CBI - China: Day 65 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , November 21
Spain: Day 128 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , November 21
Spain: Day 493 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 138 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 101 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
1938 — , November 21
Spain: Day 858 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 503 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 41 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , November 21
Atlantic: Prime Minister Chamberlain announces the seizure of German merchant shipping in retaliation for the sinking of neutral ships and indiscriminate mine warfare.
Atlantic: German battlecruisers SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU are set off from Germany on a mission to harry British sea routes in the North Atlantic.
ETO - UK: Prime Minister Chamberlain imposes an embargo on all German trade, with goods currently in Britain, but destined for shipment to Germany to be confiscated.
CBI - China: Day 868 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 7 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1940 — , November 21
ETO - UK: Day 77 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - Albania: Greeks capture Koritza, defeating the Italian 9th Army.
East Africa: Day 165 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,234 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 372 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
CBI - Thailand: Day 52 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , November 21
ETO: The exiled Norwegian Government in London officially backs Milorg, the largest resistance organization in Norway.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 153 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front: Day 153 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA.
Russian Front - North: Day 75 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 51 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 23 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. German troops take Rostov.
MTO - Libya: Day 226 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk. The British armored division withdraws after being defeated by Germans at Sidi Rezegh, Egypt.
East Africa: Day 530 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,599 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1942 — , November 21
Russian Front - North: Day 440 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 3 of 59 of the Battle of Velikiye Luki, near Leningrad. This stalemate does help ease the siege a little, but mostly it keeps German troops from being sent to other fronts.
Russian Front - North: Day 201 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 147 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 92 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 3 of 5 of the USSR's Operation URANUS.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 5 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. US 12th Air Force provides air support.
MTO - Libya: US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide air support.
CBI - China: Day 1,964 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 168 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 276 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 3 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 107 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , November 21
MTO - Italy: Field Marshal Kesselring is appointed commander-in-chief of all German forces in Italy, while Rommel leaves his command to organize the Atlantic wall.
Spotlight...
Field Marshal Albert Kesselring (right), seen here on a visit to Luftwaffe units in North Africa, was Rommel's superior
Albert Kesselring, one of the most prominent German air and field commanders in WWII, became one of Nazi Germany's most skillful commanders, being one of 27 soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Nicknamed "Smiling Albert" by the Allies and "Uncle Albert" by his troops, he was one of the most popular generals with the rank and file.
As Commander-in-Chief South, he was overall German commander in the Mediterranean theatre, which included the operations in North Africa. Kesselring conducted an uncompromising defensive campaign against the Allied forces in Italy until he was injured in an accident in October 1944. In the final campaign of the war, he commanded German forces on the Western Front. He won the respect of his Allied opponents for his military accomplishments, but his record was marred by massacres committed by troops under his command in Italy.
After the war, Kesselring was tried for war crimes and sentenced to death for the shooting of 320 Italian hostages in March 1944. The sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. A political and media campaign resulted in his release in 1952 for reasons of ill health. He died at Bad Nauheim, West Germany, on 16 Jul 60 at the age of 74.
Related dates...
10 May 42: Kesselring prematurely says Malta has been neutralized
21 Nov 43: Kesselring appointed commander-in-chief of all forces in Italy
24 Mar 44: Mass killing is carried out by SS under Kesselring's command
Russian Front - North: Day 805 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 566 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 90 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - Italy: The US and Royal Air Forces provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,329 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 20 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - Gilbert Islands: Day 2 of 4 of the Battle of Tarawa.
PTO - Gilbert Islands: Day 2 of 5 of the Battle of Makin.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 64 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 61 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 21 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1944 — , November 21
ETO - France: Day 113 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 68 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 64 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force launches heavy attacks on strategic targets near Hamburg and Merseburg.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 68 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 38 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 31 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 69 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 24 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
Russian Front - South: Day 69 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
MTO - Albania: Albanian patriots free their capital city of Tirana.
MTO - Yugoslavia: US 15th Air Force B-24s bomb tactical targets.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 235 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive.
CBI - Burma: Day 8 of 31 of the Battle of Bhamo.
CBI - China: Day 2,695 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 219 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 330 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 214 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 68 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Philippines: Day 33 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 33 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
PTO - Philippines: Day 11 of 41 of the Naval Battle of Ormoc Bay.
1945 — , November 21
Germany: All of the top ranking Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials plead innocent to war crimes.
Day-By-Day listings for November 21 were last modified on Thursday, March 22, 2018
Spotlight...
