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WWII On This Day: August 11

What happened on August 11 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1942 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
The Malta-bound Operation Pedestal convoy under air attack on 11 August 1942, with HMS Rodney at left and HMS Manchester at right.
The Malta-bound Operation Pedestal convoy under air attack on 11 August 1942, with HMS Rodney at left and HMS Manchester at right. Lt F. G. Roper, Royal Navy official photographer / Imperial War Museums A 11200 · public domain (UK Government) Source
Malta: Air Siege and Convoy War

Pedestal enters the attack zone

Operation Pedestal carried fourteen merchant vessels toward Malta behind an exceptionally large escort. On 11 August U-73 torpedoed and sank the carrier HMS Eagle. Axis reconnaissance had located the force, and the convoy now entered a sequence of submarine, air and surface attacks that would continue as it passed through the Sicilian narrows. The escort system was designed around successive layers: heavy units protected the convoy in the western Mediterranean, Force X continued with it toward Malta, and fighters from the carriers covered the approach while they remained in range.…

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1944
Warsaw Uprising: Two medics and a soldier (right) from "Parasol" battalion after coming out of sewers at Warecka Street near Nowy Świat (North Śródmieście district). In the center Maria Stypułkowska-Chojecka "Kama". On the right Krzysztof Palester "Krzych".
Warsaw Uprising - Soldiers from Parasol on Warecka Street 1 September 1944 · Jerzy Chrzanowski · Public domain · Source
The Warsaw Rising

The last Ochota redoubts fall

German forces eliminated the principal insurgent positions in Ochota, including Reduta Wawelska. Some defenders escaped through sewers toward Śródmieście and Mokotów. The district had also been subjected to murder, rape and looting by the RONA brigade and other units. Its fall secured the south-western approaches and further isolated Mokotów.

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