WWII On This Day: November 2

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 2, 1940 · 23:59 The Blitz

Fifty-seven nights

The night of 2 November closed the sequence of fifty-seven consecutive nights in which London had been bombed since 7 September. The frequency made air-raid routine part of the city's working life: sirens, shelter, fires, rescue, all-clear and morning travel repeated before damage from the previous night had been fully repaired. Routine did not mean normality. Sleep loss accumulated, families divided between shelters and homes, transport was interrupted and whole streets could disappear in one incident. Contemporary reports show adaptation alongside fear, resentment and exhaustion. The end of the consecutive…

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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 2, 1942 · 08:00 The Second Battle of El Alamein

The 9th Armoured Brigade strikes the anti-tank gun line

The 9th Armoured Brigade advanced towards the defended guns near Tell el Aqqaqir on the morning of 2 November. Its tanks crossed open ground into concentrated anti-tank fire and suffered exceptionally heavy losses. The attack forced the Axis defenders to commit guns and reserves against a sustained armoured assault. British formations following behind continued working through the breach, while Rommel considered whether he could keep his depleted army in its positions.

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A German tank commander in southern Soviet territory in June 1942, shortly before the opening of Case Blue. — Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-218-0528-30 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

November 2, 1942 · 12:00 Case Blue and the Drive to the Caucasus

The spearhead reaches Gizel

By 2 November German armour had reached the Gizel area on the western approaches to Ordzhonikidze. This was the deepest penetration of the final Caucasus offensive. The forward position was a narrow salient rather than an open road to the Transcaucasus. Fuel, infantry support and lateral routes were limited, while Soviet forces could move against the flanks from the surrounding foothills. Grozny still lay well beyond the immediate battle and Baku hundreds of miles farther away. The distance remaining makes clear why the arrival at Gizel was a culmination point,…

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A disabled Churchill III among abandoned Italian M13/40 tanks at El Alamein on 2 November 1942; the Churchill belonged to the small Kingforce detachment. Captain Geoffrey Keating / IWM E 18830 · UK Government public domain (Imperial War Museums) Source

November 2, 1942 · 12:00 The Second Battle of El Alamein

Disabled Churchill and Italian tanks mark the fighting near the gun line

A British official photograph dated 2 November shows a knocked-out Churchill III among abandoned Italian M13/40 tanks at El Alamein. The Churchill belonged to Kingforce, a small group sent forward to gain experience of the vehicle in battle. The wrecks record the dangers faced by armoured units moving against anti-tank positions. Elsewhere in the sector, British armour maintained pressure as the German and Italian line lost vehicles and its remaining mobile reserves.

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November 2, 1942 · 15:00 The Second Battle of El Alamein

Italian anti-tank gunners defend the southern position

Italian formations continued holding prepared positions while the British thrust threatened the northern centre. Their anti-tank guns and infantry strongpoints remained engaged as Rommel’s command moved reserves to meet the danger near Tell el Aqqaqir. The Axis defence depended on Italian as well as German infantry and artillery. The availability of transport differed sharply between units, and this determined which formations could disengage once the line was penetrated.

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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 2, 1944 The Battle of the Scheldt

Flushing is cleared

British commandos and troops of the 52nd Division completed the capture of Flushing after close fighting through the town. The force then turned west and north along Walcheren's higher coastal ground. The clearing of the port secured the south-eastern landing area and allowed the Flushing force to converge with troops advancing from Westkapelle and the Sloe approaches.

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A platoon photographed just before entering the Hürtgen Forest, November 1944. US Army Signal Corps · NARA · Public domain Source

November 2, 1944 · 09:00 Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest

The 28th Division attacks

The 28th Infantry Division attacked toward Hürtgen, Vossenack and Schmidt on three separate axes. The operation went ahead despite bad weather and despite postponement of the wider First Army offensive it was intended to support. The Schmidt force would have to cross the Kall gorge and depend on one narrow trail for armour, ammunition, food and evacuation.

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U.S. Fifteenth Air Force B-24 bombers flying over a smoking oil refinery at Ploiești, Romania, on 31 May 1944. — Richard R. Ganczak / USAAF · Library of Congress cph.3b43591 · Public domain (US)

November 2, 1944 · 11:00 The Oil Campaign

Fighters and flak contest the raids on Leuna

On 2 November a major Eighth Air Force operation over central Germany brought further bombing of Leuna and intense German fighter resistance. The Reich air defence still had the ability to mass aircraft and impose heavy losses on large bomber formations. Those interceptions consumed aviation petrol at a time when the plants producing it were repeatedly under attack. Training hours, especially for new pilots, were being curtailed, leaving replacements less prepared for high-altitude fighting against escorted bombers. The German defence was therefore increasingly constrained by the same process it tried…

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