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WWII On This Day: January 10

What happened on January 10 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1940, 1941 and 1943, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
German troops in northern France during the campaign of 1940.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-10A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of France 1940

A German aircraft lands in Belgium with western-offensive papers

A German liaison aircraft made a forced landing near Mechelen-aan-de-Maas on 10 January with documents relating to an earlier version of the western offensive. Belgian authorities recovered part of the material after the crew tried to burn it. The papers alerted Belgian and Allied commands to features of the existing plan and deepened German concern over operational security. Planning had already been moving through competing concepts inside the Army High Command and Army Group A. During the following weeks the main effort shifted toward the Ardennes and a Meuse crossing…

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1941
Damage on HMS Illustrious after the German dive-bomber attack of 10 January 1941 during Operation Excess.
Damage on HMS Illustrious after the German dive-bomber attack of 10 January 1941 during Operation Excess. Imperial War Museums · British official photograph · public domain (UK Government) Source
Malta: Air Siege and Convoy War

Illustrious brings the Luftwaffe into the battle

German dive-bombers attacked HMS Illustrious while the carrier covered Operation Excess east of Malta. Repeated hits killed and wounded large numbers of her crew and left the ship badly damaged, but she reached Grand Harbour, where dockyard workers began emergency repairs under the threat of further raids. Fliegerkorps X had moved to Sicily to strengthen Axis pressure in the Mediterranean. Illustrious gave it a concentrated naval target and Grand Harbour then became the focus of repeated attacks. The episode showed that Malta's dockyard could preserve a damaged capital ship while…

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1943
Soviet infantrymen in a firing position on a rooftop during the fighting in Stalingrad, January 1943.
Soviet infantrymen in a firing position on a rooftop during the fighting in Stalingrad, January 1943. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0406-0022-001 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source
Battle of Stalingrad

Operation Ring begins against the western perimeter

Don Front opened Operation Ring on 10 January with a massive artillery preparation followed by attacks by 65th, 21st and 24th Armies against the western face of the pocket. Soviet forces aimed first to rupture the outer defensive belt and then drive east toward the German airfields and Stalingrad. German formations fought from prepared positions and initially slowed several attacks. Soviet planners had underestimated the number of combat-capable troops remaining in parts of the pocket, and the first stage required more time and ammunition than expected. The strategic balance inside…

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