August 21st, 1942 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: At Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold's request, Lieutenant General Dwight D Eisenhower gives Major General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General 8th Air Force, additional duties as Air Officer for the European Theatre of Operations US Army (ETOUSA) and head of the air section of its staff, thus assuring active participation by the US 8th Air Force in theatre planning.
In England, the US 8th Air Force flies Mission 4: 12 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to the bomb the shipyards at Rotterdam, the Netherlands but the mission is aborted due to an attack by 25 Bf 109s and Fw 190s; the bombers claim 2-5-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; lack of proper coordination with the USAAF Spitfire escorts is a major factor in the failure of the mission.
Light cruiser HMS Bermuda commissioned.
FRANCE: Marshal Petain congratulates the Germans on their defence of French soil during the Allied raid on Dieppe.
GERMANY: U-771, U-853 and 1061 laid down.
U.S.S.R.:
German Army Group A has reached Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.German soldiers plant the swastika on top of Mount
Elbruz, at 18,000 feet, the highest in the Caucasus.
Black
Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS
"TSch-405 "Vzrivatel"" - by field artillery, close to
Eupatoria (later raised) (Sergey Anisimov)(69)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: US Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF)
B-24s attack a convoy southwest of Crete, claiming 2 ships probably sunk; enemy fighters
attack a straggling B-24 and force it to crash land at sea.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: 2nd Btn 1st Marines from
dug in positions on the
west bank of Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal successfully stop a fanatic attack by
800 IJA
soldiers of the 28th Regiment, known as the Ichiki Detachment after its CO, Colonel Ichiki
Kiyoano. This battle becomes known to history as "The Battle of the Teneru
River" due to the incorrect and incomplete maps used by the Marines.
The battle starts about 0030 with some initial firefights. At 0200, with a green flare, a
headlong charge by Ichiki's 2nd Company begins, led by Col. Kiyoano wrapped in a
Rising Sun flag. The Marines with rifles, machine guns and
37mm canister defeat this first attack. It ends with some Japanese actually reaching
Marine foxholes and some hand to hand combat. Other attacks follow. Supported by the 75mm
artillery of 3rd Btn 11th Marines, they all fail. This battle welcomes the first aircrew
of what will become the Cactus Airforce that arrived yesterday. It also marks the first
time American soldiers have decisively beaten an attack by the IJA. Jacob Vouza, a native
coastwatcher, reaches US lines during the attack. He had been captured by the IJA earlier
and after a severe beating and a slit throat left for dead. Vouza survives and is awarded
the Silver Star by Vandegrift for his report and appointed Sgt Major in the USMC.
Later in the afternoon the 1st Btn joins 3rd Btn 1st Marines to sweep upmost of
the remaining IJA soldiers.
USMC ground troops
repulse the Japanese attack across the Ilu River; 700 of the 900 Japanese troops are
killed. The Japanese send G4M "Betty" bombers and A6M "Zeke" fighters
to attack Henderson Field. The Marines have been warned by coastwatchers and the incoming
raid is met by F4F Wildcats of VMF-223. The "Zekes" block the Marines attempt to
attack the bombers and the G4Ms bomb Henderson Field; 3 "Zekes" are shot down
and 1 F4F and 1 SBD is destroyed.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Aleutians:
A US 11th Air Force B-24 Liberator trying to fly
reconnaissance over Kiska Island aborts due to bad weather.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-506 sank SS City of Wellington.