28 November 1942

VICHY FRANCE: The Vichy admiralty issued statement on the scuttling of the fleet at Toulon. Action was taken "in accordance with the standing instruction dating from the time of the Franco-German armistice, which had ordered the fleet to scuttle rather than be taken over by a foreign power. When the Vichy Ministers for the Navy, Army, and Air Force were informed of the German Government's decision to occupy Toulon, Admiral Jean-Charles Abrial, Minister of Marine and Minister of Industrial Production int the Pierre Laval government, tried immediately to get in touch with the local authorities at Toulon, but could not do so" .

During the night of 28/29 November, RAF Bomber Command sends 19 aircraft minelaying off Bay of Biscay ports: six lay mines off St. Nazaire; five off Lorient; four off Brest; and one in the River Gronde Estuary. Five other aircraft drop leaflets over French cities.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler refuses Rommel's plea to evacuate German forces from North Africa.

The government announces that all men between the ages of 18 and 45 are now reservists. (P.T. Holscher)

U-424 launched.

U-199, U-232, U-341 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army advances in the central sector near Rzhev and opens a new offensive in Velikie Luki region.

ITALY: For the third time this month, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Turin. During the night of 28/29 November, 228 aircraft, 117 Lancasters, 47 Stirlings, 45 Halifaxes and 19 Wellingtons are dispatched: 195 bomb the target with the loss of three aircraft, two Stirlings and a Wellington. Part of the force bombs before the Pathfinders are ready but the remainder carry out very accurate bombing, some of it around the Royal Arsenal. Turin records 67 people killed and 83 injured.

The Italian submarine R. Smg. Dessie is sunk by the British destroyer HMS Quentin (G 78) and the Australian destroyer HMAS Quiberon (G 81), now part of cruiser Force Q operating out of Bone, off the Tunisian coast northwest of Bone.

TUNISIA: As German troops approach their rear, Allied forces capture Djedeida and meet firm German resistance.

The British First Army's 11th Brigade of the 78th Division and elements of Combat Command B (2d Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment), U.S. 1st Armored Division, reach the outskirts of Djedeida, 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Tunis. This is the point nearest Tunis to be reached until the final phase of the campaign. To the south, the Germans evacuate Pont-du-Fahs, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Tunis. At Gafsa, elements of the U.S. 1Ist Infantry Division (3d Battalion of Regimental Combat Team 26) are attached to the 2d Battalion, U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Thirty five USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Bizerte Airfield and dock area; because of mud, no P-38 Lightning escort is provided; two B-17s are lost to fighter attacks; B-26 Marauders bomb oil tanks, warehouses, and rail yards at Sfax, marking the debut of Twelfth Air Force medium bombers in Northwest Africa.

FRENCH SOMALILAND: Nearly one third of the Vichy-controlled garrison of Djibouti crosses into British Somaliland and declares its adherence to the Allies.

INDIAN OCEAN: MASCARENE ISLANDS: St. Denis Reunion: The LEOPARD, a Free French destroyers, berthed on this Vichy-controlled island in the Indian Ocean this morning to a jubilant, almost operatic, welcome.

After discussion with the destroyer's captain, Commander Jacques Richard, the governor, M. Aubert, ended three hours of hostilities with no casualties. This is the second blow to Vichy's colonies in two days. Yesterday troops in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, crossed the frontier into British Somaliland and placed themselves at the disposal of the Free French. Meanwhile in Vichy France the Germans are forcibly demobilising the French Armistice Army.

The 6,796 ton troop transport HMT Nova Scotia en route from Aden to Durban, South Africa, is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-177 about 132 nautical miles (244 kilometers) northeast of Durban, South Africa, in position 28.30S, 33.00E. The ship is carrying 780 Italian POWs and 130 South African troops acting as guards plus 127 crewmen. Of the 1,037 aboard, 863 are lost.

THAILAND: In the first USAAF air raid on Thailand, nine Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly 2,760 miles (4 442 kilometers) from Gaya, India, to bomb Bangkok.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the airfields at Lae and Buna; elements of the 126th Infantry Regiment, US 32d Infantry Division arrive on the Sanananda front from Wairopi.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 14,125 ton USN cargo ship USS Alchiba (AK-23) is damaged by Japanese midget submarine Ha.10 (from submarine HIJMS I-16) while she is anchored 3,000 yards (2 743 meters) northeast of Lunga Point, Guadalcanal. Her hold is loaded with drums of gasoline and ammunition, and the resulting explosion shoots flames 150 feet (46 meters) in the air. The commanding officer orders the ship to get underway to run her up on the beach and this action undoubtedly saves the ship. Hungry flames raged in the ship for over five days before weary fire fighting parties finally bring them under control. This leaves only four undamaged cargo ships in the South Pacific Force.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberator photographs a beached freighter at Holtz Bay, Attu Island and draws no antiaircraft fire during ten runs over the bay, and flies reconnaissance over Kiska Island.

CANADA: Minesweeper HMS Mariner (ex-HMCS Kincardine) and Marmion (ex-HMCS Orangeville) ordered.

U.S.A.: Admiral Carleton Wright, USN, is placed in command of US naval TF 67 replacng Admiral Kincaid. Admiral Kincaid has been transferred to the North Pacific area.

There is a fire in the Cocoanut Grove Lounge in Boston, Massachusetts. This fire flashes through the entire building. There are 492 dead. The use of Methyl Chloride gas as a substitute for freon in the cooling system is suspected of contributing to the massive lass of life. The owner of the club is convicted of several fire safety violations.

Ensigns George W. Carlson and Mac A. Cason, SC, USNR organize rescue parties to help rescue people from the fire at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Boston, MA. They are credited "the cause of saving more lives than any other single agency." A very popular venue, the club had been decorated wholesale for the holidays, and that night the place was packed with every sort of person from odd tourists to people celebrating a college football victory, and numerous military personnel. It had a 600-person occupancy permit, but about 1,000 were in there. A 16-year-old busboy lit a match to replace a bulb removed by a patron. Somehow the small flame caught a bit of an artificial palm tree decoration, and within 12 to 15 minutes the entire place was ablaze. Its two revolving doors quickly jammed shut against a mob trying to escape. En fin, 492 perished in the blaze, and another 166 were injured. Among the dead was Charles "Buck" Jones, long a very popular film actor in serial Westerns. This disaster prompted a succession of heavy-duty reforms in fire prevention and escape planning for all buildings in public use. These included requiring regular doors that opened outward on each side of any revolving door; that exits be all outward hinged, be numerous, and be marked with lit-up red EXIT signs all the time; that decorations be made of fire-resistant materials; requiring sprinkler systems; and many other reforms and changes to building code and use rules.

The first production Ford-built B-24 Liberator rolls off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In February 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed. Built specifically for Ford's war production, Willow Run is the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that has made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hopes to produce 500 B-24 Liberator bombers a month. After a gradual start, that figure is reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July 1944, the Willow Plant is producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who work at Ford's Willow Run plant have produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably has a significant impact on the course of the war.

The Air Forces Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida, is redesignated Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command.

U-67 damaged SS Empire Glade.

U-508 sank SS Empire Cromwell.

U-181 sank SS Evanthia.

U-172 sank SS Alaskan.

U-519 transferred an ill crewmember to U-118 in the mid-Atlantic.