Tuesday 14 January 1941

"Free French sailors help salvage belongings and clear up amid the wreckage of a blitzed building in Portsmouth on 14 January 1941." © IWM (HU 55590).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue to consolidate their hold on Klisura Pass on 14 January 1941. The Italian Toscana Division is partially surrounded and the remainder scattered.

General Archibald Wavell, British Middle East Commander, is in Athens to visit with Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and Commander-in-chief Papagos. The Greeks tell Wavell that they only have four divisions on the Bulgarian front (Yugoslavia is not on anyone's mind at this time) versus 13 in Albania. Already, the Greeks are heavily outnumbered by the German forces assembling in Romania and Bulgaria. Papagos and Metaxas request 9 British divisions for the defense of Greece, along with air support. Wavell hesitantly promises two or three divisions, though it would take time to transfer them. Papagos says that is not enough troops to make a difference and basically tells Wavell to not even bother then, since posting insufficient British troops would only invite a German invasion.

Mussolini, meanwhile, continues his visit to Albania to confer with his generals about stopping the Greeks. After it is over, he will head to Berchtesgaden to confer with Hitler.

European Air Operations: There is very little activity during the day or night. Electrical power is restored in Plymouth, bombed heavily in recent days, but gas remains off and will for some time.

"Polish pilots serving with No. 607 Squadron RAF studying maps on the back wing of a Hurricane as part of their training at RAF Usworth, 14 January 1941. One of the identified airmen is Pilot Officer Mirosław Orzechowski (fourth from the left)." © IWM (HU 92830).

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Pinguin has been stalking the Norwegian whaling fleet (under British charter) in the South Atlantic (near Antarctica) since mid-December 1940. The whaling ships have been gaily chatting over the radio with each other, completely oblivious to any need for security or the dangers lurking so far from home. Captain Ernst-Felix Krüder has the luxury of timing his approach for a moment of maximum vulnerability, and today is such a day: the whaling ships are tied together transferring oil. Pinguin simply sails alongside them and sends over a couple of prize crews - no muss, no fuss.

The whole event is over within 45 minutes without a shot fired or a single radio signal sent. Krüder tells the Norwegian crew that nothing, really, has changed; they should continue with their work, only, instead of the British paying them for their wares, the Reich will. Pinguin then sails off to find capture a factory ship nearby and associated vessels. All told, Pinguin rounds up 36,000 tons of shipping, 20,000 tons of whale oil, and 10,000 tons of fuel oil. The ships seized include:

• 12,201-ton oil refinery Ole Wegger
• 12,246-ton oil refinery Solglimt
• 298-ton whaling boat Pol VIII
• 354-ton whaling boat Pol IX
• 247-ton whaling boat Torlyn
• 297-ton whaling boat Globe VIII
• 338-ton whaling boat Pol VII
• 249-ton whaling boat Thorarinn

With the Norwegian ships secured, Captain Krüder then runs hard for five days halfway to the Sandwich Islands, at the end of which he has his radio operator send a long message which Krüder knows will fix his location through triangulation. He then returns to the Norwegian fleet, having succeeded in misleading any pursuers. Compare this with a different decision made by Admiral Günther Lütjens in May 1941 aboard the Bismarck and you see the difference between a clever man... and a dead one.

Royal Navy auxiliary cruiser Eumaeus, sunk on 14 January 1941.

Elsewhere, Italian submarine Cappellini engages in a two-hour gun duel with 7472-ton British auxiliary cruiser and freighter/passenger ship Eumaeus off Freetown, finally sinking it. Responding to distress calls, seaplane carrier HMS Albatross launches a Supermarine Walrus, which drops life rafts and attacks the Cappellini. The Cappellini survives but is damaged. There are 27 deaths and 63 survivors on the Eumaeus.

German 280-ton pilot ship Borkum runs aground and is lost at Hubert Gat in the North Sea (near Emden).

Danish Emilie Mærsk runs aground and is lost off Borkum in the North Sea. The crew survives. This is one of a series of sinkings of Mærsk ships during the war.

Buitenzorg, lost on 14 January 1941.

Dutch 7073-ton freighter Buitenzorg runs aground at the Sound of Mull, Inner Hebrides and is wrecked.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Fitzroy hits a mine and is damaged in the North Sea. It makes it back to Harwich, where it is beached, and then Sheerness for repairs.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Adventure lays minefield ZME 15 in St. Georges Channel.

Convoy FN 383 departs from Southend, Convoy FN 384 is held back, Convoy AN 12 departs from Port Said for Piraeus, Convoy AS 11 departs from Piraeus.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay (Lt. Commander Anthony Cecil C. Miers) and minesweeping trawler HMS MacBeth (Lt. Reginald M. Thorne) are commissioned.

Corvette HMS Jasmine and destroyer HMS Oribi are launched, while destroyer HMS Onslaught is laid down.

A British soldier and a Canadian sailor exchange pleasantries, 14 January 1941 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British continue to reinforce Malta. Light cruisers HMS Orion and HMAS Perth land troops there. Perth is laid up at Grand Harbor for a few days with machinery issues.

The RAF attacks Benghazi and Assab in Italian Eritrea.

German/Soviet Relations: The Soviet Union and Germany sign new trade agreements covering items such as grain.

German/Romanian Relations: Having met with King Boris of Bulgaria yesterday, Hitler today meets with Romanian Conducător Ion Antonescu in Berchtesgaden. Hitler backs Antonescu against the Iron Guard, which is fascist but unsupportive of Antonescu. Antonescu indicates that he would be supportive of Operation Barbarossa if he can eliminate the Iron Guard, which thus becomes a sort of quid pro quo, and together they discuss how to do that.

British Military: Sub-Lt John Bryan Peter Duppa-Miller and Stephen John Tuckwell receive George Crosses for disposing of a mine which fell into a stream feeding Barling Creek.

Danish steamship Emilie Maersk (German controlled), lost on 14 January 1941.

German Military: According to press reports (United Press News Agency), the Germans are in the process of dismantling the Maginot Line and turning the recovered ground into farmland.

Soviet Military: Army General, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Commissar of Defense Kirill Meretskov - a Hero of the Soviet Union - is abruptly dismissed from his posts without explanation. Stalin later sees him at the Bolshoi, and, in front of others, has this to say to Meretskov:

You are courageous, capable, but without principles, spineless. You want to be nice, but you should have a plan instead and adhere to it strictly, despite the fact that someone or other is going to be resentful.

Stalin will give Meretskov an object lesson on what it means to be "strict" in the Lubyanka after Operation Barbarossa starts. This is another step on a very tortuous and even torturous journey for Meretskov within the upper echelons of the Red Army. His career is by no means over, but Stalin will have his way with him before he restores Meretskov to any commands.

The disagreement appears to be personal (at least at this point), but Stalin has a reputation within the Red Army for acting ruthlessly toward his generals, dismissing them, practically killing them (and sometimes killing them) and then - when all seems lost for them - suddenly re-appointing the survivors to significant posts again. Without over-simplifying it or diminishing matters, Stalin's relationships with his generals at times resembles that of an abusive spouse. Firing them and even torturing them on very flimsy grounds is a challenging managerial technique - at least for subordinates - by which Stalin asserts his dominance and expresses his displeasure with certain characteristics of his generals.

Look Magazine, 14 January 1941.

Propaganda: Former Belgian Justice Minister Victor de Laveleye makes a BBC radio broadcast aimed at occupied Belgium. He proposes that Belgians (and others) use the letter "V" as a symbol of resistance. This letter begins both the French and Flemish words for "Victory." This is the beginning of the use of "V" throughout Occupied Europe as an anti-German code, with "V for Victory" being the intended meaning. This will lead to many covert uses of "V" in occupied areas throughout the war.

China: The Nationalist Chinese 3rd War Area completes the destruction of the encircled portions of the Chinese Communist New 4th Army near Maolin along the Yangtze River.

Holocaust: A deep frost has set in across Europe, which is particularly harmful to inmates at German concentration camps and ghettos such as those at Lodz and Auschwitz. Death tolls spike rapidly during chills due to insufficient food and heat.

German Homefront: With people spending more time in air raid shelters, Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels proposes that conduct there be regulated. He requests that a list of "Ten Commandments of the Air Raid Shelter" be posted in every shelter.

British Homefront: Minister of Food Lord Woolton imposes price controls on 21 food items, including chicken, coffee, cocoa, honey, tinned food, meat paste, rice and pasta, pickles and sauces, jellies and custard, biscuits, nuts, and processed cheese. Speculators have been gouging customers, and chicken prices have risen 50% recently. All prices are pegged to those at the beginning of December 1940. Other price controls are expected.

"Pilot Officer Mirosław Orzechowski, one of the Polish pilots serving with No. 607 Squadron RAF, standing on a wing of a Hurricane at RAF Usworth, 14 January 1941. He was known as "Shrimp" on account of his diminutive stature and treated as the Squadron's mascot." © IWM (HU 128318).

American Homefront: On or about this date, Nicholas B. Schenck, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's parent company, approaches RKO Pictures studio head George J. Schaefer with a proposed offer: drop "Citizen Kane" for cash. Schenck, acting on behalf of Louis B. Mayer and other Hollywood executives, offers Schaefer $805,000 to completely eliminate the film (which roughly is what it has cost to make). The Hollywood bosses are worried about the effect that alienating William Randolph Hearst might have on their own businesses - Hearst lackey Louella Parsons has been threatening them with exposés of their own business practices if they don't lean on Schaefer to drop "Kane." Schaefer does not want to take the deal but tells Schenck that he will talk to his lawyers and figure out what to do then.

Meanwhile, in New York City shortly after noon, two brothers, Anthony and William Esposito, kill a man during a robbery near the Empire State Building and then lead police on a violent chase. During their attempted escape, the brothers also murder a police officer (Edward Maher) and wound a taxi driver (Leonard Weisberg). The Esposito case will become famous for its expansion of the insanity defense (it doesn't work for the Esposito brothers but will for many others in decades to come).

Future History: Dorothy Faye Dunaway is born in Bascom, Florida. She studies acting in college, then begins appearing on Broadway. This leads to film roles, such as Otto Preminger's "Hurry Sundown," for which she is nominated for a Golden Globe. She quickly snags prime acting roles based in part upon this success, including "Bonnie and Clyde," which leads to "The Thomas Crown Affair," and "Little Big Man." Faye Dunaway goes on to win numerous acting awards and remains active in the film business.

Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph proposes a march on Washington, D.C. to demand jobs in the defense industries for African Americans, which apparently is the first time this has been done.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Monday 5 January 1941

Italians surrendering at Bardia, 5 January 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The fighting at the Klisura Pass continues on 5 January 1941, without much change. Elsewhere, the lines have pretty much settled in for the winter.

The real action regarding the Italian/Greek war no longer is taking place in Greece, Albania or Italy. The British receive intelligence today suggesting that the Germans will be in a position to invade not only Greece but also Yugoslavia and Bulgaria no later than 15 January. This would greatly expand the British defense issues in the Mediterranean Basin. In fact, Hitler is nowhere near being in a position to launch such an operation so soon, and Yugoslavia and Bulgaria are not on the agenda at all yet - but he indeed is working on Greece.

General Papagos also is aware of the growing threat of German participation. He plans to make a final lunge for the key Italian port of Valona before they can intervene, and this decision will guide much of the coming action. The theory is that if he takes Valona, Papagos then can shift troops to meet a German invasion from Bulgaria. To do that, however, he has to act fast in Albania.

European Air Operations: The RAF bombs Palermo and Crotone. On the Channel Front, operations are very light due to the weather. The Luftwaffe makes small attacks on London and nearby areas, and British Coastal Command raids the port of Brest, but essentially it is a "free day" for both sides.

Battle of the Atlantic: Italian submarine Cappellini gets in a gun battle with, and sinks, 5029-ton British freighter Shakespeare off of Morocco. There are 20 deaths. The Cappellini tows the boats of the 22 survivors to within sight of land at Cabo Verde. This is quite generous of the Italians and captain Salvatore Todaro, considering that one of their own men was killed in the gun duel.

The seas in the Atlantic are rough, and survival in the frigid water has a very low probability. Dutch 6718 ton freighter Soemba capsizes and sinks in the heavy swells. There are 34 deaths and 24 survivors, picked up by fellow convoy member Rydboholm.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4427 British freighter Temple Moat in the Northwest Approaches. There is one death, but the ship eventually makes port at Gareloch. The Luftwaffe also damages 5483-ton Dutch freighter Alioth near the Cork Light Vessel, and it also makes port, at Ipswich.

German auxiliary patrol ships (vorpostenboot) VP 303 and VP 306 "Fritz Hinke" hit mines and sink off Ijmuiden.

Royal Navy sloop HMS Lowestoft is damaged by a mine in the Thames Estuary. It will go to Chatham for repairs.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Adventure lays mines in St. Georges Channel.

Convoy OB 270 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 376 departs from Southend.

General Wavell (right), Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, confers with Major-General R. N. O'Connor, Officer Commanding operations in the Western Desert, outside Bardia, January 5, 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Having cut the Bardia fortress in two, the Australians now go about reducing the two Italian pockets on either side. The 19th Australian Infantry Brigade advances to the south with six Matilda tanks and, along with the 17th Australian Brigade pressing from the other side, eliminates resistance there. The northern pocket then surrenders. Altogether, the British take 25,000-45,000 prisoners, 130 light and medium tanks, 400 guns, and hundreds of other vehicles. The valuable booty includes water pumps capable of producing 400 tons of freshwater per day. The Italians suffer 1703 killed and 3740 wounded, the Australian 6th Division takes 130 deaths and 326 wounded.

Next on the agenda is Tobruk, also to be attacked by the Australians later in the month. Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell already is looking past Tobruk. He tells his Chief of Staff in a note that Benghazi now is the ultimate objective of Operation Compass. However, his superiors in London now are beginning to worry about German intervention in Greece, so how much commitment Wavell will receive from them remains an open question.

The Italians, of course, are not happy about another military catastrophe. Radio Rome claims that the garrison was overwhelmed by 250,000 men and 1000 aircraft, when in fact only a single Australian Division, the 6th Division, was involved. General Rodolfo Graziani, however, has a better grasp of what actually is happening. He decides that Cyrenaica is indefensible and decides to fall back through Beda Fomm. General O'Connor of XIII Corps, learning of this quickly, orders the 7th Armoured Division to turn inland, cross the desert instead of taking the longer coast road, and try to block the Italian retreat at Beda Fomm.

Royal Navy forces including two cruisers (HMS Gloucester and Southampton) depart from Alexandria for Suda Bay, Crete. There, they will embark on troops for transport to Malta. This is the beginning of Operation Excess.

Italian 273 ton coastal freighter Vulcano hits a mine and sinks near Tobruk.

In Malta, two men receive the George Cross for defusing unexploded bombs: Captain R L Jephson Jones and Lieutenant W M Eastman, RAOC.

US/Vichy French Relations: Admiral Leahy and his wife arrive in Vichy at midnight, having brooked no delay in getting there from Lisbon.

Anglo/US Relations: Heavy cruiser USS Louisville makes port at Simonstown, South Africa as part of Operation Fish, the transport of British gold to New York. It begins loading $148 million gold immediately for departure on the 6th. These essentially are Great Britain's last reserves and will be used to pay for war material.

Belgian/German Relations: Rexist leader Léon Degrelle makes a speech in Liege in which he professes devotion to the Germans and Adolf Hitler. Degrelle's Rexist party never has been particularly popular in Belgium, and many even in his own party are not comfortable with this association.

Soviet Military: War games continue in the Soviet Union. Georgy Zhukov, commanding the "German" forces, is beating Colonel-General D.G. Pavlov, commanding the Red Army. This stage will end tomorrow.

China: The Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) attack the Communist New Fourth Army as it retreats at Maolin, Anhui Province, China. A force approximately a division in size is surrounded.

Amy Johnson, shown here under her married name, became famous in her Gypsy Moth. Among many other things, she was the first pilot to fly from London to Moscow in one day. Her most famous flight was from Croydon Airport to Darwin, Australia.

British Homefront: Amy Johnson, a famous early aviatrix now working for the government Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) ferrying planes, perishes following a plane accident. Flying an Airspeed Oxford from Prestwick via Blackpool (Squire's Gate Airfield) to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, Johnson's plane runs into foul weather and she drifts off course. After the plane runs out of fuel, Johnson bails out and is seen alive in the water. However, despite heroic efforts - the commander of the only vessel on the scene, Lt. Commander Walter E. Fletcher of barrage balloon vessel trawler HMS Haslemere, dives into the frigid water to save her but perishes later as a result - Johnson either freezes to death, drowns, or (as one theory has it) is sucked into the blades of the rescue ship's propellers after her parachute gets caught. The water is very rough and Johnson's body is never found. There is an inscription for Johnson on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede due to her ATA service.

There is some controversy over this incident. One theory is that there was a passenger in the plane who also perished - but, if so, that person never has been identified, and why that would be the case creates some mystery. Another theory is that British anti-aircraft fire brought her down after she strayed off course, mistaking her plane for a Luftwaffe intruder. Both theories have some tantalizing evidence that appears credible.  This is another case where the government records that remain sealed under the 100-year rule may offer some insight.

American Homefront: Broadway musical "No For An Answer" (Marc Blitzstein) premieres at the Mecca Temple in New York City.

Japanese Homefront: Hayao Miyazaki is born in Akebono-cho in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Hayao becomes interested in animation as a profession in high school but decides early on not to mimic others. He gets a job at Toei Animation in April 1963, and by 1968 is the studio's chief animator. That year's "Hols: Prince of the Sun" gets Hayao recognition, and he follows it up with Kimio Yabuki's "Puss in Boots" the following year. After leaving Toei in August 1971, Hayao joins studio A Pro, then other firms, working on various television series. At Telecom Animation Film he directs his first anime feature film, "The Castle of Cagliostro" (1979), which is very well received. He begins to develop the themes of flight and cats, which he often combines in films like "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989). Miyazaki goes on to direct some of the classics of anime, including "Princess Mononoke" (1997), "Spirited Away" (2001) and "The Wind Rises" (2013). His company, Studio Ghibli, becomes known as the "Asian Disney." While Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement on 6 September 2013, he continues to work on various projects.

Chuck McKinley is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He goes on to become a top tennis player, winning the 1963 Men's Singles Championship at Wimbledon and winning the US Men's Doubles Championships with partner Dennis Ralston three times in the early 1960s.

Skaters at the Keizersgracht, Amsterdam on January 5, 1941 (Gigapica).

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020