Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 20–26 July 1942: The fall of Rostov

Posted on July 25, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 24 July 1942, Army Group A captured Rostov. Large numbers of Soviet troop formations were encircled or destroyed. The Germans attacked the city not only from the north but also from the east, where the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 13–19 July 1942: La rafle du Vel d’Hiv—The roundup of the Velodrome d’Hiver

Posted on July 18, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 16-17 July 1942, German troops aided by French police arrested 13,000 Parisian Jews that were without French citizenship and imprisoned them in the Vélodrome d’Hiver, the famous Paris cycling stadium near the Eiffel Tower. [‘Bicycle’ translates … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 6–12 July 1942: Summer offensive against Stalingrad

Posted on July 11, 2014 by secondbysecond

The German army had taken Sevastopol, thereby eliminating any threat to its right flank, and was continuing its summer offensive deep into southern Russia. (Kharkov had already fallen in May.) This week in the war, the Germans had broken through … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 29 June–5 July 1942: Mussolini eyes Egypt

Posted on June 27, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 29 June 1942, Benito Mussolini flew from Italy to North Africa. The Duce piloted his own plane. Given Rommel’s spectacular advance and the fall of Tobruk, Mussolini was convinced that Axis forces would arrive in Egypt within days. (15 … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 15–21 June 1942: The Fall of Tobruk

Posted on June 21, 2014 by secondbysecond

So far, 1942 had gone badly for the British, the most notable disaster being the fall of Singapore. But Churchill had resupplied the Eighth Army in North Africa and was hoping that Ritchie would achieve the kind of victory against … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 8–14 June 1942: Japanese mini-subs attack Sydney harbour

Posted on June 13, 2014 by secondbysecond

In the latter part of May and the early weeks of June 1942, Japanese midget submarines attacked shipping in Sydney harbour. Although originally designed for harassing enemy surface vessels during large-scale fleet actions, the Japanese mini-subs were used almost exclusively … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 1–7 June 1942: The Battle of Midway

Posted on June 3, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 4–7 June 1942, only one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, American and Japanese carrier task forces again locked horns in what would become one of the most decisive battles of the war … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 25–31 May 1942: Cologne—the thousand-bomber raid

Posted on May 29, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, at midnight on the night of 30/31 May 1942, Churchill announced to his dinner guests at Chequers that the RAF was, at that very moment, striking Cologne with over a thousand bombers. The guests included … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 18–24 May 1942: Mexico enters the war

Posted on May 19, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 22 May 1942, Mexico declared war on the Axis powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan. In the early part of the twentieth century, Mexico had been blighted by a decade-long revolution, by further uprisings against … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 11-17 May 1942: The Biltmore Program

Posted on May 15, 2014 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 11 May 1942, an extraordinary six-day conference held at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City came to an end. The conference laid out a program, called the Biltmore Program, whose purpose was to … Continue reading →

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