Tuesday 6 May 1941

Australian 6th Division Troops landing at Suda Bay, Crete after their evacuation from Greece (Australian War Memorial).

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 6 May 1941 gradually have been pushing the Iraqis back from their stronghold at Habbaniyah Airfield west of Baghdad. Today, they clear the plateau to the south which overlooks the airfield from which the Iraqis have been shelling the airfield with 28 artillery pieces. The Iraqis flee in disarray after taking 1000 casualties, falling back on Baghdad with the rag-tag British troops (chiefly the King's Own Royal Regiment) in pursuit in armoured cars. The British catch up to the Iraqis at Sinn El Dhibban, taking 433 prisoners while losing 7 killed and 14 wounded.

Hitler still wants to send troops and planes to Iraq. His representative in Paris, Otto Abetz, receives tentative permission from Admiral Darlan, the Foreign Minister of Vichy France under Petain, to do so (in exchange for cutting the French indemnity owed to Germany from 20 million to 15 million Reichsmarks per day). Of course, there is the little matter of getting German troops to Syria in the first place, which is a tricky proposition given Royal Navy command of the eastern Mediterranean. The British already have two columns of troops of their own on their way across the desert from their possessions in Palestine and today receive the 21st Indian Brigade at the port of Basra, so the possibility of a remote battle between Axis and Allied troops in the desert looms.

Hermann Goering is eager to increase his prestige with operations in Iraq. He organizes Fliegerführer Irak with 12 Messerschmitt Bf110 fighters and 12 Heinkel He111 bombers under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel Werner Junck. Of course, this force also must find its way to Iraq.

In London, Winston Churchill writes an angry memo to General Ismay about a military appreciation he has received of the Iraq situation. The analysis by Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and General Bernard Auchinleck of the Indian Command suggests that the British troops in Palestine, which are headed to relieve the British forces in Iraq, are insufficient to overcome the Iraqi Army. Wavell and Auchinleck are pessimistic and they project that the outnumbered British will be forced to surrender by the 12th of May. Churchill notes that British losses in Iraq "have been nominal as so far reported" and rejects the recommendation that negotiations with Iraqi leader Rashid Ali be planned. "We should treat the present situation like a rebellion," Churchill concludes, and the British Army has a century of experience in handling those.

Damage in Belfast, Ireland from the Belfast Blitz which concluded on 5 May 1941 (Belfast Telegraph).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Liverpool again as part of the May Blitz. The bombing causes additional damage.

The Germans damage several ships. These include:

• 4861-ton British freighter Industria, but it manages to make it to Greenock for repairs
• 3874-ton Greek freighter Moscha D. Kydoniefs

The Germans also attack Greenock, Scotland. This is the first of two consecutive nightly attacks that collectively are known as the Greenock Blitz. The Luftwaffe loses at least two bombers during the night.

The RAF sends a Roadstead operation to Gravelines during the day. RAF Bomber Command sends 8 aircraft to attack shipping. After dark, it sends 16 bombers against Le Havre and 115 to attack Hamburg.

Kommodore Mölders of JG 51 shoots down an RAF No. 601 Squadron Hurricane for another victory in his new Bf 109F fighter.

East African Campaign: Indian Troops attacking at Amba Alagi are pinned down by withering Italian crossfire throughout the day. They retreat after dark.

HMS Camito, sunk on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 5529-ton British freighter Surat about 100 miles off Conakry, Guinea. There are three deaths. There is still an element of chivalry in the sea war, with the Germans helpfully righting a lifeboat for the struggling British crew.

U-103 also torpedoes and sinks 4752-ton British freighter Dunkwa in the same area. There are three deaths.

U-556 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth)  is on its first patrol out of Kiel when it uses its deck gun and sinks 166-ton Faroes fishing trawler Emanuel west of the Faroe Islands. There are three deaths.

U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe) torpedoes and sinks 4255-ton British freighter Oakdene midway between Guinea-Bissau and Brazil. Everyone survives.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Camito southwest of Ireland. There are 28 deaths and a few survivors. U-97 also torpedoes and sinks 6466-ton Italian freighter Sango in the same area. The Camito has been escorting the recently captures blockade runner Sango to port in England - obviously ineffectively.

Convoy HG 61 departs Gibraltar bound for Liverpool, Convoys HX 125A and B departs from Halifax also bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sea Nymph is laid down.

U-613 and U-614 are laid down.

Igor Sikorsky, wearing his customary homburg, at the time of his record-breaking helicopter flight in VS-300 on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The battle on land at Tobruk has subsided for the moment, so attention turns to the war at sea. Both sides depend completely on supplies from their home countries, with the Axis troops favored by the short but somewhat risky route from Naples to Tripoli. The Allies have a relatively clear supply route - setting aside the omnipresent threat of U-boats - around Cape Horn and up toward Suez. However, that passage takes several weeks, time that the Allies cannot spare. So, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as the main instigator, the decision has been made to send a convoy "up the gut" from Gibraltar all the way across the Mediterranean to Malta and Alexandria. This is the Tiger Convoy.

Tiger leaves Gibraltar today. It is composed of five large troop transports escorted by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleships Renown and Queen Elizabeth, cruisers Fiji, Gloucester, Naiad and Sheffield, and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Ark Royal has a new commander, Captain Loben Maund, as Captain Holland has been relieved due to "stress." The convoy is limited in speed by its slowest ship, as all convoys are, and travels at a still-brisk 14 knots (26 km/h). Italian aircraft quickly spot it, and the Luftwaffe readies its forces on Sardinia and Sicily to intercept it. Curiously, the Italian Navy remains in port.

Winston Churchill, who apparently is in a foul mood throughout the day, sends an angry memo to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal which includes in relevant part:

Here is another shocking week at Takoradi. Only 18 aircraft have been despatched, whereas I think a programme of nearly double the number was promised. I am afraid it must be realized that this is a very great failure in our arrangements, which may play its part in a disastrous result to the great battle proceeding in the Nile Valley [by which Churchill apparently means North Africa in general].

Takoradi is the airfield in the British colony of the Gold Coast (Ghana) which serves as the key transit hub for flights to Cairo (a 3700-mile air route) aka the West African Reinforcement Route (WARR). Churchill wishes more planes to be shuttled from Takoradi to Cairo to help in the defense of North Africa. Bemoaning the "complete breakdown," Churchill demands an accounting.

Churchill also sends a sarcastic memo to General Sir John Dill, asking that the suitability and supply of maps by Allied forces in Crete be determined, "Otherwise we shall soon find that any German arrivals will be better informed about the island than our men."

In another memo, Churchill demands of Admiral Pound an inquiry into a "lapse of Staff work" over problems transporting a mobile naval base defense organization to Suda Bay, Crete. The base took 12 weeks to arrive and was packed in a disorganized fashion, he notes.

British military intelligence is hardening that Crete will be the next German objective in the Mediterranean. This is largely based on Ultra decrypts of coded Wehrmacht transmissions. However, Churchill is desperate to not let the Ultra secret out, so he allows commanding General Bernard Freyberg to believe that the Germans will arrive in ships rather than by air.

The German 8th Panzerregiment arrives at Tripoli aboard a convoy to Tripoli.

The RAF (830 Squadron) attacks Tripoli, losing a plane. Two crewmen are made prisoner and one perishes.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks 2322 ton Italian freighter Cagliari about three miles (5 km) off Fuscaldo, southern Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant torpedoes and sinks 1716 ton Italian freighter Bengasi a few miles off Cavoli, Elba, Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph spots a German convoy heading north from Tripoli. It attacks but misses.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Cachalot arrives at Gibraltar from England loaded with supplies for Malta. It will continue toward the island on the 8th.

At Malta, the air defense is refined to alternate defense by fighters and anti-aircraft fire. During a large 36-plane Luftwaffe raid in the evening on Grand Harbour, the fighters shoot down one or two raiders and damage another. In addition, anti-aircraft fire shoots down two Junkers Ju 88s.

Convoy AN 30, composed of four freighters, departs from Haifa and Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete.

Joseph Stalin, 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Convoy US 10B departs from Colombo. It includes three large liners - 44,786 ton Aquitania, 43,450 ton Ile De France, and 35,739 ton Mauretania. It is escorted by New Zealand light cruiser Leander.

War Crimes: Churchill sends a memo to General Ismay which states in relevant part:

Surely I gave directions that the C-in-C was to have full liberty to capture enemy hospital ships in retaliation for their brutality.

On its face, this memo is evidence of Churchill authorizing war crimes (Churchill asks for previous correspondence on the matter to be found, but it is unclear if such exists).

Attacking or capturing hospital ships is against the rules of war. There have been many instances on both sides of attacks on hospital ships, though, so it is open to interpretation how much of a breach of international law Churchill's stance really is. Certainly, whoever wins the will is likely to hide their own breaches of the rules of warfare and prosecute the other side's transgressions, this is known sardonically on both sides as "victor's justice."

Ernest Hemingway with Madame Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Martha Gellhorn in provisional capital Chungking (Chongqing), China.

Spy Stuff: Soviet spy Richard Sorge, posing as a hard-partying newspaperman in Tokyo, warns Stalin of German plans to invade the Soviet Union. In his dispatch today, he writes:

Possibility of outbreak of war at any moment is very high…. German generals estimate the Red Army’s fighting capacity is so low…[it] will be destroyed in the course of a few weeks.

This information, of course, is extremely accurate and jibes with more general warnings coming from various other sources, such as his military attache in Berlin. However, Stalin does not think much of Sorge - viewing him as a sort of ne'er-do-well more interested in partying than providing useful information. Accordingly, Stalin does not change his own dispositions to any great extent.

Separately and coincidentally, Ernest Hemingway, who many think serves as a US spy (this is only hypothetical and never proven) and who accurately predicts the eventual outbreak of war between the National and Communist Chinese, departs today from Hong Kong aboard a Pan Am Clipper to return to the United States. Hemingway has been in Asia for 100 days on a very curious trip accompanying his new bride, Martha Gellhorn. Hemingway has led a hard-partying lifestyle (which seems to have been common among expatriates in Asia at the time). Hemingway, in fact, has spent much of the trip alone - or, shall we say discreetly, without his wife - and his solo departure is commonly seen as marking the end of his brief marriage. Gellhorn, who actually may have been the spy in the couple (all of this is conjecture), will carry a grudge against Hemingway for the rest of her life. Hemingway will have many more direct interactions with World War II over the next few years.

US/Australian Relations: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, aboard a Clipper flying boat, arrives safely in Bermuda. He has breakfast, then departs immediately for New York aboard a Douglas DC-3. He is ensconced in the Ritz-Carlton by dinnertime.

Vichy French/Japanese Relations: The Japanese conclude a trade agreement with French Indochina.

Republic XP-47B Thunderbolt prototype, 40-3051, at Farmingdale, New York, 1941. (Republic Aviation Corporation).

US Military: First flight of the Republic XP-47B (40-3051), with Lowry P. Brabham as the pilot, at Republic Field in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. The aircraft performs well, and the US Army Air Corps approves further development. Designed by Alexander Kartveli, the large all-metal fighter with elliptical wings has had several redesigns, but this one sticks. After much further development, the design will become the famous P-47 Thunderbolt, of which 15, 579 will be built.

Igor Sikorsky continues working on his helicopter design, the VS-300, which has been the designation for a constantly changing design. Today, he scores a major success when he flies the experimental chopper (hovering) for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds, which is a new record, beating that of the Luftwaffe's Focke-Wulf Fw 61.

The Douglas Aircraft Company begins taxiing tests of its new XB-19 four-engine bomber at Santa Monica Airport. The plane is the largest in the world and is so heavy (86,000 lbs or 39,009 kg) that it breaks through the airport pavement. The U. S. Government has paid $1,400,064 for it and Douglas itself has spent almost $4,000,000 in company funds to complete it.

Looking ahead, the XB-19 is remembered as the B-19, but after a long period of development (which aided the development of other planes) was not accepted for production and was scrapped. Two of its enormous main tires will be saved and put on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, though apparently, they are no longer there. Of course, the Germans would love to have any effective four-engine bomber, while the Americans have the luxury of testing out different kinds, keeping some and rejecting others.

Radio star Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope does a rare personal appearance at March Field in Riverside, California, broadcasting his Pepsodent show from there. Hope unexpectedly finds that he enjoys performing before a live audience, particularly servicemen who are not too demanding about the quality of the show. This will lead to Hope's long association with the USO during World War II and thereafter. Hope is a US citizen, naturalized at the age of 17 in 1920 after having immigrated from the United Kingdom, but is well past draft age and is not compelled to participate in the war. Hope will be a leading figure among a select group of celebrities including Hemingway and John Wayne who will work with the US military to provide various specialized services without actually mustering in.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV 5) is transiting the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal at night when it scrapes the side and sustains slight damage.

A postcard of the B-19. It receives a lot of attention in the media throughout its unsuccessful life.

Soviet Government: In a decision approved several days ago, Stalin officially succeeds Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Thus, Stalin becomes the de jure as well as the de facto leader of the Soviet Union - but there never at any time has been any doubt whatsoever that he is the boss. This ruling-from-behind-the-scenes strategy is a recurring theme in Russian politics.

The change is noted by the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Werner von der Schulenburg. Schulenburg opposes any military action against the Soviet Union, though he has not officially been made aware of the plans for Operation Barbarossa (though he may at this time be aware through rumors and personal observations). Ambassador Schulenburg reports the change in Soviet leadership to Berlin but passes it off as nothing but a public rebuke of Molotov for allowing German/Soviet relations to wither. The reasons for the change, in fact, are murky and subject to interpretation, especially considering that on the 5th of May, Stalin had given two bellicose secret speeches to graduating military officers in the Kremlin which strongly suggested that he, too, was contemplating beginning a war with Germany. Molotov, in any event, is not out of favor. Stalin may, viewing the change in that context, be preparing his leadership role for the war he himself intends to start.

Wehrmacht soldiers chatting with Dutch kids, May 1941.

Philippines: Newly arrived Brigadier General Henry B. Clagett assumes command of the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. His chief of staff is Colonel Harold Huston George.

Poland: A Polish doctor, Zygmunt Klukowski, observes the Germans conscripting local civilians to build military installations. Klukowski finds this curious as he notes it in his diary since there seems little need to do so in peacetime conditions.

Yugoslavia: Serbs in Kijevo and Tramošnja villages are celebrating Đurđevdan slava, an Eastern Orthodox holy day in honor of Saint George when the Ustaše do something that provokes them. This develops into a massive revolt called the May 1941 Sanski Most revolt, or alternatively the Đurđevdan uprising or the revolt of the Sana peasants. The Serbs generally were pro-British before the war, and there is an element of baiting going on by the Ustaše regime. The revolt quickly spreads, and the Serbs chase the Ustaše out of town. The escaping Ustaše request German military aid from the garrison at Prijedor.

American Homefront: US Secretary for War Henry L. Stimson makes a radio broadcast in which he announces his support for using US warships to protect British freighters. He says that Americans must sacrifice in defense of freedom. According to Stimson:

The world is facing so great a crisis that all of our efforts must be turned toward the defense of our nation's safety. . . . our own self-defense requires that limits should be put to lawless aggression on the ocean. The President has said that we must not allow the steps which we have already taken to become ineffective.

USS Grayback during a shakedown cruise in Long Island Sound, 6 May 1941 (United States National Archives and Records Administration).

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

Tuesday 28 January 1941

British tank officers in North Africa on January 28, 1941, read an Italian newspaper. The puppy was "captured" at Sidi Barrani.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians and Greeks continue to battle over the heights of Trebeshina (specifically Height 1923) on 28 January 1941. Two Italian Blackshirt battalions have recovered the peaks in appalling weather, while the Cretan 5th Division of II Corps is trying to dislodge them again. The Blackshirts, heavily indoctrinated political troops akin to the SS, are fighting strongly.

East African Campaign: In Eritrea, the Italian 4th Colonial Division under General Orlando Lorenzini is making a stand at Barentu Agordat. He has 76 guns and a company of both medium and light tanks, not an inconsiderable force in the area. Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse, in command of the 4th Indian Division, sends his troops (3rd Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment) on a flanking move to the Cochen Hills to the south of the Italian defenses. Elsewhere, the British troops are advancing to catch up with the retreating Italians.

European Air Operations: The lousy winter weather continues to hamper air operations in northern Europe. The Luftwaffe continues its random nuisance raids on scattered targets in the southeast, dropping a few bombs dropped on London. The RAF raids the Naples airport, railway facilities, and marshaling yard. The bombers also attack Catania and Comiso airfields, the bases of Fliegerkorps X.

A carload of Germans pedals their way through the Bailiwick of Jersey on 28 January 1941. "To save petrol German soldiers use a pedal car to get around in town." (Photo- Keystone Photo Agency).

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather is extremely rough in the North Atlantic. This causes collisions, ship sightings that are hard to confirm, and similar issues. The Luftwaffe can't get enough planes in the air to provide proper scouting reports for the U-boats, due to the lack of sufficient Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors in KG 40.

At about 06:49, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the two Kriegsmarine battlecruisers attempting to break out into the Atlantic to join Admiral Scheer, sight two British cruisers on radar patrolling south of Iceland. Admiral Lütjens, under strict orders not to engage capital ships, immediately turns around 180 degrees and heads back to the northeast. Hitler, in particular, is prone to giving his ship captains very cautious instructions which some feel unduly inhibit their discretion and opportunism. This time, Lütjens follows such orders, which is likely a good thing in this instance. Being too aggressive in the Atlantic can pay big rewards for German raiders - but it also, as will be seen in May 1941, be extremely hazardous to one's health. The entire British Home Fleet is at sea waiting in the general vicinity for the two German ships, and there would be a very little margin of error should a lucky Royal Navy hit slow them down or disable one of them.

The HMS Naiad also spots the two German ships at about the same time, but for some reason, the commander of the force - Admiral John Tovey - does not believe the lookouts. The Naiad thus does not shadow the German ships, but Tovey sends battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers to reinforce the two cruisers just in case. Admiral Lütjens does not intend to give up the mission but instead plans a rendezvous with tankers Adria and Schlettstadt in the far north near Bear Island and considers going north of Iceland instead of south.

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli torpedoes and sinks a straggler from Convoy HX 102 about 250 miles off Ireland in the Western Approaches. It is 5198-ton British freighter Urla. All 42 onboard survive.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors) bombs 1944 ton British freighter Pandion in the Northwest Approaches north of the westernmost points of Ireland. The ship makes it to Loch Swilly, where it anchors. However, the damage proves too great for the crew to handle. First, the crew beaches the ship, and later abandon it. The weather eventually destroys the ship entirely.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 4574-ton British freighter Mendip Grelrosa about 400 miles off Malin Head, Ireland in the Northwest Approaches. There are five deaths.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages 3635-ton British freighter Baron Renfrew in the same general area in the Northwest Approaches. The ship eventually makes it to Loch Lathaich and later to Glasgow for repairs.

British oil refinery ship 13,640-ton Tafelberg hits a mine and is badly damaged in Bristol Channel southwest of Cardiff. This area has seen numerous mine-strikes recently. The crew beaches the Tafelberg at Porthkerry but declared a total loss (it breaks in two). However, salvagers recover it and take it to Whitmore Bay, where the ship is completely rebuilt as tanker Empire Heritage.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Bluebell collides with the destroyer HMS Westcott in the Western Approaches. Both ships head for port, the Westcott's damage very minor but Bluebell's repairs at Cammell Laird taking until 4 March 1941.

Norwegian freighter Erling Jarl runs aground and sinks at Brønnøysund, Nordland. There is one death. The ship later is raised, repaired and renamed Bodø.

Responding to completely erroneous rumors that liner Empress of Australia has been sunk, the Admiralty decides to issue an odd statement that the ship is "safe in port."

Convoy OB 279 departs from Southend, Convoy AN 14 departs from Port Said for Piraeus,
Royal Navy submarine HMS Urchin is commissioned, the submarine HMS P-33 is launched, the destroyer HMS Pakenham is launched, corvettes HMS Mignonette and Myosotis are launched.

Dutch submarine O-12, sunk and refloated earlier in the war, is recommissioned as UD-2 in the Kriegsmarine.

U-411 is laid down.

Recruiting poster for the SS in Norway.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Derna, the Italians hold out throughout the day as Operation Compass grinds forward. However, the Australian 2/4th Battalion and British 7th Armored Division are threatening to cut the coast road. Rather than risk another catastrophe with the loss of the entire garrison, the Italian commanders order the evacuation of Derna during the night. While pulling out, the Italian Babini Group conducts a skillful retreat, harassing the advancing British troops, laying mines and wrecking the coast road. Italian artillery, situated north of Wad Derna, is particularly effective in slowing down the Australians and covering the retreat.

Elsewhere, the British consolidate at Mechili, which the Italians also abandoned. The issue is not one of tiredness or casualties, but more of fuel and supplies. The key supply port of Tobruk opened on the 27th, which will ease the supply situation going forward, but it will take time to resupply the troops, give the tanks proper maintenance, and the like. The Italians also are showing a bit more fight than they have before. In addition, the weather is lousy and heavy rain is causing issues.

Taking advantage of the start of a lull in the Libyan operations, British Middle East Commander General Wavell flies to Nairobi to discuss with General Cunningham plans for an offensive into Italian Somaliland. Wavell also meets with General Platt, commander of the forces entering Eritrea. Wavell will stay here for several days, leaving on 1 February.

Greek 5197 ton freighter Kate hits a mine and sinks in the Aegean.

Royal Navy submarine Upholder (Malcolm D. Wanklyn) torpedoes and damages 7389-ton German freighter Duisburg off Cape Bon, Tunisia. The Duisburg is towed into Tripoli. Wanklyn is one of the more enterprising Royal Navy submarine commanders.

Taking the Italian prisoners at Tobruk to prison camps once again becomes a major operation. Net layer HMS Protector sails from Suda Bay to bring prisoners from there to Alexandria.

Royal Navy submarine Rorqual lays 29 mines in the Adriatic off the port of Ancona.

The weather at Malta is overcast and it is a quiet day. While fears remain high about a planned German invasion from Sicily, reports from spies and observers (such as Americans) are mixed about what may actually be going on there.

Anglo/US Relations: Having read and pondered the handwritten note from President Roosevelt brought to him by Wendell Willkie, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill writes a lengthy "Personal and Secret" response. He notes the following:

• "All my information shows that the Germans are persevering in their preparations to invade this country";
• "[A]dvance parties of the German air force have already to the extent of several thousand infiltrated themselves into Bulgaria";
• "[Hitler] could carry out both offensives [in the East and against Britain] at the same time."

The reply does not really break any new ground, but definitely continues the brewing bromance between the two men.

US Military: Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson approves the construction of 12 detector radar stations in Alaska. Originally, the plan was for 8 locations, but a survey found that five of those sites were unacceptable and, in fact, a dozen sites were necessary. All of the sites are south of Cape Prince of Wales. Both Japan and the US fear an air attack using the Aleutian island chain, so these stations are oriented toward Japan, not the USSR. Commander General DeWitt of the Ninth Corps Area and Fourth Army is in charge of construction, while Colonel Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. is in charge of US troops in Alaska. Troops are being slowly inserted into Alaskan naval bases such as Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor due to rising war fears with Japan.

Heinrich Himmler in Norway, January 1941. Aside from work, Himmler dabbles in his theories about the origin of the Aryan Race during this visit (Mobius, Federal Archive).

German Military: General Keitel meets with Hitler and gives him the conclusion of the OKH (army high command) regarding Operation Felix (invasion of Gibraltar). They believe that:

[I]n the event of preparations being resumed on 1 February, the attack on Gibraltar was not possible before the middle of April and that therefore the forces envisaged for this operation would not be available in time for 'Barbarossa.'

Hitler may wish to invade Gibraltar, but he wants to invade the Soviet Union more. Accordingly, he states that "Operation Felix will have to be dropped because it was impossible to create the political prerequisites." While Hitler continues to cajole Franco into joining the Axis and permitting Operation Felix, a project which remains on the docket for years (like Operation Sealion), this marks the death knell for the planned operation.

Two hundred Norwegian volunteers, recruited by the SS, swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. These Norwegian volunteers are to serve in the "Wiking" Division. They will be part of Army Group South, heading toward the Ukraine, where numerous atrocities will take place (of course, atrocities will take place across the entire front). Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler watches with approval.

British Government: Home Secretary Herbert Morrison appears before the House of Commons to defend his recent closure of the Daily Worker and other communist publications. He claims that the publication has been blaming the government for deaths from air raids, which Morrison claims is "cruel and cynical, sheer sniveling hypocrisy." The MPs support the move as removing a subversive element of the press. Support is not unanimous, with Labour MP Aneurin Bevan claiming it was an unjustified restriction on the press, but the move carries 297-11.

Minister of Food Robert Boothby gives a speech in the House as well, defending himself against charges of self-dealing. Churchill rises and reflects upon this "heartbreaking business" without really taking a position. In a note to his son Randolph, Churchill states that Boothby's speech was "a remarkable parliamentary performance." The House continues to consider the matter.

An official painting memorializing Ho Chi Minh's return to Indochina today.

Indochina: The Thai 50th Bomber Squadron bombs Sisophon, Cambodia with B-10 medium bombers. This is the last significant action of the brief border campaign between French Indochina and Thailand. This raid induces the Vichy French somewhat belatedly to agree to mediation by Japan, an offer previously accepted with some alacrity by Thailand. There is no question - from the outcome - which side Japan favors in this border war. An effective but unofficial ceasefire now takes place, which is formalized later. Negotiations proceed aboard Japanese battleship IJN Natori, anchored off Saigon.

Ho Chi Minh (Nguyễn Ái Quốc), a committed Chinese communist of Vietnamese descent who has studied in Europe, returns to Indochina today after 30 years overseas. Ho at first lives in a cave in Pac Bo and sets to work preparing for the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) 8th Party Congress. His ultimate goal is to form an organization eventually called the Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (Vietnam Independence League), or Viet Minh. The Viet Minh is a Communist front organization to organize resistance against French colonial rule and occupying Japanese forces. It ostensibly is more nationalist than communist (in order to appeal to a wider audience), and equally, voices outrage about "French jackals" and the "Japanese fascists." However, Ho's ICP actually controls the Viet Minh behind the scenes. Having learned from his experiences in China, Ho successfully stresses the unity of opposition within Indochina to achieve independence, contrary to the infighting between the Kuomintang and the Communists in China which hampers their opposition to the Japanese.

This date of 28 January - unremarked in the Western world - is considered to be a very significant date in Vietnam today, with various official commemorative meetings held on the anniversary.

Ho Chi Minh with happy American soldiers during World War II. As happens later in many other places around the world, the Americans support a revolutionary disruptive force in an area controlled by a temporary enemy... and learn to regret it.

China: The Battler of Southern Honan continues, with the Japanese 11th Army continuing its attacks against the Chinese 5th War Area near Hsianghokuan.

American Homefront: "The Pepsodent Show" aka "The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope" aka "The Bob Hope Show" features Basil Rathbone today.

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

Friday 24 January 1941

In a somewhat confusing picture for historians, British soldiers sport a captured Italian flag on a British Matilda tank en route into Tobruk, Libya, 24 Jan 1941 (Australian War Memorial). You can only pull stunts like this after the fighting is really over, else you risk unwanted attention from your own side.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue consolidating their newly acquired territory in the area of the Klisura Pass on 24 January 1941. The Italians are bringing up troops for a counteroffensive, their previous attempts to recover the pass - gateway to the main Italian supply base of Valona - having come to naught.

East African Campaign: The Italian 4th and 5th Indian Divisions continue advancing past Keru Gorge, abandoned by the Italians. They are proceeding in the direction of Agordat. On the Kenya front, Lieutenant General Cunningham's forces move alongside South African troops into the Moyale frontier districts. Cunningham has 75,000 men at his disposal, though most are locals from the colonies.

European Air Operations: Activity remains light due to the weather. The Luftwaffe barely appears over Great Britain at all during the day and night, and the RAF is grounded as well.

HMS King George V arriving in the Chesapeake Bay, 24 January 1941. The battleship brings Lord Halifax to the United States.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle) torpedoes and sinks 1570 ton Norwegian freighter Vespasian in the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland. There are 18 deaths. Vespasian is a straggler from Convoy OB 276 due to the weather.

British 1096 ton freighter Corheath hits a mine and sinks near the Botany Buoy in the Thames Estuary. There are three deaths.

British 6405 ton freighter Tasmania hits a mine off Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire. The weather is horrendous and the stricken steamer cannot make port anywhere nearby, but instead must head back to Methil where she makes port.

Finnish 4028 ton freighter Wirta runs aground at Skerjafjord, Iceland. The ship is wrecked, but the crew is saved.

German supply ship Nordmark meets the cruiser Admiral Scheer in the South Atlantic and replenishes it. The Scheer continues to travel in company with captured Norwegian tanker Sandefjord, but the pickings have been lean for the Scheer up to this point.

Convoy OB 278 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper HMAS Lismore (J-145, Lt. Stanley H. Crawford) is commissioned and HMAS Gawler is laid down.

U-562 launched.

Australian soldiers using captured Italian M11/40 tanks and M11/39 tanks (note the white kangaroos on the tanks' sides) watch Tobruk burn, 24 January 1941 (© IWM (E 1766).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Concluding another successful phase of Operation Compass, the Australians and British mop up around Tobruk. They take possession of all Italian outposts in the vicinity. The real action has shifted north along the coast road, where the Italian Special Armoured Brigade (Brigata Corazzato Speciale) under the command of General Valentino Babini (the "Babini Group") and the overall command of General Giuseppe Tellera has formed a defensive line outside of Derna. While the British Army has the upper hand militarily, they are having supply difficulties and their tanks are low on fuel. This slows their operations.

The Italians for the first time in the campaign show some real fight, and fierce battles break out around the outskirts of Derna. Babini sends about fifty M13/40 tanks against the advancing 7th Hussars as they are advancing to cut the important Derna/Mechili road. The new Italian tanks give a good account of themselves against British Mk. VIs, forcing the advanced British elements to pull back and call for help. The request is ignored for a time by the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR), perhaps partly because the Italians heretofore have not been fighting and the feeling may simply be that nothing regarding the Italians could have much urgency. Eventually, the British tankers return with Matildas, 2-pounders and even 25-pounder field guns. This time, they route the Italian armor, sending them retreating into an ambush and destroying about 8 of the Italian tanks while capturing another. For their pains, the British lose a cruiser tank and six light tanks. The reasonably equal losses indicate how hard the fighting has become. However, the advantage still lies with the British, as the Italians are forced to retreat to Mechili.

Supporting the Babini Group is the Italian 60th Infantry Division Sabratha, which holds the line from Derna to Mechili. There, the 2/11th Australian Battalion also finds its going blocked for the moment. It calls for reinforcements.

At Malta, the islanders are still recovering from the massive air raids by the Luftwaffe's Fliegerkorps X during the "Illustrious Blitz." The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has left, but many unexploded bombs remain to be defused.

The Luftwaffe continues to attack Illustrious as she heads for Alexandria. Fliegerkorps X sends 30 aircraft to bomb it about 130 miles north of Benghazi. The Stukas and Junkers Ju 88s manage some near misses but cause little damage to the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers escorting the stricken aircraft carrier away. In fact, the Luftwaffe does not even spot the carrier and must content itself with attacking vessels better able to defend themselves.

Italian armor with For Mechili in the background. 1941-42.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis is back on the prowl after its extended Christmas break at the Kerguelen Islands. About 300 miles east of the Seychelle Islands, it attacks 5145-ton British freighter Mandasor. The British ship gets off a distress message before it sinks after the crew ingeniously rigs a second aerial after the first is disabled by the Atlantis' scout plane. There are 5 deaths and the remaining 76 onboard become POWs. The crew of the Mandalor does accomplish a major victory when it destroys the Atlantis' Heinkel He 114 seaplane. Captain Hill of the Mandasor later receives the OBE for his handling of the ship during this incident, but he spends the rest of the war in a POW camp. The crew of the Atlantis saves many of the sunken ship's crew from death when they chase off sharks with machine gunfire.

Knowing its position, the Royal Navy in the area organizes four cruisers into Force V to hunt down the raider. They have known about raiders in this part of the world for some time, and the Christmas raid on Naaru inflamed their passion to track them down. Unfortunately for the British, they have no long-range aerial reconnaissance available and Captain Rogge in the Atlantis gets away. This incident does impel local Royal Navy authorities to give greater priority to allocating forces in that region of the Indian Ocean, but the British do not have many available assets to spare at this time.

Anglo/US Relations: Lord Halifax, erstwhile Foreign Secretary, arrives in the Chesapeake Bay aboard the battleship King George V, having departed Scotland on 15 January. He is in the United States to replace the deceased Lord Lothian as ambassador to the United States. At Winston Churchill's urging, President Roosevelt is there to greet him. Few men in history have had as honored a trans-Atlantic journey on both ends as Halifax, considering that the King, Queen, and Churchill saw him off from Scapa Flow and Roosevelt was there to greet him upon his arrival.

Anglo/Australian Relations: Prime Minister Robert Menzies flies from Melbourne for a visit to England, taking off in a flying boat from Rose Bay, Sydney. The first major stop is Darwin, which will take two days to reach. Due to the war situation, he will take a roundabout journey through central Africa and thence up to Lisbon. The entire journey to London will take about a month.

Menzies' mission is to impress upon the British high command the perilous situation in the Pacific Theater. He wants better defenses in Singapore and more wartime industry sited in Australia. The timing of the trip is striking, coinciding with the battles of Australian troops in North Africa.

German/Spanish Relations: The Germans remain optimistic that they can convince the Spanish leader Francisco Franco to join the Axis. Foreign Minister Ribbentrop gets involved in this effort, which so far has gone nowhere and which shows no signs of changing Franco's attitude of military neutrality.

Some unknown person in Seattle, Washington owns this classic Plymouth Army P11 staff car of 1941 and appears to keep it driveable. There's another classic military vehicle in the driveway, so someone is really into World War II-era vehicles. (Photo: Ryan Haarsager).

US Government: Navy Secretary Frank Knox writes a memorandum to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. Knox warns that it:

is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Knox foresees "inherent possibilities of a major disaster" and lists the following "dangers envisaged in order of their importance and probability," to wit:

air attack
torpedo plane attack
sabotage
submarine attack
mining
bombardment by gunfire.

Knox suggests that army and navy plans be coordinated in the event of such an air raid against Hawaii.

The Jackson, Mississippi Daily News, 24 January 1941.

Romania: With the Iron Guard rebellion now over, some of its leaders and participants flee to Germany to avoid certain execution by a vengeful Prime Minister Ion Antonescu. Showing their equivocal role in the entire affair, the Germans help the Legionnaires to escape and provide them with the safe harbor in the Reich.

Indochina: Thai bombers raid the French airbase at Angkor, Cambodia, near Siem Riep. This is the final battle of the conflict.

At this point, the Japanese decide they have seen enough squabbling over territory they covet, so they step in as mediators. The Thais accept Japanese mediation in the conflict with the French colonial administrators despite US warnings that the Japanese are simply managing events for their own benefit. The two parties, Thailand and Vichy France, enter into negotiations on Japanese cruiser Vatori, which arrives in Saigon on or about this date. Naturally, the Japanese have a seat at the table and guide things to benefit the Thais.

Antarctica: USMS North Star, an Arctic supply ship, arrives to pick up the crew of Admiral Richard E. Byrd's third expedition to Antarctica at West Base.

Holocaust: A ghetto is opened in Sochaczew, Poland, with the Jews having to leave their homes in the town and get to the ghetto within 24 hours. The Judenrat provides ten carts for 2000 people, limiting to the extreme the number of personal possessions that families can take. Many notice the actions of the Judenrat, whose members appropriate for themselves and their families the best lodgings and manage to travel more comfortably.

Future History: Today is quite a day in the world of music, though nobody will realize if for about 30 years.

Neil Leslie Diamond is born in Brooklyn, New York. He attends Erasmus Hall High School, where one of his classmates is Barbra Streisand. On his 16th birthday, Neil receives a guitar as a gift, and he develops a love for singing at a summer camp in upstate New York. He begins writing poetry to pick up girls, and this informs his music, and he begins writing songs. Sunbeam Music Publishing offers him a temporary job writing songs, so he drops out of NYU. However, he is not retained after the temporary gig ends, so he begins recording demos. He writes several hit songs recorded by The Monkees, including "I'm a Believer," "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," and others. Other big artists like Elvis Presley begin recording his songs, and he begins to establish himself as a performer as well. After signing with Uni (Universal) Records in 1968, he gains some traction performing, and in 1969 begins a string of major hits with "Sweet Caroline." He becomes one of the top performers of the '70s, and turns to films in 1980 with "The Jazz Singer." His song "Heartlight" inspired by the hit movie "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" in 1982 becomes a huge hit. Neil Diamond remains a household name and continues to perform.

Aaron Neville is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Neville records with brothers Art, Charles and Cyril as The Neville Brothers, and later becomes a top solo act. His hit singles include "Tell it Like It Is," "Don't Know Much" with Linda Ronstadt, and "Everybody Plays the Fool," among many others. Aaron Neville continues to perform and release albums.

Michael Chapman is born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He becomes a professional musician, writing songs and performing in the "progressive music scene" in England. Chapman continues to perform and has recorded over 40 albums to date.

Destroyers USS Butler and Gherardi under construction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 24 January 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