Battle of the Atlantic

The French submarine Rubis sinks the Finnish steamer Hogland (4360t) southwest of Stavanger, Norway.

Eastern Front

Hitler revises the instructions given in Direcetive No. 34. He says, "The most important objective to be achieved before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow but the seizure of the Crimea. . . ." Besides securing Crimean wheat and occupying the Donetz basin, the German armies must also cut off the Russians from their oil supplies in the Caucasus.

In the north the Germans take Chudovo, northeast of Novgorod, cutting the main rail link between Leningrad and Moscow. In the Finnish attacks farther north Kexholm is taken from the Soviets. On the Leningrad front, the defenders occupy a salient some 12 miles wide and about 120 miles deep. The Soviet commander orders his troops to withdraw from the salient to avoid being encircled. Marshal Voroshilov calls on the people of Leningrad to defend their city at all costs.

In the central sector the Soviets pull out of Gomel after a long struggle and a series of counterattacks. The German 6th Army and I Panzergruppe begin the battle for Kiev.

In the south the Germans take Kherson on the lower Dniepr.

The Finnish II Corps captures Kexholm and advances into the rear of the Soviet 23rd Army.

The German X and LVI Panzer Corps continur to bludgeon the 34th Army around Lake Ilmen.

The 2nd Panzer Group continues its offensive operations, XXIV Panzer Corps taking Kostobobr and the XLVII Panzer Corps lunging toward Pochep. The German 2nd Army forces the Soviet 21st Army out of Gomel.

As the Soviet 5th Army withdraws to the Dnieper, the SS Leibstandarte Div captures Kherson.[MORE]

Germany, Strategy

Hitler revises his Directive 34, giving priority fo economic objectives. Army Group South will now capture Kharkov and the Donbas region after capturing Kief, prior to seizing the Caucasus oil fields at Maikop and Grozny. But the logistics of such an enterprise are vast and daunting.

Occupied France

A German naval cadet name Moser is shot and killed in the subway station of Barbès-Rochechouart in Paris. He is the first German military casualty in France since the armistice.