Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping near Gasmata.

Air Operations, Europe

• 77 aircraft make an attack on Turin.
• Many fires are started in the center of the city; the Fiat motor factory is also hit; 42 people are killed and 72 injured.

• 5 OTU aircraft make leaflet flights over France without a loss.
• During the night British bombers hit Turin.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the airfields at Lae and Salamaua.
• 22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the area between Buna and Cape Endaiadere.
• V Bomber Command B-17s attack Japanese Navy ships near Buna, Gona, and Cape Ward Hunt.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 11 5th and 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 4 70th Medium Bomb Group B-26s, with 8t 339th Fighter Squadron P-38 escorts, attack shipping at Buin. When the lead B-17 is mortally damaged and its pilot and co-pilot are killed by an A6M Zero, Col La Verne G. Saunders, the 11th Group commanding officer, takes the controls and eventually lands in the water near Baga Island. All the living crewmen are rescued by a US Navy PBY.
• 2 339th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 3 A6M Zeros over Tonolei Harbor at 0830 hours. These are the first victories credited to P-38s in the South Pacific Area.

Eastern Front

The Russians are about to launch a huge offensive against the German forces at Stalingrad. In Stalingrad itself are the German 6th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army. Southwest of the city is Army Group B, under von Weichs, with part of the 4th Panzer Army and the Rumanian 4th Army. Further north, in the great bend of the Don, are the Italian 8th Army and the Rumanian 3rd Army. On the Russian side, north of the Don and as far as the bridgehead at Kletskaya, beyond the river, is the Southwest Front commanded by Gen Vatutin and comprising the 1st Army, the 5th Tank Army and the 21st Army. Between Kletskaya and Stalingrad is deployed the Don Front under the command of Rokossovsky, made up of the 65th, the 24th and the 66th Armies. From Stalingrad to the south is the Stalingrad Front, commanded by Yeremenko and comprising part of the 62nd Army under Gen Zhukov, the 64th Army, the 57th Army under Tolbukhin and the 51st Army under Trufanov.

The eve of Operation URANUS. The Stavka has amassed the following forces for the offensive: Southwestern Front (1st Guards, 21st and 5th Tank Armies, III Guards Cavalry and IV Tanks Corps, and 17th and 2nd Air Armies)

398,000 troops, 6,500 artillery pieces, 150 Katyushas, 730 tanks and 530 aircraft; Don Front (24th, 65th and 66th Armies and 16th Air Army)

307,000 troops, 5,300 artillery pieces, 150 Katyushas, 180 tanks and 260 aircraft; and Stalingrad Front )51st, 57th, 62nd and 64th Armies, IV and XIII Mechanized Corps, IV Cavalry Corps and 8th Air Army)

429,000 troops, 5,800 artillery pieces, 145 Katyushas and 650 tanks. Facing the Don and Southwestern Fronts is the Romanian 3rd Army (100,000 troops), while the Romanian 4th Army (70,000 troops) faces the Soviet 51st and 57th Armies. These are extremely weak formations to have as flank protection for the 4th Panzer and 6th Armies at Stalingrad.[MORE]

Guadalcanal

Gen Sebree, CG SW Sector, begins moving forces toward a line of departure west of the Matanikau River (from Point Cruz southward along the ridge containing Hills 80,81 and 66) in preparation for a full-scale westward offensive. The 2nd Battalion, 182nd Infantry, covered by the 8th Marines, which remains east of the Matanikau, crosses the river about 700 yards from its mouth and takes Hill 66, southernmost point of the line of departure.

There is little air activity. 3 Zeros are shot down by newly arrived P-38s.[MORE]

New Guinea

The Australian 16th Bde takes Popondetta, where orders are given for the immediate construction of a landing strip, and pushes on toward Soputa without making contact with the enemy.

North Africa

The 8th Army captures Cyrene, Libya.

The 36th Brigade of the British 78th Div at Djebel Abiod drives off a German attack, but east of this position the 11th Brigade, Hart Force, is cut off in the region east of Djebel Abiod. The Germans also attack the French XIX Corps at Medjez el Bab, 35 miles southwest of Tunis and 30 miles south of Mateur. The parachute force is now at Sidi Nsir.

Under the watchful eyes of US troops bearing bayonets, members of the Italo-German armistice commission in Morocco are rounded up to be taken to Fedala, north of Casablanca, on November 18, 1942. Commission members were surprised in American landing move. (AP Photo)

Members of the Italo-German Armistice Commission

Vichy, Politics

Pétain grants power to Laval allowing him to issue decrees solely on his own authority. Pétain is gradually becoming less and less important in the Vichy government, although his enormous prestige remains.