November

On November 27, World War II unfolded across multiple fronts—from German raiders returning to port and the launch of the Empire Air Training Scheme, to violent political upheaval in Romania and a tense naval standoff in the Mediterranean. German panzers reached the outskirts of Moscow, the Tobruk garrison linked with the New Zealanders, and Gondar—the last Italian stronghold in East Africa—fell. In 1942, the French scuttled their fleet at Toulon as German troops arrived, while British forces closed on Tunis. The following years saw major offensives, heavy losses at sea, and the UN Charter ratified by 29 nations. A day that reveals the global scale and rapid shifts of a world at war.

1938 Poland renews nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union to protect against a German invasion. 1939 The Soviet Union charges Finland with artillery attack on border. 1940 The Western Desert Force, begins Training Exercise No.1. This was a dress rehearsal for ‘Operation Compass’. Surprise was vital and so not even the troops involved were told

A day marked by sinking ships, political maneuvering, desperate fighting, and the final destruction of the machinery of genocide. 1939 – Conflicting Reports at Sea Germany claimed that four British ships had been sunk in the North Sea. London immediately denied the report, another reminder of how the war at sea became a battlefield of

A day marked by warnings at sea, crackdowns across occupied Europe, daring escapes, and shifting front lines from North Africa to the Pacific. 1939 – Warnings at Sea and Brutality on Land Germany issued a stark warning to all neutral shipping: stay away from British and French coasts—or risk being sunk. Neutral ships had already

1939 – Sacrifice in the North Atlantic Over France, RAF pilots scored a clear victory, shooting down seven German aircraft as the air war intensified even before the Blitz truly began. But events on the ground in occupied Poland carried a far darker weight. The Nazi administration imposed a new decree: all Polish Jews over

On November 22 during World War II, German mines drifted into the Thames Estuary, Birmingham endured its heaviest Luftwaffe raid, and the battle for North Africa shifted in chaos around Sidi Rezegh. The Soviets completed their encirclement at Stalingrad, the RAF delivered a devastating blow to Berlin, and Allied leaders met in Cairo to plan the defeat of Japan. By 1944, Metz fell to the U.S. Third Army, and in 1945 Americans celebrated a peaceful Thanksgiving as the Hollywood Canteen closed after serving four million servicemen. A day marked by destruction, turning points, and the first glimpses of a world emerging from war.

A day marked by rising tensions, shifting fronts, and the gathering storm that would soon engulf the world in war. 1937 – Roads Built for War Germany unveiled the first completed stretch of its new Autobahn—celebrated publicly as a triumph of engineering and national progress. But beneath the polished rhetoric lay its true purpose: a

1940 Hungarian Premier and Foreign Minister in Vienna agree to join Tripartite. 1941 The exiled Norwegian Government in London officially backs ‘Milorg’, the largest resistance organization in Norway. The British garrison is ordered to break out and link up with XXX Corps. However, Rommel, now realizing the threat sent the Afrika Korps to attack at Sidi Rezegh.

1940 Greek successes continue in northern Greece and Albania. The Italians are driven back across the Kalamas River. The Canadian government approves initiation of mass production of war bacteria. The Luftwaffe launches a major raid against Birmingham, inflicting heavy damage in places. 1941 The Times newspaper’s report on Occupied Europe estimates that 82,000 Poles have

1939 The Dutch ship Simon Bolivar hits an ‘un-notified’ mine in the North Sea, killing 80. Several other neutral ships also sunk by mines. IRA detonate four small bombs in Piccadilly, London. 1941 At 6am ‘Operation Crusader’, the British Eighth Army’s offensive to relieve Tobruk begins. Rommel, who arrives back from Rome that day, is