World War II Day-By-Day: Day 1055 July 21, 1942:
Case Blue. German 1st Panzer Army and 17th Army converge from the West, North and East on Rostov-on-Don, near the Black Sea coast. The city is surounded by 3 defensive belts (bunkers, anti tank ditches and wire entanglements) 40km in depth. German 73rd and 298th Infantry Divisions, supported by the 13th Panzer Division, advance from the West along the road from Taganrog into the first belt.
Invasion of Papua. At 2.40 PM, 3000 Japanese soldiers land at Buna and Gona on the sparsely inhabited North coast of Papua. Japanese troops move inland to prepare roads and supply lines, with 1000 native Tolai labourers brought from Rabaul, to prepare for an overland offensive over the Owen Stanley Mountains to Port Moresby on the South coast.
First Battle of El Alamein, Egypt. At 4.30 PM, New Zealand 6th Brigade attack from South of Ruweisat Ridge into the El Mreir depression and hold these positions overnight. British 2nd and 23rd Armoured Brigades are scheduled to join them at daybreak.
