June 17, 1942: The Mersa Matruh Stakes Begin

Wednesday 17 June 1942

Maxim Gorki fort after the German capture, 17 June 1942 (Glanz, Federal Archive RH 82 Bild-00146).  

Battle of the Mediterranean: The North African campaign breaks wide open on 17 June 1942 as British attempts at forming a new defensive line east of Tobruk fail. The British 8th Army continues to lose its grip on the approaches to Tobruk. Before dawn, it evacuates the defensive box at El Adem, and later in the day at Sidi Rezegh. A counterattack by the British 4th Armored Brigade at Sidi Rezegh loses 30% of its tanks.

Afrika Korps commander General Erwin Rommel leads the 21st Panzer Division personally in his command car. They take RAF Gambut by 22:00, capturing 15 flyable aircraft and fuel supplies. The panzers reach the coastal road south to Bardia at 23:30, effectively encircling Tobruk and cutting its defenders off from Egypt except by naval resupply. 

June 17, 1942, is usually considered the start of the second siege of Tobruk (the first being a successful British/ Australian defense from 10 April - 17 December 1941). This is a disaster that stuns Winston Churchill and makes him look around for yet another military commander in North Africa.

The situation is chaotic for the British, and General Ritchie orders the complete abandonment of Libya by any British forces that can escape. They are to head for Mersa Matruh, Egypt - if they can make it there ahead of General Rommel's panzers (a garrison of 30,000 is left in Tobruk). This becomes known sarcastically within the 8th Army as the "Mersa Matruh Stakes" (after horseracing Stakes races) and the "Gazala Gallop." Mersa Matruh is a full 100 miles/ 160 km to the east and the Afrika Korps appears to be unstoppable, so the need for speed is evident.

The Staffelkapitaen of 3./JG 27, Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles, raises his victory score to 99 early in the day. Toward sunset, his fellow pilots convince him to fly another mission to hit the century mark, and indeed that is what happens. Marseilles shoots down a lone Hawker Hurricane south of Gambut Airfield,, becoming only the 11th Luftwaffe fighter to hit that mark and the first to do so entirely against the Western Allies (victories against the Russians are considered much easier). But Marseilles does not stop there, he also climbs from his first "low victory" to claim a high-flying Photo-reconnaissance Spitfire for victory 101. He claims another six RAF planes in total during the day. JG 27 is aided by recaptured airbases closer to the front, its new Ain-el-Gazala base was recaptured only on 16 June.

Having become a propaganda hero now when not long ago he was considered something of a malcontent and screwup, Marseilles now is put on a 2-month leave and sent to Fuhrer Headquarters to receive a new decoration.

Germans enter shattered Fort Maxim Gorki, 17 June 1942 (Glanz, Federal Archive RH 82 Bild-00150).

Eastern Front: There are still Soviet holdouts in the Maxim Gorki fortress in Crimea who control underground passages and some gun emplacements. These need to be eliminated to clear the way to Severnaya Bay and take Sevastopol from the north. A Junkers Ju 87 Stuka pilot, Oberleutnant Maue, scores a direct hit on the fort's 30.5cm eastern naval gun, knocking it out. Heavy siege howitzers (such as the massive Dora and Karl guns) are working on the other heavy Soviet guns and Wehrmacht engineers who reach the fort late in the day. There still are about 1000 Soviets hiding out in the three-level fortress.

Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richthofen, already ordered to report to a new assignment but still in the theater until the 23rd, writes:

During the night, the 54th Army Corps positioned itself, then overran the Red front lines and took the majority of the forts north of Severnaya Bay. We [the Luftwaffe] pin down the artillery east of Sevastopol and at the front and destroy much. We [hit] the forts again and again.

Richthofen is not exaggerating - the Luftwaffe has flown a total of 3899 sorties and dropped 3086 tons of bombs since 13 June. Later in the day, he adds in typical WWII German Nietzschean rhetoric that "our giant fire-magic fell on Battery Headland. The infantry were very enthusiastic!"

Around this date - the German and Soviet versions differ on several key points, including the dates - Soviet General Belov, who is leading a large mixed force of Soviet troops and partisans, escapes a huge German dragnet for him. He escapes with some of his men (again, how many is unclear) across the Rollbahn (main road) that the Germans control about ten miles east of Roslavl. Reflecting an enduring and somewhat bizarre German fascination with some adversaries, General Franz Halder writes in his war diary:

Cavalry Corps Belov is now floating around the area west of Kirov. Quite a man, that we have to send no less than seven divisions after him.

Halder does not mention that Belov has accomplished little beyond making the Germans ignore other important things to focus on him as he hides out in the woods and swamps near Bryansk.

The remaining Soviet pocket in the north near Velizh also receives attention in Halder's notes for the day:

In [the] North, we have neither positive nor negative evidence on the enemy's intention of giving up the Velizh pocket. In any event, [Army Group] North has freed the larger part of Eight Armored Divisions for a southward drive through Demyansk. On the Volkhov, attacks were again repelled and the sack further compressed.

Unknown to Halder, who has been paying little attention to this sector (which probably reflects the same about Hitler), the Volkhov pocket contains a very big prize: Soviet General Andrey Vlasov, the leader of Second Shock Army. His forces penetrated deep into the German lines during the latter stages of the winter counteroffensive, but now they are trapped. Unlike Belov, he has little hope of escape on the ground, and he refuses to abandon his men and fly out. Unknown to anyone but himself, Vlasov also is an anti-Bolshevist who believes that Stalin is an enemy of the people. Or, perhaps he is just the ultimate opportunist. In any event, with no way to fight out of the trap his army is in and little hope of rehabilitating his career following this complete defeat, Vlasov soon must make important and far-reaching decisions about his allegiance.

A Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat on the hangar deck of escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1), 17 June 1942. Also visible are other Wildcats and a Curtiss SOC-3A Seagull (Naval History & Heritage Command 80-G-14524).

Battle of the Pacific: The USAAF 11th Air Force plans a bombing run on the Japanese positions on Kiska Harbor, but it is scrubbed due to bad weather. Other patrol missions also are canceled.

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Saratoga flies off P-40s of the 73rd Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group to Midway Island. These replace planes lost during the Battle of Midway. The P-40s immediately commence dawn to dusk patrols that last until 23 June 1943.

The Syracuse, New York, Post-Standard has quite a fanciful headline about a supposed battering of the Italian Fleet. In fact, there were no "U.S. Fliers" involved in the battle of 15 June 1942, and it was the British Fleet, not the Italian, that was "battered." This particularly egregious headline reflects the standards during the first year of the (U.S.) war, when there were insufficient "good" military successes and so some were just fabricated by the press to sell newspapers.

European Air Operations: The Bay of Biscay is of vital importance to the Axis as the route of U-boats to the open ocean, so it maintains constant patrols. British destroyer HMS Wild Swan, sailing through a pack of Spanish trawlers after refueling as a convoy escort (not of the trawlers, the convoy is over the horizon), is spotted and attacked by a dozen Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bombers. At the cost of six of their own planes, the bombers score four near-misses that destroy Wild Swan's steering control. It collides with one of the trawlers, and both ships sink. The bombers also sink three other trawlers. There are 31 dead due to exposure after the sinking, with 133 survivors and 11 additional survivors from the trawler Wild Swan had collided with (some sources say there are 158 total survivors, perhaps including some from the other sunk trawlers, all picked up in any event by HMS Vansittart). Wild Swan commander Claude Sclater receives the DSO for the gallant action despite losing his ship.

The Michigan Daily of 17 June 1942 buries a gripping story of tourists in Virginia Beach, Virginia, watching U-boat sinkings. Much more prominence is given on the same page to a water main break in Seattle. 

Battle of the Atlantic: U-129 torpedoes and sinks 3274-ton U.S. freighter Millinocket north of La Isabela, Cuba. There are 11 dead and 24 survivors, who are picked up by Cuban fishing boats.

U-158 torpedoes 1560-ton Norwegian tanker Moira southeast of Port Isabel, Texas. There are one dead and 18 survivors, who are rescued by U.S. fishing boats. 

U-158 gets a second victim, 3601-ton Panamanian freighter San Blas, east of Matamoros, Mexico/McAllen, Texas. There are 30 deaths and 14 survivors, who are picked up by a U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina.

Axis mines laid in the Chesapeake Bay by U-701 (Kptlt. Horst Degen) early on 13 June 1942 claim another victim, 7177-ton U.S. collier Santore. The ship capsizes and sinks in less than two minutes. The burning ship can be seen from shore. There are three deaths and 43 survivors, who are rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. The wreck is raised and scrapped in 1954. This mining of Chesapeake Bay claims five ships (only 15 mines were laid) and is considered the most successful mining operation in American waters during World War II.

Spy Stuff: Either later on 16 June or early on 17 June, U-202 lands four German agents at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. They follow four other German spies who landed on Long Island on 12/13 June as part of Operation Pastorius. The New York group (or at least their leader) already is planning to defect to the FBI. Unlike the other group, the Florida spies do not wear their uniforms ashore, only bathing suits and their military caps. They promptly put on civilian attire and board trains to Chicago, Illinois, and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Actress Joyce Randolph on the premiere cover of "Yank" magazine, 17 June 1942. Randolph, 97 as of the time of writing, becomes famous as Trixie Norton on "The Honeymooners." 

US Military: Flight Captain Jackie Cochran, RAF Air Transport Auxiliary, who will go on to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), begins a mission that will see her become the first woman to ferry a bomber across the Atlantic. She leaves Montreal to pick up her plane at Gander, Newfoundland and will arrive in the British Isles on 19 June aboard her twin-engine Lockheed Model 414 Hudson Mk.V. 

Today is the first issue of "Yank, the Army Weekly." It is written by enlisted rank soldiers. Never available for public purchase, "Yank" eventually reaches a circulation of over 2.5 million in 41 countries. It lasts until the last day of 1945. Popular cartoons include "G.I. Joe," "Sad Sack," and work by Bil Keane of Family Circus. The 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss revives the magazine in 2014.

President Roosevelt signs a bill raising the minimum service pay to $50 per month.

Japanese Homefront: Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo survives an assassination attempt by 31-year-old Park Soowon of Korea. Tojo is hit in the left arm near the old war ministry building in Tokyo. Soowon is immediately dispatched in a hail of bullets.

Radio Tokyo today finally acknowledges the Doolittle Raid of mid-April, calling it a “stunt raid of very little consequence.” While this, in actuality, is quite true, it was a great morale boost for the Allied side. The propaganda newscaster goes to great lengths to point out that only 11 crewmen escaped to Cairo and the remaining 61 were being hunted down or were dead already (a great exaggeration). The Americans are warned that further "pointless stunts" will result in harsh reprisals and "100% loss" of the enemy fliers. 

American Homefront: President Roosevelt orders the Army to oversee the construction of an atomic weapons complex. This will be done by the US Army Corps of Engineers. This is the first step in the building of the Oak Ridge, Tennessee nuclear facility, Hanford, Washington, reactor, and the weapons lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project. 

A Green Bay Packers newsletter dated 17 June 1942. Reflecting the times, it contains a "Packers Honor Roll" of players now serving in the armed forces.

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May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion

Monday 18 May 1942

Finnish sailors lay mines from minelayer Ruotsinsalmi in the Gulf of Finland, 18 May 1942. Those are mines lined up and ready to drop. Incidentally, many WWII mines remain in the Gulf of Finland and present a hazard to navigation (SA-Kuva).

Battle of the Pacific: While still awaiting definitive proof as to the next Japanese target, which has the codename AF, the three major US naval intelligence centers in Washington, Honolulu, and Melbourne on 18 May 1942 report that an attack will happen soon from AF's northwest. The Melbourne station (formerly based at Corregidor and considered the least "political" of the stations) adds that the airstrikes will take place from 50 miles northwest of AF.

Admiral Nimitz, trusting in an unproven hunch by some of his intelligence officers that AF refers to Midway, orders submarines to patrol fifty miles northwest of the island. He also orders US Navy Task Forces 16 and 17 to leave the Efate area and head east toward Pearl Harbor. This leaves no US aircraft carriers in the southwest Pacific, but Nimitz is confident that the Japanese won't stir up trouble there due to his recent ruse. The Japanese recently sighted USS Enterprise and Yorktown as Nimitz intended and don't know where they are heading. This sighting has convinced the Japanese to suspend all offensive operations in the area, completing Nimitz's successful gamesmanship.

B-17 bombers attack the airfield at Koepang, Timor.

Admiral Nimitz is on the cover of Time magazine, 18 May 1942.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese troops occupy Pantha on the Chindwin River. More British and Indian troops of BURCORPS straggle into Indian and Burmese border towns such as Tamu and Imphal. the final unit of the 17th Indian Infantry Division, the rearguard 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade, arrives in Tamu. The entire division has 9,908 men and now is sent up to Imphal to reform with the 48th and 16th Indian Infantry Brigades.

The 18 May 1942 Daily Mirror is full of news about German problems at Kharkov.

Eastern Front: In the early morning hours, General Ivan Bagramyan, chief of staff to Marshal Timoshenko at Southwestern Front, comes out openly against the continuation of the Red Army offensive in light of the fierce German counterattacks. He points to successful German advances in the Barvenkovo region and suggests moving troops there. Timoshenko disagrees and visits Stalin later in the morning, telling him that everything is fine and the offensive can continue heading west. Bagramyan appeals to political Commissar Nikita Khruschhev to appeal to Stalin. Khruschev also is having his doubts and calls Marshal Vasilevskiy of the Stavka to ask Stalin to change his mind (despite being the highest-ranking soldier in the USSR, Vasilevskiy's main job was to screen Stalin's phone calls). At this point, the primary sources contradict themselves as to who exactly speaks to whom about what, but the bottom line is that Stalin adamantly refuses to override Timoshenko. The Red Army keeps attacking 180 degrees away from the danger point.

On the German side, it is becoming clear that a major victory may be possible, but the whole affair remains a wild gamble. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group South, visits General Ewald von Kleist, commander of First Panzer Army, at Stalino to plan the next step. Both are mystified at the Soviet failure to respond to the developing mortal threat to the southern Red Army pincer arm. Bock is concerned because if the Soviets take Kharkov, he'll look bad to Hitler regardless of ultimate success. He and Kleist basically shrug and continue strengthening the push to cut the Soviets off at Izyum.

During the day, Timoshenko orders his tank forces to smash forward toward Kharkov from the south. At Fuhrer headquarters, General Franz Halder notes that "The number of tank brigades committed by the enemy is really astounding." They make temporary progress in some places, but the attacking units have been weakened by Timoshenko's removal of one tank corps to guard Izyum from the First Panzer Army counterattack (it has not yet arrived there). Local German counterattacks restore the front south of Kharkov by the end of the day.

Marder III tank destroyer (Sd. Kfz. 139) in Crimea, May 1942 (Federal Archive B 145 Fig. F016217-0015A).

The Luftwaffe continues transferring units from Crimea and begins asserting itself all across the Kharkov front. It establishes complete aerial dominance. Fliegerkorps IV claims to destroy 130 tanks and 500 motor vehicles. German panzer troops of Seventeenth Army and III Panzer Corps continue barreling north at the Soviet breakout point and reach Izyum, narrowing the Soviet supply corridor to the Red Army troops advancing further west. The Soviet breakthrough point is now down to about a 20-mile breach, still sufficient and significant but showing no signs of withstanding the advancing panzers. The Soviets are not sending troops back east through the corridor to safety, the flow of traffic remains to the west.

Luftwaffe ace Gordon "Mac" Gollob continues his torrid streak in the air after taking over JG 77. Operating out of Kerch, Crimea, he claims three Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance bombers for his 94th to 96 victories. He is eager to reach the 100-victory mark quickly, a matter of pride to Luftwaffe units. On the ground, General Manstein's 11th Army continues to whittle away at the few Red Army pockets left in the Kerch area. General Halder notes that "the few small remnants left are still fighting fiercely."

Today is considered the termination of the Demyansk supply operation by the Luftwaffe. It has been a successful mission, but aircraft losses total 265 planes, many of them Ju-52 transports The main supply unit, KGzbV 8, is disbanded and its planes returned to training schools.

A Grumman F4F Wildcat took off from the USS Enterprise's flight deck on May 18, 1942 (US Navy).

European Air Operations:  There are no major operations by either side along the Channel Front as a lengthy springtime lull continues.

General Stilwell's headquarters burns in Maymyo, Burma, in this photo from the 18 May 1942 Life magazine.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its seventh patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 1254-ton Dutch freighter Fauna in the Caicos Passage near the Turks and Caicos Islands. There are two deaths and 27 survivors.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 4961-ton US freighter Quaker City 300 nautical miles east of Barbados. The U-boat surfaces, questions the crewmen in their four lifeboats, and directs them to Barbados. There are 11 deaths and 29 survivors, who are mostly rescued by USS Blakeley.

U-125 (Kptlt. Ulrich Folkers), on its fourth patrol out of Lorient, sinks 8893-ton US tanker Mercury Sun 125 nautical miles (232 km) south of Cape Corrientes, Cuba. There are six deaths and 29 survivors, who are rescued by SS Howard.

U-125 also torpedoes and sinks 2616-ton US freighter William J. Salman 125 nautical miles (232 km) south of Cape Frances, Cuba. There are six deaths and 22 survivors, who are rescued by Latvian freighter Kegums.

Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini shells and sinks 5747-ton Swedish freighter Tisnaren midway between Brazil and Senegal. All 41 crewmen are rescued by US freighter Black Hawk.

Italian submarine Barbarigo torpedoes Brazilian freighter Commandante Lyra east of Fortaleza, Brazil. The damaged ship is towed to Fortaleza by seaplane tender USS Thrush (AVP-3).

The Luftwaffe raids shipping in the Kola Inlet. The score some near-misses on US freighter Deer Lodge, but the ship remains operational. It moves to another anchorage.

After over a month at sea, the last survivors of US freighter Alcoa Guide (sunk by U-123 on 16 April) are rescued by British freighter Hororata.

After almost a month at sea, a radio operator from US freighter Steel Maker, sunk by U-136 on 19 April, is found on a raft and rescued by an unnamed rescue raft. The man is in surprisingly good condition, having accumulated supplies from several rafts that floated free from the sinking ship.

US tanker Benjamin Brewster finds 19 survivors from US tanker Gulfoil, sunk by U-506 on 16 May.

Scientists J. Robert Oppenheimer takes over the US nuclear program on 18 May 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation LB (part of "Club Run"), HMS Eagle ferries 17 Spitfire fighters to Malta. Malta now has 76 Spitfires operational. Six Albacores have issues and fail to fly off.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Turbulent sinks 2384-ton Italian freighter Bolsena off Benghazi. There are 50 deaths and 36 survivors.

Soldiers of the 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment on Malta capture an Italian spy at Marsascala Bay. The man, Giuseppe Guglielmo, who gives himself up willingly, admits to having been dropped off nearby by a naval torpedo boat. His mission was to investigate beach defenses. However, his pickup ride never arrived, so he surrendered.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine ShCh-205 torpedoes and sinks 128-ton Turkish freighter Duatepe ten miles off the coast of Bulgaria. It also shells and sinks 350-ton Turkish schooner Kaynardzha in the same area.

Manhattan Project: Gregory Brett quits as the coordinator of physic research on fast neutron phenomena. Arthur H. Compton asks J. Robert Oppenheimer to replace him.

US/Panama Relations: The two countries sign an agreement providing for the use of Panamanian defense areas by US troops.

Life magazine of 18 May 1942 features an article about Bombardier school.

US Military: Large numbers of US troops arrive in Northern Ireland on lighters after arriving in the Firth of Clyde aboard Queen Mary on 16 May. This is the fourth contingent of MAGNET Force. This completes the arrival of the 34th Infantry Division and includes most personnel from the 1st Armored Division. A separate group from the US Army 209th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) also arrives in Northern Ireland after alighting in Scotland on 17 May.

The Office of Naval Inspector General is established. Rear Admiral Charles P. Snyder is the first commander.

The US Army Air Force receives its first delivery of the Republic P-47B Thunderbolt. The plane will first see combat in April 1943.

A photo from an article about Bombardier School in Life magazine, 18 May 1942.

British Military: Vice-Admiral Henry Harwood, a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, becomes the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He flies his flag at HMS Nile.

Japanese Homefront: Hisao Yamazaki incorporates Daiwa Kogyo, Ltd. It is located in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Yamazaki is a local clock shop owner who is supported by the Hattori family (of Seiko Group fame), for whose company he used to work. Yamazaki's shop manufactures watch parts. In 1982, the entity, after various corporate transactions and after having evolved into a manufacturer of computer printers, renames itself the Epson Corporation.

The Santa Ana Register provided an update at the bottom of their front page about the "expulsion" of Japanese Americans from Orange County. By May 17, 1942, all persons with Japanese ancestry--whole or partial--were gone. (Santa Ana Register, May 18, 1942)

American Homefront: The Santa Ana Register reports that 1,543 internees from Orange County, California, are now at "a concentration camp near Parker Dam, Arizona, as a result of expulsion of all persons of Japanese ancestry under Army Orders."

"Counterspy" starring Don MacLaughlin premieres on the NBC Blue Network (which became ABC). McLaughlin plays David Harding, chief of a secret US military unit named "Counterspies." Harding's organization combats the Gestapo and the Japanese Black Dragons during the war and various other organizations after 1945. The show is popular enough to remain on the radio until 29 November 1957 and spawns two feature films, but never airs on television.

Counterspy premieres on 18 May 1942.

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

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