Saturday 26 July 1941

Blacked-out Moscow during the air raid of 26 July 1941 (Margaret Bourke-White).

Eastern Front: Soviet marines on four MO-class patrol boats land on the island of Bengtskär early on 26 July 1941. Their mission is to blow up the lighthouse situated on the skerry that provides a commanding view of the seas west of the Soviet-occupied port of Hanko in southern Finland. The small group of defending Finnish soldiers, armed with one small artillery piece, are on the skerry and hold out long enough for Finnish gunboats Uusimaa and Hämeenmaa to intervene. The shore battle quickly turns into a naval one. Uusimaa sinks Soviet patrol boat PK-238 (or MO-239 or MO-306), which decides the battle. A total of 29 Soviet sailors from the PK-238 are taken as prisoners, 13 after swimming to the island, and about 20 sailors perish. The Soviet landing party, stranded, surrenders. Rather than being taken captive, many Soviet marines commit suicide with hand grenades. Total Soviet losses are unclear, as the Finns report about 60 Soviets killed in total, but the Soviets claim only 31 dead, with 24 captured. The Finns lose 16 men on land and 4 at sea. The Battle of Bengtskär is a Finnish victory that is good for morale but means little in the long run.

The Germans are eager to assume that the Soviets already are defeated. General Halder notes in the OKH war diary, "The mass of the operationally effective Russian Army has been destroyed." That is not, of course, the truth, and, in fact, the Wehrmacht is stalled on many of its fronts in the USSR at the moment.

Finnish soldiers pose on a captured Soviet bunker, 26 July 1941.

In the Far North sector, the German 36 Corps prepares to renew its stalled offensive east of Salla, where the front has been stopped at the village of Kayraly for weeks. Among other reasons for getting the offensive restarted by General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst is the fact that the Finnish forces further south in the Karelian forests have been advancing while the Wehrmacht has not - which does not look good for the Germans. In Karelia, Finnish troops reach Lake Onega.

In the Army Group North sector, the Red Army activates the 34th Army south of Lake Ilmen. Heavy fighting continues in the area as the panzers in the spearhead wait for infantry to close up and form a secure front.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Wehrmacht continues to subdue the three Soviet armies trapped in the Mogilev pocket. Mogilev itself is taken today, but Soviet resistance outside the town continues. German Second Army slowly advances against desperate Soviet resistance. Among the scorched-earth activities of the Soviet troops is their destruction of the local brewery to withhold the taste of victory from the German soldiers.

A Soviet T-26 Anisimowa, July 1941.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock removes General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 from its subordination to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge's 4th Army. This has been one of von Bock's less successful attempts to increase cooperation by putting one large formation under the control of another, nearby formation of roughly equal stature. Guderian's 18th Panzer Division is engaged in a fierce battle 25 miles east of Smolensk as it attempts to put more territory between the Soviets trapped to the rear and any Red Army units that could potentially rescue them. Morale is low, as reported by the division diary, which notes:

The men are indifferent and apathetic, are partly suffering from crying fits, and are not to be cheered by this or that phrase. Food is being taken only in disproportionately small quantities.

Quite an unexpected description of a "victorious army." Of course, the Soviets are no better off, but there is no question that the Wehrmacht spearheads are getting ground down from constant combat.

In the Army Group South sector, the Germans and Romanians capture Olgopol in the Vinnytsia district. The Romanians attach Olgopol to their province of Transnistria.

The Luftwaffe bombs Moscow again for the fourth time in a week. Bombs fall near the Kremlin. The Luftwaffe only sends 50 bombers over the city, half the number as on the previous attack. Kapitan Konstantin Titenkov shoots down a German bomber for the fourth time in four air raids, earning him the Order of Lenin and a Gold Star signifying that he is a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Another photo by Margaret Bourke-White in Moscow, 26 July 1941.

European Air Operations: There is bad weather and the RAF does not launch any major raids. Two RAF Flying Fortresses sent to Hamburg turn back after running into thunderstorms and icing, with one of the planes dropping its bomb load on Emden instead.

Hitler personally decorates fighter ace Werner Mölders with the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross.

Battle of the Baltic: Finnish (or German) shore-based artillery hits and sinks 1375-ton Soviet freighter Metallist at Soviet-occupied Hango in Southern Finland.

German torpedo boat T-3 reports sinking Soviet destroyer Tsiklon (or perhaps another destroyer) during a surface action. However, there is no verification.

Soviet torpedo boats attack the German 2nd R-Boat Flotilla in the Irben Strait. They sink German minesweeper R.169.

The German 3rd S-Boat Flotilla attacks Soviet shipping north of Riga, without result.

The Soviet Red Air Force attacks and sinks German minesweeper R-169 in the port of Vindova. There are 11 deaths and 12 crew wounded.

Soviet submarine K-3 lays mines off Bornholm.

Near Smolensk, Fw. Heinrich Klopper belly-landed his Bf 109 F-2 "Rote 1" (Red One) on 26 July 1941. Klopper is in IV./JG 51 (as indicated by the cross on the rear of the plane).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-141 (Oblt.z.S. Philip Schüler), on its third patrol out of Lorient, is operating about sixty miles north of Tory Island when it spots Convoy OS-1. At 03:28, U-141 torpedoes two ships:

• 5133-ton British freighter Atlantic City (damaged, crew abandons ship but later reboards, all 41 survive)
• 5106-ton British freighter Botwey (sunk, all 53 survive)

Atlantic City is taken in tow to Buncrana, Ireland. Schüler writes in his log that he also torpedoed another ship, but there is no evidence of that. Royal Navy escorts Walker, Vanoc, Volunteer, Sardonyx, Scimitar, and Norwegian Bath, along with corvettes Bluebell and Hydrangea, launch a 20-hour depth charge attack. U-141 escapes.

Italian submarine Barbarigo is operating hundreds of miles west of Casablanca when it torpedoes and sinks 8272-ton British tanker Horn Shell. There are 17 deaths, while the survivors are taken aboard Portuguese trawler Maria Leonor and then transferred to Royal Navy destroyer Avon Vale.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 213-ton British fishing trawler Strathlochy about 180 miles northwest of Rora Head, Orkneys.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Broke and Verity collide near Londonderry while escorting Convoy SL-80. Both destroyers sustain damage that keeps them out until mid-September, Broke at Hebburn on Tyne and Verity at Belfast.

In Lisbon, US transport USS West Point (AP-23, formerly liner SS America) embarks American and Chinese diplomats and their families who have been expelled from Germany and Italy. Some other US refugees also are taken on board, including 21 US passengers who were on Egyptian ship SS Zamzam when sunk by German raider Atlantis on 17 April 1941.

The Remnants of the Saint Elmo Bridge in Valletta destroyed in the attack of 26 July 1941 and never repaired (Корниенко Виктор).

A Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf FW-200 Condor spots Convoy OG-69 at sea west of France and directs U-boats to its path.

U-109 (Kptlt. Heinrich Bleichrodt), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, sneaks into Cadiz Harbor during the night and refuels from an "interned" German tanker before resuming its patrol west of Gibraltar.

Operation EF, the planned strike on Kirkenes, continues. British Force F, having refueled at Seidisfjord, Iceland, leaves for northern Norway. Force A departs from Scapa Flow (Operation FB).

Royal Navy destroyers bombard Dieppe, France as part of continuing Operation Gideon.

Convoy ON-1 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Rockrose and minesweeper Deloraine are launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Weyburn is launched at Port Arthur, Ontario.

U-116 (Korvettenkapitän Werner von Schmidt) and U-134 (Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Schendel) are commissioned, U-251 and U-437 are launched.

The Italian plan of attack on Malta Harbor, 26 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa rams and sinks Royal Navy submarine HMS Cachalot northwest of Benghazi.

An audacious Italian attempt to infiltrate Malta's Grand Harbour in order to sink British shipping fails. The plan depends upon removing anti-submarine netting from the Saint Elmo Bridge. The Italians set charges and do remove the netting - but the charge also causes the bridge holding the netting to collapse and block the entrance. The fiasco traps the Italians, who are fired upon by harbor guns at Elmo and Ricasoli, and those who survive soon surrender. There are 18 Italian prisoners/deaths. The incident provides fine entertainment for Maltese citizens watching from the nearby shore.

Italian torpedo boats MAS-451 and 452 are bombed and damaged, sunk or captured off Malta, apparently as part of the operation to infiltrate Grand Harbour.

Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues. Royal Navy sloop Flamingo escorts transport Salamaua from Port Said to Famagusta.

The Italians raise destroyer Leone Pancaldo. It was sunk by the RAF on 10 July 1940 in Augusta Harbor during an attack by Swordfish of No. 813 Squadron launched from HMS Eagle. The Italians return it to service.

Convoy MG-1, the part of Operation Substance in which empty freighters from Malta depart, arrives in Gibraltar.

The Luftwaffe bombs Alexandria during the night.

USS San Diego is launched, 26 July 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Admiral Husband Kimmel, responding to the war alert issued from Washington, orders long-range air patrols to search for Imperial Japanese Navy ships.

US anti-aircraft cruiser USS San Diego is launched in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is the third ship in the Atlanta class of light cruisers. While launched on the East Coast, the ship serves in the Pacific Theater and participates in major battles such as the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

Terrorists: La Cagoule terrorists kill former French Minister René Marx Dormoy 51, by planting a bomb in his house. Dormoy, as Minister of Interior in November 1937, imprisoned 70 Cagoulards. The Cagoule terrorists work both sides of the war, some siding with the Petain Vichy Regime and others defecting to the Resistance or Charles de Gaulle's Free French. Dormoy opposed Petain and is under house arrest at the time of his death. The Dormoy killing doesn't appear related to partisan operations, since Dormoy is a critic of the Vichy government, but simply is an act of pure revenge.

Harold Talburt, Scripps Howard.

US/Japanese/Chinese Relations: Pursuant to President Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 8832 signed on 25 July, all Japanese and Chinese assets in the United States are frozen. The US Panama Canal is closed to Japanese shipping. Roosevelt takes this action due to the Japanese establishing a naval base at Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina.

Anglo/Dutch/Japanese Relations: Britain and the Dutch East Indies freeze all Japanese assets. The British government issues a "notice of denunciation" of all commercial agreements with Japan. In conjunction with the similar US actions today, his causes Japan to lose about 75% of its overseas trade, most of its wheat imports, and 88% of its imported oil. Many other strategic items such as iron ore, bauxite, and manganese also are denied to Japan. Japan has three years of oil supplies stored, but that is at peacetime consumption levels - and a war would cut into stockpiles quickly.

Japan quickly freezes US, British, and Dutch assets in Japan.

Saturday Evening Post, 26 July 1941. "The Flirts" by Norman Rockwell.

Anglo/Thai/Japanese Relations: The Japanese learn that Britain has muscled in on their economic arrangements with Thailand whereby Thailand would meet the Japanese economic need for rubber. The British have agreed to supply Thailand with petroleum in exchange for large quantities of rubber, tin, and other strategic materials. It is a complicated situation because having British oil flowing into Thailand actually works to Japan's benefit due to the economic sanctions imposed on Japan. Tokyo cannot meet ally Thailand's oil needs itself, and some of that oil might find its way to Japan eventually. Tokyo finally decides to not interfere with the Anglo/Thai agreement because Thailand can still supply Japan with some rubber for the time being - and eventually, any Thai agreements with Great Britain won't be a problem.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin (received today) promising to send 200 P-40 Tomahawk woolens, 2-3 million ankle boots, and "during the present year large quantities of rubber, tin, wool and woolen clothes, jute, lead and shellac." He adds that, where Great Britain cannot supply Soviet requirements, "we are discussing matters with the U.S.A."

The New York Times, 26 July 1941.

Peruvian/Ecuadorian Relations: After strong diplomatic pressure exerted by their neighbors, the group of the United States, Ecuador, and Peru declare a truce in their border war.

US Military: President Roosevelt federalizes the Philippine Army. He recalls to active US Army service retired US general and Philippines Field Marshal Douglas MacArthur. Chief of Staff General Marshall texts to MacArthur:

YOU ARE HEREBY DESIGNATED AS COMMANDING GENERAL COMMA UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN THE FAR EAST STOP YOU ARE ALSO DESIGNED AS THE GENERAL OFFICER UNITED STATES ARMY REFERRED TO IN A MILITARY ORDER CALLING INTO THE SERVICE OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES THE ORGANIZED FORCES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES DATED JULY 26 COMMA 1941 STOP ORDERS CALLING YOU TO ACTIVE DUTY ARE BEING ISSUED EFFECTIVE JULY 26 COMMA 1941 STOP REPORT ASSUMPTION OF COMMAND BY RADIO END.

The Philippine troops are made part of the US military "for the period of the existing emergency."

The US Army promotes MacArthur to Lieutenant General and commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). As a condition of his return to service, MacArthur demands and receives a US $50 stipend per soldier serving in the Philippine National Army. This is not a unique arrangement, but MacArthur's aide Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses his similar stipend.

The US Army Philippine Department has 22,000 troops in total, including 12,000 Philippine Scouts. Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright commands the Philippine Division, which has the majority of the soldiers. However, the troop strength is deceptive, because the US Congress has been parsimonious in supplying weapons and supplies to the Philippines and other Pacific outposts.

British Military: Roderick Carr becomes commanding officer of RAF No. 4 Group.

An Italian E-boat (actually converted tourist boats) used in the 26 July 1941 attack on Valletta Harbour, Malta.

Italian Military: Commander Ernesto Forza assumes command of 10th MAS Flotilla at La Spezia, Italy. Thus, Forza in effect commands the special forces unit for the Italian Navy.

German Government: During the night, Hitler engages in random ruminations with his cronies as he is wont to do. Tonight, his subject is royalty:

Monarchy is doomed. The people needs a point upon which everybody's thoughts converge, an idol. A people that possesses a sovereign of the stature of Frederick the Great can think itself happy; but if he's just an average monarch, it's better to have a republic.

In a sense, Hitler here predicts the age of celebrity that sprouts later in the 20th Century.

Canadian Government: The Arvida strike in a key defense industry continues. Canadian Munitions and Supply Minister C. D. Howe offers his resignation out of frustration over his inability to use troops to end the strike. He ultimately agrees to stay on in exchange for being granted greater powers to deal with such strikes.

The Kelme memorial plaque.

Holocaust: It is the Sabbath for Jews, and that results in conflicts for many who are required by the German occupiers to work today. Just as one example, in Lithuania, Telsiai Yeshivah student Dov Ber Nahamkin is executed today when he refuses to work. There are, of course, others.

The local Judenrat announces that the Bialystok Ghetto is to be set up beginning today and extending through early August 1941. It is in the newly formed Bezirk Bialystok district within occupied Poland. It will house about 50,000 Jews. Jews have five days to get into the Ghetto, located in an area immediately north of Kosciuszko Square. The Germans compel the Jews to construct a 2.5 meter-high wooden fence around the ghetto, topped with barbed wire.

At Lvov, local Ukrainians seize thousands of Jews and beat to death a large number estimated at 2000+ between 25-27 July. The Ukrainians harbor a grudge based upon the 1926 murder of antisemitic leader Simon Petliura by Shalom Schwarzbard, a Jew.

Germans take over Stanisławów County in prewar Poland from the Hungarian army, who took it from the Soviets on 2 July. The Germans immediately compel the establishment of a Judenrat, to be headed by Israel Seibald.

A Lithuanian report dated 26 July 1941 counts the number of Jews living in Marcinkonys. This includes 50 under the age of 6. They will all be exterminated over the coming years.

At Kelme, Lithuania, 485 Jews are killed. This incident is commemorated with a memorial plaque. A total of 2000 Jews are killed in Kelme during July (according to the United States Holocaust Institute).

Night raid on Moscow, 26 July 1941 (Margaret Bourke-White).

In Vilna, the Germans begin kidnapping Jewish men for forced labor, ultimately killing many of them. The Jewish men so taken are lined up, and Poles who hold a grudge against one of them has merely to identify him as a Bolshevik to determine his fate. Once so identified, the Jewish man is put in a group of dozens of men which is taken to the marketplace, told to lie face-down in the street, and shot. Those who are not identified as Bolsheviks are put in wagons and sent to work.

There is an attitude of lawlessness in Vilna where treatment of Jews is concerned, with Germans and Lithuanians feeling free to break into Jewish homes and plunder them without legal retribution. According to today's report of the Einsatzgruppen:

The antagonism between the Poles and the Lithuanians continues in the Vilna area... However, the Germans' measures, especially those against the Jews, have met with general consent.

As this shows, one of the tricks the Germans use to enforce their policies in the occupied eastern territories is to exploit latent grudges by one group of people against another.

The Germans arrest the Vilna Judenrat and hold its members as hostages. They demand a large sum of money for their release, much of which must be turned over by the morning of the 27th.

Polish Homefront: Kazimierz Władysław Bartel, former Prime Minister of Poland, is killed on orders of Heinrich Himmler at dawn. The event is surrounded in mystery, but apparently, Bartel refuses a "request" to lead a puppet government for the Germans and is shot near Piaski Janowski in the same manner as those used in the murder of Polish professors from Lwów.

Albert Einstein's letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, 16 July 1941.

American Homefront: Albert Einstein, an American citizen since 1940, writes a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt asking her to intercede with her husband the President on behalf of European Jewry. Einstein wants the State Department to reverse policies that prevent refugee status from being granted to Europeans suffering from "Fascist cruelty." He wants to right this "grave injustice." Eleanor writes a note on the bottom promising to talk to Franklin about it.

The Australian Women's Weekly, 26 July 1941.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Tuesday 1 October 1940

"Wait For Me Daddy," by Claude P. Dettloff, October 1, 1940: A line of soldiers marches in British Columbia on their way to a waiting train as five-year-old Whitey Bernard tugs away from his mother's hand to reach out for his father. The troops are the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles) in New Westminster, Canada. Other spouses and family members also say their goodbyes all along the column. This is widely considered one of the most powerful photographs ever taken. (H/t Jodi P)

Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe high command - namely Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering - continues tinkering with its strategy on 1 October 1940. He reverses a recent strategy to send in fighter-bombers ahead of the medium bombers, which drained the fighters of fuel. Now, he orders that each fighter squadron be outfitted with a Gruppe of Bf 109E-7 fighter-bombs ("Jabos") to entice the RAF fighters up to do battle while leaving the all but the fastest Junkers Ju 88 bombers for night-time activity.

All of these tactical switches have a bad effect on the Luftwaffe's morale, but not everything that went wrong for the Germans was Goering's sole responsibility (even if he did have the final say on everything relating to the Luftwaffe except overall strategy). Goering was laboring under several handicaps which included:

• Absolutely horrendous military intelligence about the RAF;
• The fact that this was the first air campaign of its kind in history;
• Equipment not suited to an air campaign of this nature;
• Insufficient time to prepare for the campaign after the unexpectedly quick victory over France;
• Orders from Hitler to bomb London.

Viewing the battle in its broadest sense, the German air effort in 1940 is a laboratory experiment regarding how to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against fierce defenses. In fact, it is one of the few times in history it ever has been tried. The lessons learned during it have helped every other air force since. Thus, if the Luftwaffe is making mistake after mistake, it is not (solely) because it was being run by stupid people with hideously misplaced objectives.

In the day's operations, the Luftwaffe gets off to an early start by attacking RAF Carew Cheriton at first light with two bombers. It is an unusually effective attack, destroying two Ansons on the field and several buildings. There were one death and 10 other casualties.

Several hours later, at 10:30, the Luftwaffe sends over a large fighter formation toward Portsmouth and Southampton. The 100+ fighters of JG 2, JG 53 and ZG 26 are met by RAF fighters in the area of the Isle of Wight. Losses are about even for the two sides. A problem with the new strategy arises early on, though, when the Jabos (fighter-bombers) have to jettison their bombs early at random in order to defend themselves, in some ways nullifying the benefits of the strategy. However, from the Luftwaffe's perspective, the strategy in the larger sense works because it draws the RAF fighters up to do battle, which they might not do otherwise if only pure fighters attacked.

Another formation approaches the coast at The Needles, and another dogfight breaks out. The Luftwaffe pilots appear to get the better of this engagement, shooting down several Spitfires.

After the now-typical lunchtime break, the Luftwaffe sends an attack on London at around 13:00 which consists of Jabos and some Heinkel He 111s escorted by Bf 109s. Fighter Command gets right on this highly predictable attack but suffers a bunch of losses when it runs into elite fighter squadron JG 26.

Shortly after 16:00, the Luftwaffe sends another Jabo/fighter formation to the area of RAF Kenley. This formation manages to reach London, somewhat justifying the change in strategy as the slow Heinkels and other German bombers typically have had to turn back well before then. As a bonus, the Luftwaffe only loses one plane in this bombing, though the Jabos carry far fewer bombs than the bombers and thus cause much less damage than they could have.

After dark, the main targets are London, Liverpool, Manchester, East Anglia, Bristol, and the Midlands - the usual targets. The British are catching on to the German radio direction-finding used by the Luftwaffe at night - the Knickebein system - and are learning how to jam it in RAF No. 80 Signals Section. This is an ongoing process that continues throughout the remainder of the battle. The raids during the night are very moderate, and by now the civilian population has learned how to protect itself as much as possible.

Losses for the day are fairly even, with the usual score given as 6 Luftwaffe losses and 4 RAF ones. This, as usual, does not include planes lost on the ground, RAF bombers lost on their own attacks, and the two-sides respective amounts of bombing damage, which overall gives the Luftwaffe a pretty good day. However, while the change of tactics to reduced bomber use during daylight may be working, it also represents a strategic defeat since the medium German bombers no longer can carry out precision daylight raids.

The first RAF bomber equipped to drop "Mutton" parachute bombs into the path of approaching Luftwaffe planes goes into operation. This follows on earlier, moderately successful attempts to drop bombs in the path of bombers during August.

Hptm. Helmut Wick of Stab I./JG 2 files claims for two Spitfires, giving him a total of 36 victories.

The Manchester Guardian runs one of its periodic summaries of the course of the Battle of Britain (for those keeping score at home). The loss figures shown are extremely fanciful and simply tally the highly inflated numbers distributed each day to the press. 1 October 1940.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues its assault on Berlin, attacking a munitions plant there. Other raids occur on Cologne and Duisburg power plants, the coastal guns at Cap Gris Nez, and various airfields and ports in northwestern Europe. The raid on Berlin is notable because the RAF drops propaganda leaflets. The improving Luftwaffe night-fighter force shoots down four RAF bombers over Berlin, and anti-aircraft claims three others along the coast. The RAF is sending numerous small-scale raids on various targets - 105 separate attacks tonight - which prove difficult to intercept. Individually, however, they do not cause much damage, especially when taking into account poor accuracy endemic to bombers of the period.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kptl. Heinrich Liebe), on her seventh patrol, uses a total of three torpedoes and sinks 14,172-ton British liner Highland Patriot (Master Robert Henry Robinson). Before sinking the ship, Liebe allows the passengers to disembark after first attacking at 06:47, preventing more casualties, then puts in his final torpedo. The sinking is about 400 miles (700 km) west of Ireland at 07:08. There are only 3 deaths out of the 172 people on board as sloop HMS Wellington (Cdr. R.E. Hyde-Smith, RN) is nearby to pick the survivors up quickly.

Italian submarine Maggiore Francesco Baracca (C.C. Enrico Bertarelli), operating out of Bordeaux about 300 miles (560 km) west of Porto, Portugal, disembarks the crew and then uses its deck gun to sink 3687 ton Greek freighter Aghios Nicolaos at 16:15. There are 27 survivors and four crew perish.

Dutch freighter Haulerwijk torpedoed on 30 September by U-32, is sunk by gunfire after the crew is taken off shortly after midnight.

Minesweepers MSW Britomart and Retake collide in the Firth of Forth, causing minor damage.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN. 19 Slow in the North Sea at dusk, machine-gunning the ships.

Force H cruises off the Azores as it steams north toward England, investigating reports of German invasion convoys.

Convoy FN 296 departs from Southend, Convoy OA 223 departs from Methil, Convoy OB 222 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SHX 77 departs from Halifax.

Battleship HMS King George V (41, Captain Wilfrid R. Patterson), built by Vickers-Armstrong, is commissioned for trials at Walker Naval Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne. It introduces the first Mk IV Pom-pom director and is the first ship with gyroscopic target tracking in tachymetric anti-aircraft directors. The battleship remains incomplete and, after completion of trials, will be taken to Rosyth for final fitting out. This is a major event in the life of the Royal Navy, as King George V is state-of-the-art and the first in a projected series of battleships. She also comes along just at the right time, as later events will prove.

A Royal Mail postcard of Highland Patriot.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Malta, cruisers HMS Gloucester and Liverpool, having unloaded their 1000+ troops and cargo, scoot back out of Grand Harbour and head back to Alexandria. The island's army units spend the day reorganizing and inspecting the new troops.

Manhattan Project: Uranium produced at the mine located at Shinkolobwe, Belgian Congo (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) is shipped to New York. Director Edgar Sengier stores the final total of 1140 tons of uranium in a Staten Island warehouse. The ore is freakishly rich, containing 65% U3O8. The mine itself has been closed and its location made classified - it even has been removed from maps - but the US Army at some point sends a squad from the Corps of Engineers there to reopen the mine and upgrade the nearby airfields at Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi) and the port of Matadi.

Albert Einstein receives his US citizenship documents.

German/Finnish Relations: The two nations continue tightening ties with each other. In addition to the transit rights granted to Wehrmacht troops recently, they agree that Germany will receive the right to all of Finland's nickel exports in exchange for arms shipments. Throughout the war, right into its final days, Germany may run short of many things, but nickel is not one of them because of this deal. The mine is in the far north near Petsamo and from this point forward becomes one of the most important but little-known strategic locations in Europe.

German propaganda newspaper Naz (dated 1 October 1940) blares the headline "Ten British Spies Caught in Japan." What is somewhat ironic about this headline - which apparently relates to a months-old incident - is that three German spies have just been caught in Scotland as part of Operation Lena.

German Military: Hubert Lanz receives the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as an Oberst on the General Staff and as Chief of Staff of XVIII. Armeekorps during the Battle of France.

Erich Alfred Hartmann, who goes by the nickname "Bubi," begins his basic military training at the 10th Flying Regiment (Friegerausbildungsregiment) in Neukuhren (near Königsberg in East Prussia).

Wolfgang Falck, considered the "Father of the Nachtjagdwaffe (Night fighters)" and commander of NJG 1, receives the Ritterkreuz. Falck is busy developing new tactics with General Josef Kammhuber for better defense against growing RAF raids.

Also receiving the Ritterkreuz is Oberleutnant Gustav “Micky” Sprick, Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 26, for his 20th victory on 28 September.

I,/NJG 3 forms at Vechta with Bf 110s. Its first commander is Hptm. Günther Radusch.

At Zossen, General Halder continues the Army's perpetual preparations for phantom operations and sets in motion a detailed planning process for Operation Felix, the projected assault on Gibraltar. These sorts of contingency planning sessions take place in all armies, but the Wehrmacht's obsession with this particular operation - which would be easy with Spanish cooperation, and impossible without - creates an impression of pointless make-work for an idle staff.

Only Francisco Franco in Madrid can create the conditions necessary for Operation Felix, and his attitude remains obscure. His Foreign Minister Serrano Suner, having just met with Hitler, meets today with Mussolini in Rome to discuss similar "things."

US Military: The US Navy conducts landing operations in the Caribbean (probably Puerto Rico) with the Marines. The operation is called Special Landing Operation No. 2.

Clarence L. Tinker is promoted to Brigadier General. He currently serves as Commandant of the Air Services Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas and is considered one of the US Army's top aviation experts (the US air force still being the US Army Air Corps). He also is a Native American, one of the first to reach the rank of General in the Army.

Jacob Devers is promoted to Major General. He now commands the US 9th Infantry Division based at Fort Bragg.

"Kite balloons of No. 1 Balloon Training Unit at Cardington, October 1940." Daventry B J (Mr) © IWM (CH 17333).

China: The Japanese 22nd Army, weakened by transfers south for the invasion of French Indochina, battles fiercely to hold its supply lines in the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi.

The Chinese Communist and Nationalist armies skirmish around Huangqiao.

Australian Homefront: The Chermside Army Camp is established in Brisbane, with construction beginning. It can accommodate 3500 militia troops housed in tents and, eventually, barracks.

Petrol rationing is imposed.

German Homefront: In today's Manchester Guardian (page 2) is an account lifted from a New York newspaper (Ralph Ingersoll's P.M.) by Richard Boyer. It recounts a recent visit to Germany. Boyer recalls a:

dead listlessness which is spreading like a plague and infecting increasing numbers with defeatism. If the contagion is not halted, Germany itself, even in victory, may go the way of France.

While Boyer's interpretation is perhaps a bit sensationalized for the press and flavored by the source newspaper's liberal orientation, it does comport with other indications that German morale is depressed relative to, say, British morale and that of 1914. Virtually all of Germany's pre-war grievances relating to the Treaty of Versailles have been satisfied at this point, and yet Berliners still must sit endlessly in bomb shelters as the British launch repeated attacks. While many Germans are happy about the undeniable military successes to date, there appears to be an underlying sense even among many loyal to the regime that perhaps the war has served its purposes and should be put to rest. That, however, appears to be the last thing on Hitler's mind.

British Homefront: The media publicizes the recipients of the new George Cross and George Medal. These include Thomas Hopper Alderson and Patrick King, both involved in civilian rescues after bomb damage.

A debate rages in England as to whether the government should be building deep shelters for the citizenry (as opposed to mere "surface shelters" which have proven vulnerable to direct hits. Former Prime Minister Lloyd George leads this point of view. Today, Lord Davies writes to the Guardian supporting this argument, calling the refusal properly to acknowledge the air war's dangers "another legacy of the Chamberlain regime" (which is perhaps the worst insult imaginable at this time).

Davies, George and many, many others would be perhaps discomfited to learn that the government, despite its protestations, indeed is building massive, deep, well-constructed shelters - but only for its own use. Cost, it turns out, is no object when it comes to protecting government bureaucrats. Many of these shelters survive today, virtually intact, down to the teapots and cutlery to be used in 1940. The public is not informed of their existence until the 21st Century.

Albert Einstein becomes a US citizen, 1 October 1940.

September 1940

September 1, 1940: RAF's Horrible Weekend
September 2, 1940: German Troopship Sunk
September 3, 1940: Destroyers for Bases
September 4, 1940: Enter Antonescu
September 5, 1940: Stukas Over Malta
September 6, 1940: The Luftwaffe Peaks
September 7, 1940: The Blitz Begins
September 8, 1940: Codeword Cromwell
September 9, 1940: Italians Attack Egypt
September 10, 1940: Hitler Postpones Sealion
September 11, 1940: British Confusion at Gibraltar
September 12, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Approved
September 13, 1940: Zeros Attack!
September 14, 1940: The Draft Is Back
September 15, 1940: Battle of Britain Day
September 16, 1940: Italians Take Sidi Barrani
September 17, 1940: Sealion Kaputt
September 18, 1940: City of Benares Incident
September 19, 1940: Disperse the Barges
September 20, 1940: A Wolfpack Gathers
September 21, 1940: Wolfpack Strikes Convoy HX-72
September 22, 1940: Vietnam War Begins
September 23, 1940: Operation Menace Begins
September 24, 1940: Dakar Fights Back
September 25, 1940: Filton Raid
September 26, 1940: Axis Time
September 27, 1940: Graveney Marsh Battle
September 28, 1940: Radio Belgique Begins
September 29, 1940: Brocklesby Collision
September 30, 1940: Operation Lena

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

Wednesday 11 October 1939

The Iroquois arrives in New York City, 11 October 1939.

Western Front: Heavy artillery duels and probing attacks on French outposts on 11 October 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: The passenger liner Iroquois arrives in New York, accompanied by a coast guard cutter and two US destroyers. It thus arrives safely despite the Admiral Raeder warnings of a potential false-flag sinking.

The British detain the US freighter Sundance in London and the US freighter Black Tern at Weymouth. The British release the US freighter Black Gull.

Finland: Anti-aircraft and other defensive armament being installed in all large Finnish towns. Voluntary evacuations continue. Paasikivi arrives in Moscow.

Anglo-Soviet Relations: The British and Soviets sign a trade agreement. The Soviets will trade timber for rubber and Cornish tin.

Population Movements: Ethnic Germans are being "returned" to Germany from the Baltic states.

Polish Government: The Poles have set up a government-in-exile in Paris. Foreign Minister August Zaleski arrives in London for consultations with Lord Halifax.

British Government: Secretary of War Baron Leslie Hore-Belisha reports to the House of Commons on the state of the BEF.

In a by-election in Clackmannan and East Sterling, the Labour Party candidate receives 15,645 votes, the Pacifist candidate only 1,060.

British Military: The War Office increases weekly production of mustard gas from 310 to 1200 tons.

US Government: President Roosevelt attempts to intercede in the Soviet/Finnish negotiations, urging Soviet President Mikhail Kalinin to "make no demands on Finland which are inconsistent with the maintenance and development of amicable and peaceful relations between the two countries, and the independence of each."

Manhattan Project: FDR finally receives the Einstein–Szilárd letter from last August. He orders investigation into the technical possibility of an "atomic bomb."

German Homefront: There is an erroneous radio broadcast that the British government has fallen and the new government wishes to make peace. This leads to widespread rejoicing.

Future History: The passenger liner Iroquois will be acquired by the US Navy on 22 July 1940. The Navy will put it into service as a hospital ship at Ford Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, where it will be on 7 December 1941.

Albert Einstein and Leo Szilárd re-enact their August 1939 meeting about the letter the latter had drafted to President Roosevelt about the atomic bomb.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019