Real time Discusion thread

Hitler directs that all the armed forces, including the Luftwaffe, restrict development of new prototypes except those approved by the Führer himself. These restrictions severely hamper the creation of modern aircraft and force the Luftwaffe to redesign or upgrade old types. The outcome of this is that massive man-hours and material are wasted before a conclusion can be reached about what type should be produced at all.

Armeegruppe Mitte: General Semyon Budyenny Commander-in-Chief of the Southwest Direction makes his second appeal to Stalin to withdraw from the Kiev area. This time the request was co-signed by the ranking commissar, Nikita Krushchev. Budyenny was sacked within hours and replaced him with Semyon Timoshenko. Only 60 miles separated the jaws of the great German encirclement at Kiev.

"Do not abandon Kiev and do not blow up the bridges without Stavka permission" - Joseph Stalin in response to Kirponos' request to withdraw from Kiev to a better defensive position.

  Armeegruppe Mitte: North of Kiev, the city of Chernigov, on the Desna River is evacuated in the face of the advancing German 2.Armee. Kleist moves 1.Panzergruppe from Kremenchug to form part of a pincer ring around Soviets protecting Kiev. As Guderian’s 2.Panzergruppe drives south to encircle the Soviet forces around Kiev, an early snowfall hits most of the front in Russia turning the landscape into mud. The Germans, completely unprepared for the poor weather are completely incapable of dealing with the situation, call a temporary halt to the attacks by their mechanized forces.

- The attack of the Russian XXXIX Corps along the Stubiel River on the 13th had been the first phase of Brusilov's offensive, and while its advance had been contained it has succeeded in drawing in the reserves of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army. The newly-arrived Russian XXX Corps, meanwhile, has moved north of the Horyn River, and launches the second phase of Brusilov's plan when it descends on the Austro-Hungarian 62nd Division near Derazno this morning. The Russian 80th Division pushes its swamp through swamp into the gap between 62nd Division and the Austro-Hungarian 4th Cavalry Division to the north. Despite fierce counterattacks the Russians hold, and by nightfall 62nd Division is forced to fall back to the southwest. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian X Corps is ordered to pull back to a new defensive line along the Klewan-Karpilowka road, while the cavalry corps under General Otto Berndt to the north also pulls back to remain in touch. The commander of the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army hopes that X Corps, in its new positions, will be able to hold the army's northern flank and avoid further withdrawals.

German submarine U-94 sank British ship “Newbury” at 0816 hours (all 45 aboard survived but were never seen again), Greek ship “Pegasus” at 2038 hours (16 killed after lifeboat capsized, 13 survived), and British ship “Empire Eland” at 2348 hours (all 38 survived but were never seen again) 800 miles west of Ireland. All three ships were members of Allied convoy ON-14.

The sole remaining major objective for the Germans in 1941 remains Moscow. The capital of the Soviet Union is still hundreds of miles behind the front, which is reassuring when the Stavka looks at a map. However, the fall of Kyiv releases massive German forces which now can be redirected (after the lengthy process of subduing the remaining Soviet forces near Kyiv) toward Stalin's place of residence. With the fall of Kyiv, the ultimate outcome of Operation Barbarossa now becomes a race between the Geman ability to grind forward toward Moscow and the weather, which already is showing the first signs of winter.

British 16th Infantry Brigade begins arriving at Tobruk by naval transport at night while Australian 24th Infantry Brigade is withdrawn to Egypt. British Cruisers HMS “Ajax”, HMS “Neptune”, and HMAS “Hobart” return to Alexandria, Egypt, with 6000 troops of British 70th Infantry Division. Over the next few nights, these men will be shuttled to Tobruk to replace Australian 9th Division. To reduce German air attacks, this has to be done using fast warships during moonless periods of the month.

In Champagne General Pétain issues final orders for the attack of his 2nd Army, which comprises the eastern wing of the major offensive planned for the 25th. From west of Perthes to east of Massiges, he has deployed four infantry corps totaling nine divisions, with a further four infantry divisions and a cavalry corps in reserve. To the west, General de Langle of 4th Army has similarly placed four infantry corps in the first line, with four infantry divisions and a cavalry corps in reserve as well. The focal point of the assault will be the inner wings of the two armies, while beyond the outer wings supporting attacks will be undertaken by 3rd and 5th Armies. The offensive will be supported by 2164 artillery pieces, including 728 heavy guns, which will commence a preliminary bombardment on the 22nd. The reserve divisions of 2nd and 4th Armies are to be used to maintain the momentum of the offensive in order to fight a continuous battle that will wear through the Germans. In expectation of rupturing the enemy front, French cavalry have undergone training in crossing trenches and battered terrain, and special platoons on foot have been formed to clear obstacles ahead of the cavalry.

Italian midget submarines attack shipping in Gibraltar harbor. They sink 2 ships. Led by Prince Giunio Borghese, three two-man submarines penetrated the defenses and sank 20,000 tons of shipping. Their mother ship is a converted submarine, “Scirè”, moored off the Spanish coast. “Scirè” launched three manned torpedoes into the harbor, which sank tanker “Fiona Shell” (killing 1), damaged tanker RFA “Denbydale”, and damaged freighter “Durham”. All six Italian personnel manning the three torpedoes swam to Spain and would eventually return to Italy as heroes.

A British convoy bound for Gibraltar is attacked by a German submarine. Five of the twenty-seven ships were sunk. One of these, the “Walmer Castle”, was sunk by an air attack while attempting to rescue survivors from the previous attack. The next day, the submarine returned and sunk four more merchant vessels.

1956 - An F11F Tiger aircraft shoots itself down while conducting firing tests over eastern Long Island, N.Y. The plane runs into 20-mm projectiles, which fires seconds before at a higher altitude.