HITLER CHANGES ARMY, AIR, NAVY CHIEFS; U.S. TANKS, GUNS BRACE ALLIES IN TUNISIA (12/11/42)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 12/11/42 | David Anderson, Raymond Daniell, F. Tillman Durdin, Brooks Atkinson, Hanson W. Baldwin

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Papua, New Guinea, 1942
The Solomons: Guadalcanal and Florida, 1942
Southwest Russia, 1942: Soviet Winter Offensive, Operations, 19 November-12 December 1942
North Africa, 1941: Pursuit to Tunisia, November 1942-February 1943
Tunisia 1942: The Race for Tunisia-Situation 1 January 1943, and Operations Since 17 November 1942
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Elite Guard Gains – 2
Britain to Unchain Nazis Tomorrow (Anderson) – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Rain Slows Battle (Daniell) – 4
Japanese Repulsed at Buna after Gona Falls to Allies – 5
Buna Beach Fight Led by Sergeant (Durdin) * – 5-6
General Chennault is Optimistic on China’s Prospects of Victory (Atkinson) – 6-7
Tojo Says Japan Can Win in Pacific – 7
Poles Ask Allies to Halt Slaughter – 8
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 9-10
Atlantic Convoy Needs (Baldwin) – 10

* Staff Sergeant Herman Botcher was a platoon leader in G Co., 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd I.D. He received a battlefield commission and eventually was promoted to Major. He was killed in action on Dec. 30, 1944 on Leyte Island. Before he died the German-born Bottcher learned that by a special act of Congress he had been granted U.S. citizenship.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/dec42/f11dec42.htm

“Tokyo Express” suffers heavy losses
Friday, December 11, 1942 www.onwar.com

Japanese dead washed ashore [photo at link]

In the Solomon Islands... Japanese Admiral Tanaka’s “Tokyo Express” again attempts the delivery of supplies to the Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. The cargo is dropped over board and only 1/4 of it reaches the troops on shore. Machine gun fire from US PT boats sinks much of it. One of the Japanese destroyers is sunk by the defenders as well.

In North Africa... The British 8th Army begins to advance after a halt for resupply and reorganization.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

December 11th, 1942

UNITED KINGDOM:
Frigate HMS Calder laid down.

Submarine HMS Tradewind launched.

Minesweeper HMS Hound commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: U-858, U-1164 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Vinnitsa: Hitler refuses to allow the Sixth Army to pull out of Stalingrad.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Whilst escorting convoy MKF.4, destroyer HMS Blean is attacked and sunk by U-443 (Oberleutnant zur See Konstantin von Puttkamer), 60 miles West of Oran at 35 55N 01 50E. 94 survivors are rescued by HMS Wishart. (Alex Gordon)(108)

NORTH AFRICA: German attacks beginning yesterday at Medjez el Bab continue today. The British 8th Army begins its westward advance again from eastern Libya.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: Tonight another “Tokyo Express” run with 11 destroyers is lead by Admiral Tanaka. One destroyer is sunk by the US PT Boats. Only 300 of the 1200 drums of supplies reach Japanese forces.

[BroJoeK]

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December 11, 1942:

• "Jewish inmates of a labor camp at Lutsk, Ukraine, are informed by a Christian woman that the camp is about to be liquidiated.
  The Jews quickly plan a revolt; See December 12, 1942. "

Gestapo" Müller

"With the nickname "Gestapo" Müller, Heinrich Müller embodied to many Germans the feared Secret State Police.

"A decorated fighter pilot in the Great War, Müller afterward joined the Munich police department, becoming the department's authority on communism and left-wing movements.
His zeal and knowledge of the Communist Party brought him recognition from Reinhard Heydrich, who advanced Müller's career within the Bavarian police.
In 1936 Heydrich appointed him chief of Gestapo Division II and charged him with finding internal enemies of the Reich.

"In 1939 Müller succeeded Heydrich as Gestapo chief, a position he held until the Nazis' defeat.
A participant at the Wannsee Conference, Müller was deeply involved in the mass extermination of Jews. In October 1939 he commissioned Adolf Eichmann to begin the deportation of Austrian Jews to the Lublin-Nisko region.

"Devoted to Hitler, Müller was relentless in tracking down those who had participated in the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt against the Führer.
Müller was at Hitler's side during his last days in the Berlin bunker, but he disappeared at the end of the war.
Thinly supported rumors maintained that Müller found sanctuary in South America or the Middle East."

"Founder of the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (National Socialist Movement), engineer Anton Mussert sought to steer a middle path within the right wing in the Netherlands.
He was grudgingly rewarded for his loyalty to the Reich in late 1942 when the Nazis appointed him "Leader of the Dutch People," a position of no real authority.
Mussert was never fully trusted by the Nazi authorities, partly because he was opposed to Nazi measures against the Jews.
At the same time, he was hated by his own people because he collaborated with the Nazis."

"The Nazis murdered their victims in a variety of ways, not just by shooting and gassing.
This Jewish man, an inmate at the Belzec extermination camp, was forced into an ice hole, where he froze to death.
Many camp guards became notorious for their cruelty, trying to outdo each other in devising fiendish methods of killing their victims."

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[GeronL]

always a good sign when the other team changes assistant coaches during the game

[Colonel_Flagg]

I am unable to find any evidence in the historical record of Zeitzler belonging to the SS or serving with Himmler. Apropos of nothing, but the headlines did get me to wondering.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

You remind me we haven’t heard from PzLdr for quite a while. I hope he is recovered from Sandy. Anyway, his expertise would help here.

[Colonel_Flagg]

As do I. I hope he recovered well.

All the pictures I’ve ever seen of Zeitzler showed him as Heer.