Eastern Front: The winter has bent but not quite broken the Wehrmacht, and by 2 February 1942 it is fighting back to protect its most vital arteries. The Rollbahn, a major (for Russia) road from Yukhnov to Gzhatsk, is the lifeline to Fourth Army in the Moscow sector, and the Soviets have held it for a week. The Germans now are fighting furiously from either end of the road to open it up, with General Heinrici sending his Fourth Army troops south and General Ruoff advancing with his Fourth Panzer Army vehicles north toward him. They make good progress today, though they do not quite close the gap and reopen the road yet. There are supplies waiting behind Ruoff's forces to be sluiced through the moment the road is cleared. This is one of the most important operations of the winter because until the road is cleared, the Fourth Army must rely on air support. The Luftwaffe already is hard-pressed supplying surrounded garrisons at Kholm, Demyansk, and elsewhere, so clearing the road is a top priority.
As the Germans regain their footing on the Eastern Front, their ambitions begin to expand again. General Dietl, commanding the Army of Lapland, is trying to convince the Finns to participate in an attack to cut the Soviet railway line to Murmansk at Belomorsk. Marshal Mannerheim, commanding all Finnish forces, is noncommital but indicates that he would be ready to participate in such an operation once the Germans capture Leningrad. Of course, the Germans have no hope of capturing Leningrad anytime soon due to their difficulties on the main front and pretty much everyone knows that. German General Waldemar Erfurth, who leads the German liaison team at Mannerheim's headquarters, reports back to OKW that Mannerheim has a pessimistic view of the war and is unwilling to stage any attacks that he has any chance of losing. Mannerheim prepares a letter to General Keitel today which basically expresses these views. The Germans have no alternatives in the northern sector of the front and are at Mannerheim's mercy.
Life Magazine for 2 February 1942 features a Republic P-48 Thunderbolt on the cover. The XP-47B prototype, designed by Alexander Kartveli, first flew on 6 May 1941. There are only the XP-47B and an engineering prototype in existence during February 1942, so this truly is a cutting edge photo and undoubtedly had to pass through military censors.
Battle of the Pacific: In the Philippines, the fighting along the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) on the Bataan Peninsula has died down while the Japanese reinforce their presence for a decisive attack. However, the Allies continue strenuously battling Japanese pockets and bridgeheads behind the MLR, some very close to the MLR and others many miles to the south. On the eastern half of the MLR, US II Corps eliminates a small Japanese bridgehead across the Pilar River when the last Japanese leave after dark. On the western half of the MLR, the Americans send tanks of the US 192d Tank Battalion supported by a platoon of the 1st Battalion, 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, against the "Big" Japanese pocket. However, the Japanese are dug in and hold their ground in the rough terrain. Much further south, the Americans try the same formula (tanks of the 192d and Filipino Scouts) against the Quinauan Point beachhead. However, the Japanese there have been cheered by ultimately unsuccessful Japanese attempts to resupply and reinforce them, so they also resist the Allies. Those reinforcements, which the Allies diverted to the Anyasan-Silaiim sector, also hold out against fierce attacks by the Scout battalions (2d Battalion of the 45th Infantry; 3d and 1st Battalions of the 57th Infantry. The day's events are discouraging for the Allies, but the MLR provides a growing sense of security and the hope that they can hold the Bataan Peninsula indefinitely.
In the Netherlands East Indies, Japanese troops continue occupying Ambon Island, home to an important naval base. The Japanese take Laha Airdrome from Australian troops during the morning. Later in the day, the surviving Australian troops send a surrender parley under a white flag carried by Major Newberry, the commanding officer at Laha. The Japanese promptly imprison them in the local school for the night. Offshore, Dutch mines sink Japanese minesweeper W-9 and damage minesweepers W-11 and W-12.
"Kepper Harbour, Singapore. 2 February 1942. Men of HMAS Hobart returning electric sewing machines in wooden crates that they had found in a godown (storage shed where incoming merchant goods were stored after unloading), just before the fall of Singapore. Approximately fifty sailors were placed under guard on the quarterdeck by the gunnery officer before Captain H. Howden returned to the ship from the dockyard and ordered the sailors to return the machines to the godown. However, some machines were brought back to the ship with a lot of other selected material. The Captain returned to the ship with a car and the dockyard crest, both of which were shipped back to Australia. (Donor M. Williams)" Australian War Memorial P02497.026.
This is the last relatively quiet day in Singapore, as the Japanese have not yet brought up artillery. The British have blown the causeway to the mainland and organized their defenses into three sectors: Northern, Southern, and Western. The largest RAF airfield is at RAF Tengah in the Western Area, but the planes have almost all been withdrawn to the Netherlands East Indies. The most vulnerable area for an invasion is recognized as the northwest part of Singapore, where there are mangrove swamps, jungles, creeks, and rivers. The British are still able to receive reinforcements and leave by sea, and there really isn't much sense of urgency in the city.
Tamagawa Maru, sunk by USS Seadragon on 2 February 1942.
USS Seadragon (SS-194), on its first patrol out of Soerabaja, Netherland East Indies, sinks 6441-ton Japanese freighter Tamagawa Maru off Cape Bolinao, Luzon. Seadragon attacks a five-ship convoy off San Fernando and sinks the fourth ship in the line. This is of great aid to the Allies in Bataan, as the ship carried reinforcements and equipment for the coming Japanese offensive.
Following the successful Marshalls-Gilbert Raids of 1 February, Admiral Halsey retires with his task force from the area in bright moonlight. The US Navy ships are shadowed by Japanese planes and a submarine but escape unscathed at 25 knots. The ships encounter a sudden storm during the morning, which they use to screen themselves from the Japanese. Halsey proudly tells that the task force that it has "made history in the Marshalls."
FV Cape Spartel, one of the ships sunk by the Luftwaffe on 2 February 1942.
European Air Operations: There is a week-long lull in strategic air operations along the western front due to winter conditions. About twenty German aircraft do mount a raid on the Humber and bomb and sink 346-ton HMT Cape Spartel and also 324-ton HMT Cloughton Wyke at Yarmouth.
Admiral Doenitz graces the cover of Time Magazine, 2 February 1942 (cover credit: Vuk Vuchinich).
Battle of the Atlantic: British escort destroyer HMS Westcott (D47) sinks U-581 (Kptlt. Werner Pfeifer) off the south exit from Horta Harbor, Azores, Portugal. U-581 was caught on the surface after an unsuccessful torpedo attack on Westcott and accompanying destroyer Croome. Due to a mechanical issue, U-581 could not submerge, and Westcott succeeds in a second attempt to ram it. Almost the entire U-581 crew, 41 men, survive after being picked up by the destroyers, while four men perish. One German sailor, Oblt. Walter Sitek, survives by swimming six km (well over three miles) to shore (he is repatriated to Germany, becomes a U-boat commander, and survives the war). U-581 ends its career having sunk one ship, HMS Rosemonde on 19 January 1942, of 364 tons.
U-103 (Kptlt. Werner Winter), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, is operating off the east coast of the United States as part of Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat). Winter gets his first sinking of the patrol when he torpedoes and then shells 6182-ton US tanker W. L. Steed about 85 nautical miles (160 km) east of the mouth of the Delaware River. The weather is horrendous, with snow and icy temperatures, so many of the 38 men who take to the boats perish from exposure. Ultimately, there are 34 dead and four survivors.
Ernst Kals, commander of U-130.
Operation Paukenschlag was never intended by the Germans to be a lengthy offensive. The original plan was to send one wave of five U-boats (U-66, U-109, U-123, U-125, and U-130) in early 1942 and then return focus to the convoy routes. However, the unexpected success of the U-boats along the east coast of the United States has led to a decision to continue the offensive with new waves of boats. The first wave of U-boats already is returning to Europe, with U-130 (Ernst Kals) exiting the area south of Cape Sable on 2 February. It heads back to Lorient, though it first has a rendezvous with U-109 (Heinrich Bleichdrodt), which also is leaving the area, in the mid-Atlantic in order to transfer some fuel.
W. L. Steed, sunk by U-103 on 2 February 1942.
The Royal Navy has been keeping a close eye on German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, which have been bottled up in Brest, France, for the better part of a year. They are within easy bombing range of the RAF, but winter conditions have not been suitable for a decisive air attack on them. Since that will soon change with the passing of seasons, the Germans have been busy readying the ships for action. The British Naval Staff, perhaps operating off of decoded German radio transmissions, begins planning to stop an expected cruise of the large German ships up the English Channel and back to Germany. This is considered extremely dangerous by both sides, as the ships would have to make much of the journey during daylight when the RAF could easily attack. However, Adolf Hitler believes that the risks are worthwhile because of Allied control of the air and sea in the Atlantic and the ships can be put to some use in northern Norway. Thus, the Germans have begun planning Operation Cerberus, also known as the Channel Dash.
Battle of the Mediterranean: German Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's troops continue their rapid march from Benghazi. The Afrika Korps is advancing in two columns. The coastal column captures Berta but is stopped a dozen miles west of Derna. The inland column advances further, stopping south of Derna. In Cairo, General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, can see what is coming and tells his Eighth Army commanders that he expects them to hold Tobruk.
The Air Training Corps (ATC) Gazette Vol. II No. 2, February 1942.
US Military: VII Interceptor Command is activated at Ft Shafter in Hawaii.
Major General Joseph W. Stilwell becomes Chief of Staff to Supreme Commander, China Theater (Chiang Kai-shek). His portfolio is to:
increase the effectiveness of United States assistance to the Chinese Government for the prosecution of the war and to assist in improving the combat efficiency of the Chinese Army.
Stilwell cannot do much about the Chinese Army, but he helps to sort out the chaos of Lend-Lease shipments to China.
The Headquarters of the USAAF 49th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) arrives in Melbourne, Victoria. They are equipped with P-40s, the most plentiful USAAF fighter at this time. These are raw pilots just out of flight school and their first assignment is to help put their own planes together from the crates in which they were shipped.
Egypt: The entire British position in the Mediterranean hinges on keeping a tight grip on Egypt. However, that grip is shaken today when King Farouk, who is known to harbor Axis sympathies, forces his entire cabinet to resign.
Holocaust: The commandant at the Auschwitz camp institutes a new "reeducation" policy for some prisoners (Erziehungshäftlinge). This involves giving such prisoners a new series of numbers (beginning EH 1) that are distinct from the general series of numbers. A total of 1137 such numbers are issued. These reeducation prisoners live under the same conditions as other prisoners in the camp but are released after a limited period not to exceed eight weeks (though this time limit is not honored in actuality and many spend much longer in the camp). Ultimately, about 11,000 prisoners in this category pass through Auschwitz.
American Homefront: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is rounding up suspected Japanese spies, as evidenced by a headline in the 2 February 1942 Seattle Daily Times which reads, "FBI Ousts Nipponese in Island Raid."
Bow view of the USS Silversides (SS-236) off Mare Island, California, 2 February 1942 (U.S. Navy).
Finnish soldiers at a military parade in Viipuri celebrating its capture, 31 August 1941. They find the city in ruins, with 3807 of 6287 buildings destroyed (SA-Kuva).
Eastern Front: On 31 August 1941, the true nature of the relationship between the Finns and the Germans is starkly revealed without any possibility of misinterpretation. German General W. Erfurth contacts Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim on behalf of Field Marshal Keitel, head of OKW, and informs Mannerheim that Keitel will be sending a letter coordinating a joint attack on Leningrad. Mannerheim already has decided not to attack Leningrad, and politely replies that he is not interested. However, Erfurth later delivers the letter anyway.
Mannerheim is not acting alone, as the Finnish Social Democrat government led by President Risto Ryti is dead-set against any advances beyond the old border. Ryti and Mannerheim, after receiving Keitel's letter shortly thereafter, collaborate on a negative reply. There will be no Finnish attack on Leningrad (though this is a sensitive topic to Russians who feel the physical evidence in the city of Finnish artillery shelling indicates otherwise).
This is a decisive moment in World War II. The Finnish Army has been the dominant force in the north, outclassing both its Soviet opponents and its German allies. German troops in the forests and swamps have had mixed success and have little hope of advancing further without Finnish military assistance. Finnish refusal to attack Leningrad from the north means that the Soviets can concentrate all of their defensive forces in the south, effectively doubling their effectiveness.
Finnish and Geman collaboration is far from over. The Finns simply have shown their own limits. From now on, though, their status as "co-belligerents" rather than true German "allies" is unmistakable.
Finnish forces held a victory ceremony in Viipuri/Vyborg Main Square before the statue of Torkel Knutsson, 31 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
In the Far North sector, Mannerheim orders that Finnish forces attack to the south but stop their advance once they reach a line well short of Leningrad. This line runs from the mouth of the river Rajajoki to Ohta and actually is slightly beyond the old border - which Mannerheim has requested and received permission from the government to do in order to achieve the best defensible positions (Minister of War Lt. General Walden also supports this). Ryti's government demands in exchange for this slight concession that Germany supplies 25,000 tons of rye in order to support Finland keeping all of its men at the front (this is a continuing theme in Finnish/German relations throughout the war). Mannerheim leaves the exact line in between those two points unsaid in order to give his troops local flexibility on seizing the most advantageous defensive points (hills, rivers, marshes, etc.).
A quick look at the map shows that Mannerheim's line represents a shortened front between the Baltic and Lake Ladoga while avoiding Soviet fortifications on the outskirts of Leningrad (the 22nd Karelian Fortified Region, or KaUR). Mannerheim's specificity on stopping along a specific line avoids incidents encountered previously in other sectors in which some Finnish troops refused to cross the old border. The troops now are reassured that they are not advancing endlessly into the Soviet Union and thus feel more confident in advancing slightly into the USSR. Finnish 12th Division reaches the town of Kivennapa south of Viipuri on the old border today but continues advancing beyond pursuant to Mannerheim's orders.
Soviet troops are in disarray on the Karelian Isthmus. Having lost Viipuri, they stream back toward Leningrad and prepare to make a stand in the Stalin Line anchored by the KaUR. On the other side of Leningrad, the Germans continue to advance but still do not have a tight line around the city.
Street scene in Viipuri, 31 August 1941.
In the Army Group North sector, the final Soviet troops evacuate from Tallinn and the Germans complete their capture of the city. The Soviets counterattack at Mga and retake it. The Germans complete the capture of Novgorod north of Lake Ilmen, providing a secure "block" on the eastern flank of Army Group North. Moscow radio announces in its usual vague wording that "the enemy is at the approaches of Leningrad." The Leningrad government puts up posters throughout the city saying "The Enemy is at the Gates." The city is prepared for a siege, with sandbags in store windows and everyone mobilized to help in the defense.
In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 and Second Army continue trying to drive south to Kyiv against fierce resistance from Soviet Bryansk Front. The Soviets are counterattacking and have stopped the Germans for the moment. Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov reports:
The offensive on Roslavl' by the Reserve Front's 43rd Army is developing successfully. However, the enemy is bringing forces up for an attack from the south. Consequently, it is necessary to speed up the preparations for the 50th Army's offensive and to begin it on 1 September or, in the last resort, on 2 September, in order to assist the 43rd Army's attack and prevent the enemy from concentrating forces against it. The 50th Army must continuously and energetically continue reconnaissance with reinforced battalions along the front.
The German defenders at Yelnya are under extreme pressure but continue holding their positions. Field Marshal von Bock does not have reinforcements at hand due to the diversion of Panzer Group 2 to Kyiv.
In the Army Group South sector, the Wehrmacht opens the offensive toward Rostov by building a pontoon bridge over the Dneipr. LII Corps (General of the Kavalrie von Briesen) captures a bridge at Derievka just south of Kremenchuk.
Finnish troops in Viipuri celebrating its capture, 31 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 30 Blenheim bombers against several targets. Twelve bombers attack the Lille power station, while the RAF sends six bombers against each of several targets: Lannion airfield, St-Omer airfield, and Le Trait Shipyards. The weather is poor, so some of the bombers choose other targets that they can see. In addition, three Flying Fortresses bomb Bremen. All of the bombers then return safely.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Cologne and Essen despite the poor weather. There are 103 bombers (45 Wellingtons, 39 Hampdens, 7 Halifaxes, 6 Manchesters, and 6 Stirlings) over Cologne, with an additional five Manchesters on searchlight-suppression missions. The RAF loses 3 Hampdens, one Manchester, and one Wellington over the city, and another Wellington shot down over England by a Luftwaffe intruder. Accuracy is very poor, and only 68 bombers actually release bombs over the city. There is one death in the city, suggesting that most of the bombers miss it completely.
The night's secondary target is Essen. The 43 Whitleys and 28 Wellingtons sent there lose only one Whitely and accomplish very little due to the cloud cover. Only a handful of people are killed and ten injured.
In addition, the RAF sends 6 Wellingtons over Boulogne and 12 Hampdens on minelaying at Kiel Bay and the Frisian Islands. There is one Wellington lost.
The Luftwaffe attacks Hull after dark. A bomb hits a shelter and causes many casualties. Approximately 200 homes are destroyed and 38 people are killed.
Marines (Naval Infantry) of the Baltic Fleet, 31 August 1941.
Battle of the Baltic: The German 5th R-Boat Flotilla lays 32 mines between German minefield Juminda and Finnish minefield Valkjarvi during the night. This was the scene of over 20 Soviet ships hitting mines and sinking recently during the evacuation of Tallinn.
A total of 164 Soviet vessels reach Kronstadt out of roughly 200 that participate in the Tallinn evacuation - the rest are at the bottom of the Baltic. The four convoys carry 28,000 troops and civilian evacuees - many thousands either drowned or were rescued along the way. The convoy escorts now change missions and provide shore bombardment in support of ground troops defending Leningrad.
Finnish troops in Viipuri celebrating its capture, 31 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
Battle of the Atlantic: This is one of the few days of this stage of World War II when no ships are reported sunk for any reason in the Atlantic.
The ships of Operation Dervish, the first British convoy to the Soviet Union, reach Archangel. It includes six freighters an oiler escorted by the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, heavy cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk, and several destroyers. Four Soviet destroyers greet the convoy at sea and guide it in.
For the month of August 1941, total Allied shipping losses edge up slightly, from 109,276 tons in July to 125,550 tons in August. Imports to - which now include the Soviet Union for the first time - edge up as well, from 3,765,724 tons to 4,002,450 tons. Allied losses to U-boats are down from 94,209 tons to 80,310 tons, but that is counterbalanced by increased losses to the Luftwaffe (from 9275 tons to 23,862 tons). Losses to mines fall from 8583 tons to 1400 tons, which is the lowest point of the war and also the lowest until August 1942.
The Allies lose 36 ships of 103,452 tons in the Atlantic and 5 ships of 27,247 tons in the Mediterranean. The Axis (primarily Italy) loses 11 ships of 52,538 tons in the Mediterranean, most along the vital convoy route from Naples to Tripoli which the Royal Navy knows all about and where it maintains patrols. RAF bombers based on Malta also are becoming more effective against Axis shipping. The Kriegsmarine loses four U-boats (which includes U-570, which is captured and the crew made prisoners of war) but has a new high of 65 available in the Atlantic.
Finnish troops at Viipuri celebrating its capture, 31 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe attacks Alexandria shortly before midnight. There are two deaths of Royal Navy officers and an officer is wounded, along with numerous other casualties. Damage to the port itself and shipping is minimal.
An Italian convoy of three large liners (Neptunia, Oceania, and Victoria) being used as transports, escorted by six destroyers, departs from Tripoli bound for Taranto. Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder (Lt Cdr Wanklyn) attacks the convoy but misses. Another Italian convoy of five freighters and a mine-ship also departs from Tripoli bound for Naples.
Dutch submarine O.21 spots an Italian submarine in the Tyrrhenian Sea and makes an unsuccessful attack.
Nine Wellington bombers based on Malta attack Tripoli, damaging buildings.
During the month of August, Royal Navy submarines based on Malta sink six ships totaling 50,000 tons, 1 Italian cruiser (Bolzano), and damage 4971-ton freighter Aquitania and perhaps a destroyer.
Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine M-34 spots 4958-ton Italian tanker Tampico off Varna, Bulgaria. It attacks but misses.
The Germans sink several Soviet river warships on the Dneipr:
Several Soviet ships are lost in the Dneipr River today:
Zhitomar-class river monitor Bobruysk (hit by artillery and scuttled)
Auxiliary river guard ship SK-4 Tekrik
Trudovoy-class river gunboat Trudovoy (runs aground, is towed off, then hit by panzer tank fire and sunk)
The Soviets are learning through hard experience that river gunboats are no match for shore-based panzers and artillery.
German crew sighting the 20mm cannon on a Bf 109F fighter of JG 54 "Greenhearts" (Grünherz) fighter wing, near Leningrad, Russia, August 1941 (Reiners, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-390-1220-19),
Partisans: At 07:00, the Jadar Chetnik unit attacks Loznica. The Chetniks take many 18 killed and 93 casualties in total, including leader Lieutenant Colonel Veselin Misita, who is killed. Many Germans surrender (93), and the Chetniks take Loznica. The victors treat the captured Wehrmacht troops humanely, which is not always the case in this region. Those Germans who can get away flee to Banja Koviljača.
While the Chetniks are attacking Loznica, the 25-strong Cer Chetnik Detachment under the command of a regular artillery officer, Captain First Class Dragoslav Račić, attacks the village of Bogatić. This attack does not go as well as the attack on Loznica, as the Germans have reinforcements nearby. The Račić group continues the attack through the day and holds its position through the night.
The subtext behind these two attacks reveals much about the state of the partisan movement in Yugoslavia. The joint attacks take place despite the prohibition by Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović against attacks until there is a popular uprising. Thus, these attacks represent a splintering of the opposition forces in Yugoslavia.
Special Forces: Canadian forces remain in possession of Spitzbergen. Norwegian radio operators on the island continue feeding the Germans on the mainland false information about bad weather, keeping the Luftwaffe at bay. The native Norwegians on the island prepare to be evacuated to England.
Soviet and British troops meeting in Qazvin, Iran, on or about 31 August 1941.
Iran Invasion: With a ceasefire in effect, fighting is negligible today. The British eye occupying the "open city" of Kermanshah, while the Soviets also continue expanding their presence within their agreed northern zone of influence. Soviet and British troops meet in Qazvin (Kazvin) at Avej Pass. This basically halts the Soviet advance as both sides watch the diplomats try to arrange a final settlement.
The outcome of the campaign is a foregone conclusion, but the Allies want to convert Iran into an ally, not just subdue it. Iran represents a possible supply line (the "Persian Corridor") from the Western Allies to the USSR, and the less opposition within the country to that idea, the better. The stumbling block is Reza Shah Pahlavi, who wishes to protect German, Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian nationals and give them an opportunity to escape. The Allies, of course, want to intern them. The Iranian government, led by new Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi, doesn't care about protecting Axis nationals and simply wants the war over, so it is an unstable situation in which either someone gives in - or goes.
A Finnish anti-tank gun crew poses next to a captured Soviet gun, August 1941.
Cuban/Italian Relations: Cuban authorities seize 5441-ton Italian freighter Recca at Havana and rename it Libertad.
British/Australian Relations: Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs new Australian PM Arthur Fadden that he intends to create a new Far East fleet built around capital ships. These ships would be based in Singapore.
British Military: British women serve in a combat role for the first time when a mixed-gender anti-aircraft battery is formed in Richmond Park, London. There are 200 women and 200 men.
Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy completes the conversion of Kasuga Maru into an escort carrier named Taiyo at Sasebo, Japan.
Holocaust: At Vilnia, the German SS takes 3700 Jews (some sources say 1600), including 2019 women and 817 children, out to Ponar and execute them. This ostensibly is in retaliation for a partisan ambush of a German patrol.
Swiss Homefront: Rationing of cheese is introduced.
American Homefront: Radio show "The Great Gildersleeve" debuts on the NBC Red Network. It airs every Sunday at 18:30 EST. Harold Peary plays Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve, a character that originated on "Fibber McGee and Molly. This is an early example of a spinoff program. Peary also stars in the film adaptation of the sitcom.
Eastern Front: Some historians consider 20 August 1941 to be the day that the siege of Leningrad begins, and this is the day that most "900-day siege" references use. This is because 20 August 1941 is the day the Germans cut the railroad line from Moscow, effectively isolating Leningrad from the rest of Russia. However, it is an arbitrary date, as the Germans are still struggling on the 20h to reach Leningrad and are facing fierce opposition from Soviet troops guarding the approaches to Leningrad (see below. In Leningrad, Marshal Kliment Voroshilov orders the formation of Home Guard battalions in the city. These ad hoc units are formed mainly by women and teenagers armed with knives, ceremonial swords they have taken from above family fireplaces, hunting equipment, and whatever can be found in Leningrad museums.
German OKW Chief Wilhelm Keitel notifies the Finnish high command (General Waldemar Erfuth) that he will be sending a plan for Finnish military involvement in the capture of Leningrad. Marshall Mannerheim, however, confides to Erfuth that he has no plans to make anything more than a token attack on Leningrad. Mannerheim has both political and military reasons to avoid an attack on the Soviet Union regardless of what the Germans want. When the German plan arrives, he says that he intends to say "No." This is not a unique attitude: already some Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus have balked at marching past pre-war borders. Mannerheim's consistent position throughout his career is that he has no intention of ever trying to invade Russia, he simply wants to recover territory to which he believes that Finland has historical claims. The Soviets, of course, consider all territory currently occupied by Soviet troops to be theirs regardless of such historical claims.
In the Far North sector, the Finns prepare an attack by IV Corps to capture Viipuri. The Soviet 43rd and 123rd Rifle Divisions are withdrawing in that direction already. The Finnish 18th Division of the II Corps, with the 12 Division and Light Brigade T (Colonel Tiiainen) crosses the Vuoksi River, and the Soviet 115th Rifle Division moves to block them. While the Finns are advancing steadily in the Karelian Isthmus, the terrain increasingly favors the Soviet defenders as the Isthmus grows narrower as the fighting approaches Leningrad.
The Finnish attack toward the Murmansk railway line at Loukhi is bogged down after offering much promise only a week ago. The Finnish high command sends a battalion from the force that has bogged down near Ukhta (Kalevala) to help out. As seems always to be the case in the Far North, the Soviets have moved just enough troops into position at Loukhi at the last minute to avoid losing truly strategic positions.
"A Gypsy tribe on the way to Lviv." 20 August 1941 (Hans Joachim Paris, Federal Archive, Bild 146-2004-0026)
In the Army Group North Sector, the Wehrmacht approaches Voiskovitsy on the road to Leningrad in the afternoon. A small group of Soviet tanks armed with 76-mm guns and reinforced with additional armor is hidden along the road and allow the advance German units to pass unopposed. Soviet Senior Lieutenant Zinovy Kolobanov then gives his "Klim Voroshilov" KV-1E heavy tank the order to fire, and the Soviet tankers implement their usual tactic of destroying the first and last vehicles within sight. It is a bloodbath. The Soviets destroy 22 panzers and a total of 43 armored vehicles, plus artillery pieces and other equipment. Kolobanov's task force takes over 150 hits but remains in action. For firing the first shot, Kolobanov receives the Order of the Red Banner, his gun commander the Order of Lenin, his senior driver the Order of the Red Banner, and two others in his tank are given the Order of the Red Star.
Elsewhere, the German 32 Corps (General Walter Kuntze) begins attacking Tallinn, Estonia. The Soviet forces there are surrounded, and their only hope of escape is by sea. Remnants of Soviet Marshal G.I. Kulik's 54th Army tries to escape through German lines north of Luga and are destroyed. German 41 Corps of Panzer Group 4 (General Reinhardt) and elements of the 18th Army isolate about 30,000 Soviet troops of the Soviet Luga Operational Group.
German troops south of Leningrad stage daring assaults that succeed due to sheer surprise and audacity. A unit of German 16th Army led by Sergeant Fege of the 45th Infantry Regiment cuts the Moscow-Leningrad rail line southeast of Chudovo by taking a railway bridge in a surprise attack before the Soviet defenders can blow it up. Other German troops led by Lieutenant-Colonel Matussik of the 2nd Battalion, 45h Infantry Regiment proceed further east in a captured truck and take another important railway bridge over the Volkhov River after finding it unguarded. These successes sever the last Soviet railway line from Leningrad to Moscow and solidify the German line - for the moment.
In the Army Group Center sector, both Panzer Group 2 (General Guderian) and the 2nd Army continue moving toward Bryansk. Soviet 24th Army continues the Soviet attacks against the German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya. The German defenders at Yelnya are holding their position but report that they have lost about 1000 men in the last six days.
Royal Castle in Warsaw in 1941. The Germans have removed the roof to hasten the process of destruction by the elements (Zamek Królewski w Warszawie, red. A. Gieysztor, 1972).
In the Army Group South sector, the German 11th Army moves close to the capture of Kherson (Cherson) on the Black Sea. The Germans already have their eyes on the Crimea further to the south. Hitler, in particular, is worried about the Soviets using Crimea as a launching point for Red Air Force raids on the Romanian oil fields. The Romanian Air Force, assisting the troops attacking Odesa, destroy a Soviet armored train. German 17th Army establishes a bridgehead across the Dneipr River at Kremenchuk, Ukraine.
In a top-secret mission, Soviet NKVD troops under Boris Epov and Aleksandr Petrovsky, sent specially from Moscow on personal orders from Stalin, blow up the Lenin-Dnieproges Dam at Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizhzhya). The resulting water surge kills an estimated 20,000-100,000 Ukrainians. The dam had the largest statue of Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine. The flow of water temporarily cuts off part of the city of Zaporizhzhya from the advancing Wehrmacht. The dam's destruction is filmed, perhaps to prove to Stalin that it had been done as ordered.
The Red Air Force sends nine bombers to attack Berlin.
The Dnieper hydroelectric station on October 10, 1932, when it was put into service. After its destruction on 20 August 1941, the dam was later repaired and remains in service today.
European Air Operations: It is a quiet day on the Channel Front. RAF Bomber Command sends 18 Blenheim bombers on coastal sweeps without loss. The bombers attack some shipping without success and also bomb Texel airfield.
Battle of the Baltic: Soviet minesweeper Buy hits two mines and sinks in the Baltic Sea off Hogland.
German torpedo boat S-58 torpedoes and sinks Soviet minesweeper Pirmunas in the Väinameri Sea (Gulf of Riga).
Soviet reefer Sibir is lost today of unknown causes.
Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent (H83) (originally HMS Cygnet), 20 August 1941 (Canadian Navy Heritage website. Image Negative Number IKMD-04199, Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta).
Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 173-ton British fishing trawler Juliet about 30 miles south of Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. Everyone survives.
Faroes 236-ton auxiliary trawler Solarris hits a mine and sinks off Seydisfjordur (Seidisfjord), Iceland. There are four survivors.
Royal Navy 348-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Lorinda sinks due to a fire caused by engine trouble off Freetown. Everyone survives, picked up by accompanying trawler Balta.
The German 4th S-Boat Flotilla (Kptlt. Bätge) attacks a routine British convoy off Cromer. S-48 (ObltzS v. Mirbach) torpedoes and sinks 1971-ton Polish freighter Czestochowa (one dead). S-48 also badly damages 2774-ton British freighter Dalewood. There are four deaths. A tug tows Dalewood into the Humber with major damage aft.
German 200-ton trawler Charlotte is stranded and lost in the North Sea.
Mexican Navy patrol boat Halcon sinks of unknown causes.
Royal Navy battleship HMS Duke of York (Captain C.H.J. Harcourt) receives its final touches and is fully ready for battle.
Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet Admiral Sir John Tovey visits Scapa Flow on an inspection tour.
Convoy ON-9 departs from Liverpool.
Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Ilfracombe (J-95, Lt. Commander Harry L. D. Hoare) is commissioned.
U-591 and U-592 are launched.
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79. The SM-79 generally is considered the best Italian bomber of World War II. It served in a variety of roles such as transport, torpedo-bomber, and reconnaissance. Due to its distinctive hump, it acquired the nickname "Gobbo Maleditto" (Damned Hunchback).
Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique torpedoes and sinks Italian troopship Esperiea about 11 miles north of Tripoli. There are 31 deaths and 1139 survivors. The rest of the Italian convoy reaches Tripoli safely.
Royal Navy submarine Upholder torpedoes and sinks 852-ton Italian freighter Enotria six miles northwest of Cape St Vito, northwest Sicily.
Royal Navy submarine Thrasher uses its deck guns to sink a small Greek freighter, the San Stefano, off Cape Malea.
Italian S-79 torpedo bombers under the command of Captain Buscaglia hit and damage 4782-ton British tanker Turbo north of Damietta, Egypt. The tanker is taken under tow to Port Said. Everyone survives, but Turbo is in very bad shape. On 4 April 1942, when an attempt is made to tow the Turbo to Aden for repairs, the tanker breaks in half and sinks.
Operation Treacle, the replacement of Australian troops at Tobruk, continues with a small convoy departing from Alexandria. It consists of minelaying cruiser Latona and destroyers Kipling, Nizam, and Kingston carrying Polish troops of the Carpathian Brigade while escorted by light cruisers Ajax and Neptune. During the withdrawal from Tobruk, destroyer Nizam is damaged by a near miss from a Luftwaffe attack off Bardia but makes it back to Alexandria, partially in tow.
Royal Navy submarine Otus arrives at Malta carrying supplies from Alexandria. Its cargo includes 18 passengers.
The British military command at Malta warns homeowners to remove inflammable items from roofs. It is a quiet day with no air attacks. RAF bombers attack Augusta, Sicily.
War Crimes: At Bila Tserkva in Ukraine, the German 295th Infantry Division is ordered to assist with the killing of schoolchildren locked in a school for days without food or water. The unit's two army chaplains protest. Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Helmuth Groscurth, who privately agrees with the chaplains, calls the Sixth Army headquarters for instructions, and they tell him to put it in writing. Groscurth duly forwards a written report to headquarters written by the chaplains - a daring act since merely submitting such a report implies disagreement with previously issued orders. The report concludes:
In the case in question, measures against women and children were undertaken which in no way differ from atrocities carried out by the enemy about which the troops are continually being informed
The commander of the Sixth Army, Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau reads the report and characterizes it as:
incorrect, inappropriate and impertinent in the extreme.
Reichenau personally orders the children killed and sends a representative, SS-Obersturmfuhrer August Hafner, to the division to make sure that the order is carried out - which it is on 21 August. Hafner writes that, when he arrives, the German troops already have dug a grave in the woods. Following normal procedure, the children are lined up along the edge of the pit and shot so that they fall into it. Local Ukrainians, no doubt including some relatives of the children, are made to watch.
Incidents like these belie later claims that ordinary German Army units did not participate in exterminations on the Eastern Front and that only SS units carried them out. Evidence shows that this and similar incidents badly affected the morale of ordinary German soldiers such as Groscurth. Naturally, the Soviets also learned of such incidents, with predictable consequences.
On the Yugoslavian island of Pag, Italian troops that arrive to occupy the island find evidence of mass murders of Serbians and Jews by local Ustachi fascists. A total of 293 women, 91 children, and 791 bodies overall are found.
A German train in Serbia destroyed by Serbian partisans, 1941.
Partisans: Pro-German Serbs propose collaborationist Serbian Volunteer Detachments to aid in suppressing Yugoslavian partisans. In general, Serbs support the British while Croats support the Germans, so this is a welcome development for the Germans and Italians.
Propaganda: Italian radio claims "a particularly daring attack was carried out on Malta" on 19 August. The attacking aircraft "machine-gunned the highly equipped airbase of Hal Far" and "Two large twin-engined bombers were set on fire and destroyed, while another two bombers and two single-engine planes were hit and rendered unserviceable."
US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura reports to Tokyo that President Roosevelt is not "anti-Japanese." However, Postmaster-General Walker has indicated that any talk of a summit between the leaders of Japan and the US would encounter very strong opposition from both Congress and the public. Walker, Nomura writes, feels there is a good possibility of peace if talks continue.
"Astounding Science-Fiction," Volume 27 #6, August 1941, John W. Campbell, Jr. Editor, cover painting by Hubert Rogers.
German Military: Luftwaffe General Walter Dornberger, Werner von Braun, and pilot Johannes "Macki" Steinhoff make a presentation to Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) headquarters in East Prussia. They show Hitler a film demonstrating the progress being made in rocketry, particularly the large A-4 rocket (which becomes better known as the V-2). Hitler, impressed, lauds “this development is of revolutionary importance for the conduct of warfare in the whole world." Hitler orders the men to develop the A-4 into a "vengeance weapon" (Vergeltungswaffe) for use against London. The three men return to Peenemunde with new access to the resources necessary to develop the rocket.
The Spanish "Blue" Division (250th Division) begins moving to the Front south of Leningrad.
Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 9997-ton tanker Toho Maru and assigns it to the Yokosuka Naval District.
Battleship Haruna joins the Japanese First Fleet (Vice Admiral Takasu Shiro), joining Battleship Division 3 (Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi). This powerful force already includes battleships Hiei, Kirishima, and Kongo.
Submarine chasers CH-20 and CH-21 are completed and join the Kure Naval District.
US Government: The Department of Agriculture announces that it is negotiating with the governments of Argentina, Australia, Canada, and Britain to create an "international granary" in the United States. Surplus food from participating countries is to be accumulated in the United States for distribution wherever needed when the war is over - though, of course, the US is not at war. Yet. In the meantime, the United States already has a stockpile of 400 million bushels of wheat that is increasing with each harvest.
German Government: Erich Koch officially is appointed Reichskommissar for Ukraine.
Iraq: The new pro-British government announces that it is reopening the military academy in Baghdad.
Costa Rica: The French Charge d'Affaires and the Secretary of the French Legation switch sides, submitting their resignations to the Vichy government and accepting identical positions in the Free French movement.
"Jewish refugee children wait to board SS Mouzinho in Lisbon.” August 20, 1941. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a gift of Milton Koch.
Holocaust: The Vichy government begins arresting the first of 4232 foreign-born Jews in Paris at the request of the Gestapo's Jewish Affairs Department. Over the next five days, the French send them to a new transit camp at Drancy (opens today) for eventual deportation.
German Homefront: Adolf Hitler asks his personal architect, Albert Speer, who at this time has no formal role in the war, to use captured Soviet booty to decorate Berlin buildings to build morale.
French Homefront: Due to recent attacks on the French railway system, the Vichy government arrests 50,000 people for questioning.
British Homefront: Former Governor-General of Australia (1925-1930) John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven dies peacefully at his home in Ury House, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, UK.
Marshals Stalin and Voroshilov (right) at the 1945 Victory Parade in Moscow.
Soviet Homefront: Stalin continues his purge against field commanders who have failed against the Germans, and, in typical Stalinesque style, this extends to their families. The NKVD arrests the wife, E.N. Khanchin-Kachalova, and her mother, E.I. Khanhchina, of the deceased and disgraced (by Soviet standards) commander of the Soviet 28th Army, General V.Ia. Kachalov. The entire Kachalov incident is murky, with some evidence that Kachalov actually survived for a time after his supposed death and that he perished while fighting as a partisan. However, there is little question that Kachalov died a hero by most normal standards. The two women ultimately are sentenced to 8 years in Siberian camps, where the older woman perishes in 1944. Mrs. Kachalov is finally released in 1949 and returns to Moscow. This incident turns into a long-lasting campaign by Kachalov's wife to clear his name which proved successful only after Stalin had died in 1953. Mrs. Kachalov in 1957.
With the situation on the Leningrad front grim, Marshal Kliment Voroshilov attends the first meeting of the Leningrad "aktiv" (Council for the Defense of Leningrad). He and Andrei Zhdanov, the local Communist leader, craft an appeal for release to the press, the famous "Appeal to the People of Leningrad." It is also signed by Pyotr Popkov, chairman of the Leningrad Soviet. It calls for the citizens of Leningrad to stand up and fight the approaching Wehrmacht. The Appeal is released on the 21st.
American Homefront: A strike in the Federal Shipbuilding Company's yards in Jersey City, New Jersey which began on 7 August continues. President Roosevelt asks the 18,000 striking men who are working on $493 million worth of war and merchant ship orders to return to work within a fortnight. Roosevelt asks the strikers to put "the importance of national defense before their points of difference."
A transportation strike in Detroit is hindering defense industries there.
Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd circa 1930.
Rear Admiral Richard S. Byrd delivers a speech at Madison Square Garden in New York. Byrd urges his listeners to support President Roosevelt. He states:
The President has been accused of trying to get this nation into war. I can give you my personal word that Roosevelt, the man, has a deep hatred for war—deeper perhaps than many who have made this criticism. Roosevelt, the President, has the task of carrying American democracy forward under God against any resistance, and it is his duty to do that above all things. If he can do it without war he will do it. But there are things infinitely worse than war, and the worst of these is slavery.
Byrd concludes by asking, "are we going to stand united behind the President as if at war with unconquerable morale? Americans, what is your answer?"
Future History: Slobodan Milošević is born in Požarevac village in Podgorica (Požarevac), Yugoslavia. He becomes President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is arrested by Yugoslav federal authorities on 31 March 2001 on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement. Milošević dies in prison of a heart attack on 8 May 1989.
Samuel Goldwyn Company gives "The Little Foxes," starring Bette Davis, its world premiere today at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The film earns 9 Academy Award nominations but does not win any because among other competitors it is up against "Sergeant York," "How Green Was My Valley," "Citizen Kane," "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," and other renowned films. This sets a new mark for futility which stands for decades, until "The Turning Point" (1977) with 11 nominations and no wins.
