Friday 9 January 1942

Rikusentai (Japanese marine troops) unit in landing craft, awaiting beach assault, unknown date.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese launch their first main assault on the Allies' main defensive line on Bataan at 15:00 on 9 January 1942. Advancing from the Dinalupihan- Hermosa region, the Japanese split their force so that two combat groups attack US II Corps in the east and one attacks I Corps in the west. The American and Filipino army units see the Japanese coming and open fire with artillery, dispersing the attack. The attacking Japanese skirmish with Allied patrols but don't actually attack the Allied outpost line, preferring to establish their own line close to it instead. The USAAF Far East Air Force sends nine B-17 Flying Fortresses based at Singosari Airfield on Java against shipping in Davao Bay, Mindanao, but only five make it all the way, the rest turning back with various mechanical issues.

"Lot 11614-9: Second Sino-Japanese War, July 1937-September 1945. Battle of Changsha, January 1942. China Fights On Against All Odds. Despite overwhelmingly inequalities in armament, aircraft, and supplies, China continues to take heavy toll of the well-equipped Japanese army. With the material support of her U.S. and British allies, she is resisting the latest big Japanese drive. Picture shows Chinese soldier with captured Japanese war material. " This photograph released in January 1942. Office of War Information Photograph. (2016/01/22).

In Burma, the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers") are fighting the Japanese based in Thailand every day. Today, they launch an offensive mission against Tak Airfield at Rahaeng, Thailand. They destroy four Japanese planes at no loss to themselves.

The reconnaissance of Truk on 9th January 1942, by F-Lt R. Yeowart and crew in a specially fitted Hudson Mk IV of No. 6 Squadron. The operation, involving a return flight of 1,405 statute miles, was the longest sea reconnaissance which had been undertaken by the R.A.A.F. in a land-based aircraft. The concentration of enemy shipping and aircraft seen at Truk gave warning of the Japanese thrust south to New Britain and New Ireland in the next two weeks. Australian War Memorial 128121.

In Singapore, area commander Lieutenant General Arthur Percival orders Indian III Corps to withdraw into Johore. This is the last stop before Singapore itself. The Corps begins withdrawing while executing a scorched-earth policy. The shattered Indian 11th Division and all available other units plan to delay the Japanese at two lines, the first at Seremban and Port Dickson, and the second at Tampin and Malacca. The British are aided by the narrowing of the Malay Peninsula to the south, which typically favors the defense - if they have enough troops to man the entire line.

The Malayan Campaign. The Kunishi Detachment advancing on a muddy secret coastal path through coconut palm trees dragging their bicycles. 9 January 1942 Credits: Takao Fusayama.

The Japanese are planning invasions of Rabaul and the Netherlands East Indies. To soften up the defending Australian troops, the Japanese Naval Air Force has been bombing the Allied base at Rabaul with carrier-based aircraft. The Japanese have gathered a large fleet of transports at Truk lagoon to carry the invasion troops.

"General de Gaulle making a speech to the assembled ships companies" De Gaulle is visiting Free French merchant ships in Liverpool on 9 January 1942. © IWM (A 7013).

Eastern Front: After dark, a blizzard hits the Moscow sector which paralyzes all movement for a full day. This helps the Germans, whose front has been creaking for weeks but not entirely breaking. During the day, the Soviet Third and Fourth Shock Armies had attacked German 16th Army west of Ostashkov, but the snow stops them, too. However, before the snow began, they hit a two-regiment division, the 123rd, that is holding a 35-mile portion of the line. Since the 123rd Division is so weak, it has been holding widely separated strong points which the Red Army simply bypasses. That doesn't mean that the German strongpoints are safe, just that they haven't been eliminated... yet.

"General de Gaulle addressing the ship's company during a visit to one of the Free French Merchant Ships" Liverpool, 9 January 1942. © IWM (A 7011).

Partisans: The Battle of Dražgoše begins in Slovenia. This is the first direct battle between the German Army and the Slovene Partisans. The confrontation lasts until 11 January 1942. It is a controversial incident because there are conflicting accounts of why the battle takes place at all, and why it takes place there. According to one version, the Partisans chose the town of Dražgoše because it is Catholic and the Partisans for reasons of their own wish the Germans to harm its inhabitants. Under another version, the Battle of Dražgoše is simply a heroic act of defiance and a moral victory against the invaders (this is the accepted version throughout the subsequent decades of Communist rule). What is not disputed by anyone is that the German forces quickly force the Partisans out of the village and exact retribution against the villagers, executing dozens of inhabitants and eventually demolishing the entire town. Politics in the Balkans is very murky throughout World War II and subsequent decades and things there often are not what they seem at first glance.

"HMS Cleopatra, British Dido Class cruiser. 9 January 1942, at anchor in Scapa Flow."  © IWM (A 7062).

Japanese Homeland: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto tells journalist Taketora Ogata of the Imperial Rules Assistance Association (a para-fascist organization formed to promote the "New Order"):

A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack.

This may be the source of the infamous "we have only awakened a sleeping giant" quote that is often attributed to Yamamoto.

The first production TBF-1 Avenger at the Grumman factory in Bethpage, Long Island, New York, January 9. 1942

American Homefront: Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer (uncle of future Hollywood actor Max Baer, Jr.) in the first round. This is a rematch of their famous match in which Baer knocked Louis out of the ring, but then Louis returned and won the fight. He later comments:

The only way I could have beaten Louis that night was with a baseball bat.

Baer ends his career with a 52-7 record with 46 knockouts.

A dentist at work at the Army Dental Centre in Belfast, 9 January 1942.

1942

January 1942

January 1, 1942: Declaration By United Nations
January 2, 1941: Manila Falls to Japan
January 3, 1942: ABDA Command Announced
January 4, 1942: MacArthur on His Own in the Philippines
January 5, 1942: Soviets Plan General Offensive
January 6, 1942: US Army in Europe
January 7, 1942: Soviet General Offensive Opens
January 8, 1942: Hitler Sacks Hoepner
January 9, 1942: Battle of Dražgoše
January 10, 1942: Building the Jeep
January 11, 1942: Japan Takes Kuala Lumpur
January 12, 1941: Rommel Plans Counterattack
January 13, 1942: First Ejection Seat Use
January 14, 1942: Operation Drumbeat First Sinking
January 15, 1942: U-Boat Off NYC
January 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Crash
January 17, 1942: British Take Halfaya Pass
January 18, 1942: Soviet Paratroopers in Action
January 19, 1942: FDR Approves Atomic Bomb
January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference
January 21, 1942: Parit Sulong Bridge Battle
January 22, 1942: Parit Sulong Massacre
January 23, 1942: Japan Takes Rabaul
January 24, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
January 25, 1942: Kholm Surrounded
January 26, 1942: GIs Land in Europe
January 27, 1942: Battle of Endau
January 28, 1942: Rommel Takes Benghazi
January 29, 1942: First US Coast Guard Ship Sunk
January 30, 1942: Singapore Isolated
January 31, 1942: Army Group South Averts Disaster

2020

Monday 22 December 1941

"Italian troops surrendering to a patrol of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade on the road south-west of Gazala, Libya, 22 December 1941. One of the prisoners even brought his bicycle with him." © IWM (E 7301).

Battle of the Pacific: In the Philippines, the Japanese make their main landings on the east coast of Lingayen Gulf during the morning of 22 December 1941. The Japanese have 43,110 troops of the 48th Division and a regiment of the 16th Division, supported by about 90 light tanks and artillery. US commander General Wainwright sends the 11th and 71st Filipino Divisions in a futile counterattack. The Japanese win a brief battle at the coastal town of Rosario against the 26th Cavalry Division of the Filipino Army, which withdraws south toward Manila. Offshore, US submarine USS S-38, sailing out of Manila, torpedoes 5445-ton Japanese transport Hayo Maru. The transport quickly sinks in the Lingayen Gulf. This is S-38's first war patrol and the first US submarine success of the war.

Life Magazine's 22 December 1941 issue provides a guide to telling Japanese and Chinese citizens apart.

A US Navy relief operation to Wake Island was organized by Admiral Husband Kimmel before his dismissal. On 22 December 1941 Task Force 14 (Admiral Wilson Brown), supported by Task Force 14 (Admiral Frank Fletcher) is approaching the beleaguered US Marines there. However, at 21:00, the acting commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, recalls Task Force 11. He bases this on reconnaissance that reveals the presence of two Japanese aircraft carriers and two battleships around the island. While there aren't any battleships, there definitely are two modern aircraft carriers, but the real opponent at this stage of the war is simply the unknown. The Americans don't know where all the Japanese carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor went, and the remaining US carriers are too precious to risk with naval forces so vastly reduced by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pye instead plans on sending F2A Brewster Buffaloes from USS Saratoga at extreme range to land on the island on the 23rd, supported by a quick run to the island by seaplane tender USS Tangier. However, it is unclear how long the island can hold out against vastly superior Japanese forces.

On Wake Island itself, the US Marines suffer from two Japanese raids launched from carriers Hiryu and Soryu. There are only two operational USMC F4F Wildcats left on the island, and one is shot down and the other badly damaged.

"Japan's Aggressor, Admiral Yamamoto" is the cover story for the 22 December 1941 Time Magazine. The cover portrait by Arthur Szyk shows Yamamoto as vaguely human but definitely menacing.

On the Malay Peninsula, fierce air battles develop over Kuala Lumpur. Sergeant Malcolm Neville Read of RAAF No. 453 Squadron rams his Brewster Buffalo fighter into a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" fighter of 64th Sentai and perishes. The Indian 11th Division continues its retreat behind the Perak River, while the Indian 9th Division establishes a strong position around Kuantan airfield that also protects the east flank of the 11th Division.

The situation in Burma is deteriorating rapidly, with Japanese forces making good progress in the extreme south. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek realizes that his best supply route runs through Burma, so he gives General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, ground forces. He sends the Chinese 6th Army's 93rd Division and a regiment of the 49th Division, with the promise of more to come. The American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka "Flying Tigers") are operating east of Rangoon, but there is a serious lack of Allied ground troops in the country which Chiang can remedy faster than the British.

USAT Willard H. Holbrook arrives in Brisbane, Australia, 22 December 1941. It is part of the United States Navy's "Pensacola" Convoy that includes heavy cruiser USS Pensacola, gunboat Niagara, naval transports Chaumont and Republic, Army transports Holbrook and Meigs, and three freighters. They carry the first US troop units to arrive in Australia from the United States.

A Japanese convoy leaves Miri, Borneo for Kuching. A Dutch flying boat X-35 radios a warning to HNLMS K XIV (Lt. Cdr. Carel A.J. van Groeneveld), which heads to intercept it on the 23rd.

Newsweek, 22 December 1941, features Navy dive bombers.

About 15 nautical miles off the coast of California southwest of Lompoc, Japanese submarine I-19 uses its deck gun against 10,763-ton American tanker H.M. Storey. The recent spate of Japanese submarine attacks off the coast has attracted a great deal of attention, and a US Navy aircraft swiftly arrives and drops a depth charge. This provides enough of a distraction for the tanker to escape.

"A 25-pdr field gun and 'Quad' artillery tractor, 22 December 1941" North Africa. (© IWM (E 7245)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: In North Africa, the British Commonwealth forces continue pressing against the Afrika Corps, which has retreated to Beda Fomm and now is evacuating from Benghazi. The Germans have received some reinforcements from Tripoli and manage to stop the British by deploying 30 panzers. General Erwin Rommel, commander of Panzer Group Africa, sends a battle report to German General Headquarters in Rome for translation to Mussolini which notes "the extraordinarily strong enemy air superiority."

"Universal carrier of 40th Royal Tank Regiment, 8th Armoured Division being recovered from a hole at Warren Camp, Crowborough in Sussex, 22 December 1941. The regiment was about to embark for the Middle East, hence the desert camouflage." © IWM (H 16283).

Eastern Front: Having taken a somewhat leisurely drive from his former headquarters in Smolensk to East Prussia, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock arrives at the Fuhrer Headquarters in Rastenburg. After a brief visit with Hitler, during which the Fuehrer assures him that he understands the dire situation at the front, von Bock continues on to Berlin. It is an odd interlude because von Bock is not actually sick, but Hitler tells him to report back when he is "recovered."

Four Polikarpov I-15 biplanes ("Chaika," or seagull) under repair in Moscow, 22 Dec 1941.

At the front around Moscow, things are not quite so pleasant. In a driving snowstorm, Soviet 49th Army attacks at Tarusa and scores a quick breakthrough against the German Fourth Army. This separates the German 43rd Corps from the rest of the army and sets up a possible encirclement. The Army Group commander, Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, follows standing orders and tells the corps to stand fast. However, von Kluge warns Fuehrer Headquarters of the danger. At Chekalin, Soviet sled troops surprise a German construction unit, which cannot be reinforced because of the snow and push it back. General Guderian spends the day at the front south of Moscow and is dismayed. He finds that the Soviets have broken through 296th Infantry Division at several points. He also warns Fuehrer Headquarters that he will lose the division entirely if it is required to hold its position.

President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Washington, D.C., 22 December 1941.

US/British Relations: The Arcadia Conference ("Arcadia" being the official code name for it), also known as the First Washington Conference, begins in Washington, D.C. on 22 December 1941. This is a meeting of top British and United States political and military leaders. Winston Churchill makes the hazardous ten-day journey across the Atlantic in battleship HMS Duke of York. This is the first of many military conferences between the two powers while both are at war. The conference lasts until 14 January 1942 and establishes the defeat of Germany as the top priority of the alliance. This comports with the established US military Rainbow 5 plan which already is in effect. Other agreements reached at the Arcadia Conference include establishing a Combined Chiefs of Staff, based in Washington, limiting resources to be sent to the Pacific Theater, and a "Declaration by United Nations" which establishes the principle of no separate peace with the Axis. The Arcadia Conference projects the first combined offensive action by the two powers as an invasion of North Africa, creates a unified American/British/Dutch/Australian Command (ABDA) in the Far East and establishes that military resources will be combined for the common benefit in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).

"Western Desert, Libya. 22 December 1941. The fierce attacks upon enemy aerodromes by the Allied Air Forces destroyed many aircraft which never had a chance of taking the air." Australian War Memorial MED0221.

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

2020

Monday 3 November 1941

"General Sir Archibald Wavell, C-in-C Far East, and Major General F K Simmons, GOC Singapore Fortress, inspecting soldiers of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, Singapore, 3 November 1941." © IWM (FE 375).

Japanese Government: The leaders of the Japanese government, including Emperor Hirohito and top military commanders, attend a conference to discuss relations with the United States on 3 November 1941. With negotiations having broken down, the discussion is oriented toward how and where to attack, not whether to attack. The outcome of the conference is Top Secret Order No. 1, which directs that in 34 days time, the military forces of Imperial Japan are to attack the United States Fleet in Hawaii, the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies.

"A Matilda tank of 6th Armoured Division is put through its paces for members of a visiting delegation of journalists from the West Indies, Eastern Command, 3 November 1941." © IWM (H 15281).

The Japanese plan calls for the Japanese Combined Fleet to occupy Rabaul, Bismarck Islands, which is an Australian naval base per League of Nations mandate, and use it as a Japanese forward base. Admiral Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, formally presents his operational plan for the attack on the United States fleet base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Chief of the Japanese Naval General Staff Admiral Osami Nagano approves the plan.

"HMS BARLOW, one of the Ships that controls the opening and closing of the Hoxa Gate, the main entrance to Scapa from the sea. The Boom can be seen running away to the background." 3 November 1941 © IWM (A 6383).

After the conference with the Emperor, Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, commander-in-chief of the First Air Fleet which comprises the Imperial Japanese Navy's main aircraft carrier force, goes to aircraft carrier Akagi and holds his own conference. He summons his main commanders and informs them of the decision to attack the United States and Great Britain bases, including US protectorate the Philippines, and other targets. This is the first that many commanders learn of the attack plan. Many of Nagumo's subordinates privately grumble that Nagumo, who is frail and elderly, is not the right man to lead the leading Japanese naval forces during such a crucial period.

HMS Kent at anchor at Scapa Flow, 3 November 1941. © IWM (A 6381).

United States Government: US Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew, who of course is unaware of the secret Japanese conference, sends a lengthy secret telegram today to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. He warns that "the view that war probably would be averted... is an uncertain and dangerous hypothesis upon which to base considered United States policy and measures." He notes that "In Japan political thought ranges from the medieval to liberal ideas and public opinion is thus a variable quantity." He concludes:

[I]t would be shortsighted for American policy to be based upon the belief that Japanese preparations are no more than saber rattling, merely intended to give moral support to the high-pressure diplomacy of Japan. Japan may resort with dangerous and dramatic suddenness to measures which might make inevitable war with the United States.

Grew does not know it, but before he even sends this telegram, Japan already has committed to such a dangerous and dramatic path, which Grew further notes would be a "suicidal struggle with the United States."

A Schützenpanzer (Sd.Kfz. 250) and Sturmgeschütz III in Russia, November 1941.

Eastern Front: It is getting very cold in Russia, as General Heinz Guderian pointedly notes in his diary. Despite this, the ground in most places is still too muddy to enable regular truck even panzer traffic. At the juncture of Army Group's Center and South, German forces occupy Kursk - an event which would be much more celebrated in July 1943 than now, when it is little noticed. Guderian's own forces at Tula south of Moscow mount another effort to take the city by attacking a stadium and cemetery on the city's southern outskirts. The Soviet defenders, including a rare deployment of NKVD detachments sent by Lavrentiy Beria, repel the attack. This continues a lengthening stalemate south of Moscow as both sides bring forward reinforcements.

"U.S.A.'s West Point," Life magazine, 3 November 1941.

November 1941

November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

2020

Friday 31 October 1941

Portraits of Stalin and Churchill hung in Brisbane, Australia in an event concerning Australian troops at Tobruk, 31 October 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (Kptlt. Erich Topp), on its sixth patrol out of St. Nazaire, is operating with Wolfpack Stosstrupp on 31 October 1941 and shadowing Convoy HX-156 southwest of Iceland and west of Eire. At 08:34, Kptlt. Topp fires two torpedoes at a warship guarding the convoy. At least one of the torpedoes hits the ship in the forward area and explodes. It is the USS Reuben James (DD-245, LtCdr Heywood Lane Edwards, USN), part of US Escort Group 4.1.3.

USS Reuben James sinks, 31 October 1941 (US National Archives).

The explosion, assisted by a magazine exploding within the Reuben James, breaks the ship's back. Both sections sink within five minutes, the forward section virtually immediately. As the stern section sinks, depth charges break loose and explode, killing men in the water. Seven officers - all aboard - and 90 enlisted men perish in the sinking (some sources say an even 100 are killed), and one of the 46 survivors (some say 45) succumbs to his wounds on 2 November. This is the first United States Navy ship lost in World War II and the sinking is quickly memorialized by Woody Guthrie in a popular song.

A Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance map of the port of Sevastopol in the Crimea taken on 31 October 1941. General von Manstein's 11th Army nears the city on 31 October and effectively puts it under a state of siege. Many Red Army soldiers who escaped from Odesa are in Sevastopol. They are numerous but poorly armed following their seaborne escape (Federal Archives Bild 168-278-010).

Soviet Government: The Wehrmacht is within 200 km of the center of Moscow on three main axes of their attack on 31 October 1941 - from the northwest, west, and south - and Joseph Stalin faces a crisis. It is not the first crisis, and it will not be his last crisis, but if there is one thing that Stalin knows how to handle, it is a crisis. One word sums up Stalin's attitude to a crisis: ruthlessness. He has been ordering executions of top lieutenants, such as the elimination of his "Hero of the Soviet Union" former air force commanders on 28 October, but those were just the tip of the iceberg. A secret report today within the highest reaches of the Soviet government reveals just how ruthless Stalin can be.

USS Reuben James in Chinese waters before World War II. It was one of the "flush deck," "4-stack," "four-pipe" destroyers which started entering the US Navy during World War I. You can tell this is a pre-war photo, look how spotless the ship is (US Navy photo).

Major General Solomon Rafailovich Milshtein, chief of the Investigative Unit of the NKVD (Soviet state security apparatus, akin to the Gestapo and forerunner of the KGB), delivers the report to his superior, Lavrentiy Beria. Milshtein is one of Beria's closest associates, one who can be entrusted with the most sensitive reports. A Vilnius of humble means and Jewish descent, Milshtein met Beria when both joined the Transcaucasian Cheka during the early days of the Bolshevik Revolution. Beria had Milshtein control the railways and use them for such secret activities as the Katyn Forest massacre and other liquidations. The topic of Milshtein's report reflects one of Stalin's favorite paranoias: sedition and treason.

"Balloons being transferred from the balloon launch to merchant ships." Greenock and Gourock, 31 October 1941. © IWM (A 6176).

The report states that, from the start of the Russo-German war through 10 Oct 1941, 657,364 troops were arrested for falling back without authorization, 249,969 of whom by agents of the Special Department Directorate in the NKVD (UOO NKVD USSR, a predecessor of SMERSH) and 407,395 by other agents of NKVD. The majority of those arrested were returned to the front, but 10,201 were executed. To set an example, 3,321 of those executed were done so in front of their units.

As the NKVD man in charge of the railways, Milshtein would have supervised industrial evacuation trains such as this one from Leningrad in 1941.

Beria's and Milshtein's influence grows throughout 1941 and 1942. Stalin is convinced during these years that his Red Army soldiers are disloyal, from the very bottom ranks to the very highest. For instance, he questions why so many tanks break down, something he attributes to sabotage rather than inferior Soviet manufacturing processes. While the NKVD is active at all times in the Soviet state, it gains particular supremacy in those areas designated as in a state of emergency. That covers broad swathes of the country in late October 1941, including Leningrad, Moscow, and the entire Crimea. In essence, Beria and Milshtein are running a ruthless police state at Stalin's orders and do it competently and without any recourse whatsoever for the victims.

U-83 during its second wartime patrol out of Brest. This patrol lasted from 28 September 1941 to 31 October 1941 under the command of Oblt. Hans-Werner Kraus. During this patrol, U-83 sank one Portuguese ship of 2044 tons, Corte Real, and damaged one ship of 6746 tons, Royal Navy fighter catapult ship HMS Ariguani (F-105). The Ariguani, wich U-83 torpedoed on 26 October, was protecting Convoy HG-75. While badly damaged and abandoned, the Ariguani refused to sink and ultimately was towed to Gibraltar. The Ariguani was decommissioned but later repaired and returned to service as a freighter in January 1944. U-83 was sunk on 4 March 1943. Incidentally, the photographer of this shot obviously was a brave man, many men were swept off the decks of U-boats in rough weather like this.

Japanese Military: Admiral Yamamoto has been having his subordinates draft a plan for an attack on Pearl Harbor since early September. Today, the Japanese High Command approves the plan. Negotiations with the United States continue, but Prime Minister Tojo is preparing for war with Emperor Hirohito's lukewarm approval.

Mount Rushmore is completed on 31 October 1941. This appears to be a photo of Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln.

American Homefront: Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota is dedicated on 31 October 1941 - Halloween. Conceived by Doane Robinson, the project was begun in 1927 and realized by Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum. Gutzon passed away in March 1941, and Lincoln put the finishing touches on it before operations halted for the winter. Due to a lack of funding and other issues, the project was terminated with some portions left uncompleted. However, the important parts - the Presidents' 60-foot tall faces - were what really mattered and they were completed to become an iconic image. The visitor's center which offers a view of the monument is named after Lincoln, who remained the memorial's first superintend until 31 May 1944 and who passed away on 27 January 1986. Incidentally, work continues sporadically on Mount Rushmore, with the Hall of Records being completed in 1998.



October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020

Wednesday 3 September 1941

Soviet POWs captured during street fighting in Ukraine on their way to German camps, 3 September 1941 (Deutsches Bundesarchiv/AP Photo).

US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese have been pressing for a summit meeting between Prince Konoye and President Roosevelt for weeks in the hope that this could lead to better relations between the two powers. After much hesitation and deliberation, on 3 September 1941. the Americans finally tell the Japanese that President Roosevelt will not agree to such a meeting.

This decision effectively scuttles settlement talks. The Japanese hold an emergency liaison conference where it is decided that:

if by the early part of October there is still no prospect of being able to obtain our demands, we shall immediately decide to open hostilities against the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.

The Japanese fleet already is planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor under the direction of Admiral Yamamoto. However, there are many moderates in both governments - almost all outside of the military - who continue to hold out hopes for a peaceful resolution in the Pacific.

In Germany, 16th Army Commander Colonel-General Ernst Busch (later a field marshal) inspects an anti-aircraft gun position on September 3, 1941 (Photo credit: Deutsches Bundesarchiv / AP Photo).