World war II chronology - December 1942

3 December 1942	Adolf Hitler replies to Erich von Manstein, refusing to allow the 6th Army to shift forces to the south west to prepare for relief forces.
6 December 1942	93 British aircraft attack Eindhoven radio factories, hitting it hard. 14 planes are shot down. (The factories are back at full production after six months.)
7 December 1942	The Russian 1st Armored Corp crosses the Chir River near Surovikino.
8 December 1942	The German 11th Panzer Division counterattacks Russian forces that crossed the Chir River, successfully holding back Russian counterattacks over four days. Japan issues two semi-postal postage stamps marking the first anniversary of the Greater East Asia War. The Canadian germ warfare group formally proposes producing anthrax for Britain. The proposal estimates that a new facility at Grosse Ile, Quebec, should be able to make enough for 1500 30-pound bombs per week. United States President Franklin Roosevelt receives a 20-page report from Rabbi Perlzweig on the situation of Jews in Europe, stating that nearly 2 million had already been killed.
12 December 1942	An attempt to relieve the German 6th Army in Stalingrad fails. Erich von Manstein launches Operation Winter Tempest, with 57th Panzer Corps of 4th Panzer Army from Kotelnikovo attacking toward Stalingrad.
14 December 1942	Adolf Hitler issues Directive number 40, for French coastal fortifications to be overhauled, and strengthened as rapidly as possible. British code-breakers crack the German navy Enigma code that was changed in February. The British Admiralty changes its convoy message cipher. (The German code breakers crack the code in February.) American battleship Nevada, torpedoed and grounded at Pearl Harbor, returns to active duty. In British Parliament, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden declares that a systematic extermination of Europe's Jews is underway by Nazi Germany. A second pair of Oboe air navigation stations is completed in England. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a memo to the Chiefs of Staff, asking for immediate action in development of Geoffrey Pyke's ice ships
16 December 1942	The Russian 1st Guards Army attacks Italian 8th Army on the Upper Chir River, knocking a 60 mile hole in the line, heading to Rostov.
18 December 1942	England receives a report from Stockholm, from a Danish chemical engineer who heard a conversation about German rocket development with 5 tons of explosive, and range of 200 KM. Convoy JW-51A with fifteen merchant ships leaves Scotland headed for Murmansk, Soviet Union.
19 December 1942	German 57th Panzer Corps crosses the Aksai River, reaching the Miskova River, 30 miles from the Soviet siege front around Stalingrad. Erich von Manstein sends an urgent appeal to Adolf Hitler and Friedrich Paulus of the 6th Army in Stalingrad, asking for Paulus to drive southwest to join the 4th Panzer Army. Hitler replies allowing the move, but only if the north, east, and west fronts of Stalingrad are held. Paulus says his tanks only have enough fuel for 20 miles travel.
20 December 1942	Britain's Oboe air navigation system is tried operationally for the first time. Six Mosquito bombers attack a power station at Lutterade in Holland. Three planes succeed in their bombing.
22 December 1942	Soviet cease attacks on the Chir front. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decides H2S, a magnetron-powered ASV (Air to Surface Vessel), should be used immediately in Bomber Command to aid in flight navigation. The system would aid bombers in locating ground targets. Adolf Hitler signs a decree by Munitions Minister Albert Speer, authorizing mass-production of the A-4 (V-2) rocket. Convoy JW-51B with fourteen ships leaves Scotland headed for the Soviet Union. It is escorted by six destroyers and one cruiser.
24 December 1942	French Admiral Jean Darlan is assassinated in Algiers.
27 December 1942	Soviet armies launch a major assault on German 57th Panzer Corps, forcing it to withdraw to Kotelnikovo. (This move seals the fate of the 6th Army in Stalingrad.) While escorting westbound convoy ONS-154 in the North Atlantic, Royal Canadian Navy destroyer St. Laurent and corvettes Chilliwack, Battleford, and Napanee sink German submarine U-356. Over a four-day battle with twenty submarines, 14 of 45 ships are lost.
28 December 1942	Adolf Hitler issues Directive 47, regarding command and defence measures in the South-east, including Crete, German and Italian bases in the Aegean Sea, and the Balkan peninsula.
30 December 1942	Convoy RA-51 sails from Murmansk, headed for Scotland. Convoy JW-51B in the North Sea is sighted by German submarine U-354. The German Navy initiates Operation Regenbogen (Rainbow), with Admiral Hipper, Lützow, and six destroyers sailing to destroy convoy JW-51B.
31 December 1942	A German destroyer sights British destroyers of convoy JW-51B, and opens fire. In convoy JW-51B, two British destroyers fake launching a torpedo attack on Admiral Hipper, causing it to turn away from the convoy. Cruiser Admiral Hipper cripples British destroyer Onslow escorting convoy JW-51B. Cruiser Lützow nears convoy JW-51B, but does not attack due to poor visibility. Cruiser Admiral Hipper makes a fifth try to avoid british destroyers and attach convoy JW-51B, but again turns away for fear of torpedo attacks. Cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica of Force R arrive at convoy JW-51B, opening fire on the Admiral Hipper, which then withdraws to Altenfjord. British cruiser Sheffield sinks German destroyer Eckholdt. Cruiser Admiral Hipper is hit twice on the port side. German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper sinks British HMS Achates, while defending an arctic convoy. Two Oboe-led British Mosquito bombers attack the German night-fighter unit headquarters near Florennes, Belgium. One hit is scored, with two near misses.