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WWII On This Day: October 29

What happened on October 29 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1941 and 1942, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1941
An 85 mm 52-K of the 732nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment on Proletarian Bridge in Tula in October 1941. It documents the city's anti-aircraft and anti-tank defence during the period of the first German assaults.
An 85 mm 52-K of the 732nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment on Proletarian Bridge in Tula in October 1941. It documents the city's anti-aircraft and anti-tank defence during the period of the first German assaults. Unknown Soviet photographer · Public domain Source
The Battle for Moscow

Tula repels the first German assault

Guderian's forces reached the approaches to Tula at the end of October and attacked on 29 October. The city was an industrial centre, road junction and the anchor of the southern approach to Moscow; Soviet regular troops, local formations and anti-aircraft artillery held the immediate defence. The failure to seize Tula denied 2nd Panzer Army the road hub it needed for a clean northern turn behind Moscow. German forces later tried to bypass the city, but Tula remained in Soviet hands and continued to obstruct the southern arm of the…

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1942
An M3 Grant tank moves forward in the Western Desert on 29 October 1942.
An M3 Grant tank moves forward in the Western Desert on 29 October 1942. Sergeant Martin / IWM E 18684 · UK Government public domain (Imperial War Museums) Source
The Second Battle of El Alamein

Grant tanks and fresh formations move towards the fighting

An M3 Grant tank was photographed moving to the front in the Western Desert on 29 October. Reinforcement continued as Montgomery prepared to reassemble a concentrated armoured force for another attempt to cross the Axis gun line. Recovery trucks, ammunition vehicles and engineer parties needed to pass through the same traffic routes as the tanks. Every forward movement increased the demand for protected lanes and for fuel closer to the battlefield.

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