Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 28 Sept–4 Oct 1942: The Aleutian Islands

Posted on October 3, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 30 September 1942, the Japanese launched the first of a series of air raids against Adak, an island in the Aleutian chain which was and is part of Alaska and therefore US ‘home territory.’ Earlier … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 21–27 September 1942: The Kokoda Trail

Posted on September 27, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 25 September 1942, the Australians launched a counter-offensive along the Kokoda Trail, the path over the Owen Stanley mountains in Papua New Guinea, and attacked Ioribaiwa. Japanese forces were overwhelmed and, two days later, they … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 14–20 September 1942: Battle of Stalingrad approaches its dramatic climax

Posted on September 20, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 14 September 1942, infantry of von Paulus’s Sixth Army broke through the Soviet lines and into the centre of Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad was approaching its climax. The following day, hundreds of Stuka … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 7–13 September 1942: Arctic convoys

Posted on September 13, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 12 September 1942, U-boats and the Luftwaffe launched attacks, which continued for several days, against important Allied convoys heading through the Arctic Ocean towards Murmansk—–most notably against outbound convoy PQ18. Convoy PQ18, which was … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 31 Aug–6 Sept 1942: The Battle of Alam Halfa

Posted on September 6, 2014 by secondbysecond

The Battle of Alam Halfa was fought in the Egyptian desert between 31 August and 6 September 1942. This was a defensive battle designed to blunt Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps offensive and to prepare the way for the British Eighth … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 24–30 August 1942: Annexation of Luxembourg

Posted on August 30, 2014 by secondbysecond

This picture of Heinrich Himmler with Waffen-SS officers was taken in 1940, shortly after the German Blitzkrieg rolled over the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg (the entire country being roughly 50 miles × 35 miles in size). The capital city fell within … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 17–23 August 1942: The Dieppe Raid

Posted on August 19, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, in the early hours of 19 August 1942, Allied troops raided the port of Dieppe in German-occupied France. The raiding force included British and Americans but was overwhelming Canadian. Before the morning was over, the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 10–16 August 1942: The Manhattan Project

Posted on August 11, 2014 by secondbysecond

The Manhattan Project—the project to build an atomic bomb—was launched secretly, this week in the war, on 13 August 1942. The project involved scientists from the USA and Great Britain, including many Jewish scientists who had fled Nazi-occupied Europe. The task … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 3–9 August 1942: Monty is put in charge

Posted on August 9, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 4 August 1942, Churchill arrived in Cairo to visit the front. He found no fault with the troops or even much fault with the equipment. The problem, he concluded, was at the top. Churchill had lost … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 27 July–2 August 1942: Chiang Kai-shek & Vinegar Joe

Posted on August 2, 2014 by secondbysecond

The Japanese had already swept through much of Burma and were well on the way to India. This week in the war, 1 August 1942, Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek agreed to a proposal by American Lieutenant General Joseph W. … Continue reading →

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