CBI - China: Day 74 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , November 30
Spain: Day 137 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , November 30
Spain: Day 502 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 147 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1938 — , November 30
Spain: Day 867 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 512 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 50 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , November 30
Atlantic: The Admiralty announces the completion of a 300 square mile minefield from the Thames Estuary to the Netherlands.
Finland: Day 1 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War, aka the Winter War. Without any warning or declaration of war, the USSR attacks Finland.
CBI - China: Day 877 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 16 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1940 — , November 30
ETO - UK: Day 86 of 258 of the Blitz. British civilian casualty figures for November are 4,588 killed, 6,202 injured.
East Africa: Day 174 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,243 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 381 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi. The Chinese have beaten the Japanese troops.
Day 6 of 6 of the Battle of Han River.
CBI - Thailand: Day 61 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , November 30
Russian Front - Finland: Day 162 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front: Day 162 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA. Near Riga, Latvia, the Germans conduct a mass shooting of Latvian and German Jews.
Russian Front - North: Day 84 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 60 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 32 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
MTO - Libya: Day 235 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
CBI - China: Day 1,608 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Japan: Japan finally resolves itself to attack the USA, although portions of the government leaders are still unsure.
1942 — , November 30
Russian Front - North: Day 449 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 12 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 210 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 - Center: Day 7 of 21 of the Battle of Sychevka, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 26 of the 2nd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia, launched by the Soviets as Operation MARS.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 22 of the Battle of Belyi, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 17 of the Battle of Luchesa (Vitebsk), Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 6 of 29 of the Battle of Molodoi Tud River, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 101 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
MTO - Italy: An Italian radio broadcast reports of large-scale evacuations of Turin, Genoa and Milan.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 14 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide air support.
MTO - Libya: US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide air support.
CBI - China: Day 1,973 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 177 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 285 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 12 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 116 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. The night-time Naval Battle of Tassafaronga occurs offshore. A Japanese tactical victory but in the long run where it counts, this became a US strategic victory.
1943 — , November 30
ETO - Germany: Day 13 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). Essen, in small raid, is attacked by four Mosquitos.
Russian Front - North: Day 814 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 575 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 99 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - Italy: The Germans launch a counter-attack against the US 34th Infantry Division at Monte Pantano. The US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the ground troops.
CBI - China: Day 2,338 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 29 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 73 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. The Australians continue chase the Japanese toward Wareo.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 70 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 30 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1944 — , November 30
ETO - France: Day 122 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 77 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 73 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force bombs synthetic oil plants in southeast Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 77 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 47 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 40 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - South: Day 33 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
MTO: US 15th Air Force bombs in Austria, Germany, and Austria.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 244 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive.
CBI - Burma: Day 17 of 31 of the Battle of Bhamo.
CBI - China: Day 2,704 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 228 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 339 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 223 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 42 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 42 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
PTO - Philippines: Day 20 of 41 of the Naval Battle of Ormoc Bay.
1945 — , November 30
Germany: At the Nuremberg trials, former Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess, whose sanity had been in question since he flew to Scotland in May of 1941 to "broker a peace" with Britain, causes consternation by slipping in and out of amnesia.
Spotlight...
Former Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess at the Nuremberg trials
Hess was privately distressed by the war with the United Kingdom because he, in line with earlier statements by Hitler, had hoped that Britain would have accepted Germany as an ally and not as a foe. On the eve of war with the Soviet Union, he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom, where he was arrested and became a prisoner of war.
At the time of his capture, official London sources had claimed Hess was "sane and healthy" and had not brought any peace message. However, the Nazis claimed he had left behind a letter which "showed clearly traces of mental disorder which led to fears that Party Comrade Hess was a victim of hallucinations."
Hess became a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials on the insistence of the Soviet Union, despite his being in a state of almost complete forgetfulness by then. He regained his memory for a short period and was declared fit to stand trial, but partial memory loss returned and he went back into and out of amnesia. He spent his time in court reading, occasionally laughing. In the British view, Hess was of unsound mind.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served at Spandau Prison, Berlin, where he died in 1987. After the war, Winston Churchill wrote of Hess, "He was a medical and not a criminal case, and should be so regarded."
Rudolf Hess related dates...
10 May 41: Hess flies to Scotland to "broker peace" and is arrested
27 Aug 43: Minister of Information says Hess came to overthrow Churchill
08 Oct 45: Hess is flown to Nuremberg to stand trial for war crimes
30 Nov 45: Hess slips in and out of amnesia at Nuremberg trials
01 Oct 46: Hess sentence to life for crimes against peace, conspiracy
Spotlight...
