CBI - China: Day 50 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1935 — , November 6
UK: The British Hawker Hurricane single-seat fighter makes its first flight. It will become renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60% of the RAF's air victories in the battle.
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A Hurricane Mk I
Although largely overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hurricane served in all the major theaters of the Second World War.
The 1930s design evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as interceptor-fighters, fighter-bombers (also called "Hurribombers"), and ground support aircraft. Further versions known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications which enabled operation from ships. Some were converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts, known as "Hurricats."
More than 14,583 Hurricanes were built by the end of 1944, including at least 800 converted to Sea Hurricanes and some 1,400 built in Canada.
Though faster and more advanced than the RAF's current front line biplane fighters, the Hurricane's constructional design was already outdated when introduced. It used the traditional Hawker construction techniques consisting of mechanically fastened rather than welded joints and, initially, a hefty amount of fabric covering over a steel-tube structure.
An advantage of the steel-tube structure was that cannon shells could pass right through the wood and fabric covering without exploding. Even if one of the steel tubes were damaged, the repair work required was relatively simple and could be done by ground crew at the airfield.
In contrast, the contemporary Spitfire used all-metal monocoque construction and was thus both lighter and stronger, though less tolerant to bullet damage. With its ease of maintenance, widely-set landing gear and benign flying characteristics, the Hurricane remained in use in theaters of operations where reliability, easy handling and a stable gun platform were more important than performance, typically in roles like ground attack.
The Hurricane got its baptism of fire on 21 Oct 39, shooting down five German Heinkel floatplanes searching for ships in the North Sea.
CBI - China: Day 18 of 29 of the 1st Battle of Suiyuan.
1937 — , November 6
ETO - Italy: Italy signs the Anti-Comintern Pact (against international communism), joining Germany and Japan, thereby forming the group that will come to be known as the Axis Powers.
Spotlight...
An Axis rally held in Tokyo, 1937
The Anti-Comintern Pact was directed against the Communist International (Comintern) organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919. The stated goal of the Comintern was to disintegrate and subdue existing States by all the means at its command. That, more than anything is what pitted fascism against communism.
For most of us, we see little difference, if any, between communism, socialism and fascism. They all seem to be different shades of the same twisted power grabs. The fascist leaders borrowed many popular communist phrases of being "pro worker" and such to gather support, but then had to distance themselves from actual communists that might threaten their power. They began campaigns of demonizing the communists and ultimately removing (killing) them.
The Anti-Comintern Pact was just another way of making themselves come across as deeply concerned for the well being of the people under their thumbs. By uniting against the communist threat posed by the Comintern, they hoped to make their fascist societies more palatable to the rest of the world.
Related dates (Anti-Comintern)...
25 Nov 36: Anti-Comintern Pact signed by 10 nations against communism
06 Nov 37: Italy signs the Anti-Comintern Pact, joining Germany and Japan
27 Sep 40: Germany, Italy and Japan sign Tripartite (Axis) Pact
Related WWII Store items (Anti-Comintern)...
The Comintern History of the Communist (Third) International
The Clash: US - Japanese Relations Throughout History
Dates related to Italy in WWII...
28 Oct 22: Fascist Mussolini takes control of Italy
11 Feb 29: Lateran Treaty signed between Mussolini and the Vatican
CBI - China: Day 123 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 86 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
Day 67 of 70 of the Battle of Taiyuan.
1938 — , November 6
Spain: Day 843 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 488 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 26 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , November 6
ETO: First big air battle on Western Front.
Poland: The Gestapo rounds up 183 professors of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and sends them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.
Poland: In Soviet occupied Poland, Ukrainian peasants murder 200 Polish refugees after offering them food and accommodations.
CBI - China: Day 853 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , November 6
Atlantic: Royal Canadian Navy destroyer OTTAWA and Royal Navy destroyer HARVESTER sink Italian submarine FAA DI BRUNO off Ireland.
ETO - UK: Day 62 of 258 of the Blitz.
East Africa: Day 150 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,219 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 358 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
CBI - Thailand: Day 37 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , November 6
Atlantic: The German blockade runner OSENWALD which is disguised as a US merchant ship, is captured by the cruiser USS OMAHA and the destroyer USS SOMERS.
Russian Front: Stalin claims that Axis casualties on Russian Front are now at 4.5 million, when actually it was less than 700,000.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 131 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 129 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 138 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base. The Finnish advance is stopped by the Soviets.
Russian Front: Day 138 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA. The first cases of frostbite in the German Army are recorded.
Russian Front - North: Day 60 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 36 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 8 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
MTO - Libya: Day 211 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
East Africa: Day 515 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,584 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Japan: The Japanese Southern Army is ordered to prepare detailed operational plans for the up and coming offensive.
1942 — , November 6
Russian Front - North: Day 425 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 186 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 132 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 76 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
MTO - Egypt: Day 15 of 20 of the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. Further progress made by the British 8th Army with 20,000 further Axis prisoners being claimed.
MTO - Libya: US B-24s hit the harbors of Tobruk and Bengasi, scoring hits on 2 vessels.
East Africa: Day 186 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar. In accordance to the peace treaty signed yesterday, all Japanese troops leave the island.
CBI - China: Day 1,949 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 153 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 261 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 109 of 119 of the Battle of the Kokoda Track. The Australians continue pushing back the Japanese troops.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 92 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , November 6
Russian Front - North: Day 790 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 551 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 75 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR. The Soviets retake Kiev, splitting the 4th Panzer Army into three.
Russian Front - South: Day 4 of 10 of the 2nd Battle of Kiev, Ukraine.
MTO - Italy: US 12th and 15th Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - China: Day 2,314 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 5 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 49 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 46 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 5 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.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 6 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. The Japanese land reinforcements north of Empress Augusta Bay.
1944 — , November 6
MTO: US 15th Air Force: B-17s and B-24s bomb targets in Austria, Yugoslavia, and Italy.
Spotlight...
Intact B-17G Flying Fortress 44-6630, resting 236 ft below the Adriatic Sea
On a mission to bomb Vienna, the Boeing B-17G arrived with the formation of heavy bombers only to find the primary target completely covered by clouds. The formation then proceeded to their secondary target of Maribor, a significant railway junction and, as such, well defended by anti-aircraft defenses, which unleashed their worst against the attacking force.
Shortly after dropping their bombs, the plane got hit, causing damage to the hydraulic system, which left the bomb doors open and dropping a wheel out of the undercarriage. Engine number three stopped and the blades of the propeller were feathered (turned) to provide less air resistance. The number two engine began losing oil and soon stopped. The blast had also seriously wounded the co-pilot.
With only two right engines, their only goal was to return by the shortest route to base. When they got to the island of Vis, the crew squeezed together waiting for their fate of an emergency landing. When they started the decent to the Vis airport access road, red signal rockets were fired telling the stricken Bomber that the runway was in use and that they should circle the airport until further notice, which they could not do. The pilot immediately maneuvered to make a sea surface landing. In the radio booth, all the crew snugged together lessen the blow on impact. The landing on the quiet sea surface was slight, with no major shocks.
The crew made their way out of the floating plane and into a damaged life raft, which could not be properly inflated. Twenty minutes later, the B-17 sank, taking their injured co-pilot down with it. The survivors were rescued by a British patrol boat and eventually returned to duty.
The B-17 is considered a war grave and is located in a protected area. Diving is only permitted through authorized dive centers and extraction of objects that can be found in or around the plane is strictly forbidden.
ETO - France: Day 98 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - Belgium: Day 36 of 38 of the Battle of the Scheldt Estuary. In the Netherlands, Middelburg is surrendered by the 2,000 Germans there.
ETO - France: Day 53 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 49 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force sends 1,131 bombers and 802 fighters to attack the oil industry targets in western Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 53 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 23 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 16 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 54 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 9 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
Russian Front - South: Day 54 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Tito's Allied troops take Monastir in southern Yugoslavia which gives him control of the entire border with Greece.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 220 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive in Burma. The Chinese 22nd Division crosses the Irrawaddy (river) in northern Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,680 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 204 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 315 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 199 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 53 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Philippines: Day 18 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 18 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
1945 — , November 6
USSR: Foreign Commissar Molotov announces that Russia will soon have the atomic bomb.
Day-By-Day listings for November 6 were last modified on Wednesday, January 27, 2016
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