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WWII On This Day: October 27

What happened on October 27 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1942, 1943 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1942
Four soldiers of the 51st (Highland) Division occupy a shallow desert position on 27 October 1942.
Four soldiers of the 51st (Highland) Division occupy a shallow desert position on 27 October 1942. Sergeant Smales / IWM E 18625 · UK Government public domain (Imperial War Museums) Source
The Second Battle of El Alamein

Highland infantry hold shallow positions under counter-attack

On 27 October soldiers of the 51st (Highland) Division occupied shallow positions near the northern El Alamein front. The division helped maintain the British foothold while other formations prepared fresh attacks against German and Italian strongpoints. Field guns and anti-tank weapons could be brought forward only as routes were opened. The ground offered sparse cover, so even small local movements could draw fire from guns and mortars west of the mine belts.

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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)
The Second Battle of El Alamein

The gun line near Outpost Snipe resists Axis armour

In the fighting around Outpost Snipe on 26–27 October, men of the 2nd Rifle Brigade and supporting six-pounder anti-tank guns faced repeated German armoured attacks. Their forward position became an important point in the British defence. The small gun crews engaged tanks in open desert at short ranges, suffering serious casualties while maintaining fire. The episode showed how the advance of armour depended upon suppressing anti-tank guns on ground already occupied by infantry.

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1943
Children affected by the Bengal famine on a Calcutta street in a photograph published by The Statesman on 22 August 1943.
The Statesman, Calcutta, 22 August 1943 · public domain in India
The Bengal Famine

Wavell inspects Calcutta and the distressed coastal districts

Soon after taking office, Wavell visited Bengal and inspected conditions in Calcutta and the Contai area of Midnapore. His correspondence with Amery records the visit and the measures he wanted implemented afterward. The inspection brought the Viceroy into direct contact with both urban destitution and one of the coastal districts hit by the 1942 cyclone. Wavell pressed for tighter coordination of food movement and greater military participation. British Library correspondence shows that both Wavell and Amery subsequently discussed army relief, food shipments and the effect of the visit on public…

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1944
Men of the 101st Airborne Division moving toward Bastogne on 19 December 1944 as Allied reserves enter the Ardennes battle.
101st Airborne Division on the road between Bastogne and Houffalize, 19 December 1944 · US Army Signal Corps SC 329953 · NARA · Public domain · Source
The Battle of the Bulge

Model and Manteuffel object

By late October the senior commanders expected to execute the offensive had been shown the scale of Hitler's objective. Model, Rundstedt and Manteuffel doubted that Army Group B possessed the force required to reach Antwerp and hold the corridor behind it. They proposed smaller concepts aimed at destroying Allied forces closer to the German frontier. Manteuffel also pressed tactical changes to the opening attack, including a shorter artillery preparation and infantry infiltration before the armoured formations entered congested roads. Hitler rejected the smaller strategic objective. The compromise was therefore uneven:…

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