Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) - Seventy-nine political prisoners (plus two "common rights") escape from the prison of Puy-en-Velay, attacked by a group of maquisards. The operation was set up with the help of the British and French secret services by the Resistance headquarters, at the instigation of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans, the armed wing of the FTP, the armed wing of the clandestine CP - the FTP have been eager to prove their worth since they officially entered the war in May. The escape was facilitated by numerous accomplices among the prison guards.
Unfortunately, as a result of dissensions between Trotskyites and "orthodoxes", among the prisoners as well as among the maquisards, 30 prisoners are recaptured and twelve are shot in the days that follow. According to Pierre Broué and Raymond Vacheron (Meurtres au maquis, 1997), many of the dead were Trotskyites denounced by their political opponents.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Milne Bay - The RAAF of Port Moresby fights for its life every day and has no resources to waste on anything. Nevertheless, the Allied air forces will make a strong effort to deal a serious blow to the Japanese air force at Milne Bay (and make people forget their poor performance during operation Havelock).
Sqn 100 commits eight Bristol Beauforts and the 52nd Ground Support Squadron (GCA I/52 and II/52) inaugurates its participation in the Pacific War by sending 18 Vultee Vengeance I. By scraping the bottom of the barrel, the RAAF is also able to launch from Port Moresby 19 light bombers and ground support aircraft from Port Moresby: 12 CAC Wirraway, 4 CAC Boomerang and 3 Fairey Battle. To ensure their coverage, Sqn 76 and 77 provide a total of 21 Hurricanes.
These were modified on site: their cumbersome air filters were removed and their armament was reduced to six .303 machine guns (out of eight) or two 20 mm cannons (out of four) to improve their maneuverability and speed. In addition, RAAF HQ decided to launch heavy bombers from Australia. The largest heavy bomber force in Australian history is concentrated at Charters Towers: 27 Manchesters - all the aircraft of this type operational on this side of the globe. To protect them, the staff has taken special measures to protect them: exceptionally, escort fighters were sent the day before to Port Moresby, from where they took off before dawn to join the Manchesters coming from Australia.
The Manchesters are the first to be spotted by the Milne Bay radar, about 140 km from their target. The Japanese immediately launch their best interceptors, i.e. their 17 Ki-44 Shoki (Tojo). The 22 operational Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar) are also ordered to take off, but only ten of them had taken off when the Port Moresby raid is reported, as it arrives at low altitude and had just flown over the Japanese positions at Bloody Saddle: the Ki-43s have only 9 minutes' notice. While the Beauforts and Vengances start to climb, the light bombers are the first to arrive, aiming at the hangars, warehouses and aircraft dispersal areas in Milne Bay. Several Japanese bombers are destroyed on the ground and the buildings are severely damaged. Seeing the last Ki-43s taking off, the Boomerangs get rid of their bombs and strafe the Japanese fighters, destroying three of them before they take to the air, while shouting warnings to the Wirraways and the Battles. Three of the four small Australian fighters (so little made for hunting and so well adapted to ground attack) are shot down while putting themselves between the Oscars and the light bombers; the last one, heavily damaged after having faced two Ki-43, is saved by the arrival of eleven Hurricanes of Sqn 77 - the pilot managed to get back to the Allied lines and parachuted on Bloody Saddle, where he was picked up by the men of the AMF. Only one Battle and one Wirraway are lost.
Meanwhile, the ten Hurricanes of Sqn 76 cover the Beauforts and the Vengeances against the Ki-43s, which begin their attack in spite of very active light flak. The Beauforts of Sqn 100 dive in a semi-dive on the coconut groves where the Japanese depots are located and their bombardment is rewarded by several secondary explosions; one of them is deflected by a salvo of flak and hits the ground in a huge spray of flames. The French bombard the wharves area, pounding the depots, destroying vehicles and boats with great efficiency; however, their losses are heavy: the flak succeeds in shooting down three of the bombers, difficult to steer during their resource (there were no survivors). However, the fighters' confrontation results in the loss of four Ki-43 and six Hurricanes (three Australian pilots managed to jump; two escaped the Japanese thanks to the locals and one was massacred by the Japanese soldiers).
Without being distracted by this agitation, the Ki-44 Shoki climbs towards the heavy bombers, when they have a double and unpleasant surprise: six of the nine pre-production CAC Reaper heavy fighters accompany the Manchesters, as well as thirteen Spitfire Mk.V from Sqn 452 (RAAF). This squadron was at the time, along with Sqn 457 (RAAF) and 54 (RAF), one of the three land-based Spitfires operational in the Pacific theater. The presence of these units in Australia was primarily due to political concerns. These aircraft were to defend the Darwin region and their arrival in the big island, in July-August, has remained a well-kept secret until this moment.
While the fighters hover at 24,000 feet, the 27 Manchesters pass them, flying two thousand feet higher, and quietly align themselves with their objective - Turnbull's compound - which is devastated. Four Shokis, a Reaper and two Spitfires are shot down. It is curious to note that this was the first combat of the Reaper, the first combat of the Spitfire Mk.V in the Pacific theater and the first Ki-44 Shoki fight in New Guinea. Guinea.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Rabaul - The Bangkok Maru and Saigon Maru carry twelve 150 mm type 89 guns. These guns have a range of a little less than 20 km at best, so they will have to be brought to a suitable distance from Henderson Field. By hoisting them on board, the sailors of the two fast transports are happy not to be in the place of the Army men, for the guns in question weigh more than ten tons each! Even if the pieces can be dismantled in two loads... And of course, the terrain of Guadalcanal is not suitable for the passage of tractors. Not to mention the fact that it will also be necessary to transport the ammunition!
The two freighters will be escorted by the seaplane carrier Nisshin, loaded with supplies of all kinds, and six destroyers. The seaplane force of the Solomon Islands will be in charge of covering the end of the journey and the landing.

Guadalcanal - "An uneventful day, considering that a Japanese raid at mid-day, a battle over the waters of the bay at Fond de Ferraille and the cover of the P-39s chasing the Japanese hidden in the jungle are hardly worth mentioning, as it is a daily routine." (Yvon Lagadec, op. cit.)

Aden - The Franco-American fleet en route to the South Pacific sails at dawn.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Operation Iskra - The Red Army attacks on the entire front, but the Germans have closed the ranks on a defense line from Voru to Pustoshka, while the Soviets are exhausted and lost many tanks. In addition, the Luftwaffe units of AG North and Center, if they are not numerous enough to be everywhere, can concentrate their forces at the hottest points thanks to a better coordination with the ground forces than on the Soviet side.
At the end of the day, the Germans are clearly victorious: the Soviets have lost many people and did not advance anywhere. This time, the Stavka agrees to put an end to put an end to Iskra.
The Iskra operation was however successful: the Soviets eliminated the Tartu salient in Estonia, and especially that of Velikiye Luky, which constituted the last possible direct attack towards Moscow. Moreover, the recapture of Ostrov and Lavry improves the coverage of Pskov (and therefore of Novgorod and Leningrad), while securing the junction between the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts.
Nevertheless, this success remains modest compared to the initially stated ambitions of the operation, which hoped to push to the Dvina. The Germans retreated in good order and stopped the Red Army on a new defense line.
Faced with this result, both encouraging and frustrating, the Soviet staffs immediately set to work to plan a new offensive.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Operation Typhoon
The Northern wing offensive - The rain fell all night and does not stop until 11:00.
At dawn, in the north of the area where the Typhoon operation is taking place, the 1st Belorussian Front (Lt-General Eremenko) goes on the offensive. On the right, the 3rd Soviet Guards Army attacks in the direction of Orsha, with the 212th Heavy Armored Brigade in the lead, while on the left, the 20th and 2nd Guards Armies move to cut the Orsha-Gomel road. A succession of frontal attacks strikes at the junction of the 9th and 4th German Armies, worrying the HQ of Army Group Center and the OKW. But at the end of the day, at the cost of heavy losses, the Soviet forces have gained very little ground. Eremenko had spread his tanks and artillery too thinly to achieve the necessary breakthrough.
At the southern tip of the 1. PanzerArmee offensive, despite the loss of much of their armor, von Manstein's troops take Lubny. Nevertheless, it is impossible for them to cross the Sula, whose southern bank is defended by the 56th Army, which is solidly entrenched.
In the east, on the Nejyne-Bakhmash road, the German counter-offensive encounters major problems. Indeed, when the 18. ID and KampfGruppe Nehring attack, the LVI. PzK had not yet reached its point of departure, because the terrible traffic conditions have delayed the 6. Panzer and the SS Totenkopf. As a result, the battle at Pilsky, halfway between Nejyne and Bakhmach, does not take place in the conditions hoped for by Guderian. However, the Pz-V of Nehring, mostly armed with 75/L43 or L48, begin by destroying the first Soviet tanks at 1,200 meters. But the German tanks are unable to maneuver off the road: those who dare to do so are quickly stuck. After suffering significant losses at long range, the T-34s of the 119th Armored Corps are able to close in and engage the enemy at close range. The fight degenerates into a real melee. By 14:30, Chernyakovsky is blocked, but Kampfgruppe Nehring has only 19 tanks out of 71. During this time, the 44th Soviet Army, deployed in Bakhmash, pushes back quite easily the 18. ID. In the afternoon, the fights decrease in intensity, but the Luftwaffe attacks prevent the Soviets from regrouping to attack again before nightfall.
...
The Southern wing offensive - It stops raining! A few sunny days will even allow a timid return of air operations on both sides. On the other hand, a cold wind has risen and the temperature dropsto less than 5°C.
At dawn, the Bagramyan forces, supported by the VVS, attack the Hungarian Army Corps. General Szombathelyi, Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Army, who is passing through at that precise moment for an inspection, notices how poorly his units are equipped for modern warfare. The Hungarian Armored Division will lose about twenty
tanks (mainly Lt-38 and Turan-1) while trying to slow down the Soviets. The Hungarians retreat towards Jaskhiv, but the movement leaves time for the Luftwaffe assault planes to intervene. If the Hs 123 make the biggest efforts, the Stukas are able to carry out some missions in the afternoon, because the ground dried a little. The VVS also show themselves and lose a dozen planes, against six to the Luftwaffe.
This attack is another worry for Kleist, who decides to evacuate the Shpola corridor to free up forces capable of stopping the Soviet offensive. He is thus able to redeploy two infantry divisions, the 25th Motorized and the 298th, while requesting reinforcements from the OKW. The Soviets have indeed advanced by about 10 km. The 25. ID (mot) arrives in time to avoid a complete collapse of the front. The organic Flak of the German division destroys many Soviet tanks and although fierce fighting continues until nightfall, the advance is blocked.
On the Soviet side, the members of the Dnieper Defense Council (Zhukov and Vasilievsky, assisted by their front commanders) hold a new conference with Shaposhnikov and Antonov. It is decided that the 62nd Army, arriving from the Stavka reserves, would be assigned to the 2nd Ukrainian Front and will relieve the 14th Army.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Odessa - An observation Po-2 discovers a column of vehicles circling the besieged city from the north. Other reconnaissance aircraft, taking turns despite the flak, identify Romanian elements, mainly infantry, but also several cavalry units and artillery. Other troops are on the move on a vast perimeter. They are the 11th Army of General von Schobert.

 

[Wings]

October 7th, 1942

Operation Trident - D-Day+2 (Torch, D-Day+18)
The weather gets seriously bad during the night. At dawn, it rains down over eastern Sicily. All the roads are dangerously slippery and some of them have turned into streams.
.........
Quiévrain: under the rain, the offensive continues
In the pouring rain, the Moroccans and Belgians continue to march. The 2nd GTM takes Gangi in the afternoon after having pushed back the debris of the 33rd RI of the 4th DIM Livorno. On their side, between Leonforte and Nicosia, the men of the 7th Regiment of Chasseurs Ardennais take their supporting armor in a hurry and approach the small town at 16:30. The rain has finally stopped, but the Belgian troops are stopped by the 37th RI of the 3rd DIM Ravenna less than 800 meters before the first houses of Nicosia. No progress is made until the arrival of the M3F(Light) tanks of the reconnaissance squadron of the Tancremont brigade, shortly before 19:00. The fighting resumes at the last light of the day, with the light tanks firing 47 mm HE and grapeshot shells. At 21:30, darkness interrupts the fighting while the Italians still control most of Nicosia.
During this time, General Montagne discusses with General Bastin (commander of the Belgian CA). As the Italian opposition seems to be reduced between Gangi and Nicosia, he decides to engage the next day the 6th Algerian Spahis Regiment and the 11th DBLE Teruel west of Nicosia.
.........
Lightfoot-Supercharge: the British steamroller
In the eastern sector, the British X Corps expands its hold north of the road between Adrano and Gerbini, threatening to encircle the defenders of the road. Along the coast, the V Corps advances slowly but surely, although the landing of commandos desired by Allfrey at Acireale has to be postponed due to bad weather.
.........
Neptune: "Pistoia" versus "Jerusalem"
In the northern sector, the weather prevents the small monitors and warships from providing fire support as effectively as in the previous days. On the coastal road, progress is slow.
In the hills, the men of the 15th DBLE Massada-Valmy advance much faster.
They cover more than 15 km, largely exceed the "front" on the coastal road and approach the north-south road linking San Stefano di Camastra to Nicosia through the Contrasto pass. The legionnaires thus threaten to trap the Italian units, which retreat by fighting on the coast towards San Stefano. The leader of the XIIth Italian Corps, General Mario Arisio, has no choice: he decides to immediately engage the troops of the 16th Motorized Division Pistoia, which have just arrived from Messina and have not yet acquired any of their heavy weapons
"General Arisio's order was simple: "Prevent at all costs the enemy from cutting the Cefalù-San Stefano and San Stefano-Nicosia roads!" But when it came to the men of the 36th Regiment of the Pistoia Division, at dusk, it was already superfluous: the 36th, still in columns, had just fallen upon the legionnaires of the Jerusalem Battalion of the 15th DBLE, who had not hesitated to apply their motto, "When in doubt, attack, attack again, always attack"*. The battle was immediately fierce and the losses were high on both sides. Surprised, the Italians suffered a lot at first, but they were three times more numerous than their opponents and by nightfall they still controlled the road, just barely. It was during this confrontation that a young legionary lieutenant was wounded, who was to be much talked about later on. Seriously wounded in the face, he was evacuated during the night and operated on in the early hours of the morning by the surgeons of the field hospital set up by the French in Cefalù, but they could not prevent him from losing an eye. It must be recognized that Lieutenant Moshe Dayan was not to hold it against the Italians." (Francesco Folcini, op. cit.)

* The 15th DBLE had two battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 15/I Jerusalem and the 15/II Jericho (motto: "And the walls fell"). A certain number of their men were Germans interned in 1939-40 at the camp of Les Milles.

 

[Wings]

October 8th, 1942

Guadalcanal - Patrol activities continue.
.........
Solomon Islands - A convoy of four Japanese 830 GRT E-type coasters, accompanied by two CH-13 class ASM escorts, is attacked off Kolombangara by the submarine Sidi-Ferruch. The latter was informed of the arrival of the convoy by a report from the coastwatchers transmitted by the HF Bells station of the RAN. One of the coasters is sunk and the French submarine escapes the counter-attack of the escorts. The three other coasters land at the end of the night in Kanimbobo six light tanks, a dozen 70 mm guns and supplies.
The "submarine transport" USS Dolphin, on a mission to supply the coastwatchers, observes the action with interest, but is unable to participate. During the night,
exactly as planned, it finds the Sidi-Ferruch and delivers supplies and mail. The doctor of the American submarine also gave care to two French sailors, one of whom, victim of a superinfection of a wound, had to be hospitalized (the Dolphin is equipped with an infirmary and a medical team). Rumors have it that the Sidi-Ferruch expressed its gratitude in the form of a case of wine bottles, but the Dolphin's commander will always vigorously deny this.

 

[Wings]

October 8th, 1942

Saigon - The Japanese occupier eliminates with a stroke of the pen what was left of the French judicial and police system in Indochina, claiming that it thus puts an end to the "unworthy subjugation of the subjugation of the peoples of Asia to the white colonialists".
The real reason is far from this propaganda. The Bach Mu Doan (White Berets), Vietnamese militia loyal to the occupier, have for main occupation to racketeer peasants or small traders. However, it happened to them to run up against the protests of the French justice system, which qualified these acts of brigandage characterized, even with reactions of the French police - and this, although what remains of the French administration has been for six months, only civil servants who had pledged their allegiance to the Laval government. The Japanese find it simpler to take care of police and judicial tasks themselves, rather than continue to hope for genuine collaboration of colonial institutions. The (nominally) Lavalist officials thus discarded are placed under house arrest. Most of them were soon sent to a special prison camp (the Japanese did not have the refined cruelty to imprison them with the captured supporters of the government of Algiers).
The task of justice is entrusted to the Kempetai, which became known for its methods very similar to those of the Gestapo. Moreover, General Tyo, the military governor of Indochina, decides that the Japanese army would henceforth be responsible for the arrest of any individual suspected of having participated in "terrorist" acts.
This decision allows the military field courts to proceed with the trial of suspects and to their summary execution.
A regime of terror is then to descend upon the whole of Japanese Indochina. Thousands of peasants are murdered, tortured or abusively imprisoned. It is undeniable that this policy will have results, in particular in the "pacification" of the delta region. But the Communists will skilfully exploit the situation: their propaganda teams will visit the villages at night to push the peasants to rise up.
Stressing that, if they benefit from the support of the former colonizer, this does not mean that France will once again become the master of Indochina after the defeat of the Japanese - Ho-Chi-Minh's envoys are often listened to.

 

[Wings]

October 8th, 1942

Operation Typhoon
The Northern wing offensive - The Soviet attack in the direction of Orsha gains little ground and at a high price. In the early afternoon, Zhukov goes to Eremenko's headquarters to get things moving, but he will find that his forces have attacked on a front far too wide.
The situation of the 1. PanzerArmee is no less bleak. What is happening further north makes it impossible to hope for reinforcements. Chernyakovsky's tanks are stopped but not repulsed, the 3. PzG is cut in two between the XXXIX. PanzerKorps and the LVII. PanzerKorps and the 18. ID suffers heavy losses.
In the west, Shanshibadze makes a new attempt against Nejyne while Shuikov's 37th Army attacksPryluky again. The survivors of KampfGruppe Nehring come back as fast as the roads allow and, in the afternoon, block Shanshibadze's attack. Breith has to be engaged against Shuikov, whom he hit hard south of Pryluky. The 37th Army is again repulsed, but the 3. Panzer is unable to exploit its success, because it has only... 8 operational tanks.
In the east, on the other hand, the 6. Panzer and the SS Totenkopf, having arrived at the outskirts of Pilsky, can finally attack Chernyakovsky from the southwest. The battle continues until about 16:00.
Wading through the mud, the German tanks still have the worst difficulties to show their tactical superiority. However, the 1st Armored Army is sufficiently tested for Chernyakovsky to order to retreat to Bakhmash. Informed of this, Guderian orders the XXXIX. PzK to launch the next day a major attack against Bakhmash, hoping thus to encircle and annihilate the forces of Chernyakovsky.
.........
In the evening, Zhukov meets Vassilyevsky in Novgorod-Sivers'ky. Both agree on the need to regain the initiative, especially in the sector of the Lower Desna Front, to prevent Sherevichenko's forces from suffering very heavy losses. They ask the Stavka to engage in this purpose the reserve formed by the "Kaluga Front", but the general staff refuses. Stalin and Shaposhnikov are not ready to risk the ultimate defense force of Kharkov and Kursk. The only solution is to ask Boldin to attack again.

The Southern wing offensive - The cold air from the north retreats before a warm front from the Black Sea and, from mid-day, it rains again on the battlefield.
In the morning, the Bagramyan offensive resumes, but it is met with much stronger resistance and, around noon, it is definitively stopped before having reached Jaskhiv. Nevertheless, the Soviet artillery inflicts important losses to the Hungarian and German units, and in particular to the flak of the 25. ID (mot), because they have to fight in the open.
In the Shpola sector, the Soviet artillery is very active and its shells accompany the German withdrawal. The road from Smyla to Shpola and then Zveny-Gorodka and Uman' being cleared, the logistics of the 45th Army improve.
At the end of the day, the OKW informs Kleist that KampfGruppe Dietrich is authorized to attack towards the Dnieper and Kanev (Kaniv).

 

[Wings]

October 8th, 1942

Kyivs'kyi District - The term "Combat Group" has recently appeared in Soviet reports. Combat Groups are formations of 10 to 15 men, specialized in operations behind enemy lines. They were not created by an order of the Stavka or of General Kostenko. They were born of circumstances and the will of Soviet soldiers to continue the struggle, even when surrounded, even when cut off from all help.
On October 8th, the LIV. ArmeeKorps of Hansen attacks along the Black Sea, south-west of Odessa. With the help of the powerful Karl mortars, the German and Romanian troops take the fortified lines protecting the city without difficulty. The bunkers are destroyed, the heavily bombed trenches are now occupied only by a few poorly armed and demoralized elements.
The main obstacle remains the district of Kyivs'skyi, defended house by house by small groups of fierce fighters. The Axis forces advance slowly in the streets blocked by barricades, Czech hedgehogs... and heaps of debris from collapsed buildings. The intensive bombardments of the last weeks have reduced to ruins many buildings and individual houses. There often remains only bare frames and ragged sections of wall lacerated by the explosions. Other buildings are nothing more than mounds of bricks with bits of twisted pipes sticking out of them.
The spectacle offered in the streets goes from the grotesque to the horrific. The German soldiers see cribs, bathtubs or coat racks still loaded with clothes, hanging between heaven and earth on an intact floor of a building open to the wind.
Further on, the wreckage of a MiG-3 is embedded in a wall. But if this spectacle can shed a smile, the sight of well-fed rats abandoning a partially eaten hand emerging from a pile of bricks makes the soldiers, already familiar with the horrors of war, uncomfortable. Perhaps, then, Nazi propaganda helps them: by denying the status of human beings in their own right of the Slavic sub-humans who are victims of the bombings, it tones down the horror of their actions.
And they move forward, soaked by the rain that falls without interruption, with their rifles in hand and their fingers on the trigger of his MP-38 or 40. Under the steel helmets, their eyes spy on the slightest movement. They suspect that other eyes are watching them.
The men watching them survived days of bombing. Then they come out of the cellars to defend the labyrinth of ruins that their city had become. One, the only survivor of a unit, a handful of others from here and there. They meet in the middle of the rubble. Their weapons? What they managed to keep, what they found on the remains of their comrades, what they took from the enemy. Hungry, exhausted, dressed in ragged uniforms, they attack, flee, hide, change position, never staying two days in the same place. They try above all to sneak in between the German troops to make it to their lines.
However, the Germans see them as a real danger and hunt them down relentlessly.
In their reports, the numbers of these survivors are inflated. They speak of companies or entire battalions infiltrating the Axis lines. Then, the artillery thunders and real battalions rush in, supported by tanks.

 

[Wings]

October 8th, 1942

Operation Trident - D-Day+3 (Torch, D-Day+19)
Fall of Nicosia
It is in the center of the front that the most important events of the day take place.
At dawn, the Belgians, supported this time by medium tanks, set off again to attack Nicosia. Meanwhile, the 6th Spahis and the 11th DBLE advance quite rapidly from Gangi, facing a very weak opposition. At 11:00, General Gioda, noting that the 37th Infantry Regiment is in danger of being encircled, he had no other solution than to order it to evacuate Nicosia and to fall back on Troina. In the early afternoon, the French and Belgians enter Nicosia and soon set off in pursuit of the Italians. However, Montagne orders the 2nd Tabors, following the 6th Spahis and the 11th DBLE, to take the northern road, which leads to San Stefano.
.........
Fall of Gerbini
In the eastern sector, the X Corps begins to close the Gerbini encirclement. The 2nd DIM Sforzesca, completing its deployment in Sicily, counter-attacks twice to help the remnants of the "M" Armored Brigade and the Torino Division to evacuate the city, where the British enter the city at the end of the day.
On the coast, V Corps advances on Acireale when it is counter-attacked by the 35th Armored Regiment Centauro II. British anti-tanks stop the Italian tanks, but the V Corps cannot approach the city any further.
.........
Race to San Stefano
On the northern coastal road, the French and Americans accelerate, as it becomes clear that the Italians are withdrawing to Santo Stefano. In the interior, the 15th DBLE is ordered to attack northwards, but the legionnaires notice that the 16th Motorized Division Pistoia is solidly entrenched. Lacking support, the 15th DBLE suspends its attack around 15:00, to give the 2nd Tabors time to arrive.
.........
New landings in sight
The weather is improving little by little. The weather forecast for the following day is favourable, and Montgomery and Delestraint authorize amphibious operations to try to trap the Italians defending the coastal roads. While the land troops involved are under the responsibility of the respective army commanders, the necessary naval and air assets are mobilized at the Army Group headquarters through Generals Eisenhower and Alexander, who are in charge of liaison with the staffs of Admiral Cunningham and General d'Astier de la Vigerie throughout the day.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Lille - For the first time, American B-24s attack a target in France. Thirty Liberators of the 44th Bombardment Group and 78 B-17s of the 305th BG (two new heavy bomber groups deployed since September in Great Britain) attack an industrial site in the North of France. The Luftwaffe's reaction is as powerful and many fighters collided all along the many fighters collided all along the route of the bombers. The latter, well protected, lost only three B-17 and one B-24 (plus 4 very damaged B-17, which will be considered as irreparable).
The allied escort lose 12 Spitfires, 5 Tornados and 11 P-38 in exchange for 11 Fw 190 and 9 Bf 109.
The bombing is not very accurate - out of 588 500-pound bombs, only 9 fall within 500 meters from the heart of the target. The civilian victims are numerous: 200 dead, several hundreds of wounded - the lavalistic propaganda will make a big deal of it for several weeks.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Le Puy-en-Velay - The mayor of the city, Eugène-Gaston Pébelier, is a former PSF member who eagerly rallied to the New PSF. However, it is this active sympathizer of Laval's politics who is arrested by the Gestapo. The reason: two escapees from the day before had been discovered, by a stroke of bad luck, in the attic of his house!
After the war, we will discover in his correspondence that, very shocked by the events of September and the imprisonment of La Rocque, he had decided to pretend to rally. Informed of the escape project, he had warned the local Kommandantur just a little too late for the information to be useful... Then, he had taken in two fugitives. After a brutally extracted confession, the Gestapo put him in the hands of his compatriots of the SONEF who immediately send him to Eysses.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Yokohama - The second mission of the German privateer Thor, during which a dozen ships were captured or sunk (for about 55,000 t), ends in Japan, after a stopover in Batavia.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Alger - On the advice of De Gaulle, Reynaud appoints Charles Tillon Minister of the Air Force to replace Laurent Eynac, who was sent to the United States to lead the mission for the purchase of aeronautical equipment. The event comes as a surprise to most people, including the new member of the government. However, the appointment is well received, as the man benefits from his image of "patriotic communist of June 40", favored by the transcription by the press of his calls of the time.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Milne Bay Area - The supply of the 3rd AMF Division through Mullins Harbour continues unabated. Most of it is done by small boats carrying ten to fifty tons of supplies - an inefficient system, but it works. In the hills, the 7th and 15th Brigades are gradually put to rest while the 4th and 10th Brigades replace them on the front line, where there is a constant flow of patrols. The men of the 4th and 10th Brigades are not yet well acclimatized, but, as General Savige explains in one of his orders of the day, they had "the choice between acclimatizing as soon as possible or dying, and acclimatizing seems preferable."

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Guadalcanal - Patrol activities continue.
.........
Solomon Islands - RAAF Whitleys have been withdrawn from daylight operations, but they continue night missions, bombing Japanese installations as far away as New Georgia. The damage caused is limited, but the moral effect is real. The whole seems worth the losses suffered because of the too frequent bad weather, when a Whitley hits a cloud containing a mountain - what the crews call: "encountering a cumulo-granitus".

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Operation Typhoon
The Northern wing offensive - As the weather turns bad again, the XXXIX. PanzerKorps engages what remains of the 7. Panzer and the 20. ID (mot) to attack Bakhmash from the north, while the remaining elements of the LVI. PanzerKorps that had pushed back the previous day's 1st Armored Army push their attack from the southwest. But if the Soviet tanks have retreated, Bakhmash is occupied by the 44th Army, which is supported by the 4th Artillery Division, two regiments (the 324th and 526th) and three battalions of "special" artillery (the 245th, 315th and 316th). In the absence of air support, the attackers suffer heavy losses under a hail of shells and rockets.
This is not for lack of goodwill on the part of the Luftwaffe: it is reported that pilots from a ground support unit based on an improvised field in Kulikovka, learning that their assault troops were being massacred by Soviet artillery, took off without orders with their Bf 110s to support the attackers. This attempt was courageous but doomed to failure. Out of the 14 planes that took off, 5 crashed while trying to fly under the cloudy ceiling; on the way back, 3 did not find their ground and made a forced landing and on the 6 which returned to Kulikovka, 3 made a wooden horse in the mud. In the afternoon, only some Hs 123 succeed in taking off, to bombard the Soviet positions in Bakhmach and return without difficulty.
However, despite heavy losses, the German troops reach the outskirts of Bakhmash and at dusk, the soldiers of both sides fight among the burned houses. Fearing another attack from the south (and unaware that the 18. ID had suffered losses the day before that made it unable to attack), Sherevishenko orders a reluctant Chernyakovsky to withdraw his tanks to Konotop.
While the ruins of Bakhmach are once again disputed, Eremenko tries again to break through to Orsha and Gomel. This effort is as useless and deadly for his troops as those of the previous two days. Nevertheless, the offensive of the 1st Belarusian Front has drawn most of the German reserves into the region.
Guderian cannot but recognize the gravity of the situation. At a new meeting with Hoth and Reinhardt, he notes that his 1. PanzerArmee is completely exhausted. Despite the reinforcements, the 2. PzG has only 182 operational tanks and the 3. PzG only 127.
Nevertheless, the enemy camp also seems to be very tired. This is at least the impression of Guderian in front of the withdrawal of the armored units of Chernyakovsky.
Moreover, it is obvious that the "mud factor", which prevents the German tanks to exploit their advantages in tactics and maneuvering qualities, was very underestimated, even ignored. Guderian remains convinced that he could still trap Soviet forces around Kiev once the ground is hardened by the cold. But before that, he must remove the threat to his flanks, at least on the Bakhmash side. He therefore urges Hoth and Reinhardt to get rid of Sherevishenko without giving up on holding Lubny.

The Southern wing offensive - The weather is improving and clearings appear from midday. Unfortunately for the Germans, the airfields remain wet and only biplanes can take off, whether they were Hs 123s or I-153s. The latter attacks with rockets the concentrations of troops and the German motorized columns, but they lose seven of theirs because of the Flak. However, they managed to shoot down three Hs 123, while three others are shot down by Soviet flak.
Sepp Dietrich attacks from Mirovnika towards Kanev with 54 tanks. He comes up against a succession of fortifications and artillery positions that slow down and then stop his progression. General Dovator knows the importance of Kanev and, supported by what remains of the 11th Artillery Division, he puts up a fierce resistance. Equally worried, Konev decides to reinforce Dovator with the Kuban Marine Infantry Brigade, stationed in Krementchug. In the night, as the weather deteriorates again, the South Dnieper flotilla will transfer the KMPB to Kanev. This one leaves behind its organic battalion of amphibious T-40, replaced by a company of T-34.

 

[Wings]

October 9th, 1942

Kyivs'kyi District - The final phase of the battle of Odessa sees entire divisions attempt to penetrate the city on fronts a few streets wide. The roads are cluttered with obstacles built by the defenders or created by the bombardment. Thousands of men and hundreds of vehicles are then caught in a gigantic traffic jam, offering an easy target to the Soviet artillery - at least, to the guns that are not yet muzzled, but there are some.
Each soldier is like an ant in the middle of an anthill gone mad. We run on all sides, among the trucks and armored vehicles whose engines are whirring, the rolling kitchens and the wagons pulled by frightened horses. At times a shell falls, hitting a building which throws bricks into the street or explodes in the middle of a group of soldiers. Some men collapse, their comrades drag them in haste in the rare buildings still more or less standing, many of which have been turned into infirmaries.