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http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

November 30th, 1942

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Rene Duchez, a French house-painter, kept his eyes open when he was set to work redecorating the office of a German officer in the Todt military construction organization in Caen, Normandy. On the desk he spotted a large map. Later he handed it to a friend in the Resistance. When the map eventually reached London, it was found to be a detailed plan of Germany’s coastal defences, setting out every strong point, arms dump, booby trap and look-out point.

Duchez is just one of the many thousands of ordinary folk who work for the resistance movements of occupied Europe while carrying on with their regular jobs.

Resistance began almost as soon as the conquering Germans appeared. In the first stunned days and weeks after defeat, it might be no more than a gesture; in Amsterdam, a bar would empty of Dutch customers if a German entered. But then people took to playing tricks, putting sugar in the petrol tank of a German car or throwing tacks on the road. In Belgium, Andree de Jongh, ahed 24, the daughter of a school-master organized an escape route through occupied France and into Spain for crashed aircrew and escaped PoWs.

In July 1940, in Britain, Chamberlain set up SOE, the Special Operations Executive, with the task of training saboteurs and sending them into Europe to organize and strengthen the resistance. Burglary, safe-breaking, hand to hand combat and silent killing were skills needed. Savile Row made suits in continental styles and the Science Museum forged papers.

Despite blunders and betrayals - the whole Dutch section of SOE in the Netherlands has been penetrated by the Nazis - the resistance movement continues to flourish in occupied Europe.
Destroyer HMS Camperdown laid down.

Corvette HMCS Budleia laid down, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Frigate HMS Jed commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Relentless commissioned.

(Dave Shirlaw)

EUROPE: Deportations of Polish Jews approach completion. Since the camps opened, 600,000 Jews have been murdered at Belzec, 360,000 at Chelmno, 250,000 at Sobibor and 840,000 at Treblinka.

BURMA: The British 123rd Brigade’s advance reaches Bawli Bazar in the Arakan Valley. The weather, which would normally clear during November, has not cooperated thus making the advance extremely difficult.

JAPAN: The German surface Raider “Thor” is destroyed by fire in Yokohama Harbour. The fire started in her supply ship UCKERMARK (formerly ALTMARK). A spark generated during work on UCKERMARK’s fuel tanks caused an explosion and fire. From January through October, 1942 the Thor sank 10 merchant ships for 56,000 tons. (85)(Alex Gordon)

NEW GUINEA: The US forces attacking Buna make their first significant gains.

Angered by slow progress in the final stages of the Papuan campaign, General MacArthur has told Lt-Gen Robert Eichelberger, the commanding general of US 1 Corps, to take charge of a force no larger than a division at Buna. “I want you to take Buna, or not come back alive,” said MacArthur. He offered inducements as well. He said that if Eichelberger captured Buna he would give him a Distinguished Service Cross and “recommend him for a British decoration.” Buna was believed to be “easy pickings”, but the Japanese survivors of Kokoda are putting up a fanatical last-ditch stand.

PORTUGESE TIMOR: At about 9am and 120 miles from their objective, the three ships of the flotilla to remove the 2/2nd Company AIF from Timor are attacked by a single Japanese bomber. More follow. Captain Sullivan of HMAS Castlemaine signals Darwin requesting fighter cover. The Allied fighters arrive and manage to drive off most of the Japanese attackers, however, the corvettes will not make Timor tonight for the planned pick up. Kuru becomes detached during the night but arrives at Bentano Bay safely some hours ahead of time and embarks 77 Portugese and one AIF stretcher case: with no sign of the corvettes Kuru sails at 1am tomorrow. (William L. Howard)(188, 189, 190, 191)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: At 9:40 pm the Japanese steam past Savo Island headed for their supply drop on Guadalcanal. These 8 destroyers are loaded with supplies in drums lashed to their decks their torpedo reloads are left behind. At the same time US naval TF 67 enters the eastern end of Lengo Channel. At 2308 the US radar shows 7 - 8 ships. The Japanese spot the US ships, without radar, at 2312. The US destroyers fire torpedos at 2320 and their cruisers open fire at 2321. Japanese torpedos are fired at 2323. At 2327 the Japanese torpedos begin to strike. The losses in this battle are one Japanese destroyer, Takanami. US losses are severe damage to 3 cruisers, and the loss of the USS Northampton.

Japanese Admiral Tanaka received much of the credit for the Japanese success in the Battle of Tassafaronga. It should be noted that Captain Sato Torojiro was in command of the Japanese destroyer division that many credit with launching the successful torpedos. Capt Sato finds himself mentioned in 1990’s US fiction (Tom Clancy, A Debt of Honor, Chapter 13).

As a final note to the Battle of Tassafaronga, the last of the 13 US “treaty cruisers” has been sunk or damaged around Guadalcanal. These ships will not participate in any further night battles in the Solomon Islands.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Giffard laid down.
Trawler HMS Manitoulin arrived Halifax from builder Midland, Ontario.

Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave arrived Halifax from builder Port Arthur, Ontario.

Minesweeper HMCS Quinte damaged after running aground entrance to St. Peter’s Canal, Cape Breton. Quinte had just completed a 6-week refit before she went aground and was beached to prevent outright sinking. Salvage operations were conducted over the winter of ‘43 but her repairs were not completed until Jun 44, after which she was assigned to training duties at Cornwallis , Nova Scotia.. Qunite’s loss came at a critical time in the war, when every escort was desperately needed. The extremely rapid expansion of the RCN contributed significantly to several such incidents. A total of 48 Bangor-class ships were built for the RCN and a further 6, that were built for the RN in Vancouver, British Columbia. were transferred to the RCN. Canadian Bangors were used mainly as escorts but they performed poorly in this capacity. They were wet ships due to their bluff bows making them even more unpleasant ships to sail in than the corvettes, which were horrible. The Bangor’s had an endurance of 2,800 miles at 10 knots on 160 tons of fuel.

Like corvettes, the Bangor’s were small enough to be built in Great Lakes shipyards and they did provide a capability that the Flower’s did not. Bangors built in Canada were fitted with gyros, whereas Flower-class corvettes were not — one of the worth instances of bureaucratic bungling in wartime naval construction. Mines were only laid in Canadian waters once during the War, in 1943. 16 Canadian Bangors were present at D-Day and played a major part in mine clearance operations prior to the landings.

Destroyer HMCS Iroquois commissioned.
Frigate HMCS Valleyfield laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMCS Midland arrived Liverpool , Nova Scotia. for refit.

(Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Herbert C Jones, Baron, Acree laid down.

Submarine USS Mingo launched. (Dave Shirlaw)