsjager carry the swastika to the summit of Mt. Elbrus
This advance, dubbed Operation Edelweiss, was an advance along the Kuban River toward Soviet Azerbeijan, with the formidable obstacle of the Caucasus Mountains in the path of the German advance. Progress through them was slow, although the well trained German Alpenjager (mountain troops) proved very effective, eventually climbing and planting the German flag atop Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, in late August. By early September the Germans had captured Novorossiysk, the last major port for the Black Sea Fleet, although as the month continued the advance slowed, eventually prompting an irritated Hitler to relieve List of command, personally taking command. Subsequent attacks on Tuapse were repeatedly blunted by the Red Army, and the front remained static for the rest of the month.
Soviet soldiers in a counterattack at Voronezh
Meanwhile, in the north, the German Army Group B pressed eastward toward the Volga under the command of Generaloberst Maximillian von Weichs. Blocking the river would mean severing a major artery from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea into the rest of the USSR, and the strategic point selected for this operation was the city of Stalingrad. Bearing the name of the Soviet dictator, the city was a major industrial and transportation hub for the region, and its loss would be catastrophic for Soviet morale as well as their war effort. It was clear to all at both the Stavka and OKW: Stalingrad would be the critical battle of the war in the east.
A German JU-88 bomber over the Eastern Front
German Federal Archives
Stalin, in a move meant to bolster the morale of the Red Army, issued his Order Number 227 on 28 July, declaring that the defenders of the Soviet Union would take “Not One Step Back”, which would soon become a rallying cry within the ranks. The other aspects of the order were not well received, however, with the creation of Penal Battalions to punish soldiers by placing them in the most dangerous areas, as well as Blocking Detachments, meant to shoot anyone thought to be retreating or spreading defeatism.
The advance on Stalingrad was preceded by the destruction of the remaining Soviet forces around Voronezh and west of the River Don, which was completed by the end of July. With the river crossed on 7 August, the Germans reached the outskirts of the city three days later. The Luftwaffe, after destroying the local Soviet airbases and clearing the skies, launched a massive series of raids on the city as the Wehrmacht advanced, reducing it to a mass of rubble, and as the Germans pushed onto the devastated streets they were resisted mainly by a small, all female unit of anti-aircraft gunners.
German soldiers on the outskirts of Stalingrad
German Federal Archives
By early September the Germans had reached the Volga, with the Red Army left to move men and supplies into the city via dangerous crossings of the river, as the defenders dug into the remaining buildings. The German advance slowed to a crawl, but by the end of September the southern areas of the city, as well as its center, were in their hands, with the defenders crushed into the northern districts with the river at their backs.
Europe: North Africa
British infantry aboard a Valentine tank
July began in the scorching deserts of North Africa with Rommel and the Afrika Korps launching an attack on the British lines at El Alamein in Egypt. With the fighting over the Gazala Line earlier in the year having left the British with almost no armored forces, they had withdrawn almost 200 miles into Egypt in search of favorable terrain for defense, fighting several delaying actions throughout June. With pre-existing defenses and flanked by the endless expanse of the desert, the railroad junction at El Alamein, at the gates of Alexandria, was chosen as the location of their stand.
Despite all of this, General Claude Auchinleck, the commander of the British forces in the theater, was well aware of the desperate nature of the situation. Roadblocks were set up on the roads into Alexandria and Cairo, with the British diplomatic stations and military centers burning important documents. The Axis forces were also aware of the situation, with Mussolini himself having flown to join his forces in anticipation of a triumphal march into the capital. Hoping to catch the British before they could dig in, Rommel had been pressing his forces hard, and as they approached El Alamein they were nearing the breaking point themselves.
British troops man a trench at El Alamein
The German attack began on 1 July, but was scattered by sandstorms and attacks by the RAF, leaving units attacking piecemeal against the British positions. Stiff resistance by Indian troops brought in from the Middle East slowed the advance, buying time for the defenders to redeploy themselves to meet the advance, and with the arrival of additional armor on 2 July the German advance was checked.
Starting again on 3 July, Rommel deployed additional Italian units to reinforce his attack, but again was stopped by the dug in British forces and intense RAF attacks. Following this, the New Zealand 2nd Division, backed by remnants of Indian infantry and British mechanized forces, was ordered to shift north to cut into the Italian rear, which resulted in the Italian 22nd Armored Division being badly mauled over the course of the day. This continued until the Italian 27th Infantry Division was able to move in to check the advance, prompting Auchinleck to order the New Zealanders to retreat. Following these actions, Rommel was forced to concede that his forces were overwhelmed, and redeployed what remained into a defensive posture, all while British reinforcements continued to arrive.
A British soldier clambers onto the wreck of an Italian M13/40 tank
Both sides would attack and counterattack over the following ten days, with little ground being taken by either, although the Italians were beginning to take unsustainable casualties, necessitating Rommel to deploy German formations to shore up their lines. Rapid counters by ad hoc German and Italian mixed formations prevented the British from breaking the lines completely, but by 21 July the British had reversed the situation that had led them to El Alamein in the first place. Almost 200 tanks were now available or en route to the defenders, compared to less than 100 left to the combined German and Italian armored units.
This led to another British counteroffensive to launch on that day, with the New Zealand forces taking the depression at El Mreir but quickly finding themselves surrounded in the exposed position as friendly armor failed to advance. A German counterattack pushed them back out of the area with heavy casualties, while the 23rd Armored Brigade was effectively destroyed after being caught in a German minefield and savaged by enemy fire. Indian infantry likewise encountered disaster as they attempted to attack.
British infantry in the open desert
The only success came on 22 July, as Australian forces captured Tel el Makh Khad after a long fight and with heavy casualties. This was followed by a final, major attack on 26 July as the British launched Operation Manhood, an attempt to break the Afrika Korps permanently. Although initial nighttime attacks had some success, again armor support failed to move up due to minefields and difficult terrain, leaving the advanced units exposed as the sun rose. German counterattacks smashed through the lines, quickly overrunning the forward positions taken in the darkness, and by 31 July the British admitted defeat and pulled back to regroup. The First Battle of El Alamein had ended, with both sides exhausted and no major gains for either.
General Bernard Montgomery arrives in Egypt
A week after the end of the battle, Churchill made a stop in Cairo en route to a conference in Moscow, and made the decision to replace 8th Army commander Auchinleck with General William Gott, commander of the 8th Army’s XIII Corps. This would not come to be, however, as Gott’s plane was shot down en route, killing the new commander before he could take up the post. As a result General Bernard Montgomery, who had been posted for the upcoming Operation Torch, a plan to open another front in North Africa with the newly arriving American forces. As a result, the general, commonly known as Monty, arrived in Egypt on 13 August to take command of the 8th Army, while General Harold Alexander replaced Auchinleck as Commander in Chief, Middle East on the same day. A man of great ego but also an aggressive and bold commander, Montgomery promised to bring a new dynamic to the war in the desert.
Italian troops advance at Alam el Halfa
The imminent arrival of US forces loomed large over the Afrika Korps, and as a result Rommel launched another offensive on 30 August, hoping to knock out the 8th Army before that occurred. In this first clash, Monty had received the German operations plans before hand, and deliberately opened a gap in his lines, luring Rommel’s panzers into a kill zone that resulted in the costly failure of the operation at Alam el Halfa. The British chose not to pursue the Germans at this juncture, waiting to build up more forces, leaving him ready to launch an offensive to potentially destroy the Afrika Korps once and for all.
To make matters worse for the Germans, Rommel was at the end of his rope. Exhausted and ill with a liver infection, he was forced to take medical leave in Germany, leaving General Georg Stumme to take his place at this critical juncture.
Europe: Africa
British troops land at Tamatave
On Madagascar, the British offensive was continuing against the Vichy French forces on the island. Further amphibious operations were commenced in the late summer, and the situation continued to deteriorate for the defenders. Local air forces were almost depleted, and despite pleas from the local government the government in Vichy was unable to send any aid to the beleaguered garrison. On 23 September the British captured the capital, Tananarive, and although resistance continued, it was obvious that the French forces there would not hold for much longer.
Europe: The War at Sea
The German battleship Tirpitz, sister to the famous Bismarck, in Norway
At sea, the Allies had dispatched convoy PQ17 from Iceland at the end of June, bound for Arkhangelsk in the USSR laden with supplies and equipment for the Red Army. The convoy, consisting of 35 merchantmen escorted by nineteen British and American warships, was spotted almost as soon as it entered the open ocean be a roaming German U-boat, and as it came within range of Norway-based aircraft the convoy was stuck on several occasions by Luftwaffe aircraft, with one American liberty ship being hit and disabled.
But despite all of this, the Germans had grander plans for the convoy. In addition to available U-boats, the Kriegsmarine also made ready to deploy the cruisers Admiral Hipper, Admiral Scheer and Lutzow against the convoy, along with twelve destroyers. The centerpiece of the action was to be the battleship Tirpitz, sister to the legendary Bismarck, with this to be the largest surface attack on a convoy ever mounted by the Kreigsmarine.
The cruisers USS Wichita and HMS London escort Convoy PQ17
Fearing this powerful surface force, the Admiralty ordered the convoy to disperse on 4 July, with disastrous results. British intelligence had reported Tirpitz had sortied on the previous day, and as a result the merchantmen were ordered to scatter, with the escorting warships withdrawn westward back toward the battleships of the Home Fleet, sailing from Scapa Flow. Ironically, the German battleship had merely been shifting to a new port, but the news of the convoy’s scattering prompted Kriegsmarine Grand Admiral Erich Raeder to order her to make ready to sortie as soon as possible. This they did on 5 July, but were soon recalled due to fears of the strength of the Allied warships in the area. But the reprieve from attack by the capital ships did mean PQ17 was spared.
Six merchants were sunk on 5 July by Luftwaffe attacks, with a further six succumbing to U-boats. One merchant, abandoned after an air attack, was even board by a U-boat crew, who seized documents as well as the ship’s ensign. Two more would be sunk the following day, and by the end of the voyage only eleven ships reached friendly ports. The disaster of PQ17 soured relations between the major allied navies, as US Navy chief Admiral Ernest King withdrew the US task force operating in the theater to reinforce the Pacific. Most of the blame was quietly assigned to the British First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, and King was hesitant to place his ships under Brititsh command for some time. A decision by Churchill to cancel further convoys to the USSR for several months also served to damage relations.
U-156 and U-507 ferry survivors from the sinking of the Laconia
Picture taken by Oblt. z. S. Leopold Schuhmacher
Months later, in the warmer waters of the south Atlantic, another tragedy was about to take place. The British troopship RMS Laconia, a liner requisitioned for military use, was in early September traveling northward from Cape Town in South Africa, carrying mainly Italian prisoners of war along with a small complement of British soldiers. Sighted by the submarine U-156 Laconia was torpedoed, and quickly sank. Heavy list prevented the launching of her port lifeboats. Many prisoners were left in the holds, and those that managed to get above were in some cases bayoneted by guards as they rushed the available boats in a panic. Most ended up in the water, and as the submarine surfaced to capture the ship’s officers they were confronted with almost 2,000 people in the sea, as the sharks circled. Panicked guards were shooting prisoners who attempted to board lifeboats, and the situation was pure pandemonium.
Observing that most in the water were friendly prisoners and civilians, the commander of U-156, Korvettenkapitan Werner Hartenstein, raised the Red Cross flag over his U-boat and began a rescue. Requesting help, the commander of the U-boat fleet, Admiral Karl Donitz, dispatched an additional seven U-boats that were in the area to aid the rescue, and soon Vichy French warships were also dispatched. Hartenstein further broadcast a radio message in plain English, requesting assistance from Allied forces under a humanitarian truce.
A USAAF B24 bomber over the open sea
After over two days on the scene, the group of submarines (three German and one Italian) set out with the lifeboats in tow and crowded with survivors on their decks, hoping to rendezvous with the incoming French ships. On 16 September the U-156 was spotted by a USAAF B24 bomber, and contacted by a British officer aboard asking for assistance. The American did not respond, instead contacting headquarters. Orders were subsequently received to engage and sink the submarine, despite the large Red Cross banners draped across it and the messages received about the rescue. Bombs hit the lifeboats as well as straddling the submarine, forcing Hartenstein to order the survivors on deck into the water in order to dive.
The results of this attack would be far reaching. Admiral Donitz issued new orders to all of the U-boat fleet prohibiting rendering aid to survivors of sunken ships. No action or investigation was undertaken by the US Army Air Force into the incident.
Europe: The Air War
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris
In the skies over Europe, the Luftwaffe was increasingly on a defensive footing. The RAF continued its night bombing campaign against various German cities, with an emphasis on the destruction of as much of them as possible to shatter the morale of the population. As US Army Air Force bombers began to arrive in Britain in force, they too joined in the campaign in ever increasing numbers, although favoring daylight raids on military targets. In a statement about the situation, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, commander of RAF Bomber Command, famously stated:
“The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
The first jet powered flight of the German ME262 fighter
As for the Luftwaffe, a major development also took place during the summer of 1942, as the Messerschmitt ME262 made its first flight with jet engines. This first flight was not without difficulty, and further development was needed, but was regardless a portent of what was to come.
Europe: Occupied Europe
Vichy Minister-President Pierre Laval with SS Gruppenfuhrer Carl Oberg in Paris
As the Whermacht continued its advance across the steppes of Russia and the deserts of North Africa, the Nazi government continued to tighten its grip on the subjugated peoples of Europe. As massacres occurred throughout the east and partisan uprisings continued in the Balkans, the Final Solution progressed as well, as poison gas came into use for the extermination of prisoners at various concentration camps. In France, with the cooperation of the Vichy Government, the SS began to conduct mass arrests of Jews, aided by the Vichy police forces. In addition, German troops continued to execute civilians in reprisal for resistance activities, despite the lack of effectiveness of this tactic.
Wounded Canadian soldiers lie on the beach at Dieppe near a wrecked landing craft and Churchill tank
German Federal Archives
Raids by British and Allied commandos continued as well, much to the consternation of the Germans. In August, however, something altogether different occurred at the small port town of Dieppe on the French Channel Coast. Just after dawn on 19 August the 6,000 Canadian troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, supported by British commandos, stormed the beaches of the town, into the teeth of the German Atlantic Wall. When the supporting Churchill tanks were not ashore early enough, the infantry was forced to assault the seawall alone, and suffered heavy casualties.
Elsewhere, some men were able to penetrate into the town itself, but found themselves surrounded with the Germans on the high ground of cliffs that abutted the town. An attempt to send in the Royal Marines to reinforce them met with disaster, as the landing craft were smashed by coastal fire on approach, resulting in all the Marines that reached the shore being either killed or captured. Eventually, 29 Churchill tanks were deployed, but only half reached the seawall. Blocked by tank traps past this point, they retreated toward the beach, covering the surviving infantry as they retreated to their landing craft, executing an agonizing four hour withdrawal under vicious fire. In total, over 3,000 Canadians were killed or captured, and almost 25% of the British commandos were likewise killed. One Royal Navy destroyer was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft during the retreat, and the RAF lost over 100 aircraft covering the disaster. The raid would have profound results on future amphibious operations, but had proven the Atlantic Wall to be a formidable obstacle.
The Pacific: Pacific Islands
Australian soldiers in the jungles along the Kokota Trail in New Guinea
Reeling from the disastrous defeat suffered by the Imperial Navy at Midway, it took some time for the Japanese to make their next major moves in the South Pacific. The first strikes came at Buna in New Guinea, as the Japanese 17th Army landed and established beachheads with the intent of advancing inland over the Kokoda Track southwards to Port Moresby. A week after landing the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) field at Kokoda was in Japanese hands, and the Australians fought a series of defensive actions as they withdrew southward into the jungles. In early September the Japanese nearly managed to envelop the defenders at Mission Hill, and despite almost reaching their objective the invaders were spent by the end of September, leaving the Australians to retake the initiative and begin driving them northwards.
Makin Atoll as seen through the periscope of USS Nautilus
Elsewhere, the United States, ready to capitalize on their victory at Midway, were readying to go on the offensive for the first time in the war. Just after midnight on 17 August the men of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion departed from the submarines USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut aboard rubber rafts, landing on the Japanese occupied island of Makin in the Marshall Islands.
The Marines, led by Lt. Col. Evans Carlson, quickly engaged the garrison on the island, and after some difficulty with machine gun nests were able to eliminate most of the enemy forces after a Banzai Charge. An attempt to reinforce the island with flying boats was unsuccessful due to the Marine ground fire, and after some difficulty over the next day, the all the surviving Marines were extracted by the night of 18 August.
US Marines land on Guadalcanal
The Makin Island Raid was launched to cover the main US operations in the region: the invasion of the Solomon Islands. The British-controlled chain had been occupied by the Japanese in May, and several bases were now under construction in the area, including a seaplane base on Tulagi Island and a major airbase on the large, jungle island of Guadalcanal. The danger posed should these become fully operational prompted the selection of the region for the coming American offensive, codenamed Operation Watchtower.
Initial forces arrived under cover of darkness and poor weather on the night of 6 August, and that morning US Marines stormed the islands of Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo, securing them over the following three days against fanatical Japanese resistance that left no survivors of their garrison of almost 900. The main landings on Guadalcanal took place on 7 August, encountering almost no resistance. The airfield itself was taken the following day, as the Japanese garrison had withdrawn into the jungle when the US forces attacked.
The Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal, soon to be captured by the US Marines and renamed Henderson Field
Following their seizure of the airfield, the Marines set about fortifying it, a task made all the more urgent as the US Navy withdrew its ships, leaving them essentially stranded there with no air or sea cover for the time being. Using captured Japanese equipment they were able to complete the airfield within ten days, renaming it Henderson Field. The first major action came later in the month, as the Japanese wiped out a Marine patrol along the Mantanikau River, prompting a retaliation that resulted in significant losses for the Japanese. Despite this victory, the battle had only just begun, as Japanese reinforcements began to arrive by sea as August wore on.
Japanese reinforcements land on Guadalcanal
The Japanese 17th Army, elements of which had already landed earlier at Buna-Gona in New Guinea, was tasked with retaking Guadalcanal, and set out from the stronghold at Rabaul. A Japanese regiment of nearly a thousand men attempted a night attack on the Marine perimeter on 21 August, losing over 800 men when they came against the Marines, who outnumbered them by three to one. Realizing that the situation on Guadalcanal was far more serious than expected, additional units were quickly dispatched to the island.
Meanwhile, US aircraft were trickling into Henderson Field. US Marine F4F Wildcat fighters and SBD Dauntless dive bombers along with five USAAF P39 fighters comprised what came to be known as the Cactus Air Force (“Cactus” being the code name of Guadalcanal), and they were in near constant action from the moment they touched down on the field.
A US Marine stands on Edson’s Ridge (Bloody Ridge) after the battle
Due to the American naval presence around Guadalcanal, the Japanese resorted to transporting reinforcements onto the island aboard fast destroyers in what came to be known as the Tokyo Express, and were massing troops to overrun Henderson Field in early September. After a succesful raid on a Japanese supply dump, the Marines found that the strike was imminent, and correctly deduced that it would be along a ridge abutting the Lunga River, south of the airfield.
On 12 September the hammer struck, with the Japanese penetrating the Marine lines and forcing them to withdraw to the ridge itself, regrouping for the next night. When it came, the Japanese struck at the Ridge with mass attacks throughout the night, supported by IJN destroyers off shore. Japanese forces charges the Marines with fixed bayonets in huge human wave attacks, screams of “Tennōheika Banzai” (“Glory to the Emperor!”) sounding over the din as US howitzers fired directly into the attacking Japanese forces. After two days of this brutal hand to hand combat the Japanese were exhausted and the remnants of their forces retreated on 14 August.
The events at what came to be known as Bloody Ridge had a profound impact on the Japanese, who concluded that the battle of Guadalcanal was of tantamount importance, leading to them pulling troops from other areas, such as New Guinea, to support the campaign there. Fighting would continue around Henderson Field for the foreseeable future, as both sides poured their resources into the campaign.
The Pacific: The War at Sea
Destroyers take on survivors from the burning HMAS Canberra after the Battle of Savo Island
As the first US Marines were landing in the Solomons, the US Navy, supported by the Royal Australian Navy, was tasked with clearing the way for them. Under the command of Australian Admiral Victor Crunchley, the escorting force counted six heavy and two light cruisers, as well as several destroyers. Backing them up were the carrier aircraft of Vice Admiral Jack Fletcher’s fleet, built around the carriers USS Saratoga, USS Enterprise and USS Wasp, along with their respective escort ships.
During the landings the ships were targeted by Japanese aircraft flying from Rabaul, causing the loss of one transport. This prompted Fletcher to withdraw his carrier forces out of range, leaving only the cruisers and destroyers to protect the landing zones on 8 August. This action caused Rear Admiral Richmond Turner to withdraw his transports after a frenzied unloading overnight, leaving the Marines to their task with what supplies were available.
The Japanese were meanwhile preparing a naval strike force to disrupt the landings, under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa. Sailing from Rabaul with five heavy and two light cruisers, crossing through the narrow channel between the Solomon Islands and approaching the Allied fleet in the afternoon. At around midnight Mikawa’s ships sighted the destroyer USS Blue, but the American ship did not sight them, and at 0130 on 8 August Mikawa ordered his ships to attack.
The bulk of the Allied ships were clustered near a burning transport hit by the day’s air attacks, silhouetted for the approaching Japanese. Flares were fired from both sides, illuminating the sea and the opposing fleets, as the Japanese moved to engage the Allied vessels with gunfire. In the opening salvo, the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra, crippling it with multiple simultaneous hits, while a torpedo damaged the cruiser USS Chicago.
Faring worse were the American ships to the north. Slow to react, the three cruisers in this area were savaged by the Japanese, with the USS Astoria being the first to fall, sinking in flames after being smashed by shellfire. Shortly afterward the USS Qunicy, hit by topedoes and with her bridge destroyed, slipped beneath the sea. Finally, almost an hour after the engagement began, the last cruiser, USS Vincennes, sank after absorbing dozens of hits. By then the Japanese had been gone for a half out, losing no ships compared to the four cruisers they had sunk. The Battle of Savo Island had been a disaster for the Allies, and from here on convoys to supply Guadalcanal would be sent only in daylight with heavy air cover.
The USS Wasp burns after being hit by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine
The next major naval engagement came at the end of August, as Fletcher’s carriers engaged the Japanese to the northeast of the Solomons. Like Midway and the Coral Sea earlier in the year, the opposing surface forces never came within sight of one another, and although the carrier USS Enterprise was severely damaged and forced to withdraw to Pearl Harbor for repairs this engagement was a victory for the Allies. The Japanese had lost a significant number of their remaining experienced pilots, as well as the light carrier Ryujo. In addition, the Japanese reinforcement of the island was disrupted, greatly aiding the Marines on the ground.
Following these engagements, the carrier USS Saratoga was damaged by a submarine on 31 August and forced to withdraw for repairs, and the USS Wasp was lost to another submarine on 15 September. En route to Guadalcanal with additional aircraft for Henderson Field in the company of USS Hornet, the ship was hit by three of six torpedoes fired from I-19. The carrier was rocked by a series of explosions as aviation fuel stores ignited, and the heat of these began to detonate ammunition in the ship’s forward AA guns. Unable to bring the fires under control, the ship’s captain ordered the carrier abandoned, and she was sunk with torpedoes from an escorting destroyer. The remaining three torpedoes fired by I-19 also managed to fatally wound the destroyer USS O’Brien, and damaged the battleship USS North Carolina, making it one of the most successful single attacks by a submarine in the war.
The Pacific: The Air War
American volunteer pilots with one of their Chinese P40 fighters
Back in April of 1941 a group of American volunteer pilots had begun arriving in China, intending to fly for the Chinese Air Force against the Japanese. Quickly making a name for themselves, this group, dubbed the AVG (American Volunteer Group), also became known as the “Flying Tigers”, and overcame the difficult situation they were in admirably. With an excellent kill ratio, they had been a lonely source of good news in the early months of 1942, but as the year went on it was decided that they would need to be brought back into the fold. This occurred on 4 July, Independence Day, when they were absorbed into the USAAF 14th Air Force, with the AVG commander, General Claire Chennault, taking command of that force.
Americans inspect the crashed Zero in Alaska
Another major development happened on the cold Alaska Front, when an A6M Zero fighter from the carrier Ryujo was shot down while strafing survivors in the water after shooting down an American PBY flying boat at Dutch Harbor. With serious engine damage, the pilot, Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga, attempted to make it to Akutan Island, where an IJN submarine was waiting to pick up crews after emergency landings. During his crash landing there the mud caused the fighter to flip over, breaking the pilot’s neck but leaving the aircraft intact, where it lay for a month. Then, on 10 July, a PBY that had gotten lost on patrol happened across the wreck, and thus a team was sent to salvage the plane. It would take two months, but eventually the plane was repaired and test flown by US pilots in September, providing invaluable intelligence on the best fighter available to the Japanese at the time.
Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita poses with his E14Y “Glen” floatplane, the same he used to become the only pilot to bomb the contiguous United States during the war
In a more minor development, the Japanese also accomplished a unique feat during the war on 9 September: bombing the US mainland. This was accomplished when the aircraft-carrying submarine I-25 surfaced near the California-Oregon border and launched its single E14Y floatplane and dropped two incendiary bombs on the forests around Mount Emily in the Siskiyou National Forest, intending to start a wildfire. This failed due to a rapid response by the US Forest Service, as did a second raid weeks later by the same aircraft. Despite this failure, this marked the only time in the Second World War that the Contiguous United States was bombed by enemy aircraft.
The Homefront
Mahatma Ghandi in 1942
Of all the developments on the Home Front in the summer of 1942, the most significant was a British crackdown in India. Independence leader Mahatma Ghandi issued a demand for the British to immediately grant independence to India and withdraw from the country, prompting a rapdi response by a British government already fearful as the Japanese advanced to the borders of the Raj. Civil unrest followed across the country, with massive strike accompanying riots in the cities. Mass arrests continued, and the colonial forces killed a number of civilians as they tried to control the riots. The situation was brought under control, but remained tenuous as the year drew on.
Timeline
7-1-1942
The Afrika Korps attacks the British at El Alamein
US Army Air Force B17 bombers begin to arrive in Britain
A US submarine sinks the Japanese transport Montivideo Maru, inadvertently killing 1054 Australian prisoners aboard
7-2-1942
The British occupy the island of Mayotte near Madagascar
An attempt to vote Winston Churchill out of office fails in Parliament
7-3-1942
The American Volunteer Group in China, better known as the Flying Tigers, flies its last mission before being absorbed into the US Army Air Force
7-4-1942
The last pockets of Soviet resistance in Sevastopol are destroyed
The Red Army withdraws from the Kursk sector
USAAF bombers join the RAF in a raid on Occupied Europe
The destroyer IJN Nenohi is sunk by a US submarine off Alaska
German guards begin using poison gas on concentration camp inmates
7-5-1942
German forces reach the River Don on the Eastern Front
The destroyer IJN Arare is sunk by a US Submarine off Alaska
7-6-1942
Voronezh falls to the Germans
Imperial Japanese Army forces begin construction of an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal
7-8-1942
German forces cross the Donets River
7-9-1942
Hitler issues new orders for his forces, with some to push toward the oil-rich Caucasus and others to advance eastward toward the Volga
7-10-1942
US forces capture a Japanese A6M Zero fighter in the Aleutians
7-11-1942
Hitler orders his forces to launch an offensive from the Crimea
Convoy PQ17 arrives in the USSR after suffering the worst convoy losses of the war
RAF bombers attack Danzig
Reeling from the disaster at Midway, the Japanese cancel their planned invasions of Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia
7-12-1942
Marshal Semyon Timoshenko takes command of the new Stalingrad Front, massing Soviet forces along the Volga
7-13-1942
Hitler removes Field Marshal Fedor von Bock from command after he proves too slow in advancing in the east
5,000 Jews are shot by the Germans outside Rovno
7-14-1942
German occupation forces open fire on a Bastille Day celebration in Paris
The Vichy Government refuses to move their warships to US waters for internment
7-15-1942
The Red Army withdraws from Boguchar and Millerovno
7-16-1942
Hitler moves his headquarters to Vinnystia
British forces make advances at El Alamein as Australian troops repel a German counterattack
French police commence mass arrests of Jews in Paris
7-17-1942
German forces push the Australians back at El Alamein
Churchill orders no further convoys to the USSR after the heavy losses suffered by PQ17
7-18-1942
The German ME262 jet fighter has its first test flight
7-19-1942
The Kriegsmarine withdraws its U-boat forces from the US East Coast
7-20-1942
As the German drive into Egypt fails, Mussolini returns to Rome
7-21-1942
Japanese forces land in New Guinea at Buna and Gona, intending to advance southward down the Kokoda Trail and capture Port Moresby on the south side of the island
7-22-1942
The Germans open a new extermination camp at Treblinka in Poland, and commence mass deportations there
7-23-1942
German forces retake Rostov-on-Don
7-24-1942
Fighting around Voronezh ends with German victory, with the last Soviet forces west of the Don eliminated
The Japanese secure their beachhead at Buna-Gona
7-25-1942
German troops at Rostov-on-Don enter the Caucasus
7-26-1942
British forces launch a major counterattack on the Germans at El Alamein
400 RAF bombers raid Hamburg
7-27-1942
The Battle of El Alamein ends in a draw as the British counterattack fails
Two Japanese-American internees are executed by a guard at an internment camp
7-28-1942
Stalin issues Order 227, declaring that there will be no more retreat in the East
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris issues a radio warning to the German population that the RAF intends to utterly destroy their country
7-29-1942
German forces cross the Maynch River
Japanese forces take Kokoda in New Guinea
7-30-1942
Red Army forces launch an offensive at Rzhev, near Moscow
7-31-1942
630 RAF bombers attack Dusseldorf
British authorities ban driving for pleasure due to fuel rationing
8-1-1942
General Andrey Yeryomenko takes command of the newly formed Southeastern Front on the Volga
8-5-1942
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands visits the United States
The British government announces that it will not consider the 1938 Munich Agreement in post war settlements
8-6-1942
Max Stephan, an American Nazi sympathizer, is convicted of treason for aiding an escaped German POW in Detroit
8-7-1942
The German 6th Army crosses the Don River near Stalingrad
Churchill visits British troops in Egypt
General William Gott, on his way to take command of the British 8th Army in Egypt, is killed when his plane is shot down
US Marines land on the island of Guadalcanal and three smaller local islands as the Americans begin an offensive against the Japanese
8-8-1942
US Marines capture the Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal, naming it Henderson Field
The IJN sends a task force to disrupt the American landings on Guadalcanal, defeating the US fleet at Savo Island
8-9-1942
German troops take the oil production center of Maykop as they push into the Caucasus
US forces secure the islands of Tulagi and Gavutu near Guadalcanal
Mahatma Ghandi is arrested by British authorities in India
8-10-1942
German troops reach the outskirts of Stalingrad
8-11-1942
The British carrier HMS Eagle is sunk by a U-boat while escorting a convoy to Malta
The Vichy government sends French workers to Germany in exchange for prisoners of war
Riots occur in New Delhi after Ghandi’s arrest
8-12-1942
Churchill, Stalin and a US representative meet in Moscow
8-13-1942
Bernard Montgomery takes command of the British 8th Army
Japan passes a law that mandates the death penalty for enemy airmen captured after bombing the home islands
8-14-1942
American General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named commander of the upcoming Operation Torch
8-16-1942
German forces reach the foothills of the Caucasus
USAAF bombers strike German and Italian targets in Egypt, their first move in theater
The Kriegsmarine launches a campaign to destroy Soviet warships in the Kara Sea
8-17-1942
German forces cross the Kuban River in the Crimea
USAAF heavy bombers make their first raid on targets in France
US Marine Raiders strike Makin Atoll
8-18-1942
Japanese reinforcements begin to be landed on Guadalcanal
8-19-1942
Soviet forces launch an offensive near Leningrad
British and Canadian forces land in France at Dieppe as a large scale probing attack, ending in disaster
8-20-1942
Chinese forces launch an offensive in Jiangxi Province against the Japanese
Hungarian leader Miklos Horthy’s son is killed in a plane crash
8-21-1942
A Japanese attack on Henderson Field is repelled with heavy casualties
Chinese forces retake the city of Yingtan from the Japanese
8-22-1942
Brazil declares war on Germany
8-23-1942
The German 6th Army enter city of Stalingrad, engaging the Soviet defenders in urban combat
The Luftwaffe levels Stalingrad with a massive air raid
8-24-1942
Italian cavalry mounts a successful charge against the Soviets on the Eastern Front
The IJN carrier Ryujo is sunk by US carrier planes off the Solomon Islands
8-25-1942
Soviet authorities begin trying to evacuate civilians from Stalingrad
Japanese forces attack the Australian airfields at Milne Bay in New Guinea
8-27-1942
Combined USAAF and RAF bombers strike Rotterdam
8-28-1942
A massive typhoon hits Japan, causing high casualties and devastating infrastructure
8-29-1942
The Germans deploy their new Tiger heavy tanks near Leningrad
The Japanese bar Red Cross relief ships from bringing supplies to prisoners of war
8-30-1942
Rommel launches a new offensive against the British in Egypt at Alam el Hafa
US forces begin building airfields on Adak Island off Alaska to support the retaking of the islands of Kiska and Attu from the Japanese
8-31-1942
British commandoes raid the island of Rhodes
The carrier USS Saratoga is damaged by torpedoes and must withdraw for repairs
9-1-1942
The German 4th Panzer Army attacks Stalingrad from the south
German troops take Anapa on the Black Sea coast
9-2-1942
Soviet forces trapped in the Taman Peninsula near the Crimea begin a naval evacuation
British Commandos raid Alderney, one of the occupied British Channel Islands
9-3-1942
German troops capture the airfield at Pitomik near Stalingrad
9-4-1942
The VVS bombs Budapest
9-5-1942
The Soviets launch a counterattack at Stalingrad, but are crushed by the Luftwaffe
The German attack at Alam el Hafa is defeated by the British
9-6-1942
Novorossiysk falls to the Germans
German General Albert Buck is killed in action near Novorossiysk
German 40 kill fighter ace Gunter Steinhausen is shot down and killed over North Africa
9-7-1942
German forces move to take the high ground in Stalingrad at Mamayev Kurgan
The Japanese attack at Milne Bay is repulsed by the Australian defenders
Cuba permits a flotilla of US Navy destroyers to operate out of Havana under the Cuban flag
British Commandos raid the Channel Islands again
9-9-1942
Field Marshal Wilhelm List is removed from command of Army Group A by Hitler, who takes personal command
Japanese planes launched from submarines bomb an Oregon forest intending to start a forest fire, with no results
9-10-1942
German troops reach the Volga River in Stalingrad
The RAF conducts a large raid on Dusseldorf
German 85 kill ace Walter Zellot is shot down and killed over Stalingrad
9-11-1942
British and Norwegian commandos attack the powerplant at Glomfijord in Norway
The Canadian corvette HMCS Charlottetown is torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of St. Laurence by a U-boat
9-12-1942
The passenger liner RMS Laconia is sunk by a German U-boat. Seeing the civilians in the water, the Germans mount a rescue, taking survivors aboard and setting out for land under Red Cross flags
British commandoes raid the French coast
The Japanese launch another attack on the US Marines near Henderson Field on Guadalcanal
9-13-1942
The Germans begin brutal house-to-house fighting as they push into central Stalingrad
British forces commence a land and amphibious attack on Tobruk
9-14-1942
The British attack on Tobruk ends in failure
US Marines again repel the Japanese attack on Henderson Field
9-15-1942
The Japanese submarine I-19 sinks both the carrier USS Wasp and a destroyer with a single torpedo salvo near Guadalcanal, also damaging the battleship USS North Carolina
9-16-1942
German forces push into the northern suburbs of Stalingrad
The U-boats carrying survivors of the Laconia are attacked by a USAAF bomber despite notifying them of their humanitarian mission, forcing the submarine to dive and abandon the survivors on their decks
9-17-1942
Vidkun Quisling codifies the death penalty in Norway
Admiral Karl Donitz issues an order for U-boats not to aid survivors in response to the Laconia Incident
9-18-1942
Additional British forces land on Madagascar, capturing Tamatave
The 7th Marine Regiment arrives on Guadalcanal to reinforce the US presence on the island
9-20-1942
German troops capture Terek, near the Georgian SSR
Allied commanders set Operation Torch to begin on 8 November
116 civilians are executed in Paris by the Germans as retaliation for resistance activities
9-22-1942
The Germans take the center of Stalingrad
9-23-1942
Stricken with a liver infection, Rommel departs North Afrika on sick leave, leaving George Stumme in command
Atananarivo on Madagascar falls to the British
Japanese and US forces engage along the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal
9-24-1942
The Germans reach the Volga in central Stalingrad, cutting the defending Soviet 62nd Army in two
German Army Chief of Staff Franz Halder is relieved of his post by Hitler, replaced by Kurt Zeitzler
Japanese forces take the island of Maiana in the Gilberts
9-25-1942
RAF Mosquito bombers attempt to destroy the Oslo Gestapo headquarters, but miss, causing civilian casualties
9-26-1942
The top secret Manhattan Project is given the highest priority for resources by the US Government
9-27-1942
The American liberty ship SS Stephen Hopkins and the German raider Stier sink each other in the Atlantic
US Marines are defeated by the Japanese along the Matanikau River
9-29-1942
British forces launch an attack on the Italian lines at Deir el Munassib, but are repulsed
Another Japanese plan bombs the US state of Oregon, but again has little effect
9-30-1942
Hans-Joachim Marseille, the top German ace in North Africa with 158 kills, is killed attempting to bail out of his stricken fighter