Sunday 20 July 1941

In a very unusual incident, Wehrmacht soldier Josef Schulz (or Schultz, shown with an arrow at left) refuses an order to execute 16 suspected partisans at the Serbian village of Smederevska-Palanca on 20 July 1941 (some sources say 19 July). Schultz drops his rifle and says, "Ich schieße nicht! Diese Männer sind unschuldig! (I will not shoot! These people are innocent!). Schultz' commanding officer shoots him on the spot and buries him with the partisans.

Eastern Front: In the Far North sector on 20 July 1941, Finnish VI Corp (General Talvela) continues pressing southward along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga and east of there. His forces are approaching Salmi, about a quarter of the way down the length of the lake. Soviet 452nd Motorized Infantry Regiment arrives at Salmi and sets up a defensive perimeter. Just beyond Salmi is the 1939 border, and the Germans would like the Finns to cross it - but that is up to Finnish commander Marshal Mannerheim.

There is heavy and confused fighting along the Litsa River outside Murmansk. However, the lines do not change, and both sides are slowly beginning to accept a stalemate.

At Polarnoye (Polyamy) in Kolafjord, at the entrance to the inlet to Murmansk, Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of the Luftwaffe bomb and sinks Soviet destroyer Stremitel'ny (Stremitenlnyi).

The Soviets prepare a counterattack at Smolensk with Soviet 24th Army, 28th Army, 29th Army, and 30th Army. The Germans beat off the blows, but it is a sign of things to come. General Zhukov orders four reserve armies forward for the Smolensk operation. The objective is to rescue three trapped Soviet armies - 16th, 19th, and 20th - in the Smolensk suburbs. These armies attempt a breakout at the Nevel-Gorodok road but are stopped by the 19th Panzer Division.

In the Army Group South sector, Soviet Marshal Budenny (Budonny) commands a large group of forces at Southwestern and Southern Fronts. In total, Budenny has about 1.5 million soldiers at his disposal - one of the largest commands of all time, behind only national leaders such as Hitler or British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Budenny is one of the most maligned generals of World War II, and his most distinguishing credentials are his stunning handlebar mustache and the fact that he is one of Stalin's favorite comrades at drunken orgies. It is easy to see how Budenny could handle the brewing cauldron of trouble better, which would have ramifications across the entire Eastern Front.

Budenny, however, is hamstrung by Stavka orders to defend Kyiv and Vinnytsia (Vinnitsa)/Uman without retreating. Stalin essentially has given Budenny unheard-of hordes of men as a sort of test - to see whether that is sufficient to stop the Wehrmacht. With all sorts of opportunities to retreat and form a solid defensive line behind the Dneipr, Budenny instead keeps his troops in an exposed position west of the river. German 17th Army (General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel) continues advancing to the south of Uman while the German 11th Field Army (General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel) advances to the north. German Panzer Group 1 also heads toward Uman. It is an obvious trap, but Budenny and the Stavka do nothing to avoid it.

A German Bf 109E from Jagdgeschwader 27 strafing Australian front lines in North Africa, 1941 (Australian War Memorial 010852).

European Air Operations: The RAF's continuing "Channel Stop" operation today sees 12 Blenheim bombers of Nos. 18 and 139 Squadrons attack shipping between Berck and Le Touquet. The RAF loses two aircraft, but the planes hit a tanker, whose master is forced to beach it at Berck-sur-Mer. The RAF planes also down a defending Bf-109 fighter. Another raid by three Stirlings on Hazebrouck is aborted due to the weather.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 113 bombers (46 Wellingtons, 39 Hampdens, 25 Whitleys, 3 Stirlings) to attack the marshaling yards at Cologne. The bombers complete the run, but poor, cloudy weather leads to inaccurate bombing and little damage. Three people are killed on the ground. There is a secondary attack on Rotterdam by 15 Wellingtons and 9 Whitleys that starts some fires in the dockyard. All planes return from both missions.

Lieutenant Walter Nowotny remains adrift in the Baltic after being shot down on the 19th. He prepares for death, writing a goodbye note and observing German shore batteries firing at Soviet destroyers.

Werner Mölders is promoted to the rank of Oberst and banned from further combat flying. As a propaganda hero, Mölders is considered too valuable now to risk in the air war. He is transferred to the Reich Air Ministry in Berlin, where he effectively is placed in reserve pending reassignment.

Battle of the Baltic: The Finns reinforce their small force on the Finnish island of Bengtskär, which houses a 52-meter lighthouse that is a good observation post at the entry of the Gulf of Finland. The 2nd Rannikkoiskukompania (Coastal Shock Company), led by Lt. Fred Luther, can use the island to spot Soviet ships operating near the Soviet-held port of Hanko, Finland.

"Members of the South African Division of the Royal Naval Volunteers Reserve on board HMS NELSON posing for the camera between two of the enormous 16-inch guns of A turret," July 1941 (© IWM (A 4608)).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer), on its first patrol out of Kiel, is operating about 1200 km (750 miles) west of Land's end when it spots 8293-ton British freighter Canadian Star. Bauer attacks with torpedoes but misses. He then orders the U-boat to the surfaces and uses the deck guns, scoring a few hits during a 10-minute attack. The Canadian Star, however, also has deck guns and returns fire, which drives U-126 off. Bauer manages to damage the freighter, but it gets away (ultimately to Curacao) and he barely avoids getting sunk himself. So, U-126 must wait further for its first sinking. Some sources say that U-126 fired torpedoes that missed, but that it was U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg) lurking nearby that surfaced and used its deck guns against Canadian Star.

U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, is operating southwest of Bantry Bay, Ireland when it spots 5419-ton British freighter Palma. Schreiber fires torpedoes and misses. He then decides to use his deck gun. The U-boat scores some hits, but the freighter gets away.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4419-ton British freighter Umvuma (named after a small mining town in Zimbabwe) off the Humber. The damage shuts down the engines, but the crew improvises and still manages to get the damaged freighter to Humber.

Norwegian 3916-ton freighter Brynje hits a mine and sinks in Skagerrak off Kalundborg, Denmark. The entire crew survives. The ship is later salvaged for scrap in July 1944.

Convoy OG-69 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar, Convoy WS 9C (Winston Special) arrives at Gibraltar. It includes ships destined to sail directly from Gibraltar to Malta as part of Operation Substance.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lively is commissioned.

HMS Lively, shown here on 20 November 1941 in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, is commissioned on 20 July 1941 (© IWM (GM 165)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Union (Lt R.M. Galloway), on its fourth patrol out of Malta, spots a small Axis convoy departing from Tripoli. It represents a tempting target, as two tugs (German Max Berendt and Italian Ciclope) are towing disabled German freighter Menes. Union attacks 25 miles southwest of the fortified Italian island of Pantelleria, but misses. Italian torpedo boat Circe responds by dropping depth charges that sink the Union. There are 31 deaths, everybody on board the submarine.

The dangerous nightly Tobruk Express run is made by Australian destroyer HMAS Stuart and minelaying cruiser HMS Latona. The ships operate on an extremely tight schedule which is intended to get them well away from the port by daylight to avoid Luftwaffe attack. However, the ships arrive late and things go disastrously wrong during the unloading process, so the Australians in the port can only unload about 50 tons of Latona's much-larger cargo before it must button up and depart. Both ships arrive back at Alexandria safely.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Utmost is operating near the island of Ustica north of Palermo, Sicily and attacks a freighter, but misses.

Royal Navy submarine HSM Tetrarch is operating in the Aegean when it unsuccessfully attacks an unidentified freighter.

In Operation Guillotine, New Zealand light cruiser Leander, destroyer Kingston, and destroyer Jervis (Jervis goes directly to Cyprus) depart Haifa on the 20th for Port Said. There, they embark on troops for transport to Famagusta, Cyprus. The ships all make it safely to Cyprus during the night.

As part of Operation Substance, a supply mission to Malta, Royal Navy submarines HMS Upright and Unique depart from Malta. They take up stations off the Italian coast in order to waylay any Italian ships departing to attack the Operation Substance convoy.

Nine RAF Wellington bombers based at Malta attack railway yards at Naples, causing extensive damage.

Partisans: In the continuing uprising of 13 July in Montenegro, insurgents capture Bijelo Polje. Reflecting the growing power of the rebels, the 180 soldiers and officers in the town are taken prisoner or killed. Italian troops not only are not counterattacking, but they are also retreating to fortified strongholds at Pljevlja, Nikšić, Cetinje, and Podgorica.

"The Home Guard: During an exercise involving the local Home Guard, ARP personnel and the Police in Northen Command, 'enemy' forces succeeded in taking a town after a bitter struggle but were later overpowered. The photograph shows the Home Guard firing at the 'enemy' in the street behind the cover of a post-box. 20 July 1941." © IWM (H 11852).

Propaganda: Many people across Europe take up the "Colonel Britton" BBC radio demand broadcast at midnight on the 19th for people to scribble "V for Victory" as a sign of resentment against German rule. There are reports of incidents in Holland, Belgium, France, and even some areas of the Reich itself (the provinces of Bohemia and Morava, formerly Czechoslovakia).

Anglo/Soviet Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives Soviet ambassador Maisky his reply (not received until 21 July) to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin's written request for a second front in northwest Europe:

To attempt a landing in force would be to encounter a bloody repulse, and petty raids would only lead to fiascos doing far more harm than good to both of us. You must remember that we have been fighting alone for more than a year, and that, though our resources are growing, and will grow fast from now on, we are at the utmost strain both at home and in the Middle East by land and air, and also that the Battle of the Atlantic, on which our life depends, and the movement of all our convoys in the teeth of the U-boat and Fokke-Wulf blockade, strains our naval resources, great though they may be, to the utmost limit.

Churchill only promises to continue RAF and Royal Navy attacks for the time being.

Nurse Bernice Simmet selects a pair of rubber gloves for use during an appendectomy. Fort Benning, Georgia, 20 July 1941.

Soviet Military: Stalin takes over as People's Commissar of Defense from Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, who is demoted to command of the Western Front. Stalin is careful throughout the war to buttress his unchallenged control of the Soviet government with top military posts and ranks normally not taken by civilian leaders.

Stalin makes Lavrentiy Beria the new commander of the NKVD, which is formed out of the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security. This forces Vsevolod Merkulov to step down as the People's Commissar of State Security (NKGB, which now becomes the GUGB) of the Soviet Union and become Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD.

Stalin marks his "appointment" by issuing an order to "purge all unreliable elements" in the military. In practice, this means having state security (now the NKVD) detain and interrogate any soldiers who escape German encirclement. These interrogations are not gentle, and the soldiers remain under suspicion of being spies henceforth.

Josef Schulz (or Schultz).

German Military: A Wehrmacht soldier of the 714th infantry division, identified as Josef Schulz (or Schultz), refuses to participate in executing 16 suspected "partisans" in Serbia. The executions take place anyway within the barracks of Smederevska Palanka, southeast of Belgrade. Schultz's commanding officer immediately orders Schulz into the line with the partisans, shoots Schulz dead, and buries him with the partisans. The incident is completely forgotten until the early 1960s when two German weeklies publish some photographs of the incident that lead a West German Bundestag member, Wilderich Freiherr Ostman von der Leye, to identify the person on the photographs as Josef Schulz. There is serious disagreement as to whether the person in question was Schultz, but that the incident happened with some Wehrmacht soldier is accepted.

British Government: Brendan Bracken becomes the new Minister of Information (MOI). Bracken is a close crony of Winston Churchill, having previously been his Parliamentary Private Secretary, and his appointment is a clear indication that Churchill intends to exercise an ever-tighter rein over BBC propaganda efforts. The idea of a "free press" is fast becoming but a memory in Great Britain due to rigid censorship and carefully managed official announcements intended to service the war effort and not any airy "right to know" by the public.

Heinrich Himmler at Lipowa Camp, a Lublin sports field converted into a transit camp for Jewish forced laborers selected from Polish Army POWs, 20 July 1941. Note the presence of Himmler's top aides, Wolff and Peiper, and Hans Kammler.

Holocaust: Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders Odilo Globocnik, the local SS- und Polizeiführer at Lublin, to prepare to cleanse the district of Jews and Poles. The goal is to make it purely Germanic.

American Homefront: Republican 1936 Presidential nominee Alf Landon gives a speech broadcast over the CBS radio network. He accuses President Roosevelt of giving only "mere campaign oratory" during his re-election campaign in 1940. He notes:

Lack of confidence in the word of its chief executive is a real disintegrating force in any nation and any army.

Landon does, however, offer support for continuing the draft, which is due to expire soon without congressional action. He does so grudgingly, however, concluding that "The President has the country out on the limb now, and we have got to strengthen the tree at the base."

Children at play, Dalwood Homes, Balgowlah, New South Wales, 20 July 1941 (Sam Hood, State Library of New South Wales).

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Friday 16 May 1941

"Children waving at a Valentine tank of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on the move against the 'invaders' during a mock invasion exercise in Perthshire. Polish troops played the role of the defenders, while Scottish troops (probably the 51st Highland Division) took the part of the invaders." Captain W.T. Lockeyear, © IWM (H 9786).

Anglo/Iraq War: Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck) on 16 May 1941 has assembled a squadron (Fliegerführer Irak) in Mosul composed of 12 Messerschmitt Bf 110s, 5 Heinkel He 111s, a communications flight equipped with light aircraft, a section of anti-aircraft guns, and 3 Junkers Ju 52s. The RAF No. 203 Squadron opens hostilities in the early morning hours by raiding Sonderkommando Junck's airfield at Mosul. They destroy a Heinkel bomber and 2 Bf 110s. Already, Sonderkommando Junck is being whittled down.

The Germans respond by sending three Heinkel He 111 bombers and six Bf 110s against the main British airfield at Habbaniya. The Germans kill numerous British ground personnel and destroy a Hawker Audax fighter-bomber and shoot down a Gloster Gladiator fighter, both obsolete biplanes but still useful in the theater. Debris from the exploding Gladiator disables one of the Heinkels' engines, causing it to crash-land on the way back to Mosul.

Oberst Werner Junck, leader of the German forces (Fliegerführer Irak), flies to Baghdad from Mosul in place of the deceased Major Axel von Blomberg, recently shot in his transport while approaching Baghdad. He meets with Rashid Ali, German representative Dr. Grobba, and other top Iraqi leaders. The group decides to interdict Kingcol, the British relief column currently at Fort Rutbah, and prevent it from relieving RAF Habbaniya. Sonderkommando Junck also is to assist Iraqi ground forces in taking Habbaniya.

Several German ships anchored at Bandari Shahpur are ordered to scuttle themselves in the Shatt al-Arab. The hope is that they will block the entrance to the refinery there.

The Soviet Union recognizes the Rashid Ali government in Iraq via an exchange of diplomatic notes in Ankara, Turkey.

An early Consolidated B-24 Liberator that arrives in the UK on 16 May 1941. This plane is slotted to be used for crew training in RAF No. 120 Squadron Coastal Command.

European Air Operations: There are two separate commonly discussed periods of war activity between the Reich and Great Britain that overlap: the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. It is easy to confuse them and think of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain as one period of time, but they are separate actions that involve different characteristics. While the Battle of Britain is said to have ended at the end of October 1940, the Blitz continues until 16 May 1941. It finally ends today - or, at least the first and most destructive part of the Blitz.

The Luftwaffe sends 111 aircraft to raid RAF airfields in Birmingham and the West Midlands. The Germans lose three planes. While not apparent at the moment, this is the final Luftwaffe night bomber raid on England during the May Blitz. The Luftwaffe is shifting massive forces east in preparation for Operation Barbarossa.

The Luftwaffe sends fighter-bombers (Jabo) to raid southeast England. While Jabos carry a small payload, they are more accurate than level bombers and incur fewer losses. They also engage in strafing missions and can battle defending RAF fighters on an equal basis.

RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne with 93 planes after dark, causing fires on both sides of the Rhine. The Atlantik rubber plant at Bramsfeld (in the Ruhr Valley) also is attacked, with some success. Diversionary attacks in France and Holland also are effective, and overall the RAF loses two planes.

Manchester Guardian, 16 May 1941.

East African Campaign: Following a renewed attack on his defenses at Amba Alagi, the Duke of Aosta has had enough. His troops are giving ground and his supplies are running out, a situation exacerbated by an artillery hit on an oil tank that contains the Italians' only supply of fresh water. In addition, British promises of self-determination for Eritrea have induced the Italians' Eritrean troops to desert and motivated partisans (Arbegnoch), who are said to be committing atrocities against Italians. The Duke sues for peace and institutes a ceasefire.

British freighter Rodney Star, sunk 16 May 1941 off Freetown by U-105.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe), on its lengthy second patrol out of Lorient, extends its string of successes around 420 miles off of Freetown. Schewe spots independent (unescorted) 11,803-ton refrigerated transport Rodney Star (master Samuel John Clement) during the early morning hours, and at 05:48 fires two torpedoes. One hits in the stern, disabling the Rodney Star. Schewe then fires another torpedo at 06:20, and a third at 07:46, but larger ships tend to be hard to sink, so Schewe finally surfaces and uses its deck gun. After pumping 91 high explosive shells and 22 incendiary rounds into the crippled freighter, the Rodney Star finally sinks by the stern.

The 83-man crew of the Rodney Star (everyone survives) spends six days in lifeboats before being rescued by HMS Batna and Boreas and taken to Takoradi. According to some accounts, U-105's deck gun blew up during a training exercise on 6 May, while other accounts state that it blew up while firing on the Rodney Star, injuring six crew.

British 2448-ton freighter Archangel is badly damaged by the Luftwaffe. The ship, 10 miles north of Aberdeen, is attacked by three Heinkel He 111 bombers around midnight on the 16th and badly damaged. The ship later sinks while under tow to Aberdeen (some accounts say it was beached and broke up onshore). There are 41 deaths and 42 wounded, all enlisted men out of 475 men on board (figures vary). The wounded suffer from burns.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 5673-ton British freighter Ethel Radcliffe at Great Yarmouth. The Ethel Radcliffe had been damaged by German S boats on 17 April.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages 715-ton British freighter Joffre Rose off St. David's Head. The ship's master manages to beach the ship in Dale Bay, and, and further attacks by the Luftwaffe, the ship ultimately is refloated and repaired.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 811-ton British freighter Obsidian in St. George's Channel.

U-107 (Kptlt. Günter Hessler), also operating off Freetown, spots 8029-ton Dutch tanker Marisa in the distance and begins pursuit.

U-109 (Kptlt. Hans-Georg Fischer), on its first patrol out of Kiel, spots a large formation of US ships that includes battleships and several destroyers. Fischer, following orders, avoids contact.

Issues to the port-side crane of battleship Bismarck are resolved to Captain Lindemann's satisfaction. Admiral Lütjens reports the ship ready for action. Admiral Doenitz authorizes Operation Rheinübung, the planned sortie to the North Atlantic by Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen, to begin on the evening of 19 May.

Royal Navy minelayers HMS Teviotbank and Plover lay minefield BS-56 in the English Channel.

Convoys HX 127 and BHX 127 depart from Halifax and Bermuda, respectively.

Royal Navy corvettes Jasmine (Lt.Cdr. (retired) Cecil Dick Bluett Coventry) and Lavender (Lt.Cdr. Jackson Whayman, RNR) are commissioned, frigate Exe is laid down at Paisley.

Canadian corvette HMCS Levis (Lt. Charles W. Gilding) is commissioned, and corvette Shawinigan is launched at Lauzon, Quebec.

U-385 and U-386 are laid down.

RAF ace Noël le Chevalier Agazarian, KIA 16 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Brevity lives up to its codename as the British attack on Axis forces on the Egyptian/Libyan border, begun on the 15th and aimed at Sollum, stalls out. Berlin orders General Rommel - back in undisputed command of Afrika Korps following the departure of his General Staff "minder" General Friedrich Paulus on 8 May - to leave his Italian forces to guard Tobruk and block the British advance further south with his panzers of the 5th Panzer Regiment and 8th Panzer Regiment.

Lt. Colonel Hans Cramer, in command of the panzers, launches an aggressive attack against the British which succeeds. At the front, the British 22nd Guards Infantry Brigade withdraws from Fort Capuzzo and Sollum to Halfaya Pass, while the British 7th Armored Brigade withdraws from Sidi Aziz. The British Army forms a new line running from Sidi Omar to Sidi Suleiman to Sollum. This gives up all of the British gains from Operation Brevity aside from Halfaya Pass itself. The British are forced to retire because they have sustained heavy tank losses following the rapid Wehrmacht response to the attack.

Overhead, the RAF and Luftwaffe battle it out during Operation Brevity. RAF ace (seven victories) Noël le Chevalier Agazarian of 274 Squadron perishes when Fw. Franz Elles in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of 2./JG 27 shoots his Hawker Hurricane near Gambut.

Separately from the German attacks, Italian troops launch an unexpected attack on Tobruk. Sappers clear barbed wire and clear mines. The Italian infantry then moves forward and takes some bunkers.

Clearly worried about the staunch Axis defense on the Libyan frontier, Winston Churchill cables Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and asks if it would be okay to repeat the recent Tiger Convoy, which sent hundreds of tanks directly through the Mediterranean to Alexandria. Churchill notes, "in view of the heavy loss of I tanks on 15th May, victory may depend upon the last hundred."

In a message to South African leader Jan Smuts, Churchill notes that "President Roosevelt is pushing United States supplies towards Suez to the utmost." Churchill also states "I have good hopes that we shall win the campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean this summer."

The British use Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire to reinforce Tobruk during the night.

Light cruisers HMS Fiji and Gloucester land troops at Heraklion, Crete and then join the Royal Navy forces operating in large numbers near Crete. The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on the British base at Suda Bay, damaging 5993-ton freighter Logician and 6397-ton Greek freighter Nicolaou Ourania (beached and repaired by the Germans) and sinking 1070-ton Greek freighter Kythera. The RAF loses two Hurricanes of No. 33 Squadron based at Maleme.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unbeaten fires at Axis transports off Tripoli but misses.

Winston Churchill sends Malta Governor Dobbie a message saying that he is sending Donald Parker Stevenson, DSO, to be his new air commander because "He embodies the offensive spirit." The Luftwaffe raids continue against the island, and today they damage destroyer HMS Encounter and sink freighter Araybank.

A minesweeper, HMS Gloxinia, is damaged by a mine near Malta, and minesweeper Widnes is damaged by a bombing near-miss in the eastern Mediterranean, adding to the numerous minesweepers in the Mediterranean that have been put out of action. The island's government releases figures today providing data on the effects of the air attacks to date:

• 2087 houses destroyed
• 11,679 homeless

The damage extends throughout the island, with areas populated by refugees also suffering along with Valetta. Wing Commander J. Warfield is named commanding officer of RAF Station Takali in Malta.

USS Monssen (DD-436) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941 (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.).

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill sends President Roosevelt a lengthy cable. This message summarizes what has been learned from Rudolf Hess. The gist of the cable is that the Hess flight has brought valuable intelligence, but otherwise cannot be taken seriously.

Churchill writes that Hess has made "proposals for settlement." Churchill continues:

Hess said that the Fuehrer had never entertained any designs against the British Empire, which would be left intact save for the return of former German colonies, in exchange for a free hand for him in Europe. But condition was attached that Hitler would not negotiate with present Government in England.

Churchill notes that Hess has denied that Germany is making plans to attack Russia, but that the Reich does have plans in Asia. These include the removal of British forces from Iraq. Hess also makes "rather disparaging remarks" about the United States and its "aircraft types and production."

Churchill concludes that if Hess "is honest and if he is sane this is an encouraging sign of ineptitude of German Intelligence service" for thinking that there is a strong peace faction in Great Britain which he hoped to stimulate. Regarding that last point, Churchill later notes that "Hess seems in good health and not excited and no ordinary signs of insanity can be detected."

US/Chinese Relations: President Roosevelt states that the US has a vital interest in the defense of China.

Wake Island, May 1941(U.S. National Archives Photo 80-G-451195 from the U.S. National Park Service website A MAGNIFICENT FIGHT: Marines in the Battle for Wake Island).

Spy Stuff: German envoys in Stockholm overhear the Russian envoy claiming that at no time in Russian history have more powerful troop contingents been massed in the west. This jibes with other warnings being received in Berlin from Antonescu in Romania that Soviet troops are massing around Kyiv. In fact, the Soviets are indeed moving two armies to the area around Kyiv pursuant to the Zhukov Plan of 15 May.

Winston Churchill, in his message today to Jan Smuts, notes that "It looks as if Hitler is massing against Russia." He continues regarding Operation Barbarossa, still a full month away:

A ceaseless movement of troops, armoured forces and aircraft northwards from the Balkans and eastward from France and Germany is in progress. I should myself suppose his [Hitler's] best chance was to attack the Ukraine and Caucasus thus making sure of corn and oil.

Whatever his sources, most likely Ultra decrypts, Churchill is deadly accurate in this summary to Smuts. His strategic analysis also jibes closely with Hitler's own views, which are opposed by many generals and the OKW, who favor focusing on Moscow.

Churchill authorizes the movement of Rudolf Hess, still in a Glasgow military hospital, to the Tower of London "by tonight pending his place of confinement being prepared at Aldershot." Once again, Churchill emphasizes that "he must be kept in the strictest seclusion."

US Military: First delivers are made to the US Army Air Corps of the P-43 Lancer fighter. Separately, General Walter Krueger takes command of the US Third Army.

British Government: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a memo to Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, arguing that the survivors of soldiers killed while on leave should receive the same compensation as those actually killed in action. Heretofore, survivors have been given much smaller amounts. He writes that soldiers:

have a right to be considered when on leave as enjoying the same privileges in regard to pensions for their widows etc. as when they are with their Units.

Wood has resisted making the change because of cost, so Churchill asks for the figures.

German Government: The Gestapo arrests Karl Haushofer, a friend (former employer) of Rudolf Hess. Haushofer is one of many German philosophers who have argued that Germany should expand. As a former major general from World War I, he enjoys some status within the Reich and respect by Hitler. Haushofer's wife is Jewish, or rather a "half-Jew" according to Reich racial laws, and to date, Hess has protected her - but that protection now is gone. While paternity of the word "Lebensraum" and its significance within the Third Reich generally is assigned to Hitler in "Mein Kampf," some attribute the concept as used by the Reich as belonging to Haushofer.

Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 aircraft of the 178 IAP-PVO based south of Moscow, 16 May 1941 (TASS). This is a still taken from a Soviet propaganda film entitled "The Soviet Red Army Air Force Guards the Frontiers of the Motherland." These are show planes - normal military planes are not this shiny.

Soviet Government: Vsevolod Merkulov, Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD and head of the NKGB (a unit of the NKVD), updates Joseph Stalin on plans to deport influential natives (politicians, military leaders) from the Baltic States. Merkulov urges that the people be rounded up be given 8-year sentences in labor camps, with exile for their families to Siberia.

Martinique: Churchill inquires to General Ismay about the status of Martinique and says that "I have it in mind that the United States might take over Martinique to safeguard it from being used as a base for U-boats in view of Vichy collaboration." Great Britain, of course, has no control over either Vichy France or the United States, so Churchill cannot compel anything to happen regarding the government of the island, but, of course, Churchill has an opinion on everything and a lot of influence with President Roosevelt.

Iceland: The Althing (Icelandic Parliament) adopts four constitutional amendments intended to complete de facto independence from Denmark, which is effectively occupied by the Reich even if its government has been allowed to remain in place and theoretically retains freedom of decision. However, the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union remains in place for the time being (until February 1944). The Danish ambassador in Washington, D.C., who is not encumbered by coercion by the Reich, has been making decisions and representations on behalf of Iceland favorable to the Allies whose legality is questionable, and this action by the Althing does nothing to resolve that. Iceland itself is occupied by British troops, which the Icelandic government has protested against without result.

It is fair to say that the status of Iceland remains a giant unfinished puzzle, though its territory without question is greatly aiding the Allies. In any event, Iceland is going its own way regardless of legalities.

Malaya: General Percival, who has recently arrived by plane from Great Britain, assumes his post as General Officer Commanding, Malaya.

China: Japanese bombers raid Nationalist capital Chungking.

The 1st Armored Division M2A4 light tanks and medium tank parade for a Congressional Committee visiting Ft. Knox, KY, 16 May 1941.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Monday 3 February 1941

"Can Air Defense Save America?", February 1941 issue of Popular Science. Shown are F4F-3 Wildcats. The accompanying article notes that Wildcats cost $30,000, could reach 37,500 feet in altitude, and had a top speed of 328 mph.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek forces consolidate their hold on the Trebeshinë massif on 3 February 1941. This area is considered the gateway to the key Italian port of Valona. The weather and continued Italian resistance, however, precludes further advances for the time being.

East African Campaign: The Italians are well dug in at Keren, the key to the conquest of Eritrea for the British. They occupy the heights surrounding the town, including a spur rising 1800 meters (6000 feet) to the right of the road. Having occupied the area for years, the Italians have had plenty of time to select the most defensible positions. It is obvious from the local geography that Keren is the best point remaining to close the door on the British before they reach Asmara and the Eritrean highlands.

The British troops begin arriving today at Keren. The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Division, fresh off the victory at Mount Cochen, approaches the town's outskirts and prepares to reconnoiter the region. The Italians bide their time, knowing that, while the British might have the upper hand in a fluid battle, their fixed defenses will make them extremely difficult to dislodge.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 113 planes to lay mines during the night. Otherwise, everything is quiet on both sides except for some scattered raids in Eastern England, including a few bombs dropped on London.

"Supermarine Spitfire Mk Is of No. 92 Squadron RAF taking off from Manston, Kent, February 1941." © IWM (CH 2537).

Battle of the Atlantic: Having evaded the Royal Navy patrols and topped off their fuel tanks, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau proceed through the Denmark Strait. Once through, they will menace the shipping lanes to the south. The Royal Navy has no idea where they are, and earlier reports by a British cruiser south of Iceland that it had sighted the German ships (which it did) have been dismissed as "illusions."

U-107 (K.Kapt. Günther Hessler) stalks Convoy OB 279 in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. It torpedoes and sinks 4633-ton British refrigerated freighter Empire Citizen and 5051 ton Royal Navy ocean boarding vessel HMS Crispin (which remains afloat until the 4th). There are 78 deaths and 5 survivors of the Empire Citizen, and there are 19 deaths on the Crispin. 

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy 352-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Arctic Trapper off of Ramsgate. There are 17 deaths.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2660-ton freighter Dione II in the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland. It loses power and falls behind its convoy, Convoy SC 20, making it easy prey for attackers.

Royal Navy anti-submarine ship MA/SB-12 hits a mine off Milford Haven. It is taken in tow but eventually sinks.

British 212-ton freighter Calyx hits a mine and is damaged in the Mersey Estuary 8 miles from the Bar Light Vessel. It makes it to Liverpool.

Royal Navy 89-ton drifter Midas is engaged in a collision and sinks off Dungeness.

The Kriegsmarine lays defensive minefield Rugen off the Norwegian coast.

Convoy OB 282 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FS 403 departs from Methil, Convoy AS 14 departs from Piraeus, Convoy ASF 14 departs from Piraeus, Convoy HX 107 departs from Halifax.
Royal Navy corvettes HMS Abelia and Violet commissioned, minesweeper HMS Blackpool commissioned, minesweeping trawler HMS Flotta launched.

Soviet submarine K-21 commissioned.

U-432 launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant John Combe of the 11th Hussars Regiment sets out at 07:00 to the south of Green Mountain (the Jebel Akhdar) with about 2000 men in wheeled vehicles. This is "Combe Force." The British 7th Armoured Division follows later in the day. The objective is to bypass Benghazi to the south via Msus and Antelat and close the Benghazi-Tripoli road. The Italians already are evacuating Benghazi, but Italian troops are still east of the city, being pursued by the Australian 6th Infantry Division. While Combe's troops face little opposition, the terrain is rougher than on the well-built coastal road.

Italian 1130 ton freighter Multedo is lost around this date in the Gulf of Sirte of unknown causes.

There is another victim of the Luftwaffe minelaying of the Suez Canal. This time, it is 4934-ton British freighter Derwenthall. The mine blows off the ship's rudder, but the Derwenthall makes it to Suez in tow.

General Erwin Rommel is appointed to command "German Army Troops in Africa." There are as yet no German troops in Africa, but his command will evolve into the later Afrika Korps.

Fry, Arizona in January 1941. Courtesy Arizona Historical Society/Tucson.

Battle of the Pacific: A pair of US destroyers operating off Oahu, Hawaii make what they believe to be an underwater contact. It is unidentified, so USS Dale, Hull and Lamson spend time searching the area for intruders. They find nothing and eventually return to base.

The Navy converts an old Navy airstrip located seven miles west of Pearl Harbor into Marine Corps Air Station Ewa. There are plans to develop the strip into a major airbase.

Battleship USS Arizona makes port in Pearl Harbor.

German Military: Field Marshal von Brauchitsch brings OKH Chief of the General Staff General Franz Halder up from Zossen to the Chancellery in Berlin. They are there to show the army's plans for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, to Adolf Hitler. The intelligence service estimates that the Wehrmacht would be outnumbered both in divisions - the Soviets having 155, slightly more than the Germans - and armor - the Soviet tanks outnumbering German ones 10,000 to 3500. Halder further cautions that, while the Soviet armor is inferior, "Even so, surprises cannot be ruled out altogether." The plan assumes that numerical inferiority will not prevent victory because of quality and surprise. Halder also warns that transferring the army to the East will make any operations in the West, such as Operation Attila (the occupation of Vichy France), essentially impossible.

Hitler is excited nonetheless. He exclaims (there are various different versions of this extremely famous quote):

When Barbarossa commences the world will hold its breath and remain silent!

While he approves the plan, which envisages three essentially equal thrusts in the north, center, and south, Hitler clings to the belief that the main effort should be in the north, toward Leningrad, with the advance in the South toward Kyiv taking secondary priority. He likes the idea of working together with the Finns, who he calls "a plucky people," and thus wants to join with them quickly. The general consensus in the army, however, is that the main effort should be in the center, toward Moscow. These conflicting viewpoints will not be resolved until the campaign actually starts and, some have argued, go a long way toward dooming the entire invasion.

Separately, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock returns from medical leave. He re-assumes command of Army Group Center (technically, he commands Army Group B) in Poland. Von Bock is pessimistic about the prospects for forcing the Soviet Union to make peace and is one of the few willing to question Hitler about it. However, Hitler has told von Bock that Germany has plenty of resources with which to handle the Soviets.

First B-17D, February 3, 1941 (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives) by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives (Flickr).

US Military: Deputy Chief of Staff General Moore urges a formal codification of US defense objectives and army strength. At this point, the US Army is still nebulous, with only vague projections of millions of men being drafted. There is no planning at all being done as to how many divisions these men would form, or what kind of divisions (infantry, armored, cavalry, etc.) they would be. Essentially, the army is "playing it by ear" at this point, with no concrete plans for how a mobilization would proceed.

Soviet Military: A new military intelligence service is instituted separate from the NKVD. Called NKGB, it has Vsevolod Merkulov leading it as People's Commissar of State Security.

Kliment Voroshilov receives his third Order of Lenin. He has been a member of the Central Committee since 1921, People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs since 1925, a member of the Politburo since 1926, People's Commissar for Defense since 1934, and a Marshal of the Soviet Union since 1935.

US Government: Debate continues in Congress over the Lend-Lease Bill. The passage in the Senate appears to be assured, but in the House is much less certain. The Administration is engaged in a full-scale effort to win passage of the Bill because Great Britain has run out of money to fund the war and from this point is going to have to rely upon US largesse one way or another.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies is spending the day in Jerusalem on his way from Melbourne to London. He has time to ponder some eternal questions in his diary:

Further impression. Can these mandates [i.e., Israel] really work. There is here a problem of reconciling Jew and Arab, which will become active again after the war. We, the mandators, have all the odium of attempting settlement & direction without the real power of government.... [H]aving regard to the strategical position of Palestine we should have cut out sentimentality long ago and taken it over.

Cuba: President Fulgencio Batista, who took office on 10 October 1940, begins tightening his grip on the country. At this point, Batista has the support of the local communists and implements progressive policies.

China: In the continuing Battle of Southern Honan, the Japanese 11th Army takes possession of Tamshin, to the east of Canton. The Chinese 5th War Area, meanwhile, re-occupies Paoanchai and Wuyang. The Japanese have very efficient troops, but they do not have enough manpower to occupy the large swathes of China that it is capable of taking. This will forever curtail its successes in China.

American Homefront: In United States v. Darby Lumber Co., 312 U.S. 100 (1941), the US Supreme Court upholds the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This decision establishes that the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution grants Congress the authority to regulate employment conditions within several states.

Life Magazine, "War News From Inside Germany," February 3, 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