Sunday 2 March 1941

The Oath of Kufra is taken on 2 March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Mussolini pays another visit to Albania, flying in on 2 March 1941. This is another attempt by the fascists to raise Italian troops morale in Albania, which in fact has been on the rise due to the successful stand at Klisura.

The British in Cairo are gathering together the forces and shipping for the expedition to Greece. These are assembling as W Force Operation Lustre, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. This collectively will be known as Lustreforce, and the first convoy is scheduled to leave for Greece within a couple of days. Due to recent developments in Bulgaria, which are an obvious indication that the German invasion of Greece is not far off, the Greeks now wholeheartedly welcome British troops.

The German troops of 12th Army have entered Bulgaria by crossing the Danube. The Wehrmacht's civilian-clad advance forces have the entire border area scouted, and the troops quickly take up positions along the border. However, there are still many ducks to line up before Hitler is ready to invade, including clarifying the situation in Yugoslavia and Turkey, assembling all of the necessary logistical support, and waiting for the weather to improve.

Italian bombers attack Larissa, north of Athens, again. The RAF units around Athens shoot down five of the bombers for no loss.

East African Campaign: At Keren, both sides are bringing forward reinforcements. The Italians add the 6th Colonial Brigade and the 11th Blackshirt Battalion of the Savoia Grenadiers - both premier formations. The British, meanwhile, bring forward the 5th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General Lewis Heath) which had been sent back to the railhead during February. The Italians now have 25,000 troops to 13,000 for the British, but numbers alone mean little in this conflict. What does matter is the willingness to fight and the quality of defensive positions, and, for a change, the Italians have both in abundance at Keren.

The British troops in Italian Somaliland continue occupying the region against scattered resistance. The final objective is Ferfer, north of Mogadishu. The Italians are retreating - fleeing - to Abyssinia, which is the seat of Italian power in East Africa.

At Mescelit Pass, which the British took on the 1st, the British do not know what awaits them on the plateau beyond. They send patrols ahead to discover what the Italians may have in store for them.

An early Grumman F4F Wildcat undergoing tests at NACA Langley, March 1941. NACA is the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne (Köln) and Brest with 130+ bombers. Luftwaffe activity remains light, with isolated fighter-bomber raids in Scotland and eastern England.

BOAC has begun covert air flights during the night between Scotland and Stockholm, virtually passing over Luftwaffe airfields. Lufthansa, of course, also maintains regular passenger flights, but they don't go quite so close to enemy fighters. The flights enable a trickle of trade past the German blockade in the Baltic and also provide a rare source of British input (documents, passengers, special equipment) to isolated Sweden. Sweden happens to be a major producer of ball bearings and supplies both sides with them throughout the conflict.

The flights are rare at first but increase with time. They get a variety of nicknames, including "The Ball-bearing Line" (for the cases of ball bearings flown out of Sweden) to "Bashful Gertie, the terror of the Skagerrak" to the official military code name, "Scrutator." The Royal Norwegian Air Transport generally crews the flights, and various aircraft (such as a Polish airline Lockheed 14) are used, with their quality increasing with time, too. While many ascribe this operation to the Air Transport Command of the Royal Air Force and give it the credit, in fact, the Air Transport Command is not in existence yet and will not be until 11 March 1943.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans are busy repairing heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper at Brest. Upon arriving at the harbor, the Hipper struck underseas objects, requiring repairs before she can depart. Brest is too close to England, making Hipper an easy (and frequent) target of RAF attacks. Thus, the Kriegsmarine high command - Admiral Raeder - is drawing the conclusion that Hipper should be brought back to Germany, where it can be better protected and refitted. However, that is no easy matter, because the British are sure to be keeping a close eye on the short route via the English Channel. The only other route is to loop widely around the British Isles through the Faeroes Gap or the Denmark Strait. By choosing one of the latter routes, the voyage will be several times lengthier than it otherwise would be.

A small wolfpack is assembled around convoy HX 109 northwest of the Outer Hebrides. It includes U-95, U-147, and U-552. Yesterday, right before midnight on the 1st, U-552 sank tanker Cadillac. The other two U-boats are next in line.

U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber), on its third patrol out of Lorient and operating north of Rockall, torpedoes and sinks 6034 British freighter Pacific. There are only one survivor and 33 deaths, continuing a recent trend of all or most of the crews perishing.

U-147 (Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen), on its first patrol out of Bergen, spots a straggler from HX-109 about 133 km north/northwest of Ness in the Outer Hebrides (280 km northwest of Loch Ewe). Hardegan torpedoes and sinks 4811-ton Norwegian freighter Augvald. This is the U-boat's first victory. There are only one survivor and 29 deaths - it is difficult to last for long in the frigid waves even if you make it to a lifeboat.

Memorial to two of the victims on freighter Castlehill at Tower Hill.

The Luftwaffe (a Heinkel He 111 of KG 27) bombs and sinks 690-ton British freighter Castlehill east of Mine's Head in the Bristol Channel. There are only one survivor and nine deaths.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors) also bombs and sinks 6533-ton Dutch freighter Simaloer in the Northwest Approaches.

British 348-ton freighter Madge Wildfire runs aground at Congress Point on the Isle of Man and is written off.

Royal Navy minesweeper Kellett collides with armed boarding vessel HMS Northern Reward and requires repairs lasting a month.

Convoy OB 293 departs from Liverpool.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Kufra, Colonel Leclerc celebrates his victory over the Italian garrison of the El Tag fortress. He and his men (about 350) swear a solemn oath:

Swear not to lay down arms until our colors, our beautiful colors, float on the Strasbourg Cathedral.

This seems like an almost impossible dream. The Free French forces by themselves have virtually no chance of defeating the German war machine in any kind of reasonable time frame. Even with the British as allies, it is quite a fanciful notion. However, with the right allies, anything might be possible.

With the British Army blissfully unaware of any threat that they may pose, the Afrika Korps (DAK) stages a cynical military parade. Before crowds of cheering people, the same tanks roar past, round the block, and roar past again - multiple times. This is a standard propaganda trick that creates an impression of limitless strength. The technique also, incidentally, is used in motion pictures. Attending the parade are General Rommel and all the senior Italian staff in Libya.

A staff car fails to stop at a checkpoint near Luqa Airport. The Maltese sentry, as ordered, fires on the vehicle to stop it. Apparently aiming at the drive, the bullet ricochets and hits the passenger in the back seat. It is Lieutenant William Barnes, RN of RAF No. 806 Squadron. Barnes is one of the pilots from HMS Illustrious whose unit was transferred to the ground airfield after Illustrious was severely damaged by the Luftwaffe and forced out of action. In a sense, taking a very broad view, Barnes is the final casualty of that Luftwaffe attack.

The Luftwaffe stages what the British might call a Circus raid, sending a large formation of fighters over the island which accompany a lone bomber - which doesn't drop any bombs. The RAF dutifully sends eight Hurricanes up to defend, one of which is damaged.

Convoy ANF 16 arrives in Piraeus.

A Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) truck, March 1941.

Anglo/Bulgarian Relations: The day after Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, Great Britain severs diplomatic relations.

Anglo/British Relations: Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, back in Athens after conferring with the Turks, follows previous instructions from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and confers with the British ambassador to Belgrade. Churchill wants to try to entice the Yugoslavs into the war by launching a surprise attack on the Italians in Albania, thereby freeing Greek troops to counter the expected German thrust from Bulgaria. The British ambassador, however, says there is no consensus in Yugoslavia to do anything for either side.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Prime Minister Filov, back in Sofia after signing the Tripartite Pact on behalf of Bulgaria, announces that German troops have entered the country via pontoon bridges over the Danube "to safeguard peace in the Balkans." The Wehrmacht troops are in Twelfth Army under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List.

German/Yugoslavian Relations: Hitler is greatly desirous of expanding the prospective Greek front to encompass the long border that extends from Bulgaria to Albania. He continues to woo Prince Paul, making various promises in exchange for Yugoslav joining the Tripartite Pact like Bulgaria. However, the Yugoslav government and military are hopelessly split between those who want to help the Greeks and those who prefer to appease Hitler and join the Axis to prevent their country from becoming a battleground.

US Government: The US Senate approves an increase in the debt ceiling, from $49 billion to $65 billion. This should require another increase within a year, based on expected spending. Military procurements, of course, are underneath the dramatic increase in debt, with defense spending amounting to a staggering (by pre-war standards) $28.5 billion.

The US Senate Committee to study war production issues - known as the Truman Committee (Resolution 71) - now has Tom Connally of Texas, Carl hatch of New Mexico, Monrad C. Wallgren of Washington and James Mead of New York (Democrats), and Joseph H. Ball of Minnesota and Owen Brewster of Maine (Republicans).

LRDG soldiers, March 1941.

British Government: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies gives a capsule appraisal of Churchill in today's diary entry:

Churchill grows on me. He has an astonishing grasp of detail and, by daily contact with the service headquarters, knows of disposition and establishment quite accurately. But I still fear that his real tyrant is the glittering phrase - so attractive to his mind that awkward facts may have to give way. But this is the defect of his quality.... Churchill's course is set. There is no defeat in his heart.

Many others around Churchill have a similarly mixed view of his personality, but overall the general consensus is that his doggedness in pursuit of victory is irreplaceable.

Romania: Continuing to ingratiate itself with Germany, the Romanian government enacts additional repressive laws targeting the Jews.

Turkey: The Turks now require permits for all ships transiting the Dardanelles.

Chile: In Parliamentary elections, the Radical Party (which actually is merely moderately left of center) gains a plurality. The President remains Pedro Aguirre Cerda of the Popular Front, which is a left-wing coalition that includes the Radical Party as well as the Communist Party and various other worker parties. However, Cerda is wasting away from tuberculosis.

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque in Bangui (now part of the Central African Republic), April/May 1941.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Saturday 1 March 1941

A captured Rettungsboje (life buoy) in British a port (Guerra-Abierta).

Italian/Greek Campaign: On 1 March 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's new plan is to convince the Yugoslav government to join the Allies. He instructs Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to meet with them to see if they will attack the Italians in Albania. Otherwise, the front is quiet today as both sides gear up for renewed offensives.

East African Campaign: Briggsforce, a loose assembly of troops under the command of Brigadier Briggs of the 4th Indian Division's 7th Indian Infantry Brigade, takes Mescelit Pass from the Italian 107th Colonial Battalion. This is a key road about 24 km north of Keren, where the British have been blocked by the Italians for weeks. Briggsforce now has the opportunity to attack the Italian defenders from the rear, or to advance on Massawa on the coast. However, the actual effect of this success is somewhat mitigated by the fact that Briggsforce does not have artillery.

With Mogadishu in the bag in Eritrea, the British continue mopping up the remaining Italian resistance. The 11th African Division pursues the Italians north along the Juba River towards the Ogaden Plateau and Abyssinia. The Italians are evacuating all of Italian Somaliland, according to General Cunningham.

Mogadishu is proving a very mixed blessing for the British. The port is in terrible shape, and no ships will be able to enter any time soon. The city is a sanitary disaster, full of unburied corpses and shallow graves.

HMS Formidable, still awaiting clearance to transit the Suez Canal after recent Luftwaffe mining, is stuck in Port Sudan. Its aircraft, which have transferred for the time being to land bases, attack Massawa. The attack achieves little.

Repeating a familiar pattern, the naval forces in Massawa see the approaching British land forces and realize that time is limited. Accordingly, some begin to escape. Today, Italian submarines Gauleo Ferraras, Perla, and Archimede leave to return to Europe. While they can evade the Royal Navy, the submarines are not large, ocean-going submarines, and thus cannot carry enough supplies for long journeys. Italian freighter Himalaya also attempts to escape.

There are few friendly ports left between Massawa and Europe. Thus, the crews will be faced with deep privation during this journey. What makes these journeys possible is the well-maintained chain of German tankers and supply ships in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans which also have been aiding the German raiders.

A beached Rettungsboje.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 100+ bombers against Cologne.

The Luftwaffe mounts some minor raids along the east coast. He.111H-5 (1H+BK/wnr. 3774 ) of 2./KG26 ditches in the Moray Firth and paddles ashore. Oblt. Hatto Kuhn(FF), Uffz Friedrich Großhardt (BO), Gefr. Manfred Hänel (BF) and Uffz Ferdinand Mänling (BS) are captured and interrogated at Banff. This becomes a fairly well-known incident due to various accounts told by the Luftwaffe men over the decades.

A Junkers Ju 52/3m of IV,/JG z b V 1 lands at Skopje, Yugoslavia due to a navigational error. The government interns the plane and crew.

Hans-Joachim Marseille of JG 27 is promoted to the rank of Oberfähnrich, effective this date. This promotion is long overdue, occurring after all the other pilots from his original Geschwader, LG 2, have reached this rank or higher. Marseille is seen as undisciplined and a playboy, a pilot who refuses to follow orders and constantly endangers his wingman by freelancing.

Dietrich Peltz, a promising bomber pilot, is promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) in KG 77.

Erich "Bubi" Hartmann progresses to the Luftkriegsschule 2 (Air War School 2) in Berlin-Gatow. He still has not flown solo.

The Luftwaffe is getting tired of losing pilots in the English Channel after they wind up in the water. They very stealthily and pragmatically have created and placed Rettungsboje (Rescue Buoys) about ten miles off the coast of France, or very roughly halfway to England. These are known casually as Generalluftzeugmeister or Udet-Bojen after the Luftwaffe's head of equipment, Generaloberst Ernst Udet. Basically, these are anchored submarines with small entryways that extend above the surface. Downed airmen who can make their way to these devices have a way to survive until they are spotted. Each 10-meter-long object - mounted on floats - contains four bunk beds and a cupboard with provisions. It is an ingenious solution to a very real problem. When occupied, the Luftwaffe men are to hoist the Red Cross flag and await rescue. Apparently, there also is a wireless station aboard.

Today, the British spot two of these hospital floats and tow them into Newhaven Harbour. These Rettungsboje later will feature in two films, "We Dive At Dawn" (1943) and "One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (1942).

Without getting moralistic about it, these craft technically are hospital ships. The British violate international rules of war by "capturing them" - though, by this point, the Germans are well aware that the British are pushing the envelope when it comes to disrespecting the Red Cross flag (due to many 1940 RAF shootdowns of German search and rescue planes). However, there are many of these at sea, and it appears the British are able to find only a few. It is unclear how useful they are in practice, but it likely gives many Luftwaffe pilots some comfort knowing that they are there. Incidentally, they also could be used by downed RAF pilots, too, and even the crews of sunk ships.

An illustration of a Rettungsboje.

Battle of the Atlantic: German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer re-enters the South Atlantic from the Indian Ocean.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, gets off to a fast start. Operating just north of Scotland, U-552 sinks 12,062-ton British tanker Cadillac. The tanker is carrying highly flammable Aviation spirit fuel, which ignites due to the explosion. There are 37 deaths, including the master and three passengers. Only five crew survive, one of whom dies the next day from burns. The sinking is horrific because 26 men manage to take to the boats, but the burning oil sets the sea afire and creates an inferno, burning some and causing others to leap from the boats and drown. The blaze is so fantastic that Captain Topp calls his crew on deck to witness it, which is highly unusual.

Royal Navy 349 ton minesweeping trawler HMT St. Donats collides with destroyer HMS Cotswold in the Humber. The St. Donats sinks, while the destroyer proceeds to Chatham for repairs that last the rest of the month.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 91 off Fraserburgh (north of Aberdeen) from about 19:35 to 20:14. The planes damage 5057-ton British freighter Forthbank. There are four deaths. The freighter makes it to Invergordon. The planes also damage 6098-ton freighter Pennington Court, but only slightly.

The Luftwaffe also attacks Convoy EN 79 off Aberdeen (WN and EN convoys are the same, just running in the opposite directions). The planes damage 8949-tanker Atheltempar. Atheltempar is consumed with flames, but with great courage is taken in tow by HMS Speedwell (Commander Youngs) and taken to Methil Roads. The fire takes 4 1/2 hours to put out. The Atheltempar's crew, taken aboard the Speedwell, refuses to help fight the fire and simply goes to bed. The rescue becomes a major event, as Admiral Ramsay onshore sends out a flight of Hurricanes to ward off additional Luftwaffe bombers. Eventually, a large tug arrives and brings it to an anchorage off Methil.

The Luftwaffe bombs and disables 7981-ton Dutch tanker Rotula in St. George's Channel off Wexford. There are 16 deaths. The derelict becomes a hazard to navigation and eventually is sunk by a passing British trawler.

The Luftwaffe also hits 5691-ton British freighter Empire Simba near the burning Rotula. The damage forces the Empire Simba's crew to abandon ship, but it eventually is towed to Liverpool.

Norwegian 2112-ton freighter Huldra, working for the Germans, hits a mine and sinks at Hustadvika, Norway.

Destroyer HMS Firedrake runs aground east of Gibraltar on the Spanish coast. It eventually is freed and returns to Gibraltar for repair.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall, operating in the far South Atlantic west of Cape Town, encounters 4972 ton French freighter Ville De Jamunga. The Cornwall escorts the French ship to Cape Town.

Escort Carrier USS Charger (CVE-30) is launched. This carrier, under construction at Newport News, Virginia, is tentatively scheduled to be transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease - once Lend-Lease becomes law, that is. This transfer will be rescinded, though. At the moment, it still carries the name Rio de la Plata, which the Royal Navy prefers, but that name will change to USS Charger.

Convoy HX 112 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 112 departs from Bermuda, Convoy SL 67 departs from Freetown.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Anchusa (Lt. Philipp Everett-Price) is commissioned, anti-submarine warfare trawler HMS Minuet is launched, the destroyer HMS Catterick is laid down.

US destroyer USS Meredith (Lt. Commander William K. Mendenhall, Jr.) and submarine USS Grayling (Lt. Eliot Olsen) are both commissioned.

U-766 is laid down, U-161 and U-162 are launched.

Bogdan Filov signs the Tripartite Pact on behalf of Bulgaria, 1 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Colonel Leclerc and his Free French forces accept the submission of the Italians at El Tag fortress at Kufra Oasis. The Italians are allowed to retreat to Italian lines, while the French keep all of their supplies and equipment. Surrendering are 11 officers, 18 NCOs, and 273 Libyan soldiers according to Italian sources, while the survivors of 70 members of the Saharan Company outside the fort also could have been used to break the blockade. The Free French victors have about 350 soldiers, but, most importantly, they have the only effective artillery in the engagement. Total casualties are three deaths on the Italian side and four dead on the French side. The Free French get a windfall of equipment never used by the Italians, including eight SPA AS.37 trucks, half a dozen lorries, four 20 mm cannon and 53 machine guns.

Royal Navy minesweeping drifter HMT Ploughboy detonates three mines in quick succession at Malta. The skipper has to beach the drifter. There is one death and nine wounded. This is a serious loss for the British because the Ploughboy is the only minesweeper of its type available.

Another major convoy departs from Naples for Tripoli with reinforcements and supplies for the Afrika Korps. It has four freighters and a heavy escort.

Axis Relations: Tsar Boris III approves of Bulgarian participation in the Tripartite Pact which forms the foundation of the Axis. So, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov signs the Pact in Vienna on behalf of Bulgaria.

German/Bulgarian Relations: German troops openly began entering Bulgaria on 28 February after months of covert operations in the country. Today, with Bulgaria officially joining the Axis, the Wehrmacht troops openly ride through Sofia. Among the many wild promises made to the Bulgarians is that they will receive an outlet to the Aegean - which would have to cut off northern Greece.

Anglo/US Relations: New US Ambassador John G. Winant meets the Duke of Kent and the King of England on his way to London.

US/Soviet Relations: Under-Secretary of State Sumner Welles passes along information in his possession about a coming attack on the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is receiving several of these warnings from various sources and discounts them all.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering and manufacturer Professor Willi Messerschmidt (pointing) in a newspaper picture on 1 March 1941. Goering it touring southern German.

German Military: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka remains the workhorse of the Luftwaffe for precision ground attacks. While they are proving increasingly vulnerable to fighter attacks, there is no better alternative available or in the offing. Thus, development continues. Today, five prototypes (Ju 87 V21-25) converted from B-1 to D-1/D-4 make their first flights. The Ju 87 D switches the placement of the oil cooler and two coolant radiators and, more strikingly, has a more aerodynamically sculpted cockpit which gives the pilot better visibility. The pilots also receive increased armor protection, while a better machine gun (dual-barrel 7.92 mm MG 71Z) is placed in the rear of the cockpit. The engine now delivers 1401 hp, and maximum bomb-carrying ability increases from 500 kg to 1800 kg.

These incremental changes do not improve the survivability of the aircraft very much against the RAF. However, the increased power eventually will make the Stuka (in a still later version, the G) more effective at what will become its primary task: tank destruction.

US Military: Support Force, Atlantic Fleet is established. This will protect convoys in the North Atlantic. The first commander is Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol. It is composed of Destroyer Squadron 7 (Captain J L Kauffman), Destroyer Squadron 30 (Captain M Y Cohen), and Destroyer Squadron 31 (Captain W D.Baker). Each squadron has two divisions, each containing three or four destroyers. While many of the destroyers eventually gain some renown, the two that stand out are USS Reuben James in Division 62 and USS Greer in Division 61.

The US 133rd Infantry Regiment arrives at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for training.

Soviet Military: General Zhukov, appointed Chief of the General Staff on 1 February, takes over this position. He replaces the temporarily disgraced (in Stalin's eyes, anyway) Meretskov.

Chinese Military: General Hiroshi Nemoto becomes the commanding officer of the 24th Division.

New Zealand Military: New Zealand's first fighter squadron, No. 485 Squadron RNZAF, forms.

Japanese Military: Lieutenant General Hiroshi Takahashi becomes chief of staff of the Japanese Chosen Army, currently based in Korea. Lieutenant General Takaji Wachi becomes chief of staff of Japan's Taiwan Army. Wachi previously served in Taiwan until his present position on the staff of the Central China Expeditionary Army. Wachi also heads its Research Division, considering techniques for land warfare in Southeast Asia.

US Government: The US Senate votes unanimously to establish a select committee to study US war production. Of course, the US isn't even at war at the moment, but war production is ramping up to help the British and equip various US bases in the Pacific. This commission is headed by Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman and becomes known as the Truman Commission.

Chinese Government: Nationalist (Kuomintang) leader Chiang Kai-shek gives an address to the People's Political Council.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, left, carrying out an inspection of Auschwitz. Here, Himmler is surrounded by SS men during his second visit to Auschwitz – in July 1942 – at the site of the IG Farben industrial plant. Next to Himmler (left in the first row), you can see senior IG Farber engineer Maximilian Faust (in a hat) and Rudolf Hoess - the commandant of Auschwitz.

Holocaust: Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of German Police Heinrich Himmler inspects the concentration camp at Oswiecim, aka Auschwitz. There is a major synthetic fuel plant being constructed nearby, as well as other factories that use the camp's slave labor. During his visit, Himmler orders the expansion of the camp to 30,000 and another camp built at Birkenau to hold 100,000 more. Birkenau's original purpose is to hold an expected influx of Soviet prisoners of war after the start of Operation Barbarossa. Auschwitz, Himmler orders camp commandant Rudolf Hoess to commit 10,000 prisoners to build an I.G. Farben synthetic rubber factory at Dwory, a kilometer or two away.

Greek Homefront: There is a strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake centered at Larissa, north of Athens. A reported, 10,000 are left homeless.

Dutch Homefront: The Germans have quelled the General Strike called in February which involved up to 300,000 participants. Today, they impose a fine of 15 million guilders on the city of Amsterdam for local participation in the strike.

American Homefront: Theodore N. Kaufman publishes "Germany Must Perish!" This is the first in a series of written items in the United States - most notoriously the Morgenthau Plan later in the war - that the German Propaganda Ministry seizes upon with glee.

"Captain America" makes his official debut in an American comic book (although in actuality the issue dated today actually was released in December 1940 - in time for Christmas).

The Admiralty IX Floating Dry Dock, Singapore, March 1941 (Image #6159, Courtesy Australian War Memorial).

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Friday 28 February 1941

"Canadian sergeant aircrew, trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme, arriving at Gourock in Scotland for service with the RAF, 28 February 1941." © IWM (G. Woodbine, CH 2174).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek Epirus Army launches some minor attacks on 28 February 1941 against the Italian 11th Army west of Klisura. They accomplish little in the terrible weather.

While the front has become static recently, there are vicious artillery duels and air battles. The RAF shoots down four planes today (according to Italian records), including three CR 42 fighters (the RAF pilots claim 27 planes shot down). According to the RAF records, this is its most successful day during the Greek campaign - but, according to the Italian records, it is not nearly as successful as the British think. These are the kinds of contradictions historians must deal with.

The British War Cabinet picks General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson from the Middle East Command to lead the expedition destined for Greece.

Gloster Gladiator Mk. II,  RT- Z,  N5829, of RAF No. 112 Squadron, Himare, Greece, 28 February 1941. Pilot Officer William "Cherry" Vale, of 80 Sqdn., claimed an Italian G50 and a S.79 in this plane on this date.

East African Campaign: The RAF sends Blenheim and Wellesley bombers against Asmara in Eritrea.

The British remain blocked at Keren in Abyssinia. However, British forces are expanding on each flank. Attacks are in progress by Briggsforce (primarily 7th Indian Brigade under Brigadier Briggs) at Mescelit Pass about 24 km northeast of Keren. The attacks are carried out in the evening by 4/16 Punjab and two companies of 1st Royal Sussex. The attack is both a frontal and flank attack.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends another 23 Hampden bombers (based at RAF Waddington) to bomb German battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven. The weather is poor, with low clouds. Only four of the bombers even spot the target. As usual, the Tirpitz emerges unscathed. It is the 16th raid so far against the Tirpitz, with absolutely no success and many British bomber losses. The RAF also launches other attacks against facilities at several Channel ports (Lorient, Boulogne, Emden).

The Luftwaffe is fairly quiet both during the day and after dark. There is a small raid against London during the night.

While the Battle of Britain technically is over, the Blitz continues. During February 1941 in Great Britain, there are 78 dead and 1068 badly wounded civilians. So far in 1941, through the end of February, there have been 2298 killed and 3080 wounded.

HMS Jaguar in action.

Battle of the Atlantic: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (and former First Lord of the Admiralty) writes a note to President Roosevelt's envoy Harry Hopkins thanking him for some weapons and ammunition that have arrived thanks to Hopkins' intercession. In the message, Churchill writes that he is:

increasingly anxious about high rate of shipping losses in North-Western Approaches and shrinkage in tonnage entering Britain. This has darkened since I last saw you.... The strain is growing here.

Churchill apparently is referencing the recent devastations of Convoys OB 29 and OB 290. Convoy losses indeed are up this month (see below).

Churchill evidences his concern with a separate memo to First Lord Admiral Pound and Minister of Transport A.V. Alexander. Referencing a specific ship, the City of Calcutta, Churchill writes:

This ship must on no account be sent to the East coast. It contains 1,700 machine guns, 44 aeroplane engines, and no fewer than 14,100,000 cartridges. These cartridges are absolutely vital to the defence of Great Britain.... That it should be proposed to send such a ship round to the East coast with all the additional risk,  is abominable.

Previously, Churchill has chided the Admiralty for not taking more care of specific ships with valuable cargo. This memo shows that he continues to keep a very close eye on important shipments.

German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst are east of the Azores. They complete their refueling from tankers Ermland and Friedrich Breme at 07:00. Their objective is to interdict the convoy route between Freetown and Great Britain. The next objective is in the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands.

British 10,000-ton liner Anchises, badly damaged during Luftwaffe air attacks by I,/KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors on the 27th, begins taking on too much water at around 11:30. This causes the 33 crew still aboard to abandon ship. Corvette HMS Kingcup comes over to take them aboard, and one of the lifeboats is sucked under the Kingcup, killing a dozen crew. The Anchises remains afloat until the afternoon when the Condors return and send the ship under.

U-47 (Kptlt. Günther Prien) surfaces and uses its deck gun to sink 4233-ton British freighter Holmelea in the Northwest Approaches. There are 28 deaths, while 11 crew survive. This is an especially interesting sinking because Kptlt. Otto Kretschmer originally attacked the Holmelea, but did not succeed. Captain John Robert Potts, however, was not fortunate enough to survive attacks by two of the most dreaded U-boat captains. He perishes with most of his crew.

U-108 (K.Kapt. Klaus Scholtz), on its first patrol out of Wilhelmshaven, gets its second victim. It torpedoes and sinks 6461-ton British freighter Effna. This is another ship of many around this period of time in which all of the crew perish.

Italian submarine Michele Bianchi torpedoes and sinks 6803-ton British freighter Baltistan from Convoy OB 290 in the Atlantic south of Iceland. There are 51 deaths and 18 survivors. Different sources place this sinking on different days around this date.

British 534-ton freighter Cabenda hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel west of Cardiff. This has been an area of multiple sinkings already in 1941. There is one death.

In a special tragedy among many others, 2085-ton Egyptian freighter Memphis founders in heavy weather northwest of Ireland. Everybody on board perishes another such ship during these cold winter months (it is not the Germans who kill all of these people, except indirectly; it is the climate and weather). The deaths include 28 crew pulled out of the water after the recent sinking of the 7034 ton Benjamin Franklin.

German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors finish off damaged 3197-ton Swedish freighter Rydboholm. The Rydboholm is one of the last Convoy OB 290 victims.

Drifter New Comet, originally damaged by a mine and beached at the mouth of the Tyne on 23 November 1940, was refloated but today finally sinks.

Finnish cargo ship Bore VIII (now in German service) founders and is lost bad weather in the Hubertgat.

Belgian 5382-ton freighter/passenger ship Persier has been driven ashore on the Icelandic coast after losing a hatch and its steering and electrical systems in a bad storm. Aground east of Vik in Myrdalur, she survives and is refloated in April. Persier ultimately is repaired and returned to service.

Convoy OB 292 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 24 departs from Halifax.

Mackenzie King (with Ottawa Mayor Lewis and contractor John Wilson) uses a silver trowel to lay the cornerstone of the Lord Elgin Hotel on 27 February 1941 (Photo in the Ottawa Journal, 28 February 1941). King kept the trowel to put on display. Incidentally, there is a time capsule ("hermetically sealed") in that cornerstone. The hotel will open in July 1941, will be refurbished in the 2000s, and remains operational.

Several Royal Navy ships are commissioned today:

• Destroyers HMS Eridge (Lt. Commander William F. N. Gregory-Smith), Whaddon (Lt. Commander Peter G. Merriman) and Liddesdale, 
• corvette Marigold (Lt. William S. MacDonald) 
• minesweeper HMAS Gouldburn (Lt. Basil Paul)  
• destroyer depot ship HMS Tyne (Captain George A. Scott). 

Destroyer HMS Brissenden and corvette HMS Woodruff are launched, corvette HMCS Kitchener laid down at Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U-129 is launched.

Rear Admiral L.H.K. Hamilton becomes the new Rear Admiral Destroyers, Home Fleet. He will place his flag on depot ship HMS Tyne.

Allied shipping losses remained at a high level during February 1941. The losses totaled:

• 95 ships of 368,759 tons in the Atlantic
• 34,634 tons in other areas (Mediterranean, Indian Ocean)

In the Atlantic, the Allies lose:

• 196,783 tons of shipping to U-boats
• 89,305 tons to aircraft
• 89,096 tons to surface raider
• 16,507 tons to mines

The U-boat sinkings jump over 50% from January's 126,782 tons, while those sunk by the Luftwaffe and by surface raider also both rise a more modest 10+%. The bulk of the increase of U-boat sinkings is from two convoys late in the month, OB 289 and OB 290.

The U-boat fleet remained intact, with no losses. There are 22 U-boats available in the Atlantic, plus many Italian submarines (1 lost during February).

Shipping losses are of extreme importance to Churchill, and he analyzes them closely. He notes in another memo to Pound and Alexander today that the risk of loss during inward voyages in the Northwest Approaches is over double those of outward voyages (a ratio of 5:2). He also notes that there appears to be no difference in losses between those in convoy and faster ships operating independently. He questions a proposal to lower the speed limit of the independents, presumably to save fuel.

Railroad turnout to Camp Polk, Louisiana on 28 February 1941 (National WWII Museum).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Free French forces have been besieging the Italian fortress of El Tag at Kufra Oasis for ten days. No relief has been forthcoming from the large Italian forces further north. Today, the Italians begin surrender negotiations.

The last British commandos surrender on Kastelorizo. This ends Operation Abstention, which has turned into a fiasco. A total of 40 commandos are taken as prisoners. Destroyer HMS Jaguar and the other Royal Navy ships retreat to their bases, having suffered a stunning defeat in what was considered an easy operation in the Aegean. Churchill later comments, "I am completely mystified at this operation." The ultimate cause of defeat is the British tendency to underestimate Italian military ability. This is also going to become an issue in North Africa.

Another ship hits a mine in the Suez Canal, but quick thinking mitigates the effect. The skipper of motor anti-submarine boat MA/SB 3 manages to beach his ship to prevent the closure of the canal. There are no casualties. The ship will be refloated and repaired.

After many days of raids, Malta has a quiet day. The damage from the Luftwaffe attacks after dark on the 27th, however, is extensive. Particularly devastating has been damage from parachute mines. Almost all of the planes at RAF Hal Far airfield are destroyed or out of operation, leaving no effective air defense for the island.

Spy Stuff: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin has been receiving isolated warnings about a coming German invasion of the Soviet Union. He has discounted all of them, including one at the end of 1940 by Richard Sorge (code name Ramsay) in Japan. Today, he receives another warning.

This warning is from Soviet agent Rudolf von Scheliha (code name Ariets). Von Scheliha is a German diplomat who became radicalized by the horrors he witnessed while serving with the German Embassy in Warsaw. He is a leading member of the "Red Orchestra," a group of highly placed German dissidents who funnel military information to the Soviets via Switzerland.

Von Scheliha/Ariets warns about an upcoming invasion. He even supplies a firm date for the invasion, 20 May 1941, which is only a month off (this actually is around the 15 May 1941 date that Hitler has ordained at this time, though it later will be postponed). Stalin ignores this warning, too, viewing it as "English provocation." This is all reviewed in-depth in various scholarly books, particularly (all 2005) David E. Murphy, "What Stalin Knew" (Yale University Press); Constantine Pleshakov, "Stalin's Folly" (Houghton Mifflin Company); and Robert Service, "Stalin: A Biography" (The Belknap Press/Harvard University Press).

German/Bulgarian Relations: During the night, Wehrmacht troops of the 12th Army under the command of Wilhelm List take up positions in Bulgaria.

German/Japanese Relations: Japanese Ambassador Oshima meets with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden.

German Military: General Erich von Manstein moves from XXXVIII Armeekorps to take command of LVI Armeekorps after this date (some sources place this transfer on other dates, such as 27 February 1941 and 15 March 1941).

US Government: The US Army Air Corps (USAAC) impounds ten NA-69 light attack aircraft ordered by Thailand. These will be redesignated A-27 (serials 41-18890/18899) and be assigned as trainers to the 24th Pursuit Group at Nichols Field in the Philippines.

Alfonso XIII.

Spanish Government: Former King Alfonso XIII passes away in Rome at age 54 barely a month after renouncing his rights to the defunct Spanish throne. This leaves his son Juan as the heir apparent and also theoretically heir to the thrones of France and Navarre.

US Government: The US government ships the last gold reserves from New York City to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Fort Knox is the center of US armored forces and home to the 1st Armored Division.

Iraq: Rashid Ali confers with the Grand Mufti and four colonels (known as the "Golden Square"). They discuss a coup against the pro-British government. Rashid Ali and the Grand Mufti are pro-Axis. The British have a large base at Habbaniyah but are vulnerable in other parts of the country.

Li'l Abner,  Al Capp (this is personally signed), featuring Moonbeam and Moonshine McSwine, published 28 February 1941.

Indochina: The Vichy French cabinet accepts Japan's proposed settlement of the border war between French Indochina and Thailand. The Thais get all of their territorial aims, including all land west of the Mekong River and part of northwest Cambodia. There is no question that Japan has favored Thailand in the settlement.

Vichy French Homefront: The government reduces the bread ration from 12 to 10 ounces (350g to 280 grams). By comparison, residents of Jewish Ghettos often are allocated 3 grams.

British Homefront: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, gives his unique view into the conditions in London during the Blitz. He writes:

New Black-out features keep directing attention to themselves. There are plays and revues and films running, but the performances are confined to the day. You cannot take a stroll either before or after dinner, because the black-out renders it utterly impossible if there is the least cloud (as there has been since I arrived). At each doorway you see a little bag of sand for the proper treatment of incendiary bombs.

He also notes a certain fatalism in London residents, along the lines of "I stay in bed. If the bomb's meant for me it'll hit me; if it isn't, OK." Menzies claims to feel the same way, though he is secure on a lower floor of the well-built Savoy.

Greek Evzones (soldiers) participating in the Greek Day parade in Sydney, Australia, 28 February 1941 (State Library of Victoria [an016346]).

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Monday 17 February 1941

Adolf Hitler and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima.

Italian/Greek Campaign: After a very long and difficult struggle, on 17 February 1941 the Greeks complete the recapture of the Trebeshina massif. Overall, it has been an almost Pyrrhic victory, though. The Cretan 5th Infantry Division suffers terribly during the struggle, with 5776 casualties, and is effectively destroyed. Naturally, the Italians lose many men as well, but they just have to hold their positions and wait for the Germans eventually to bail them out by invading Greece from another direction. For the Italians, the battle has become a matter of national pride, and they vow to recapture the mountains and surrounding territory in the Spring.

East African Campaign: The South African 5th Infantry Brigade continues attacking toward Mega, while the 1st Infantry Brigade manages to cross the Juba River at Yonte against fierce Italian opposition.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids London with 50 bombers, its largest raid in some time. RAF Bomber Command stays on the ground.

Empire Knoll, which runs aground and is lost today.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have quite a small fleet at work in the Atlantic. It involves numerous supply ships serving both heavy cruisers (currently three are on the loose: Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Admiral Scheer) and armed raiders. Today, German tanker Nordmark meets supply ship Alstertor to refuel it. The Nordmark has been towing captured British refrigerated ship Duquesa, which was taken full of meat and dairy products. However, all good things must come to an end, and today the Nordmark cuts loose the 8651-ton ship, not because it was out of food, but because there was no longer any fuel to power the refrigeration equipment - making it a stinky mess around the Equator. Some accounts state that Admiral Scheer sank the Duquesa upon encountering it on 18 December, but in fact, the refrigerated ship was taken as a prize and became legendary in the Kriegsmarine as the "floating delicatessen" which kept the crews of several ships well-fed for two months.

The weather is terrible. This causes all sorts of problems both for ships and for crews abandoning their sinking ships.
U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen) torpedoes and sinks 5237-ton British pig iron freighter Gairsoppa three hundred miles southwest of Galway. Gairsoppa is a straggler from convoy SL 64. Mengersen misses with several torpedoes (the weather is terrible), but one hits and sets the ship afire. The U-boat then leaves, and the ship sinks after the crew barely escape in the lifeboats. Almost everyone dies of exposure. There are 82 deaths and only one survivor (the second officer, who brought his lifeboat to shore). After this, U-101 heads back to Lorient.

U-103 (Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 10,455-ton tanker Edwy R. Brown. The tanker is a straggler behind Convoy HX 107 in the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) is on its first patrol operating out of Kiel southwest of the Faroe Islands when it spots a freighter. It is 8456-ton British freighter MV Siamese Prince, which becomes U-69's first victim. There are no survivors even though Metzler sees them take to the lifeboats - survival in the frigid ocean with storms and winter gales is problematic at best. Everybody (57 men) onboard perishes, and Admiralty searches by several destroyers find nothing and nobody.

British 307 ton collier Kyle Rona is sailing from Maryport for Portreath when it just disappears. None of the seven men on board, including Master Frederick Cook, survives. It may have hit a mine or broached deep and took water or...

British 156 ton freighter Ren Rein hits a mine off Falmouth, Cornwall in the English Channel and sinks. There are two deaths.

British 5817 ton freighter Casamance runs aground off Skinningrove, Yorkshire. The ship breaks in two and is written off. There are 38 survivors and 9 deaths.

British 2824 ton collier Empire Knoll comes aground due to the winter gales at Tynemouth in County Durham. The ship winds up on the old North Pier foundations there and is holed. It is a total loss.

Portuguese schooner Patriotismo sinks in the rough winter weather off Peniche. There are one death and seven deaths.

German raider Pinguin, in the south Atlantic, is joined by German supply ship Alstertor. Together, they sail for the Indian Ocean.

Admiral Sir Percy L.H. Noble becomes the new commander of the Royal Navy Western Approaches Command.

Convoys WS 6A and 6B (Winston Special) departs from various British ports. It includes numerous transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy TC 9 departs from Halifax with numerous troop transports. They don't know it, but German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst are lurking just north of the shipping lanes looking for good targets.

Convoy BN 16 departs from Aden.

Destroyer HMS Avon Vale (L 06, Lt. Commander Peter A. R. Withers) is commissioned.

Light cruiser USS Birmingham is laid down.

British guard duty west of Benghazi, 17 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British have been deliberating about sending troops to Greece for weeks, and now they finally are in a position to start telling some of their allies about their plans. They inform New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg that he will command the expeditionary force. Freyberg is a legendary officer, much admired by the British, who currently commands the New Zealand Division.

Colonel Leclerc in southwestern Libya is heading for their ultimate target of Kufra. Leclerc has about 350 men, but the Italians are aware they are coming. The Italian Saharan company of 70 men intercepts Leclerc's force with 20 mm guns in ten armored AS37 cars. After a vicious firefight, the French lost many of their trucks but are able to continue forward when the Italians at Kufra stay inside their fort and don't help the Sahariana. Leclerc's men surround the fort, El Tag, and place their only artillery piece, a 75 mm gun, about 3000 meters from the walls. The French also place several 81 mm mortars about 1500 meters from the fort. The Saharan company attacks again but is beaten off again. The French settle down to a siege.

Turkish/Bulgarian Relations: The two nations formally sign their nonaggression pact. While at first, this might seem favorable to the British, in fact, it is designed to allow Hitler to move troops through Bulgaria to invade Greece without Turkish interference. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has been trying to cajole the Turks (and their 38 divisions) into joining the British side, but this move effectively ends that attempt for the time being.

German/Japanese/British Relations: Japan makes an offer to mediate the European conflict, just as it has been mediating the border war in Indochina. Nobody takes Japan up on the offer.

General Oshima arrives as minister to Germany, his second appointment there. Oshima is viewed by the Germans as very sympathetic to their war aims.

German Military: Adolf Hitler is thinking big. He dreams of capturing India from the British, and in fact, has been sending presents (such as a motorcar) to some princes in the region. He orders his military staff to explore the feasibility of advancing through Afghanistan to India.

"Cunningham, Admiral of the Mediterranean." February 17, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 7 (Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER).

British Government: Winston Churchill has a busy day sending memos and pontificating to all and sundry about his pet concerns.

During the war council meeting today, Churchill cautions against worrying about "divisions" in the military (as opposed to brigades or corps and so forth). The gist of his oration on this point is that the term "division" can refer to vastly different forces.

Churchill also memos CIGS General Ismay and Cabinet Secretary Sir Edward Bridges cautioning them not to reveal the source of their information about Japanese decrypts, information which apparently was sent around the office. He wants all copies tracked down and the information suppressed, all the way down to identifying what copying machine was used and "who gave the orders for it to go in this form." Naturally, he doesn't want the Japanese to know the British have broken their codes.

Ireland also is on Churchill's mind. He memos General Ismay that the Germans might invade Ireland before they invade England, which would give the British the "immediate pretext" to invade Ireland - something that Churchill appears eager to do. He urges Ismay to use "every scheme of which military and naval ingenuity are capable to move more troops across the Irish Channel" whether the Irish want them there or not. In fact, the Irish have made plain that they do not want to be involved in the British war.

Churchill also memos Viscount Cranborne and Sir Kingsley Wood to implement economic sanctions against southern Ireland "to make Southern Ireland realized how great a wrong they were doing to the cause of freedom by their denial of the ports" to the Royal Navy. At this point, it seems as if Churchill is much more interested in invading Ireland than Hitler ever is.

Policeman helping children with their gas masks, Brighton, 17 February 1941.

Japanese Government: Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka gives a speech which echoes the similar language of Adolf Hitler regarding the Soviet Union and "Lebensraum":

This region [Oceania] has sufficient natural resources to support from 600,000,000 to 800,000,000 people. I believe we have a natural right to migrate there.

Times, Feb. 18, 1941, p. 1. Oceania, of course, includes Australia, the Dutch East Indies, and New Zealand. Thus, the Japanese basically are telling all Europeans that they are not wanted in the Pacific and that they feel entitled by "natural right" to occupy lands now claimed by others.

US Government: The US Senate begins debating the Lend-Lease bill.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies is continuing his epic, month-long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he stops over in Lagos, where he meets fellow Australian Sir Bernard Bourdillon, the Governor. Bourdillon blames the British fiasco at Dakar in September 1940, and a related incident in which French cruisers were allowed to cruise out of Mediterranean past Gibraltar to reinforce the Vichy French forces there, on unclear instructions from Winston Churchill. To be fair, Bourdillon has a point, as the British attitude toward Vichy France seems confused at best. Menzies seems quite impressed with Bourdillon and wonders if he and similar governors are "consulted enough." In fact, they are probably not consulted at all, as Churchill likes to run his own shop.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies viewing a burning tanker in Tobruk Harbor, February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020