In Stalingrad the initial German advance into the rubble of the city had stalled. Hitler now summoned Paulus, the German commander, to his headquarters where he explained his plans for a fresh offensive, which was launched on 13 September. At the same time, General Chuikov was put in charge of the city’s defences. Meanwhile on… Read more »Read more

In the Western Desert, Rommel’s forces continued their attempt to break through the British lines at Alam el Halfa but were driven back with heavy losses. Rommel eventually called off the attack on 5 September. In Stalingrad German ground troops entered the suburbs of the devastated city and met with fierce resistance. And on 5… Read more »Read more

The German air force bombed the city of Stalingrad this week as German forces began to encircle it; soon the city would be effectively isolated on the eastern bank of the Volga. On Tuesday 25 August a flying boat, flying from Cromarty Firth to Duncansby Head and thence on to Iceland, inexplicably flew inland and… Read more »Read more

With American forces now occupying part of Guadalcanal Island in the Pacific, the first US fighter planes could land on 20 August. The next day the Japanese launched a suicidal attack on the airfield; nearly 800 Japanese soldiers were killed. On 19 August some 6,086 Allied soldiers, mostly Canadian, attacked Dieppe in northern France; the… Read more »Read more

In the Western Desert General Bernard Montgomery took over as the new commander of the Eighth Army on 13 August. The British and German forces faced each other at El Alamein; both sides were dug in, but while the British were close to their supply bases, Rommel’s Afrika Korps was short of fuel and supplies…. Read more »Read more

In Russia, Soviet counterattacks were slowing the advance of the German Sixth Army, which was still 60 miles from Stalingrad. In the Caucasus, German forces seized the oilfields at Maikop only to find they had been destroyed by the retreating Russians. On 7 August US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Meanwhile Churchill… Read more »Read more

The First Battle of El Alamein officially came to an end on 31 July when the British finally called off their attack on Rommel’s lines. Although it had ended in a stalemate, the battle had halted the German advance into Egypt and seriously weakened Rommel’s forces. In southern Russia, German troops crossed the Don and… Read more »Read more

The British launched a series of attacks on Rommel’s defences in the Western Desert this week, but in each case they were repulsed with heavy losses in men and tanks; with Rommel short of supplies the First Battle of El Alamein was heading towards a stalemate. In southern Russia German forces captured the city of… Read more »Read more

In the Western Desert German and Italian and British and Commonwealth forces faced each other at El Alamein in a series of skirmishes, with both sides dug in. This week the British targeted the Italians on Ruweisat Ridge, forcing Rommel to use German divisions to prop up the defence. In France, the Vichy regime rounded… Read more »Read more

In the Western Desert Rommel had broken off his attack on El Alamein and his army, far from its supply bases and short of supplies, was now digging in; the British Eighth Army in contrast was refitting and preparing to go on the offensive. Meanwhile in Russia the Soviet high command believed that Moscow to… Read more »Read more