Air Operations, CBI

• 9 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack an oil refinery at Bangkok, 2,760-mile round trip from their base in India.

Air Operations, Europe

• 228 aircraft are sent to Turin: 117 Lancasters, 47 Stirlings, 45 Halifaxes and 19 Wellingtons.
• Part of the force bombs before the Pathfinders mark the target, but the rest of the force bomb accurately; some bombs drop near the Royal Arsenal; 67 people are killed and 83 are injured.
• 2 Stirlings and 1 Wellington are lost.

• 19 aircraft lay mines off the Biscay ports and there are 5 OTU sorties; there are no losses.

Air Operations, New Guinea

22nd Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the airfields at Buna and Lae.

Air Operations, North Africa

US bombers hit the port facilities and power stations at Tripoli.

Air Operations, Solomons

AirSoPac B-17s attack a convoy off western New Georgia.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• 37 XII Bomber Command B-17s of the 97th and 301st Heavy Bomb Group attack Bizerte Airdrome and port area.
• 2 bombers are lost to Luftwaffe fighters
• In their unit's first completed mission of the campaign, several 319th Medium Bomb Group B-26s attack the port facilities, oil tanks, and railway yard at Sfax. This is the first medium-bomber mission flown over North African soil by a 12th Air Force unit, and the first B-26 mission ever flown in the theater.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US freighter Alaskan (5364t) is torpedoed, shelled and sunk by U-172 about 400 miles north of St Paul's Rocks with the loss of 6 of her crew and 1 Armed Guard sailor. The survivors enter lifeboats.

Eastern Front

The tragedy of Stalingrad unfolds. Von Manstein, unknown to Hitler and in direct contradiction of the Führer's plans, works out Operation WINTER STORM, aimed at breaking the Russian encirclement and relieving the 6th Army. The Soviets announce they have launched an offensive on the central from and make considerable gains near Rzhev.

Heavy fighting erupts at the base of the Demyansk pocket as the Soviets strive to isolate the II Corps.

The VI Tank Corps drives forward again, smashing its way east but with crippling casualties. The Rzhev-Sychevka road is reached but the corps' lines are tenuous. Counterattacks by the 5th Panzer Division from the south and the 9th Panzer from the north almost cut the VI Tank Corps off from its supporting units. The Germans begin to contain the 39th and 22nd Armies, despite continued strong Soviet attacks. Increasing numbers of German reserves solidify the line.

Heavy fighting continues around Belyi as the 41st Army aims to envelop the town. Elements attempt to force their way east but encounter the 1st Panzer Division on its left and the 12th Panzer to its front.

Manstein lays plans for the relief of the 6th Army. He intends to begin the operation as soon as possible to break the Soviet outer ring before it is strengthened. Operarion WINTERSTORM is scheduled to start in early December. Instead of taking the shortest route to 6th Army from the Chir at Nizhne Chirskaya, Group Hoth is to attack from Kotelnikovo where Soviet defenses are weaker. From Kotelnikovo the distance to the western tip of the Stalingrad pocket doubles and the relief force hs to cross two rivers (the Aksai and Myshkova), each easily fordable. To divert Soviet attention toward Nizhne Chirskaya, the XLVIII Panzer Corps is to pin down the 5th Tank Army and prevent its reinforcement of the Kotelnikovo axis. Hoth has at his disposal the LVII Panzer Corps, the remnants of the VI and VIII Rumanian Corps protecting either flank. The crux of the entire operation though is the ability of the 6th Army to push southwest to meet Hoth when he comes within striking distance. Hoth will link up with 6th Army and then pull back to the Don, abandoning the Volga so that 6th Army can be extricated.

French Somaliland

A third of the garrison of Djibouti, until now loyal to the Vichy government, crosses into British Somaliland and adheres to the Allied cause.

Indian Ocean

Free French forces occupy the island of Reunion.

28 November 1942, Papua. During the Australian-American advance on Buna two American soldiers dress the wounds of an Australian. (Photo: George Silk)

Americans Help An Australian

North Africa

The 11th Bde of the British 78th Div and the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment, US 1st Arm Div, reach the outskirts of Djedeïda, 14 miles from Tunis. This is as close as the Allies get to Tunis before the final phase of the campaign. To the south the Germans evacuate Pont-du-Fahs, 35 miles southeast of Tunis. 2 British regiments are in danger of being surrounded south ot Djedeïda as the result of a brilliant turning movement by German armored troops from St Cyprien towards Tebourba. At Gafsa, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Div, is attached to the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Regiment.

Pacific

Adm William F. Halsey, promoted from Vice-Admiral 2 days before, replaces Rear-Adm Kinkaid with Rear-Adm C. H. Wright in command of Task Force 67, which is responsible for patrolling Iron Bottom Sound between Savo and Guadalcanal to prevent the arrival of Japanese supplies. Task Force 67 comprises 5 cruisers, Minneapolis, Honolulu, Northampton, Pensacola and New Orleans, and 4 destroyers. The Japanese, who have lost their air and naval superiority in this sector, are trying to set up firm positions on the islands of New Georgia and Santa Isabel as jumping-off places for Guadalcanal.

United States, Home Front

At least 493 people are killed in an accidental fire and subsequent panic at the Coconut Grove night club in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nov. 28, 1942 / Eyewitness Benjamin Ellis of Beacon Street was standing just across the street when the fire broke out. "Suddenly a huge sheet of flame burst out through the entrance, setting fire to clothing, hair, hats, evening dresses, and searing human flesh. Those flames belched 15 feet out into the street."

Coconut Grove Fire in Boston