Video: Nov. 6, 1942 (at 6:19)
(Friday, November 6, 1942, 5:30 p.m. during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II) — Two days after victory in the Second Battle of El Alamein, the British 7th Armored Division catches and destroys the remainder of Germany’s 21st Panzer Division, which is out of fuel.
The British pursuit, however, is slowed by fuel shortages, minefields and booby traps and a heavy rainfall late in the day that makes the coastal road the only viable route of advance.
Video: Oct. 25, 1942 (at 2:23)
(Sunday, October 25, 1942, during the Second Battle of El Alamein, part of Western Desert Campaign of World War II) — Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who had fallen ill and was recovering in Germany for about a month, flew to Rome early today to press the Comando Supremo for more fuel and ammunition; and then on to North Africa to resume command of the Panzer Army Africa, which was renamed the “German-Italian Panzer Army” (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee).
Video: Oct. 23, 1942 (at 0:00)
(Friday, October 23, 1942, 21:40 Egyptian Summer Time, part of Western Desert Campaign of World War II) — The Second Battle of El Alamein opened today as British Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery unleashed the British 8th Army against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt. Continue reading Second Battle of El Alamein begins in Egypt 70 years ago today (1942)
Video: October 22, 1942 (at 4:07)
(Thursday, October 22, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, wrote today:
“Who would have thought three months ago that instead of the joy of victory we would have to endure such sacrifice and torture, the end of which is nowhere in sight?…The soldiers are calling Stalingrad the mass grave of the Wehrmacht.”
Video: October 14, 1942 (at 2:14)
(Wednesday, October 14, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, wrote today:
“It has been fantastic since morning; our aeroplanes and artillery have been hammering the Russian positions for hours on end; everything in sight is being blotted from the face of the earth…”
Video: October 4, 1942 (at 1:55)
(Sunday, October 4, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, wrote today:
“Our regiment is attacking the Barrikady settlement. A lot of Russian tommy-gunners have appeared. Where are they bringing them from?”
Video: Glenn Miller's farewell before joining the US Army
(Sunday, September 27, 1942, during World War II) — Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the very last time today at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Glenn’s entry into the Army Air Corps.
Video: 'Anne Frank Remembered (3/8)' (Sept. 27, 1942 at 13:10)
(Sunday, September 27, 1942, part of The Holocaust during World War II) — On her 84th day in hiding in a secret apartment behind her father’s business in German-occupied Amsterdam, Anne Frank, a 13-year-old Jewish girl, angrily wrote in her diary about how the van Pels (the parents of another family in hiding with the Franks) treat her as one of their own children.
Video: Sept. 26, 1942 (at 9:35)
(Saturday, September 26, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, wrote today:
“Our regiment is involved in constant heavy fighting. After the elevator was taken the Russians continued to defend themselves just as stubbornly. You don’t see them at all, they have established themselves in houses and cellars and are firing on all sides, including from our rear – barbarians, they use gangster methods . . . Stalingrad is hell . . .”
Video: 'The Longest Day' trailer
(Tuesday, September 25, 1962) — The Longest Day, a war film about D-Day, the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II, had its world premiere today in France (it would open in the U.S. on Oct. 4).
Directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes), and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited), the film stars John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jürgens, Richard Burton, Donald Houston, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Fröbe, Edmond O’Brien and Kenneth More.
