Air Operations, Algeria

During the night, approximately 30 Luftwaffe Ju-87 dive-bombers and Ju-88 medium bombers, apparently from bases in Sardinia, attack the Algiers/Maison Blanche Airport for two hours and destroy on the ground 2 P-38s, 1 B-17, 4 RAF Recon Spitfires and 3 RAF Beaufighters.

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Air Operations, CBI

8 B-24s of the 7th Heavy Bomb Group's 436th Heavy Bomb Squadron attack marshaling yards at Mandalay, Burma.

Air Operations, Europe

• 232 aircraft are sent to attack Turin: 86 Lancasters, 54 Wellingtons, 47 Halifaxes and 45 Stirlings.
• The attack is successful with large fire being started; dense smoke prevents further observations of the bombing results; 117 people are killd and 120 injured.
• 1 Halifax, 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington are lost.

• 4 Stirlings lay mines in the Gironde River and there are 4 OTU sorties.
• There are no losses.

Winston Churchill inspects the new Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle with spike bayonet during a visit to 53rd Division in Kent, 20 November 1942.

Churchill Inspects New Rifle

Battle of the Atlantic

U-184 is shadowing convoy ONS-144 when she is attacked and sunk early in the morning by the Norwegian-manned corvette HMS Potentilla.

U-184

Eastern Front

While fighting rages in and north of Stalingrad, a new large-scale attack by the Russians get under way from Beketovka and Plodovitoye, south of the city. The southern claw of the Soviet pincer around Stalingrad begins its attacks. The attacking units are the 51st, the 64th and the 57th Armies along with several armored and mechanized corps. The principal victims here are the Rumanian 4th Army and part of the German 4th Panzer Army, the other part is in the city and will be surrounded. The Russian forces are subdivided into the 'Don' group, attacking from the north and the 'Volga', attacking from the southeast. The attack is held up for a time by energetic counterattacks by the 29th Panzergrenadier Div, but eventually the Soviet numbers tell.

The Romanian 1st Armored Div is destroyed by the Soviet 5th Tank Army, which also mauls the 22nd Panzer Div as it falls back to the Chir. At Stalingrad a fuel shortage delays the advance of the XIV Panzer Corps. To the south, the Romanian 4th Army is hit by the Soviet 51st, 57th and 64th Armies. As they retreat, only the German 29th Panzergrenadier Div and 297th Infantry Div hole up the attack.[MORE]

Germany, Armed Forces

Hitler creates Army Group Don, led by Field Marshal Manstein, which is ordered to safeguard positions on the Chir and Don and restore the 6th Army's flanks.

Guadalcanal

Early in the day, the Japanese attack the left flank of the 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry, and force it back, but the 1st Battalion recovers its lost ground with help from aircraft and artillery. It then drives forward until stopped by enemy fire just west of Point Cruz. The enemy retains its position at Point Cruz. Realizing more troops are needed west of the Matanikau, Gen Sebree orders the 164th Infantry out of reserve to fill the gap between the 2 battalions of the 182nd. The 164th Infantry moves forward during the night to bridge the gap between the assault battalions of the 182nd Infantry. The 1st Battalion, 164th Infantry, enters the line on the left of 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry, and the 3rd Battalion, 164th, moves in between the 2nd Battalion, 182nd Infantry, and the 1st Battalion, 164th. Each battalion takes over about 500 yards of line and the battalions of the 182nd extend their flanks to join with those of 164th.

Hungary, Home Front

Count Leopold von Berchtold, the notorious Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister at the outbreak of World War I, dies at the age of 79.

Indian Ocean

The US freighter Pierce Butler (7191t) is torpedoed and sunk by U-177 off the coast of South Africa. All on board, 41-man crew and 21-man Armed Guard, abandon the ship in 4 lifeboats. They are rescued the next day by the British destroyer Forward.

Mediterranean

The siege of Malta ends. Operation STONE AGE successfully brings desperately needed supplies.

New Guinea

An Australian advance succeeds in breaking into the Japanese position at Gona but the attacking force is later driven out. The Japanese are dislodged from Soputa, however, and withdraw as far as Cape Killerton, where they put a firm resistance. The Australian and American attacks on the Japanese positions continue intermittently for the next 10 days, but with small success.

North Africa

Rommel continues his withdrawal westward.

Renewed German pressure forces the French XIX Corps, together with British and attached US forces, to retire from the area of Medjez el Bab some 10 miles west to Oued Zarga where forward elements of Blade Force, British 1st Army, are located. The main body of Blade Force is concentrated in the Souk el Arba area. The British 1st Parachute Battalion is holding Bédja.

Vichy, Politics

Laval broadcasts once more in support of Germany. He says that Germany will win the war and that the alternative is to be ruled by 'Jews and Communists.' At a press conference on December 13th he confirms these views announcing 'I must say without any ambiguity, that I want Germany's victory.'