December

December 4 reflects the global reach of a world at war. In 1939, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sank the liner Doric Star in the South Atlantic. A year later, Greek forces captured Premeti, Pogradec, and the port of Sarandë while the U.S. Navy welcomed the F4F-3 Wildcat into service. By 1941, temperatures on the Russian Front plunged to –31°F, the Japanese Embassy in Washington began destroying codes, leaked U.S. war plans ignited political controversy, and Rommel retreated to Gazala. In 1942, American air forces launched their first raids against Naples while German troops seized Tebourba in Tunisia. December 4, 1943 saw Tito’s Partisans establish a provisional government, new Allied diplomacy in Cairo, and the sinking of the Japanese carrier Chuyō by USS Sailfish. The following year, Athens fell under martial law, Ravenna was liberated by partisans, and the British Fourteenth Army crossed the Chindwin River. In 1945, the U.S. Senate voted to join the United Nations, marking a new era in global cooperation.

December 3 captures the global reach of a war intensifying on every front. In 1939, the RAF struck German warships at Heligoland Bight while Finnish troops pulled back toward the Mannerheim Line. By 1940, Britain issued modest holiday rations as the home front braced for another wartime Christmas. In 1941, Germany pushed within five miles of the Kremlin, Hitler called for mass-production reforms, and U-124 sank another unarmed U.S. merchant ship as America remained officially neutral. In 1942, German divisions moved toward Stalingrad for the planned relief of the 6th Army while Tiger tanks saw their first combat in Tunisia. Heavy Allied raids hit Leipzig in 1943 as the U.S. Fifth Army attacked the Winter Line. By 1944, Britain stood down its Home Guard after five years of service, U.S. armor broke through the Westwall, and civil war erupted in Greece. A day of shifting battle lines, homefront endurance, and rising pressure on the collapsing Axis powers.

World War II Today: December 2 A day marked by breakthroughs in science, tightening fronts across Europe and Asia, and bold strategic shifts as the war entered its most pivotal stages. 1939 – The Winter War Intensifies in Finland Russian forces pressed deeper into Finnish territory, capturing Petsamo in the extreme north. The remote port,

December 1 marks sharp turning points across the Second World War. In 1939, the Soviet Union installed a puppet Finnish government as Finland’s forces fought back, damaging the cruiser Kirov in the Winter War’s opening clashes. By 1940, the Italian submarine Argo torpedoed the Canadian destroyer Saguenay and the LRDG launched its first deep-desert raid. In 1941, Japan set December 7 as the date to attack Pearl Harbor while emergencies were declared in Malaya and Hong Kong. Coffee rationing began in the U.S. in 1942 as Australians captured Gona and the U.S. Navy fought the Battle of Tassafaronga. By 1943, Soviet forces isolated the Crimea, the Allies concluded the Tehran Conference, and the P-51 Mustang flew its first European mission. In 1944, Princess Elizabeth launched HMS Vanguard, and in 1945 Allied authorities arrested dozens of industrialists who had backed Hitler’s war machine. A day showing the global scale and shifting momentum of a world in conflict.