CBI - China: Day 46 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , November 2
UK: BBC begins the world's first regular "high-definition" (for the day) television broadcast service. It will be suspended on 01 Sep 39 with the outbreak of war.
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BBC Television Symbol, 1953
Two competing systems, Marconi-EMI's 405-line electronic system and John Logie Baird's 240-line mechanical system, were installed at Alexandra Palace, each with its own broadcast studio, and were transmitted on alternate weeks until the 405-line system was chosen in 1937.
Scheduled programming was broadcast by the BBC two hours a day, six days a week and built up a viewing audience of 20,000 British families by the outbreak of war.
A scene from Mickey's Gala Premiere
A Disney cartoon, Mickey's Gala Premiere, was being aired on 01 Sep 39 when word came to the broadcast studio at Alexandra Palace, 12 miles north of London, to shut everything down immediately, which they did without even finishing the cartoon.
Technicians went immediately to work for the war effort. The transmitter found an alternative use jamming German bombers' navigation systems. It is said that only 25% of London raids were effective because of these transmissions.
Limited broadcast testing resumed in February 1945, before the war's end, and finally returned to full service on 07 Jun 46, starting with continuing the very same Mickey Mouse cartoon that had been interrupted in 1939 from the point that it was at when the plug was pulled. Or so says popular mythology, which also likes to claim that the announcer began the rebroadcast with, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted."
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07 Sep 27: Philo Farnsworth demos first televised image
CBI - China: Day 14 of 29 of the 1st Battle of Suiyuan.
1937 — , November 2
Spain: Day 474 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 119 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 82 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 63 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , November 2
Spain: Day 839 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 484 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 22 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , November 2
ETO - Germany: The first transport of Polish women arrives at Ravensbruck concentration camp.
CBI - China: Day 849 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , November 2
Atlantic: German submarine U-31 is sunk northwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS ANTELOPE. U-31 had been sunk once before on 11 Mar 40, but was raised and repaired, becoming the only German submarine to be sunk twice in the war.
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Related dates (submarines)...
16 Sep 39: U-31 participates in WWII's first convoy attack
East Africa: Day 146 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,215 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 354 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
CBI - Thailand: Day 33 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , November 2
Russian Front: SS paramilitary death squad Einsatzgruppe B reports an early tally of 45,476 Jews killed in the east following the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Spotlight...
SS Einsatzgruppen (task forces or deployment groups) were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting. The units targeted Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories; including Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars.
The Einsatzgruppen operated throughout the territory occupied by the German armed forces following the German invasions of Poland, in September 1939, and later, of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Einsatzgruppen carried out operations ranging from the murder of a few people to operations which lasted over two or more days, such as the massacres at Babi Yar (33,771 killed in two days) and Rumbula (25,000 killed in two days). The Einsatzgruppen were responsible for the murders of over 1,000,000 people, and they were the first Nazi organizations to commence mass killing of Jews as an organized policy.
The Einsatzgruppen were organized as follows...
Einsatzgruppe A - assigned to the Baltic area,
Einsatzgruppe B - assigned to Belarus,
Einsatzgruppe C - assigned to north and central Ukraine, and
Einsatzgruppe D - assigned to Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 127 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 125 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 134 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front: Day 134 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA.
Russian Front - North: Day 56 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 32 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 4 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula..
MTO - Libya: Day 207 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk. US B-17s bomb shipping and jetties in Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 511 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,580 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Japan: Emperor Hirohito, who had argued that a member of the imperial family should not have to eventually carry the responsibility for a war against the West, finally gives consent to Tojo and his Chiefs of Staff to go to "war against the United States, England and Holland." Although Tojo was very much pro-war, he is said to have been trying to find a way to carry out Hirohito's admonition to find a way to avoid war.
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Related dates (Tojo)...
26 Feb 36: Failed socialist coup rewards Tojo with leadership posts
01 Mar 37: Tojo promoted to Chief of Staff of an army in China
22 Jul 40: Tojo is appointed to cabinet post as Army Minister
17 Oct 41: Tojo is appointed Prime Minister of Japan
02 Nov 41: Hirohito gives Tojo consent to go to war
27 Nov 41: Tojo rejects American counter-proposal for peace
18 Jul 44: Tojo resigns as PM, becomes Chief of Army General Staff
11 Sep 45: Tojo survives suicide attempt before arrest
12 Nov 48: Tojo is sentenced to death by Int'l Military Tribunal
23 Dec 48: Tojo is executed by hanging for war crimes
Russian Front - North: Day 421 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 182 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 128 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 72 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
MTO - Egypt: Day 11 of 20 of the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. Operation SUPERCHARGE: The breakout at El Alamein gets under way. Rommel has only 32 Panzers left intact.
East Africa: Day 182 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,945 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 149 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 257 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 105 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. The Australians continue pushing back the Japanese troops.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 88 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , November 2
PTO - New Guinea: Day 1 of 10 of the Bombing of Rabaul, a joint US, Australian and New Zealand carrier and land-based attack on the Japanese cruiser force at the naval base at New Britain.
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Heavy cruiser Haguro struck at Rabaul, 02 Nov 43
The 09 Feb 43 abandonment of Guadalcanal by Japanese forces ended a grueling six-month campaign and brought the first American offensive operation of the Pacific War to a victorious conclusion. But it was only the beginning of a difficult Allied advance through the Solomon Islands, attended by savage fighting on land, at sea and in the air.
At the northwestern end of the island chain, the Japanese directed their defensive efforts from a well-developed naval base at Rabaul on the island of New Britain. The Japanese had brought a strong cruiser force down from Truk, their major naval base in the Caroline Islands about 800 miles north of Rabaul, to engage Allied supply and support shipping to thwart the Allied invasion of Bougainville (which began yesterday, 01 Nov 43).
As a result of these successful Rabaul raids, the Japanese naval forces could no longer threaten the landings at Bougainville. The success of these raids also began to change the strongly held belief that carrier-based air forces could not challenge land-based air forces.
Russian Front - North: Day 786 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 547 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket. USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 71 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - Austria: US 15th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the aircraft factory and surrounding industrial complex at Wiener-Neustadt.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force provides air support for the US 5th and British 8th Armies.
CBI - China: Day 2,310 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 1 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 45 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 42 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 2 of 11 of the Bombing of Rabaul, a joint US, Australian and New Zealand carrier and land-based attack on the Japanese cruiser force at the naval base at New Britain.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 2 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 2 of 2 of the Naval Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. US 3rd Marine Division captures the island.
1944 — , November 2
ETO - France: Day 94 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 62 of 62 of the liberation of Belgium. Canadian troops take Zeebrugge, the last corner of occupied Belgium, on the Channel coast.
ETO - Belgium: Day 32 of 38 of the Battle of the Scheldt Estuary. The Canadian 2nd Division withdraws from a 700 yard deep bridgehead in Walcheren.
ETO - France: Day 49 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 45 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force dispatches 1,174 heavy bombers and 968 fighters to destroy various oil refineries in Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 49 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 19 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 12 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 50 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 5 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary. The Soviets enter the southeastern suburbs.
Russian Front - South: Day 50 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. German 2nd Panzer Army establishes a firm line west of the city.
MTO - Austria: US 15th Air Force B-17s bomb the Moosbierbaum oil refinery.
CBI - Burma: Day 216 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,676 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 200 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 311 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 195 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 49 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Philippines: Day 14 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 14 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
Day-By-Day listings for November 2 were last modified on Sunday, January 31, 2016
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