1939 – Finnish Ski Troops and the Molotov Cocktail
During the Winter War, Finnish ski troops engage Soviet forces using improvised incendiary weapons—homemade bottles filled with fuel that will become known as “Molotov Cocktails.”
These simple but deadly weapons prove effective against Soviet armor and become a lasting symbol of Finnish ingenuity and resistance.
1940 – Reprisal and Rapid Advances
In retaliation for German air attacks on British cities, 134 RAF bombers strike the city of Mannheim. It is the RAF’s largest single-target attack of the war to date and the first reprisal raid officially approved by the British War Cabinet.
The raid results in significant civilian casualties—over a hundred killed or injured—and leaves more than a thousand people homeless, underscoring the growing toll of strategic bombing.
Meanwhile, British forces carry out air raids and ground operations in Italian Somaliland.
Italian armor proves no match for British Matilda tanks and sustained naval bombardment.
Within two weeks, Italian forces are driven back more than 200 miles toward Tobruk, with an estimated 139,000 Italian and African colonial troops captured or surrendered.
1941 – Ideology and Expansion
At a cabinet meeting, Hans Frank, Governor-General of occupied Poland, delivers a chilling statement calling for the annihilation of the Jewish population, revealing the ideological brutality driving Nazi occupation policy.
In Southeast Asia, Japanese troops land on Penang Island off the eastern coast of Malaya.
Additional Japanese landings take place in Sarawak and Brunei on the island of Borneo, continuing Japan’s rapid expansion across the region.
1942 – Soviet Offensive in the South
The Red Army launches another offensive toward Rostov-on-Don, aiming to cut off German forces in the Caucasus. The precarious position of the Italian 8th Army along the Don River further threatens German efforts to relieve Stalingrad.
1943 – Bombing and Atrocity
Another major Allied bombing raid strikes Berlin, bringing the total tonnage of explosives dropped on the German capital to approximately 18,500 tons.
At Auschwitz, the camp’s chief surgeon reports that 106 forced castration operations have been carried out—one of many documented medical atrocities committed within the camp system.
1944 – The Battle of the Bulge Begins
The German Army in the West launches Operation Wacht am Rhein, the last major German offensive of the war. Its objective: split Allied forces and capture the vital port of Antwerp.
Under Heeresgruppe B, the attack surges out of the Ardennes Forest. The assault is led by the 6th SS Panzer Army and 5th Panzer Army, with the 7th Army securing the southern flank.
German forces break through American lines along a 70-mile front. As Allied units fall back in the center, a pronounced bulge forms in the line—giving the battle its enduring name: The Battle of the Bulge.
On this day, Betsie ten Boom, sister of Corrie ten Boom and a key figure in the Dutch resistance, dies at Ravensbrück concentration camp at the age of 59.
In Belgium, a German V-2 rocket strikes the Rex Cinema in Antwerp, killing 567 people, including 296 Allied servicemen—the deadliest single V-weapon attack of the war.