Sunday 24 August 1941

German transport destroyed by partisans on the railway line Sarajevo - Visegrad, Yugoslavia, 24 August 1941.

Eastern Front: General Halder is furious with General Guderian on 24 August 1941. Guderian had been drafted by Halder, Army Group Center commander Field Marshal von Bock, and others to change Hitler's mind about the wisdom of attacking Moscow rather than Kyiv during their meeting on the 23rd. Halder writes a scathing critique of Guderian's failure. He notes that Guderian told Hitler that his troops could not attack south due to weariness and lack of fuel, then notes that today Guderian has completely changed his position and now maintains that he can, in fact, immediately attack south. Halder writes:

My reply to [Guderian] is that I had no sympathy for such a 100% change of mind. His retort was: What he told us yesterday was framed with a view to furnishing OK  with arguments against the ordered operation to the south. Now, having become convinced by his interview that the Fuehrer was firmly resolved to execute this drive to the south, it was his duty to make the impossible possible in order to put those ideas into effect.

Halder concludes that "This conversation shows with devastating clearness with what complete irresponsibility official reports are twisted to fit any specific purposes."

In the Far North sector, the Soviet 115th and 123rd Rifle Divisions launch a counterattack against the Finnish bridgehead across the Vuoksi River. The Finnish Light Brigade T is partially surrounded and forced to fight for its life. Things look grim, but the Finns have reinforcements available while the Soviets do not, and the Soviet units are tired from long marches. The Finns quickly send units of IV Corps which are due to arrive on the 25th.

Finnish 8th Division (Col. Winell) crosses Viipuri Bay unopposed, isolating the Soviet forces in Viipuri by cutting their escape route along the coast. The Soviet troops are not going to retreat without orders anyway, as they know from experience that bad things happened to troops that retreated on their own initiative during the Winter War and the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. Thus, the Soviets essentially allow the Finnish crossing because they are staying put anyway.

Finnish 36 Corps continues advancing in the area of Nurmi Lake and Nurmi Mountain. On their right flank, the Finns take the village of Vuoriyarvi, while in the left the Finnish 6th Division is racing to cut off Soviet troops that are trying to escape to the north along a logging road that they have found which is not on maps.

Fighting at Novogord, 24 August 1941 (Kempe, Federal Archive, Bild 183-L19934).

In the Army Group North sector, the fighting features only local actions. The Soviets at Tallinn (Reval) realize their plight as German 18th Army presses in and organize a convoy to transfer troops and any remaining dependents back to Leningrad - with disastrous results (see below). Heavy fighting at Novgorod.

In the Army Group Center sector, Soviet General Ivan Konev attacks toward Gomel, recently taken by the German 2nd Army. Second Army itself is planning an attack on the south in conjunction with General Guderian's Panzer Group 2, which is about 75 miles to the east at Starodub. General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 continues thrusting in the direction of Velikie Luki, advancing to within a mile of the city.

Field Marshal von Bock is bitter about the emphasis on Kyiv and Leningrad over Moscow, writing:

This is the seventh or eighth time in this campaign that the army group has succeeded in encircling the enemy. But I'm not really happy about it, because the objective to which I have devoted all my thought, the destruction of the enemy armies, has been dropped. Perhaps we will overrun the Russians in from of my northern wing and thus get things going to the point that at least pressure on my eastern front is relieved...If, after all the successes, the campaign in the east now trickles away in dismal defensive fighting for my army group, it is not my fault"

A Soviet tanker surrenders his T-26B tank, August 1941 (Friedrich, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-267-0115-24).

In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 4th Army is bogged down around Odessa. The Soviet defenders are fighting desperately, helped by timely bombardments from the Black Sea Fleet and, as with their comrades in Karelia, a lack of authorization to retreat. The Romanians report that they have suffered 5,329 killed and 27,307 total casualties. On the bright side for the Romanians, they have inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders, and their artillery at Kubanka is pounding the Soviet port facilities. OKH agrees to send some spare battalions to help the Romanians get their attack moving again.

There is heavy fighting at Dnepropetrovsk and south of Kyiv. German 6th Army continues pulling the noose tight around Kyiv. German 11th Panzer Division reaches the Desna at Oster, but the retreating Soviets set it on fire.

Luftwaffe Oblt. Hans Philipp of II./JG 54 receives the Eichenlaub, becoming the 33rd soldier to receive it. Philipp has 62 kills, over 40 in the USSR.

This is a Whitley V from RAF No. 51 (Z6505/MH-F). It was one of two Whitleys based at Dishforth, Yorkshire lost during the Düsseldorf raid of 24 August 1941 (actually shot down at 01:30 on the 25th). Lt Hans-Dieter Frank of I./NJG1, flying a Bf 110 G-4b/R3, shot it down.

European Air Operations: During the day, six RAF Blenheim bombers raid Bremerhaven. They attack a ship but miss. There are no losses.

RAF Bomber Command mounts a large raid over Düsseldorf with 25 Whitleys, 12 Hampdens, and 7 Halifax bombers (44 total). It is cloudy and accuracy is very poor. The RAF loses 2 Whitleys and one Halifax.

The RAF mounts a special operation targeting searchlights in the Wesel area. Six Hampden bombers mount a sustained attack against searchlights that are illuminating another bomber and find that directly attacking them causes them to either go out (either from being destroyed or voluntarily) or lose their tracks on other bombers.

The Luftwaffe takes advantage of low cloud cover over England to send six planes against targets from Blyth to Teesside. The RAF responds, and a tragedy results. There is a friendly fire incident when RCAF Hurricane Mk. I Hurricanes of No. 1 Squadron based at Northolt, Middlesex mistake two Blenheim bombers for Junkers Ju-88s and shoot them down.

Battle of the Baltic: The Germans are closing in on Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, so the Soviets send a convoy carrying departing troops and refugees. The convoy sails into a German minefield off Cape Juminda (near Keri Island), with disastrous results. The following ships hit mines and sink:

• Destroyer Engels (formerly the Desna)
• Minesweeper T-209/Knecht
• Minesweeper T-213/Krambol
• Minesweeper T-212/Shtag
• 3618-ton freighter Lunacharski
• 1430-ton freighter Daugava
• 2029-ton freighter Zheleznodorozhnik

Soviet tanker No. 11 also sinks in the Gulf of Finland, it is not clear if this was part of the convoy.
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The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Soviet freighter VT-532 in the Baltic. The master manages to beach the freighter near Prangli Island. There are 44 deaths.

HMS Black Swan, damaged on 24 August 1941, in Londonderry on 26 February 1942 (© IWM (A 7309)).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs British 1283-ton freighter Skagerak with a FAB-XI aerial a mine and sinks it in the River Orwell, Harwich. There are 18 deaths, including the river pilot, and six survivors. This is a new German mine and its first success.

Royal Navy anti-submarine whaler Kos XVI collides at 23:30 with destroyer Wolsey in the Irish Sea and sinks just after midnight in the early hours of the 25th. Wolsey remains in service.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Royal Navy sloop Black Swan while Black Swan is escorting a convoy in the Irish Sea. Black Swan makes it to Milford Haven for repairs that take three weeks.

An RAF Catalina sights an attack a U-boat about 30 miles southwest of the River Tagus near Lisbon but apparently misses.

In Operation Cutting, Royal Navy sloop Milford departs from Freetown escorting 1984-ton British freighter Lady Denison-Pender. The latter ship is to cut and remove the Dakar-Pernambuco cable.

The Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF), established at St. John's on 23 May, continues adding ships and expanding its operations. Today, Canadian corvettes Agassiz, Alberni, Chambly, Cobalt, Collingwood, Orillia, and Wetaskiwin depart from Halifax for St. John's, while corvette Kenogami arrives there.

Royal Navy Force A, beginning operations in the Arctic, arrives at a point 60 miles west of Isfjord, Spitsbergen. It prepares to conduct Operation Gauntlet, a Royal Navy raid on Spitzbergen scheduled to begin in the early hours of 25 August.

First Lord of the Admiralty A.V. Alexander visits Scapa Flow for an inspection tour of battleship HMS Prince of Wales.

Royal Navy minesweeper Fort York is launched.

Norwegian Navy submarine HNoMS Uredd, formerly HMS P-41, is launched (the formal transfer to the Norwegians is on 7 December 1941).

Convoy SC-41 departs from Sydney, Cape Breton bound for Liverpool, Convoy SL-85 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool.

HMS Manxman, a key part of Operation Mincemeat.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Mincemeat gets into gear as minelayer HMS Manxman, disguised as a Vichy French destroyer, lays 140 mines (70 contact mines, 70 magnetic) off Livorno, Italy. Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal sends Swordfish torpedo-bombers on a sweep over Sardinia, dropping incendiary bombs west and southwest of Tempio. Later, the Ark Royal sends off ten more Swordfish to bomb Tempio airport.

The Italian fleet, led by battleships, continues patrolling off the western Italian coast but does not locate the British ships. The Royal Navy, however, does spot the Italian fleet. After aerial reconnaissance reveals the presence of battleships, the British head back to Gibraltar. In any event, the British have accomplished their main objective, the minelaying of Manxman.

The Italian Navy sets up a patrol line of five submarines and 13 motor torpedo (MAS) boats across the Sicilian Strait in order to waylay an expected Royal Navy move through the Mediterranean. Other submarines take up position southwest of Sardinia. The Italian fleet sets up station at the entrance to the Sicilian Strait, waiting for the British - while ships of the Royal Navy now are heading in the other direction. Royal Navy submarine Upholder spots the fleet and attacks light cruiser Luigi Di Savoia, but misses.

The Royal Navy officially writes off submarine P-33 (Lieutenant R.D. Whiteway-Wilkinson). It is the second U-Class submarine lost in two days, the other being P-32.

Operation Treacle, the replacement of Australian soldiers at Tobruk with Polish troops of the Carpathian Brigade, continues. The Polish troops depart from Alexandria aboard minelaying cruiser Latona and destroyers Griffin, Kingston, and Kipling. The mission proceeds without incident.

British patrol planes from Malta spot Italian patrol boat Grazioli Lante between Tripoli and Benghazi and sink it. Nine Wellingtons attack Tripoli and damage the docks and the city.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine L-4 (Lt Cdr Polyakov) lays 20 mines off Cape Olinka, Romania. The Soviets have four other submarines patrolling off the Romanian coast while two others patrol off the Bulgarian coast.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Ceres collides with 6129-ton Norwegian tanker Gylfe off Bombay. Ceres sustains major damage to its stem, fracturing it, but proceeds with its mission anyway, escorting Convoy BM-8 to Port Swettenham, Trincomalee.

Australian coaster Dellie, sunk on 24 August 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Australian coaster Dellie (formerly Sphene) runs aground and is wrecked at Tweed Heads, Fingal Light, New South Wales, Australia while on a voyage to Tasmania. Her crew of 15 survives.

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy begins reconstructing patrol boat PB-2, adding 4.47-inch/45 cal main guns. It also is modified to be able to carry and launch two 46-foot Daihatsu landing craft.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons:

Napoleon in his glory and genius spread his Empire far and wide. ... Napoleon's armies had a theme. They carried with them the surges of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. ... There was a sweeping away of outworn, medieval systems and aristocratic privilege. There was the land for the people, a new code of law. Nevertheless, Napoleon's empire vanished like a dream.

Both sides use historical precedent throughout the war, with the British awkwardly using the example of Napoleon (and subtly appealing to Gallic pride) and the Germans just as awkwardly using the example of the Teutonic Knights battling Russia - both of whose forces lost.

China: Japanese planes sink Chinese gunboats Chiang Hsi and Chiang Kum at Patung, Szechuan, China.

Holocaust: During his radio address to the nation today, Winston Churchill refers to the "scores of thousands" of executions of civilians by the Germans. He does not, however, mention that the primary victims are Jews.

The Germans in Vilna, Lithuania arrest local leader Dr. Jacob Wigodsky, 86 years old. They schedule his execution to take place in a week.

German graves of 11/506 in Estonia, all three KIA 24 August 1941.

German Homefront: Reacting to public pressure stirred up by sermons delivered by the Bishop of Münster von Galen and others, Hitler terminates the Aktion T4 euthanasia program (a name not actually used by the Germans themselves, T4 stands for Tiergartenstraße 4, the address of the Berlin headquarters of the Gemeinnützige Stiftung für Heil- und Anstaltspflege which runs the euthanasia program - it is a euphemism, "Charitable Foundation for Curative and Institutional Care"). The T4 program targets those "deemed incurably sick, after most critical medical examination." Naturally, the criteria are subjective, and some people judged "insane" and exterminated aren't necessarily mentally ill at all. They may, however, have offended someone important or said something ill-advised.

It is a rare instance of popular pressure within the Reich forcing Hitler's hand. Hitler, however, knows that the Catholic Church is one of the only institutions that have a large following other than him - and privately he vows retribution after "final victory." This also is a rare case of the Church opposing Hitler, something for which it gets scant credit in postwar histories. The killings, however, continue within concentration camps after this date. It is estimated that about 70,000 people perish before this date and about 20,000 people after under the T-4 program, including one of Hitler's own relatives.

The now-unemployed T-4 personnel are not out of work for long. They soon are shipped to the Eastern Front, where they turn their extermination expertise against Jews.

King Haakon taking the salute at the March Past. Left to right: Commodore F A Buckley, CB; His Majesty King Haakon of Norway; Commander Collett-Muller, RNN; Crown Prince Olaf of Norway; Commander W W Sitwell, RN." 24 August 1941 (© IWM (A 5256))

British Homefront: Winston Churchill makes a radio speech in which he summarizes the Atlantic Charter and the world situation. The public has been underwhelmed by his meeting with President Roosevelt because many hoped that the meeting would result in a war alliance, so Churchill plays up the results:

This was a meeting which marks forever in the pages of history the taking up by the English-speaking nations, amid all this peril, tumult and confusion, of the guidance of the fortunes of the broad toiling masses in all the continents, and our loyal effort, without any clog of selfish interest, to lead them forward out of the miseries into which they have been plunged, back to broad high road of freedom and justice.

He warns Japan that Great Britain will aid the Americans in the Pacific if war breaks out.

American Homefront: Tom Dewey, District Attorney of New York County, gives a speech to the Williamstown Institute of Human Relations. He concludes that "Only by a respect for the rights of every other individual can we protect our own rights."

Today is the first performance of the Dodger "SymPhony" (a named coined by announcer Red Barber), a five-man pop band that becomes an institution at Brooklyn Dodgers home games at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.

Future History: Paola Pitagora is born in Parma, Italy. Paola becomes an Italian television hostess in 1960, then makes her theatrical debut in debut in "Gog e Magog." Pitagora goes on to become a major Italian film and television star, debuting in motion pictures with "Shot in Three-Quarter Time" (1965) and continuing through "Help Me Dream" 1981). Paola Pitagora also has written some popular songs for children. She continues to work as of this writing in 2018.

Paola Pitagora, born on 24 August 1941.

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Thursday 21 August 1941

Jews being processed after arrest in Paris. "After the occupation of France by the fascist German Wehrmacht, the German racial laws are also introduced in France." August 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 183-B10922).

Eastern Front: The newly formed defense council of Leningrad, or aktiv, issues an Appeal to the People of Leningrad on 21 August 1941. It is posted on city walls throughout the city. Signed by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, local defense leader and governor Andrei Zhdanov, and chairman of the Leningrad Soviet Pyotr Popkov, the statement concluded:

Let us, like one man, rise to the defense of our city, of our homes and families, our freedom and honor. Let us do our sacred duty as Soviet patriots in our relentless struggle against a hated and ruthless enemy, let us be vigilant and merciless in dealing with cowards, panic-mongers, and deserters, let us establish the strictest revolutionary discipline in our city. Armed with such iron discipline and Bolshevik organization, let us meet the enemy and throw him back.

Among other things, the Appeal is notable for its references to "Soviet patriotism" - a concept that the Soviets will quickly replace with calls to protect "Mother Russia," a much more compelling concept. Soviet citizens see phrases like "iron discipline" and shudder.

In the evening, Stalin calls Zhdanov and Voroshilov and berates them. He asks why they had set up the aktiv without first asking his permission, and why Zhdanov and Voroshilov themselves were not actually members of it (presumably so that they could control it). They replied lamely that the council would help with the defense of the city, which did not mollify Stalin at all.

Stalin immediately orders a "review" of the Council for the Defense of Leningrad and that its membership should be "revised" to include Voroshilov and Zhdanov. He also officially rebukes the two men for forming worker "battalions" with inadequate weapons and orders that new leaders of these battalions - selected by the Kremlin - be installed.

Stalin's reaction seems excessive until you remember that the previous Russian revolution - the one that installed him as its dictator - began in Leningrad. Having the city cut off by the Germans means it cannot be supplied and thus is at risk, but it also means that Stalin himself has no direct control over it. This raises all sorts of unpleasant possibilities for the Kremlin in general and Stalin in particular. Stalin's chief of police, Lavrentiy Beria, has his ear at this time and is feeding Stalin's innate paranoia about disloyalty and insurrections that stem from Stalin's own rise to power.

"A Valentine Mark III tank (T 1290288) of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on exercise in Scotland, 21 August 1941. Photograph taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command." (© IWM (H 12987)).

At the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Adolf Hitler also is unhappy, but because of an old and lingering problem. He resents the continued efforts by his generals, particularly those in Army Group Center, to direct the Operation Barbarossa offensive toward Moscow. He orders:

The proposal by the army for the continuation of the operations in the east, dated 18.8, do not meet with my approval. I order the following: The principal objective that must be achieved before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow, but rather in the south the occupation of the Crimea and the industrial and coal region of the Donets, together with the isolation of the Russian oil regions in the Caucasus. In the north, the encirclement of Leningrad and the union with the Finns.

General Franz Halder, who also sees Moscow as the best objective, writes in his diary, "It [this Hitler directive] is decisive for the outcome of the campaign." General Alfred Jodl, chief of operations at OKW, quickly instructions Commander of the Army Field Marshal von Brauchitsch to focus on seizing the Crimea and the materials-rich areas in the south. The only important objective in the north is Leningrad, and Moscow is a secondary objective.

In the Far North sector, the Finnish General Headquarters orders IV Corps (Lt. Gen. Lennart Oesch) to begin pursuing the retreating Soviets toward Viipuri. This is a day earlier than planned, and the change is due to the Finns noticing that the Soviets have left. The overall intent is to take Viipuri and all of western Karelian Isthmus.

The defending Soviet troops of 43rd, 115th, and 123rd Rifle Divisions by now have escaped from their exposed positions further north and have fallen back on the city. This has improved the overall Soviet chances of holding a line north of Leningrad at the narrow part of the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish II Corps and 18th Division, assisted by other units, continue consolidating their bridgehead over the Vuoksi River. The Soviets plan to swing the 115th and 123rd Rifle Divisions over to counterattack them in order to establish a solid line on the Vuoksi. The Finns take Kexholm (Käkisalmi, Priozersk) on the northeast shore of Lake Ladoga.

"Valentine Mark III tanks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on exercise in Scotland. Photograph was taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (H 12994)).

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans capture Chudovo. This solidifies the Germans' control over the approaches to Leningrad by expanding control over the railway line from Moscow which they cut on the 20th. There is still one remaining railway link from Leningrad to the east at Mga, but it is not a direct connection to the main Soviet railway net centered on Moscow. Further west, the Wehrmacht also is pushing north towards the Gulf of Finland. The effect of these advances is that the Soviet defenders of the Luga Line are being outflanked on either side, forming a perilous Soviet salient extending 130 miles south from Leningrad, but only thirteen miles wide. German troops take Gatchina, 25 miles from Leningrad.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviets retreat from Gomel after a fierce defense and several unsuccessful counterattacks. German Panzer Group 2 (General Guderian) continues advancing south between Bryansk and Gomel toward Kyiv. Soviet 24th Army continues attacking the German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya throughout the day, but Red Army General Rakutin finally receives Stavka permission to stop his attacks until he gets reinforcements and replacements.

F-32 Armed KV-1 Model 1940 knocked out in Korkino in the Tosnensky District, Leningrad Oblast in August 1941. Note the AP penetration possibly from an 88mm shell at the top of the turret, with the mark from what was presumably another hit from a high explosive shell beside it. Generally, only an 88mm Flak gun could penetrate KV-1 armor. Their vulnerability was that they were very slow.

In the Army Group South sector, the Romanians continue pressing in around Odessa. However, they are encountering fierce resistance and making little progress. The Stavka has ordered no evacuation - the men are to stay and fight regardless of the outcome. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet, led by cruiser Krasny Krym, bombards Romanian positions at Sverdlovka and Chebanka near Odesa.

German 1.SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot.) Leibstandarte der SS Adolf Hitler (Obergruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich) captures Kherson (Cherson). Sixth Army continues pursuing the retreating Soviet 5th Army, and LI Corps establishes a crossing of the Dneipr at Okuminovo, north of Kyiv.

General Hoth completes a refit of Panzer Group 3. He notes the following strengths:

• Panzer Division 7: 45%
• Panzer Division 12: 45%
• Panzer Division 19: 60%
• Panzer Division 20: 49%

By current standards in the Wehrmacht, this is about average. By later standards, this is very well equipped. The war is taking a serious toll on men and their equipment.

"Airacobra Mark I, AH577, of No. 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, in flight. This aircraft was coded UF-M and was for a time the personal aircraft of the Squadron's Commanding Officer." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3711)).

European Air Operations: It is another fairly quiet day on the Channel front. RAF Bomber Command sends 24 Blenheim bombers on Circus and Roadstead operations against the Ijmuiden steel factories and Chocques chemical factory. The Ijmuiden target is bombed, but the bombers turn back before reaching Chocques. Another three Flying Fortresses sent to Dusseldorf also turn back. There are no losses.

An RAF Hurricane Mk. IIB on a delivery flight, S/n Z5070, crash-lands at Athboy, County Meath. The Irish Army Air Corps repairs the damaged plane and puts it into service as the Corps' sixth fighter (the others are three Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is, another Hurricane Mk. IIB, and a Hurricane Mk. X).

"Airacobra Mark I, AH576 ‘UF’, of No. 601 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft was detached to Reid & Sigrist Ltd for trials on 7 September, following which it was to have been returned to the Squadron (hence the proprietary application of the unit code letters and squadron badge on the fin), but was written off on 5 October 1941." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3723)).

Battle of the Baltic: Stalin rejects a proposal by Admiral Vladimir Tributs, in charge of the evacuation of Tallinn and technically in charge of the overall defense of Leningrad, to organize a naval offensive from Tallinn toward Narva to blunt the German advance. This would use the fleet marines, the 25,000 men of 10th Corps defending Tallinn, and the garrisons of the Baltic Islands in a desperate bid to restore land communications with Leningrad.

Admiral Tributs' plan is based on aerial reconnaissance showing that the Germans have all of their troops in the front lines and none in reserve. He believes that any quick thrust to the east into the rear of their lines approaching Leningrad might catch them off guard. The plan is imaginative and daring and is better than anything else being considered. However, Stalin apparently is worried about a new, growing power block centered around Leningrad that is outside of his control due to the intervening presence of the Wehrmacht. The official reason given for turning it down is that it would be too difficult to assemble sufficient forces.

Soviet planes attack the German 3rd Ferry Battalion which is ferrying troops in Riga Bay in company with two Soviet destroyers. Some small Soviet ships, including freighter Leeni, hit mines and sink in German Minefield Juminda between Hogland Island (Suursaari) to Reval, Estonia.

Soviet destroyers Artem and Surovyi hit and damage German gunboat SAT-1 Ost in the Baltic. The gunboat's skipper manages to beach the boat, and it is later salvaged. There is one death.

"Six Hurricane Mk IIBs of 'B' Flight, No. 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, flying in starboard echelon formation near Thaxted, Essex." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3517)).

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Dervish, the first Allied convoy to northern Russia which left Liverpool on 12 August, continues. The convoy leaves Reykjavik. It includes six freighters and an oiler escorted by three destroyers, three minesweepers, and three minesweeper trawlers. They are covered by the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, heavy cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk, and destroyers Eclipse, Escapade, and Inglefield. The ships will stop first at Spitzbergen to refuel.

In a companion operation to Operation Dervish, today at 22:00 Force K leaves Hvalfjord bound for operations against coal fields in Bergensburg, Norway, with part of the force proceeding on to Archangel. The voyage to Archangel is planned to take ten days.

The Royal Navy is conducting submarine patrols along the Arctic sea route. Submarine HMS Trident launches an attack on a Norwegian tanker and an accompanying Kriegsmarine artillery training ship off the northern coast of Norway but misses.

The Soviets also are active along the northern sea routes. Soviet submarine M-172 (Lt Cdr Israel Fisanovich) makes a daring entrance into the Liinakhamari fjord but misses when it attacks German freighter Monsun docked at the Pechenga pier (some accounts state that he sinks a ship).

While laying a minefield about 50 km off Jæderens Point/Egerö, southeastern Norway, Free French submarine Rubis (Lt Cdr Rousselot) attacks two freighters but misses. It does sink 4360-ton Finnish freighter Hogland with one of the mines that it lays. Rubis itself is damaged when two torpedoes misfire and explode just after leaving the submarine. Rubis eventually makes it to Dundee for repairs. The Germans order the 11th Minesweeping Flotilla to the area to clear the minefield.

During a Luftwaffe attack on Southampton, the Germans bomb and sink French drifter Gloria in Excelsis Deo. The drifter later is raised and repaired.

A Luftwaffe Focke-Wulfe Fw-200 Condor spots Convoy OG-71 and radios its position.

Convoy HX-146 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Laforey (G-99, Captain Reginald M. J. Hutton) is commissioned.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Grandmere is launched at Montreal.

US submarine USS Gato is launched.

U-376 (Oblt. Friedrich-Karl Marks), U-435 (Kptlt. Hans-Henrich Giessler), and U-584 (Kptlt. Joachim Deecke) are commissioned, U-174 is launched.

HMS Taku at Malta ca. August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Mincemeat, an attack on Sardinia, begins when Force H leaves Gibraltar. It is led by battleship HMS Nelson and aircraft carrier Ark Royal. The Italians quickly receive word of its departure and prepare a response.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 311-ton Egyptian freighter El Fath at Famagusta. There are four deaths.

British 10,893-ton freighter Durham, which arrived at Malta during Operation Substance, departs from Malta toward Gibraltar without an escort. A fast ship, it perhaps is counting on the distraction caused by Force H. Durham hits a mine west of Pantelleria Island, but eventually makes it to Gibraltar for repairs.

Operation Treacle, the replacement of the Australian 18th Infantry Brigade at Tobruk with troops of the Polish Carpathian Brigade, continues. Destroyers Griffin, Jackal, and Kandahar carry the troops.

Early in the morning, around 06:30, the Luftwaffe (Junkers Ju-88 aircraft of III/LG.1) hits and damages destroyer Nizam returning from an Operation Treacle run. Nizam, which is hit north of Bardia, is taken under tow until it regains engine operation. Nizam makes it back to Alexandria under its own power.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku arrives at Malta with supplies from Alexandria.

Ten Wellington bombers based on Malta damage buildings and port infrastructure at Tripoli Harbor.

Three Italian aircraft make low-flying attacks on Hal Far and the Safi dispersal area. A dogfight with Hurricanes ensues. A Bofors crew guarding the area claims to make some hits on one of the attackers.

"Valentine Mark III tanks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) lined up during exercise in Scotland. Photograph was taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command, 21 August 1941. A number of the tank in the foreground is T 1290295." (© IWM (H 13003))

Battle of the Black Sea: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet freighter Briansk off Odesa.

Battle of the Pacific: German 5098-ton freighter Odenwald leaves Yokohama, Japan for Bordeaux, France. Japanese 5019-ton freighter Teisen Maru, formerly German Ursula Rickmers, arrives at Tokyo successfully after her first charter trip carrying coal and lumber from Kushiro, Hokkaido to Nagoya, Japan.

A warning notice posted by German occupation authorities in Paris after the shooting death of Alfons Moser. It begins, "On the morning of 21 August a member of the German Army was assassinated in Paris." It warns that there will be strict new occupation rules implemented beginning on 23 August, and anyone arrested for any will be taken as a hostage, with hostages shot if there are any more terrorist acts.

Partisans: Pierre Georges, a Paris Communist Party leader at this time going by the name of Frédo, and his accomplice Gilbert Brustlein and two other communists, shoot a German naval cadet, Alfons Moser, at the Barbès – Rochechouart metro station in Paris at eight in the morning. This is in revenge for the execution of Samuel Tyszelman on 19 August for taking part in an anti-German demonstration.

German/Spanish Relations: The Spanish Blue Division (250th Infantry Division) begins moving to the Eastern Front south of Leningrad.

US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura sends a message to Tokyo indicating that President Roosevelt is seriously interested in the resumption of negotiations. Nomura even provides a sample response to Tokyo for its consideration.

Demonstration of a New Zealand Mobile Surgical Unit’s portable X-ray machine. Taken in Egypt, 21 August 1941, by an official war photographer.

German Military: Oberst Herman Bernhard Ramcke and Dr. Heinrich Neumann, heroes of Operation Mercury, both receive the Knight's Cross.

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 5350-ton cargo ship Saigon Maru for use as an auxiliary cruiser and also requisitions 2681-ton freighter Senko Maru.

Arming a Bell Aircobra Mk I of 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire on 21 August 1941. This was the only RAF squadron equipped with the fighter, which the RAF did not find suitable, from August 1941 until March 1942 (colorized).

Soviet Government: Around this time, Stalin orders an increase in the powers of the Commissariat of Internal Affairs to maintain "social order." This greatly enhances the power of Lavrentiy Beria, head of the secret police. Using his new authority, Beria begins culling out civilian and military leaders by accusing them of "anti-Soviet activity" and "counterrevolutionary thoughts." In the Soviet Union, of course, thoughts alone can be a crime.

US Government: President Roosevelt gives Congress a "copy" of the Atlantic Charter agreement recently reached with Winston Churchill in Canada. As Roosevelt later notes:

There isn't any copy of the Atlantic Charter, so far as I know. I haven’t got one. The British haven’t got one. The nearest thing you will get is the [message of the] radio operator on Augusta and Prince of Wales. That's the nearest thing you will come to it. ... There was no formal document.

Roosevelt briefs Congress on the agreement, summarizing its points, stating in part:

Finally, the declaration of principles at this time presents a goal which is worth while for our type of civilization to seek. It is so clear cut that it is difficult to oppose in any major particular without automatically admitting a willingness to accept compromise with Germans; or to agree to a world peace which would give to Reich domination over large numbers of conquered nations. Inevitably such a peace would be a gift to Hitlerism to take breath--armed breath--for a second war to extend the control over Europe and Asia to the American Hemisphere itself.

The statement concludes:

It is also unnecessary for me to point out that the declaration of principles includes of necessity the world need for freedom of religion and freedom of information. No society of the world organized under the announced principles could survive without these freedoms which are a part of the whole freedom for which we strive.

"After the occupation of France by the fascist German Wehrmacht, the German racial laws are also enforced here. The arrest of Jews in Paris in August 1941." (Federal Archive, Bild 183-B10923).

Holocaust: Arrests by French police at the instigation of the Gestapo that began on the evening of the 20th continue today. Those arrested are sent to the new internment camp at Drancy in the suburbs. Conditions at Drancy are horrendous and there is a high death rate. Eventually, the victims will be put on cattle wagons for transport to concentration camps in the East. At this time, the arrests concentrate on "foreign" Jews who are in France only because they fled previous German invasions in Czechoslovakia, Poland and elsewhere.

After direct orders from Sixth Army Commanding General Walther von Reichenau, German 295th Division participates to some extent in the killing of about 90 Jewish children who have been abandoned and locked in a school at Bila Tserkva. The incident is notable for many reasons, including a direct protest to the army by two Wehrmacht chaplains about the killings which delayed it by a day. Oberst (Lieutenant-Colonel Helmuth Groscurth) has put his own career in jeopardy by forwarding the protest of the chaplains to the army headquarters. Technically, SS units are under army control, so the army has the final say on who is killed and who is not. Catholic Father Ernst Tewes, one of the two chaplains (the other being Lutheran Pastor Gerhard Wilczek), later comments:

All those we wanted to save were shot. Because of our initiative it just happened a few days later than planned.

Reichenau is put out by the entire affair. He writes in response to the request:

The conclusion of the report in question contains the following sentence: "In the case in question, measures against women and children were undertaken which in no way differ from atrocities carried out by the enemy about which the troops are continually being informed." I have to describe this assessment as incorrect, inappropriate and impertinent in the extreme. Moreover, this comment was written in an open communication which passes through many hands. It would have been far better if the report had not been written at all.

There is no question that the regular army participated to some extent in the killings aside from Reichenau's order. A witness, an SS soldier, recalled later that the regular army dug the trench into which the children fell after being shot. Exactly who shot the children is unclear. Ukrainians unhappily watch the executions.

A concentration camp at Jasenovac, Croatia becomes operational.

Repair ship USS Vulcan (Commander Leon S. Fiske, AR-5) near the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 21 August 1941 (Photo No. 19-N-25376 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-LCM).

American Homefront: "Sun Valley Serenade" starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, Glenn Miller, and Lynn Bari is released. This film screens constantly at the Sun Valley Lodge and Inn in Idaho to this day. "Sun Valley Serenade" receives three Academy Award Nominations, including for Best Music, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, and Best Music, Original Song (Chattanooga Choo Choo) by Harry Warren (music) and Mack Gordon (lyrics).

Paramount Pictures film "World Premiere" is released. It stars John Barrymore, Frances Farmer, Ricardo Cortez, and Sig Ruman. It is a comedy about the machinations behind releasing an anti-Hitler film.

A German sentry in France with his BMW R75 motorcycle (colorized).

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Thursday 14 August 1941

A Finnish soldier collecting potatoes for tonight's dinner, 14 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder notes in the war diary on 14 August 1941 that Finnish achievements so far in the war are "truly remarkable." Morale is good in the army, but he notes that "Losses in the armored and rifle units considerable." Due to tank losses, the armored divisions have "an abundance of personnel," while the rifle divisions are short of men. Field Marshal von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, complains that Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering is shifting air support without consulting him, and a fierce debate rages whether Yelnya is worth keeping due to the heavy losses there.

Reports in other army commands are a little more direct about the actual situation than Halder. Generalleutnant Hans Reichsfreiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, commander of the 4th Panzer Division which is with XXIV Panzer Corps, notes in his war diary that

Battles on 13 and 14 [August] very costly, also in material. There was little benefit [in the fighting] because the enemy mass had already evacuated. Trucks in bad condition. Men tired. Division increasingly more worn out...Russian tanks, especially the heavy ones, are good.

The troops may be tired, but there is a lot of fighting left, with no end in sight.

Finnish soldiers on a break check out a Soviet Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, 14 August 1941. See below for what such a rifle can do. (SA-Kuva).

In the Far North sector, the Finnish 18th Division of II Corps captures the key town of Antrea (Kamennogorsk) in the center of the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River. The Finns now are 170 km (110 miles) northwest of Leningrad. Antrea is important strategically because it controls one of the few bridges across the river, and taking it traps Soviet 115th Rifle Division on the wrong side of the river. The Soviet division now must either succumb or find a way to cross the forests and river to rejoin Soviet 19th Corps near Vyborg (Viipuri), the prime target in the sector.

Going is slow in this region due to the harsh terrain with few roads, which slows down even the Finns who are experts at going across the roughest country. Already, some Soviet units such as 142nd Rifle and 198s Motorized Divisions are backed against Lake Ladoga with no way out except by boat. Finnish I Corps also is making good progress to the east, with 2nd, 7th, and 19th divisions on the verge of taking Sortavala, where the Soviets also have no landward line of retreat.

A little further north, Finnish Group J of III Corps today confirms that the Soviets have brought in the 88th Rifle Division from Archangel (Arkhangelsk) to the north in order to block their advance to Loukhi. Thus, the Finnish advance to the Murmansk railway, a key strategic objective only 20 miles away along a spur railway line and improved road, is stopped for the time being.

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans make some forward progress at Luga and on either end of Lake Ilmen. The Soviets pierce the German line south of Lake Ilmen with a cavalry division, a reminder that the German line is being stretched thin with little behind the hard crust at the front.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Halder notes in the war diary that there are "gratifying successes against the enemy in the Rogachev salient" but that "costly fighting continues" at Yelnya. "All quiet elsewhere on the front." Panzer Group 2 approaches Bryansk, where the Soviets are concentrating in order to protect Kyiv from exactly what the Germans have in mind - an attack south toward Kyiv.

A German StuG III with 75mm gun carrying infantry across a swamp near the village of Berezhok in Ukraine, August 1941.

In the Army Group South sector, the German capture of Cherson on the Dneiper makes the Soviet position at Nikolayev (Nikolaev) untenable. Thus, after dark today the Soviets begin evacuating the port, and in the process destroy the unfinished 59,150-ton battleship Sovetskaya Ukraina and several other ships under construction, including:

• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Ordzhonikidze
• submarines S-36, S-37, S-38
• two gunboats
• 34,540-ton battlecruiser Sevastopol
• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Sverdlov
• destroyers Obshitelny, Obuchenny, Otchayanny, and Otmenny

The retreating Soviets also destroy other potentially useable items. Several warships undergoing refits, including the following, are towed away to other ports:

• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Frunze
• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Kuibyshev
• destroyer leaders Erevan and Kiev
• destroyers Ognevoi, Ozornoi, and Svododny
• submarines S-35, L-23, L-24, and L-25
• icebreaker Mikoyan

This evacuation continues for the next three nights. A large flotilla of destroyers covers the retreat, including:

• Frunze
• Bodry
• Boiki
• Bezuprechny
• Besposhchadny
• Dzerzhinski
• Nezamozhnik
• Shaumyan

The Romanian 4th Army advance on Odessa is temporarily paused on direct orders from leader Ion Antonescu. The Romanians are busy bringing troops forward to reinforce their coastal positions along the Hadjibey bank, and the Soviets in the town are under orders to resist to the last man.

The Germans advance to within sight of Krivoy Rog (Kryvi Rih) due north of the neck of the Crimea. It is a regional center of iron-ore mining, one of the economic objectives that Hitler prefers over political objectives such as Moscow.

Luftwaffe Oblt. Heinz Bär of JG 51 receives the Eichenlaub for achieving 60 kills, while Hptm. Hans ‘Assi’ Hahn of JG 2 also receives it for 42 victories. In the air, Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 claims two Soviet I-153s over the Bay of Kolga. German pilots are racking up huge sums of victories on the Eastern Front, much quicker than has happened on the Western Front.

Luftwaffe ace Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Schenck is awarded the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1941 (Federal Archive).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends 26 Blenheim bombers on coastal sweeps all along the continental coastline. The bombers attack shipping and dockyards in Boulogne harbor and further north. The British lose one airplane. There is another raid by five Blenheim bombers to the Marquise ammunition factory, but they turn back without attacking.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command mounts another large effort against three German targets: Hanover (Hannover), Brunswick, and Magdeburg.

Against Hanover, the British send 152 bombers (96 Wellingtons, 55 Whitleys, and 1 Stirling. The British lose 5 Wellingtons and four Whitleys during attacks that use the main railway stations as targets.

Against Brunswick, the British send 81 Hampdens also to bomb railway targets. One aircraft fails to return.

Against Magdeburg, the British send 52 bombers (27 Wellingtons, 9 Halifaxes, 9 Stirlings, and 7 Manchester bombers). Once again, the targets are railway stations. There is cloud cover over the target that forces the bombers to drop their loads by guesswork. The British lose two Wellingtons, one Halifax, and one Stirling.

The RAF sends minor diversionary raids to Boulogne (13 Wellingtons), Rotterdam (9 Wellingtons and Whitleys), Dunkirk (two Wellingtons), and on minelaying in the Frisian Islands. All of these bombers return.

Overall, it is not a bad night for the RAF. For 314 sorties, the British only lose 14 bombers for a 4.5% loss rate. In terms of maintaining a sustainable bombing campaign, this is considered acceptable, as the average crewman can be expected to survive a 20-mission tour. Naturally, the lower, the better, 14 bombers is still a lot to lose and a lot of RAF crewmen wind up in POW camps after a night like this.

The Luftwaffe sends a few bombers against the north of England. The German planes drop their bombs at random, in fields and along roads, then head home quickly. Targets hit include the vicinities of Northumberland, Gateshead (4 killed), and Bishop Auckland. The damage is minimal, but occasional "lucky hits" destroy a road here or there, cut some utility lines, or land on luckless people in their homes.

Luftwaffe Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Schenck earns the Knight's Cross Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 1./SKG 210.

A colorized view of Wolfgang Schenck. Sometimes color brings out a little more humanity in the subject.

Battle of the Baltic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet transport Sibir, which is carrying 2500 wounded from Tallinn, Estonia to Kronstadt near Leningrad. An estimated 400+ perish. The date of this sinking is disputed, some sources place it on 19 August.

Two ships hit mines laid by German S-boats:

• 125-ton Soviet freighter Vodnik
• 542-ton Lithuanian freighter Utena

Both ships sink in the Gulf of Finland, Vodnik east of Prangli, Estonia, and Vodnik seven nautical miles north of Cape Juminda.

Battle of the Atlantic: Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi spots independent 2589-ton Yugoslavian freighter Sud hundreds of miles west of Portugal. Marconi fires a torpedo and misses, then surfaces and uses its deck gun, severely damaging but not sinking Sud. U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer), on its first patrol out of Kiel, also is in the vicinity and torpedoes and finishes off Sud four hours later. The entire 33-man crew survives and picked up by Portuguese freighter Alferrarede. Sud was traveling as part of Convoy HG-70 but fell behind. This is the fifth success of the patrol for Bauer and U-126, with sinkings totaling 13,693 tons.

RAF Coastal Command planes bombs and sinks 1193-ton German freighter Lotte Halm off Borkum.

Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Circassia captures 4272-ton Italian freighter Stella west of the Cape Verde Islands. The British put aboard a prize crew and send it to Bermuda. Stella is later renamed Empire Planet and put into service.

US 2686-ton freighter Norlindo (some sources say Norluna) collides with US Navy submarine chaser PC-457 off San Juan, Puerto Rico. As is usually the case, the bigger ship wins, and PC-457 goes to the bottom.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN-66 heading south along the Channel coast during the night but scores no successes.

US battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) departs from Hampton Beach, Virginia with accompanying destroyers on a Neutrality Patrol.

Free French submarine Rubis departs from Dundee to lay minefield FD-33 off Jaederen.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Serapis is laid down (later given to Royal Netherlands Navy as Piet Hein).

U-583 (Kptlt. Heinrich Ratsch) is commissioned, U-252 is launched.

A wounded Finnish soldier shot by a Soviet sniper smiling bravely for the camera, August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There is almost a tragic case of friendly fire outside the port of Alexandria when Royal Navy submarine HMS Talisman spots a submarine and fires a torpedo at it. Instead of an Axis submarine, however, it is fellow Royal Navy submarine Otus, which is on a supply mission to Malta. Neither submarine is damaged.

Royal Navy antiaircraft cruiser Coventry and destroyers Nizam and Kingston escort 9809-ton troopship from Alexandria to Port Said en route to the Suez Canal. This apparently is part of the relief of the Australian troops at Tobruk which is ongoing at this time.

German 1297-ton freighter Bellona has been sitting in Bardia, Libya near the front for some time. Tonight, it makes the hazardous journey north to Suda Bay, Crete without being spotted by the British.

Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga, participating in Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, departs from Alexandria for Famagusta.

An Axis convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli.

Battle of the Pacific: Operating a few hundred kilometers south of the Galapagos Islands, German raider Komet (KAdm Eyssen), disguised as Japanese freighter Ryoku Maru, sinks 5020-ton British freighter Australind. There are two deaths during the encounter and another crewman perishes later. The other crewmen are made prisoners.

Members of the 64th Reserve Police Battalion stand at the site of the 14 August 1941 Skela ambush, with reprisal victims nearby.

Partisans: In the Yugoslavian village of Skela, partisans of the Posavina Company, Kosmaj Partisan Detachment ambush a German police car. Four German officers are killed and the partisans throw their bodies in the Sava River. The Germans discover the car and shoot 15 suspected villagers on the spot and hang an additional 50 Communists. The Germans also burn the village to the ground.

Soviet/Polish Relations: Following up on the Sikorski-Mayski agreement of 30 July 1941, the two nations sign a military agreement. It sets forth a complicated arrangement in which freed Polish POWs in the Soviet Union operate as part of the Red Army but under the control of the Polish government-in-exile. As amply proven later, Stalin doesn't care for Polish control over anything, but the situation on the Eastern Front is so dire that he is willing to make concessions. The Poles in London, led by General Władysław Sikorski, appoint General Władysław Anders, just released from the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, as the commander. The Anders Army, as it becomes known, relies on "volunteers" recently released from the Soviet POW camps who are in poor health and often dressed in rags. There also is a very noticeable shortage of Polish officers which the Soviets cannot explain.

German Military: Adolf Hitler plans to invade the Soviet-held Baltic Islands. For this purpose, he places the army high command (OKH) in control of all Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine units to be used.

A train accident in central Queensland has a happy ending. Published in the Central Queensland Herald, 14 August 1941 (John Oxley Library).

Australian Military: Edmund Herring is promoted to Major-General and given command of the 6th Division in Egypt.

British Government: While Winston Churchill is returning to Britain from Newfoundland aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales, Clement Attlee makes sure that the terms of the Atlantic Charter (which is not yet called that, it is still referred to as the "Joint Declaration by the President and the Prime Minister"). Due to the fact that there is no "final document" of the charter, but is instead is a partially handwritten, partially verbal agreement, there is a slight difference between the US "version" that is broadcast over US radio and the British "version" that is broadcast over the BBC. This difference is quickly corrected. The Charter does not include any war objectives, just post-war plans.

Incidentally, most histories record 14 August 1941 as the date of the Atlantic Conference that results in the Atlantic Charter. However, in fact, the conference already is over by 14 August and both President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill are heading back to their respective capitals. The joint communique is issued today, so this is when it comes to the public's attention, but the actual agreement is finalized on 13 August 1941.

P-36 Hawks of the 18th Pursuit Squadron lined up at Elmendorf Field, Alaska, August 1941 (US Air Force, USGOV-PD).

US Government: President Roosevelt continues a leisurely return to Washington from the Atlantic Conference with Prime Minister Churchill at Placentia Bay in Newfoundland. Today, Roosevelt, aboard heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31), stops off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia to observe flight operations off of escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1). Long Island is the first "jeep" carrier and thus of particular interest to the President.

After watching the F2A Buffaloes and SOC Seagulls of Scouting Squadron 201 (VS-201), Roosevelt continues down to Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where he re-embarks presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25).

German Government: Over lunch, Hitler expounds on the subject of ... top hats. It turns out that he has very definite views on top hats, and they are not favorable. He views them as a sign of the control of the plutocracy over the worker:

I sometimes entertain myselfby rummaging through old back-numbers of the [weekly newsreels]. I have a collection of them. It's truly instructive to plunge one's nose in them. At the launching of a ship, nothing but top-hats, even after the revolution! The people were invited to such festivities only as stage extras. The Kaiser received a delegation of workers just once. He gave them a fine scolding, threatening simply to withdraw the Imperial favour from them!

These ramblings are illuminating on several scores. For one, they show one of the hidden sources of Hitler's appeal to the "masses" (as he likes to call them), and that is his dislike of the high-hat approaches (to borrow an apt phrase) of the past. In addition, he also critiques the German government's management of World War I, and not long after the Kaiser's passing in the Netherlands. This seems somewhat contrary to his constant public assertions of the "stab in the back" theory. Finally, while Hiler is deliberately gathering the operational reins of military command with both hands to the consternation of his generals, he is sitting around blithely talking about abstractions that reflect his true orientation and training - the political, and not the military.

China: The sustained Japanese bombing campaign against Chungking continues. The pilots seem to taunt the Americans in the embassy and the nearby gunboat USS Tutuila (PR-4), flying directly over them before dropping their loads elsewhere.

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe.

Holocaust: Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe is executed by lethal injection of carbolic acid at the Auschwitz concentration camp. In late July, Father Kolbe voluntarily took the place of another man with a family who had been chosen for death in reprisal for an escaped inmate. This execution follows two weeks of dehydration and starvation which did not kill Kolbe - the guards finally lost patience with Kolbe and wanted his space. Kolbe is recognized as a Servant of God on 12 May 1955, declared venerable on 30 January 1969, beatified as a Confessor of the Faith in 1971, and finally canonized as a saint by John Paul II on 10 October 1982. There is now a feast day (August 14) on the General Roman Calendar in Kolbe's honor and a statue of Kolbe above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London.

Residents of the Jewish community of Lesko, Poland, are transported to Zaslaw, Poland, and executed.

Lionello Alatri, the spokesman for the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, writes to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Luigi Maglione to beg the pope's help for Croatian Jews. The letter describes brutalities against Jews in Zagreb and other Croatian cities. Maglione does not respond.

The December 7, 1941 entry in Thomas Askins' diary - "I am plenty worried." (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History).

American Homefront: US Navy sailor Thomas Barwiss Hagstoz Askin Jr. begins a diary entitled "Memorys (sic) and Incidents of My Last 60 (?) Days in the United States Navy." Askin is serving aboard USS Memphis, which is at sea, and his scheduled discharge date is 13 October 1941. While Memphis is at sea on that date and cannot be discharged, when he gets back to shore on 6 December 1941 Askin is notified that he should proceed to New York to be discharged. However, greater events intervene, and all discharges are canceled. Askin winds up staying in the US Navy through 1958.

Future History: David Van Cortlandt Crosby is born in Los Angeles, California. He has difficulty in school and eventually drops out of Santa Barbara City College to pursue a musical career. After a brief stop in Chicago, he winds up in Greenwich Village, New York. He records his first solo session in 1963, then returns to Chicago, where he meets Jim McGuinn (later Roger McGuinn) and the two begin a band. Eventually, after adding more members, they form The Byrds, one of the top musical acts of the decade. Eventually, David Crosby leaves the band and hooks up with Stephen Stills. After Graham Nash joins them, they form Crosby, Stills & Nash, then, with the addition of Neil Young in 1969, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. After that, David Crosby pursues a solo career, sometimes working with his earlier bandmates and others. David Crosby also has done some acting and generally become a top US celebrity. He remains active as of this writing in 2018.

Constance June Smith is born in Elkhart, Indiana. She grows up to become one of the most respected singers in US country music. Over the course of her career, Connie Smith earns 11 Grammy award nominations, 20 top-ten Billboard country singles, and three no. 1 Billboard country albums. She is elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. She remains active as of 2018, though apparently semi-retired.

Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia on August 14, 1941. Playing tonight is "Parachute Battalion" starring Edmond O'Brien. This apparently is a special preview showing in honor of nearby Fort Benning (featured in the film), since "Parachute Battalion" is not released until September. Buddy Ebsen also has a prominent role. (Georgia State University Library).

August 1941

August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020