http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/dec42/f26dec42.htm
German Army Group Don retreating
Saturday, December 26, 1942 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... Manstein’s forces are in full retreat south the Don River, the Soviet advance nears Kotelnikovo.
In Free French North Africa... General Giraud is chose as French High Commissioner. Admrial Darlan’s assassin is executed.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
December 26th, 1942
NORWAY: Clergy read from the pulpit a message attacking Nazi persecution of the Jews.
U.S.S.R.: German forces south of the Don, under Manstein, are in full retreat as the Soviet advance nears Kotelnikovo.
ALGERIA: Algiers: General Henri Giraud has been chosen as French High Commissioner for North Africa. The appointment was made by the French imperial council here, but the choice was approved by the Allied High Command.
Spokesman for General Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French in London, commented favourably on Giraud’s appointment yesterday, although Giraud is a potential rival to de Gaulle with whom he has a chilly relationship.
Bonnier de la Chapelle, the assassin of Admiral Darlan is executed by firing squad.
FRENCH SOMALILAND: Free French troops enter the colony from British Somaliland and take the railway between Djibouti and Addis Ababa.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Guadalcanal: The US XIV Corps, backed by artillery and air power, is facing fierce resistance on Mount Austen as it advances from Henderson Field. Major-General Alexander Patch, whose XIV Corps relieved the Marines on 9 December, says that possession of Mount Austen is vital to any future offensive. His troops, clearing enemy positions, say that malaria and hunger are rife among the Japanese, a sure sign that their supplies are running low with few Japanese ships able to outrun the US naval blockade.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Sudbury arrived Liverpool, Nova Scotia for refit. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The British destroyers HMS HESPERUS and HMS VANESSA, escorting convoy HX-219, sink U-357 NW of Ireland, in position 57.10N, 15.40W, by depth charges.
Canadian-escorted convoy ONS-154 loses 14 ships to German U-boats in mid-Atlantic; gets 32 to Britain by Dec 30. (Dave Shirlaw)
“Admrial Darlan’s assassin is executed.”
Per Wiki, in Dec. 1945, a French court ruled that Fernand Bonnier de la Chapelle assassinated Darlan in the effort to free France.
I guess that’s the French version of a posthumous pardon.
As the flashes of gunfire die away to the southwest, the Germans of 6th Army know it’s over....