WWII On This Day: November 1

London, 7th September 1940 · London's dock area. Tower Bridge stands out against a background of smoke and fires. New York Times Paris Bureau Collection. — U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA 541917) · Public domain

November 1, 1940 The Blitz

The beam war becomes operational

British scientific intelligence had identified Knickebein before the Blitz began. By the autumn the contest had moved through successive German navigation systems, including X-Gerät, whose narrow beams and timed signals could place pathfinders over an inland target in darkness. Countermeasures combined listening, technical analysis, jamming and the transmission of misleading signals. R. V. Jones was an important organiser and interpreter of the intelligence, but the work depended on aircrew, radio specialists, the Telecommunications Research Establishment and operational stations that had to turn a scientific deduction into a usable defence. The…

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Exhausted Soviet prisoners arriving at Stalag X B Sandbostel in northern Germany, probably autumn 1941, some supporting companions unable to walk. — Unidentified German guard photographer / Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0146 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

November 1, 1941 · 12:00 Soviet Prisoners of War in German Captivity

Disease and hunger devastate Bergen-Belsen

By the beginning of November roughly 21,000 Soviet prisoners had arrived at the Bergen-Belsen camp. Many had spent months living in dugouts, makeshift shelters and tents. Hunger and dysentery spread during the summer and autumn. A typhus outbreak led to quarantine in November. Thousands of sick prisoners and men no longer fit for work were returned from labour detachments to the central camp. Around 14,000 Soviet prisoners died at Bergen-Belsen from August 1941 to April 1942, mainly from hunger, epidemics and cold.

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British artillery bombardment illuminating the night at the start of the Second Battle of El Alamein, 23 October 1942. — Sergeant Gladstone / IWM E 18465 · UK Government public domain (Imperial War Museums)

November 1, 1942 · 22:00 The Second Battle of El Alamein

Operation Supercharge begins under New Zealand command

On the night of 1–2 November the New Zealand-led assault advanced behind a heavy artillery programme. British units placed under the formation’s command attacked towards the Rahman Track and the German and Italian defensive guns. The infantry had to create room for an armoured breakthrough across the same mined ground that had frustrated the earlier plan. German and Italian reserves were already stretched by fighting near the coast, and the Eighth Army aimed to force them into another concentrated battle.

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A converted cable ship laying pipeline across the English Channel, 1944. — Pipeline laying in the Channel, 1944 ·

November 1, 1943 · 12:00 Operation PLUTO

Latimer and Sancroft become pipeline ships

The former merchant ships Empire Ridley and Empire Baffin were converted as HMS Latimer and HMS Sancroft. Large cable tanks, guiding machinery and stern gear allowed each ship to carry and lay operational lengths of three-inch HAIS cable.

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LVT-4 Alligator amphibious vehicles pass Terrapin amphibious vehicles near Terneuzen during the Battle of the Scheldt, 13 October 1944. — Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada · 13 October 1944 · Public domain in Canada · Source

November 1, 1944 The Battle of the Scheldt

Infatuate I lands at Flushing

No. 4 Commando crossed from Breskens before dawn on 1 November and landed at Flushing, followed by the 155th Infantry Brigade of the 52nd Division. The assault established a foothold inside a defended port town at the south-eastern edge of Walcheren. The attackers then fought through streets and buildings while floodwater restricted movement away from the higher ground. Their objective was to clear Flushing and advance around the southern rim toward the forces landing at Westkapelle.

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LVT Buffalo amphibious vehicles during the invasion of Walcheren, 1 November 1944. British government / Imperial War Museums B 11628 · Public domain Source

November 1, 1944 The Battle of the Scheldt

Infatuate II lands through the gap

Royal Marine commandos of 4 Special Service Brigade landed at Westkapelle on 1 November through and beside the breach in the sea dyke. German batteries W13 and W15 covered the approaches and opened fire on the assault and support craft. Amphibious vehicles carried commandos and equipment from landing craft onto the damaged sea wall and higher ground. Once ashore, the brigade split north and south along the coast to reduce the batteries controlling the western Scheldt.

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Survivors from gun landing craft are recovered by an LCI(S) acting as a hospital ship off Westkapelle during the 1 November 1944 assault. R. G. G. Coote / Royal Navy official photographer · IWM A 26235 · Public domain Source

November 1, 1944 The Battle of the Scheldt

The Support Squadron Eastern Flank

The Support Squadron Eastern Flank closed the Westkapelle batteries with gun-, rocket- and mortar-armed landing craft in order to suppress them during the assault. German coastal fire struck the small vessels at short range. Nine support craft were sunk and many others damaged; 172 crewmen were killed and 286 wounded according to the Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland account. Their fire and losses helped keep the coastal batteries engaged while the commandos reached the shore.

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November 1, 1944 The Battle of the Scheldt

Warspite's last action

Warspite and the monitors Roberts and Erebus opened heavy naval fire against the Walcheren batteries on the morning of 1 November. Warspite's 15-inch guns engaged the coastal positions while landing and support craft moved toward Westkapelle. The battleship continued firing at targets during the day. The operation became Warspite's final combat action after service from the First World War through the Mediterranean, Normandy and the Walcheren assault.

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OSS officers with Draža Mihailović at Pranjani on 6 September 1944 during Operation Halyard. — Unknown photographer · Pranjani, 6 September 1944 · Public domain (PD-Yugoslavia)

November 1, 1944 · 13:00 Operation Halyard

Bunar is used for its first Halyard evacuation

The Boljanić field was used for an evacuation on 1 November. Foundation research identifies three American pilots among those flown out together with members of the separate Ranger mission. Halyard then continued searching farther south for stranded crews before returning to Boljanić. The mission was now operating through winter weather, a moving front and increasingly constrained supply.

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