Posted on 09/20/2012 5:08:56 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Richard Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary
The News of the Week in Review
Twenty News Questions – 9
Stepping Stones of the Pacific (map) – 10
Pacific Power Balance Now Delicately Poised (Baldwin) – 11
Soviet Resources: Those Conquered and Vital Ones Remaining (map) – 12
All of Russia’s Loss is Not Hitler’s Gain (Hurd) – 13
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 14
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/sep42/f20sep42.htm
Germans advancing in Caucasus
Sunday, September 20, 1942 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... In the Caucasus, German troops capture the town of Terek.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
September 20th, 1942
UNITED KINGDOM: The outline plan for Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa, is issued; D Day is set for 8 November. (Jack McKillop)
GERMANY: RAF bombers flew 1,200 miles to raid Munich last night, killing 65 people; other aircraft hit Saarbrucken.
The bomber force consisted of 68 Lancasters and 21 Stirlings; 3 Lancasters and 3 Stirlings were lost. Approximately 40 per cent of the crews dropped bombs within 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) of the center of Munich but most of the bombs fell in the western, southern and eastern suburbs of the city. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.S.R.: Stubborn street fighting is in progress in Stalingrad. The town of Terek, in the Caucasus, falls to German Army Group A. (Jack McKillop)
The Soviet marines and soldiers holding the grain silos are almost out of ammunition and they have no water. Tonight in a frantic search for something to drink, Lt. Khoyzyanov leads his men out of the tower door, across the field, the main road and into a gully, where they stumbled upon an enemy mortar battery. In the resulting melee, the startled Germans fled, leaving gallons of ice-cold drinking water that the marines gulped down gratefully. Completely dehydrated, Khoyzyanov suddenly felt faint from the water, and collapsed on the ground. When he woke up, he was in a dark celler and standing over him was a soldier from the German 14th Panzer division. The grain elevator he had defended so heroically had passed into enemy hands.
The Germans quickly put out the fires and saved most of the wheat, which would be significant in the weeks to come. (Russell Folsom)(232)
ARCTIC OCEAN: Whilst astern of convoy QP.14, minesweeper HMS Leda is torpedoed and sunk by U-435 in the Barents Sea, West of Bear Island at 75 48N 06 00E.
Tribal class destroyer HMS Somali is torpedoed by U-703, West of Bear Island at 75 40N 02 00E. The midships section of the port side is blown away and the ship held together only by the starboard side and the keel. The port turbine fell through the bottom of the ship. All non-essential crewmembers are taken off and Ashanti takes Somali in tow. When the weather worsened, and a violent storm broke, Somali folded into two, and the stern section sank quickly. Survivors were rescued by trawler Lord Middleton and Ashanti. Location: of sinking, 69 11N 15 32W. (Alex Gordon)(108)
AUSTRALIA: Responding to questions from the Australian government regarding the effect on the RAAF of the formation of the USAAF’s Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific Area, General MacArthur replies that “due to unavoidable conditions” the majority of the units assigned to the Coastal defence Unit would be Australian although the majority of RAAF units would not be assigned to this command. He continued saying that the formation of the Fifth Air Force would not affect the full employment of the RAAF in combat operations. (Jack McKillop)
NEW GUINEA: Australian units continue to patrol along Imitra Ridge on the Kodoka Track. (Jack McKillop)
USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s bomb and strafe troops and installations at Sangara, Arehe, and along the Popondetta-Andemba road in the Owen Stanley Range, and P-40s strafe the airfield at Kokoda, bridges on the trail near Wairopi, and troops at Myola, Efogi, and Kagi. (Jack McKillop)
The Soviets are mistaken about the death of Paul von Kleist.
What new tank is the British referring to as “world’s best”. The Cromwell which started production in November 1942? The Brits did not produce a decent tank until the end of the war with the Comet.
Well, possibly just a bit premature in their announcement?
Von Kleist died in Soviet captivity, in 1954, age 73.
Among other crimes, he was charged with: "alienating, through friendship & generosity, the peoples of the Soviet Union".
Oh, the fiend!
;-)
My uncle navigated one in the 8th Air Force that brought him home safely 3 times. Unfortunately, he went on 4 flights over Germany. He spent about 16 months as a guest of the Reich after the final, one-way trip.
Unfortunately, it will suffer from a severely underpowered engine and will not be this example in excellence that it is being touted as in the article.
well, it looked good... that is the important thing. heh
Tank ping.
It kind of looks like a Tiger doesn’t it. They also had a tank in development at this time designated the Mk VIII Challenger. That think looks like a KV-2 knock-off. Real tall rivited turret. Not very pretty at all.
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