Tuesday 7 January 1941

Australian light horse troops manning a Bren gun carrier, 7 January 1941 (AP).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek forces at the Klisura Pass on 7 January 1941 prepare to launch a major attack against the Italian troops defending the pass. This is the gateway to the key Italian supply port of Valona, and Greek Commander-in-chief Papagos is intent on taking the port quickly so that he can shift troops to the east to defend against an anticipated German attack by way of Bulgaria.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe makes a very unexpected move and launches a heavy daylight raid on London. This is the first major daylight raid in months. The bombers are over the city for almost four hours, damaging parts of fifteen different districts. Other bombers attack scattered points up and down the coast, with a lone raider targeting Coventry as well.

Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy corvette HMS Anemone, in cooperation with Free French corvette La Malouine, sinks Italian submarine Giacomo Nani south of Iceland.

British 975 ton coaster H.H. Petersen hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea. Everybody aboard survives.

German naval trawler UJ 175 Mob FD-31 hits a mine and sinks off Feiestein, Bru Island, Rogaland County, Norway.

Royal Navy torpedo boats MTB 32 and 34 lay minefield PW 1 in Zuydcote Pass, while German torpedo boats Kondor and Wolf lay minefield Renate off Dover. Wolf hits one of the freshly laid mines in PW 1 off Dunkirk and sinks on its way back to base.

Convoys FS 381, FS 382 and FS 383 depart from Methil, Convoy OG 49 departs from Liverpool.

HMS Largs, 7 January 1941. This was the French armed merchant cruiser (AMC) Charles Plumer, captured by destroyer HMS Faulknor on 22 November 1940 off Gibraltar. It has been converted into an ocean boarding vessel. © IWM (A 6944)

Battle of the Mediterranean: Australian 6th Division, under the leadership of Major General Iven Mackay, has largely completed mopping up at Bardia. Its units now have moved on to Tobruk and captured Acroma, 10 miles to the west of the fortress. This point overlooks the coast road and puts the Australians in commanding position to interdict any Italian relief efforts (though none seem forthcoming). The British troops are outrunning their supplies and thus need to pause their operations for a spell, but Italian resistance is not one of their problems.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends another cable to Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell regarding what Churchill sees as wastefulness in the Middle East army. Churchill expands upon his earlier hints that the Middle East Command is becoming a haven for slackers, deriding the low "tooth-to-tail" ratio of fighting men to supply troops.:

You have well over 350,000 troops on your ration strength and the number of units which are fighting or capable of fighting appears to me disproportionately small.

In other words, Churchill is implying that the majority of soldiers under Wavell's command are unproductive shirkers. Churchill also comments:

Rations of heavy munitions workers are being cut down to levels of which British armies except in actual operations have never dreamed. Severe stringency in human rations and the slaughter of cattle through lack of feedstuffs lie before us. The voyage round the Cape imposes an almost prohibitive burden.

This, too, is cutting, implying that the soldiers under Wavell's command are living "high on the hog" whilst the workers back home are starving.

The enmity between Churchill and Wavell is well-known and enduring. Churchill is displaying a typical churlish reaction to victories by someone you inherently dislike: if you can't attack the results (which have been fabulous victories by Wavell), you attack the means or wastefulness by which those results were achieved (Hitler proves good at this, too).

Wavell adopts a philosophical posture in response to these peevish comments, implying that Churchill's understanding of warfare is simply out of date:

Winston's tactical ideas had to some extent crystallised in the South African war [of 1898-1900]. 

This is another instance of catty infighting within the British high command, exemplified by the recent ousting of Air Marshal Dowding and Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, victors of the Battle of Britain, from their commands in late 1940.

Operation Excess is proceeding. A typical 1940-41 supply convoy to Malta, it includes numerous diversions and large Royal Navy forces at heading in all sorts of different directions. Force H from Gibraltar, led by battleship HMS Malaya and aircraft carrier HMS Essex, heads out in Operation MC 4 to protect four freighters carrying troops and supplies. Other large formations, Forces A, C, and D, depart from Alexandria to cover supply ships heading from that direction (Operation MW 5 1/2). Force D includes tanker Brambleleaf, which the Royal Navy ships take to Suda Bay, Crete.

The Royal Navy also has submarines HMS Triumph, Upholder and Pandora patrolling around Sardinia. Another submarine, HMS Rover, attacks a convoy, but misses its target and instead is attacked and damaged by Italian torpedo boats Clio and Castore. Rover heads to Malta for repairs.

The British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), having resupplied with gasoline carried by the French over the Tibesti mountains by camel, leaves its encampment near Tazerbo in western Libya. It proceeds toward its target, Murzuk, a major Italian administration center.

The Italians send destroyers and torpedo boats to lay minefields X2 and X3 north of Cape Bon.

A view of USS Wasp's (CV-7) radar arrays whilst in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard refitting on 7 January 1941. The Wasp has been re-deployed to the Atlantic.

Finnish/German Relations: Marshal Mannerheim writes Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering a letter. He requests that Germany release artillery pieces that Finland had purchased, but that had been captured aboard ships in Norwegian harbors during Operation Weserübung. This is one of an increasing number of amicable contacts between the two nations in early 1941.

US Military: Admiral Richardson, onboard flagship USS New Mexico, sends a letter to Admiral Stark that includes a copy of Admiral Bloch's letter outlining concerns about the lack of long-range patrols from Pearl Harbor. The letter's subject: "Situation Concerning the Security of the Fleet, etc." Richardson concurs with Bloch's 30 December 1940 assessment that there should be aircraft allocated to Hawaii for long-range reconnaissance patrols. This all will resurface during the Hart Inquiry Proceedings in 1942.

USS Wasp at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 7 January 1941.

Japanese Military: In one of those eerie coincidences, just as the US Navy is raising concerns about security at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy is beginning to plan a strike against that very target. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto submits an assessment, Gumbi ni kansuru shiken (Views on Preparations for War). It proposes that the best strategy against the United States would be to destroy the US fleet at Pearl Harbor in the opening raid of a future war. However, at no point does he suggest invading or conquering the United States.

Yamamoto's plan is not widely approved of within the Japanese high command. The conventional Japanese strategy in any event of war with the United States has been to patiently wait for the United States to advance across the Pacific, and gradually whittle away its striking power using submarines, surface vessels, and airplanes. This is virtually a mirror image of the US strategy proposed by the US Navy, which envisages a purely defensive war in the Pacific while the main effort focuses on Europe. The Yamamoto plan envisages scoring a dramatic victory in the war's opening hours and then trying to secure a peace deal to consolidate gains in Japan's real areas of interest: the Dutch East Indies, British bases in Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Philippines, among others.

There is a potential problem with Yamamoto's plan: it relies upon US willingness to make a deal quickly. However, this may not be possible in the event of a surprise attack that arouses US war passions. Thus, a formal declaration of war and then an attack is the preferred way to go in order to leave open this avenue of resolution.

US Government: With Executive Order 8629, President Franklin Roosevelt establishes the Office of Production Management (OPM) and the Office for Emergency Management. Their purposes: to "increase, accelerate and regulate" items necessary for the national defense, and to "advise and assist the President" regarding "any emergency arising out of war," respectively. The OPM, in particular, is just the start of much more extensive bureaucracies created to manage war production, with the overall federal bureaucracy nearly quadrupling. Industrialist William S. Knudsen, labor leader Sidney Hillman, U.S. Secretary of the Navy William "Frank" Knox, and U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson lead the Council.

William C. Bullitt, speaking at UNC-Chapel Hill on 7 January 1941.

British Government: Churchill and his War Cabinet discuss his assessment that Middle East forces need to be transferred to Greece to support that country against a threatened Wehrmacht invasion. He tells General Hastings Ismay, his de facto military adjutant, that the “speedy destruction of the Italian Armed Forces in North East Africa must be our prime overseas objective in the opening months of 1941.”

Canadian Government: The War Cabinet Committee receives a split-decision recommendation from a subcommittee that Japanese-Canadians be barred from military service due to public hostility to them.

China: Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) units attack and surround units of the New Fourth Army in Maolin, Anhui Province.

American Homefront: Former ambassador William C. Bullitt has submitted his resignation as ambassador to France - he already has been replaced by Admiral William D. Leahy, who today already is in Vichy - and President Roosevelt today accepts it "with great reluctance." By coincidence (perhaps), Bullitt also gives a stirring speech at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill today. He states in pertinent part:

At this time of danger, each American must ask himself each day not what he can get from his country but what he can give to his country, and must ask himself each night: “Have I given enough?”

Anyone with an ear for history will recognize that this quotation is quite similar to another quote from a certain 1961 JFK inauguration speech.

"Inner Sanctum Mysteries" aka The Inner Sanctum, created by producer Himan Brown and based on the imprint of Simon & Schuster mystery novels, premieres on the NBC Blue Network. Host Raymond Edward Johnson (who goes by his first name on the show) maintains a sardonic tone that borders on high camp. The mysteries themselves are straightforward tales that could have been taken from the works of Edgar Allan Poe or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show is a huge radio hit and the forerunner of television shows such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Outer Limits."

Host Raymond Johnson of "Inner Sanctum Mysteries." He would begin every broadcast - after the famous creaking door sound, actually created by a squeaky chair - by saying "This is Raymond" in a creepy voice. It would have been quite normal to listen to the entire radio series - which lasted over a dozen years - and never know what Raymond looked like.

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

Monday 7 October 1940

A sentry in Southern England. 7 October 1940.

Battle of Britain: The weather is good on 7 October 1940 after a long stretch of clouds and rain, and the Luftwaffe gets busy. Daylight raids have become increasingly unprofitable, but they are essential to "keep the RAF honest" and prevent it from building an overwhelming force of fighters which might make an invasion impossible in 1941, too. While there apparently is no official order to change tactics, the Luftwaffe resumes including medium bombers in its daylight attacks.

Things get started at 10:30, when the Luftwaffe mounts a large raid of 127 aircraft, including Dornier Do 17s that appear after the initial formation composed solely of Bf 109s and 110s. The RAF intercepts, led by the elite No. 303 (Polish) Squadron, but some of the bombers penetrate to East London. The German escort fighters have some success, but most of the bombers are turned back.

Around 12:30, another formation of similar size crosses at Dover. Some medium Junkers Ju 88 bombers are escorted rather than just fighter-bombers (Jabos). Fighter Command disrupts the formation, turning most of the bombers back after they drop their bombs (and cause some random damage). The London dockyards are hit, starting fires at Rotherhithe and Tidal Basin

Another mixed formation of bombers and fighters approaches around 14:00. Once again, London is the target, particularly the nearby airfields. Strong Fighter Command opposition blunts the attack, and there are massive dogfights.

The day's fourth attack, at 16:00, targets primarily areas along the southern coast and slightly inland. At Yeovil, the Wrestland factory is hit, as is Portland Harbour and areas in Dorset. Government House and a furniture warehouse are hit and burn.

At the same time, a raid approaches against Kent and Sussex. This raid is entirely by fighters and Jabos, focusing on Thames River docks. Large fires start in several areas.

After dark, London is the main target. Other areas hit include Liverpool, Newcastle, South Wales, and the Bristol area, East Anglia Montrose, Sunderland and scattered areas in the Midlands. The railways at Sedgefield and Mill Hill East are disrupted.

Overall, it is a fairly even day. The Luftwaffe loses about 20 planes and the RAF a few less. In a way, it is one of the better days for the Luftwaffe, because previous daylight bombing raids using regular bombers usually resulted in much heavier losses. In fact, on a relative damage basis, the larger and more precise bombing made probably more than compensated for losing a few planes more than the RAF, so if you are scoring the battle, I would put this into the "Luftwaffe" column.

Major Bernd von Brauchitsch, Reichsmarschall Goering's adjutant, presents the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) to Wolfgang Falck. Falck, for his part, breaks protocol afterward and complains (to General Milch) that pensions are not being awarded to the families of new (less than 10 years service) Luftwaffe men who have perished in action. This group, of course, covers virtually all Luftwaffe personnel.

Viktor Mölders, brother of leading scorer Werner, is shot down and captured. After his force-landing, the plane is repaired and joins the RAF's "Ratwaffe."

Lt. Erich Meyer, 2./JG 51, is shot down over the Channel and also becomes a POW. His plane is recovered in 1976 and restored.

Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Josef "Pips" Priller of 6,/JG 51 shoots down a Spitfire near Canterbury and another later in the day over the Thames.

Acting RAF No. 605 Squadron Leader "Archie" McKellar claims five Bf109Es during the day. Ace James Lacey also puts in a claim.

Major Gotthard Handrick moves from JG 26 to become Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 52 after the loss of Hptm. Wolf-Heinrich von Houwald.

Daily Mail, 7 October 1940.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command targets the barges still in Dutch and French ports. It also attacks Berlin power stations again, the coastal guns at Cap Gris Nez, an aircraft factory in Amsterdam, and the U-boat base at Lorient. While not large by late-war standards, the Berlin raid is the largest of the war so far. The RAF's bomber force continues to gradually expand, and tonight it uses 140 planes.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a fairly quiet day at sea. However, the U-boat fleet is active.

U-59 (Kptl. Joachim Matz), on her eighth patrol and operating out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5811-ton Norwegian freighter Touraine about 50 miles west of Ireland. The Touraine is a straggler from Convoy OB 225, and it is a tortuous sinking. The first torpedo hits at 16:01, but the ship remains afloat and the U-boat fires two more at 19:25 and 19:32 - but they both miss. An hour later, at 20:41, hits, but the ship stubbornly refuses to go down right away. Finally, at 21:59, it goes down. All but one of the 35 crew on board survive, some picked up by British freighter Derbyshire, others making land in their lifeboats after several days. The lone casualty is the cook, who perishes in the hospital from exposure.

U-37 (Kptlt. Victor Oehrn) finishes off 6989-ton British tanker British General with two more torpedoes at 20:00 after badly damaging it on the 6th. All 47 onboard perish. Many accounts place this sinking on the 6th because that is when U-37 makes its initial attack. The British General had been traveling in Convoy OA 222.

The Royal Navy makes its third try to complete Operation Lucid. This involves "fireships," two old tankers (War Nizam and War African) filled with fuel oil. They are to be taken to Dutch ports and run into shipping there, with the intention of destroying barges assembled there for an invasion. The first attempt was scrubbed when the Nizam had engine troubles, the second due to the weather. On this attempt, escorting destroyer HMS Hambledon hits a mine near Folkestone, causing major damage and requiring it to be towed back to Chatham. Once again, the mission is scrubbed.

Convoy FN 302 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 303 departs from Methil, Convoy OB 225 departs from Liverpool.

Parts of Convoy WS 3 Fast ("Winston Special") loaded with troops for the Middle East depart from Scapa Flow, Liverpool, Londonderry, and the Clyde. It has four troopships, the Georgic, Capetown Castle, Winchester Castle, and Orionsay. The first stop is Freetown.

US destroyer USS Livermore (DD 429, Lt. Commander Vernon Huber) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The echoes of Operation Menace continue. Today, Dutch transport Westernland lands troops near Manoko at the mouth of the Douala River in Cameroon. This is part of General de Gaulle's plan to consolidate Free French possessions in central Africa.

The RAF bombs Aisha, a railway station on the Italian supply line heading from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Abyssinia.

Italian destroyers lay mines in the Sicilian Straits off Cape Bon.

At Malta, Rome radio is monitored making some false claims about air victories. Otherwise, it is a quiet day with some normal reconnaissance.

By Low, 'The Evening Standard', October 7, 1940.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Operating about 500 northwest of Australia (northwest of Christmas Island), German raider Pinguin spots a ship and closes. The Pinguin fires a warning shot with its 75 mm gun, causing Norwegian tanker Storstad to surrender. The tanker has 12k tons of diesel and 500 tons of heavy fuel oil. Rather than sink it, the Pinguin's Captain, Ernst-Felix Krüder, decides to convert the Storstad into a minelayer. He renames it the Passat and uses 1200 tons of diesel oil to refuel his own ship. The ship is taken to a remote location and loaded with 110 mines. Five of the Storstad's crew switch sides and continue to serve aboard it, while 30 others become POWs.

German/Romanian Relations: With the Romanian government's permission, German troops move from Hungary to Romania. The expressed purpose is to help re-train the Romanian Army. They garrison Ploiești, home to Romania's oil fields. The oil is a major priority for Hitler throughout the war and plays a much larger role in the overall German strategy than many realize. Hitler is concerned about the Soviets seizing the oil, which fuels the Wehrmacht, and is one of the main reasons he gives during his June 1942 meeting with Marshal Mannerheim in Finland for Operation Barbarossa. He says then that he has had "nightmares of the oil fields burning out of control."

US/Latin American Relations: Heavy cruiser USS Louisville makes port at Recife, Brazil as part of a "Show the Flag" mission in Latin America. This is but the latest in a series of such efforts.

US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese ambassador protests the US embargo on strategic materials, including oil.

US Military: Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum, director of the Office of Naval Intelligence's Far East Asia section, submits the "Eight Action Memo" to Navy Captains Dudley Knox and Walter Stratton Anderson. It proposes:

1. Make an arrangement with Britain for the use of British bases in the Pacific, particularly Singapore
2. Make an arrangement with the Netherlands for the use of base facilities and acquisition of supplies in the Dutch East Indies
3. Give all possible aid to the Chinese government of Chiang-Kai-Shek
4. Send a division of long-range heavy cruisers to the Orient, Philippines, or Singapore
5. Send two divisions of submarines to the Orient
6. Keep the main strength of the U.S. fleet now in the Pacific[,] in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands
7. Insist that the Dutch refuse to grant Japanese demands for undue economic concessions, particularly oil
8. Completely embargo all U.S. trade with Japan, in collaboration with a similar embargo imposed by the British Empire

Beyond some general suggestions regarding military preparedness with other Allied Pacific rim nations, the "McCollum Memorandum" is notorious for its suggestion that the US intentionally provoke the Empire of Japan into making a hostile act of war - so it can be attacked and subdued once and for all. This memo becomes a cornerstone of later conspiracy theories that President Roosevelt manipulated Japan into the Pearl Harbor raid, but Roosevelt had nothing to do with it (as far as is known). It is "the smoking gun" showing that the US manufactured its entry into World War II out of whole cloth.

The McCollum Memo and its interpretation/use are quite controversial topics. There are no clear answers on what effect, if any, it may have had on US strategy. Possibilities - refuted by some major historians - are that it either gave the US military some ideas about provoking Japan into war or perhaps just reflected thinking common in the Navy at the time. However, the McCollum Memo undeniably did exist and any evidence of its influence or lack thereof is entirely circumstantial. In other words: we just don't know what it really means in terms of later historical events.

Besides the entirely coincidental McCollum Memo and the Japanese protest previously mentioned, there is a third related development in the Pacific Theater. Admiral James O. Richardson, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (CinCUS), arrives in DC for conferences with President Roosevelt and others. The topic is the stationing of the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Richardson is the key military figure who thinks that Hawaii is unsuited to being the base of the US Pacific Fleet. He considers the Pearl Harbor base to be underdeveloped and vulnerable. For those looking for subtle coincidences in history, today is a good start.

German Military: Reinhard Gehlen, a liaison officer to Army Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, transfers over to an operations planning post on the staff of Army Chief of Staff General Franz Halder. Gehlen is heading for a key intelligence position in the planning and execution of Operation Barbarossa. Gehlen also is considered to be a legendary figure in the post-war West German Bundeswehr. He definitely is a key player in the shadowy spy business both during the war and afterward.

Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller uses a fancy home movie camera at Crosley Field in Cincinnati during the World Series, The Reds take the game against the Tigers 4-0, to even the series at 3 games apiece. 7 October 1940.

British Military: The RAF forms a top-secret electronic warfare unit, the No. 80 (Signals) Wing. This unit will develop tactics such as developing devices to hone in on German radar installations.

Salvage efforts become consolidated in the No. 43 Group RAF (Maintenance), known as No. 43 Group Salvage and based at Cowley.

Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, military commander of France, takes in a tour at the Louvre given by curator Alfred Merlin. They are discussing the Venus de Milo. October 7, 1940 (Ang, Federal Archives).

Vichy France: All Jews must now register with the authorities in German-occupied areas.

British Homefront: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill regularly receives reports on civilian morale. These reports are derived from postal inspectors secretly opening mail and reviewing the contents. Today, he orders that the latest report on "Home Opinion – As Shewn in the Mails to USA and Eire" be circulated to the entire War Cabinet. The report finds that:

Morale is highest in London, but the provinces run a good second, and only a few letters from Liverpool, mostly from Irish writers, show any sign of panic.

What is most interesting about this report - and possibly the reason that Churchill finds it particularly significant - is that it shows that, exactly one month after the beginning of the bombing of London, morale there is higher than elsewhere in the country. This, of course, is exactly the opposite of many pre-war theorists claimed might be the case.

American Homefront: Soap opera "Portia Faces Life" debuts on the NBC Red Network (radio), which eventually becomes the foundation of NBC-TV. The soap is an instant success.

"Drums of the Desert" is released by Monogram Pictures, starring Ralph Byrd, Lorna Gray, and George Lynn. The film is interesting because, despite current developments in Africa, the film completely ignores them and instead concentrates on a plot involving the French Foreign Legion fighting Arabs. It illustrates the degree of distance between the US and the war very much in progress in Africa, particularly since much more interesting current real events are taking place in the film's locale than some contrived boilerplate plot.

Artie Shaw and his orchestra record "Star Dust" in a version arranged by Shaw and Lenny Hayton, and recorded for Victor on 7 October 1940. The trumpet solo is played by Billy Butterfield (2nd Trumpet), with a trombone solo by Jack Jenny. The song, written in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics added in 1929 by Mitchell Parish, will become an American standard and one of the most recorded songs in history, with over 1500 versions. In 2004, Carmichael's original 1927 recording of the song was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. Shaw's version of Star Dust is the best known and if you are going to listen to an "original version," the one you are likely to choose.  Incidentally, "Star Dust" is the actual title, though over time it has been corrupted to Stardust. The song helps summarize the era in Woody Allen's 1980 film "Stardust Memories," though Allen uses a Louis Armstrong version and technically the "Stardust" in the title refers to a fictional hotel.

October 1940

October 1, 1940: Wait Daddy
October 2, 1940: Hitler's Polish Plans
October 3, 1940: British Cabinet Shakeup
October 4, 1940: Brenner Pass Meeting
October 5, 1940: Mussolini Alters Strategy
October 6, 1940: Iron Guard Marches
October 7, 1940: McCollum Memo
October 8, 1940: Germans in Romania
October 9, 1940: John Lennon Arrives
October 10, 1940: Führer-Sofortprogramm
October 11, 1940: E-Boats Attack!
October 12, 1940: Sealion Cancelled
October 13, 1940: New World Order
October 14, 1940: Balham Tragedy
October 15, 1940: Mussolini Targets Greece
October 16, 1940: Japanese Seek Oil
October 17, 1940: RAF Shakeup
October 18, 1940: Convoy SC-7 Catastrophe
October 19, 1940: Convoy HX-79 Catastrophe
October 20, 1940: Convoy OB-229 Disaster
October 21, 1940: This Evil Man Hitler
October 22, 1940: Aktion Wagner-Burckel
October 23, 1940: Hitler at Hendaye
October 24, 1940: Hitler and Petain
October 25, 1940: Petain Woos Churchill
October 26, 1940: Empress of Britain Attack
October 27, 1940: Greece Rejects Italian Demands
October 28, 1940: Oxi Day
October 29, 1940: US Draft Begins
October 30, 1940: RAF Area Bombing Authorized
October 31, 1940: End of Battle of Britain

2020

Friday 5 July 1940

Damaged Italian destroyer Euro after the 5 July 1940 RAF attack on Tobruk.

European Air Operations: The RAF on 5 July 1940 stages daylight raids on shipping off the Dutch coast and on Waalhaven airfield. The British lose two Blenheim bombers, both over Senden, victories of 4/JG51 and 5/JG26.

After dark, the RAF raids German shipping at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven.

Vichy French torpedo bombers raid Gibraltar without causing any damage.

The Luftwaffe damages Royal Navy Corvette HMS Calendula in the Channel and damages it with near misses, sending the ship back to Plymouth.

There are dogfights over the Channel near the Pas-de-Calais. The Luftwaffe downs three Spitfires, and one Bf 109 is damaged.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-34 (Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Rollmann) torpedoes and sinks British destroyer HMS Whirlwind about 125 miles west-southwest of Land's End at 18:26. This followed a long chase in which the U-boat missed with two torpedoes. The destroyer remains afloat long enough for destroyer HMS Westcott to rescue the crew before scuttling it. There are 59 deaths, and 51 survive (sources vary).

U-99 (Kptl. Otto Kretschmer) torpedoes and badly damages convoy straggler Canadian freighter MV Magog at 12:51. The torpedo explodes prematurely, so Kretschmer surfaces and uses his deck gun. Kretschmer questions the 23 crew in lifeboats before allowing them to wait for a rescue vessel, which arrives shortly. The wreck remains afloat due to its cargo of timber and does not sink for several days.

German S-boats (Fast torpedo boats) sink British freighter Hartlepool in the English Channel off Portland.

Vichy French ships out of Dakar capture three British freighters (Argyll, Gambia, and Takoradian) and three Danish vessels (Harald, Tacoma, and Ulrich).

British submarine HMS Shark is badly damaged by attacks from German auxiliary minesweepers M1803 (trawler Spitzbergen), M1806 (trawler Cuxhaven), and M1807 (trawler Mulsum) in Boknafjord near Stavanger, Norway.

Lorient on the Bay of Biscay is now set up for U-boat operations, though as of yet no U-boats have been there. Basing U-boats on the Atlantic coast magnifies the perceived size of the fleet by cutting travel time to stations and reducing fuel required to get there.

Royal Navy ships Plover and Willem van der Zaan lay mines in the North Sea.

Convoy OB 179 departs from Liverpool.

U-103 (Korvettenkapitän Victor Schütze) is commissioned.



North Africa: The RAF sends nine Swordfish of No. 813 Squadron based on HMS Eagle at Sidi Barrani to attack Tobruk. They sink Italian destroyer Zeffro, badly damage destroyer Euro, force troop transport Liguria's captain to run the ship onto the beach, sink freighter Manzoni and damage freighter Serenitas.

In addition, the RAF sends Blenheim bombers against Italian vehicles at Bardia and El Gubbi.

At Malta, a French Latecoere seaplane crewed by two French non-commissioned officers lands after a flight from Bizerta, Tunisia. They want to join the Royal Air Force. They are arrested for questioning. Otherwise, it is a fairly quiet day.

Anglo/Franco Relations: The French government remains furious at the British for attacking the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. It breaks off all diplomatic relations. Truthfully, there has not been much communication at all between the two governments since the Armistice of 22 June 1940. French Prime Minister Pétain speaks out about declaring war on the UK, but cooler heads prevail.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Britain proposes uniting the two countries to present a united front against Germany. The Irish government rejects this proposal.

German/Franco Relations: The Germans suspend Article 8 of the Armistice Agreement of 22 June 1940 which requires the demobilization and disarming of the French fleet. This may be due to the recent conflict between Vichy France and the British.

German/Turkish Relations: Haj Amin, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, sends a minion to meet with German ambassador von Papen in Istanbul. The Arabs are looking for closer relations.

German/Swedish Relations: The railway line that runs to Narvik originates in Sweden and is vital for any military presence there. Today, the Germans reach an agreement with Stockholm for the transport of Wehrmacht personnel "on leave" to transit through Sweden, along with military supplies.

German/Romanian Relations: The new Romanian government touts its good relations with Germany - which is silent on the matter.

US/Japanese Relations: President Roosevelt uses his new powers under the recently passed Export Control Act to restrict sales of a multitude of items to Japan without a specific license. These goods include, but are not limited to, strategic minerals, strategic chemicals, aircraft engines, and aircraft engine parts.

US/Latin American Relations: Heavy cruisers USS Wichita (CA 45) and Quincy (CA 39) arrive at Rio Grande du Sol, Brazil on their "show the flag" expedition. Meanwhile, on the Pacific coast, light cruiser USS Phoenix (CL 46) departs Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone for a similar mission to Valparaiso, Chile.
US Military: The basing of the US Pacific fleet in Hawaii remains a bone of contention within the US Navy. Admiral James O. Richardson visits Washington to meet with President Roosevelt and others to see what plans are.

British Government: Operation Fish, the transfer of British gold to Canada, continues. At 0545 hours, the British battleship HMS Revenge, cruiser HMS Bonaventure, the destroyer HMS Garth, and troop transports Monarch of Bermuda, Sobieski, and Batory depart Greenock, Scotland. The ships carry a cargo of US$1,750,000,000 worth of gold and securities from the Bank of England. The destination is the Bank of Canada's vault in Ottawa, via Halifax.

The government declares the southern coast to be a Defence Area to a depth of 20 miles inland. War jitters are at an extreme high, and a report of parachutists near Pegswood Drift turns out to be nothing but a barrage balloon.

Iraq: The Iraqi government cuts off the flow of oil to Tripoli in Syria, showing its increasing Axis leanings. Iraq, of course, is technically governed by the British but has little control over the government due to its troops being in only a few large bases.

French Homefront: Albert Einstein's nephew, Carl Einstein, commits suicide in France. He faced deportation to Germany.

The Germans ban all symbols of the French state, including the tricolor flag.

British Homefront: The government bans high heel shoes to free up scarce cargo space for other items.

American Homefront: Speaking to the press in New York, President Roosevelt calls the fascist states "the new corporate governments." He states that compromise with them, i.e. Germany, Italy, and the USSR, is impossible.

Roosevelt lists five basic democratic freedoms which a state must have for it to be compatible with the United States:

1. freedom of information; 
2. freedom of religion
3. Freedom of expression, 
4. freedom from fear, 
5. freedom from want.

These become known as the "five freedoms." Germany, of course, is notably lacking all five... and so is the Soviet Union. Italy has more freedom of religion than the other two but is still lacking in every area. This list is the genesis of his much more famous "Four Freedoms" speech of 1941 when he shortened the list to four.

Franklin Roosevelt decides at some point in early July 1940 to run for a historic third term as US President.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020

Monday 27 May 1940

German propaganda leaflet dropped at Dunkirk.

Western Front: The English and French meet at Cassel on 27 May 1940 to determine how best to defend Dunkirk in order to evacuate troops. General Weygand hears about the decision and phones Churchill in a fury, saying "Your decision dishonors Britain." French troops also will be taken off and transshipped to southern French ports such as Cherbourg as possible, but it is a Royal Navy operation and the priority is BEF soldiers.

The Belgian line begins to give way during the morning. The Germans get through the Allied defensive line in multiple spots by 11:00: Maldegem, Ursel, and Thielt/Roeselare. The Chasseurs Ardennais evacuate Vinkt, which the Germans occupy, around 16:00. At 17:00, King Leopold sends a messenger to German headquarters to discuss terms. The messenger returns with the message:

The Führer demands that arms be laid down unconditionally.

At 23:00, King Leopold agrees to a ceasefire as of 04:00 on 28 May, with fighting to continue until then.

The British and French counter-attack against the German bridgehead held by 38 Corps at Abbeville south of the Somme.

General Guderian advances from the Aa River toward Dunkirk using his motorized infantry.

British and French troops are defending Lille, particularly 50,000 men of the French First Army. This resistance attracts Wehrmacht troops, which takes the pressure off the port of Dunkirk.

At Calais, Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay sends the motor yacht Gulzar to the port to see if it can bring back any remaining BEF troops. After being shot at by German troops who have occupied the town, the yacht sees some British troops on the eastern jetty, takes them aboard, and heads back to Dover. A few more British troops are holding out in the Calais citadel, and the RAF drops some last supplies for them at dawn, losing three Lysanders in the process. German artillery in Calais sinks British vessel Sequacity, discouraging further Royal Navy attempts to approach the port.

British (1st Battalion, The Cameron Highlanders) and French prisoners being marched back from the area of the crossing of the La Bassee Canal. 27 May 1940. Note the kilt, bottom left. German tanks are out in the open, not fearing air attack.

Dunkirk: The first few men are taken off in Operation Dynamo. Sources vary on the numbers, with the official figure 7,669 men taken off. The port and surrounding dunes are jam-packed with literally hundreds of thousands of troops, and equipment is scattered about everywhere. The best military discipline of the highest possible order is maintained on the beaches despite the worsening situation and dark prospects. For this reason, if there is any "finest hour" of the British Army - this is it.

There are 4 British Divisions under General Sir Alan Brooke holding the Ypres-Comines canal. This becomes known as the Battle of Wytschaete. The Panzers are closing in and now are within 4 miles of the port facilities. The entire city is within range of German artillery, but naval operations are possible (with losses) despite shelling and Luftwaffe attack. The British line must hold right where it is for the evacuation to succeed, and for several days.

Nobody needs any maps or directions to orient themselves with regard to the port. It is a blazing mess, spewing a huge column of smoke visible for miles. The RAF is attempting to achieve aerial supremacy over the port and is largely succeeding, but the Luftwaffe planes can still get through and cause a lot of damage even if many are shot down.

The Germans drop propaganda leaflets on the shrinking beachhead, urging surrender.

European Air Operations: The RAF is active over Dunkirk, sending 48 planes to attack the advancing panzer troops.

The Luftwaffe also is active around the port. They sink British ship Worthtown off of Dunkirk.

At Calais, The Luftwaffe records 160 aircraft lost or damaged and the RAF 112 during the entire course of the battle.

The RAF attacks oil installations in Germany.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-37 (Kapitänleutnant Victor Oehrn) torpedoes and sinks 5,008-ton British freighter Sheaf Mead about 180 miles from Cape Finisterre. There are 5 survivors, and 32 perish.

U-37 also sinks 3,425-ton Argentinean freighter Uruguay. There are 13 survivors, while 15 perish - they are last seen in a lifeboat that is never located.

Convoy OA 156 departs from Southend, Convoy 156 departs from Liverpool.

Norway: The Poles, French and Norwegian troops in the area prepare to attack Narvik. A naval bombardment begins shortly before midnight.

The Luftwaffe bombs and strafes Bodø in the evening. There are 12 deaths, and 5,000 are made homeless. The British troops have broken off contact with the German 2d Mountain Division and are preparing for evacuation.

German/Romanian Relations: The two countries sign an agreement whereby the Romanians receive captured Polish weapons in exchange for giving Germany Romanian oil.

War Crimes: In the Le Paradis Massacre, SS Totenkopf (Theodor Eicke) captures 99 men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment at the Rue de Paradis at Cornet Farm, just outside Le Paradis. The British, mostly wounded, are disarmed and then led to a barn on the farm. There, two machine guns from No. 4 Machine-gun Company fire at the men, and any survivors are bayoneted. There are two survivors. A total of 97 prisoners perish. The two survivors are captured by another unit after the SS men leave. Hauptsturmführer Fritz Knöchlein is the officer in charge.

There also is the Vinkt Massacre. This occurs at Vinkt, Belgium, where the Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais is mounting a fierce resistance. On 25-28 May, the German 225th Division takes hostages, uses them as human shields, and executes hostages for undetermined reasons. The German troops pick refugees at random from passing columns and shoot them. The total number dead is said to be 86 people, though there is disagreement on who should be included in the massacre figure and who was killed by Belgian artillery fire. The total thus is between 86-140, depending upon how you calculate it.

British Government: There are discussions within the cabinet about whether to pursue peace talks with Mussolini as the mediator. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is a hawk, Foreign Minister Lord Halifax is a dove. There is general agreement, though, that some kind of a deal under the right terms would be acceptable. As Churchill says at one point, "I would be happy to get out of our present difficulties" under the right arrangement.

US Navy: U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold R. Stark responds to a query from Admiral James O. Richardson, who is chafing at having the fleet based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii:

Why are you in the Hawaiian area? Answer: You are there because of the deterrent effect which it is thought your presence may have on the Japs going into the East Indies.”

Turkey: French, British and Turkish representatives begin extended conferences in Haifa regarding what assistance the Allies are willing to offer Turkey.

American Homefront: Former US President Herbert Hoover makes a radio broadcast, "We Have No Good Reason to be Discouraged or Fearful":

What America must have is such defenses that no European nation will even think about crossing this three thousand miles of ocean at all. We must make sure that no such dangerous thoughts will be generated in their minds. We want a sign of 'Keep Off the Grass' with a fierce dog plainly in sight.

The US Supreme Court hands down a decision in United States v. American Trucking Associations, 310 U.S. 534 (1940). It holds that federal agencies may not regulate employees whose duties do not affect safety and operation.

Daily Mirror, 27 May 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Tuesday 7 May 1940

Leo S. Amery makes a memorable comment in the House of Commons.

Norway: The Norway campaign has not gone well for the Allies. Prime Minister Chamberlain goes before the House of Commons to defend his policies and sparks the "Norway Debate." Naturally, the opposition parties are full of scorn. His own conservative party, however, also is full of critics. Former Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes reads out a litany of complaints about the government's handling of the Norwegian campaign. He makes a towering presence in his uniform and medals.

Leo S. Amery, a low-profile backbencher, cries out a quote from Oliver Cromwell:

“Somehow or other we must get into the Government men who can match our enemies in fighting spirit, in daring, in resolution and in thirst for victory.... I will quote certain other words. I do it with great reluctance, because I am speaking of those who are old friends and associates of mine, but they are words which, I think, are applicable to the present situation. This is what Cromwell said to the Long Parliament when he thought it was no longer fit to conduct the affairs of the nation: 'You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!'”

The final vote is scheduled for the morrow.

Norway Army Operations: The Norwegian 6th Division tries to block the German 2nd Mountain Division relief column rushing to help General Dietl's regiment at Narvik. Essentially, the Allies have Narvik surrounded, and all they have to do to take the town is to block that one relief attempt.

Norway Air Operations: The Luftwaffe hits British cruiser HMS Aurora at 16:41, putting turrets A and B out of action and killing 7 Marines.

Norway Naval Operations: More Allied troops land in northern Norway for the Narvik operation. This time, some 5,000 Polish troops, the Polish Podhale Brigade (Chasseurs du Nord), arrive in Harstad.

Battle of the Atlantic: A Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber of RAF Coastal Command drops a 2,000lb bomb at a German cruiser spotted in the East Frisian islands. It misses but marks a first as the largest bomb dropped by the RAF (the Luftwaffe previously dropped a bomb that was twice as large on the Hegra Fortress in Norway).

A gun accident on WWI-era British cruiser HMS Curlew kills five sailors.

Convoy HG 29 departs from Gibraltar.

Western Front: Allied aerial reconnaissance is beginning to detect signs of the Wehrmacht build-up, but reports are haphazard. A French pilot returning from a leaflet raid on Düsseldorf happens to see a 60-mile-long German motorized column heading toward the Ardennes.

General Charles Huntziger, commanding French 2nd Army in the Sedan sector, states: "I do not expect that the Germans will ever consider attacking in the region of Sedan."

Hitler moves the start date to 9 May 1940 due to the weather. General Jodl notes that "Hitler is greatly agitated."

Soviet Military: Stalin implements a major shake-up of the military high command. Semyon Timoshenko, fresh off what is considered a brilliant and successful re-direction of the Winter War, replaces Kliment Voroshilov as the Soviet Union's Minister of Defence. Voroshilov is being demoted to Deputy People's Commissar of Defense due to the failures in Finland. Chief of General Staff Boris Shaposhnikov is promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Holland: Responding to fragmentary reports of German troop movements and various clandestine sources such as the Vatican, the government cancels all leaves, mobilizes the reserve and begins strengthening/occupying its frontier and coastal defenses.

The Dutch have various sources of information about Fall Gelb that the Allies do not. However, they are under no obligation to disclose this information, and they don't. As Dutch civil servant Snouck Hurgronje says, "They're not our Allies."

US Navy: President Roosevelt cuts short a vacation due to what he describes as a "case of nerves." He is concerned about the situation vis-à-vis Japan. The US fleet is scheduled to return from Hawaii to the west coast of the United States on 9 May, but he believes this would encourage Japanese intransigence. He instructs Rear Admiral James O. Richardson to issue a press release stating that the US fleet would remain in Hawaii indefinitely and that it had been done at his request.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army captures Suiyangtien, Wuchiatien, and Tangho and attacks Shuangkou.

Soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army 6th Infantry Regiment crossing the Bái hé River during the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2019

Saturday 6 January 1940

Fokker D.XXI Finnish fighter.

Winter War Army Operations: The Finnish 12th and 13th Infantry Divisions attack the Soviet 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga early on 6 January 1940.

Time to finish off the reeling Soviet 44th Rifle Division. On the Raate road, the Finns begin at 3 a.m. They attack 5 miles east of Mäkinen’s original roadblock near Suomussalmi. The Soviet soldiers flee into the forests, where the Finns on skis track them down. In any event, there is nothing for them there, no shelter, so most soon perish in the bitter, lifeless cold.

Task Force Fagernas continues holding the Purasjoki River crossing area where they blew up the bridge on 5 January 1940. The NKVD troops from the USSR attempt to get by them to relieve their comrades further east, but fail. The Task Force also has enough troops to spare to cut the Ratte road further west as well.

Comrade Vinogradov, in command of Soviet 44th Rifle Division, radios Chuikov at 9th Army HQ that his men can only return through the forest and must leave all their equipment behind. Chuikov replies that the men must wait where they are until relief forces arrive. However, Chuikov himself asks the Stavka for instructions, requesting a breakout without the heavy equipment.

Division headquarter has lost all contact with the Division on the Ratte road except with the 122nd Artillery Regiment and the 305th Rifle Regiment.

Late in the day, the Finns construct a barrier near the border. Vinogradov breaks down at 16:00 and tells his subordinates to break out at 22:00. Everything is put into the effort, which is led by two rifle companies of the 25th Rifle Regiment under Major Plyukhin. Two batteries of artillery, tanks, and the rest of the Division follow along. The vast majority of the wounded are left behind on the road.

The breakout begins sometime during the night. The breakout failed immediately. The Soviets abandoned their heavy equipment and ran north of the road, into the woods. The vast majority of the heavy equipment remained intact. The fleeing Soviet troops then headed eastward through deep snow, about 2-3 kilometers away toward the border. One group, the 305th Regiment, escaped without opposition. Vinogradov, who had joined the column at some point, escaped guarded by two rifle companies and a Guard Platoon.

Winter War Air Operations: A group of Ilyushin bombers is flying over Utti, 60 miles northeast of Helsinki, when two Finnish Fokker D.XXI fighters intercept them and shoot seven of them down. Finnish pilot Jorma Sarvanto shoots down six of them in 25 minutes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Kriegsmarine issues orders to its U-boats to "make immediately unrestricted use of weapons against all ships" in an area of the North Sea the limits of which were defined. [This is according to testimony and evidence of Admiral Doenitz at the Nuremberg trials following World War II.]

Royal Navy submarine HMS Undine (Lt. Cdr. Alan Spencer Jackson) is captured by Kriegsmarine minesweepers in the Heligoland Bight but sinks due to demolition charges before it can be boarded. Commander Jackson had attacked three trawlers which turned out to be heavily armed German auxiliary minesweepers.

The British 8,317-ton liner City of Marseilles hits a mine in the River Tay of Scotland but is towed to port by salvagers after the crew abandons ship. The mine had been laid by U-13 on 12 December 1939. One crew perishes, 13 survive.

The Kriegsmarine conducts more mine-laying operations in the English Channel.

US passenger liner Manhattan detained by the British at Gibraltar.

Convoy OG 13 forms at Gibraltar, HX 15 departs from Halifax.

Italian/Hungarian Relations: The two foreign ministers, Ciano and Csaky, meet in Venice.

Soviet/Norwegian Relations: The Norwegian government denies the Soviet accusation that is it not acting in a neutral fashion in the Winter War.

British/ Norwegian Relations: The British demand access to Norwegian waters for operations due to German attacks on shipping.

Holland: The government announces that it will defend itself against any attack.

Ireland: Prime Minister Eamon de Valera calls for emergency powers to increase pressure on the IRA. The Emergency Powers Act has been found wanting, as the Irish courts set free 53 men who had been detained as suspected terrorists. The Dall (Irish Parliament) considers a much tougher bill that would authorize their detention without trial or due process.

United States Military: Admiral James Richardson takes command of the fleet in Hawaii.

United States Homefront: Duke indoor stadium is dedicated.

New York City, January 6, 1940. Before environmental protections, a heavy haze over the city was common. Now, it is rare.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019