CBI - China: Day 77 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , December 3
Spain: Day 140 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , December 3
Spain: Day 505 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 150 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1938 — , December 3
Germany: Law for compulsory Aryanization of all Jewish businesses is enacted.
Spain: Day 870 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 515 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 53 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , December 3
Atlantic: The RAF scores a number of direct hits on German warships at the Heligoland Bight naval base. A bomb hangs up and fails to drop from a Wellington bomber of 115 Squadron, but falls loose over Heligoland Island on the return trip, becoming the first RAF bomb of the war to explode on German soil.
Finland: Day 4 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War. Along the border cutting across the Karelian Isthmus which is just 30 miles from Leningrad, Finnish troops withdraw in good order toward the Mannerheim line defensive position further inside Finland.
CBI - China: Day 880 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 19 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1940 — , December 3
ETO - UK: Day 89 of 258 of the Blitz.
East Africa: Day 177 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,246 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 64 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , December 3
Russian Front: Day 165 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA.
Russian Front - North: Day 87 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 63 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow. Russians counterattack at Tula, Russia (120 miles south of Moscow).
Russian Front - South: Day 35 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
MTO - Libya: Day 238 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk. The German infantry suffers a heavy defeat at the hands of New Zealand and Indian troops.
CBI - China: Day 1,611 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1942 — , December 3
Russian Front - North: Day 452 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 15 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 213 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 10 of 21 of the Battle of Sychevka, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 26 of the 2nd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia, launched by the Soviets as Operation MARS.
Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 22 of the Battle of Belyi, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 17 of the Battle of Luchesa (Vitebsk), Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 29 of the Battle of Molodoi Tud River, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 104 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 17 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. British 1st Army withdraws from Tebourba as German troops come in to occupy the city. US 12th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 1,976 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 180 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 288 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 15 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 119 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , December 3
ETO - Germany: Day 16 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). The RAF conducts a heavy attack with 527 aircraft against Leipzig, killing 1,500 and making 40,000 homeless.
Russian Front - North: Day 817 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 578 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 102 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR.
MTO - Yugoslavia: US 12th Air Force B-25s bomb harbor and marshalling yard at Sibenik.
MTO - Italy: The US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the ground troops.
CBI - China: Day 2,341 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 32 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 76 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 73 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 33 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1944 — , December 3
UK: Britain's Home Guard of 1.5 million volunteers stands down after five years. King George VI declares, "You have fulfilled your charge."
Spotlight...
The Home Guard
The Home Guard was initially called the Local Defence Volunteers, or LDV, or in humorous British slang, "Look, Duck, Vanish" hence the name change.
It was a secondary defense organization of the British Army comprising 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service. Their charge was to prepare for an invasion of Nazi forces and to guard the coastal areas of Britain and other important places such as airfields, factories and explosives stores. Age then gave this force the nickname "Dad's Army."
The Home Guard did not initially admit women into its ranks. Limited female involvement was permitted later on with the understanding that these would be in traditional female support roles and would not in any way serve as combatants. Some women formed their own groups like the Amazon Defence Corps.
Related dates...
14 May 40: Call goes out to create the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV)
23 Jul 40: Local Defence Volunteers renamed Home Guard
01 Feb 41: Home Guard spots German spy parachuted into England
20 Apr 43: Home Guard allows limited recruitment of women
03 Dec 44: Home Guard of 1.5 million volunteers stands down
ETO - France: Day 125 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 80 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Germany: Day 76 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: Armored units of the US 3rd Army succeed in penetrating the fortified German lines of the Westwall near Saarlautern.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 80 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 50 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 43 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - South: Day 36 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
MTO - Austria: US 15th Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb at Vienna, Linz, Innsbruck, Villach, and Klagenfurt.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 247 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive.
CBI - Burma: Day 20 of 31 of the Battle of Bhamo.
CBI - China: Day 2,707 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 231 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 342 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 226 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 45 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 45 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
PTO - Philippines: Day 23 of 41 of the Naval Battle of Ormoc Bay.
Day-By-Day listings for December 3 were last modified on Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Spotlight...
