November 27th, 1942 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: French Brigadier General Charles-André de Gaulle, Commander in Chief Free French Forces, broadcasts from London a message to the French people stating that the Toulon fleet had scuttled itself to be spared "the supreme shame of seeing French ships become the ships of the enemy." "Patriotic instincts" had swayed the spirits of the crews and their commanders.
Minesweepers HMS Combatant and Cynthia launched.
FRANCE: Toulon: French sailors opened the seacocks today to scuttle the mighty French fleet and save it from German hands. Two battleships, a battle cruiser, seven cruisers, 29 destroyers and two submarines sank to the bottom of Toulon harbour as frustrated Germans watched.
Admiral Darlan had "advised" that the fleet should join the Allies in North Africa, but its commander, Admiral de Laborde, hesitated as he awaited confirmation from Petain. An emissary from Darlan carrying firm orders was captured by the Germans. A bewildered de Labonte remained unconvinced that the Germans were preparing to seize his ships - the Wehrmacht and the SS had shrewdly left the Toulon base unoccupied when they marched into Vichy France, although they had prepared a plan for capturing the fleet intact. The Germans put their plan into effect last night. The harbour was mined and E-boats were poised to land troops on the ships. When the sun rose this morning, some 70 craft would fight for neither side.
In London, Winston Churchill had hoped fervently for the fleet to come over. "If I could meet Darlan, much as I hate him, I would crawl on my hands and knees for a mile if I could get him to bring that fleet of his into the circle of Allied forces", he said.
NETHERLANDS: During the day, two RAF Bomber Command (A-20) Bostons bomb a steel factory at Ijmuiden. During the night of 27/28 November, five RAF Bomber Command bombers lay mines off Texel Island.
VICHY FRANCE is occupied by the German II SS Panzer Corps.
FRANCE: The port of Toulon is occupied by the German 7th Panzer Division, supported by the SS Battalion Langemarck (from the "Das Reich" division) and the 10th Panzer Division. Forewarned, Admiral Jean de Laborde, commander of the high seas fleet, orders his fleet scuttled and three battleships, seven cruisers 16 submarines and 50 other craft lie on the bottom of the harbor. He ensures that all ships scuttled will rest on even keels in the hope that some day they can be salvaged to sail for France again. It is not the French, but Italian engineers who are the first to salvage the ships. In nine months, Italian engineers are able to salvage 30 ships. They then confiscated the 30 vessels along with everything that is salvageable above the waterline. Some items confiscated are the aircraft catapult and turret armor of the Battle Cruiser Strasbourg, and the interior fittings of the battleship Dunkerque. Seven French destroyers and a submarine are either towed or sail on their own power to ports in Italy.
During the night of 27/28 November, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft lays mines in the River Gironde Estuary.
GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 32 Lancasters and Stirlings to bomb Stettin but they are recalled and jettison their bombs in the North Sea.
DODECANESE ISLANDS: Six USAAF Ninth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Portolago Bay, Leros Island, hitting two vessels.
TUNISIA: An allied column approaches Bizerta.
Tebourba, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Tunis, falls to the 11h Brigade of the 78th Division, British First Army. A German counterattack on the town, supported by tanks and dive bombers, is thrown back. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, is attached to the British First Army. Today also marks the first use of Tiger tanks in North Africa when the first arriving parts of s.Pz.Abt. 501 attack the British positions. .
HONG KONG: Ten B-25 Mitchells and 20+ P-40s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force, the largest CATF effort in China to date, hit shipping and harbor installations at Hong Kong, firing warehouses and claiming two freighters and numerous barges sunk; a large force of fighters intercept during the return trip but are driven off by the escort; the Americans claim several airplanes shot down.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Japanese reinforcements reach Buna losing one destroyer during the night.
A three-day lull begins as preparations are made for renewing the attack.
Thirteen Japanese "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) bomb and strafe an Australian medical dressing station and a U.S. casualty clearing station at Soputa. Twenty two Australians and six Americans are killed.
USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders pound the Buna area, hitting buildings, the airfield, and other targets, as Allied ground forces prepare to renew attacks in the Buna-Gona area.
AUSTRALIA: In the early hours of the morning, a flight of heavy Japanese bombers drop a large number of bombs on RAAF Coomalie Creek Airfield in the Northern Territory. Most of them land in the bush adjacent to the airfield. Only two or three bombs hit the runway, but the holes are easily filled in after the raid.
CANADA: Corvette HMCS The Pas arrived Liverpool , Nova Scotia for refit.
Escort carrier HMCS Patroller laid down.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: USAAF Eleventh Air Force photo reconnaissance covers Kiska, Amchitka and Attu Islands. A ship attacked in Holtz Bay on Attu Island yesterday is observed lower in the water and still burning.
U.S.A.: Destroyer escorts USS Bebas, Carlson, Donnell, Griswold, Steele laid down.
Corvette USS Pert launched.
VENEZUELA: Diplomatic relations with Vichy France are severed.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: