Part 99
Prague, April 27th, 1942
Karel Svoboda and Jozef Gabcik, quietly waited for the car carrying Reinhard Heydrich from his home to office to show up. As soon as it did Svoboda threw an anti-tank grenade at it heavily damaging it. The wounded Heydrich and his driver instantly jumped out of the car pistols drawn to take on their assailants. It would prove a fatal mistake as Gabcik and Svoboda cut them down with their Sten guns. Heydrich would be found dead on the street by pedestrians while both Czechoslovak agents escaped...
Salzburg, April 29th, 1942
Adolf Hitler was ranting, Or giving a strongly opinionated speech to Benito Mussolini and count Ciano if someone wanted to be more charitable. Either way the two Italian leaders were being harangued about Italy providing more troops for the fight against the Soviets. Harangue or not it worked as Mussolini agreed to expand the ARMIR in Russia to a full army of 9 divisions and commit the 131st Centauro armoured division alongside the Taurinense, Pusteria and Alpi Graie Alpini divisions to the Caucasus front.
Syria and Kurdistan, April 29th, 1942
The British 9th army and the French Armee d'Orient, with some 252,000 men between them, resumed the attack. On the Turkish side general Nafiz Gürman, now in command of the Turkish 2nd army after Fahrettin Altay had been moved to command the Caucasus front, could count upon nearly 299,000 men, including a German corps with about 45,000 men and the Italian Centauro division. But while the Turks, Germans and Italians had only slightly over 200 tanks available, Slim and De Lattre, the latter recently promoted in the place of Mittelhauser, had nearly 600...
Varese, Italy, May 2nd, 1942
The first dozen C.205 fighters using the more powerful DB605 engine, start being assembled in the Macchi aircraft factory. No aircraft would reach Regia Aeronautica units before September and less than a hundred delivered by the end of the year. With the first Spitfires delivered to Allied air forces in the Mediterranean back in March the new aircraft was sorely needed. It was hardly the only new fighter aircraft being introduced by the Axis air forces. FIAT G.55 and Reggiane Re.2005 both with DB605 engines were also entering production, the latter also in Turkey's TOMTAS fighter while the Romanians were feverishly working on a BMW801 engined variant of their IAR.80 fighter following acquisition of the necessary engine licence the previous February. By comparison the latest German single engine fighter Bf-109G was distinctly unimpressive. Messerschmitt was of course preparing a replacement design, Me 309, but till it flew no-one could be certain of its performance.
Epirus May 3rd, 1942
One more Italian division reached the frontline, bringing the total strength of the Italian 9th Army to 8. Nevertheless the Greek advance continued...
Coral Sea, May 4th, 1942
Aircraft start taking off the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, following a report that US carriers had been sighted, from one of the floatplanes from the cruisers that accompanied the Japanese force. They were hardly the only aircraft in the air, near simultaneously an American scout plane had detected the Japanese and admiral Fletcher's carriers, USS Yorktown and USS Wasp had begun launching their aircraft. Over the next four days, the battle, only the second after that of Ceylon the previous month to be fought solely between carriers would end up inconclusively. USS Wasp would be sunk and USS Yorktown heavily damaged on the American side but the Japanese would also lose the carrier Shoho while Zuikaku was heavily damaged. Both Zuikaku and Shokaku would be unavailable for the coming months...
Algiers, May 7th, 1942
The British 23rd and 24th armoured brigades start unloading. As soon as units were moved to the train stations to be sent east, were despite French resistance Rommel kept advancing westwards from Tunis. Initial plans had called for sending the two brigades to the Middle East. But with French North Africa switching sides to the Allies there was no point to waste two months to go around Africa...
Kharkov, May 12th, 1942
Over 750,000 Soviet soldiers with about 2,000 tanks and self propelled guns attacked in the hope of liberating Kharkov. But over the next two weeks the attack would turn into a disaster with 277,000 casualties for barely a tenth as many German casualties...
Bizani, Epirus, May 16th, 1942
A generation before during the 1st Balkan war, the Greek army had been held back for months before the forts of Bizani. Now the Italians had finally stopped its advance in the very same area. Over the past month, the Greeks had managed to liberate Arta and Prevesa, the latter would come handy supplying the army in Epirus. The advance had not come cheap though, Greek casualties were in excess of 8,000 men, Italian losses had been even heavier at about 11,000.
Imphal, May 20th, 1942
The remnants of the retreating Allied armies reached Imphal as the growing monsoon season gave them a temporary respite from the Japanese advance. But Burma had been lost to the Japanese who in four and a half months had advanced some 2,500 kilometers winning nearly three dozen battles...
Bone, Algeria, May 28th, 1942
The Afrika Korps offensive came to a halt. The two German Panzer divisions had advanced 170 km and inflicted nearly 20,000 casualties on general Juin's forces but had failed to destroy the Amee d'Afrique. Meanwhile in Eastern Tunisia the Italians along two German divisions had steadfastly held the Mareth line against the attacks of O'Connor's 8th army destroying nearly 200 tanks. Italo Balbo and Erwin Rommel were more than worried despite what on paper appeared to be an Axis victory. In East Tunisia, the British now had a railroad going all the way from Tripoli to the front and were steadily increasing Tripoli's port capacity. In Algeria the first non French reinforcements had already shown up and there was every reason to believe that more would be showing up sooner rather than later...
Turkish-Syrian border, May 29th, 1942
General De Lattre, was photographed as he raised the French flag over one of the border outposts. Further east in Kurdistan the Turks had managed to hold back Slim's 9th army, but in here they had been pushed back all the way to the pre-war border. Which aside from propaganda also meant the Baghdad railroad was back under Allied control...
Cologne, May 30th, 1942
1,103 RAF bombers hit the city, dropping nearly 1,500 tons of bombs onto it. 43 bombers would be shot down but this was just the opening act of the bombing campaign against Germany...
Karel Svoboda and Jozef Gabcik, quietly waited for the car carrying Reinhard Heydrich from his home to office to show up. As soon as it did Svoboda threw an anti-tank grenade at it heavily damaging it. The wounded Heydrich and his driver instantly jumped out of the car pistols drawn to take on their assailants. It would prove a fatal mistake as Gabcik and Svoboda cut them down with their Sten guns. Heydrich would be found dead on the street by pedestrians while both Czechoslovak agents escaped...
Salzburg, April 29th, 1942
Adolf Hitler was ranting, Or giving a strongly opinionated speech to Benito Mussolini and count Ciano if someone wanted to be more charitable. Either way the two Italian leaders were being harangued about Italy providing more troops for the fight against the Soviets. Harangue or not it worked as Mussolini agreed to expand the ARMIR in Russia to a full army of 9 divisions and commit the 131st Centauro armoured division alongside the Taurinense, Pusteria and Alpi Graie Alpini divisions to the Caucasus front.
Syria and Kurdistan, April 29th, 1942
The British 9th army and the French Armee d'Orient, with some 252,000 men between them, resumed the attack. On the Turkish side general Nafiz Gürman, now in command of the Turkish 2nd army after Fahrettin Altay had been moved to command the Caucasus front, could count upon nearly 299,000 men, including a German corps with about 45,000 men and the Italian Centauro division. But while the Turks, Germans and Italians had only slightly over 200 tanks available, Slim and De Lattre, the latter recently promoted in the place of Mittelhauser, had nearly 600...
Varese, Italy, May 2nd, 1942
The first dozen C.205 fighters using the more powerful DB605 engine, start being assembled in the Macchi aircraft factory. No aircraft would reach Regia Aeronautica units before September and less than a hundred delivered by the end of the year. With the first Spitfires delivered to Allied air forces in the Mediterranean back in March the new aircraft was sorely needed. It was hardly the only new fighter aircraft being introduced by the Axis air forces. FIAT G.55 and Reggiane Re.2005 both with DB605 engines were also entering production, the latter also in Turkey's TOMTAS fighter while the Romanians were feverishly working on a BMW801 engined variant of their IAR.80 fighter following acquisition of the necessary engine licence the previous February. By comparison the latest German single engine fighter Bf-109G was distinctly unimpressive. Messerschmitt was of course preparing a replacement design, Me 309, but till it flew no-one could be certain of its performance.
Epirus May 3rd, 1942
One more Italian division reached the frontline, bringing the total strength of the Italian 9th Army to 8. Nevertheless the Greek advance continued...
Coral Sea, May 4th, 1942
Aircraft start taking off the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, following a report that US carriers had been sighted, from one of the floatplanes from the cruisers that accompanied the Japanese force. They were hardly the only aircraft in the air, near simultaneously an American scout plane had detected the Japanese and admiral Fletcher's carriers, USS Yorktown and USS Wasp had begun launching their aircraft. Over the next four days, the battle, only the second after that of Ceylon the previous month to be fought solely between carriers would end up inconclusively. USS Wasp would be sunk and USS Yorktown heavily damaged on the American side but the Japanese would also lose the carrier Shoho while Zuikaku was heavily damaged. Both Zuikaku and Shokaku would be unavailable for the coming months...
Algiers, May 7th, 1942
The British 23rd and 24th armoured brigades start unloading. As soon as units were moved to the train stations to be sent east, were despite French resistance Rommel kept advancing westwards from Tunis. Initial plans had called for sending the two brigades to the Middle East. But with French North Africa switching sides to the Allies there was no point to waste two months to go around Africa...
Kharkov, May 12th, 1942
Over 750,000 Soviet soldiers with about 2,000 tanks and self propelled guns attacked in the hope of liberating Kharkov. But over the next two weeks the attack would turn into a disaster with 277,000 casualties for barely a tenth as many German casualties...
Bizani, Epirus, May 16th, 1942
A generation before during the 1st Balkan war, the Greek army had been held back for months before the forts of Bizani. Now the Italians had finally stopped its advance in the very same area. Over the past month, the Greeks had managed to liberate Arta and Prevesa, the latter would come handy supplying the army in Epirus. The advance had not come cheap though, Greek casualties were in excess of 8,000 men, Italian losses had been even heavier at about 11,000.
Imphal, May 20th, 1942
The remnants of the retreating Allied armies reached Imphal as the growing monsoon season gave them a temporary respite from the Japanese advance. But Burma had been lost to the Japanese who in four and a half months had advanced some 2,500 kilometers winning nearly three dozen battles...
Bone, Algeria, May 28th, 1942
The Afrika Korps offensive came to a halt. The two German Panzer divisions had advanced 170 km and inflicted nearly 20,000 casualties on general Juin's forces but had failed to destroy the Amee d'Afrique. Meanwhile in Eastern Tunisia the Italians along two German divisions had steadfastly held the Mareth line against the attacks of O'Connor's 8th army destroying nearly 200 tanks. Italo Balbo and Erwin Rommel were more than worried despite what on paper appeared to be an Axis victory. In East Tunisia, the British now had a railroad going all the way from Tripoli to the front and were steadily increasing Tripoli's port capacity. In Algeria the first non French reinforcements had already shown up and there was every reason to believe that more would be showing up sooner rather than later...
Turkish-Syrian border, May 29th, 1942
General De Lattre, was photographed as he raised the French flag over one of the border outposts. Further east in Kurdistan the Turks had managed to hold back Slim's 9th army, but in here they had been pushed back all the way to the pre-war border. Which aside from propaganda also meant the Baghdad railroad was back under Allied control...
Cologne, May 30th, 1942
1,103 RAF bombers hit the city, dropping nearly 1,500 tons of bombs onto it. 43 bombers would be shot down but this was just the opening act of the bombing campaign against Germany...
Last edited:
