Churchill or Stalin? - Europe 1942
May 29 - FDR promised Molotov a Second Front "this year"
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- Paulus and 6th Army had begun BLUE May 8, taken Kharkov May 22
- images of Eastern Front - map of Caucusus oil fields
June 20 - 2nd Washington conference began at Hyde Park
June 21 - fall of Tobruk to the Afrika Corps (under Rommel since El Agheila in Feb.)
- German parachute landing portrayed in The English Patient film
- images of North African Campaign
- Rommel won approval to invade Egypt rather than Kesselring's Malta, and by July was only 70 miles from Alexandria
- This was the high point of Rommel's career; even the British troops began to sing "Lili Marlene" song
- U.S. sent 300 Sherman tanks for defense of El Alamein
- Churchill won censure motion July 2 in Parliament 476-25
- Churchill replaced Auchinleck with Harold Alexander, and gave 8th Army to Bernard Montgomery (his first choice of W.H.E. Gott was killed in plane crash)
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July 7 - Paulus took the "hinge of Voronezh"
July 22 - TORCH decision - "blackest day in history" (Ike)
- CCS unable to resolve debate until FDR gave in to Churchill July 28
- 2nd Front postponed; 1st priority was invasion of North Africa, now called TORCH
- Ike chosen Aug. 8 to head TORCH
Aug. 12 - Churchill flew to Moscow to meet with Stalin
- Arctic convoys had been stopped since loss of PQ17 in June, "one of the most melancholy episodes of the war" according to Churchill - see Merchant Marine page on convoys
- Churchill learned in Moscow of Stalin's URANUS counteroffensive plans
Aug. 15 - Malta reinforced in preparation for TORCH. "In mid-August 'Operation Pedestal', the convoy which was to mark the turning point in Malta's for Tunis was carried out. Known to the people of Malta as the 'Santa Marija' convoy, since it was concluded on the great feast of the Assumption of our Lady, 15 August, the story of Pedestal has been well documented (Peter Smith. Pedestal: The Malta Covoy of August 1942. Kimber 1970), in particular the saga of the tanker OHIO. The Malta Minesweeping Force paid a vital part in bringing the crippled tanker into Malta." (quote from Minesweeping at Malta)
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Aug. 17 - 1st bombing raid of German forces at Rouen in France by American 8th Air Force
- but American planes diverted to North Africa
Sept. 22 - Monty learned from Enigma that Rommel was removed to Germany due stomach ailment, replaced by Georg Stumme; he would return to North Africa Oct. 25 but too late to stop Brit. attack Nov. 4 in south against weak Italian tanks, causing Rommel to disobey Hitler's "stand fast" order and retreat
Sept. 25 - FDR dedicated Camp Pendleton - image
Oct. 14 - bloodiest day at Stalingrad
- Germans advanced to the Tractor Factory on the Volga
 in France 1940; has just escaped from German prison, fled 200 miles to Switzerland, went to see Petain in Vichy from ILN cover 1942/05/09 |
Oct. 23 - Robert Murphy persuaded Vichy in N. Africa to accept Giraud's authority
- covert deals by Donovan & "12 Disciples" - OSS William Eddy spent $2 million
- dilemma of supporting De Gaulle's Free French or Petain's Vichy French - March of Time newsreel "Fighting French" released Oct. 1942
Nov. 3 - midterm elections in U.S. - Republicans gained some seats, but Democrats kept control of Congress
Nov. 4 - Monty's breakthrough at El Alamein
 from ILN 1943/07/10 |
- battle lasted 13 days since Oct. 23 - ULTRA helped British
- Brit. had 195,000, 1351 tanks, 1900 artillery
- Ger. would lose half of its 100,000 troops, and most of its 500 tanks, 1325 artillery
- victory was the turning point for the peripheral strategy
- Churchill said "before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."
- Rommel advised Hitler to pull out of North Africa, but Hitler refused
- Hitler would send 100,000 reinforcements to Tunisia by November
North African landings began Nov. 8
Battle of Russia from Why We Fight
Official Lili Marlene web site and lyrics