Saturday 16 August 1941

Finnish soldiers under a sign of Joseph Stalin. They are at the entrance of Antrea's raw sugar factory on 16 August 1941.

Eastern Front: In a move that has immediate and lasting repercussions on the Eastern Front, on 16 August 1941 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 270. This order sets forth penalties for dereliction of duty and desertion (execution and imprisonment of deserters' families), commands soldiers not to surrender, and sets forth severe penalties for any acts detrimental to the Soviet war effort. The lengthy order is somewhat unusual in that it gives detailed examples of "heroic" behavior, which includes Lieutenant-General Boldin's escape from encirclement while deputy commander of the Western Front (the commander of the Western Front, General Pavlov, was shot on Stalin's command for dereliction of duty). It also gives examples of "cowardice," which includes the surrender of 28th Army Commander Lieutenant General Katchalov.

The order is quite plain: don't surrender unless we tell you to. While signed by all of the members of the State Defense Committee, it clearly reflects Stalin's own views on how troops should conduct themselves. The concerns raised in Order No. 270 never go away, and, in fact, they remain Stalin's obsession throughout the war. Stalin will return to this basic issue of "keeping the men at their guns" repeatedly throughout the war, particularly during the bitter summer of 1942, but nothing ever works to his complete satisfaction.

Regarding Order No. 270, comrade Stalin is heard to say, "There are no Soviet prisoners of war, only traitors."

Soviet prototype HTZ-16 armored tractor, 16 August 1941. This was an improvised armored vehicle based on the Kharkiv Tractor Factory/Agricultural Tractor Research Institute (SHTZ-NATI) tractor. The Red Army used the HTZ-16 at training schools and around Kharkiv, where the tank factory was located.

In the Far North sector, the Germans remain blocked on the Murmansk front, while the Finns trying to reach the Murmansk railway at Loukhi also have come to a standstill about 20 miles southwest of the main railway line after a recent rapid advance. Finnish Group F of III Corps is attempting probing attacks but remains stalled just north of Ukhta (Kalevala) in its separate advance to the Murmansk Railway. As usual, the Soviets have found just enough forces to stop each of the separate thrusts heading toward strategic objectives.

The Finns are still on the move in the direction of Leningrad, however. Today, they capture three encircled Soviet battalions at Tolvajaervi and Aeglaejaervi. This is about 50 miles north of Lake Ladoga and about 170 miles north of Leningrad and enhances Axis control of the region.

In the Army Group North sector, LVI Panzer Corps (von Manstein) of Panzer Group 4 (Hoepner) secures Novgorod after fighting into it on the 15th and attacks southwest toward Dno. The Germans also secure a bridgehead across the Volkhov River. This is a strategically vital city at the northern tip of Lake Ilmen that, in conjunction with holding Staraya Russa at the lake's southern tip, enables the Wehrmacht to use the lake as part of the front line and shift units due north toward Leningrad.

The Soviets, of course, realize this and are counterattacking the German position at Staraya Russa. While the Soviets make some progress to the south of the old Russian town, the Germans defend it fiercely, and by day's end OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder is able to write in the war diary that "south of Lake Ilmen the danger appears to have passed if there ever was any."

Joseph Stalin.

Elsewhere in the Army Group North area, the Germans make progress at Luga. There are about 20,000 Soviet troops there who have little chance of escape, and Stalin's Order No. 270 requires them to stand and fight anyway upon pain of death.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's panzers continue making progress in the direction of Gomel and Bryansk. The attacks, however, are taking longer than the high command would like. Otherwise, the front is unusually quiet.

Complying with Hitler's orders, the OKH reassigns three divisions (12th Panzer, 20th Motorized, and 18th Motorized) from General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 to Army Group North. Hitler hopes that these divisions will help Army Group North take Leningrad quickly, enabling a later attack on Moscow.

In the Army Group South sector, Romanian leader Ion Antonescu authorizes a resumption of the offensive against Odessa following a three-day pause. The Romanians make progress across the entire line, particularly in the area of the city's water reservoirs. The Soviet defenders, under orders to fight to the last man, resist bitterly.

The Germans solidify capture Nikolayev, which the Soviets have evacuated after a brief but fierce defense. The port is stocked with equipment, including coastal guns, the hulks of half-finished ships, ammunition, and repair facilities.

The Red Air Force raids the oilfields at Ploesti, Romania. A Romanian Heinkel He 112 shoots down one of the bombers.

"The crew of a Blenheim IV of No 88 (Hong Kong) Squadron climb from their aircraft at Attlebridge, Norfolk, after returning from an Army co-operation exercise, 16 August 1941." © IWM (CH 17172).

European Air Operations: After taking a day off, the RAF swings back into action today. During the day, RAB Bomber Command sends 30 Blenheims on coastal sweeps to Marquise and a Circus operation to St. Omer. The bomber pilots claim to hit an ammunition factory at Marquise. All of these planes return.

The RAF also sends two Fortresses to Brest and two to Dusseldorf.  Luftwaffe fighters badly damage a Fortress over Brest. While it limps back to England, it makes a difficult crash-landing and has to be written off. This becomes the first RAF Fortress casualty.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends major raids to Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Duisburg.

The RAF puts 72 bombers (37 Wellingtons, 29 Whitleys, and 6 Halifaxes) over Cologne. The objectives are railway yards. Visibility is poor, and there are no casualties and only very light damage. Seven Hampden bombers and one Wellington fail to return.

The RAF sends 54 Wellington bombers to attack railway yards at Duisburg. The attack causes moderate damage, and one Wellington fails to return.

The RAF sends 52 Hampdens and six Manchester bombers over Düsseldorf. As with the other attacks, the objectives are railway yards. The RAF pilots claim to see a large number of fires, but the Germans themselves often set fires as decoys, so the amount of damage caused is uncertain. The RAF loses three Hampdens and two Manchester bombers on this raid.

There also are minor raids to Rotterdam (10 Wellingtons), Ostend (4 Hampdens and 2 Manchester bombers), and one training flight over the Continent. There are no losses on these missions.

Luftwaffe Lt. Hans Hahn of I./NJG 2 downs a Wellington over Scunthorpe. Shrapnel from the exploding plane destroys one of the engines on his own Junkers Ju 88 night fighter, but he manages to nurse the plane back to base.

An Enigma machine in the radio car of the staff of the 7th Panzer Division while serving in the Soviet Union, 16 August 1941 (Lücke, Federal Archive, RH 82 Bild-00028).

Battle of the Baltic: A Soviet convoy led by icebreaker Oktyabr runs into a German minefield ("Juminda") while en route from Suursaari (Hogland (Island) to Tallinn (Reval), Estonia. Losses are unknown, but apparently, several ships hit mines and sink.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans organize their operations in northern Norway and Finland by establishing an Arctic Ocean U-boat Command. The Kriegsmarine has U-451 and U-566 operating in the area with plans to send more there. The Royal Navy now also has a submarine operating in the area, HMS Trident (Cmdr. Sladen), which is based in Polyarny and today leaves port on a patrol.

The Luftwaffe scores a near-miss against tug Ness Point at Lowestoft. The tug sinks, but it is raised on the 23rd and repaired.

The 17th Motor Launch Flotilla departs from Gibraltar bound for Bathurst.

US Navy battleship USS Mississippi ends its neutrality patrol when it returns to Hampton Roads, Virginia along with accompanying destroyers.

Part of Convoy WS-10X departs from the Clyde and meets another part of the convoy, which had departed from Liverpool on the 15th, at sea. It is bound for Capetown, Aden, and Suez. Convoy ON-8 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX-145 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lamerton (Lt. Commander Hugh C. Simms) is commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS The Pas is launched at Collingwood, Canada.

Australian minesweeper HMAS Geraldton and boom defense ship Karangi are launched.

U-135 (Kptlt. Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius) is commissioned, U-88 and U-407 are launched, U-667 is laid down.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 7 Wnr.12866 from 3./JG1, damaged by Lt. Heinz Knoke while training, 16th August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British Secretary of State for War David Margesson gives a speech which stresses the need for vigilance despite inevitable boredom between attacks. He holds up Malta as an example, citing the 26 July 1941 Italian attack using speedboats. He states in part:

On 26 July there were certain coast defences on the Island of Malta manned by the Royal Malta Artillery which had not opened fire for the whole of the war. There they had stood at their posts, day after day, night after night.  What a good reason for boredom; what an excuse for relaxing vigilance... by the skill and unceasing watchfulness of the Royal Malta Artillery, a British machine-gun detachment and some anti-aircraft guns manned by Maltese, this first serious attack of Italian surface craft was smashed.

The Italian attack actually was "smashed" by Italian clumsiness when a charge they set to remove a net from a bridge blew up the bridge itself. However, this is a rare moment for the isolated defenders of Malta to bask in the publicity of a speech disseminated around the world.

Destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kimberley make the nightly supply run to Tobruk, immediately unloading and heading back to Alexandria as usual. This is part of the continuing rotation of Australian troops out of Tobruk and Polish troops in to replace them. During the entire operation, which lasts about a week, about 5,000 men rotate out and are replaced.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay sinks 28-ton Greek steamboat Evangelistra (being used by the Italians) near Benghazi.

The RAF bombs Syracuse and Catania airfields on Sicily.

Italian minelayers Aspromonte and Reggio lay minefield SN-42 in the Sicilian Strait.

An Italian supply convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. It has six freighters/transports escorted by three destroyers and three torpedo boats. Dutch submarine O-23 spots an Italian ship midway between Naples and Palermo and attacks but misses - it is probably this convoy.

Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as Royal Navy sloop Flamingo escorts transport Salamaua from Port Said toward Famagusta.

130mm coastal guns left behind by the Soviets in Mykolaiv when they evacuated it on 16 August 1941.

Battle of the Black Sea: As the Soviets withdraw from Nikolayev, they blow up submarines S-36 and S-37. However, they do a very poor of destroying the port facilities, and they all fall into the hands of the Germans.

Soviet submarine L-5 (Lt. Cmdr. Zhdanov) lays 14 mines off Mangalia, Romania.

US/Japanese Relations: With all sorts of different interpretations regarding the Atlantic Charter and its effects upon the Pacific region being floated, Japanese Ambassador Nomura meets with Secretary of State Cordell Hull in Washington in an effort to renew relations. Nomura stresses the need for peace because a war would last for several years until one side or the other were exhausted. He hints that it is important for the United States not to allow Britain to drag it into a war. Nomura denies that Japan is under a military dictatorship and only sought to defend the region. He again, as he has in the past, proposes a summit meeting between the leaders of the United States and Japan.

Hull, at least in Nomura's opinion as relayed to Tokyo, seems less rigid than previously about Japanese activities. Hull promises to talk to President Roosevelt about the matter when the President returns to Washington. However, Nomura is clear about the consequences of any further Japanese adventurism:

As I have successively reported to you, Japanese-American relations have today reached a stage in which anything might happen at any moment, and they are likely to grow worse suddenly as soon as Japan makes her next move. That this sudden change will take place with Japan's occupation of Thailand is a view upon which both Japanese and Americans agree.

Nomura also notes in his report that Allied confidence in ultimate victory was growing because the war in the Soviet Union was turning into a battle of attrition which would weaken Germany regardless of whether it conquered the USSR or not.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: In Moscow, British and Soviet representatives sign a trade pact. The British grant the Soviets a £10 million credit at 3% interest, which is set quite low as a gesture of good faith. At this time, the British expect the Soviets to pay in cash for all deliveries, with the value of Soviet purchases offset for any sales to the British.

Convoy Dervish, carrying British supplies bound for the USSR, departs from Scapa Flow today.

Men of the Manchester Regiment manning a Vickers machine gun, Southern Command, 16 August 1941.

Anglo/Soviet/Iranian Relations: The British and Soviets warn the Iranian government to deport any Germans in the country. The diplomatic note states in part:

As in other neutral countries, German authorities have endeavored to pursue in Iran a policy of infiltration by sending their agents to mingle with and replace the resident German community...

While the note's reasoning is quite accurately, there actually aren't many Germans in Iran. However, the Allies want to set up a casus belli because Iran is a strategically important country due to its location on the Strait of Hormuz and oil supplies. It also is a potential route for England and the United States to supply the Soviet Union in the event of further German advances.

Anglo/Vichy Relations: With the British satisfied that the Vichy French have returned Commonwealth prisoners from metropolitan France, they permit another Vichy French convoy carrying 5094 troops to depart from Haifa to France.

Entrance to the Kolosjoki nickel mines in Petsamo, Finland, 1930s.

German/Finnish Relations: While Marshal Mannerheim carefully guards his independent control over the Finnish military, he has no issue with close economic ties with the Reich. Today, the Finns reach an agreement with the Germans to devote the entire output of the nickel mines in the far North at Petsamo to the Germans. The Germans, with Finnish agreement, already control the mines and huge processing plant, so this is simply an official recognition of the reality of the situation.

US/Australian Relations: US Navy heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) call at Rabaul, New Britain on a goodwill visit. The port of Rabaul has been used by the Australians as a regional base, but the eruption of volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan in 1937 forced them to shift most operations to Lae. However, a fairly large Australian population remains there, along with some Australian navy operations.

US Military: The 206th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-aircraft) arrives at Dutch Harbor, Alaska after training at Fort Bliss, Texas since early January 1941.

Japanese Military: The Japanese requisition three cargo ships for use in the navy:

7397-ton Awata Maru
6667-ton Onoe Maru
3209-ton Kofuku Maru

In addition, Japanese liner Heian Maru returns from Seattle to Yokohama today. It marks the last Japanese ship from Seattle until after the war. It returns empty.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill reviewing United States Marines during his visit to Iceland, 16 August 1941 (© IWM (A 4971)).

British Government: Prime Minister Churchill is in Reykjavik, Iceland as a stop on his way back to England from the Atlantic Conference. Churchill gives a speech to the crews of the ships in Reykjavik, including that of US battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) and other US ships. Churchill, aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales, departs in the evening.

While visiting Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, Churchill allegedly leaves a half-smoked cigar in an ashtray. Someone retrieves the cigar, then gives it to his son. It goes on sale in 2012.

US Government: President Roosevelt's yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) arrives at Rockland, Maine, where the President boards his special train and heads back to Washington.

The Defense Base Act is enacted. this is an extension of the Longhore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to cover persons employed at United States defense bases overseas. Workers covered include civilians working for private employers on US military bases or anywhere the US military is operating. Compensation is given to those injured while working on such projects.

Preparing for Sunday night blackout tests at South Brisbane Australia, 16 August 1941.

German Government: There is little question that, however little he knows about the true state of the Soviet military, Hitler does understand how Stalin's cynical mind works - because they think alike in many ways. Hitler discusses the inner workings of the Soviet Union over dinner:

When Russia barricades herself within her frontiers, it's to prevent people from leaving the country and making certain comparisons. That's why Stalin was obliged to introduce Bolshevism into the Baltic countries so that his army of occupation should be deprived of all means of comparison with another system. At the beginning that wasn't Stalin's idea at all. 

One can see the Iron Curtain descending across Europe in 1946 in Hitler's words.

American Homefront: The top song on the Billboard charts in today's weekly issue is "Daddy" by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye with the Kaye Choir. It is in week 7 of an 8-week run atop the chart.

An Australian trooper, Thomas Cogan, on leave in Perth, 16 August 1941 (Elizabeth Huggett).

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Thursday 6 March 1941

German heavy cruiser Scharnhorst on 6 March 1941. This photo was taken by a crewman on U-124 near the Cape Verde Islands (Scharnhorst-class.dk).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The seesaw battles in the center of the Albanian front continue on 6 March 1941. The Greeks and Italians have been fighting over the heights near the Klisura Pass for two months, with neither side able to make lasting gains. Today, the Greeks recapture some of the high ground, aided by the RAF and Greek Air Force. The Greeks claim to capture a thousand Italian prisoners.

The Italians are preparing their own offensive in the area within a few days. Mussolini is in Albania to oversee the preparations and watch the start. This offensive is extremely important to Mussolini because he wants to prove that his troops can succeed against the Greeks before the Wehrmacht invasion scheduled for April.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in Athens. Churchill believes that defeat in Greece may be inevitable without intercession by Turkey or Yugoslavia. Eden replies that everyone in Athens feels that the British expedition to Greece, Operation Lustre, was "the right decision." Eden, CIGS John Dill, and General Wavell all return to Cairo today, where they confer with South African leader Jan Smuts.

Convoys for Operation Lustre, the British expedition to Greece, are in full swing. Royal Navy cruisers HMS York, Gloucester, and Bonaventure depart from Alexandria for Piraeus loaded with troops. Two freighters also leave the port carrying tanks and other equipment. This is the general pattern for all convoys to Piraeus, troops carried on fast cruisers and freight carried on slower and more vulnerable cargo vessels.

The Greeks are looking over their shoulders toward the Bulgarian front. Commander-in-chief Papagos prepares contingency plans for the event of a German invasion from that direction.

The SS Artillery Division on the parade grounds of the Hauptkadettenanstalt (Cadet's Institute) in Lichterfelde, Berlin, 6 March 1941.

East African Campaign: Haile Selassie has taken command of a motley force called Ethiopia's Patriots. They take Burye, using native troops. The Italians evacuate the fort during the night. Meanwhile, South African troops in Eritrea are advancing from Mogadishu north toward Harar and, further on, Addis Ababa.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its pattern of sending lone raiders over the Channel during the daytime. There are scattered bombings in London, Kent, and East Anglia. There is a small attack northeast of London after dark.

Minister of War David Margesson reports to the House of Commons that Luftwaffe losses outside the Mediterranean Theater number 5,346 planes versus 854 British planes. Real Luftwaffe losses are nowhere near that figure, which would have completely eliminated the Luftwaffe by now. However, the figure for RAF losses appears realistic. Most historians likely would assign a figure roughly double the RAF losses to the Luftwaffe, though estimates vary wildly. Since the war, estimates of Luftwaffe losses have declined fairly steadily.

Battle of the Atlantic: Having first used the phrase during a War Cabinet meeting recently, Winston Churchill today issues a directive titled "The Battle of the Atlantic." It sets forth the nation's priorities in the sea war. Looking remarkably like a Fuhrer Directive, Churchill's directive wants to "defeat the attempt to strangle our food supplies and our connection with the United States" by:

1. Hunting down U-boats, both at sea and in their pens/shipyards;
2. Giving "Extreme Priority" to catapult ships able to launch fighters;
3. Concentrating Coastal Command's forces upon the vulnerable Northwestern Approaches
4. Formation of a "Battle of the Atlantic Committee chaired by Churchill himself.

Today technically is viewed as beginning "the Battle of the Atlantic." However, this is just an arbitrary date based on Churchill's adoption of the phrase; the true battle at sea has been in progress since the first day of the conflict, and nothing changes at this time other than Churchill issuing this directive giving the battle the very highest priority.

German battleship Bismarck receives orders to depart from Hamburg and move to Kiel. The Luftwaffe escorts the Bismarck with Bf 109 fighters and two armed merchant cruisers. An icebreaker accompanies the Bismarck. The battleship is approaching operational status, though it still must stock up with supplies and ammunition before it can embark on a raiding voyage.

German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sit astride the shipping lanes heading south from Great Britain to Freeport. Today, they rendezvous with U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Whilhelm Schulz), which recently refueled from a German tanker in the Canary Islands. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are steaming at half speed up and down the convoy lanes, waiting for targets to appear.

An attempt to recover a mine for study in the Falmouth Inner Harbour goes disastrously wrong. The mine explodes, sinking 196-ton British barge Queen Wasp and accompanying echo sounding boat Mouse, and killing five men from shore establishment ship HMS Vernon (which was used to capture mines for study throughout the war). There are six deaths and four injuries.

Royal Navy 252-ton minesweeper HMT Keryado hits a mine and sinks about 12 km south of Newhaven. There are 9 deaths.

British 202-ton tug Sun VII hits a mine and sinks near the Barrow Deep. There are five deaths.

Norwegian 3017-ton tanker Mexico hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel off Ipswich. There are ten deaths and 23 survivors. The partially sunk wreck remains a navigational hazard throughout the war.

British 781-ton freighter Eilian Hill hits a mine and is damaged off Barry Island in South Wales.

The Kriegsmarine lays minefield Wollen about 70 km east of the Out Skerries, Shetland.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Puckeridge is launched.

U-560 (Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche) is commissioned, U-567 and U-568 are launched.

Flemish volunteers train with the SS, 6 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe once again mines the Suez Canal. These are acoustic mines, which the British have not yet learned how to counter, and they are particularly effective in the narrow waters of the canal. This effectively closes the canal for three weeks, though some high priority ships are allowed through. Among other things, this delays the transit of aircraft carrier HMS Formidable to the Red Sea, where it could be extremely useful in protecting convoys in the eastern Mediterranean.

The British convoys to Pireaus are in full swing, and the Italians have taken notice. Italian bombers (about ten each of S-79s and S-81s) attack British Convoys AN-17 (going to Greece) and AS-16 (returning from Greece) to the northeast of Crete in the Kaso Straits. They do not score any hits. The Italians lose a bomber, with half a dozen others damaged by antiaircraft fire. The Luftwaffe also attacks the convoys.

East of Crete, Italian 590-ton Sirena class submarine Anfitrite attacks British troop convoy AS-17 (some sources say GA.8) heading toward Athens. However, the attack fails and HMS Greyhound sinks the Anfitrite. The Greyhound takes 39 prisoners, including the submarine's commander.

The British Mediterranean Fleet, led by battleships HMS Barham and Valiant, sorties from Alexandria, first for gunnery exercises, then to support convoy operations west of Suda Bay, Crete.

There are some minor encounters between the Afrika Korps and the British forces west of Agheila. The British have noticed that the enemy is using armored vehicles, but finds nothing significant about that, as the Italian tanks have been relatively ineffective. An Italian convoy of four freighters makes it to Tripoli carrying German troops and supplies without the British noticing.

On Malta, the RAF is still recovering from yesterday's massive Luftwaffe attacks that devastated Hal Far airfield. The Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Squad clears nineteen unexploded bombs from the base.

Flemish volunteers to the SS, 6 March 1941. They have machine gun equipment.

US/Italian Relations: The "War of the Consulates" continues. In apparent retaliation for Italy closing some US consulates (ostensibly for security concerns following a Royal Navy raid on Genoa), the US closes several Italian consulates (Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey). In addition, the Italians must provide information on any movements within the United States by Italian soldiers.

US/Japanese Relations: Some US companies still have licenses to export high-grade petroleum and rich crude stocks to Japan. Today, the US move to block the export of these 5 million barrels of oil.

Anglo/Romanian Relations: Churchill memos personal secretary Alexander Cadogan that King Carol II of Romania, who abdicated and fled the country under fire from the Iron Guard, should be "offered accommodation."

Anglo/Australian Relations: At the war cabinet meeting, visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies has sharp words. He complains about London making important decisions for the Dominions (such as committing Australian and New Zealand troops to Greece) without first properly consulting their governments. Churchill has been mounting a charm offensive with Menzies, but the Australian PM is not being swayed from his skepticism about such risky decisions.

Applied Science: Edward Teller, a native of Hungary, becomes a naturalized US citizen, following in the footsteps of Albert Einstein and other émigré scientists.

Yugoslav Military: The Royal Yugoslav Air Force (Serbo-Croatian: Vazduhoplovstvo Vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije, VVKJ) is secretly mobilized. It remains completely unclear who it would be used against - the Germans or the British.

Japanese Military: Tatsuta Maru departs from Yokohama under Captain Toichi Takahata. The 16,975-ton liner is being used to scout out obscure routes for an attack on the Hawaiian Islands and engage in deception operations against the US Navy.

Merchantman Mormacmail, prior to its conversion to escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1). It is taken to Newport News for conversion.

US Military: The US Navy officially acquires USS Long Island (AVG-1), the country's first escort carrier. Its first skipper is Commander Donald B. Duncan.

British Government: Churchill has lunch with a small group of friends in the basement of No. 10 Downing Street. The editor of the Sunday Dispatch, Charles Eade, attends and writes a detailed account for his personal use. Churchill dwells on Operation Claymore, the successful commando raid on the Norwegian Lofoten Islands, noting that the whale oil factories were important to the German diet. Churchill also mentions a 4,000 lb bomb the Luftwaffe recently dropped on Herndon, killing 80 people and injuring 300 others. Among the other topics covered at the luncheon, downed Luftwaffe airmen being treated well by Englishwomen who come across them (a tendency later turned around in "Mrs. Miniver" (1942)) is downplayed by Mrs. Churchill, who says that "before this war is over, we should be hating our enemies all right."

Yugoslavian Government: Regent Prince Paul convenes the Crown Council to discuss joining the Tripartite Pact.

China: The Japanese launch an offensive with a heavy artillery bombardment at 05:30 in western Hubei (Hupeh). Then, they launch an attack from bridgeheads taken on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The offensive is intended to push the Chinese (Kuomintang) back toward Chungking, into the mountains. The Japanese troops of the 13th Infantry Division take Chang-Kang-Ling and Fan-Chia-Hu. This is known as the Western Hubei Operation.

Captain John W. Reeves, Jr. of the USS Wasp (CV-7), 6 March 1941. The Wasp is operating off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (US Naval Institute).

British Homefront: A rare wartime strike breaks out at the John Brown Shipyard in Clydeside.

For the first time, women become signalmen on Britain's mainline railways. They have had two weeks of training and begin their duties on the South Yorkshire joint line.

German Homefront: A large number of Polish workers is being used within Greater Germany for farming. Their relationships with German women are becoming scandalous, at least in the minds of the Reich's leaders. New laws decreed today forbid these workers from any relationships whatsoever, and also forbid these "guest workers" from complaining or participating in civic life.

Dutch Homefront: The fallout from the February 1941 General Strike continues. The Germans are in complete control and are taking reprisals. Today, they execute Dutch Communist resistance fighter Leen Schijveschuurder.

American Homefront: John Gutzon Borglum passes away from complications following surgery in Chicago, Illinois, age 73, and is to be buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Borglum is a sculptor who has specialized in massive projects such as Stone Mountain, Georgia (though Borglum's work there was replaced after he quit the project). The Stone Mountain project honed his skills, leading him to take up a project by South Dakota state historian Doane Robinson to carve a figure the figures of two United States Presidents into Mount Rushmore. Eventually, the project expanded to four Presidents.

Borglum's son Lincoln takes over the Mount Rushmore project now, which is in an advanced state of completion. No further work of any note will be made on the tableaux due to the war and Borglum's passing. The original design now never will be completed, including the completion of President Jefferson's jacket.

Future History: Johannes Marinus van Zon is born in Utrecht, Netherlands. As Hans van Zon, he goes on a wild killing spree during the 1960s. Van Zon violently murders five people (three men and two women) and attacks others in the Netherlands before being arrested on 13 December 1967. Despite being sentenced to life, he is released from custody in 1986 and lives a free man until 11 May 1998.

The Johnson House, Salem, New Jersey, 6 March 1941 (Photographer George Neuschafer for the Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress).

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

Wednesday 29 January 1941

US Ski troops during rifle training at Fort Lewis, Washington. They are in the 87th Mountain Regiment. The whole idea of mountain troops in the US is very new, and the men don't have white uniforms that eventually will become the norm around the world.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Greek Prime Minister General Ioannis Metaxas passes away on 29 January 1941 of a phlegmon of the pharynx, leading to incurable toxemia. His successor is former minister and bank governor Alexander Koryzis.

Metaxas remains a very divisive figure in Greece to this day. He also was a man of many contradictions, as he was fervently pro-German during World War I and later came to fear them. Some deplore his authoritarian style and dictatorial policies, while others remember him as a populist who always put Greece and the Greek people first. One thing is for certain: he left Greece in a much better military posture than anyone thought possible. Not only is the Greek army shoving the Italians all over Albania, he also gives the Greek state at least a chance of holding off the Germans along the Bulgarian border with his chain of fortifications known as the Metaxas Line.

On the Trebeshina mountain range, the Greeks turn the tables on the two Italian Blackshirt battalions who took the peaks recently. The Cretan 5th Division of III Corps launches its own attack to recapture the key area that has changed hands several times. However, the Blackshirt battalions defend strongly.

East African Campaign: The British offensive against Italian possessions in East Africa expands today. The South Africans enter Italian Somaliland from Kenya with the 1st South African, 11th and 12 African (local) Divisions. General Wavell remains in Nairobi watching over developments.

Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse's British 4th Indian Division ends a fake diversionary attack it has been staging against Mount Itaberrè and Mount Caianac, north of Agordat. It also fails to capture Mount Laquatat, which it really does want to take. These are rare failures for the advancing British forces, which otherwise have had little opposition on their advance into Italian East Africa. Beresford-Pierse sends the 1st Battalion of the 6th Rajputana Rifles Regiment to take Mount Cochen, which it does. The Italian troops in the sector, however, are in good fighting form and make plans to try to retake the mountain.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues its persistent and fruitless attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven. It sends 25 Wellingtons to attack it, to no effect. If ever there were a warship that earned its keep by simply remaining afloat as a persistent target, it is the Tirpitz.

After an extended period (ten nights) without major air attacks, the Luftwaffe ramps back up slowly, sending 36 bombers against London. Many Londoners, feeling a false sense of security due to the lack of recent raids, have gone back to sleeping at home. This raid sends many back to the shelters and tubes.

Kids wearing Zoot Suits in Chicago, Chicago, 1941 (Library of Congress).

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Kormoran, operating 600 hundred miles west of Freetown, at 13:00 sights 11,900-ton British refrigerator ship Afric Star. Captain Detmers of the Kormoran has to fire on the ship when it does not surrender. The Kormoran crew boards the ship confiscates codebooks, takes 76 prisoners (including two women), and, when scuttling doesn't work, finally has to sink it with gunfire and torpedoes.

After dark, the Kormoran crew sights another ship and shells it. This ship, unlike the Afric Star, gets off a distress call that the Kormoran can't jam. Once again the Kormoran crew boards, and, helped by the codebooks taken earlier in the day from the Afric Star, identifies the ship as the 5273-ton British freighter Eurolychus. It is carrying bombers for Ghana (the Gold Coast). Detmers sinks this ship with a torpedo as well and takes four British and 39 Chinese crew prisoners (there are 10 deaths and 28 survivors are picked up later by a passing Spanish freighter). Detmers has to leave the scene quickly because, responding to the distress calls, HMS Norfolk and Devonshire show up. One of the men who is rescued by the Spanish ship, Frank Laskier, later becomes a propaganda hero for the merchant marine. Fortunately for the Kormoran, it outruns the Royal Navy ships in the darkness.

U-93 (Kptlt. Claus Korth), operating in the Northwest Approaches, has a big day. It sinks 4929 ton Greek freighter Aikatern, 5886-ton British freighter King Robert, and 10,468-ton British tanker W.B. Walker. All three ships are part of Convoy SC 19. Everybody on King Robert and Aikatern survives, while four men perish on the Walker.

U-94 (Kptlt. Herbert Kuppisch) is operating in the same general area as U-93. It torpedoes and sinks 4353-ton British freighter West Wales. West Wales is a straggler from Convoy SC 19. There are 16 deaths and 21 survivors, rescued by the convoy escorts HMS Antelope and Anthony.

U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten), on its first patrol out of Kiel (heading for Lorient), torpedoes and sinks 2962 ton Egyptian freighter Sesostris. Everybody perishes.

British 8967 ton transport Westmoreland hits a mine in the Thames Estuary and is abandoned by its crew. A prize crew boards and takes it to Liverpool.

German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau continue heading northeast toward a rendezvous with an oil tanker. The weather remains very rough, and the German ships are beyond the range of RAF reconnaissance, so they proceed unmolested.

Convoy FN 395 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 399 departs from Methil.

The Germans continue laying defensive minefields off Norway.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Ilfracombe and antisubmarine warfare trawler HMT Polka are launched.

Submarine USS Marlin is launched, the destroyer USS Bailey is laid down.

U-152 (Kapitänleutnan Peter-Erich Cremer) is commissioned.

"Members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in a pay queue, 29 January 1941." © IWM (HU 104557).

Battle of the Mediterranean: As the Italian Tenth Army evacuates the Cyrenaica of Libya, the British troops occupy the abandoned Derna. The Australian 6th Infantry Division follows on the Via Balbia, but the Italians have broken contact and left the road full of booby traps. The Italians in Benghazi also are beginning to move west, and the British 7th Armored Division sends units south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) via Msus and Antelat to try to cut them off. It is rough going, and in any event, the Italians have a head start.

The Luftwaffe sends planes to bomb the Suez Canal again. Previously, it has failed, as the canal lies at the extreme range of German planes. This time, however, the Germans succeed, dropping mines from Heinkel He 111 bombers.

Anglo/US/Canadian Relations: The U.S.–British Staff Conference in Washington, D.C. officially begins today (preliminary meetings began on the 27th). The subject is the formulation of a joint Allied global military strategy. The general framework of the conference includes a "Europe first" policy if a global war breaks out in the Pacific as well as Europe. This conference will last until 27 March 1941 and culminate in the top-secret ABC-1 report. If any confirmation were needed, this conference by its very nature conclusively establishes that the US is prepared to enter the war on the side of Great Britain - but only when the time is right.

San Francisco, 1941.

Soviet/Finnish Relations: Despite the fact that the Winter War between the two countries has been over for the better part of a year, relations between them remain prickly. Petsamo in the far north is of particular interest to the Soviets because it contains valuable nickel reserves and a new and elaborate processing plant. Petsamo, on the other hand, is Finland's only deepwater port which is free of interference from the great powers. Thus, the area has strategic value as well as simply economic value.

Stalin, who had possession of Petsamo at the end of the Winter War but returned it to Finland, wants the nickel. Molotov has been enquiring about it since 23 June 1940. However, the Germans also want the nickel, and that was one of the major provisions of the trade agreements reached between the two countries that month. Nickel is one of the major reasons that Molotov demanded that Germany take its hands off Finland when he visited Berlin in November 1940, and why Hitler refused to even consider Molotov's demands for joining the Tripartite Pact. Nickel was one of the major contributing factors to Operation Barbarossa, though of course Hitler's obsession with the protection of the Romanian oil fields probably played a larger role.

Today, the Soviets and Finns begin talking about the issue in more depth in Moscow. Finnish ambassador to Moscow J.K. Paasikivi has some negotiating room, as the Finns are more interested in the territory in the south than in the far north. One of the possibilities discussed is a trade of Petsamo for other territory. Marshal Mannerheim is furious and threatens to resign, and this President Ryti quickly quashes the whole idea.

"A group of Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) drivers at a pay parade somewhere in England, 29 January 1941." © IWM (HU 104539).

British Military: Winston Churchill sends a lengthy memo to Secretary of State for War David Margesson. Among many other things, he expands a criticism he has made to General Wavell in North Africa about the "tooth to tail" ratio of fighting men to service troops. He says that "our main objective in this theatre" of the Middle East is the transfer of forces to Greece and/or Turkey. He contemplates having 12 divisions available for this purpose "by July."

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill remains hacked off about Minister of Shipping Ronald Cross making statements that Churchill did not like. Upset at some of Cross' statements, Churchill required that all press comments by "junior ministers" be cleared by him. Today, he casts his net a bit further and memos the Minister of Information, Alfred Duff Cooper. In this memo, Churchill demonstrates his worst authoritarian streak and outright bans Cross from giving weekly radio broadcasts (which presumably is within his wartime powers... sort of). The interesting thing is that he does not (apparently) tell Cross this himself, but instead tells the news outlets not to air him.

Churchill also states in the same memo that he is upset at broadcasts by socialist John Boynton "J.B." Priestley. Churchill states that he "is far from friendly to the Government, and I should not be too sure about him on larger issues." Quite a tacit implication there. Priestley, however, is extremely popular with ordinary citizens - only Churchill himself draws larger audiences - perhaps because he espouses populist left-wing ideas These resonate deeply with the population (which Churchill will find out definitively to his own regret in 1945). This memo eventually leads to the cancellation of Priestley's popular radio talks - though Priestley's son says in 2015 that in fact, it was the Cabinet that disliked Priestley and poisoned Churchill against him rather than the other way around. In any event, the days of Priestley's talks now are numbered.

A police raid just after midnight on 29 January 1941 at the 7566 Club at 7566 Melrose Avenue. Blue laws prohibited the sale of alcohol at that time of day. With no television, prime time radio broadcasts ending early, not much else to do at that time of day for the restless. It looks like there are women there, too.

Soviet Military: First flight of the Tupolev ANT-58 medium bomber.

German Government: Franz Schlegelberger is appointed German Minister of Justice after Franz Gürtner passes away.

Singapore: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies is continuing his long journey to London and now is in Singapore. In his diary entry for today, he notes that the new Commander in chief of the Far East, Air Chief Marshall Sir Robert Brooke-Popham has "shoulders a little stooped" and his "hair and mustache are both sandy and wispy and a little indeterminate." On the other hand, Menzies likes the governor, Sir Shenton Thomas, who strikes Menzies as "brisk and I should think efficient." He also notes that Brooke-Popham says that, at his meeting with Churchill before assuming his position in Singapore, Churchill had told him to "Hold out to the last, my boy, God bless you" - which does not seem overly optimistic.

Indochina: The Vichy French and Thais continue to negotiate a peace deal under the auspices of the Japanese. An unofficial cease-fire remains in effect.

China: The Nationalist Chinese capture Zhenyang from the Japanese, while the Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade captures Huai-yang. In the Battle of Southern Honan, the Japanese 11th Army holds its ground against attacks by the Chinese 5th War Area.

Bela Lugosi's "The Devil Bat" advertisement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 1941.

January 1941

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

2020