Saturday 30 November 1940

"Liverpool Street Underground Station Shelter: A woman watches her children sleeping in the station tunnel.Baltimore" November 1940. © IWM (D 1577) Photographer: Bill Brandt.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek 13th Division of 3rd Army Corps on 30 November 1940 now is 20 miles past Korçë and captures much of Pogradec on Ohrid Lake. The city is not particularly significant, but the manner of its loss is troubling: the Italian troops simply abandon it. The local Italian commanders say that the Italian defensive stance is in poor shape. Mussolini loses confidence and considers asking for a truce through Germany (something that the London media has been hinting about for some time). This crisis of confidence will have consequences for the Italian command. However, the Italian defense already is stiffening.

Greek 3rd Infantry Division attacks around Kazania and Boularat.

The Greeks are on the heights overlooking Argyrokastro. However, the Italians there have decided to fight.

Greek civilian air raid casualties since the beginning of the war on 28 October: 604 killed, 1070 seriously injured.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe, which has been targeting individual medium-sized cities for attacks over consecutive nights, switches to Southampton and its suburbs. They send 128 bombers and cause (estimated) 137 deaths and 370 other casualties. The King visits during the day to inspect the damage, which is concentrated in the downtown area. Water pressure drops because 74 water mains are cut, hampering firefighting efforts. The Luftwaffe increasingly has been using incendiary bombs to start fires, then high explosives to spread them. In general, fire-fighting efforts are ineffective in most of the city and the strongest efforts are made to preserve the docks and most important downtown areas.

During the day, the Luftwaffe sends a large fighter-bomber raid over southern England. A few of the raiders make it to London.

RAF Coastal Command makes a dawn raid on U-boat base Lorient. However, RAF Bomber Command cancels its night operations due to poor weather.

British air raid casualties for November:

• 4588 killed
• 6202 wounded

"Liverpool Street Underground Station Shelter: The floor of a tunnel crammed with sleeping Londoners." November 1940. © IWM (D 1574) Photographer: Bill Brandt.

Battle of the Atlantic: Another short, sharp surface engagement takes place in the English Channel. Two Royal Navy motor torpedo boats engage in a sweep off Flushing and run into a German convoy off the Schelde Estuary. Both sides take damage, the British to MTB 31 and the Germans to 5943-ton German freighter Santos.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on her 5th patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5378-ton British freighter Aracataca in the shipping lanes about 700 km west of Ireland. There are 8 deaths. The Aracataca, incidentally, is a banana boat coming from Jamaica, and its sinking somewhat justifies Lord Woolton's recent decision to stop the importation of bananas in favor of oranges.

Royal Navy 505-ton minesweeper trawler HMT Chestnut hits a mine and sinks off North Foreland, Kent. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe damages 187-ton Dutch freighter Gorecht off Southampton.

The weather in the western North Atlantic is terrible, with a hurricane passing near the Canadian coast. Destroyer HMCS St. Croix sustains damage and returns to St. John.

German cruiser Admiral Hipper departs from its anchorage at Kiel in the Elbe River on a raiding mission in the Atlantic.

German freighter Helgoland, which embarked on an extremely risky trip from Columbia to Europe, safely arrives at St. Nazaire.

Convoy OB 252 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 347 departs from Southend, Convoys FS 348 and FS 349 depart from Methil, Convoy FS 350 is canceled, Convoy SC 14 departs from Halifax, Convoy BS 9B departs from Aden, Convoy BS A departs from Suez.

During the month of November 1940, the following Allied shipping losses occur (the figures appear differently in different sources, usually due to slight definitional variations):

• U-boat sinkings - 146,613 tons
• Aircraft sinkings - 66,438 tons
• German raiders - 123,671 ton
• Mines - 46,672 tons

Total: 86 Allied ships of 294,054 tons in the Atlantic, 11 Allied ships of 91,661 tons elsewhere.

The Kriegsmarine loses two U-boats (one is presumed lost in November, but may, in fact, be lost in December). The Italians also lose a submarine.

U-boat sinkings of shipping have fallen by over 50% from October - 352,407 tons - but the other causes of sinkings have increased. The Germans have 27 U-boats available for patrols in the Atlantic. Typically, about 1/3 will be on patrol at any one time.

German destroyer DD Z-25 is commissioned.

Soviet submarine K-21 is commissioned.

"Liverpool Street Underground Station Shelter: Close-up of sleeping people, their heads resting against the arched walls of the underground tunnel." November 1940. © IWM (D 1575). Photographer: Bill Brandt.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy headquarters Mediterranean reports that the Malta supply situation has eased due to the attack on Taranto, which caused the dispersion of the Italian fleet, and the British presence at Suda Bay. RAF reconnaissance, though, has been hurt by the dispersion of the Italian fleet, and the Taranto thus has had the unexpected effect of making it harder to keep track of Italian fleet operations. This has impaired efforts to attack Italian convoys.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin, with captured freighter Storstad following, has headed to the southwest in the mid-Indian Ocean, taking it away from a searching Australian cruiser. The crew has painted the ship black. The crew spots a freighter and closes, opening fire and destroying the radio. After the first salvo, the freighter is a flaming wreck, its captain dying. It is 8301-ton British refrigerated ship Port Wellington - a sister ship of the Pinguin's last victim, Port Brisbane. The Pinguin takes the 82-man crew and seven women passengers as prisoners (the captain and one other perish from injuries). Pinguin then sinks the ship - but not before the Pinguin's first officer personally returns to the burning ship to retrieve clothing for the women (many in only their nightgowns). The Pinguin now has 405 prisoners on board.

Japanese/Chinese Relations: The Japanese recognize and conclude a treaty with their Chinese puppet government led by Ching-wei.

Being desirous that these two countries should respect their inherent characteristics and closely cooperate with each other as good neighbors under their common ideal of establishing a new order in East Asia on an ethical basis, establishing thereby a permanent peace in East Asia …

Ching-wei's government is based in Nanking. Setting up puppet governments in occupied territory is a typical tactic used throughout World War II by several governments. Essentially, it is just a propaganda move. The Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking led by Chiang Kai-shek has rejected secret peace feelers from the Japanese, and this is the result.

US/China Relations: The US extends $100 million in aid ($50 million for currency stabilization, $50 million in purchase credits) to China.

"Liverpool Street Underground Station Shelter: A family sleeps in the underground tunnel; even the girl's doll has its own improvised bed." November 1940. © IWM (D 1582). Photographer: Bill Brandt.

German/French Relations: The Germans have deported the Jewish residents of Lorraine (within their zone of occupation) under the Wagner-Burckel Aktion. They also have changed place names from French back to German (Germany held the territory prior to World War I). They even have required the French residents to change their French names to German (e.g., from Pierre to Peter). Failure to comply with the name changes is punishable by arrest and deportation to Germany. All that, however, was just a prelude to today's action: outright annexation of Lorraine to the Reich. The German press agency states:

Lorraine's return to the Reich has closed an historical chapter which liberated age-old German land and righted a political wrong. The century-long battle for the Rhine has now been ended. Within this territory the complete economical and political union of Lorraine and Saarpfalz will be effected.

US/Latin American Relations: In a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, US Ambassador to Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson once again warns of virulent pro-German sentiment in the country. Such worries about Uruguay and Argentina are what have led to the succession of "Show the Flag" operations that are still on-going. Wilson paints a picture of a weak government unable to stop the growth in pro-German sentiment which he claims could lead to an "armed movement."

Lucille Ball wedding photo.

US/French Relations: President Roosevelt instructs Secretary of State Hull to reject former Ambassador to Vichy France Bullitt's request that the US send its fleet to the Mediterranean to over-awe the Fascists (the American embassy in Vichy is being run by Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Robert Murphy due to Bullitt's dismissal). In a somewhat ironic reply (in light of later events), Hull now tells Murphy:

The presence of the fleet in the Pacific at this time is a very practical contribution to the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Bullitt, meanwhile, is a controversial figure who is marked for replacement by Admiral Leahy.

British Military: Prime Minister Winston Churchill appoints legendary Air Marshal Hugh Trenchard to a new position reorganizing the military's intelligence services. Trenchard is a believer in the RAF fighters taking the fight to France and not remaining in a purely defensive posture - "lean toward France."

Romania: The turmoil in Romania continues, largely stirred up by the Iron Guard but also flowing from the country's recent territorial losses. The police are making mass arrests. It is the second anniversary of the announcement of the murder of Iron Guard Founder Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. The body of Codreanu, which the government dissolved in acid and placed under seven tons of concrete in the prison, is reburied. The Luftwaffe, reflecting a deep German interest in Romania, flies over the ceremony and drops wreaths over the open casket.

Codreanu, incidentally, remains a very popular figure in Romanian society in the 21st Century, fairly recently (2006) coming in 22nd in a Romanian Television poll of "100 Greatest Romanians" of all time. It is illegal in Romania, however, to talk about the fascist Iron Guard in a positive way, and where exactly that line is drawn with regard to Codreanu has become a very controversial issue in Romanian society.

China: The Japanese 11th Army, facing heavy Chinese counterattacks, retreats to its start line in the Central Hubei sector (Han River Operation). The Chinese 5th War Area re-occupies all territory lost during the failed Japanese offensive.

US Homefront: Navy wins the annual Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia, 14-0. It is the 50th game in the series.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz have eloped to Connecticut. They get married with a wedding ring purchased at the last minute from Woolworth's:

Eloping with Desi was the most daring thing I ever did in my life. I never fell in love with anyone quite so fast. He was very handsome and romantic. But he also frightened me, he was so wild. I knew I shouldn't marry him, but that was one of the biggest attractions.

"Lucy and Desi: The Legendary Love Story of Television's Most Famous Couple," Warren G. Harris (Simon & Schuster 1991).

Having eloped yesterday, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz get married today. The two met earlier in 1940 while filming the Rodgers and Hart stage hit Too Many Girls.

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Monday 18 November 1940

As published in the 18 November 1940 Life Magazine, this picture shows air raid wardens preparing for work. The man on the phone is receiving the "yellow warning" of Luftwaffe planes approaching England. This is Churchill, England, a village about 20 km from Bristol, a prime target during this stage of the war.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek offensive continues on 18 November 1940, but it is not without problems of its own. The "K" Group of Divisions (OMK), which is III Corps, is now added to the 11th Division, so it now has the original III Corps, 11th and 13th Divisions. It is commanded by Lieutenant-General Georgios Kosmas. K Group is advancing on the Korçë plateau against the Italian 9th Army toward the valley of the Devoll river, which would give access to central Albania and ultimately the ports on which the Italians rely for supplies. The main Greek objectives are the city of Korçë and the summit of Morava, which provides the key to the valley.

The K Group's newly added 13th Division has a bad baptism of fire when certain elements within it panic under fire. An attack, poorly coordinated, stalls, and the Italians almost regain the initiative in the sector. Kosmas replaces the 13th Division's commander with Major-General Sotirios Moutousis, who manages to hold the line. The Greek advance continues after this brief interlude.

The Greeks now have captured Kortytsa, but the Italian 9th Army by-and-large has escaped along the roads because the Greeks are traveling on foot and have restricted mobility - though this does help them with their penetrations along the craggy mountains.

On the coastal Thesprotia sector, the Greek Liuba Detachment levers the Italians out of Igoumenitsa and back across the Kalamas River. The Greek 8th Division continues hammering away at the Kalams Sector.

European Air Operations: During the night, the RAF raids the Scholven/Buer hydrogenation plant at Gelsenkirchen. This is a key part of the fuel chain for aviation fuel. The bombers also raid the Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG plant, a synthetic oil installation. Another target, hit by 11 bombers, is the Leuna synthetic oil facility in Merseburg.

The Luftwaffe sends 70 bombers against London and other targets during the night.

The Daily Mirror quotes Arthur Greenwood, Minister without Portfolio of the War Cabinet (deputy leader of the Labour Party), as saying that Germany is suffering fifty times as much from night bombings. After the devastation of Coventry, many in England are concerned that the air war is going poorly.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-65 (K.Kapt. Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), on its extended fifth patrol, torpedoes and sinks 5056-ton British tanker Congonian in the mid-Atlantic. The first torpedo hits at about 18:02, the second at 18:12. There are one death and 35 survivors, with British cruiser HMS Devonshire picking up the survivors and taking them to Freetown.

Italian submarine Maggiore Baracca (Entico Bertarelli) torpedoes and sinks 4866-ton British freighter Lillian Moller (Skipper William Fowler), dispersed from Convoy SL 53, west of Ireland at 17:04. There are no survivors among the 49-man crew. Fowler and half a dozen other crew members are commemorated on Tower Hill. The ship is notable for having, aside from officers, an entirely Chinese crew, who are commemorated on the Hong Kong War Memorial.

A Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor (1,/KG 40) bombs and sinks 4274-ton British freighter Nestlea in the Celtic Sea south of Ireland. Everybody aboard survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 293-ton British coaster Ability, on its way from London to Great Yarmouth and carrying cement bags, about 5 km off Clacton-on-Sea. Everybody aboard survives.

The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of 506 Küstendliegergruppe) bomb and sink 2569 ton Free French freighter S.N.A. 8 in the North Sea off Barrow Sand (near Swin Light Vessel).

The Luftwaffe also damages 5298-ton British freighter Biela, 4908-ton British freighter Langleetarn, and 2826 ton Norwegian freighter Favorit in various actions.

British 100-ton naval trawler/drifter HMT Go Ahead sinks after a collision at Sheerness, southeast England.

Royal Navy sloop HMS Lowestoft, escorting Convoy FS 336, shoots down a Heinkel He 111 bomber.

The Royal Navy sends five minelayers to extend the SN1 and SN2 minefields in St. Georges Channel. This new effort becomes SN3.

Convoys OB 245 and OG 46 depart from Liverpool, Convoy FN 337 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 338 departs from Methil, Convoy BN 9 departs from Aden, Convoy BS 9B departs from Port Sudan.

Italian officers and a soldier at Agrinio, Italy. 18 November 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Royal Navy continues shuttling troops between Egypt and Greece. Today, the cruiser HMS York departs from Port Said with a battalion of troops to reinforce the British presence at Suda Bay, Crete, and also some anti-aircraft artillery bound for Piraeus to protect RAF airfields near Athens.

The Royal Hellenic Air Force bombs and sinks Italian freighter Ardita IV at Vlorë, Albania.

The Regia Aeronautica attacks Alexandria again and damages 323-ton British tanker El Nawras.

In Operation Rope, heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire bombards Dante, Italian Somaliland.

At Malta, the government removes restrictions on shop hours (stores have had to open later and close earlier than they would prefer in honor of the civilian curfew from 20:30-06:00 curfew). However, it retains civilian curfews. This news is welcomed by shop owners whose customers have had difficulty shopping on their to and from work.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin is still traveling in company with captured Norwegian freighter Storstad, which was temporarily renamed Passat during minelaying operations south of Australia. Storstad, acting as a scout ship, spots a large freighter at night. Pinguin comes up and puts a warning shot over its bows, and the men of the Pinguin boards it. The ship is the 7920-ton British freighter Nowshera (named for a city in India) on its way from Adelaide to Durban and thence the UK, and it carries zinc ore, wheat, wool, and similar items.

The Pinguin takes what it needs from the Nowshera - which is armed with a 4-inch gun on its stern and a Lewis gun on its bridge - and then scuttles it. The 113-man crew - 103 Indian crew - is transferred to the Pinguin. The Europeans on board become POWs and ultimately wind up at Stalag XB (Marlag und Milag Nord) near Westertimke, Germany.

Meanwhile, the Royal Navy, knowing that the Ole Jacob has been sunk by a surface raider, has been searching for the Pinguin. However, the Indian Ocean is vast, and the Pacific even vaster. With no leads to go on, Australian heavy cruiser Canberra returns to port.

Applied Science: A Sunderland flying boat fitted with experimental Air-to-Surface-Vessel (ASVI) radar equipment uses it to locate a U-boat approaching a convoy. This is a first for the equipment.

Hitler meets with Count Ciano, 18 November 1940.

German/Italian Relations: Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano travels to the Obersalzberg for a meeting with Adolf Hitler. It is not a happy meeting. Hitler is irate that the Italians have invaded Greece and thus brought that country into the war. His real concern, though, is always the British.

The problem for Hitler with the invasion of Greece is not the failed Italian offensive itself; it is that the Italian/Greek war now has given the British a reason to set up air bases in Greece. This Hitler cannot abide, because they are within range of the Romanian oil fields. Hitler's absolute priority at all times is the protection of the oil fields centered around Ploesti, Romania because they essentially fuel the entire Wehrmacht and are irreplaceable. The new RAF presence on mainland Greece threatens those oil installations, he tells Ciano.

Hitler at this point still is uncertain what to do about Greece: either pledge neutrality or invade. In particular, he hopes to avoid invading Yugoslavia. However, something will have to be done eventually. Planning for Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece from Bulgaria continues in the OKW.

German/Spanish Relations: Hitler, who likes to combine diplomatic events in one or two days, also meets with Spanish Foreign Minister Serrano Suner. As usual, Serrano Suner is noncommittal about Spain entering the war on the side of Germany.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler also meets with King Boris. Bulgaria is a somewhat shaky ally of Germany, but Hitler needs Bulgarian cooperation for Operation Marita.

US/Vichy French Relations: The US is displeased with Vichy France's refusal to sell its battleships. Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles asks Chargé d'Affaires ad interim H. Freeman Matthews to reiterate the US concerns about the battleships - the Jean Bart and Richelieu - and that the US would be willing to buy them "as well as any other vessels of the French Navy."

Holocaust: The Wagner-Bürckel-Aktion is generally considered to have been concluded on or about this date. It expelled about 7000 Jews from 137 Baden communities in the Lorraine region of France to concentration camps - particularly the Gurs camp - in southern France.

"Phantom of Chinatown" starring Keye Luke opens on 18 November 1940.

American Homefront: "Phantom of Chinatown" is released, starring Keye Luke as Mr. Wong. Directed by Phil Rosen and produced by Paul Malvern.

Future History: Qaboos bin Said al Said, future Sultan of Oman, is born in Salalah, Oman.

FDR is on the cover of Life Magazine, 18 November 1940.

November 1940
November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Wednesday 23 October 1940

A young lady is rescued from rubble after an unexpected daylight raid. 23 October 1940.

Battle of Britain: The day remains cloudy and dreary. As on previous days, the poor weather on 23 October 1940 greatly slows the tempo of all operations. It also causes various flying accidents which are becoming almost as deadly as actual combat.

The morning is taken up with scattered reconnaissance flights. One of these just past noontime penetrates the London Inner Artillery Zone successfully and causes damage there. There are a couple of abortive raids in the early afternoon in which planes cross the Channel but don't actually make any attacks. RAF No. 145 Squadron intercepts this raid and loses two Hurricanes for its pains.

After dark, London bears the brunt of the damage. The Luftwaffe also hits Glasgow and mines off the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire areas and off the west coast. A land mine at Tynemouth Park creates a huge crater and damages numerous nearby buildings, including well over 200 homes. St. Pancras is bombed, cutting the rail line and damaging rail cars.

The weather appears to be implicated in some crashes. An RAF No. 600 Squadron Blenheim on a training mission crashes into a hillside at Kirkby Malzeard, Yorkshire, killing the pilot.

In France, a Heinkel He 111H of 1,/KG 27 misses the runway at Tours and hits a nearby barracks, killing not only the four crewmen but 13 occupants of the building. There are 11 other casualties from the ground crew.

In another bad weather accident, a Swordfish of RAF No. 767 Squadron collides with a Shark aircraft of No. 758 Squadron, killing the pilot of the Swordfish.

Overall, there are fewer than a handful of losses on both sides, probably the lowest number of overall planes lost since the battle began.

European Air Operations: After a respite due to poor weather, RAF Bomber Command returns to the attack today. The primary targets are railway installations and power plants around Berlin. Other bombing raids are sent against the port of Emden, oil installations at Hanover and Magdeburg, the port of Hoek van Holland, and various communications points in northwestern Europe, including airfields.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a quiet day at sea because the U-boat fleet is back in port after a stunningly successful week. Convoys SC 7 and HX 79 are still struggling into port after being mauled. The Royal Navy Admiralty reassesses how its escorts are performing.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks Norwegian freighter Prinsesse Ragnhild off Bodo.

Swedish 65 ton trawler Essie hits a mine and sinks in the Skagerrak about 19 km south of Skagen, Denmark. Six crew perish.

Norwegian 1590 ton liner Prinsesse Ragnhild hits a mine and sinks in the Norwegian Sea off Bodø, Nordland. There are 78 deaths and 62 survivors.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7603-ton freighter Empire Ability at Gare Loch, Scotland.

Battlecruisers Hood and Repulse are at sea supporting Operation DNU, a destroyer sweep in the North Sea by HMS Somali, Matabele and Punjabi, and accompanying vessels.

German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer sails from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in Poland to Brunsbuttel en route to a raiding cruise in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

Convoy OB 233 departs from Liverpool, Convoys FN 316 and FN 317 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 318 departs from Methil.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF raids Gura, Asmara Airfield, Gondar, Tessenie, Kassala and Sidi Barrani.

At Malta, the island loses a scarce Swordfish when it ditches in the sea close to shore. A trawler recovers the crew. In addition, after a lot of hard work all the ammunition recently received is stocked away, and a one-week bomb disposal course - the island's first - is instituted. Previously, untrained men have been disarming bombs.

Hitler and Franco at Hendaye.

German/Spanish Relations: Hitler travels by train to Hendaye. Ramón Serrano Súñer, Francisco Franco, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Hitler meet in the Hendaye railway station. This is one of the most fateful meetings of the war. They speak for three and a half hours. Franco is completely noncommittal about entering the war and repeats the demands for enormous supplies he would require that previously have been communicated by Serrano Suner. Hitler offers Gibraltar and North African territory, but Franco wants territory on the far side of the Pyrenees, Morocco and much of Algeria. All of these demands would spoil relations with France and Italy, and Franco probably knows that. It is becoming clear that Franco is not interested in entering into another war so soon after gaining power. However, for what it is worth, he reaffirms that he is strongly pro-Axis and does promise to enter the war at some point if his numerous and onerous conditions are met.

Hitler leaves with nothing, and later comments that the discussion was worse than "having three or four teeth pulled." He likely expected more cooperation given the aid he had given Franco during the Spanish Civil War - without which Franco likely would no longer even be alive. Unlike the talks with Laval on the 22nd, this meeting at Hendaye absolutely can be deemed a failure. There now is no possibility of performing Operation Felix, the conquest of Gibraltar. After the war, Reichsmarschall Goering will claim that the single biggest mistake that the Axis made was not simply invading Spain after this failed meeting and seizing Gibraltar anyway. That would have closed off the Strait of Gibraltar to the British fleet and vastly improved communications to North Africa.

The next stop on Hitler's itinerary is a meeting with Marshal Petain. The trip is becoming an exercise in why you should have agreements ready to sign due to prior negotiations before you actually travel to meet with your counterpart. The idea of a "continental bloc" against Great Britain is evaporating before Hitler's eyes. However, he still might be able to work something out with Petain, who today meets with Laval at Vichy regarding Laval's meeting with Hitler on the 22nd and appoints him Foreign Minister.

Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler and Franco. 23 October 1940.

German/Italian Relations: Hitler's journey to France already is having an effect - a bad one - on Italy. Mussolini is described as being in "a black mood" over the fact that "the Germans prefer the French to us." Mussolini instructs Count Ciano to demand control of the French Mediterranean coast and Marseilles, which is far more than they could ever hope to achieve through military action. The sole reason for this apparently is Mussolini's feeling abused like a spurned lover.

German/Italian/Arab Relations: German radio endorses German/Arab relations. There is a lot of support within the Middle East for Germany, though Great Britain and France maintain a somewhat precarious hold on the region. Italian radio does the same thing at the same time in obviously coordinated outreach.

Anglo/French Relations: At the same time that Hitler is about to woo Marshal Petain, Petain has his man in London, Louis Rougier, to meet with British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax. They work to see if there can be some kind of reconciliation between the countries.

Anglo/US Relations: Another tranche of US destroyers are transferred to the Royal Navy pursuant to the destroyers-for-bases deal. They are:

USS Evans -> HMS Mansfield
USS Philip -> HMS Lancaster
USS Wickes -> HMS Montgomery
USS Stockton -> HMS Ludlow
USS Conway -> HMS Lewes
USS Conner -> HMS Leeds
USS Twiggs -> HMS Leamington
USS Yarnall -> HMS Lincoln
USs McCalla -> HMS Stanley
USs Rodgers -> HMS Sherwood

The new Royal Navy destroyers man up with Royal Navy sailors and begin departing piecemeal for ports in Great Britain.

Luxembourg: What remains of the Luxembourg government, the Chamber of Deputies and the Council of State, is formally dissolved.

Japan: The country gives a one-year notice of withdrawal of the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911. Signed by the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Empire of Japan, and the Russian Empire, the treaty led to later treaties of a similar nature. The Convention is considered a landmark in wildlife preservation issues.

Holocaust: The Gauleiter of the Saar, Robert Wagner, boasts that he has made the area "Judenfreie" (free of Jews) due to the Aktion Wagner-Burckel began on the 22nd. The Aktion will continue for another year.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt gives a speech in Philadelphia in which he vigorously denies wanting to lead the country into war. He emphasizes:

We will not participate in foreign wars and will not send our Army, naval or air forces to fight in foreign lands outside of the Americas except in case of attack. It is for peace that I have labored; and it is for peace that I shall labor all the days of my life.

Roosevelt will abide by this promise, though one could interpret his blatant support of Great Britain in the war against Germany and embargoes he has imposed against Japan as subtly pushing the Axis to attack the United States. In other words, Roosevelt may be provoking an attack on the United States in order to achieve a larger goal of entering the war. However, there is no direct evidence that this is his plan.

British Homefront: Prime Minister Churchill and wife Clementine inspect Polish troops at St. Andrews in Scotland. General Wladyslaw Sikorski, Premier of the Polish Government-in-Exile and commander of Polish forces, accompanies them.

Future History: Edson Arantes do Nascimento is born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He receives the (nonsense) nickname "Pelé" in school due to his fan worship of a Brazilian goalkeeper with a similar name. He becomes the local amateur soccer (football) star, then in the late 1950s a member of the national team. This begins a legendary soccer career that makes Pelé a household name around the world. He remains an ambassador of Brazilian soccer.

Winston Churchill, Clementine and Sikorski at St. Andrews. 23 October 1940.

October 1940
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

Tuesday 22 October 1940

Deportations begin in Baden pursuant to Aktion Wagner-Burckel. This is Gailingen on Lake Constance. As refugees enter an Order Police truck, officers from the Order Police and neighbors look on. A total of 178 Jewish men and women from Gailingen, the biggest Jewish rural community in Baden, are deported to Gurs camp in the south of France. October 22, 1940.

Battle of Britain: The weather remains poor throughout the day of 22 October 1940, only clearing up a bit in the afternoon. On days like this, simply flying can be almost as dangerous as encountering the enemy. The Germans lose a handful of planes (and pilots) to crashes caused or aided by the weather. While offensive operations are curtailed, those that do occur generally face little opposition, as interceptions are extremely difficult in the wet, cloudy air.

During the morning, there are some pirate raids and the like. Eastbourne is hit at about 10:30, killing two and injuring 16. A stick of bombs may not destroy anything industrial of strategic value, but it can wipe out a neighborhood in an instant.

Around 14:00, the Luftwaffe mounts its largest raid of the day. A few dozen fighter-bombers (Jabos) cross over toward London. RAF Nos. 74 and 605 Squadrons intercept, and bombs fall on RAF Brockworth, where there are two dead and 32 injured.

Other, smaller raids take place throughout the afternoon, including a large raid around 16:00. Many of the raiders turn back before attacking due to the weather, others head for the usual airfields around London such as Biggin Hill and Hornchurch. The two top Luftwaffe fighter formations, JG 26 (Galland) and 51 (Molders) are in action, and the RAF sends up eight squadrons to intercept. It is one of Werner Molders' best days, as he claims three Hurricanes to bring his score to 50, tops in the war to date.

The night raids on London are notable for how small they are in comparison to other raids since the start of the Blitz on 7 September. Many call this the easiest night of the Blitz. The bulk of the raids occur right after darkness sets in between 18:30 and the next few hours. Coventry is hit hard, suffering 150 fires and extensive damage to goods yards and factories. KGr 606 Dornier Do 17s bomb Liverpool at about 20:30, but the damage is not as great as at Coventry. Bombing accuracy is especially poor on a poor-weather night like this, and a lot of damage is avoided when bombs drop in undeveloped areas.

Total losses for the day are minimal. The RAF loses a handful of planes (4 pilots killed) and the Luftwaffe roughly the same number of Bf 109s.

Unexploded bombs remain a real problem. They are everywhere in major cities, and it can take weeks to address them. Meanwhile, they sit silently, nobody knowing if they will suddenly go off - and this includes some large land mines. At Seal, a bomb disposal officer working on such a bomb that had sat quietly for three weeks does something wrong with the fuse as he is working on it, and the bomb goes off - no trace of the body anywhere.

The Luftwaffe loses two Focke-Wulf FW 200C-1 Condors at sea near Ireland, one while attacking a ship near Cape Clear.

The coastal guns at "Hellfire Corner" (the Dover Strait) exchange a few shells between 07:50 and 09:04. While not achieving much strategically, the German shelling does make life worse for many in Dover. The occasional "lucky hit" destroys numerous houses and cuts roads. Today, 30 houses suffer light damaged and four people are lightly injured, while the A259 road to Folkestone is hit and partially closed. It is a "keep calm and carry on" situation.

European Air Operations: The weather continues to be poor, so RAF Bomber Command does not get in the air during the night.

Tree-class trawler HMT Acacia, similar to HMT Acacia which hits a mine and sinks today.

Battle of the Atlantic: After suffering through a very rough patch from 18-21 October 1940, the Royal Navy and British merchant marine get a relatively calm day. However, even "quiet" periods now involve multiple sinkings.

While providing escort duties to Convoy OL 8 sailing out of Liverpool, Royal Navy destroyer HMCS Margaree (Cdr J. W. R. Roy RCN) collides with 8337-ton British ammunition ship Port Fairy in rough seas about 483 km west of Ireland. The destroyer sinks quickly, taking her captain and 140 other men with her. Port Fairy comes off much the better in the incident and rescues 34 men. This was the Margaree's first mission for the Canadian Royal Navy, having been destroyer USS Diana with the British Home Fleet before being transferred to Canada on 6 September. The crew of the Margaree had been largely composed of survivors of the HMCS Fraser, lost on 25 June after a collision with cruiser HMS Calcutta. In addition to the large loss of life, many of the survivors are wounded.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 825-ton collier Kerry Head a few miles south of Blackball Head, near Cape Clear Island, County Cork. There are no survivors, all 12 men perish.

British freighter Cairnglen runs aground and is lost at Marsden, Northumberland. Everybody survives.

Royal Navy 545 ton trawler HMT Hickory (T116, Lt. Ralph Eric Harding, RNZNVR) hits a mine and sinks south of the Isle of Portland, Dorset. There are 20 deaths, survivors are picked up by HMT Pine (including Harding, who is wounded).

The Admiralty fears an invasion of the Shetland Islands after dark, and so sends out a destroyer patrol (HMS Somali, Punjabi, Matabele) east of the islands. This is Operation DNU. They find nothing and soon return to their regular patrols.

Convoys OA 233 and FS 317 depart from Methil, Convoy SLF 52 departs from Freetown.

U-108 (Kapitänleutnant Klaus Scholtz) is commissioned.

The sister ship of Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Margaree, HMS Defender, sinking in the Mediterranean on 11 July 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Mussolini has the Regia Marina form a "Special Naval Force" for a landing on Corfu contemplated at the end of the month (later canceled). This includes cruisers, numerous destroyers, landing craft, and other supporting units.

The South African Air Force raids Birkau in Italian East Africa. This is the fifth time they have done this.

The Italian Air Force raids Alexandria with fifteen S-81 bombers.

At Malta, Governor Dobbie works on getting gas masks and related equipment. Recent reinforcements are unprotected and vulnerable. The basic problem, of course, is that getting any supplies at all to Malta is extremely hazardous and costly for the Royal Navy.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis, disguised as Dutch freighter Tarifa, captures 5623-ton Yugoslavian freighter Durmitor. Atlantis' Captain Rugge converts the freighter into a prison ship while he sails the Atlantis into the Sunda Strait in search of more victims.


German/French Relations: Having traveled somewhat leisurely on his Special Train (Führersonderzug) "Amerika" from Berlin to France, Adolf Hitler at 18:30 meets at  Montoire-sur-le-Loir with French Vice-President of Vichy's Council of Ministers Pierre Laval. Conferring with Hitler and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop an hour later, Laval is non-committal about signing any documents but expresses his personal willingness to work (collaborate) with the Germans. The conference is encouraging for Hitler but does not provide Ribbentrop with any opportunities to have Laval sign the agreement he has brought which would create a formal alliance between Germany and France on economic, political, and military grounds. Anything along those lines obviously would have to be approved (and signed) by Marshal Petain, with whom Hitler will meet on his return trip.

Some like to portray this meeting as a German "failure" to form an alliance with France. Perhaps, but that really is vastly overstating matters. Instead, the meeting is inconclusive. Laval has no real power. All power in Vichy France resides in Petain, who can dismiss him or anyone else at will. Hitler stays the night at Montoire in his train before proceeding to his meeting with Spanish leader Franco at Hendaye.

Anglo/French Relations: On the same day that Hitler is conferring with Laval, Petain's representative Louis Rougier arrives in London from Vichy to discuss Anglo-French reconciliation.

Anglo/Belgian Relations: Hubert Pierlot, Belgian Premier, and Paul-Henri Spaak, Foreign Minister, arrive in London by airplane from Lisbon. After being imprisoned by the Francoist regime at the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona, they had escaped Spain recently by hiding in a truck and then crossing the border to Portugal (Their escape is still commemorated at the Hotel Majestic with a plaque.). Lisbon is a well-known destination for fugitives, providing one of the few safe (relatively) conduits between the German and British orbits due to the truly neutral attitude (extremely rare in Europe) of Portuguese leader António de Oliveira Salazar. Their new digs are the Carlton Hotel in London.

Italian/Bulgarian Relations: Mussolini previously has asked King Boris III to participate in the invasion of Greece. This would stretch Greek forces out by requiring them to defend two widely separated fronts. King Boris, however, declines.

Free France: Charles de Gaulle reviews troops in Cameroon.

Aktion Wagner-Burkel, 22 October 1940. Photo courtesy of and copyright ©Stadtarchiv Mannheim - Institut für Stadtgeschichte.

Holocaust: Aktion Wagner-Burckel (often referred to as just Aktion Burckel) begins. This is an operation in the German frontier wine region begun by Gauleiters Robert Wagner of Baden and Josef Burckel of the Saar and Pfalz (now, in 1940, reworked together as Westmark). Deportation begins of almost 30,000 Jews from the German-occupied zone of France to the Vichy-controlled area, basically expelling them from the Reich. They are not much safer there - but anything is better than Poland. Burckel, in particular, is a virulent anti-Semite who has been working to achieve his schemes since Hitler first came to power in 1933.

Early in the morning, teams of police fan out and pound on doors. They have lists of names of everyone to be deported, secretly compiled in July 1940 shortly after the fall of France. Everything is done by a strict timetable: victims are told how much time they have to pack, what they could bring with them (not much), and how their remaining property left behind was to handled. Pets are given to neighbors and receipts for them obtained. It is all very orderly and brutal.

Burckel's and Wagner's motivations are to "cleanse" or "sterilize" the frontier region of both Jews and its historical culture so that it may be absorbed as just another nondescript region of the Greater Reich. Partly, they aim to stamp out "Landesgeschichte," or regional identity/history, and replace it with "Volksgemeinschaft," or "common history of the people." This attitude flows from the fact that, in the past, all of Germany had been composed of local fiefdoms, and the idea of a national, as opposed to regional, identity is new in the grand scheme of things. This type of "cleansing" later also will be undertaken by Reinhard Heydrich in the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (formerly Czechoslovakia), with mixed success (people tend to protect their own history). The Aktion Wagner-Burckel operation will continue for a year and basically achieve the "cleansing" ends to one extent or another for the duration of the war.

Speaking of Poland, some pinpoint 22 October 1940 as the true establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto. Hans Frank has been working on that all year long, and it has been a gradual process with several dates possible as the true "beginning" of this walled-off community.

Holland House Library in London. 22 October 1940.

October 1940
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