Saturday 7 June 1941

Firemen battle blazes in Chungking (Chongqing), China resulting from the devastating Japanese air raid of the previous night. 7 June 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Operation Exporter, the invasion of the Vichy French possessions of Syria and Lebanon from Palestine, unofficially begins when Australian troops infiltrate behind French positions beginning around 21:30. They are led by Jewish locals, including a young man named Moshe Dayan. The infiltrations are from the Hanita Kibbutz, and the sappers cut wires and clear mines.

In anticipation of the invasion, planned to begin in earnest on 8 June, Royal Navy units depart from Port Said (Force C of troopship Glengyle escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry and destroyers Hotspur, Ilex and ISIS) and Alexandria (Force B of light cruisers Ajax and Phoebe, with destroyers Janus, Jackal, Kandahar and Kimberley). The Glengyle carries men of No. 11 Commando to seize a bridge at the mouth of the Litani River in Lebanon.

The main invasion will not start until the early hours of 8 June. It is divided into three columns or prongs - west, center, and east. The three prongs are isolated and not mutually supporting.

The main prize is the coast road. It is the most direct route into Syria and can be easily protected by the Royal Navy and RAF. British commandos from ‘C’ Battalion British Special Service Brigade are assigned to land at key points just behind the border in order to disrupt the French response, but seas are heavy and look like they may interfere with that. The Australian 21st Brigade advances to capture a key bridge over the Litani River.

Further inland in the center, the Australian 25th Brigade is to take the French picket line along the border and then proceed inland. Poor French morale is expected to prevent a major response.

In the eastern sector, the Indian 5th Brigade has the objective of advancing to seize Deraa and reach Kuneitra.

None of these objectives are considered especially difficult to achieve by commanding General Henry Maitland Wilson. This is one of the least-known major operations of World War II, perhaps because it is an unprovoked act of aggression by Allied forces against a neutral power which tends to undermine their moral authority - though, let's be clear, the Allies have loads of surplus moral authority relative to the Axis.

European Air Operations: RAF Fighter Command conducts a sweep over France, and RAF Bomber Command sends 22 planes to lay mines. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 33 planes to attack Prinz Eugen, recently arrived at Brest. It is in dry-dock for engine repairs and an easy target, but the bombers score no hits.

Vera Bushfield, the wife of Governor Harlan Bushfield of South Dakota, christens the ship at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey (South Dakota State Historical Society Archives).

U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe), on its 9th patrol out of Lorient and operating off of the west coast of Africa, torpedoes and sinks 7628-ton British freighter Kingston Hill southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. There are 14 deaths. Some sources place this sinking on 8 June.

The Royal Navy shares the lingering concern about an invasion, and at 20:00 it receives erroneous reports of major German naval units at sea. The Home Fleet goes on one-hour notice, which is peak readiness one step short of actually going to sea, and remains on this alert through the night.

British 281-ton examination vessel No. 10 hits a mine and sinks at Milford Haven.

Newly commissioned destroyer HMCS Saguenay arrives at St. John's to join the new Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF).

Canadian corvettes HMCS Ville de Quebec (Quebec City) and HMCS Charlottetown (Kingston) are laid down, minesweeper Melville is launched at Levis, Quebec.

Battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57) is launched at Camden, New Jersey by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. It is the lead ship of its class, with three more to follow, and is designed to fit within the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty.

U-85, U-207 and U-332 are commissioned.

Soviet submarine Shchuka Class Serie X Bis Sub SHCH-405 is commissioned.

USS South Dakota is launched, 7 June 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: During the night, the Luftwaffe makes a major raid on the Royal Navy port of Alexandria, and also Suez. Flying from the Italian-held Rhodes, 31 Junkers Ju 88 bombers cause 230 deaths. Following the raid, the British authorities commence an evacuation from Alexandria that will include about 40,000 people. This aerial attack likely is a by-product of the massive shift of the Luftwaffe from west to east in contemplation of Operation Barbarossa. The Germans are accumulating about 2770 planes in Eastern Europe, and an occasional raid on British bases in the Mediterranean is good operational practice.

Italian bombers attack Tobruk.

The RAF, for its part, bombs Benghazi and Derna. RAF No. 830 Squadron, serving with the Fleet Air Arm on Malta, sends 7 Fulmar Swordfish against Tripoli Harbor to drop magnetic mines ("cucumbers").

An Italian convoy of three freighters escorted by destroyers Frescia, Strale, Marco Polo and Victoria depart from Naples bound for Tripoli. There also is distant support of two cruisers and three destroyers. While the Italian Navy has the resources to make an impact across the Mediterranean, it prefers to use its ships in these low-risk operations and retain its "fleet in being."

The ships of Operation Rocket - the ferry mission of Hawker Hurricanes to Malta - arrive back at Gibraltar without incident.

Operation Battleaxe, originally scheduled to begin today, has been pushed back to 15 June. The reason: delays in bringing tanks forward from Alexandria to General O'Moore Creagh's troops. The attack is to be a larger-scale version of Operation Brevity on 15 May.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Malta Governor Dobbie in reply to a pessimistic cable sent by the latter on the 5th:

I am entirely in agreement with your general outlook. It does not seem that an attack on Malta is likely within the next two or three weeks.  Meanwhile other events of importance will be decided, enabling or compelling a new view to be taken. You may be sure we regard Malta as one of the master-keys of the British Empire. We are sure you are the man to hold it and we will do everything in human power to give you the means.

The War Office also responds today to General Dobbie's request for more troops. It requests "further details" for defensive armaments. Dobbie responds immediately, listing a need for Bofors guns and anti-tank artillery.

There is an air raid on Malta during the early morning hours by Italian BR-20 bombers. The Italians bomb the Luqa, Manoel Island, Marsa, and Wardia areas, and in the process lose a bomber and perhaps two more at sea.

Students participating in a live national radio broadcast at the 1941 National High School Drama Conference of the National Thespian Dramatic Honor Society for High Schools. June 7, 1941. (Courtesy of the Educational Theatre Association).

Special Operations: Having arrived by parachute in France on the night of 11/12 May, the Commando team members of Operation Josephine B have spent most of the past month in Paris. There, they made contact with a Commando who had gone to ground there, Joël Letac, a member of the Commando team from failed Operation Savanna. Joining the team, Letac and the others have traveled to the site of their original objective: the transformer station at Pessac.

After dark, Sergeant J. Forman climbs the perimeter wall that had stymied their first attempt to blow up the station in May. He manages to get across without hitting any of the high voltage cables, then opens a door for his comrades. The team sets up plastic explosives within half an hour on each of the eight main transformers. Then, the team gets back on their bicycles and leaves. The mission turns from a failure into a success: six of the eight transformers blow up, and work on the Bordeaux submarine base is delayed by weeks. Electrified trains in the region have to be replaced with coal-burning locomotives. It will take an entire year to repair all the damage.

Damage at the Pessac Power station, 7 June 1941.

The team is well-funded - they have a quarter of a million francs for their mission, which converts to about a year's wages of £1,400 - and set out for Spain and thence Lisbon. They are in no hurry.

The Germans in the commune of Pessac take reprisals. They shoot twelve German guards, fine the commune one million francs, imprison 250 people, and impose a strict curfew (21:30 to 05:00).

For the British, it is a massive success and enhances the prestige of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) after some failures.

The US Asiatic Fleet in Manila Harbor, the 1930s. The Japanese began keeping close tabs on this fleet in early 1941.

Spy Stuff: Japanese Consul in the Philippine Islands Katsumi Nibro cables Tokyo that the US Navy has eight destroyers, fourteen submarines and two target towing ships in Manila Harbor.

Jockey Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway at the Belmont Stakes, 7 June 1941. Whirlaway becomes the fifth horse to win the Triple Crown. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Press, Arcaro took an early lead and then turned back and yelled, "Go to Hell! We're off to the races!"

Japanese/Italian Relations: Japan recognizes the Independent State of Croatia, now led nominally by the Duke of Savoy. In actual fact, the Duke takes virtually no part in governance and leaves it to local leaders.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler meets with King Boris of Bulgaria in Berlin.

German Military: In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, long columns of Wehrmacht troops are heading east in Poland. This is very noticeable to locals because the military vehicles clog the roads and all civilian vehicles are prohibited for hours at a time. Full vehicles are traveling east, empty ones back to the west. Of course, civilians see the military traffic on the roads, and it is fairly obvious to them what is in store. A local, Polish physician Zygmunt Klukowski, writes in his diary that it "is the same as during a war."

USS South Dakota at its Christening, 7 June 1941.

Soviet Military: The NKVD arrest General Boris Lvovich Vannikov for "failing to carry out his duties." Vannikov is the People's Commissar for Armament. It is unclear what he is really accused of, and it may, in fact, be nothing more than having unintentionally crossed Premier Joseph Stalin in some way (Stalin has a habit of arresting and torturing underlings, then at some point reinstating them). Vannikov will be released on 25 July 1941 and reinstated fully to essentially the same position in February 1942.

Despite increasing evidence of German troop buildups along the border, Stalin prohibits any "provocative" defensive precautions. Everything is to remain as is, with the Soviet Union continuing to fulfill its trade agreements with Germany and sending supply trains west across the border.

Former President Herbert Hoover, giving the Commencement address to the graduating class at Haverford College, 7 June 1941.

US Military: President Roosevelt reviews the two plans for the defense of the Pacific, ABC-1 and Rainbow 5, that have been worked up during the spring. The plans envisage cooperation with the British Commonwealth and the Dutch forces in the East Indies, with a heavy emphasis on defensive activities in the Pacific Theater while the main effort is against the Reich and Italy in Europe. Roosevelt neither approves nor disapproves of the plans, but familiarizes himself with them and suggests they be returned to him should war actually break out.

The US Maritime Commission is implementing the new ship-seizure law signed by President Roosevelt on 5 June. The inventory includes 39 Danish, 28 Italian and 2 German ships, along with random ships from Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and other nations. The fast (Blue-Riband holder) 83,423-ton French liner Normandie remains docked at its berth in midtown New York and also is subject to seizure, but there are no plans at this time to use it.

US Government: President Roosevelt departs the White House at 11:30 for Annapolis and embarks on a weekend cruise on the USS Potomac. He is accompanied by Crown Princess Martha of Norway, Princess Ragnhild, Harry L. Hopkins, Robert Hopkins, Diana Hopkins, Capt. John R. Beardall.

Joe DiMaggio at the plate in Sportsman Park, St Louis, MO, June 7, 1941. Also visible is Hall of Fame catcher Rick Ferrell and umpire Bill Grieve, with Yankee Charlie Keller on deck to the left.

Iraq: The reinstated Monarchist Iraqi government under Regent Abdul Ilah (Abdullah) sets up a Committee of Enquiry to investigate the Farhud riots of 1-2 June.

Holocaust: There is an outbreak of typhoid at Zamość Prison in southeastern Poland. Unfortunately, the local doctors are inmates in the prison, too.

Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King places a wreath during an event in Kingston, Ontario, on June 7, 1941. This is to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald (Queens University Archives).

American Homefront: Former President Herbert Hoover gives the Commencement address at Haverford College. The CBS radio network broadcasts it. Hoover notes:

We have been told with monotonous repetition by the collectivists and left-wingers that our frontiers are gone. They say our industrial plant is built. They claim there is no safety valve for human energies. They assure us that we have come to an age of humdrum problems of underconsumption, overproduction, and the division of the existing pot. They say that new opportunity for youth has shrunken. That is not so. There was never in history a more glorious frontier for youth than today. Adventure and opportunity beckon in every avenue of science. They beckon from the great profession of men trained to research. They beckon from its thousands of applications. From it spring tens of thousands of new services and industries. In them human courage, character, and ability have an outlet that never came even with the two-gun frontiers.

Meanwhile, 24,000 people pack Chicago Stadium to hear speeches against the America First movement. Abraham Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg calls Charles Lindbergh President Roosevelt's new "Copperhead," a Civil War term for Democrats in the North who choose to oppose the war and advocate a negotiated settlement with the South.

Whirlaway wins the Belmont Stakes by three lengths and completes the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. It is the fifth horse to accomplish that rare feat.

Golfer Craig Wood wins the U.S. Open.

Joe DiMaggio hits in his 22nd straight game in Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri. He gets three singles in an 11-7 win over the Browns.

"My Sister and I" by Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra reach No. 1 on the new Billboard singles chart.

The UAW strike at the North American plant in Los Angeles that began on 5 June continues. President Roosevelt is considering exercising emergency powers by taking over the plant unless the strike ends.

The New Yorker - Saturday, June 7, 1941 - Issue # 851 - Vol. 17 - N° 17 - Cover by Ilonka Karasz.

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020

Thursday 5 June 1941

The Japanese bombing Chungking.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The RAF sends three Blenheims to raid Aleppo airfield in Syria on 5 June 1941. The Luftwaffe and Italian Regia Aeronautica have used Aleppo as a transit hub for flights to Iraq, and the Italians still have CR.42 fighters and SM.79 transports there. Defending French Morane 406 fighters fail to avert the attack, which destroys a hanger and plane on the ground.

The Vichy French bomb the Transjordanian capital of Amman.

The British Middle East Command is ironing out the details of its planned invasion of Syria, Operation Exporter. General Maitland Wilson, who is planning the operation, will command the initial stages of the operation from the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Then, he will hand off the direction of operations to Major-General John Lavarack of the 1st Australian Corps once Damascus and Beirut have fallen and the campaign effectively has been decided.

Brigadier Sydney Rowell, chief of operations of the Corps, argues that control of operations should vest in the local commanders from the start, but Thomas General Blamey, on Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell's staff in Cairo, overrules him. The British feel, from intelligence information gathered from French defectors, that the invasion of Syria will be a simple affair, and Blamey wants to "not rock the boat." Rowell and Blamey have a lack of respect for each other which rapidly is turning personal.

Rowell and headquarters for the 1st Australian Corps move to Nazareth in anticipation of the invasion.

The Royal Navy continues re-deploying its ships to support the invasion of Syria. Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry and destroyers Hero and ISIS leave Alexandria. They are to rendezvous with troopship Glengyle at Port Said, which is to embark on invasion troops.

In Iraq, the British occupy Kirkuk.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler arrives at Lodz Ghetto (Litzmannstadt) on 5 June 1941. He is in a BMW 355 bearing his standard "SS-1" plates. Visible (grey hair) is Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, the “leader” of the Jewish community. Himmler is on an inspection tour of the manufacturing process at the camp (they make uniforms and other items). Karl Wolff, Himmler's Chief Adjutant, is visible, as is Ghetto Administrator Hans Biebow (face at extreme left, over the shoulder of the political officer). Poland at this time is a beehive of activity due to the looming start of Operation Barbarossa.

European Air Operations: Before dawn, the Luftwaffe bombs Birmingham, England. However, bombing accuracy is extremely poor, and the bombs generally fall in the countryside.

Luftwaffe ace Heinz Wiest (six victories) of JG 51 perishes in a flying accident.

East African Campaign: East African 22nd Infantry Brigade captures over 1000 Italian troops near the Omo River at Sciola in Galla-Sidamo.

Heavy cruiser ORP Burza H-73 seen off Bangor, Ireland, 5 June 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy gets another victory in its campaign to eradicate the German supply fleet from the North and South Atlantic. Cruiser HMS London, accompanied by destroyer Brilliant, find 9789-ton German tanker Egerland midway between the Cape Verde Islands and Brazil. Following standard procedure, the 94-man German crew scuttles the Egerland and go into captivity. The Royal Navy now has eliminated over half the German supply network in only a few days, and this inevitably will hinder extended U-boat operations.

U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze), on its 12th patrol out of Kiel in the Atlantic midway between Ireland and St. John's, torpedoes and sinks 6054-ton British tanker Wellfield. There are 8 deaths and 34 survivors. The survivors are picked up by Norwegian freighter Heina.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 3540-ton British coal hulk Himalaya at Portland, Dorset.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 73-ton Royal Navy balloon barrage drifter Lavinia L. off Sheerness. There is one death.

Royal Navy 505-ton trawler Ash hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary. There are some men wounded, but everybody survives.

British 6278-ton freighter Myrmidon hits a mine in the Crosby Channel. The Myrmidon makes it back to Liverpool. Eventually, it heads to New York for complete repairs.

Royal Navy destroyer Matabele hits a submerged object off Barrow. It has to return to Barrow for repairs and is out of service until August. With so many vessels being sunk all around Great Britain, underwater hazards not marked on charts are multiplying and becoming a serious problem.

The Royal Navy continues landing ground reinforcements in Iceland. This month, an infantry battalion and artillery battalion arrive. The British occupation presence is rapidly building to a total of 25,000 men. The Icelandic government remains officially neutral but offers no resistance to the British. The British build numerous facilities at Reykjavik and elsewhere, including No. 30 General Hospital and No. 50 General Hospital. The British are preparing to hand off occupation duties to the United States, but that process has not yet begun.

Canadian corvettes HMCS Buctouche (Lt. William W. Hackney) and Sherbrooke (Lt. Commander Eric G. M. Donald) are commissioned.

U-573 (Kptlt. Heinrich Heinsohn) is commissioned in Kiel.

The Kriegsmarine places an ambitious order for 102 new U-boats to be built. Germany only has so much steel, most imported from Scandinavia, and the army and navy both need what is available for their projects. Thus, there is constant competition for steel allotments, which is a symptom of a larger issue facing the Reich.

Fiat CR-42-Falco 161 Gruppo CT Stormo Autonom 164a 164 5 MM7475, Rhodes, June 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Wehrmacht announces that its final count of prisoners taken on Crete amounts to about 15,000 British and Commonwealth troops. This number generally is considered a little high, the number is probably closer to 12,000, but there is no question that a lot of Allied troops become POWs on Crete. Many British and Commonwealth troops still remain at large, hiding in caves and with local villagers.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph encounters three small Italian ships in the Gulf of Sirte along the coast southeast of Misrata. Using its deck gun, Triumph sinks escorting Italian gunboat Valoroso, 245-ton freighter Frieda and 244-ton freighter Trio Frassinetti.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique (Lt. A.F. Collett, RN), on its 9th war patrol, makes a daring intrusion into Lampedusa Harbor early in the morning. At 08:22, it torpedoes and sinks 736-ton Italian freighter Arsia inside Lampedusa Harbor. Collett has to fire two torpedoes because the first at 07:53 misses and hits the shore just astern of the ship. There are no casualties. Shrapnel from the Arsia damages 275-ton freighter Egusa and small fishing boat Giuseppe Padre (two casualties). Some sources place this as occurring on 3 June, and that Unique arrives back at Malta today.

Operation Rocket is in progress. This is another in a regular series of operations from Gibraltar to fly fighter aircraft to Malta. Aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Furious carry Hawker Hurricanes, escorted by battlecruiser Renown and six destroyers. The two carriers, leading two separate groups, intend to fly off 43 Hurricanes once they are within range of Malta.

At Alexandria, Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual departs with a load of supplies for Malta. These trips take almost a week now because of the Luftwaffe's control over the skies now that Crete is in German hands. Australian destroyers HMAS Vendetta and Voyager also depart, carrying supplies to Tobruk. Vendetta and Voyager complete the journey after dark, quickly unloading and returning to Mersa Matruh before dawn.

The British reinforce Cyprus with Australian troops. The Germans, however, have their eyes fixed on the East and no longer are interested in more island adventures in the Mediterranean.

At Malta, the military government sends the War Office a warning that the island is not prepared to withstand a Luftwaffe invasion using airborne troops, as on Crete. The cable notes that local air superiority has been lost. On the bright side, the cable bravely states that "Malta is in a much better position to stand up to it than was Crete." The problem is that the risk of airborne landings requires defenses inland, while the danger of seaborne landings requires troops guarding the beaches. The British forces on Malta have insufficient troops to guard against both possibilities simultaneously. The cable concludes with a request for three squadrons of fighters (meaning an additional squadron to add to the two already present), two infantry battalions and additional artillery.

The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., 5 June 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Convoy VK-2 departs Sydney bound for Wellington. The two ships are escorted by Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia and New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Achilles.

Dutch/French Relations: The government of the Dutch East Indies closes the Karimata Strait and Sunda Strait to Vichy French vessels. The French in Indochina is completely dominated by Japanese Imperial forces.

Chinese packed tight into a Chungking air-raid shelter. Could the air could in such an enclosed space possibly be enough for all those people? Well... the Chinese sadly found out it wasn't enough.

US/French Relations: The US State Department issues a statement expressing its "sympathetic friendship and thought for the well-being of the French people and the French Empire." It notes that the US plans "to maintain full and friendly diplomatic relations with the French Government at Vichy."

US Government: President Roosevelt's administration requests funding of $10.4 billion in army defense spending in the fiscal year 1942 (which begins in September 1941). This is a vast sum for the time, especially with the country still supposedly at peace.

Chinese packed tight into a Chungking air-raid shelter.

China: The Japanese launch another of their regular air raids against the Nationalist capital of Chungking (Chongquing). The Chinese have built enormous air-raid shelters from sandstone caves in cliffs overlooking the city, and they are packed tight with people during air raids. Guards lock the public shelters' gates during raids so that people can't leave until the all-clear sounds. The shelters have some flaws: they are narrow, have no outlets aside from the front doors that are locked, no sources of air aside from that entrance (which, as noted, is closed during raids), and they are literally jammed with people standing one against the other. It does not take much imagination to see some problems developing from that design.

Damage from the Chungking air raid of 5 June 1941 (Mel Jacoby).

Today, the raid begins at about 18:00. During the three-hour raid, guards flee the Jiaochangkou air raid shelter tunnel downtown, leaving it locked and jammed with people. Finally, two hours after the raids end at midnight, someone arrives with the keys. About 700 people inside have suffocated.

Some people trampled in Chungking during the 5 June 1941 raid (Mel Jacoby).

There are problems at other shelters, too. The Japanese raids are intermittent, and following some attacks, the Chinese leave the shelters thinking the raid is over. However, as soon as the bombers return, the people surge to re-enter the shelters. Many people are trampled and killed. How many is impossible to say, but the pictures alone suggest it was a lot of people.

A casualty carried out of a Chungking shelter following the raid of 5 June 1941 (Mel Jacoby).

Some reports state that 4,000 Chinese perish in this incident, but there are widely varying estimates of the number killed. The higher figures may include people who perish during the mass panics at shelters during the raid, along with victims of the raid itself. Many victims result from stampedes of people on flights of stairs outside the shelters bored into the hills above town. Reporters Mac Fisher of United Press and Mel Jacoby snap pictures of dead people on one such set of stairs leading to a shelter that receives worldwide distribution. For many people, these pictures become their image of the war in China - and it isn't pretty.

Holocaust: Japanese luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru departs from Yokohama for Vancouver carrying Jewish refugees from Europe. This is a continuation of a very roundabout escape route used by small numbers of Jews during the first two years of the war.

HMS Ariguani (F 105) in the Clyde, 5 June 1941. Ariguani is a Fighter Catapult Ship (FSC) that embarks a Fulmar, visible on the left.

Yugoslavian Homefront: Stored ammunition at historic Smederevo Fortress in Yugoslavia, located about 45 km to the southeast of Belgrade, explodes under mysterious circumstances. It kills about 2,500 people. Shrapnel lands as far as 10 km away. The blast destroys most of the southern wall of the fortress, and many casualties result from the destruction of a nearby railway station where many people are waiting for trains. Half the population of the city is killed or wounded, a total of 5500 people.

Greek Homefront: Greek Prime Minister-in-exile Emmanouil Tsouderos makes a radio broadcast from Alexandria to occupied Greece. He states in part:

Unite as one man more closely than ever around our national symbols, around our flag and our heroic King. Keep your heads high as men who have been victorious. Do not trust the enemy; and have confidence in the final victory. Help each one of you, with every means at your disposal in order that we may achieve the final victory. Help our country to overcome the present misfortunes until the glorious day of liberation of a Greece great and new.

Greek resistance to the occupying German troops is heightening due to recent atrocities committed against civilians on Crete at Kandanos and elsewhere.

HMS Roxborough is seen off Bangor, Ireland, on 5 June 1941.

American Homefront: Sandor Szabo wins the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship over former football star Bronko Nagurski in St. Louis.

Future History: Spalding Rockwell Gray, actor, and writer, is born in Providence, Rhode Island. He begins a theatrical career in New York in the late 1960s, and vaults to celebrity status with the film version of his classic monologue "Swimming to Cambodia" in 1987. The film, among other things, features Gray describing his quest for his "perfect moment." Gray, already a supporting actor, goes on to various film roles. Spalding Gray passes away in 2004, apparently by suicide following a car crash in Ireland. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Sag Harbor, New York.

Martha Argerich is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She becomes one of the top classical pianists in the world. She also is famous in medical circles for surviving malignant melanoma in the 1990s following experimental treatment at the John Wayne cancer institute in Santa Monica, California. As of 2018, her cancer remains in remission and she continues to give recitals.

Stuart Watkins is born in Newport, Wales. He becomes a top Welsh international rugby union wing. Watkins begins his rugby career at Cross Keys before switching to his home town of Newport in 1963.

Robert Kraft is born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He becomes Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group and owner of NFL team the New England Patriots.

Beechcraft F-2 Expeditor reconnaissance aircraft near Ninilchik, Alaska, June 5, 1941 (3:35PM, USAAC photo).

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020

Monday 12 August 1940

Portsmouth Harbour on 12 August 1940.

Battle of Britain: For some time, the date for the start of Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack") has been set for 13 August, and it has depended upon the weather. With forecasts of excellent flying weather in the coming days, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering on 12 August 1940 instructs his Luftflotten 2 and 3 in France to be ready to commence the operation on the morning of the 13th. The codeword is Adler Tag and the operation is to commence at 07:00.

Today's mission is to soften up the defenses for tomorrow's knockout blow. The idea is to deprive the RAF of its eyes. The day's events include a major redirection of the Luftwaffe strategy with mixed results. Viewed from the perspective of the Luftwaffe, it is a promising start to the next stage of the campaign, but by themselves, the day's events do not accomplish much of lasting value.

British radar reports a stream of Luftwaffe planes heading in from Calais at 07:20. Instead of attacking shipping as is normal, the Luftwaffe planes attack the British radar chain itself. The planes are Bf 110s from Epr.Gr 210 carrying 500kg bombs. After a feint to the west, they break into different directions and hit the radar stations near Dover, Rye, Pevensey, and Canterbury. Bf 110s are manned by elite crews, with the best officers being sent to crew them.

To test the raid's results, Field Marshal Kesselring sends 60 Stukas to attack shipping in the Thames estuary. These are convoys Agent and Arena. Another radar station, at Foreland, picks the raiders up and vectors in Spitfires of RAF Nos. 65 and 501 Squadrons. Contrary to later depictions of Stukas as being defenseless and easy prey, this time they all make it back to base, and it is the Spitfires who lose four planes.

The Luftwaffe returns to attack shipping later, with JG 26 serving as the main cover. When RAF Nos. 501 and 151 Squadrons arrive, the Bf 109s pounce on them. Once again, the battle is one-sided, and the RAF loses five fighters to none for JG 26. However, there are other Luftwaffe fighter units that do suffer severely, losing 9 fighters.

The battle turns into another wild melee reminiscent of the battles on the 8th and the 11th. The Luftwaffe continues feeding formations into the battle, with a large new raid over Brighton composed of medium bombers. They conduct several feints and ultimately bomb the two radar stations at the Isle of Wight (Foreland and Ventnor) and nearby Portsmouth and Southampton Harbours. The attacks completely wipe out the radar stations and also cause devastation to Portsmouth Harbour. The attack, while successful, puts the German Ju 88s and other bombers in a vulnerable position, and many are shot down.

British radar aerials during the Battle of Britain.

The Portsmouth attack is notable because it is the first major intentional attack on an English populated city area. There are 100 civilian deaths. As for the radar stations, Ventnor is put out of action indefinitely, but the others are back up and running within days or even hours.

The Luftwaffe then throws attacks at RAF Manston. The Bf 110s accompanied by Bf 109s return and bomb the field, which once again is a first: the first major attack directed solely against a British airfield. The attack is highly successful and destroys the infrastructure of the base and guts the field itself, putting the base out of operation for three days.

The Luftwaffe sinks trawlers HMS Pyrope and Tamarisk in the Thames Estuary, with a total of 13 deaths.

The Luftwaffe damages British trawlers Ermine, River Ythan and  Karneval off the Welsh coast.

The Luftwaffe lightly damages destroyer HMS Watchman with near misses north of Ireland.

Overall, it is another rough day for both sides. The Luftwaffe is estimated to have lost 31 planes, the RAF 22. Worse for the RAF, 11 pilots are killed. The best that can be said about the day's events for the RAF is that most of the radar stations are functioning by the morning sufficiently to cover the gaps caused by the ones that were hardest hit and will take longer to repair.

There is another invasion alert that brings the Home Fleet to 2-hours readiness at 22:17, but it is a false alarm.

Bristol Beaufighters are delivered to Tangmere. They are the first fighters equipped with their own experimental radar.

After much consideration, Hitler finally accepts Mussolini's offer to send air units to assist with the Battle of Britain.

Bomb damage at the corner of Spring Garden Lane and Grove Avenue in Gosport, Hampshire on 12 August 1940. The vicarage on the corner was destroyed.

Battle of the Atlantic: Italian submarine Alessandro Malaspina torpedoes and sinks British 8406-ton British tanker British Fame about a hundred miles east of the Azores. The submarine is extravagant with its use of torpedoes, firing six, but tankers are notoriously difficult to sink. The Italians then spend hours towing one of the lifeboats toward shore.

Convoy FN 250 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 138 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 250 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 197 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 65 departs from Halifax.

Corvette HMS Anemone (K 48, Lt. Commander Humphry G. Boys-Smith) is commissioned.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends eleven Handley Page Hampden bombers to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal with delayed-action bombs. The bombs close down the canal for 10 days by destroying the bridge that carries the canal over the Ems river. The canal is a key route for the passage of invasion barges. Roderick Alastair Brook Learoyd wins the Victoria Cross for this action when he takes his bomber in at treetop level, drops his bombs on target despite heavy flak that almost destroys his plane, and makes it back to base.

RAF Bomber Command also attacks the Gotha airplane factory and the airbase at Borkum. They also bomb the Black Forest with phosphorus and other incendiary bombs in an attempt to start fires which will burn away the cover from hidden bases there. This is called "razzle" and often ignites the planes themselves.

Battle of the Mediterranean: RAF bombers again attack Tobruk.

At Malta, there is a bombing raid at 21:00 by two bombers that attack Hal Far airfield. There also are several other raids, with bombs dropped near Grand Harbour. Italian bombing aim is extremely poor, as many of their bombs land in the water. It is the first major raid since 26 July.

Italian submarine Iride, which carries human torpedoes on its deck, departs from La Spezia, Italy for Libya. The plan is for it to transport the human submarines to Alexandria to sink British ships.

British Somaliland: The Italians resume their attacks in the Battle of Tug Argan against the remaining five hills occupied by the British that overlook the vital coast road to Berbera. They take one of the hills, Mill Hill, from the Northern Rhodesia Regiment, including two 3.7 inch howitzers. The Italians already have successfully leveraged the British out of the south side of the defenses in the Assa Hills.

The British remain firmly entrenched to the north of the road. The odds are firmly against them, as 20,000 well-equipped Italian soldiers face about 4,000 colonial troops.

Abyssinia: The British send men from Sudan into Abyssinia under Colonel Sandford to prepare the way for the return of King Haile Selassie. Sandford's men train guerrilla forces.

Belgium: The Belgian Government-in-exile opens a recruiting office in London.

A 1940 Japanese air raid on Chungking.

Soviet Military: The Soviet Red Army slightly reduces the power of the political commissars which accompany each unit. Heretofore they have had equal authority over military operations, but now they are restricted to other matters. Military ranks are restored.

Soviet minesweeper T-103 hits a mine and sinks in the Baltic.

US Military: President Roosevelt continues his tour of New England naval stations aboard the Presidential yacht HMS Potomac, visiting the submarine facilities and Electric Boat Construction company at New London, Connecticut.

British Homefront: The government has been encouraging "Victory Gardens" and the like for months due to the growing food shortage. Now, it takes a different tack and simply makes the wasting of food illegal.

American Homefront: The issue of starvation in Europe has been brought to the public's attention by Ambassador Cudahy's recent statements (for which he was recalled). Now, former President Herbert Hoover, who made his reputation in similar circumstances during World War I, begins a new war-relief program to send hundreds of thousands of tons of food to Europe.

President Vargas of Brazil makes the cover of today's Time Magazine (cover photo credit: John Phillips). Brazil remains neutral.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020

Sunday 11 August 1940

Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.

Battle of Britain: The German meteorologists predict fine weather in the coming days, so the prospects for Adlerangriff improve. Reichsmarschall Goering has a start date of 13 August, which now looks likely to occur.

The heightened pace of the aerial battle that began on 8 August resumes on 11 August 1940. One can view today as the climax of the "Kanalkampf," the preliminary softening up of British defenses. Today has the highest losses for both sides to date. High losses are worse for the RAF than for the Luftwaffe, since the Germans start out with a huge advantage in aircraft. The Luftwaffe has roughly:

• 700 Bf 109s;
• 160 Bf 110s;
• 250 Stuka Ju 87 dive-bombers;
• 800 Heinkel He 111s, Dornier Do 17s, Junkers Ju 88s, and other medium bombers.

Against this, the RAF has roughly 650 Hurricanes and Spitfires.

The numbers are only part of the story. The Luftwaffe has not had to scrimp on training and has veteran pilots who cut their teeth during the Spanish Civil War. The British have had to shorten their pilot training programs in order to keep up with losses.

The Luftwaffe begins to implement Reichsmarschall Goering's change in focus from shipping to airfields and factory targets. At around 08:30, a large fighter-bomber force ignores the ships in the Channel and bombs Dover instead. RAF Nos. 64 and 74 Squadrons intercept the force of about 60 Bf 109s and 110s, but not before the Germans bomb the town heavily. The barrage balloons over the town turn into a liability, as they fall on the town in flames and start larger fires.

A little later, another, larger Luftwaffe bombing raid heads in from the south from the Cherbourg area. This one is not fighter-bombers, but rather mainly Junkers Ju 88s and Heinkel He 111s escorted by Bf 109s and 110s. This is a huge aerial armada of about 170s planes. The RAF this time is on the ball and gets RAF Nos. 145, 152, 213, 238, 601 and 609 Squadrons in the air as the bombers approach. Massive dogfights take place off the coast, but the mass of bombers continues heading for its target of Portland Harbour and Weymouth. This raid causes extensive damage, including to trawler HMS Hertfordshire which is in drydock.

In addition, the Luftwaffe damages the destroyer HMS Windsor in the Thames Estuary, destroyers HMS Scimitar and Skate at Portland Harbour, and destroyer HMS Esk at Harwich. In addition, British trawler HMS Edwardian is damaged off Kent (3 dead, 3 other casualties), British freighter Kirnwood is damaged, and British tanker Oil Trader is damaged by the Luftwaffe off Shipwash Light Vessel.

Overall, it is estimated that the Luftwaffe loses 38 aircraft today:

• 2 Heinkel He 59s
• 2 Ju 87 Stukas
• 6 Junkers Ju 88s
• 3 Dornier Do 17Zs
• 10 Bf 110s
• 15 Bf 109s

There also are numerous heavily damaged planes that barely make it back to France, around 15 planes. JG 2 is decimated, losing over half a dozen fighters, but the elite formations such as JG 26 do relatively better. The British continue shooting down Heinkel He 59 rescue planes, too, which is of dubious legality.

As for the RAF, it also takes massive losses. Its losses are estimated at around 30 planes, but they are almost all Hurricane and Spitfire fighters. Thus, as usual, there are different ways to analyze the day's losses. Based purely on fighter losses, the Luftwaffe comes off slightly better or at least even, but the German bomber losses are not inconsequential.

RAF Bomber Command continues its raids on oil installations, airfields and factories at Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Wanne Eickel, Cherbourg, Dusseldorf, Hamm, and Soest.

Overall, it is possible to see today's vicious actions as a step forward for the Luftwaffe in its plan to grind down the RAF. It is a good set-up for the true start of Adlerangriff. Simply reciting plane losses that appear to slightly favor the RAF completely ignores the massive damage being inflicted on British shipping and shore installations and the increasingly over-strained condition of the British defenses. It also overlooks the dozens of scarce pilots lost today. While it is normal to lose new pilots on their first missions, when you lose this many at once, you also lose very experienced men.

One final point: one of Stalin's aphorisms is that "Quantity is its own quality." When hundreds of planes are in action at once, any slight qualitative advantage by the RAF is nullified (and it is very unclear who actually has such an advantage). There are many hushed-up reports of "friendly fire" incidents where new, inexperienced RAF pilots shoot down other RAF planes through sheer confusion and accident as they navigate the melee. Massive air battles with no clear winner tend to fulfill the Luftwaffe's goals.

P/O Leonard W Stevens (right) was one of 3 pilots from No 17 Squadron RAF who had their Hawker Hurricanes shot down or badly damaged by ZG2 on 11 August 1940, operating from RAF Debden. Hurricane Mk I YB-J was the replacement aircraft that he received after claiming 2 Bf 110 fighters probably destroyed during the day. Note the winged Popeye with a screwdriver on the port side beneath the cockpit.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) torpedoes and sinks 4966-ton British freighter Llanfair in the Western Approaches about 125 miles west of Ireland at 15:19. There are 30 survivors and 3 crew perish. Llanfair is a straggler from Convoy SL 41, and stragglers are easy prey.

In the South Atlantic near Capetown, passenger ship Ceramic collides with freighter Testbank. Both ships make it back to port with major damage.

The British conduct minelaying in the North Sea.

Convoys OA 197 and MT 137 depart from Methil, Convoy OB 197 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 249 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 249 departs from the Tyne, Convoy HG 41 (45 ships) departs from Gibraltar headed for Liverpool, Convoys SL 43 and SLF 43 depart from Freetown, Convoy BS 2A departs from Suez bound for Aden.

Operation Fish, the transfer of gold from England to Canada, continues. Battleship HMS Revenge leaves the Clyde with £14.5 million pounds in gold destined for Halifax and then the Bank of Ottawa. The convoy, which includes half a dozen freighters and four destroyers, is designated Convoy ZA.

Battle of the Mediterranean: It is quiet again on Malta, the first quiet Sunday in some time. Governor Dobbie has been urged to build more air raid shelters, so he requests large quantities of cement, reinforcing timber and the like from Middle East Command.

U-38 after a successful mission.

British Somaliland: The Battle of the Tug Argan Gap begins with probing Italian attacks against entrenched British positions defending Berbera. British Major General Reade Godwin-Austen arrives in Berbera to take command of the British forces.

Of the six hills occupied by the British that overlook the main coastal road, the Italians capture one defended by the 3rd Battalion of the 15th Punjab Regiment. Attacks on two other hills are stopped with great difficulty.

British Government: General Wavell, commander of British forces in the Middle East, is successful in convincing the British War Cabinet and Prime Minister Winston Churchill to send 150 tanks, 48 anti-tank guns, 48 field guns, and 20 Bofors anti-aircraft guns to Cairo. This is a highly risky move, since the threat of invasion still hangs over London, and it effectively halves the armored forces in England.

Soviet/German Relations: The Baltic states now have been absorbed into the Soviet Union as Soviet Socialist Republics. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov thus asks the Germans to withdraw their ambassadors to those defunct nations. As is his practice, he gives the Germans a deadline, 1 September. The Germans, meanwhile, are planning their own demands on the Soviet Union for Spring 1941.

Swiss/German Relations: The nations sign a new trade deal.

The 165-foot long Presidential yacht USS Potomac. Launched in 1934, it remains a tourist attraction in the 21st Century.

US Government: President Roosevelt completes his inspection of the Boston Navy Yard aboard Presidential yacht Potomac.

Argentina: Arnulf Fuhrmann, a German leader, is arrested.

Albania: A revolt centered in the northern Miriditi district continues to spread, with the Italian occupation forces engaging in ruthless pacification practices such as burning villages.

China: The Japanese bomb Chungking, the Nationalist Chinese capital. A handful of Chinese flying I-15 fighters cross above the Japanese formation and drop time-delayed parachute bombs. This causes mass confusion among the bombers and disperses the attack, but major damage still is caused to the city.

Holocaust: Confiscation of Jewish property in Paris and surrounding areas shifts into high gear with Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg ("ERR"), a "special" formation of the NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs to steal paintings, sculptures and "decadent" art. In point of fact, under German law this is not theft, because such works are now considered "ownerless" and their Jewish owners "stateless."

American Homefront: Hurricane season is in full swing. Following on the hurricane that struck Texas, another one hits the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, killing about 50 people in all.

A Polikarpov I-15 fighter.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020