24 Dec 1942
  • The Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet was transferred from the Combined Fleet to the Southeast Area Fleet; it had the strength of four air groups, three air groups, a seaplane tender, two destroyers, and six transports. Rear Admiral Yoshimasa Nakahara was named its new chief of staff. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Submarine Cabrilla was launched, sponsored by Mrs. L. B. Combs. ww2dbase [Cabrilla | CPC]
Alaska
  • USS S-35 entered Kuluk Bay, Adak, Aleutian Islands to vent smoke caused by the series of electrical fires suffered since 21 Dec 1942. ww2dbase [S-35 | Adak | CPC]
Algeria
  • French Admiral François Darlan was assassinated in Algiers, French Algeria by monarchist Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle. ww2dbase [François Darlan | Algiers | CPC]
Australia
  • Destroyers USS Lansdowne and Shaw in escort of the badly damaged cruiser USS New Orleans arrived at Sydney, Australia. ww2dbase [Shaw | New Orleans | Lansdowne | Sydney | DS]
British Western Pacific Territories
  • US Marine Corps squadron VMTB-132, equipped with SBD dive bombers, was transferred out of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Henderson Field | Lunga Point, Guadalcanal | CPC]
Burma
  • Satoru Anabuki, flying Ki-43 fighter "Fubuki", shot down three Hurricane fighters over Magwe, Burma, increasing his score to 12. ww2dbase [Satoru Anabuki | Magwe | CPC]
France Russia
  • Soviet troops launched an offensive against the German Armeegruppe Don near Stalingrad, Russia, piercing Romanian 4th Army's lines. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | TH]
  • Soviet tanks broke German defensive lines at Tatsinskaya Airfield in Rostov Oblast, southern Russia, an important airfield flying supplies into Stalingrad, Russia; 124 Ju 52/3m aircraft were able to take into the air to escape, but 46 other aircraft were either damaged, destroyed, or abandoned as the Soviets captured Tatsinskaya. Elsewhere in Rostov Oblast, a similar attack was conducted on Morozovsk Airfield, but the Germans were able to repulse that attack. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Tatsinskaya, Rostov | CPC]
South Africa
  • Sydney Robey Leibbrandt, a former South African heavyweight boxing champion, who had spent three years in Germany and joined the German Wehrmacht where he had trained as a paratrooper and saboteur by the Brandenburg Regiment, returned home secretly in June 1941. Equipped with a wireless and intending to start a revolt, he was arrested while driving between Johannesburg and Pretoria. His sentence to death on a charge of high treason was later commuted by Prime Minister Jan Smuts because of his fame as a national sporting hero. ww2dbase [AC]
United Kingdom
  • The Vickers Type 432 prototype aircraft took its first flight. ww2dbase [Type 432 | AC]
United States
  • Submarine Cisco was launched at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, United States, sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Bennett through her proxy Mrs. N. Robertson. ww2dbase [Cisco | Kittery, Maine | CPC]
  • Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Card arrived at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington. ww2dbase [Puget Sound Navy Yard | Card | Bremerton, Washington | DS]
Photo(s) dated 24 Dec 1942
US servicemen and Chinese civilians at a Christmas party, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, 24 Dec 1942General view of the speakers platform of the Pentagon building during the Christmas exercise, Arlington, Virginia, United States, 24 Dec 1942Launching of submarine Cabrilla, Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, United States, 24 Dec 1942

24 Dec 1942 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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