WW2 Tweets @RealTimeWWII@mastodon.muage.org

Gandhi: "Our quarrel is not with the British people, we fight their imperialism... to save them from their mistakes." Read his full speech: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quit_India_speech

With Japanese attackers in Burma, poised to invade India, Gandhi & other opponents of British imperialism demand freedom now- "Do or Die".

All-India Congress of pro-independence movements, led by Mohandas Gandhi, announces they will wage a campaign of nonviolent resistance until the British agree to "Quit India".

Shocked by surprise assault, Japanese on Guadalcanal have fled American naval bombardment into hills- US Marines wade onto tropical beach unopposed.

For the first time, Allied troops are on the offensive in the Pacific: American & Australian troops are landing on Japanese-occupied Solomon Islands.

Korczak refused to abandon children in his care: "He told the orphans they were going out into the country, so they ought to be cheerful... so they came out into the yard, two by two, nicely dressed & in a happy mood. The little column was led by an SS man."

Over 100 Jewish children from Warsaw orphanage are being shipped east to the death camps- accompanied by their headmaster, Janusz Korczak. Nazis planned to take children alone; Korczak insisted he go too.

Nazis now ship 8000 people to ghetto in German-occupied Warsaw to Treblinka death camp each day; many starving Jews volunteer for "deportation" for the promise of an extra bread ration.

One German soldier, exhausted by breakneck advance: "The only consolation is that we'll soon have peace & quiet in Stalingrad, where we'll bed down for winter."

Almost all Soviet troops west of the Don are now encircled, trapped between the river & German tanks; NKVD commissars shoot those who try to surrender.

Wehrmacht advance into the USSR hampered by poor planning & constant changes of plan, ordered by Hitler himself- panzers sit idle waiting for fuel in the Russian steppes.

For 1st time, USSR acknowledges that the Germans have punched deep into Caucasus- & now threaten city of Stalingrad, vital tank-building centre.

American servicemen are paid about five times the average UK wage; their generosity & exoticism makes them popular, especially with British women. Disgruntled Brits describe US soldiers as "over-paid, over-sexed & over here."

American servicemen are given a manual giving tips on how to behave in UK: not to be surprised by British reserve or fondness for the pub: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/tips-for-american-servicemen-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war

UK Parliament votes that American troops stationed in country will not be subject to British law; criminal US soldiers can only be court-martialed: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1942/31/pdfs/ukpga_19420031_en.pdf

"Operation Blue", Axis summer offensive in southern USSR, has smashed through Red Army in under two months, crossing the River Don & leaving German armies on the doorstep of Stalingrad.

German forces have seized Kotelnikovo, on the bank of the river Don, cutting off the railway link between Stalingrad & southern USSR.

Canadians may now be forced to fight overseas, if the government deems it necessary- although almost 40% of men 18-45 have already voluntarily enlisted in military.

Canadian parliament has voted to allow conscription & send 21-30 year old men into army if necessary, after a national plebiscite approved mandatory military service- although people of Quebec voted no.

With rubber supplies from Asia cut off by war, President Roosevelt urges Americans to car-share in order to preserve their tyres.