Battle of the Atlantic

In attacks on Convoy HG-75 U-564 sinks the British steamers Carsbreck (3670t), Ariosto (2176t) and Alhama (1532t) about 300 miles west of Gibraltar. The Carsbreck loses 24 crewmen, 18 survivors are picked up by the French minesweeper Commandant Duboc. 6 of the crew are lost from the Ariosto, 45 survivors are picked up by the Swedish steamer Pacific and the British destroyer escort Lamerton. All 33 of the crew of the Alham are also picked up by the French minesweeper.

Eastern Front

A joint attack by the German 6th and 17th Armies succeeds in taking Kharkov. The 1st Panzergruppe under von Kleist advances into the Donetz basin.

NORTHERN SECTOR

Heavy fighting erupts around Leningrad as the Leningrad Front launches its Sinyavino operation. Despite repeated attacks, Soviet units are repelled by the well dug-in German divisions. Gen Fedyuninsky is placed in command of the 54th Army as the incompetent Marshal Kulik is sacked.

The city of Torzok becomes the focus of intense fighting between the 3rd Panzer Group and the Soviet Kalinin Front in the battle for Moscow. As the XXIV Panzer Corps captures Chern, and the LIII Corps takes Belev, the battered Bryansk Front is ordered to withdraw to cover the southern approaches to Moscow. The German 9th Army, having taken part in the reduction of the Vyazma Pocket, redeploys to join the 3rd Panzer Group's efforts around Kalinin.

As the 2nd Panzer Army penetrates Soviet positions south of Moscow, the XXIV Panzer Corps taking Chern and the LIII Corps Belev, the Stavka order Eremenko to pull back to a line between Tula and Yelets to cover the southern approaches. However, the Bryansk Front has suffered crippling casualties in the fighting around Bryansk and Orel and is close to disintegration. The XXIV Panzer has also suffered heavy losses and is so short of fuel that its remaining supplies are given up to Brigade Eberbach, which henceforth forms the spearhead of the 2nd Panzer Army;s assault upon Moscow. Heavy fighting continues in Naro-Fominsk.

Having completed the destruction of the Vyazma pocket, the 9th Army has redeployed and moves to join the 3rd Panzer Group fighting around Kalinin.

Reichenau's 6th and Hoth's 17th Armies enter Kharkov while Belgorod, a little to the north, is taken by the 6th Army, forcing the Soviets to either abandon Kharkov or lose the 21st and 38th Armies entirely.

German troops of the 57th Infantry Division battle the Soviet troops on the streets of Kharkov. Kharkov first fell to the Germans on 24 October 1941, the 57th Infanttry Division taking it after fierce street-fighting.

German Troops of the 57th Infantry Division

German troops enter Kharkov

Kleist fans out into the Donbas as the Soviet defenses at Stalino collapse. Hitler has had his eyes on the industry of this region since the beginning of the campaign, but the Soviets have evacuated or destroyed many of the mining and manufacturing facilities and pressed more than 100,000 mine workers into the ranks of the South Front, reinforcing its shattered armies.