counterattack aimed at surrounding Axis forces at Stalingrad. The Battle for Velikiye Luki began on the Eastern Front. Operation Freshman: A British airborne force landed using gliders in Norway with the intent of sabotaging a chemical plant in Telemark that the Germans could use for their atomic weapons programme. Neither of the two aircraft-glider forces were able to land near their objective and the operation ended in failure with 41 killed. Died: Bruno Schulz, 50, Polish writer, artist, literary critic and art teacher (shot by a Nazi) November 20, 1942 (Friday) The Siege of Malta ended after 2 years, 5 months and 9 days. The British Eighth Army retook Benghazi. The 1,525-mile Alaska Highway was officially opened. Born: Joe Biden, 46th President of the United States, 47th Vice President of the United States, in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Norman Greenbaum, singer and songwriter, in Malden, Massachusetts November 21, 1942 (Saturday) Hitler forbade the German 6th Army from retreating from Stalingrad. German submarine U-517 was depth charged and sunk southwest of Iceland by Fairey Albacore planes from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. German submarine U-184 went missing off Newfoundland. Her fate is unknown. The character of Tweety Bird first appeared in the Warner Bros. cartoon A Tale of Two Kitties. Born: Afa Anoaʻi, professional wrestler, in Samoa Died: J. B. M. Hertzog, 76, 3rd Prime Minister of South Africa Count Leopold Berchtold, 79, Austro-Hungarian politician; November 22, 1942 (Sunday) During Operation Uranus the Red Army secured the vital bridge over the Don River at Kalach-na-Donu west of Stalingrad. The new German army group Army Group Don was created with Erich von Manstein in command. Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was made Commander-in-Chief of Army Group A. Viscount Cranborne replaced Stafford Cripps as Lord Privy Seal. The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas topped The New York Times Fiction Best Seller list, where it would stay for the rest of the year and much of 1943. Born: Francis K. Butagira, diplomat, in Bugamba, Uganda; Dick Stockton, sportscaster, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 23, 1942 (Monday) Operation Uranus ended in decisive Soviet victory with the German 6th Army completely encircled at Stalingrad. The Governor General of French West Africa agreed to accept the authority of François Darlan. This brought the strategically valuable port city of Dakar under Allied control. German U-boat U-172 torpedoed and sank the British merchant ship off the coast of Brazil. Chinese second steward