August 1942
Situation on the eastern front
After the mud had dried up on the west of the Dnieper the
Heer decided to go on the offensive, aiming to make only small encirclements and potentially advance to the Volga river if not further. This started with a major battle in Sumy, with the Soviets taking far higher casualties, causing celebration in the German High Command. Poltava was successfully encircled within a week of the offensive with several Red Army divisions, including armoured units, being destroyed.
The tactic of elastic defence extended to Nevel as German forces retreated from that territory.
The offensive continued on after the successful capture of territory west of the Dnieper with another small encirclement achieved around Kharkov.
The Axis forces decided to attack Melitopol near the Crimea as a distraction to aid the German forces advancing on the Volga.
After the encirclement of Kharkov the Germans managed another encirclement further east with several more Red army divisions destroyed.
Italy's situation
The USA performed an amphibious operation on Italian Libya with an estimated 4-6 divisions that was ultimately defeated by German and Vichy forces, with significant help from the
Luftwaffe as the US had no aircraft to defend its helpless troops.
Thanks to the virtual annihilation of the British convoy system their troops in Gibraltar could not be supplied and starved to death, providing Germany an opportunity it could not afford to miss and captured it, securing the Mediterranean for the time being. Vichy forces were later sent to Gibraltar to aid in its defence, with the Vichy leaders needing little persuasion in protecting such a vital strategic territory. The battleships
Bismarck and
Tirpitz protected the amphibious invasion, and encountered 35 US, British and French ships that had retreated from Gibraltar, with the successful sinking of a British battleship and a French heavy cruiser for no losses to the
Kriegsmarine.
Situation in the naval war
Dönitz has improved the
Kriegsmarine's standing compared to the disastrous previous month, with the sinking of several US ships, including a heavy cruiser for much smaller losses for the Germans. German capital raider ships also encountered a British force of light cruisers and destroyers, managing to sink many of them.
However the Royal Navy was able to sink the battlecruiser
Pommern and its screens. This loss is felt particularly hard as Germany ended its production of all capital ships and screens, focusing entirely on submarines in regards to its navy.
Situation in the air war
The
Luftwaffe still retained the initiative with the Allies not being able to win air superiority in any area, although the RAF was able to win one battle amid many of its defeats.
Situation internationally
To the astonishment of international opinion, Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador united with Brazil signing a military alliance with them. It is widely believed to be in response to the German capture of Gibraltar, with the South American countries possibly fearing their former colonial masters Portugal and Spain falling into Axis influence, although these fears remain unsubstantiated as Hitler and Franco have not come to any substantial agreement.
In North Africa it is now just inevitable that the Axis will recapture the territory invaded by the US army. However the offensive on the Volga remains in play, with the Soviets forming several divisions just west of Stalingrad in response to the successful German push eastwards. The capture of Gibraltar has caused celebration for the German and Italian leadership, effectively securing Italy from invasion.