Sunday 6 July 1941

A destroyed bridge at the mouth of the Damour River, Lebanon, 1941.

Eastern Front: It is a time of great frustration for the Soviet forces. This manifests itself in failed attacks, suicidal counterattacks, and generals shot by the NKVD. The only things that slow the Germans as of 6 July 1941 are their own caution and occasional weather events such as the rains still lingering over much of the battlefront.

In the Far North sector, the German advance toward Murmansk makes some progress across the Litsa River. However, Soviet defenses are firming as reinforcements arrive.

Further south, the Axis Operation Arctic Fox Operation resumes. The German XXXVI Corps has called up infantry from southern Finland and asked the Finnish 6th Division to disrupt the Soviet defenses at Salla. This does the trick and the Soviet 14th Army (122nd Rifle Division, the 104th Rifle Division, and the 1st Tank Division) is forced to retreat back into Salla itself. The Germans actually break into Salla briefly, but the Soviets quickly push them out again. As elsewhere on the Eastern Front, the Luftwaffe plays a key role in the Heer's success, with Luftflotte 5 helping to break up the Soviet concentrations. This, of course, is the old Blitzkrieg formula.

What this incident at Salla illustrates above all is that the Soviet strength lies in direct confrontations, while German strength lies in tactics and maneuverability and airpower. These are lessons the German leadership sometimes has a hard time remembering but when applied, lead to the Reich's greatest successes in the USSR.

In the Army Grup North sector, the motorized units establish a line from Lake Peipus to Reval to Parun. The Soviets counterattack and make some gains.

In the Army Group Center sector,  the Soviet 7th and 5th Mechanized Corps of the Soviet 20th Army (Lieutenant-General P.A. Kurochkin) attack with about 700-1,500 tanks near Lepel. While this is an impressive number of vehicles, only a small fraction are types that give the German panzers trouble. The Germans of General Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group are prepared - Hitler has reined the panzers in recently - and the Soviet armored vehicles are mauled. German 7th Panzer Division - Erwin Rommel's old formation - illustrates the power of the defensive and virtually wipes out the two Soviet formations. This is known as the First Battle of Smolensk.

In the Army Group South sector, the Germans attack in the north with 1st Panzer Group and Sixth Army and in the south with the German 17th Army and Romanian 3rd Army. The northern prong of the advance approaches Zhytomyr, while the southern prong takes Khotyn Fortress on the Dniestr River.

Despite occasional Red Air Force successes, overall the Luftwaffe dominates the skies. Today, for instance, JG 54 intercepts a formation of 73 Soviet bombers attacking the German bridgehead at Ostrov. The Luftwaffe pilots claim 65 Soviet bombers shot down, and ace Max-Hellmuth Ostermann claims his 19th and 20th victories.

This German superiority in the air has led to frustration on the Soviet side. Some Soviet pilots resort to ramming Luftwaffe planes. Amazingly, some Soviet pilots not only survive the dangerous encounters but manage to return to base. However, the Luftwaffe remains much stronger than the Red Air Force despite steady losses.

Ukrainian refugees with a cow pass by a German machine gunner during Operation Barbarossa, July 6, 1941. Some Soviet citizens have an unnerving tendency throughout the war of ignoring the fighting even when it is literally right next to them.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Battle of Damour commences when 7th Australian Division attacks in the early morning hours. Crossing the Damour River, the Australians establish bridgeheads at El Atiqa and El Boum after a day of hard fighting. Both sides realize that Damour, on the coast south of Beirut, is the key to that city, and Beirut is the key to the entire campaign.

As it has for several days now, the Royal Navy parks a large force led by light cruisers Ajax and Perth off Damour. The ships bombard Vichy French positions in aid of the Australian attack.

Australian Lieutenant Roden Cutler receives the Victoria Cross for heroism for actions today. He clears some enemy positions, then, wounded, is forced to lie in the open for 26 hours before being rescued. Cutler loses his leg due to the ordeal.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Brest during the night with 109 bombers. RAF Fighter Command sends a Circus mission over Lille.

RAF ace Douglas Bader shoots down a Bf 109

Soviet pilots Boris Safonov and Evgeny Khaldey of the 72nd CAP (mixed aviation regiment) of the Northern Fleet Air Force. They are with an I-16 Type 24 fighter at Vaenga airfield, July 6, 1941.

East African Campaign: General Pietro Gazzera, the Governor of Galla-Sidama and the new acting Viceroy and Governor-General of the AOI, surrenders to Free Belgian forces under Major-General Auguste Gilliaert. With Gazzera, 2,944 Italian, 1,535 African and 2,000 local troops (bande) formally surrender. The native troops quickly change sides. In all, ten Italian generals surrender.


Battle of the Baltic: Soviet minesweeper T-216 sinks off Saaremaa, Estonia. The cause is uncertain, perhaps by a mine.

Latvian freighter Everolanda hits a mine and sinks.

Finnish warships Syosky, Vinha, and Raju sink a Soviet fishing boat. Not much is known about this incident.

This Bristol Blenheim of No. 21 Squadron, Z7432/YH:J, lost hydraulic pressure and crashed on 6 July 1941 near Watton.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 140-ton British trawler Westfield off St. Govan's Head, near Lundy Island. All 10 crew perish.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1363-ton Swedish freighter Birgitta in the North Sea. It is towed to Great Yarmouth.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 3658-ton freighter North Devon off Sheringham. There are five deaths. The North Devon is towed to Immingham. One of the deaths is Reginald Hamilton Earnshaw. Earnshaw, 14, is officially declared the youngest known British service casualty of WWII by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on February 5, 2010, which would have been his 83rd birthday. Earnshaw served as a cabin boy and lied about his age to get hired.

German raiders Atlantis and Orion have been meeting north of the island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic. Today, Atlantis heads east to the South Pacific while the Orion heads west toward South America.

Convoy OB-343 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX-137 departs from Halifax.

Canadian destroyer HMCS Hamilton is commissioned, minesweeper Melville is launched.

The Bremen Rathaus (Town Hall), 6 July 1941 (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archives, Bild 212-219).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph, operating near Benghazi, torpedoes and sinks 607-ton Italian freighter Ninfea and an escorting gunboat, Dante de Lutti. The Triumph sustains some damage from an Italian shore battery and is forced to abort further operations and return to Malta.

At Malta, Italian bombers attack the Paola dockyards. It is a heavy raid lasting for four hours and killing 15 and wounding 14 people. There also are scattered raids on Marsa and other locations.

Ecuador/Peru Border War: The long-festering grievances about the border led to the outbreak of hostilities on the 5th, and today things get hotter. While exactly how the war started is hotly disputed, there is no question that Peru quickly gains the upper hand. While a small party of Ecuadorian soldiers crossed the border on the first day of the war, today the Peruvian soldiers eject them and turn the tables. Peruvian paratroopers take Matapalo Island, which Ecuador seized in 1938. The Peruvian air force is active, attacking Ecuadorian border posts along the Zarumilla River. Meanwhile, mediators from neighboring Brazil and Argentina, along with US representatives, quickly try to broker a settlement.

The Lüderitz Bridge aka Great Weser Bridge (Große Weserbrücke) over the Weser, 6 July 1941 ( Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archives, Bild 212-215).

US/Japanese Relations: US Ambassador Joseph Grew warns Japan against offensive actions by delivering a letter directly to Mr. Tomohiko Ushiba, Private Secretary of the Japanese Prime Minister (Prince Konoye):

Should Japan enter upon a course of military aggression and conquest it stands to reason that such action would render illusory the cherished hope of the American Government, which it understood was shared by the Japanese Government, that peace in the Pacific area, far from being further upset, might now indeed be strengthened and made more secure. It is the earnest hope of the Government of the United States that the reports of Japan's decision to enter upon hostilities against the Soviet Union are not based upon fact, and an assurance to that effect from His Excellency the Prime Minister of Japan would be deeply appreciated by the Government of the United States.

In fact, the Japanese have decided not to attack the Soviet Union. Unknown to the Americans, they have other targets in mind.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt cables British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with "will advise you" on Churchill's request that the US and Great Britain form a joint committee on tank development. Churchill is concerned about German tank superiority and realizes that larger and more powerful tanks are required, but the US at this time does not have any heavy tanks in its arsenal.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: British Prime Minister sends a message to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin expressing a hope that they can cooperate in the fight against Germany. Unlike US President Roosevelt, Stalin is not particularly chatty with cables and does not typically respond quickly.

Italian/Japanese Relations: Japan takes over the protection of Italy's Embassy in Moscow.

Original caption dated 6 July 1941 reads: "Members of the Screen Cartoonists Guild are shown picketing the Walt Disney Studios in force today as 98 members of eight A.F. L. craft unions went back to work. The A.F.L. unions signed with Disney last night. Besides the 248 cartoon guild members, about 20 of the Society of Motion Picture Film Editors are still out."

Spy Stuff: According to a 1947 OSS/CIA document, today the Gestapo arrests Jerzy Kuncewicz, a former intelligence officer of the Polish General Staff, and an associate in Berlin as spies. Kuncewicz has been in communication with the Polish Resistance in Warsaw and Japanese spies. Under Gestapo interrogation, Kuncewicz reveals that the Japanese military attache, Brigadier General Banzai, is in control of a vast spy network in Europe that is spying on everyone. The Gestapo concludes that the Japanese network "works against the Reich," though to what purpose is left unsaid. Kuncewicz's group, meanwhile, has been sending information to London. The report concludes that the Gestapo believes that further investigation could prove that the Japanese are working with the Polish resistance and the Vatican to undermine the Reich.

Holocaust: The occupying German authorities in Kaunas/Kovno, Lithuania institute a pogrom that ultimately claims thousands of lives. The killings by Einsatzgruppen occur at the Seventh Fort, where Jewish residents have been imprisoned.

"Die Tat," a Swiss newspaper, reports on a Soviet massacre of innocent prisoners at Lemberg. It states that:

this massacre is one of the most dreadful and ruthless massacres ever heard of in the history of the world. In the police prison 20 prisoners were crowded together in each of the smallest cells; they were then shot through the spy-holes. 2,000 to 2,500 persons were murdered in this way.

The Germans already know about this incident. They have forced Jewish residents of Lemberg to dig up the corpses from a prison yard and rebury them elsewhere. This incident becomes controversial because of post-war Soviet claims that the Lemberg massacre was carried out by the Ukrainian "Nightingale" Legion, a special formation organized by the Wehrmacht.

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb at a charity tournament in Newton, Massachusetts, 6 July 1941.

German Homefront: A pastoral letter of German bishops is read out in all Catholic Churches in Germany. It recognizes that euthanasia is taking place within Reich mental asylums, but absolves Catholics from resisting these exterminations because it is impossible to fight the government. This does not sit well with some pastors, as, even beyond the moral crisis such killings create, they also violate sections of Reich penal law.

American Homefront: Originally scheduled to be unveiled on 4 July (US Independence Day), Lou Gehrig's monument in Yankee Stadium is revealed. The scheduling issue, due to a rain-out on the 4th, will confuse memorabilia collectors forever.

During a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium against the Philadelphia Athletics, New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets hits in both games. In the opener, DiMaggio gets four hits in the first game, an 8-4 Yankees win. In the nightcap, he goes 2-4 with two runs batted in. This extends his major league record hitting streak to 48 games. New York wins, 3-1, with Phil Rizzuto going 3-3. DiMaggio now is hitting .357 for the season, well behind league leader Ted Williams at .405.

The New York Times reports on page 20 that an outbreak of sunspots is affecting transatlantic radio communication and distorting compasses.

The New York Times has an article, "Imagery For Profit," by R.W. Stewart. It discusses the use of Television for advertising. The article notes that only New York NBC station WNBT is equipped to show advertisements but that many other stations across the country would like to "ass soon as possible, some within thirty days." It notes that the first paid ad was for the Bulova Watch Company, which paid $4 for the privilege. The ad was a test pattern that resembles a clock face and remained on the air for a full minute as the second-hand traversed a minute.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig's widow attend the belated unveiling of the monument at Yankee Stadium honoring Gehrig, 6 July 1941.

July 1941

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

2020

Wednesday 4 June 1941

Babe Ruth attends the open casket funeral of Lou Gehrig. June 4, 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The pro-British government in Iraq on 4 June 1941 is now firmly installed. Regent Prince Abdullah is in charge. The British continue mopping up, solidifying their control over Mosul and negotiating surrenders where necessary.

The Japanese Ambassador in Baghdad, Miyazaki, sends his counterpart in Ankara, Turkey a cable reporting the British takeover in Iraq. The Turkish ambassador, Kurihara, sends Tokyo a blunt message:

Unless some direct and summary measures are taken by Germany and Italy in following up this recent incident, it is feared that the whole Arabian movement will be severely hampered in its development. At this time, when it is thought that the Iraqi oil field pipeline and the railroad line connecting this city with Basra has been destroyed, British interests chiefly lie in the Habbaniya base which serves as a point in air and land transport from Trans-Jordan. Inasmuch as there are large oil reserves maintained in underground reservoirs and other subterranean facilities, please do your very utmost to have the German and Italian authorities bomb this base immediately.

The Germans and Italians, however, no longer have any airplanes with the ability to bomb targets in Iraq.

"On June 4, 1941, at No. 1 Air Navigation School in Rivers, Manitoba, a trio of Commonwealth airmen walk down a line of Avro Ansons to the aircraft that will carry them on a navigation training flight. From left to right are Sergeant J. A. Mahood, Royal Air Force, Sergeant E.M.D. Romilly, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Sergeant W.H. Betts, Royal Australian Air Force." PHOTO: PL-3738, DND Archives.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends planes from 2 Group, Nos. 18, 107 and 139 Squadrons to attack Dutch airfields. The RAF also sends 54 aircraft on anti-shipping missions.

Four Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s of III./KG 27 bomb the Bristol area during the night, around 02:30 on the 4th. The targets are airfields and aircraft factories at Cheltenham and Bristol. The Germans bomb some buildings and destroy a Gloster plane on the ground. The Luftwaffe loses a Junkers Ju 88C in a separate intruder mission when it flies into a hill at Skelder Moor near Whitby just after midnight - all three crew perish.

After dark, the Luftwaffe attacks the Midlands and Medway areas. These attacks do not cause much damage, the bombs falling on the undeveloped ground.

RAF Fighter Command conducts Roadstead operations over occupied France.

There is fighter action over Folkestone. Feldwebel Janke and Fw. Helmut Jürgens of IV./JG 51 record claims.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Rühl of 1./JG 53 goes missing in Bf 109 F-2 "Black 3" (W.Nr. 6707) near Dover following aerial combat with Spitfire fighters (he apparently collides with a Spitfire). Rühl has five victories. This is Rühl's second time in the Channel, the first having been on 2 September 1940. In the earlier instance, Rühl was picked up by a Dornier Do-18 rescue plane, but this time he is not found.

The British record in the British Home Security Situation Report that for the week ending at 06:00 on 4 June 1941, there were about 178 deaths due to the Blitz, with 185 seriously injured.

New Castle News, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 4 June 1941.

Gideon Force is disbanded. Orde Wingate is reduced in rank to that of major. He leaves for Cairo, Egypt. The reduction in rank may be related to friction he has had with higher British authorities regarding decorations and back pay for his men. Wingate is very put out by his peremptory treatment - he is not even given leave to say goodbye to his comrade in the jungle, Emperor Haile Selassie - and he determines to write an angry report about his experiences and the British officers who have obstructed his efforts on behalf of Abyssinian freedom. At this time, Wingate already may be infected with malaria, though he does not yet show symptoms.

June 4, 1941: Lou Gehrig's funeral/members of the High School of Commerce bow their heads with their gloves and caps in hands and pay respect to their hero.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues seeking out the Kriegsmarine's supply vessels throughout the North and South Atlantic. Today, the British find and dispose of three such vessels:

1. 8923-ton tanker Gedania (captured by ocean boarding vessel Marsdale, renamed Empire Garden for British use);
2. 4104 ton supply ship Gonzenheim (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the battleship HMS Nelson);
3. 9849-ton tanker Esso Hamburg (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the heavy cruiser HMS London)

There are 63 survivors from the Gorzenheim and 87 from the Esso Hamburg. Basically, nobody dies during these events, but the German ability to supply U-boats and surface craft in the Atlantic to extend their operations is severely damaged. These sinkings and seizures cut the remaining number of Kriegsmarine supply ships almost in half.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient and on patrol in the mid-Atlantic west of Brest, at 05:03 torpedoes and sinks 5271-ton British freighter Trecarrell. The encounter is a little unusual because U-101 rams Trecarrell at 06:40 in the bow to hasten its sinking. There are four deaths and 43 survivors. It is not a happy day on U-101, though, because it loses a crewman, Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl, overboard.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 36. It bombs and sinks 3911-ton British freighter Queensbury. There are 11 deaths, the entire crew.

British 2879-ton suction dredger Robert Hughes hits a mine and sinks at the mouth of the Lagos River. This was one of the mines laid by U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) recently. There are 14 deaths and 17 survivors.

Dutch minelayer Van Meerlant hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There are three deaths and one crewman is wounded.

Convoy OG-64 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar, Convoy HG-64 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

On June 4, 1941, Philippines President Manuel L. Quezon signs into law Commonwealth Act No. 616, known as An Act to Punish Espionage and other offenses against National Security.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After dark, the Luftwaffe mounts a surprise raid on Alexandria. There are 170 killed and 200 injured.

Martin Maryland bombers of the RAF based on Malta bomb and sink Italian freighters Beatrice C and Montello off the coast of Tunisia. Some sources list this incident as having occurred on 3 June.

The Royal Navy sets off another supply mission to Malta. Operation Rocket features aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Furious being escorted by battleship Renown and many other vessels. The plan is to deliver 43 Hawker Hurricane Is to the beleaguered island.

Invasion jitters continue on Malta. Building on lessons learned on Crete, the British emphasize killing or capturing the German paratroopers (fallschirmjäger) upon descent or immediately thereafter, before they can defend themselves. British troops have occupied the island of Gozo, normally left unguarded. Otherwise, it is a quiet day on Malta, with just one Luftwaffe fighter sweep that results in no damage or bombs dropped.

"On June 4, 1941, RCAF Sergeant E. Romilly, the Royal Australian Air Force’s W. Betts, and the Royal Air Force’s J. Mahoud practice navigation techniques onboard an Anson aircraft at No. 1 Air Navigation School, RCAF Rivers, Manitoba." PHOTO: DND Archives.

Spy Stuff: Hitler having told Japanese Ambassador Ōshima his plans for Operation Barbarossa on the 3rd, the latter dutifully cables Tokyo with this information. British military intelligence intercepts the coded message. The Japanese codes have been broken, but British intelligence does not forward the coded translation to The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) for decoding until the 12th. In any event, it would just add to the pile of warnings from numerous sources that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin has been ignoring.

The Algonquin Regiment leaves Port Arthur, Canada on June 4, 1941 (Thunder Bay Public Library).

British Military: Lieutenant Commander R.C. Robison, RAN is awarded the DSC for "bravery and enterprise" while serving on destroyer HMAS Stuart during the battle of Cape Matapan (when the Italian Navy suffered a serious defeat).

US Military:  Chief of Staff of the United States Army George Marshall sends a memo to General Richardson regarding the development of a unit that comes to be composed by men called the Tuskegee Airmen. Marshall writes:

Dr. Patterson, head of Tuskegee Institute, has been doing a very fine thing in assisting the Air Corps in the development of a negro aviation unit. He has been under heavy attack from the Chicago and Harlem elements, and for a time it appeared that they would succeed in emasculating the Tuskegee Air program for national defense.

Marshall suggests crafting "a definite program of publicity" to support the program.

Image of Japanese female factory workers from Shashin Shūhō 171, June 4, 1941. Shashin Shūhō was a propaganda magazine established in 1938 by the Cabinet Information Office. Interestingly, it shows the factory workers engaging in exercises decades before this became popular elsewhere.

China: The Japanese follow through on past threats to interrupt British efforts to supply the Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking. The Imperial Japanese Navy sends bombers based at Hanoi in French Indochina to bomb bridges along the Burma Road.

Holocaust: The Republic of Croatia orders all Jews to wear a star with the letter Z. The Reich prohibits Jews from using beaches and swimming pools.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in exile in Doorn in the Netherlands, 1933 (German Federal Archives, Bild 136-C0804).

Dutch Homefront: Wilhelm II, the former Kaiser of the German Empire and King of Prussia passes away at his home in Doorn at the age of 82, The Netherlands. He has not set foot in Germany since 10 November 1918, vowing not to return until the restoration of the monarchy, and has lived at Doorn since 15 May 1920.

The Dutch government in the past has protected Wilhelm II from prosecution by the Allies by refusing to extradite him as required by Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles. While a lukewarm supporter of Hitler and his NSDAP party in the 1920s, Wilhelm II soured on them as the 1930s wore on due to their persecution of the Jews. As he stated in December 1938:

For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he [Hitler] has got rid of or even killed... He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters!

That said, Hitler has used Wilhelm for propaganda purposes at times, including publishing a brief, perfunctory telegram congratulating Hitler on his victory over The Netherlands in 1940. For his part, Hitler for many years has taken a dim view of Wilhelm II, calling him an "idiot" and other disparaging terms.

Hitler makes no plans to attend the funeral and is furious when he learns that the local Wehrmacht commander has provided an honor guard for the funeral procession. Wilhelm is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of his Doorn home.

American Homefront: The funeral of baseball legend Lou Gehrig takes place at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale. His remains are cremated and he is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

"Power Dive," directed by James P. Hogan and starring Richard Arlen, Don Castle and Jean Parker, premieres. A typically short 1940s film (67 minutes) from Pine-Thomas Productions (as Picture Corporation of America), the film features a revolutionary new airplane made of plastic. The film is in the public domain due to the failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright.


June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020