2 Nov in WW2 History | World War II Database

2 Nov 1891

Helmuth Weidling was born.
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2 Nov 1893

Victor Crutchley was born.
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2 Nov 1914

In German East Africa, the Indian Expeditionary Force B went ashore at an undefended beach near Tanga at the northern end of the Northern Railway.
The United Kingdom extended the blockade by declaring the North Sea to be a military area.
Boris Shaposhnikov was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class with Swords and Bow.
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2 Nov 1916

Prince Hirohito of Japan was made the Crown Prince of Japan.
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2 Nov 1920

Franklin Roosevelt was defeated as a US Vice Presidential candidate.
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2 Nov 1930

King Tafari was made Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia.
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2 Nov 1931

US Marine Corps Squadrons VS-15M and VS-14M embarked in the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and USS Saratoga respectively, the first US Marine squadrons to be assigned to carriers, as part of the organisation in Aircraft, Battle Force. They were to remain carrier-based until late 1934 giving US Marine Corps pilots necessary experience in a realm of naval aviation which, previously, had been largely denied to them.
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2 Nov 1935

Do 18A prototype flying boat was lost over the Baltic Sea during high speed tests.
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Nürnberg was commissioned into service.
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2 Nov 1936

The Spanish Nationalists captured Brunete near Madrid, Spain.
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2 Nov 1938

Arbitration of Vienna: Hungary annexed Southeastern Slovakia and Ruthenia.
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Photos dated 2 Nov 1938

2 Nov 1939

The first transport of Polish women arrived at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.
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Joseph Goebbels visited Lodz, Poland.
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Photos dated 2 Nov 1939

2 Nov 1940

British destroyer HMS Antelope attacked German submarine U-31 with depth charges, killing 2. Forced to the surface, the crew of U-31 scuttled the submarine before abandoning her. As HMS Antelope rescued the 43 German survivors, the wrecked hull of U-31 drifted into her, causing damage that would keep HMS Antelope under repair until Dec 1940. U-31 had previously been sunk by British aircraft on 11 Mar 1940, but was later raised and put back into action; she was the only German submarine to be sunk twice during the war.
Turkey moved 37 divisions to the Bulgarian border and warned Bulgaria not to participate in the Italo-Greek war. Meanwhile, Italian troops reached the main Greek defensive line on the Kalamas River between Elia and Kalamas. Off Suda Bay, Crete, as British warships departed after unloading troops, Italian bombers scored near misses against them but failed to cause damage.
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British destroyer HMS Intrepid hit a mine off Hartlepool, Durham, England, United Kingdom, damaging both of her engines; she would remain under repair until late Dec 1940.
British minesweeping trawler HMT Rinovia hit a mine and sank 10 miles south of St. Austell, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, killing 15.

2 Nov 1941

German 132nd Infantry Division attacked toward Sevastopol, Ukraine and was halted at Bakhchisaray by Soviet 8th Naval Brigade. Nearby, ships of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet evacuated troops from Yalta, Yevpatoria, and Feodosiya, transporting them to Sevastopol; cruiser Voroshilov was damaged by German aircraft during this effort.
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German submarine U-208 sank British ship Larpool 250 miles southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland at 0526 hours; 26 were killed, 17 survived.
British submarine HMS Proteus made the first successful radar attack by a submarine as she damated Italian tanker Tampico off Andros 50 miles southeast of Athens, Greece. Italian torpedo boats Monzambano and Castelfidardo counterattacked and chased off the British submarine.
Over 2,000 enslaved Jews from Zagare, Poland attacked their Lithuanian guards, wounding seven. As reprisal, 150 of them were shot on the spot, and the rest were executed later.
Hugh Woods and William L. Boyd of the China National Air Corporation (CNAC) made the first flight over the Hump, the China-Burma air supply route.
Wake Island received reinforcement from the US Marine Corps 1st Defense Battalion in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. The island's defense now consisted of 15 officers and 373 enlisted Marines.
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In Britain the Minister of Food announced an extension of food rationing to include canned meat, canned fish and canned beans to become effective from 17 Nov 1941.
Aircraftsman Charles Leonard Wheatley received the George Medal for gallantry while putting out a fire threatening to detonate high explosive bombs on a crash-landed Manchester bomber.
Tatsuta Maru arrived at Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii, embarked Japanese nationals who wished to return to Japan due to the rapidly deteriorating US-Japan relations, and then departed for Japan; she would become the last passenger ship to leave the US before the start of the Pacific War.
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Light cruiser Voroshilov was damaged by two 250-kilogram bombs from German aircraft, flooding a magazine, causing a fire in turret No. 3, and jamming the rudder.
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2 Nov 1942

13.Panzer of German III Panzer Korps reached what will be the farthest point to the southeast reached by the German military when it was halted by Soviet forces 5 miles outside Ordshonikidze, Azerbaijan.
Operation Supercharge was launched at El Alamein, Egypt, destroying many Axis tanks and guns. Axis tanks counterattacked at 1100 hours, which failed to stop the Allied advances. During the night, Rommel requested permission from Hitler to fall back, which was denied on the next day.
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Two 155mm gun batteries, one of the US Army and the other US Marine Corps, landed in the Lunga Perimeter on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
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Shokaku depart Truk, Caroline Islands screened by Destroyer Division 4 with the damaged Zuiho and Chikuma, for Japan for permanent repairs.
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USS S-31 departed the Kurile Islands waters and sailed for the Aleutian Islands.
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Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for carrier Shokaku at Truk, Caroline Islands.
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Photos dated 2 Nov 1942

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2 Nov 1943

1,870 Jews from labor camp in Szopienice, Katowice, Poland arrived at Auschwitz. 463 men and 28 women were registered into the camp; the rest were sent to the gas chambers.
Four Japanese cruisers and six destroyers from Rabaul moved against the US Marine invasion of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, engaging American warships at 0230 hours in Empress Augusta Bay. Americans struck first, scattering the Japanese formation, but the Japanese were able to regroup and force the American ships to withdraw. Though the action was inconclusive, the Japanese failed to disrupt American operations on Bougainville.
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Japanese troops occupied the undefended Chinese city of Changde.
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The US 15th Air Force made its operational debut when 139 B-17 and B-24 bombers operating from Tunisian bases (and escorted on part of the route by P-38 Lightning aircraft) attacked the Messerschmitt subsidiary at Wiener-Neustadt in occupied Austria. The attack caused heavy damage to the plant and deprived the Luftwaffe of an estimated 250 Bf 109G-6 deliveries over the next two months.
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Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Sasebo, Japan.
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USS Scorpion completed a reconnaissance mission of Farallon de Pajoras island, Mariana Islands.
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Photos dated 2 Nov 1943

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2 Nov 1944

Satoshi Inoguchi passed away.
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Soviet units entered the suburbs of Budapest, Hungary.
After halting Soviet advance near Kraisevo, Yugoslavia, German 2.Panzerarmee established a defensive line west of Belgrade.
Canadian forces captured Zeebrugge, which was the last pocket of German occupation in Belgium.
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Canadian 2nd Division withdrew from its Walcheren, the Netherlands bridgehead. Nearby, Allied troops captured Wissenkerke and Zoutelande.
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All eligible German males were ordered to enlist in the Volkssturm under penalty of military court-martial.
Four German V-2 rockets hit London, England, United Kingdom on this date. One of them hit outside of a mental hospital at Banstead, killing 3 and seriously injuring 11. Another hit Deptford, killing 31.
Bombers of the No. 550 Squadron RAF attacked Düsseldorf, Germany.
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HMS Colsay was sunk by a German "Neger" human torpedo at Ostend, Belgium.
In accordance with Dwight Eisenhower's plan, Bernard Montgomery ordered a complete redeployment of his Army Group in Europe. First Canadian Army now assumed responsibility for the front from the sea to the Reichsward near Kleve in Germany, whilst Second British Army was ordered to clear the Germans west of the Maas River from the huge pocket between Venray and Roermond in the Netherlands, and then to take over the American front north of Geilenkirchen in Germany known as the Heinberg Salientl.
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USS Ticonderoga departed Ulithi, Caroline Islands.
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USS Franklin arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands for temporary repairs.
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Light carrier Ryuho arrived at Kure, Japan.
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