Wednesday 6 August 1941

Hitler and Antonescu at the afternoon Fuehrer conference at Army Group South headquarters, 6 August 1941. Note that Antonescu is sporting his new Knight's Cross.

Eastern Front: The German high command as of 6 August 1941 has been compiling statistics on losses on the Eastern Front, and today divulges some of its findings. According to reports from the front, the Wehrmacht has taken 266,352 casualties on the Eastern Front since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. This is compared to 895,000 prisoners taken and an unknown number of Soviet casualties. While it is generally accepted that the Red Army takes higher casualties than the Wehrmacht throughout the war, the number of German casualties dwarfs those in earlier campaigns and is making a noticeable impact on the strength of front-line units.

Adolf Hitler, who is visiting the front, has his noon Fuhrer Conference at the headquarters of Army Group South. At the instigation of General Franz Halder, OKH Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group South, advocates orienting the entire Eastern Front attack toward capturing Moscow. Halder (who does not attend the meeting) writes in his war diary:

The Fuehrer again showed himself absolutely deaf to these arguments. He still harps on his old themes: 1) Leningrad... and 2) Eastern Ukraine... 3) Moscow comes last.

Hitler makes clear his priorities at the conference when he praises the advance of Panzer Group 1 on Kryvyi Rih, which has "high-grade iron-ore deposits and the large blast furnaces." The difference between Hitler and the generals comes down Hitler's planning for a long war which will require economic exploitation, while the generals seek a quick knockout of the Soviet Union. Neither solution necessarily is right or wrong, but the Wehrmacht is built more for short, sharp campaigns than a lengthy war of economic production and attrition.

In the Far North sector, the Finnish 7th Division of the VII Corps continues its advance from Sortavala to the shore of Lake Ladoga at Lahdenpohja. Further north, Group J of Finnish III Corps advances rapidly toward Kestenga despite bitter Soviet opposition. The Soviets are trying to rush reinforcements to both areas, but they are remote and there are few available troops nearby. The Stavka calls down 600 headquarters troops of the 14th Army along with a replacement battalion from Murmansk, which does not appear in jeopardy at the moment.

Army of Norway has been calling for help in getting its stalled offensive toward Murmansk rolling again, so OKW sends some reinforcements. The German 6th Destroyer Flotilla and the 12th Antisubmarine Flotilla escort transports carrying the 6th Mountain Division from Stettin, Germany to Kirkenes, Norway.

Hitler and General Halder, 1940.

In the Army Group North sector, the German 16th Army takes Staraya Russa (south of Lake Ilmen) and Kholm after a bitter struggle. General Halder at OKH headquarters writes about this, "signs of enemy demoralization (tanks desert to us!)." These stories about enemy desertions crop up throughout the war and never lead to much.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Wehrmacht is juggling units to give some front-line formations a chance to rebuild themselves behind the front. At the lightning-rod position at Yelnya, infantry moves forward to take over positions held by a battered panzer and SS formation. Halder writes in the war diary:

Enemy elements thought to be trapped at Roslavl have escaped. The Russians have an uncanny ability for moving on roads impassable for our troops and build concealed river crossings.

He adds, "Elsewhere, minor attacks."

In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 4th Army and German 11th Army continue putting pressure on the Soviet defenders of Odesa. Hitler has promised overlordship of the region to Romania if Ion Antonescu can secure it, while the Soviet defenders of the city have been told to defend it to the end. Meanwhile, at Uman, the Germans continue tightening their envelopment of the 100,000 Soviet soldiers trapped there, though the Soviets continue to resist. German 6th Army is almost at the Dniepr River south of Kyiv, while the Soviets score some local successes near Kyiv.

That Soviet morale remains high is demonstrated during an unusual incident over Moscow. The Luftwaffe continues to send raids over the Soviet capital, but they have become small nuisance raids. Red Army pilot Viktor Talalikhin, after running out of ammunition, rams a Heinkel He-111 bomber with his Polikarpov I-16 fighter. Both planes crash, but Talalikhin parachutes safely to the ground.

Pilots of 5,/JG54 in Russia on 6 August 1941. Shown are Hubert Mutherich, Hans Philipp, Hauptmann Dietrich Hrabak and Lieutenant Josef Puhs. They are standing in front of Hrabak's Bf-109F, which shows 24 victories. Hrabak winds up with 109 victories on the Eastern Front and an additional 16 on the Western Front.

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends 25 Blenheim bombers on sweeps along the French coast and north of there. The planes all return to base after attacking a few ships.

After a maximum effort on the night of August 5th, the RAF returns to the same three cities - Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe - with smaller follow-up raids after dark. All of the raids target railway yards.

The RAF sends 34 Whitleys and 19 Wellingtons against Frankfurt. The RAF loses 2 Whitleys and 2 Wellingtons.

The RAF sends 38 Welling against Mannheim. All of the planes return.

The RAF attacks Karlsruhe with 38 Hampdens. One aircraft fails to return.

RAF Bomber Command also sends 38 bombers (21 Hampdens, 11 Wellingtons, and 6 Whitleys) against the Calais docks. The bombers have difficulty finding the docks and only 14 are able to drop their bombs over the target. One Hampden fails to return.

One Wellington also is lost on one of two separate Operational Training Units (OTU) sorties over France.

Luftwaffe Leutnant Hans Thurner, commander of the German Kampfgeschwader 55 wing, receives the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Hubert Mütherich, squadron commander of the 5th Squadron of Jagdgeschwader 54, also receives the Ritterkreuz.

Hans Thurner, Kommandeur I./Kampfgeschwader 6, Ritterkreuz 06.08.1941, KIA 11.06/1944.

East African Campaign: The South African Air Force completes three consecutive days of bombing Italian positions at their last stronghold of Gondar.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet destroyers Statny and Surovy park offshore in Moon Sound and shell German coastal battery Hainasch.

U-652, a Type VIIC U-boat.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-652 (Oblt.z.S. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its first patrol out of Bökfjord, is operating about 7 miles off Cape Teriberka (50 km east of Murmansk) on the Kola Peninsula when it spots a Soviet ship. At 19:00, U-652 launches one torpedo and sinks 558-ton Soviet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ship PS-70/Kapitan Voronin (this ship is sometimes identified as Dispatch Vessel PS-70). There are 12 survivors and 45 perish. This is the first U-boat success in the Arctic Sea and the first for U-652. After this, U-652 makes port in Kirkenes on the 7th, then heads south to Trondheim.

Also in the Arctic, armed Soviet motorboat Polyarnik claims to attack U-451 and damage it. While U-451 indeed is in the Arctic on a patrol, there is no confirmation of this incident or of being damaged.

Seas are rough in the North Sea and Channel, and several ships of Convoy FS-559 run aground and are lost. Royal Navy 627-ton anti-submarine trawler HMS Agate of Convoy FS-559 runs aground and is lost off Cromer, Norfolk in poor weather. Everyone on board perishes. British freighters Aberhill, Afon Towy, Deerwood, and Oxshott, and colliers Betty Hindley, Gallois (all crew saved) and Taara also run aground and are wrecked at Haisborough Sands.

Norwegian ferry Florvåg sinks off Gravdal, Hordaland.

The German B-Dienst intelligence service locates the position of Convoy HG-68 in the Atlantic and sets up a reception party. Spanish agents also report the likely sailing date of Convoy HG-69 from Cadiz, Spain, and a wolfpack assembles offshore.

Convoys ON-4 and ON-5 depart from Liverpool, Convoy HG-34F departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool and New York (the convoy splits on the way north).

U-404 (Kapitänleutnant Otto von Bülow) is commissioned, U-589 and U-590 are launched, and U-187 is laid down.

Oberleutnant Hubert Mütherich, Staffelkapitän, 5. Staffel, II. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz." KIA 09.09.1941. He is standing in front of his Bf 109F2 5.JG54 (B1+). Mütherich winds up with 43 victories.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Dutch submarine O-24 (Lt.Cdr.  Otto de Booy) is operating six miles (10 km) off Fregene (near Rome) when it torpedoes and sinks 613-ton Italian freighter Bombardiere.

An Axis convoy of five large freighters and a tanker from Naples bound for Tripoli comes under attack by 7 Swordfish of RAF No. 830 Squadron based on Malta. While they have a heavy escort of four destroyers and a torpedo boat, that doesn't protect the ships. During the run across the Strait of Sicily, the RAF bombs and sinks 6813-ton freighter Nita about 20 miles southwest of Lampedusa. The RAF pilots also claim to leave another freighter badly damaged and another torpedoed but in an uncertain state, but there is no confirmation that any ship other than the Nita is hit.

Royal Navy destroyers Decoy and Havock perform the nightly supply run to Tobruk. Later on, destroyers Jaguar and Nizam also make a run to Tobruk.

Italian submarines Atropo, Corridoni, and Zoea are used to transport supplies and fuel to Axis forces at the advanced position of Bardia, Libya today and through the 20th.

Australian destroyer HMAS Nestor spots a surfaced submarine off Gibraltar. Neither side scores any hits, but a torpedo fired by the U-boat narrowly passes alongside Nestor.

The Luftwaffe attacks Suez and Alexandria during the night.

Spy Stuff: The British execute Werner Heinrich Walti and Karle Theo Drucke at Wandsworth Prison. They were part of German Operation Hummer Nord I to infiltrate agents into Britain and had flown into Gollachy, between Buckie and Port Gordon, on the night of 29/30 September 1940. They had been caught very quickly without achieving any results.

Generalleutnant Erwin Rauch, Kommandeur der Division 6, August 1941.

Propaganda: The German OKW issues a communique that summarizes operations to date. It announces that the Wehrmacht has inflicted "annihilating blows unique in history." These include taking 895,000 prisoners and destroying or capturing 10,388 guns, 13,146 tanks, and 9,082 aircraft. These figures may be overstated, but, even if taken at face value, they have not seriously impaired the Soviet Union's ability and willingness to resist.

German/Romanian Relations: Romanian dictator (his title is "Conducator") Ion Antonescu attends the noon briefing at Army Group South headquarters along with Adolf Hitler. The latter confers upon Antonescu the Knight's Cross for his troops' performance to date.

US/Japanese Relations: Negotiations continue in deep secrecy between the two countries as Ambassador Nomura submits a new proposal from Tokyo to Secretary Hull. After the Americans turn down some offers of concessions in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, the Japanese propose a meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Konoye. The Americans do not immediately reject this, but President Roosevelt secretly is otherwise engaged at the moment in Canada.

Echoing similar statements today across the Atlantic by British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, Secretary Cordell Hill also says that any Japanese intrusion into Thailand would create a crisis in US/Japanese relations.

Anglo/Iranian/Thai Relations: In the House of Commons, British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden announces that he has made a diplomatic protest with the Iranian government concerning German "tourists" in the country. He also openly warns Japan from invading or otherwise taking over Thailand, which he says would be "of immediate concern" to the British government. In fact, the Japanese have recently made a secret deal with the Thai government to fund continued trade relations between the two countries in order to evade the Anglo/US/Dutch banking sanctions. Thus, Japan at this time benefits from Thailand remaining a sovereign nation with access to international markets.

HMAS Perth's ship's company in Fremantle, 6 August 1941.

Polish Military: Polish General Władysław Anders, recently released from the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army being re-formed from Soviet POWs in the USSR. This is pursuant to the Sikorski-Maisky agreement signed in London on 30 July 1941.

Soviet Military: The Red Army hands out the first two "Hero of the Soviet Union" awards to detachment commanders Pavlovskiy and Bumazhkov.

British Military: The first Bell P-39 Aircobra arrives in the United Kingdom. While destined for RAF No. 601 Squadron, trials of this new plane are begun by the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford. The British quickly find the plane inadequate for combat.

USS Alamac being unloaded at Reykjavik, 6 August 1941.

US Military: President Roosevelt signs an executive order transferring the US Coast Guard's Honolulu District from the Treasury Department to the US Navy.

USN Task Force 16 (Rear Admiral William R. Monroe), led by the aircraft carrier USS Wasp and the battleship USS Mississippi, arrives at Reykjavik, Iceland. The flotilla brings 30 P-40Cs and three Stearman PT-13 Kaydets of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron to be based ashore for local defense. It also brings Catalina flying boats for patrol duties with VP-73 and VP-74. Transport American Legion, stores ship Mizar, and freighter Alamac bring troops and supplies.

Heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) continue their goodwill visit at Brisbane, Australia.

Forest land is cleared in North Carolina that will become Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Japanese Military: The Imperial Navy requisitions 8360-ton freighter Sanyo Maru. The IJN begins converting it to a seaplane carrier/tender. Among its modifications are the addition of a catapult, two 150-mm/45 cal single-mount guns, and two Type 93 13-mm single-mount machine guns. The IJN also requisitions 6795-ton salvage ship Yamabiko Maru.

Following up on recent decisions taken to not attack the Soviet Union, Tokyo instructs the Kwantung Army to avoid any border incidents with the Red Army.

Home of Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä. The Soviets had built bunkers and underground tunnel on the property. Rautjärvi, August 6, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

British Government: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit Hull.

Holocaust: The Croatian Ustaše under Ivan Jovanović (known as "Blacky") perpetrate the Prebilovci massacre. The Croatian paramilitary group takes around women and children from the village of Prebilovci, Herzegovina and throws them into the Golubinka pit, near Šurmanci, to their deaths. This is just the beginning of killings at Prebilovici, as 820 of 1000 inhabitants ultimately are killed during the summer. The killings also extend into nearby communities with additional thousands killed. Those killing the villagers are their fellow villagers, with the victims tending to be Serbs.

Belgian Homefront: The Legion Vlaandern (Flanders Legion) is established. It is a collaborationist unit.

American Homefront: Pitcher Al Benton of the Detroit Tigers becomes the only player to have two sacrifice bunts in the same inning, against the Cleveland Indians - something that has not been equaled as of 2018. Benton serves in the US Navy in 1943 and 1944, then resumes his career with the Tigers.

Future History: Lyle Arnold Berman is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He becomes a top executive at companies such as the Rainforest Cafe but is better known as a world-class poker player. Berman has won 3 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets in 1989, 1992, and 1994, and is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

Spectators watch from the bridge over spillway as Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) overflows for the first time, August 6, 1941, and pours 15,000 cubic feet per minute from record-level of Lake Mead into Colorado River behind the dam. Spillway leads into tunnel 50 feet in diameter and then 2200 feet to river level below where water bursts out in a great jet. At the Dam, Lake Mead had reached a level of 590 feet and contained more than 10,000,000,000,000 gallons of water. (AP Photo).

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 12 June 1941

"Shells from HMS SHEFFIELD hitting the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4392).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Australian 21st Brigade continues pushing up the key coastal road towards Sidon on 12 June 1941. The Vichy French assemble six battalions, including two French Foreign Legion, and a large group of tanks between Mount Hermon and the desert. The Vichy French also send three Tunisian battalions in the Jebel Druse sector.

The Australian 25th Brigade splits its forces, leaving a skeleton force to hold Merdjayoun (Medjayun) while sending the bulk as flank support for the 21st Brigade on the coast.

Free French troops capture Deraa, Sheikh Meskine, and Ezraa on the road to Damascus in the southwestern French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon. They finally are held up Kissoué (Kiswe). During the battle to take Kiswe, General Paul Legentilhomme of the Free French is wounded and replaced by Lloyd of the Indian 5th Brigade.

The RAF torpedoes 1105-ton French tanker Adour off Syria. The tanker makes port in Turkey, which interns it.

Back in Cairo, the British are surprised at the fierce Vichy French defense of Syria and Lebanon. Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell orders the 16th British Brigade to Syria to add some force to the invasion.

Damage on Randolph Road, Dover, from bombing on 12 June 1941 (Dover).

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends a dozen bombers against coastal targets. RAF Fighter Command conducts more Rhubarb and Roadstead operations. These include RAF No. 11 Group sending 24 fighters of RAF No. 74 and 92 Squadron along with 12 fighters of No. 611 Squadron against Gravelines. As bait to draw the Luftwaffe fighters up, the RAF fighters escort three Blenheim IV bombers from No. 2 Group.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 91 aircraft to attack Soerst, 84 to bomb Schwerte, 61 to attack Osnabruck, 82 to bomb Hamm and 18 to bomb Huls. The German civil defense authorities finally begin to realize the scale of the threat and warn people to seek shelter during raids.

The Luftwaffe has most of its assets in the East. Before dawn, they send one Heinkel He 111 of 1,/KG 28 to bomb Birmingham. The Luftwaffe also raids Dover, killing 16 people.

Hauptmann Herbert Nebenfuhr takes over as Gruppenkommandeur of Erg. Gruppe./JG 27 from Hptm. Erich Gerlitz.

"One of the lifeboats from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME, full of prisoners, comes alongside the SHEFFIELD." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4402).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues its sweep of the Atlantic Ocean for German supply ships. Cruiser HMS Sheffield finds 10,397-ton German tanker Friederich Breme and sinks it. There are 88 German survivors (two of 12 wounded crew later die as well). Eliminating these supply vessels intended to support (now sunk) battleship Bismarck has the benefit of crimping U-boat operations.

German heavy cruiser Lützow passes out of the Skagerrak on her way to Norway and a later breakout to the North Atlantic. This is Unternehmen Sommerreise (Operation Summer Trip).

The Royal Navy is keeping a close eye on Lutzow's progress and sends battleship King George V and light cruisers Arethusa and Aurora to reinforce the Northern Patrol. Just before midnight, the British Ultra service decodes German messages indicating where the German ships are. To intercept them, the RAF launches five Bristol Beaufort Mk I torpedo bombers of No. 22 Squadron from Wick and nine Beaufort Mk I machines of No. 42 Squadron from Leuchars in Scotland. Just after midnight on the 13th, a Bristol Blenheim of RAF No. 114 spots the German ships and reports their position.

U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze), on its 12th patrol and operating Lorient and operating north of the Azores, at 02:51 torpedoes and sinks 7005-ton British Empire Dew. There are 23 deaths. The 19-20 survivors, including the master, are picked up on the 13th by destroyer KNM St. Albans.

This is U-48's final victory of the war. After this, it will return to Kiel and become a training vessel. During its career, it has sunk 51 ships for a total of 306,875 tons, plus one warship of 1060 tons and three ships damaged totaling 20,480 tons.

U-371 (Kptlt. Heinrich Driver), on its first patrol out of Kiel and operating south of Iceland, at 03:26 torpedoes and sinks 6373-ton British freighter Silverpalm (the identity of the ship is assumed from British records but officially is undetermined). In any event, everybody on the Silverpalm perishes - 68 people - and a lifeboat containing 8 bodies is found on 15 July.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire and operating 370 nautical miles (690 km) northeast of the Azores (south of Ireland), at 04:14 torpedoes and sinks independent 8593-ton British freighter Chinese Prince south of Rockall. There are 45 deaths, while 19 survivors (including the master) are picked up by Royal Navy corvettes Arbutus and Pimpernel.

"The German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME on fire after gunfire from HMS SHEFFIELD." © IWM (A 4399).

U-553 (Kptlt. Karl Thurmann), on its second patrol out of St. Nazaire and operating north of the Azores, stalks Convoy OG-64 and sinks two ships in quick succession:

• 5590-ton Norwegian tanker Ranella (sinks in 90 seconds)
• 2355-ton British freighter Susan Maersk (breaks in half)

The U-boat surfaces and uses its deck gun to finishes off the Ranella at 17:06. Everybody on the Ranella survives, though the Ranella's crew has to endure 12 days at sea in two separate lifeboats before making landfall at Figueira da Foz, Azores. All 24 on the Susan Maersk perish.

U-557 (KrvKpt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen), on its first patrol and operating with Wolfpack West south of Iceland, is spotted by Royal Navy ships off St. John's, Newfoundland and attacked. The U-boat survives without damage.

Royal Navy auxiliary minesweeper HMT Sisapon hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Harwich, Essex.

Royal Navy escort ship HMS Sennen, a former US coast guard ship, collides with 88-ton drifter Animate in the Clyde. The Sennen continues with its duties.

At 01:27, Royal Navy light cruiser Arethusa, on its way to reinforce the Northern Patrol, intercepts 6537-ton Finnish freighter Kronoborg near the Scottish coast and sends it to Kirkwall for inspection. Light cruiser Aurora, accompanying Arethusa, also stops 1831-ton Finnish freighter Rolfsborg at the same time and also sends it to Kirkwall.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk departs from Freetown carrying 181 German prisoners taken from sunk German supply ships Esso Hamburg (9849 tons) and Egerland (9789 tons).

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unshaken is laid down, the destroyer HMS Ulster is ordered.

US destroyers USS David W. Taylor and Capps are laid down.

U-574 (Oberleutnant zur See Dietrich Gengelbach) and U-575 (Kptlt. Günther Heydemann) are commissioned, U-135, U-581, and U-582 are launched, U-518 is laid down.

"Captain Otto Schultze, the Captain of the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME being interrogated on board HMS SHEFFIELD by Royal Marine officers." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4408).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine Torbay sinks 239-ton Italian schooner Gesù e Maria off Skiros Island.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks Italian 1367-ton freighter Silvio Scaroni about 70 miles off Benghazi. Italian torpedo boats Pallade and Polluce attack the Taku, but it escapes undamaged.

Dutch submarine O.24 torpedoes and sinks 6660-ton Italian tanker Fianona south of Vada.

During the night, O-24 then attaches demolition charges to 143-ton Italian auxiliary patrol trawler Carloforte about 36 miles from Gorgara.

At Malta, an unusual naval action results when Royal Navy trawler HMS Jade goes out early in the morning to rescue a missing RAF pilot about 17 miles off the coast of Sicily. Two E-boats come out to confront the Jade and fire torpedoes. The torpedoes miss, and Jade opens fire, which returns fire. One man is killed on the Jade and the two E-boats take serious damage. The downed pilot, meanwhile, is never found.

The Italians send a formation over Malta from north to south and lose five fighters. The RAF loses two fighters, with one pilot killed and the other badly wounded. A third RAF fighter is damaged. Flight Commander Thomas Francis Neil of RAF No. 249 Squadron claims a Macchi MC-200 Thunderbolt fighter.
The South African Air Force conducts its first combat missions in North Africa.

"A wounded prisoner from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME being interrogated on board HMS SHEFFIELD." © IWM (A 4421).

Battle of the Pacific: US freighter Iowan runs aground on a reef a few hundred yards off Government Point, near Point Conception, California. The Iowan is towed off the reef late in June and repaired.

War Crimes: While this incident isn't intended as a war crime, it illustrates how even good intentions can go awry. At Malta, two Hawker Hurricanes are sent up to intercept enemy planes approaching the island. The fighters fire on one of the planes they find, a flying boat, in the darkness. The plane turns out to be an Italian Red Cross plane. The RAF pilots break off the attack when they realize their mistake, but it is too late - the Cant plane crashes into the sea, with unknown casualties.

This kind of incident resulting from the fog of war builds up hard feelings and leads to later incidents. The Italians, of course, don't know anything about good intentions and mistakes, they only know that the RAF shot down a Red Cross plane. Each side very much notices and keeps a score of these types of incidents.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese Vice-Consul in Hawaii, Takeo Yoshikawa (a Japanese military intelligence operative under the assumed name Tadashi Morimura), continues spying on US fleet and freighter movements in Pearl Harbor. Today, he reports that transport President Pierce has sailed for the Philippines with about 900 soldiers and 100 pilots on board.

German/Romanian Relations: Hitler concludes his meetings with Romanian leader Ion Antonescu in Munich. They reach an agreement for Romania to participate in Operation Barbarossa. Hitler then prepares to return to Berlin.

Anglo/US Relations: RAF Air Marshal Arthur Harris arrives in the United States. He is head of the RAF purchasing mission.

Representatives at the St. James conference. Visible are King George VI, Polish leader Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister Zaleski, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, South African High Commissioner Sidney Waterson, New Zealand Commissioner W.J. Jordan, Australian Commissioner S.M. Bruce, Canadian Commissioner Vinzent Massey, and Yugoslav minister Ivan Soubbotitch (Federal Archive Bild 183-M1023-508).

Allied Relations: An inter-allied meeting is held in London at St. James' Palace. Present are representatives of the governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the Government of Belgium, the Provisional Czechoslovak Government, the Governments of Greece, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia, and the Representatives of General de Gaulle, leader of Free Frenchmen.

Prime Minister gives a speech to the delegates, stating in part:

Hitler may turn and trample this way and that through tortured Europe. He may spread his course far and wide and carry his curse with him. He may break into Africa or into Asia. But it is here, in this island fortress, that he will have to reckon in the end. We shall strive to resist by land and sea.

The governments agree in the "St. James Agreement" on the following points:

1. That they will continue the struggle against German or Italian aggression until victory has been won and they will mutually assist each other in this struggle to the utmost of their respective capacities;
2. There can be no settled peace and prosperity so long as free peoples are coerced by violence into submission to domination by Germany or her associates or live under the threat of such coercion;
3. That the only true basis for enduring peace is the willing cooperation of the free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security; and that it is their intention to work together with other free peoples both in war and peace to this end. 

Notably absent from the conference is an American representative.

"Oblique aerial view of Exeter airfield, Devon, from the north-east. Damage caused by the severe night air raids mounted against the airfield in April and May 1941 is still apparent among the buildings of the technical site on the left, including the large pre-war civilian hangar used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In the foreground repairs to the grass surfaces have been carried out by filling in bomb craters with rubble from bombed houses in Exeter. Aircraft, many of which belong to the Gunnery Research Unit, are dispersed around the airfield and in the adjoining fields. Boulton Paul Defiants of No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron RAF can be seen parked in the double aircraft pens constructed around the dispersal loop track (lower right), which cuts across fields and hedge boundaries of land requisitioned from nearby Treasbeare Farm." © IWM (HU 91898).

US Military: The US Navy calls up the Naval Reserve to active duty who are not in a deferred status (e.g., married).

German Military: Hitler's adjutant, Rudolf Schmundt, travels to a pine forest near Rastenburg in East Prussia. Hitler has ordered him to check to make sure that a forward military headquarters is being built for him there.

The OKW distributes the infamous "Kommissarbefehl" [Commissar order] of 6 June 1941 under the innocuous title "Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia."

The Wehrmacht is in the final stages of assembling 130 divisions on the border with the Soviet Union. There also are allied forces in Finland and Romania preparing to take part.

Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler begins a three-day conference of senior Schutzstaffel (SS) men (SS-Gruppenführer rank and higher) at Schloß Wewelsburg in Büren, Germany. The SS has been building up fighting (Waffen) forces in anticipation of Operation Barbarossa.

"German prisoners from the German tanker FRIEDERICH BREME going on board HMS SHEFFIELD." 12 June 1941. © IWM (A 4404).

Holocaust: It is Anne Frank's 12th birthday. The family now lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her father Otto has had to transfer his shares in his company, Pectacon (a wholesaler of herbs, pickling salts, and mixed spices) to a non-Jew, Johannes Kleiman. The company was then liquidated. The family still lives openly on the Merwedeplein, but Otto's income has been greatly reduced.

In the Warsaw Ghetto, 15-year-old Mary Berg writes in her diary:

The ghetto is becoming more and more crowded; there is a constant stream of new refugees. These are Jews from the provinces who have been robbed of all their possessions. Upon their arrival the scene is always the same: the guard at the gate checks the identity of the refugee, and when he finds out he is a Jew, gives him a push with the butt of his rifle as a sign that he may enter our Paradise. […] These people are ragged and barefoot, with the tragic eyes of those who are starving. Most of them are women and children. They become charges of the community, which sets them up in so-called homes. There they die sooner or later.

She concludes her entry: "The community is helpless."

Members of C Company, 2/33rd Battalion loading up a donkey with rations and ammunition to supply troops occupying a strategic position overlooking one of the mount roads to Merdjayoun [Australian War Memorial AWM 008205].

American Homefront: President Roosevelt nominates Harlan F. Stone to be the 12th Chief Justice of the United States, and also James Byrne as an associate justice. Stone will be confirmed on 28 June, and Byrne on 8 July.

In his weekly radio address, Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron states that the Los Angeles Police Department has done a good job handling the recent North American Aviation Strike. He claims that the police were unable to handle the violent confrontation, requiring the presence of US Army troops to secure the plant and return it to operation pursuant to President Roosevelt's recent executive order.

Future History: Marvin Philip Aufrichtig is born in Brooklyn, New York. As Marv Albert, he becomes a broadcaster who serves for 37 years beginning in 1967 for the New York Knicks NBA team. He also becomes the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA on NBC in the 1990s. As of this writing, Marv Albert continues to serve as a broadcaster for the NBA, NCAA, TNT and in other venues.

Armando Anthony Corea is born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. As Chick Corea, he becomes a legendary jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. He continues to perform as of this writing.

Reginald Maurice Ball is born in Andover, United Kingdom. Adopting the stage name of Reg Presley, he becomes the lead singer and composer with 1960s rock and roll band The Troggs. He is best known for classics "Wild Thing" and "With A Girl Like You." Reg Presley passes away on 4 February 2013.

A nurse with a patient at Sandleford Priory, a country house at Sandleford in Berkshire. Sandleford is one of many taken over by the Joint War Organization (of the British Red Cross and Order of St John) to provide convalescent care and rehabilitation for injured servicemen, 12 June 1941.

June 1941

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

2020