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WWII On This Day: January 21

What happened on January 21 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1941, 1943, 1944 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
A Matilda II infantry tank of 7th Royal Tank Regiment in the Western Desert during Operation Compass, 19 December 1940.
Capt Geoffrey Keating / No. 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit · Imperial War Museums, E 1416 · Public domain
Operation Compass

A mile-wide hole is opened in Tobruk

The 2/3rd Australian Battalion crossed the start line at 05:40 while engineers cleared mines, wire and the anti-tank ditch. Within an hour the 16th Brigade and eighteen Matildas had opened a breach about a mile wide and a mile deep. The assault used the same combined-arms sequence that had worked at Bardia. Artillery suppressed the perimeter, engineers and infantry opened the route, the heavy tanks passed through, and following brigades expanded the breach before the defence could reorganise.

Continue in Operation Compass →
1943
A German Messerschmitt Bf 110 attacks B-17F Flying Fortresses of the 91st Bomb Group over Europe in January 1944.
U.S. Army Air Forces / National Archives, NAID 204888701 · Public domain in the United States · Source
The Combined Bomber Offensive

The combined offensive is authorised

The Combined Chiefs of Staff defined a joint strategic bombing campaign from Britain. RAF Bomber Command would continue night attacks, while the American force retained daylight operations against targets suited to visual bombing. The directive created a common objective without creating one operational commander or one bombing method.

Continue in The Combined Bomber Offensive →
1944
Soviet machine-gunners fighting near the old Detskoe Selo station at Pushkin on 21 January 1944.
Soviet machine-gunners fighting near the old Detskoe Selo station at Pushkin on 21 January 1944. RIA Novosti archive #764 / Boris Kudoyarov · CC BY-SA 3.0 Source
The Siege of Leningrad

The siege line collapses south of Leningrad

German forces withdrew from Mga and the long-held positions south and southeast of Leningrad. The artillery threat to the city receded as Eighteenth Army retreated toward Luga and the Panther position.

Continue in The Siege of Leningrad →
1945
Soviet armour advancing across Poland, January 1945.
Soviet armour in Poland, January 1945 · RIA Novosti archive · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photograph pending verification
The Vistula–Oder Offensive

Konev turns behind Upper Silesia

Konev redirected 3rd Guards Tank Army southeast along the Oder behind the northern flank of the Upper Silesian defence. The manoeuvre threatened to close the industrial region from the rear while avoiding a frontal battle through its mines, plants and densely built towns.

Continue in The Vistula–Oder Offensive →