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WWII On This Day: December 2

What happened on December 2 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1941, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
New Zealand infantry and Matilda tank crews meet near Tobruk in a photograph dated 2 December 1941; the first corridor had opened on 27 November, and fighting over it continued.
New Zealand infantry and Matilda tank crews meet near Tobruk in a photograph dated 2 December 1941; the first corridor had opened on 27 November, and fighting over it continued. Captain Geoffrey Keating / Imperial War Museums E 6918 · UK Government public domain Source
Tobruk and Operation Crusader

Photographers record troops from the relieving forces with Tobruk tanks

British official photographs dated 2 December show New Zealand infantry meeting Matilda tank crews from the Tobruk garrison. They record participants in the relief battle during a period in which the first link-up had been made and its approaches fought over. The photographs must not be used to move the opening of the first corridor from 27 November to 2 December. By this time the exposed New Zealand brigades were withdrawing and the Axis was trying to restore the siege line, even as its supply and manpower position deteriorated.

Continue in Tobruk and Operation Crusader →
Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941, photographed from a Japanese aircraft.
Unknown Japanese Navy photographer · U.S. Navy NH 50472 · Public domain (PD-Japan-oldphoto) · Source
Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack order is confirmed

The carrier force received the coded order commonly rendered as 'Climb Mount Niitaka 1208', confirming that hostilities were to begin on 8 December Tokyo time, 7 December in Hawaii. The fleet continued east through the North Pacific without being detected. By this point the operation depended on tactical surprise, not on a declaration of war arriving before the aircraft.

Continue in Attack on Pearl Harbor →