Thursday 10 July 1941

German infantrymen observing the enemy from their trenches shortly before attacking inside Soviet territory. July 10, 1941.

Eastern Front: Finnish Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland and leader of its military, issues an Order of the Day on 10 July 1941 in which he echoes a similar declaration he made in 1918. In the 1918 order, Mannerheim vowed that he would not put his sword in its scabbard "until Lenin's last soldier and hooligan is deported from Finland and White Karelia" ("... ennen kuin viimeinen Leninin soturi ja huligaani on karkoitettu niin hyvin Suomesta kuin Vienan Karjalastakin").

Well, it is 23 years later, and Mannerheim still controls the Finnish military. A lot has changed in the world, but one thing is the same: it is time to gear up again to right some perceived wrongs. In today's Order, Mannerheim states:

... [I]n 1918 during the War of Liberation I stated to the Finnish and Viena Karelians, that I would not set my sword to the scabbard before Finland and East Karelia would be free." (Finnish: Vapaussodassa vuonna 1918 lausuin Suomen ja Vienan karjalaisille, etten tulisi panemaan miekkaani tuppeen ennen kuin Suomi ja Itä-Karjala olisivat vapaat). 

This Order is intended to spur the Finnish offensive in Karelia that opens today.

Marshal Mannerheim - one of the very few Axis leaders to come out of World War II with his reputation intact.

In the Far North sector, Finland, under Marshal Mannerheim, begins a major offensive to reconquer Ladoga Karelia. General Paavo Talvela sends his VI Corps against Soviet 7th Army. The Soviets have prepared extensive field fortifications, particularly near Sortavala, Värtsilä, and Korpiselkä, and the Finns advance but do not score any quick breakthroughs.

Farther north, the Soviet defenses at Kayraly (on the route to the Murmansk railroad) and the Litsa River (Murmansk) firm as the Soviets take advantage of the terrain and send reinforcements. Finnish 3rd Division of III Corps, now on the Vyonitsa (Vonitsa) River south of Salla, also part of Operation Arctic Fox, is doing better than the German troops. It begins destroying Soviet troops using tactics developed during the Winter War.

In the Army Group North sector, there is heavy fighting around Pskov, which the Germans have captured. German 4th Panzer Group (Hoepner) holds the city as it awaits the infantry.

General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 moves toward Smolensk (note the Wanderer W-14 Headquarters car), on or about 10 July 1941.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian sends his Panzer Group 2, led by the 20th Panzer Division, across the Dneipr River to attack the Soviet 13th Army. The objective is Smolensk. The Red Army is caught off-guard and gives ground, but behind the scenes, the Stavka hastily tries to arrange a counterattack. German 7th Panzer Division (Major General H. von Funck), which is in Vitebsk, heads south to cut the Moscow/Smolensk road. General Walter Model's 3rd Panzer Division crosses the Dnepr at Starye Bykhov about 110 miles downriver of Smolensk, while General Hoth's 3rd Panzergroup moves east to the north of Smolensk in an attempt to bypass the city.

In the Army Group South sector, the German advance continues. German 13th Panzer Division reaches the Irpin River, only 10 miles from Kyiv.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Having pocketed Damour, the Australian 7th Division continues up the coast road toward Beirut. British artillery already is within artillery range of Beirut and have begun firing on it. In addition, the British 6th Infantry Division attacks the French defenses at Jebel Mazar on the Damascus/Beirut road. Vichy French commander General Henri Dentz is seeking an armistice with British forces closing in on Beirut from all sides.

The Vichy French Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l'Air de Vichy) is not yet defeated. A furious air battle develops in which five new French Dewoitine D.520 fighters attack an approaching bomber formation of RAF No. 45 Squadron. The French shoot down three Blenheim bombers, but the defending Australian P-40 Tomahawk fighters shoot down four (or more) French fighters.

Australian Private James Gordon earns the Victoria Cross for charging with his bayonet at a machine gun nest that was holding up his unit.

A StuG III Ausf B assault gun of Sturmgeschuetz-Abteilung 192 (note the skull on the logo). Army Group Center, July 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a mission to raid the docks at Cherbourg and Le Havre. In a rare case of disobedience of orders, the two groups of 12 bombers fly lower than the RAF guidelines require, and one of the bombers intentionally drops their bombs into a civilian railroad tunnel. Why they do this is unclear, but the RAF brings charges and the offending pilot is subjected to court-martial. There is one plane lost.

The RAF also sends three of the new Short Stirling bombers in a Circus operation attack Chocques power station. There is one loss.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 98 Wellingtons and 32 Hampdens to bomb Cologne. The weather is poor, and this leads to inaccurate aiming, with only 62 bombers even hitting Cologne or its suburbs. There are two planes lost and only very light damage done to the target.

After dark, the Luftwaffe bombs Hull.

Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Rolf Pingel, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 26 (22 victories), is forced to crash-land his Bf 109F-2 near Dover. The plane is little-damaged and gives the RAF a copy of the newest version of Messerschmidt's fighter. The RAF repairs the plane and restores it to flying condition, using it in mock dogfights.

RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader shoots down two Bf 109s, one over Bethune, Pas-de-Calais and another near Calais. Ace James Lacey also shoots down a Bf 109.

Battle of the Baltic: German minesweepers M-23 and M-205 hit mines in the Irben strait. The former is beached and the latter sinks in shallow water, so they are later raised, repaired and returned to service.

Soviet freighter Rasma hits a mine and is damaged and abandoned. Two German torpedo boats, S-26 and S-28, later come across the abandoned ship and sink it.

German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ-113 Nordmark sinks from unknown causes.

"Florin, California. This 23-year-old Nisei soldier volunteered for army service July 10, 1941, and is stationed at Camp Leonard Wood, Missouri. He obtained a furlough to assist his mother and family to prepare for evacuation. He is the youngest of six children, two of whom are volunteers in the Army of the United States." (National Archives and Records Administration 537848).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 196-ton British fishing trawler Isabella Fowlie about seven miles northeast of Longstone Lighthouse. There are three deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1174-ton Norwegian freighter Svint about seven miles northwest of Kellan Head, Trevose, North Cornwall. There is one death.

British 196-ton motorboat Celano (tender to minesweeper HMS Tedworth) hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary. The entire crew, six men, perishes.

The German crew of 7209-ton German blockade runner Hermes scuttles the ship when it is intercepted by Royal Navy AMC Canton about 300 hundred miles northwest of St. Paul.

The Kriegsmarine transfers its 6th Destroyer Flotilla (destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt, Hans Lody, Hermann Schoemann, Karl Galster, and Richard Beitzen) to Kirkenes, Norway. This is the first of many transfers to the far north of Norway by the Germans of surface ships. This accomplishes the dual goal of removing the ships from attack by the RAF and positioning them to attack Allied convoys to Murmansk.

A Short Sunderland flying boat, returning from a patrol, hits an uncharted reef while taxiing to its mooring and develops a leak. The skipper quickly beaches the plane to prevent it from sinking. The plane is later repaired in Reykjavik. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Umpire (Lt. Mervyn R. G. Wingfield) is commissioned.

U-503 and U-578 are commissioned.

A Czech-built Panzer 38(t), June/July 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay torpedoes and damages 5232-ton Italian tanker Strombo south of the Greek island of Kea. Two escorting Italian torpedo boats, Calatafimi and Climene, counterattack and damage the Torbay. However, the British submarine escapes. The Strombo is written off.

A five-vessel Axis convoy with an escort of three destroyers and three torpedo boats leaves Naples bound for Tripoli.

At Malta, the Italian Regia Aeronautica drops bombs on various points. They approach the island from the south and cross over to the north, enabling a quick escape back to Sicily to the north.

Fort Collins Municipal Railway #20 Trolley, Fort Collins, Colorado, July 10, 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Soviet submarine M-49 sinks in a friendly minefield off Vladivostok.

Spy Stuff: George Johnson Armstrong is executed by hanging at HM Prison Wandsworth by Thomas Pierrepoint. Armstrong is the first British citizen to be executed under the Treachery Act 1940. He was charged and convicted on 8 May 1941 of communicating with the German Consul in Boston, Massachusetts, to offer Germany assistance in the war against Great Britain.

In the Philippines, the Japanese spy at the Japanese embassy in Manila, Mr. Negishi, reports to Tokyo on the cargo being unloaded from an American tender (20+ light tanks, ten gun platforms and coastal guns). Negishi also reports the arrival of US Navy transport USS President Taft carrying 800-1000 soldiers.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives a message from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill agrees to a proposal that Stalin has made through British Ambassador Stafford Cripps for a firm alliance. The two bedrock conditions of this alliance are that mutual aid is to be given "without any precision as to quantity or quality," and that neither country would conclude a separate peace.

Soviet/Mongolian Relations: The Soviets try, convict, and execute the 7th Prime Minister of Mongolia, Anandyn Amar. The Soviets have deemed Amar too popular and nationalistic and thus a threat to their rule in Mongolia. He is accused of various types of treason. Amar is shot and buried at the firing ground "Kommunarka" (Russian: Расстре́льный полиго́н «Коммуна́рка») near Moscow.

German/Japanese Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asks the Japanese, as he has before, to attack the Soviet port of Vladivostok. The Japanese once again refuse to attack.

Blohm and Voss BV-222 "Wiking" flying boat.

German Military: The Luftwaffe's Blohm and Voss BV-222 "Wiking" flying boat makes its first operational transport flight, from its factory near Hamburg north to Kirkenes, Norway. The BV-222 is the largest flying boat to go on operations during the war. Incidentally, Revell has a popular model kit for this plane.

Italian Military: The Italians send 61,000 men in the Italian Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Spedizione Italiano in Russia or CSIR) to Russia. The CSIR includes a legion from the Independent State of Croatia (which is an Italian vassal state).

Soviet Military: Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy People's Commissar for Defense, is added to the Stavka. He has been a prime factor in the Red Army's rapid buildup between 1939 and 1941.

Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin removes Marshal Semyon Timoshenko from his position as Red Army commander-in-chief. Stalin has demoted him to command of the Western Front.

Lev Mekhlis becomes deputy commissar of the Soviet Peoples Commissar of Defense.

Chrysler Tank Arsenal in Detroit, Michigan, 10 July 1941 (Hedrich-Blessing).

US Military: The US Navy publicizes the fact that it has mined the entrance to the Port of San Francisco.

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Brigadier General Ross E. Rowell, USMC) is activated at San Diego, California. It controls Marine Air Group Two based at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii.

US Government: President Roosevelt sends a request to Congress for an additional defense appropriation of $4.77 million.

Holocaust: Locals and/or Germans at Jedwabne, Poland herd 300-400 local Jews into a barn and burn it down. This is a controversial incident because many believe the Germans committed the atrocity. However, there is an alternate view (Michael Gross, "Neighbors," 2000) which claims that the local Polish citizens are to blame. In 2001, a new monument is erected in accordance with Gross's view.

American Homefront: Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe aka Jelly Roll Morton passes away in Los Angeles, California at the age of 50. He is famous for claiming to "invent" jazz, though it is more accurate to say that he contributed to jazz development and wrote many enduring jazz standards such as "King Porter Stomp," "Wolverine Blues," "Black Bottom Stomp," and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say."

Canadian National Railways No. 1432 at Armstrong, July 10,1941 (Trainweb.org, Bud Laws Collection).

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

Saturday 7 September 1940

Fires on the docks light up ships. London dockyards, 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

Battle of Britain: While "The Blitz" is often used as a sort of generic synonym for the Battle of Britain. In fact, it is a separate, though related, affair. The Battle of Britain often is assigned the start date of 10 July 1940 and involves air and naval attacks on all parts of Great Britain. The Blitz, by which we mean focused Luftwaffe attacks on London, begins only on 7 September 1940 (though with preliminary attacks commencing as early as 22 August 1940). This is known as the start of "Phase III" of the Battle of Britain, a joint day/night offensive against London that lasts for several weeks.

The British government has issued the code word "Cromwell" to all of its commands. This means that an invasion is expected on short notice. All local British forces are placed on high alert. At the main base of Scapa Flow, the fleet is brought to 1-hour's notice, and the crews of the destroyers are kept at action stations throughout the night. HMS Repulse leads a patrol out of Scapa Flow headed for Iceland.

The Surrey Commercial Dock, London. 7 September 1940. (AP Photo/Staff/Worth).

The Blitz: After his big broadcast speech on the evening of the 6th announcing the Luftwaffe's change in strategy, listened to by many in England as well (those who understand German, anyway), Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering assembles his cronies at Cap Blanc Nez. From there, they can watch the armada of Luftwaffe planes heading for England. Perhaps to accommodate his schedule, the bombers get a late start. It isn't until almost noontime that any activity occurs, and this only by Bf 109s acting as fighter bombers. There's no hurry, the battle is won already anyway - according to the Reichsmarschall.

These first Messerschmitts drop their loads on RAF Hawkinge and Dover. The RAF sends up No. 66 Squadron, but it basically just monitors the attack and does little to intervene. It loses two planes to mechanical difficulties - a sign of the strain that the RAF has been under. They crash-land on the way back to base.

Early in the afternoon, the bombers finally get in the air and head across toward London. They are from Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 and Stumpf's Luftflotte 5 (KG 26 and 30 transferred south from Norway). The British radar stations pick them up at 15:40 and follow them across the Channel. It is a raid of about 1100 aircraft which includes almost 400 medium bombers, about 200 Bf 110s carrying bombs, and an escort of 650 Bf 109s.

The bombers cross the coastline and then break up into different formations, as usual. Typically in the past, this has meant attacks on separate airfields. Fighter Command reacts accordingly, getting fighters into the air over their own stations. However, this time they all head south toward London. Even now, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park at 11 Group assumes that the targets are airfields, and he plans his fighter defenses accordingly. Park gets 20 Squadrons into the air over the airfields and the Thames estuary. Leigh-Mallory at 12 Group has plenty of time to assemble his "Big Wing," but they still are assembling when the Luftwaffe appears over London.

The first bombs drop on the southern side of the Thames, around the entrance to London's dockland and the docks near Woolwich Arsenal. Bombing accuracy is good, as the weather is fine and the RAF fighters are elsewhere. The Harland & Wolff shipbuilding factory, a munitions factory at Woolwich, the Queen Victoria docks, the King George V docks, the Royal Albert Docks, the Millwall docks, the Wapping docks, the St. Katherine's Docks, and the entire surrounding area is hit with devastating effect. The Woolwich Arsenal blows up after its stored gunpowder ignites. Several ships in port are hit, with several sinking and almost two dozen damaged. The entire area is dry due to the late-summer heat, and soon everything is on fire. The fires rage close to London Bridge, but it is spared.

Dornier Do 17 bombers over London, 7 September 1940.

The East End then gets hit. This is a mixed residential/commercial area. Areas hit include Canning Town, East Ham, West Ham, Poplar, Silvertown, Stratford, Wapping, and Whitechapel. The Germans use incendiary bombs that work well on the dry wood of the buildings in the slums around these areas. The East End docks are hit over and over and soon are a massive blaze.

The RAF reacts, but as the first wave of bombers leaves, another arrives. This time, Leigh-Mallory's "Big Wing" is ready, but they get mixed up with the bombers that have already dropped their loads and are scurrying back to France. Thus, the fighter defense does little to prevent further raids on London.

The attacks continue after dark. At 20:22, another wave of about 250 bombers crosses the Kent coastline, this one from Sperrle's Luftflotte 3. Unescorted, they head straight for the burning docklands along the Thames, which serve as a beacon visible for miles. They drop a further 333 tons of bombs and 13,000 incendiaries.

A still from camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by Flying Officer T Nowierski. Ahead is a formation of Dornier Do 17Zs of KG3 south-west of London at approximately 5.45 pm on 7 September 1940. Tracer bullets from the intercepting Spitfires can be seen traveling towards the enemy aircraft which are heading back to their base after bombing East London and the docks.

Goering makes another broadcast to the German people in the evening. The day's losses in the air favor the RAF - about 40-50 Luftwaffe losses versus around 25-30 British fighters (figures vary wildly by source) - but the Blitz is now a reality. There are 430-448 civilian deaths, 1337 other serious casualties, serious damage to the industry, and countless people made homeless.

The RAF airfields and other installations, though, are largely untouched and get a chance to begin recovering from the against them in recent weeks. Deadly as the day has been, it is the beginning of the RAF's recovery, much like a cancer patient receiving his or her first chemotherapy. It also is the first day of the rot that begins eating away at the Luftwaffe's substance.

There are many acts of heroism during this first day of the Blitz. Albert Ernest Dolphin, a porter at the Emergency Hospital, South Eastern Hospital, New Cross, London saves the life of a nurse when a wall begins to fall on her, costing his own. He posthumously earns the George Cross, a civilian award equivalent to the Victoria Cross. He is listed on a memorial mural in Lewisham Shopping Centre, a true hero of the Battle of Britain.

The Luftwaffe once again loses a number of valuable pilots, including a number of aces. The German fighter pilots blame this on having to act as escorts to the bombers. The fighters are much slower than the bombers, and it takes continual effort to remain above them and to mimic their movements.

Kommodore Major Mölders of JG 51 downs a Spitfire over London for his 34th victory, the most in the Luftwaffe. Oblt. Helmut Wick of 6./JG 2 gains his 25th victory by shooting down a Spitfire. Major Hannes Trautloft of Stab./JG 54 gets his seventh victory, a Hurricane over Maidstone. Numerous other pilots get multiple victories during the day, as the Experten improve with a daily dose of practice.

Oblt. Gordon Gollob joins II,/JG 3 on the Kanalfront after a stint at Rechlin.

Oblt. Helmut Lent joins the night fighter unit at Deelen, Holland, 6,/NJG 1.

The mills at the Victories Docks (below at left) show damage wrought by the Luftwaffe attacks of 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command, no doubt reacting to the advisory about an invasion likely within three days that the government issued on 6 September, focuses most of its attention on the Channel ports. They are full of barges assembled for the cross-channel invasion. These raids are raised to heroic proportions in the later collection of stories in the book "Their Finest Hour." The crews get much satisfaction watching their bombs drop amongst the barges and watching pieces of them fly into the air. Other attacks are made on the Ruhr industrial valley, such as on the Krupps factory.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a bad day for the British at sea. The Germans try out new wolfpack tactics that pay quick dividends.

U-boat U-65 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), having alerted U-47 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien) to the location of Convoy SC 2 about 80 miles west of Malin Head in the Outer Hebrides, gets to watch as Kplt Prien works his magic. Beginning in the early morning hours, he insinuates U-47 within the convoy on the surface and then has his pick of targets. This tactic, extremely bold, negates the advantage that the British escorts have with their ASDIC (sonar) equipment. Of course, it also leaves the submarine vulnerable to surface fire, but in the massive confusion caused by his attack, Prien is able to make a clean getaway.

First, U-47 targets 5155-ton British sugar freighter Neptunian. After missing with two torpedoes at 03:36 and 03:45, Prien scores a hit at 04:04. The ship capsizes seven minutes later. All 36 aboard perish.

The Neptunian sinks on 7 September 1940.

Rather than disperse, a planned maneuver at times of attack, the convoy resorts to zig-zagging. This makes Prien's job more difficult, but he keeps at it.

Next, Prien targets 5303-ton British freighter José de Larrinaga, which is carrying scrap metal and linseed oil. This ship has the same name as a ship sunk by U-boats in 1917, and it meets the same fate. Torpedoed at 05:15, it breaks in two after eleven minutes. All 40 crew perish.

U-47 then torpedoes and sinks 5155-ton Norwegian wheat freighter Gro at 05:33. This ship also has the same name as a ship sunk in 1917, and also meets the same fate. This ship also breaks in two and sinks within ten minutes. Eleven of the crew perish, 21 others escape in a lifeboat and are picked up by another freighter on the 10th

With daylight approaching, Prien then makes a clean getaway with over 15,000 tons more of shipping under his belt. However, the gathering wolfpack is not done with Convoy SC 2 just yet.

German S-boats S-33 and S-36 torpedo and sink 5799-ton Dutch freighter Stad Alkmaar just east of Lowestoft, Suffolk. The ship is traveling with Convoy FS 273. Some sources say that everybody survives, others that 14 crew perish.

The Luftwaffe attacks on the docks of London catch a number of ships there. While only a few are sunk (and later refloated), about 20 others are damaged.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British 6007-ton special purposes vessel HMS Inkosi at the Royal Albert Dock in London. The Inkosi is a converted refrigerated ship. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 5985-ton special purposes ship HMS Inanda at the Royal Albert Dock in London. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British tug Beckton at the Beckton Gas Works in London.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 7906-ton Dutch freighter Abbekerk in London. Sunk in shallow water, she can be salvaged and repaired. This is just one incident in an eventful war for the Abbekerk.

British trawler Salacon hits a mine and sinks about 6 miles southeast of Spurn Point, Yorkshire. Four men survive, while eight others perish.

British 687 ton armed yacht HMY Rhodora collides with 505-ton cargo ship Ngatira in the Bristol Channel near Cardiff and sinks.

Kriegsmarine patrol boat Niendorf hits a mine and sinks off the Pas de Calais.

British naval trawler HMT Abronia, in use as a minesweeper, sinks in the River Thames for unknown reasons. There are five deaths. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

A crater at Elephant & Castle made on 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Malta, there is a large raid on Grand Harbour at 12:30 that is very accurate. It targets Vittoriosa and the dock area nearby. The raid is conducted by 11 SM 79 bombers escorted by 24 CR 42 biplane fighters. There are four civilian deaths, a mother and her three young children of ages 1-5. The Italians lose one or two bombers, with two defending Hurricanes damaged.

A bomb sinks the tug HMT Hellespont at Surgery Wharf, Sheer Bastion, but is salvageable. Other vessels also are badly damaged. Some civilian workers dig an unexploded bomb out of the Dockyard canteen at great risk to themselves and carry it away from the area, which it would have destroyed. Overall, it is one of the most effective Italian raids to date.

Romania: Former King Carol II makes good his escape from Romania as Iron Guard members take potshots at his train. He heads through Yugoslavia for his ultimate destination, Switzerland, where his fortune (the national treasury) is at his sole disposal.

Paraguay: After President Marshal Jose Felix Estigarribia perishes in a plane crash during a tour of the Paraguayan interior, he is succeeded by Colonel Higinio Morínigo.

Vichy France: The Petain government continues its arrests of former leaders during the Battle of France. Today, it takes into custody Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud and Maurice Gamelin. They are interned at Château de Chazeron for the time being.

Dornier Do 17 KG76 over West Ham, London, September 7, 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

2020