December 3rd, 1942(THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Whilst
escorting convoy PW.257, destroyer HMS Penylan (L 89) is torpedoed and sunk by German
S-boat S-115 about 5 miles South of Start Point, Devon, at 50 08N 08 39W. There are 117 survivors.
The merchant ship Gatinais is also sunk. (Alex Gordon)(108)
Aircraft carrier HMS Venerable laid down.
GERMANY:
U.S.S.R.: Soviet troops break through German positions west of Rzhev. Several German divisions ordered transferred from western Europe begin arriving in the area of Army Group Don southwest of Stalingrad in preparation of Operation WINTER TEMPEST, the relief of the encircled Sixth Army
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: A Royal Navy force of three cruisers and two destroyers caught an Axis convoy laden with reinforcements including tanks headed for North Africa at night. RAF aircraft dropped illumination flares, and radar-controlled gunnery proved devastating, sinking the four ships in the convoy plus its escort.
TUNISIA: The 10th Panzer Division withdraws from both Djedeida and Tebourba, Tunisia.
Tebourba: Maj. Herbert Wallace Le Patourel (1916-79), Hampshire Regt., led four men who, after silencing several guns, all became casualties. He fought on alone until his capture. (Victoria Cross)
ALGERIA: Algiers: Allied troops advancing towards Tunis came face to face with a monster new weapon today - 56-ton "Tiger" tanks mounting 88mm guns. Hitler has sent five of these giants to Tunisia as an "experiment". Two of them played a significant part in a major defeat at Terbourba today.
Bad weather and the ferocity of German dive-bombing attacks slowed down the two-pronged offensive, with American officers complaining to Lt-Gen Eisenhower during a visit to the front line about the lack of Allied air cover. "Why do we see nothing but Heinies?" asked one.
General Nehring, the German commander, had reacted quickly to the Allied advance. Small detachments, mostly paratroopers, raced to take the vital towns of Sousse, Sfax and Gabes from bewildered French garrisons.
The main Allied thrust along the hilly coastal road was checked by a German ambush at Djefna. British and American commandos landed on the coast to the east of this battle and blocked the road, but a fresh assault failed to relieve them and they were forced to withdraw.
In Tunis, Field Marshal Kesselring ordered Nehring to be more aggressive. On 1 December, 40 tanks with anti-tank weapons advanced on the town. Repulsed at first by artillery fire, Nehring called up every available unit. Although much of the Allied "Blade Force" managed to escape over mountain roads, the Germans have captured more than 1,000 prisoners and more than 50 tanks.
The Germans continue to attack Tebourba and occupy it during the night of 3/4 December. The 11th Brigade, British 78th Division, whose positions are penetrated, withdraws with heavy losses to the region north of Medjez el Bab. Combat Command B, U.S. 1st Armored Division, engages the Germans on the El Guessa heights, southwest of Tebourba. To the south, French and U.S. forces capture Faid Pass. .
USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the docks and shipping at Bizerte harbor; radar warns the Germans of the approach of the bombers and Bf 109s jump the escorting P-38 Lightnings shooting down three with two more missing; two Bf 109s are shot down. DB-7 Bostons, with P-38s as escort, bomb the El Aouina Airfield. Spitfires and P-38s fly patrols and photographic reconnaissance over wide areas of Northwest Africa, and carry out fighter sweeps during which several ground targets, including Gabes Airfield, are attacked.
NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the situation of the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment roadblock on the Soputa-Sanananda trail remains precarious as the Japanese continue to attack it repeatedly from all sides and to prevent the forward movement of Allied units attempting to reach it. On the Urbana Force (two battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division) and Warren Force (based on U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) fronts, troops are being rested and regrouped in preparation for all-out attack on 5 December. U.S. Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, Commanding General I Corps, requests that the 126th Infantry Regiment headquarters be moved east of the Girua River and is promised Australian troops and tanks. The Japanese are successfully supplied by air.
In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs, B-25 Mitchells and P-40 Airacobras bomb and strafe Sanananda Point and the Buna areas and attack a small torpedo boat in Dyke Acland Bay. During the night of 3/4 December, B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb airfields at Lae and Salamaua.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Admiral Tanaka brings 10 Japanese destroyers to Guadalcanal in another Tokyo Express Run. 300 of 1500 drums loaded with supplies actually reach Guadalcanal.
On Guadalcanal, the movement of the Aola Force, less 2d Marine Raider Battalion, to Koli Point, where an airfield is to be constructed, is completed. The Aola Force is joined by the 18th Naval Construction Battalion and the rest of 9th Marine Defense Battalion.
On New Georgia Island, the Japanese are discovered to be constructing an airfield at Munda Point, which becomes a target for almost daily air attacks.
Eight USMC SBD Dauntlesses, seven USMC TBF Avengers and USAAF P-39 Airacobras and USMC F4F Wildcats attack the Tokyo Express in New Georgia Sound; the destroyer HIJMS Makinami is slightly damaged. The Japanese throw some 1,500 supply canisters overboard for their troops on Guadalcanal, but only 310 reach the intended recipients. In the air, ten "Pete" seaplanes (Mitsubishi F1M, Navy Type 0 Observation Seaplanes) are shot down, six by USMC F4F pilots and four by USAAF P-39 pilots at 1830 hours local. U.S. losses are one TBF, one SBD and one fighter.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomons Sea, a lone USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses attacks a submarine 75 miles (121 kilometers) southeast of Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago.
NEW GEORGIA: US bombers start intensive attacks on Munda Point to prevent Japan from building an airfield.
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Cootamundra launched.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Japanese light cruisers HIJMS Abukuma and Kiso and destroyer HIJMS Wakaba, land 1,115 troops of the 302nd Battalion on Kiska.
Two USAAF Eleventh Air Force bombers and several fighters fly reconnaissance over Semichi Islands and the Japanese held Kiska and Attu Islands. There is a constant air alert for US forces on Adak.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "You Were Never Lovelier" opens at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Directed by William A. Seiter, this musical comedy stars Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Xavier Cugat and Larry Parks. The film is nominated for three music Academy Awards including Best Music for the song "Dearly Beloved."
Destroyer escort USS Sturtevant launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: