Wednesday 12 February 1941

General Erwin Rommel meets Italian commander General Garibaldi in Tripoli.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Today, 12 February 1941, the Greeks complete the conquest of the Trebeshinë massif. The Italians, however, are building up forces for an offensive in the same sector.

As has been the case for several days, however, the real action is taking place in capitals across Europe and North Africa. In a note to British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sets forth current priorities:

[Y]our major effort must now be to aid Greece and/or Turkey. This rules out any serious effort against Tripoli, although minor demonstrations thitherwards would be a useful feint.... concentrate all available forces in the Delta in preparation for movement to Europe.

This change in priorities from North Africa to Greece is, as Churchill knows, opposed not only by Wavell but by his closest military advisers in London. However, Churchill is acting on his own initiative. He concludes his instructions to Wavell with alternative moves in case the Greeks prove uncooperative regarding British troop inflows (as they have in the past):

[T]hen we must try to save as much from the wreck as possible. We must, at all costs, keep Crete and take any Greek islands which are of use as air bases. We could also reconsider the advance on Tripoli. But these will only be consolation prizes after the classic race has been lost.

Thus, Churchill makes clear that Greece itself is only a pawn in the struggle against Hitler, and only useful in that regard. In essence, he proposes making war on Greece itself if it stands in the way of fighting Hitler on Greek soil.

General Rommel around the time of his arrival in Libya, 12 February 1941.

East African Campaign: The battle at Keren continues. Today, the 5th Indian Division's 29th Indian Infantry brigade is brought up from Barentu and added to Major-General Beresford-Peirse's 4th Indian Division. The plan is for troops already on the scene to create a gap in the Italian defenses, through which the 29th Infantry can pour through and overwhelm the Italian defenses.

It doesn't go quite like that. At 05:30, the British artillery roars and the 4/6th Rajputana Rifles advance toward the west side of the Dongolaas Gorge. The objective is the Acqua Col, a spot that connects Italian strong-points on either side. Things go wrong right from the start, though: the initial surge carries to the crest of the feature, but there the troops are subjected to murderous crossfire. The battalion leader, Captain Subadar Richpal Ram, is at the forefront, and he has his foot blown off and is shot dead shortly thereafter (Posthumous VC). The 4/11th Sikh Regiment comes at the Col from the side but is stopped cold. The Indian troops are forced to retreat again, leaving them with nothing to show for heavy casualties incurred in several days of desperate fighting.

Lieutenant-General William Platt now has tried to force both sides of the gorge twice, with no success. He decides to build up his supplies and troops and try a set-piece battle at a later date. Platt sends the 29th Infantry Brigade back to Barentu, which is served by a railway line and can be more easily supplied. The British sit down to devise a new strategy.

RAF planes bomb and sink the 590-ton German cargo ship Askari at Kismayo, Somalia, while on a voyage to Mogadishu. The crew of Askari manages to beach it on the 13th, but it is a total loss.

Elsewhere in Eritrea, British forces take Elghena south of Port Sudan.

At Kismayo, Somalia, the Italians scuttle freighters Integritas (5952 tons), Marghera (4531 tons), and Carso (6275 tons). The Carso is later salvaged and renamed Empire Tana.

Bristol Blenheim Mark V: pilot's controls and instrument panel on the port side of the cockpit. (IWM, February 1941).

European Air Operations: Air activity continues to be light due to the winter weather. The Luftwaffe sends a few planes over England at night, and for most of them, if they drop bombs, nobody notices. The RAF, which has been more active than the Luftwaffe lately, largely stays on the ground both during the day and night.

Battle of the Atlantic: With four German heavy cruisers (Admiral Scheer, Admiral Hipper, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst) on the loose in the Atlantic, the Royal Navy is as stretched as at any point of the war. Force H from Gibraltar departs into the Atlantic to cover Convoy HG 53, which has been under incessant attack by the Luftwaffe and U-boats. Late in the day, it is redirected to cover Convoy WS 6, a troop convoy bound for the Middle East - the other convoy would have to be left to its own devices.

One of those German cruisers, Admiral Hipper, illustrates today why the Royal Navy is worried. After stalking Convoy SLS 64 through the night just east of the Azores, it attacks at dawn. It is a reprise of its Christmas Day attack on another convoy in the same general area, but this time there are no escorts to send it fleeing for the port. In short order, Hipper sinks:

1. British 4876-ton freighter Warlaby (three survivors)
2. British 4712-ton freighter Westbury (five deaths)
3. British 4684-ton freighter Oswestry Grange (five deaths)
4. British 4542-ton freighter Shrewsbury (20 deaths)
5. British 4896-ton freighter Derrynane (all lost)
6. Norwegian 3924-ton freighter Borgestad (all lost)
7. Greek 5172-ton freighter Perseus (14 deaths)

Hipper also damages 4934-ton British freighter Lornaston. Despite all the losses, it is a fairly quick action, over by 07:40. Hipper probably could have sunk more ships, but it is a rainy and foggy morning, giving the convoy ships cover.

Much confusion develops about this encounter which is not resolved until much later. The British, in possession of the convoy manifest, correctly report 7 ships lost. However, the Germans claim 13 ship victims, and some survivors of the convoy (experienced sea crews) believe that 14 ships were sunk. This is a classic example of how eyewitnesses can perceive vastly different outcomes without any deliberate attempt to inflate the figures - though the Germans are not averse to inflating enemy loss figures.

After this attack, Admiral Hipper heads for Brest. Due to a chain of related reasons, this will be Hipper's last operation for a full year.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tigris sinks 243-ton French fishing trawler René Camaleyre in the Bay of Biscay.

Swedish 2139 ton four-masted hulked bark Gullmarn, built 1887, drifts ashore at Madeira and is wrecked.

British 8 ton fishing vessel Caledonian hits a mine and blows up.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Amaranthus (Lt. Nicholas B. J. Stapleton, K 17) and destroyer HMAS Nestor (Commander George S. Stewart) are both commissioned.

U-651 (Kapitänleutnant Peter Lohmeyer) is commissioned, U-301 and U-659 are laid down. U-651 develops a reputation for being crewed by particularly fanatical Germans, a spirit apparently imbued by Lohmeyer.

Soviet submarine M-122 is launched.

General Rommel takes command in Tripoli, on or about 12 February 1941 (Sturm, Federal Archives).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The halt order to General Wavell that arrives today from Churchill and the General Staff forces Wavell to completely re-direct his efforts away from Libya. Brigadier Dorman-Smith, General Wavell's liaison to XIII Corps, finally arrives in Cairo after his 570-mile drive from General O'Connor's advanced headquarters. His instructions are to attempt to secure permission for O'Connor's troops to continue westward. Instead, after being kept waiting all day by Wavell, Dorman-Smith walks in to find that Wavell is no longer interested in Libya at all. Motioning to maps of Greece that have replaced maps of North Africa on his walls, Wavell says, "You find me busy with my spring campaign."

In fact, today does mark a definitive end to Operation Compass. Some Italian troops have been holding out at Beda Fomm despite their hopeless position. Today, the last of them surrender. Throughout the campaign, including the very end today, the Italians have outnumbered the British by roughly 20,000-3000.

General Erwin Rommel flies on a Junkers Ju 52 from Rome to Tripoli to command the new Afrika Korps troops carried in three German transport ships that made port on the 11th. These transports carried elements of the 5th Light Division. The plan is for the Korps to include the light (motorized) division, a panzer division, and Italian infantry (the Ariete and Trento divisions). Rommel meets new Italian Libyan Commander General Italo Gariboldi, who replaced Marshal Rodolfo Graziani.

Rommel has his men march around the town square repeatedly to make it appear that he has more men than he actually does. He also has them drive real and fake German tanks. This is an old German trick, first practiced in the Rhineland in the 1930s when the Luftwaffe would fly the same few planes overhead to make it appear as if it had more forces than it actually did. Naturally, the Germans can assume that there are many British sympathizers among the local populace, word will get out, and appearances are important. The British are 400 miles from Tripoli, but there is virtually nothing standing between them and the few Germans in North Africa aside from Italian troops who have proven themselves completely ineffective.

The second convoy of ships carrying the Afrika Korps departs from Naples. There are four transport ships (Adana, Aegina, Kybfels, and Ruhr) escorted by Italian destroyer Camicia Nera and torpedo boat Procione. The convoy will follow the usual pattern of spending a day in Palermo before proceeding on to Tripoli.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Chief of the Imperial General Staff General Sir Anthony Dill depart London bound for Cairo. Their mission (according to Churchill's written instructions) is to expedite "speedy succor to Greece" and for CIGS Dill to "advise on the military aspect." He provides a list of 15 points that "require particular attention," the most interesting (in light of later events) of which is "What is the minimum garrison that can hold the western frontier of Libya, and Benghazi."

Churchill's letter of introduction for Middle East commander General Wavell is illuminating as to colloquialisms in use at the time. He writes:

Request you will take all possible precautions for safety of our two Envoys having regard to nasty habits of Wops and Huns.

In another note to Wavell, Churchill offers his "heartfelt congratulations" on taking Benghazi, but forbids any further advances beyond "demonstration attacks." General Rommel later writes:

If Wavell had now continued his advance into Tripolitania, no resistance worthy of the name could have been mounted against him - so well had his superbly planned offensive succeeded.

Of course, the Germans could not know that Wavell was gung-ho for taking Tripolitania, but it was solely the decision of Churchill to stand pat and divert units elsewhere. Some consider this 12 February 1941 order to stop at Benghazi to be one of the greatest British military blunders of the war.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, on his extended journey from Melbourne to London, returns from Benghazi to Cairo. He experiences "My first Air Raid" before leaving the former, a visit at dawn by some minelaying bombers. The Royal Navy at this time is sending ships from Alexandria and Suda Bay in Operation Shelford to sweep Benghazi Harbor.

At Malta, the increased German presence in the Mediterranean is made plain by the first appearance of Bf 109 fighters over the island. A dozen 7,/JG 26 fighters escort a Fliegerkorps X bombing raid during the afternoon and shoot down three Hurricanes - the worst losses suffered by the RAF on the island to date. The Bf 109 pilots are veterans of the Channel Front and among the best fighter pilots of the time. They are led by ace Oblt. Müncheberg, who gets one of the victories.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Utmost damages 5463-ton Italian freighter Manfredo Campiero off Tripoli.

Rommel reviewing troops in Tripoli, on or about 12 February 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Convoy ZT 2 departs from Wellington for Sydney.

Applied Science: Howard Florey's team administers penicillin for the first time to a patient (43-year-old Reserve Constable Albert Alexander) at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. While a policeman, Alexander incurred his infection to the face while pruning roses in his garden. The experiment is a success, but the patient dies (not enough penicillin available).

Work will proceed on this promising drug for infections. Penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and developed at Oxford by Florey, Ernest Chain, and others. Florey will travel to the United States during the summer to interest the Americans in developing the antibiotic further.

Italian/Spanish Relations: Mimicking the October 1940 meeting at Hendaye between Adolf Hitler and Spanish Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Mussolini meets with Franco at Bordighera on the Italian Riviera to chat "on all problems interesting the two governments at the present historic moment." The meeting is scheduled to take two days. Hitler has high hopes that Mussolini can convince Franco to join the Axis.

Italian/US Relations: Italy requests that the United States close its consulates in Palermo and Naples and consolidate operations in Rome. This purportedly is due to the recent Royal Navy raid on Genoa, which makes the entire Italian seacoast insecure.

Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (Russian: Виктор Семёнович Абакумов; 24 April 1908 – 18 December 1954). The future first director of the newly created Main Directorate of Counterintelligence (GUKR) SMERSH, "Death to Spies."

Soviet Government: Internal security specialist Viktor Abakumov, head of the UNKVD of Rostov Oblast, arrives at the Moscow headquarter of the NKVD. His new role is as a Senior Major of State Security. He will be working closely with Lavrentiy Beria.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill takes questions in the House of Commons. He states that

I can recall no occasion when the question of peace aims or reconstruction has been mentioned by any of the representatives of the American Government.

Churchill also memos the Foreign Office conceding that he has received "no reply" to offers made to Vichy French General Weygand. On another topic, he urges the foreign office to be prepared to supply food to Spain in order to induce them to support the Allied cause.

Churchill's Assistant Private Secretary, Jock Colville, notes in his diary today that there was "great opposition" to Churchill's veto of any attempt by XIII Corps to complete the conquest of Libya. He mentions that CIGS Sir John Dill "felt so strongly about it that he was almost thinking of resigning." Colville notes that sending insufficient forces to Greece runs "the risk of another Dunkirk."

Spanish Government: Alfonso XIII, the former king now living in Rome, renounces the throne in favor of his son Juan, who is the third surviving son of the king. Alfonso was deposed by the Second Spanish Republic. Juan, known to history as Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona. Juan is the father of Juan Carlos I, the future king of Spain rather than Juan due to the post-war intervention of Franco.

Chile: The country is 400 years old today, and holds celebrations.

Dutch Homefront: The street battles in Amsterdam continue. The Wehrmacht works with local Dutch police to quarantine the Jewish quarter of the city with barbed Wire. Police checkpoints are set up, and nobody goes in (unless they are Jewish) or out. The occupation authorities meet with Jewish leaders and appoint them as members of the Joodsche Raad (Jewish Council). The Joodsche Raad is a very controversial organization that remains in existence throughout the occupation. Some accuse it of effective collaboration.

A comic book showing the first administration of penicillin to treat an infection.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Friday 7 February 1941

The crew of HMS Vanity on 7 February 1941. They are posed to celebrate shooting down a Dornier twin-engined bomber at sea. Commander HJ Buchanan, DSO, RAN stands to the right. © IWM (A 2921). HMS Vanity is featured in other British military photos as well, for some reason, it gets a lot of attention.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The entire front is fairly stable as of 7 February 1941. The fierce winter weather prevents major engagements. The status quo favors the Italians, who are hanging on to their position in Albania by their fingertips. The Italians are planning another counterattack after the massive advances by the Greeks in the Trebeshina area, but it will take some time to prepare. This area is the key to the entire Albanian campaign, as it lies along the valley which leads to the vital Italian port of Valona (Vlorë). Most activity at this point consists of artillery exchanges and RAF attacks.

Already, the Italians have frustrated the most ambitious Greek plans, as they wished to capture Valona and wind up the Italian position in Albania by mid-February. The timing is important because Greek (and British) intelligence suggests that the Germans may be ready to invade Greece through Bulgaria as early as 15 February. This is not the case, but the Greeks don't know this.

East African Campaign: The British attack on Keren continues. The tactical problem is to take the Dongolaas Gorge which serves as a sort of portal to the town itself. Surrounded by mountains controlled by the Italians, the gorge is a tough nut - but the British are confident that the Italians will fold quickly as they have everywhere else.

The day begins with the 3/14th Punjab Regiment advancing to take Brig's Peak, the middle of three peaks (left to right) that overlook the gorge. However, the Italians send the 65th Infantry Division "Granatieri di Savoia" (Granatieri di Savoia) in a counterattack. The Italians have the advantage of supporting fire from other peaks nearby, and the Indian troops must move supplies and reinforcements over the exposed ground. The Indian troops are pried off Brig's Peak and sent back to their starting point, Cameron Ridge. This now is a more secure position because of the addition of the 1st (Wellesley's)/6th Rajputana Rifles there. However, Cameron Ridge itself is exposed to downward fire from several nearby peaks and it is not an easy thing to stay there.

On the other (right) side of the Dongolaas Gorge, the British also attack. Late in the day, the 4th (Outram's)/6th Rajputana Rifles advance through Happy Valley (Scescilembi Valley) on the far right and take Acqua Col. Tactically, this is an attempt to outflank an Italian strongpoint at Dologorodoc Fort. The Acqua Col also is a key position because it serves as a link between two summits, Mount Selele and Mount Falestoh. The Indian troops retain control of the Acqua Col as the day ends, but the Italians are in a strong position to counterattack there, too, raining fire down on the Indian troops.

In Abyssinia, the British continue advancing along the Gondar Road. In British Somaliland, the British advance as well.

Oblt. Baron Hubertus von Holtey, right, commanding officer of the Ergänzungsgruppe of JG 26, with Oblt. Joachim Müncheberg at Cognac, France in February 1941. Müncheberg, commander of 7./JG 26, will soon be taking his men to Sicily to bolster Fliegerkorps X.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe makes a few scattered raids along the northeast coast of Scotland and East Anglia, but generally is quiet. The RAF attacks a few Channel ports (27 bombers against Dunkirk, 37 against Boulogne).

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau continue heading south from the vicinity of Greenland toward the shipping lanes. The British have no idea where they are and apparently think they are further east. However, while vulnerable, the Allied convoys nearby have beefed-up escorts which could give the German ships a nasty surprise. In any event, some kind of action is imminent.

The Royal Navy moves its command headquarters for the Western Approaches from Plymouth, on the south coast, to Derby House in Liverpool in the north. This conforms with the fact that more convoys since the fall of France are coming through the Northwest Approaches rather than the Southwest Approaches, which are closer to the U-boat bases in France. Having the headquarter near the port of arrival simply makes sense.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British 575-ton freighter Bay Fisher a few miles northeast of Bell Rock, Angus, Scotland. There are 8 deaths.

British 513-ton freighter Scottish Cooperation hits a mine and is damaged a couple of miles off Workington Pier in the Solway Firth off Workington, Cumberland. The crew manages to beach the ship. After temporary repairs, it makes it back to Workington.

Armed merchant cruiser (AMC) HMS Letitia grounds on Litchfield Shoal near Halifax due to the fierce winter winds. The AMC will require repairs in the US that will last until the end of the year.

German raider Kormoran, with captured vessel Duquesa and operating off the Cape Verde Islands, begins a three-day rendezvous with supply ship Nordmark. This is a somewhat unusual meeting, as Nordmark is the recipient of supplies as much as the giver of the same. The Kormoran, fresh from Germany, has brought U-boat spare parts that are needed at the U-boat base in Lorient. In addition, the Kormoran transfers 170 of the 174 prisoners it has taken so far (four Chinese prisoners remain on board as laundrymen). The British crew from the British Union leave their pet monkey behind in gratitude for honorable treatment during their captivity. Among other random items, a piano from Duquesa is transferred to the Kormoran. It is all a very comfortable meeting during the happy times for German operations in the Atlantic.

U-564 and U-652 are launched.

Soviet submarine K-55 is launched.

General Bergonzoli. His nickname was "Barba elettrica," which roughly translates as the electric beard or electric whiskers or shocking whiskers.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The situation is fluid, but running against the Italians as the day begins. Shortly before dawn, the British 7th Support Group attacks the north end of the Italian convoys heading south from Benghazi on the Via Balbia. At the same time, the 2nd RTR moves south along the western side of the road while the 1st RTR moves east. The stage is set for compressions and destruction of the Italian forces unless they can break out quickly.

The Italians do try to break out. Supported by artillery, the Italian medium tanks overrun British positions of the blocking Combe Force, taking out numerous antitank guns. However, the following Italian infantry is more vulnerable, and the British rain fire on them to force them undercover. The Italian M13 medium tanks make it through the British positions, sweeping across the British officer's mess and the like. However, the British armor arrives, stopping the Italians at El Magrun, about 24 km (15 miles) south of Ghemines. Italian 10th Army is stopped, surrounded, and the surrenders begin at 11:00.

In all, the Italians lose 25,000 men taken prisoner, 93 guns, 107 tanks either captured intact or destroyed, and all of the senior Italian command staff (Lieutenant-General Annibale “Electric Whiskers” Bergonzoli of the XX Motorised corps and General Valentino Babini of the Italian Special Armoured Brigade (Brigata Corazzato Speciale) are captured, while 10th Army Commander General Giuseppe Tellera is killed in his M13 tank.

This concludes the battle of Beda Fomm and the utter destruction of the Italian 10th Army. Almost as an afterthought, the Australian 6th Infantry Division takes evacuated Benghazi. General O'Connor of XIII Corps immediately sends the 11th Hussars further to the west to take out isolated Italian garrisons at Agedabia and El Agheila. However, O'Connor does not have the authorization to proceed to Tripoli, so he can only send out patrols along the 40 or 50 miles down the coast road to Sirte.

O'Connor dispatches Middle East commander Archibald Wavell's former Brigade Major (now a brigadier serving as Wavell's personal liaison officer to XIII Corps) back to Cairo to get that permission. However, it is a long, difficult 570-mile trip by road (for some reason no planes are available) and an answer may take as long as a week. To announce the victory at Benghazi, O'Connor sends the famous signal:

Fox killed in the open.

It is another epic catastrophe for Italian arms, thought the Italians have at least tried to fight with some skill in this engagement for the first time during Operation Compass. Italian commander in North Africa Marshal Rodolfo Graziani submits his resignation, though whether or not this is strictly his idea is open to debate. It puts more pressure on Germany's Operation Sunflower, the insertion of German troops into Libya to backstop the remaining Italian garrison, which now is under the command of General Erwin Rommel, with Wehrmacht troops due on North African soil within a fortnight.

Meanwhile, Admiral Somerville continues steaming toward Genoa from Gibraltar as part of Operation Grog (formerly Result). The aim is to bombard Italian shore targets. He tries to arrange for RAF support from Malta as he passes Sardinia, but no planes are available.

On Malta, a mysterious force of eight Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers lands with 38 paratroopers. They are to participate in "Operation Colossus," which nobody on the island knows about.

US/Dutch Relations: Admiral Hart is negotiating with the Dutch authorities in the East Indies regarding future military cooperation. The Dutch have strong naval forces in the Pacific and would be extremely useful in the event of hostilities. The British also have naval forces at Singapore and Hong Kong, though at the moment they are fairly light. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Stark orders Hart to insist on overall US command of any joint Allied fleet in the region. The Dutch, however, feel they are best suited to command operations.

German/Vichy France Relations: Admiral Darlan has been negotiating with the Germans to take over as head of the Vichy Government (under the overlordship of Marshal Petain, who everybody understands is more a figurehead than a real leader). German Ambassador Otto Abetz indicates today that Darlan would be acceptable as a French leader, but Germany does not want to dispose of former leader Pierre Laval just yet. Laval, meanwhile, remains a powerful force in French government circles but technically a private citizen.

British Military: The Ministry of Aircraft Production is extremely enthusiastic about the Bristol Beaufighter and has set up "shadow factories" to produce it in addition to the Bristol facilities at Filton (which have been a favorite Luftwaffe target). These shadow facilities include production lines operated by the Fairey Aviation Company. Today, the first Beaufighter IF fighter (T4623)  made by Fairey makes its maiden flight at Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Army maneuvers in Hawaii in 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack.

US Military: The US Naval Academy in Annapolis graduates the class of 1941 today rather than later in the spring due to the growing crisis.

General of the Army George C. Marshall sends a letter to Lt. General Walter C. Short, the new commander of the US Army's Hawaiian Department (he replaces General Herron today). The letter states "the fullest protection for the Fleet is the rather than a major consideration." He continues:

My impression of the Hawaiian problem has been that if no serious harm is done us during the first six hours of known hostilities, thereafter the existing defenses would discourage an enemy against the hazard of an attack. The risk of sabotage and the risk involved in a surprise raid by Air and by submarine constitute the real perils of the situation. Frankly, I do not see any landing threat in the Hawaiian Islands so long as we have air superiority.

This is a very prescient letter.

Secretary of the Navy Henry L. Stimson also forwards a copy of a 24 January 1941 letter from Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to him to General Short. That letter also warns against the likelihood of hostilities beginning at Pearl Harbor. Stimson instructs both Short and Admiral Kimmel, CINCPAC, to secure the islands against surprise attacks and cooperate with each other and with local authorities.

In fact, (later investigations conclude that) neither Kimmel nor Short lift a finger to cooperate with each other or anyone else in any meaningful way to secure the islands against air attack. This will all become of intense scrutiny after the events of 7 December 1941. Short, for his part, later feels that he acted appropriately despite these clear warnings and instructions from his superiors because he did not receive effective warnings of Japanese attacks and throughout his tenure had insufficient resources to secure the islands anyway.

This is an endless topic, but might as well point out here that the US Senate eventually exonerated both Kimmel and Short by a 52-47 vote on 25 May 1999, stating that they had performed their duties "competently and professionally." Both men, of course, were long deceased by that point, and there seems to have been some lingering suspicions behind the vote that the real blame for Pearl Harbor lay not in Hawaii, but in Washington, D.C.

British Government: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has his staff arrange a stunt for the media. During dinner, he places a call to a random passenger on a train, which is recorded for broadcast. It is all carefully choreographed - the passenger is chosen and briefed at the prior station - but the stunt shows the deep interest that the government has in public relations. This also ties in with certain governmental reforms to be announced on the 8th, as in, "Oh, you see a problem? Well, I'll take of it tomorrow!" This kind of stunt may seem rather obvious now, but it was somewhat novel at the time.

While at Alexandria, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies visits units of the Mediterranean Fleet. He is photographed here with Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. I don't have a firm date on this photo, but since he visited with Cunningham for lunch today on HMS Warspite, it likely is 7 February 1941. The other man in the photo is unidentified but, judging from the gold braid, quite highly placed indeed. Perhaps the captain of HMS Barham, but that is a wild guess.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his epic journey from Melbourne to London. Today he flies to Alexandria and makes note of the dusty conditions - which are causing the RAF and armored forces all sorts of problems. Menzies meets Admiral Cunningham, who he describes as "the No. 1 personality I have so far encountered on this journey." After this, he flies down to Cairo for another dinner with General Wavell. Menzies has mixed feelings about Wavell, noting that "with his left eye closed and his almost unbreakable silence he is an almost sinister figure." Churchill most likely would concur. It is a good night for dinner, though, as they can celebrate the fall of Benghazi to Australian troops. Very good timing.

Indochina: While the Thai/Vichy French border war is over thanks to the Armistice signed aboard a Japanese warship on 31 January, there is still the matter of the actual terms of that peace. The Japanese again act as moderators, as the two sides begin to hammer out an agreement in Tokyo that both can live with. Everybody seems to understand that the Japanese are the real power in the region, the British, Dutch and Americans have no say whatsoever.

China: The savage Battle of Southern Henan reaches its climax. The Chinese 5th War Area take Sinyang and points further north. This is a key point on the Wuhan-Peking railway line and puts the Japanese garrison at Wuhan in peril. The Japanese army, meanwhile, moves from Tangho to Tungpo.

American Homefront: Fleischer Studios, for Paramount Studios, releases Popeye the Sailor in "Quiet! Pleeze," animated by Willard Bowsky and Lod Rossner with a story by Milford Davis.

Terrytoon Studios releases "Mississippi Swing," in which African Americans have some fun while picking cotton. Yes, while picking cotton. Caution, the cartoon is not by any stretch of the imagination political correct in the 21st century. This is part of unchangeable history and included here as such for educational purposes only.


February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Thursday 6 February 1941

U-107 returning from a successful patrol, as evidenced by all the victory pennants. Today, 6 February 1941, it sinks its third ship on its very first patrol, the 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Operations in Greece remain at a standstill on 6 February 1941. The weather is inhibiting both sides. The Greeks have captured the gateway to the strategic port of Valona, the Klisura Pass, but so far they have been unable to capitalize on this success. The Greeks are planning another attack for the middle of the month. At this point, the Greek hopes to capture Valona fast so that they can shift forces to the Bulgarian frontier to oppose an expected German invasion there  have been frustrated despite early indications of success. The RAF bombs Italian positions west of the Telepini Heights which the Greeks have recently recovered despite fierce resistance from Italian Blackshirts.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, the British troops (the 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division) are supplemented by the arrival of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Indian soldiers retain an exposed position to the left of the Dongolaas Gorge which controls entry to Keren proper, much like a drawbridge and gate control entrance to a castle. However, while the British are off to a good start, the Italians have heavily fortified positions in the surrounding heights and retain a tight grip on the gorge itself, which, because of the terrain, the British troops cannot bypass. The Indian troops rest after their march from Agordat and prepare for a major attack on the 7th.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Boulogne with 25 bombers during the day, and Dunkirk with 24 bombers after dark. The Luftwaffe does little during the day or after dark.

German battlecruiser Scharnhorst in rough North Atlantic seas during Operation Berlin in February 1941. This picture was taken from the Gneisenau.

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refuel from tanker Schlettstadt south of Cape Farewell, Iceland and proceed south toward the shipping lanes. Admiral Lütjens, in command of Operation Berlin, decides to first attack the HX and SC convoys between Canada and Great Britain. He heads to the southwest, closer to the North American mainland than previous naval battles south of Greenland.

The Allies still have no idea where the German raiders are, though they are looking for them furiously. The Germans are under standing orders to avoid engagements with capital ships and certainly do not want to draw any attention until they strike a convoy. While most convoys have few escorts at all in the mid-Atlantic, and fewer still have battleship escorts, it is impossible to know in advance which do and which do not have protection, and what degree of protection they have. Thus, as much as anything, the two German ships are heading into the unknown.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau aren't the only German surface ships in operation. The Kriegsmarine 2nd MTB Flotilla makes a sortie against a convoy in the Ipswich area. S-30 sinks 501-ton British freighter Angularity. There are two deaths, and one crewman is picked up by the Germans and made prisoner.

U-107 (K.Kapt. Günther Hessler), on its first (and very successful) patrol, torpedoes and sinks 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt. It is traveling in Convoy SC 20 in the Northwest Approaches. Everybody on board perishes.

Battleship HMS King George V arrives back in Scapa Flow from its journey to America to deliver Lord Halifax to Washington.

Convoy WS (Winston Special) 6A forms off Liverpool. It includes more large troop transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy HG 53 departs from Gibraltar, bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Quantock (Lt. Commander David J. A. Heber-Percy) and minesweeping trawler HMS Coriolanus (W. D. Bishop) are commissioned.

U-556 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Wohlfarth) is commissioned, U-176 is laid down.

At the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wing B, 2nd Floor, Gallery 18A, an exhibit opens today called “French Fashions, 1800-1900.” It runs from February 6 to March 26, 1941 (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art.) This is such a timeless historical picture; while taken in 1941, it could just as easily have been taken at a similar exhibit last week. Roughly speaking, this exhibit in 1941 showed a period which is about as far back in time as World War II is as I write this.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Many histories place today as when the British capture Benghazi. That, however, seems a bit premature. The Italians are evacuating the city, but it remains in their hands as the day ends. In any event, the actual date of the "fall" of the city is of little moment, as the Italians have no intention to defend it.

South of Benghazi, in the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italian 10th Army is trapped on the main road (the Italo Balbo) between the Australian 6th Infantry Division behind them and the Combe Force in front of them. The retreating Italian column is strung out along 7 miles of the road. The Italians have new tanks and a 4:1 advantage in numbers, but their tanks - though new - are inferior and the Italian tactical situation dire.

Lieutenant-General Annibale Bergonzoli in command of the XX Motorised corps tries to break out first thing in the morning, making a diversionary frontal attack while sending the Babini Group (mainly tanks) through the desert to try to get behind Combe Force. However, the British have brought up 32 cruiser tanks and 42 light tanks, and the Italians make little progress. The Australians, meanwhile, reach Benghazi and attack it from the north.

The Italians continue evacuating Benghazi, sending a greater force to the southwest, but the British block on the main road to the south holds. Italian M13 tanks arrive from the city, but many are quickly knocked out - the Italians quickly lose 40 tanks. The Italian artillery proves effective against the British cruiser tanks, though, and Italian vehicles manage to make some progress over rough terrain to the south. A running battle develops, with some Italian vehicles making a run for Tripoli, others surrendering, and more British armor arriving. In confused actions, the Italians make some progress, but the mass of British armor remains intact and draws a tighter cordon around the Italians.

While Operation Compass is an astounding success, it also has imposed a huge strain on the British forces. While the Italians are not much of an obstacle, the climate and terrain are. The desert air becomes loaded with sand at regular intervals, playing havoc with aircraft and other engines. The Middle East Command's RAF headquarters wires Whitehall today, noting that problems are developing with engine maintenance. Simply operating in the desert without adequate engine filters and equipment specially designed for such conditions is softening the British up for a possible counterstroke by fresh Axis forces.

Erwin Rommel already is a legend in February 1941. A hero of two world wars, if he never does another thing, his place in history still would be secure. However, fate now leads him to entirely new challenges.

In Germany, events of far-reaching significance for the war in Africa take place today which in fact promises just such a counterstroke. Having watched the continuing collapse of Italian resistance despite good defensive possibilities, the German high command - Hitler - issues an order to deploy German troops to North Africa. This is Operation Sonnenblume - “Sunflower.” Chosen to command Operation Sunflower is General Erwin Rommel, the hero of the Battle of France while leading the 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division.

The Operation Sunflower force is envisaged as a supplement to the Sperrverband (blocking detachment) previously authorized in Fuhrer Directive No. 22 of 11 January 1941. This is just a couple of divisions, the 5th Light Afrika Division (Generalmajor Johann von Ravenstein) and elements of the 15th Panzer Division (Oberst Maximilian von Herff). None of those troops have reached North Africa yet, but the 5th Light Division is almost ready to go. The North African Wehrmacht force (later named Afrika Korps (DAK)) is not intended as a war-winning effort by itself, but simply as a way of stiffening Italian troops already there so that the Italian position can be maintained and the Italians perhaps encouraged to fight better.

Rommel apparently is not Hitler's first choice to lead this new operation. Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus, deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I), later recalls that he was offered the position first, but turned it down. However, when discussing it with his wife, she apparently says that being a secondary theater, North Africa is not a place where a General could ever make a name for himself. Russia - that was the place for a German General to really succeed.

Force H out of Gibraltar departs for another attempt to launch Operation Result (now Grog), the bombardment of Genoa. The Force (Group 1) is lead by battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and battlecruiser HMS Renown. The operation will include a feint toward Sardinia, the scene of the recent aerial attack on a dam which failed and presumably the Italians may believe will be repeated.

The British lose two more ships due to the German mining of the Suez Canal. The ships, 1500 ton hoppers No. 34 and No. 39, compound the problems the British are facing in clearing the Canal, which remains blocked from earlier sinkings. There are two deaths on No. 39.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt nominates John Gilbert "Gil" Winant as Joseph Kennedy's Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Winant is publicly on record as supporting Roosevelt's own view that Great Britain constitutes the "front lines" against Hitler, and its war effort should be supported wholeheartedly without any thought of negotiation or the possibility of Great Britain losing. This is directly contrary to Kennedy's view that England was sure to lose to Germany and should be negotiating, not fighting.

German/Spanish Relations: Adolf Hitler already basically has given up on Operation Felix due to the logistical requirements of preparing for the upcoming Operation Barbarossa. However, today he sends another lesson to Caudillo Francisco Franco. In it, Hitler says that England has no intention of helping Spain, while German already has promised 100,000 tons of grain. He concludes that "the British power in Europe is broken," and that the Wehrmacht is "the mightiest military machine in the world."

Anglo/Japanese Relations: The War Cabinet minutes for today mention a report by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden about Japan. According to Eden, the Japanese government has told its Embassy staff in London to be ready to "leave the country at short notice," and that Washington has been apprised of this information. A separate diary entry by Sir Alexander Cadogan addresses this more bluntly: "Some more very bad-looking Jap telephone conversations, from which it appears they have decided to attack us."

104th Medical Battalion, 29th Infantry Division as it moves to its new post at Fort Meade, 6 February 1941. The 104th later landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 23, "Directions For Operations Against The English War Economy." It begins "Contrary to our former view" - apparently meaning that the Luftwaffe bombing command on English factories has failed - "the heaviest effect of our operations against the English war economy has lain in the high losses in merchant shipping." The order candidly confesses that:

The least effect of all (as far as we can see) has been made upon the morale and will to resist of the English people.

Thus, those who supported the switch to terror bombing on 7 September 1940 are recognized as having been wrong - and disastrously so, though that will not become apparent for some time.

The "consequences" of all these mistakes in the aerial campaign against Great Britain are:

More focused air attacks against British shipping assets;
An increased orientation on stopping British imports.

The striking thing about this Directive is how pessimistic it is and how low a priority Great Britain is to become. Operations are to be continued "by such forces as remain available for operations against England." It also gets into minutiae of target priorities, showing that the high command feels the Luftwaffe needs special guidance to attack the right places. The order may not be an actual slap in the face of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (who opposes Operation Barbarossa), but it certainly comes close.

Grooms and stablehands at Santa Anita Park vote to strike, 6 February 1941 (LA Times).

British Military: The RAF establishes the Directorate of Air Sea Rescue aka Air Sea Rescue Services (ASRS) aka the RAF Search and Rescue Force. This force operates closely with Coastal Command.

British Government: The British House of Commons votes for a£1,600,000,000 war credit, money which the country essentially does not have.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill continues his war against the British press. He sends a memorandum to Information Minister Alfred Duff Cooper noting a recent BBC report that apparently gave hints as to future British strategy in North Africa. He tells Duff Cooper to "clean up your arrangements and tone up your men."

US Government: Charles Lindbergh testifies before Congress again today. This time, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he opposes the Lend-Lease Bill, saying that it will only deplete US defenses.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he is in Cairo. Menzies has dinner with British Middle East Commander General Wavell and RAF chief Longmore, among others. Menzies notes in his diary that his talk "seems encouraging to these Generals & Marshals." His words of encouragement are probably very welcome by the Middle East command team, as London has been far from encouraging recently with all of its talk about the supposedly inefficient "tooth to tail ratio" and switching forces to Greece.

Norway: The Bishops of Norway begin to resist the German occupying forces.

China: The Chinese 5th War Area takes possession of Nanyang, burnt to the ground by the departed Japanese 11th Army.

Future History: Gigi Perreau is born in Los Angeles, California. Gigi goes on to become a child actress in films such as "Madame Curie" (1943). She remains popular until she is too old for her child roles, and in 1959 turns to television. Gigi Perreau remains active in the industry, doing voice work in "Time Again" (2011) and other recent films. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is or was a member of the board of directors of both the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts and the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

Babe Ruth cuts the cake in his New York City apartment at the Ansonia on his 46th birthday, 6 February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Wednesday 5 February 1941

This is the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor that crashed in Ireland on 5 February 1941.

East African Campaign: Today, 5 February 1941, generally is considered the start of the Battle of Keren.This is one of the hardest-fought battles during the war south of the North African desert and salvages some of the Italian military honor lost in Libya and Albania.

The 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division now has had time to reconnoiter the area around Keren, Eritrea. Its commander decides not to wait for the main force to arrive from Agordat and instead attack straightaway. Attacking from the left of the Dongolaas Gorge (the gateway to Keren), the 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders quickly take a key ridge (feature 1616, Cameron Ridge) near Mt. Sanchil (overlooking the Gorge) and appear nicely positioned to occupy the higher peaks (Sanchil and Brig's Peak) which dominate the Gorge the next day. Once in possession of those, the British would be able to sweep the Gorge with gunfire and completely break the Italian defenses.

However, the Italians still occupy the high ground nearby, particularly to the right of the pass. These positions remain well-defended and stocked with ample supplies. The most advanced British troops, meanwhile, are forced to bring their supplies over an exposed hill of up to 1500 meters to their positions on the ridge, under the watchful gaze of the Italians on the peaks nearby. More British troops are approaching on the road from Agordat, so resumption of attacks appears likely on the 6th, but this first British attack accomplishes less than it seems due to the Italians' still-dominant possession of the high ground.

The British, anticipating total victory in Libya, name Henry Maitland Wilson as the Military Governor and General Officer Commanding Cyrenaica.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends a Circus raid of 12 Blenheim bombers with a heavy fighter escort to attack St. Omer. The Luftwaffe is ready and waiting and shoots down nine of them. It is a stunning setback for the RAF and its new offensive philosophy. The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, continues its random attacks on various parts of eastern England, with a small raid against London after dark.

In an extremely odd incident, a Luftwaffe KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor crashes into a mountain near Dunbeacon, West Cork, apparently after getting lost. Local nurse Mary Nugent is on the scene quickly and finds the plane in flames. Five of the crew are dead, but one of the plane's crew, radio operator Max Hohaus, is alive, though trapped in the plane. Mary and her brother drag Hohaus out of the plane, saving his life despite his massive burns and a broken leg. The Red Cross takes care of him and eventually repatriates Hohaus to Germany.

Well, all that is not all that unique, as planes crashed in Ireland many times during the war. The odd part is that the Germans are very grateful to Mary for saving the crewman's life. The Luftwaffe later arranges to present her with a medal for bravery personally signed by Adolf Hitler. Thus, Mary Nugent becomes the only Irish native decorated during the war by the Wehrmacht.

Volunteer American unit Eagle Squadron becomes operational. It is to aid the RAF against the German in Great Britain.

Mary Nugent, the Irish lady who received a special commendation signed personally by Adolf Hitler.

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau continue into the Atlantic. They are heading further west than the British expect them to, with a scheduled rendezvous with a tanker south of Cape Farewell, Greenland. After topping off their fuel tanks there, the two German ships will be excellently positioned to wreak devastation on the Allied convoys passing just to the south.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sealion torpedoes and sinks 1151-ton Norwegian freighter Ryfylke just north of Kvitenaes Point near Stadlandet, Norway. Fellow freighter Christian Bugge picks up all 45 men from the Ryfylke.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy 641-ton anti-submarine trawler HMT Tourmaline near North Foreland, Kent.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 3734-ton Greek freighter Ioannis M. Embiricos in the North Sea. Everybody survives.

British 7939-ton freighter Politician hits the rocks off Roshinish Point on the Island of Eriskay in the Hebrides. The ship is wrecked on the rocks, though it is later refloated to help salvage it. This is a fairly famous wreck for the region because the ship, in addition to RAF and army stores and some general merchandise, is carrying 22,000 cases of Scotch Whisky. Evidently, the locals have quite a time with the whiskey, and this incident becomes the subject of the 1947 book "Whisky Galore" by Compton Mackenzie. Some whiskey bottles from the wreck have been kept through the years as keepsakes.

Another British ship also runs aground. This is the 7457-ton Empire Breeze, which comes to grief at the Bondicar Rocks near Amble, Northumberland. However, the seas are kind to the Empire Breeze, and the ship is refloated and repaired.

The Royal Navy sinks 5046-ton British ship Minnie de Larinaga at Dover as a blockship.

Convoy OG 52 departs from Liverpool.

US submarine USS Finback is laid down.

U-563 is launched.

Italian troops during the battles around Benghazi, on or about 5 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Combe Force, under the command of Lieutenant General John Combe of the 11th Hussars Regiment, resumes its advance from Msus during the day. As part of his force, Combe has a squadron of the King's Dragoon Guards and the RAF Armoured Car Squadron. Just after noon, the Combe Force trucks reach the Via Balbia main road south of Benghazi. There are no Italians there, so the British fear that they were too late; however, in fact, they arrive just in the nick of time. The British setup roadblocks at Sidi Saleh, some 48 km southwest of Antelat. The tanks of the 7th Armored Division are lagging behind, so the initial block is minimal. Combe Force has crossed 150 miles of desert in just 30 hours.

About half an hour later, the Italian 10th Army shows up, driving from Benghazi toward Tripoli without seemingly a care in the world. Their advance vehicles hit mines laid by Combe Force, stopping the entire convoy. After a few scattered attacks by the 10th Bersaglieri, the British 4th Armoured Brigade arrives with its 29 cruiser tanks and the Italians give up for the day. Rather than mount a major attack to break through, the Italians encamp for the night and prepare to attack in the morning. The day ends with the relatively small (but well-armed) Combe Force of about 2000 men, reinforced with the tanks of the 4th Armoured Brigade, blocking the road against about 5,000 Italian troops, who are equipped with 107 tanks and 93 guns. The Italians spread out on both sides of the road looking for an escape route, but there is nowhere to go.

The Australians, meanwhile, are advancing on the Italians from the rear, effectively surrounding the Italian troops with the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) on one side and the sea on the other. They take Barce, sealing off the north, while the terrain to the south is rough and not suitable for a breakout - which in any event is in the direction of approaching British reinforcements. This collectively becomes known as the Battle of Beda Fomm.

Mines remain a problem at Tobruk Harbor despite frantic British attempts to sweep it. A motor schooner hits a mine and sinks, killing the Assistant King's Harbour Master for Tobruk, Lt. Commander Cochrane.

The Luftwaffe's mining of the Suez Canal scores another victim today, with 5060-ton British freighter Ranee sinking. There are nine deaths. Part of the wreck is salvaged for Royal Navy use.

The Italians, abandoning Benghazi, scuttle 2532 ton freighter Snia Amba in the Harbour. It sinks in shallow water and later is refloated.

The Italians send a major convoy of four large troop transport ships from Naples bound for Tripoli.

Applied Science: General Walter Dornberger, an artillery officer who has been working closely with Wernher von Braun, is told to focus on research and development of rockets, not production. This is a sign of extreme confidence by Hitler that the Reich is not in any jeopardy. Neither the V-1 flying bomb nor the V-2 ballistic missile is ready for production yet anyway.

RAF Draft No. 6 in Sydney embarks on 5 February 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

German/Italian Relations: Hitler writes a letter to Mussolini. In it, he praises the work of Italian officers in North Africa and offers to send a division to North Africa on the condition that the Italians hold their positions there.

German/Danish Relations: Under intense pressure, the Danes give the Germans six new torpedo boats. Technically, the Danes have not been conquered by the Germans and retain their own form of government. In practice, though, Denmark essentially is a German possession, albeit one that retains its king and government. It is less than a satellite and more than a Protectorate.

US/Anglo Relations: President Roosevelt's special envoy, Republican Wendell Willkie, winds up his visit to Great Britain. He makes a statement for distribution to Germany:

I am proud of my German blood, but I hate aggression and tyranny, and I now tell the German people that my convictions are fully shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans of German descent. They, too, believe in freedom and human rights. We German-Americans reject and hate aggression and the lust for power of the present German government.

US Military: General Walter C. Short is in Hawaii to command the US Army's Hawaiian Department. Short basically is in control of all aspects of Hawaii's defense except naval units (army, air force, antiaircraft forces).

Aerial photo of the crash site of the B-18A Bolo bomber that crashed in the mountains on January 16th after taking off from McChord Field. Investigators said the cause of the crash was pilot error. Two woodsmen notified the Lewis County Sheriff that they had found the wreck on February 3rd. This photo was taken near Deschutes Peak, Snoqualmie National Forest, February 5, 1941 (Seattle Post Intelligencer).

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies resumes his lengthy journey from Melbourne to London. He flies from Gaza to Lydda (Lod). Reflecting on recent Italian reversals in Libya, he makes a fairly common military assessment for the period in his diary, namely that "One German is worth 15 Italians."
British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill continues his efforts to shape the news flow. He sends a letter to Cecil King, director of the Daily Mirror, urging him not to "try to discredit and hamper the Government in a period of extreme danger and difficulty." Instead, he urges King to have his paper focus on British "war aims."

The War Cabinet approves Royal Navy interceptions of Italian convoys proceeding down the Tunisian coast. These ships are traveling in French territorial waters. Heretofore, the area has been off-limits (unlike the areas near Gibraltar).

Occupied Europe: The Germans begin standardizing the currency on the Continent. They eliminate the Luxembourgish and Belgian francs and replace them with the Euro, er, Reichsmark.

China: Japanese 11th Army torches Nanyan and occupies Tangho.

Australian Homefront: The author of "Waltzing Matilda," Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, passes away in Sydney, New South Wales.

Separately, the Australian Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) established.

British Homefront: The Ministry of Defence and the RAF sponsors the Air Training Corps (ATC), a successor to the Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADCC). The ATC is a British youth organization, composed primarily by volunteers, intended to give cadets some experience with aviation. King George VI agrees to be the air Commodore-in-Chief, issuing a Royal Warrant for it. The ATC is an instant success

Future History: Stephen J. Cannell is born in Los Angeles, California. Stephen begins selling scripts to Universal in 1968, which hires him to write scripts for series like "Ironside" and "Columbo," and soon lands a full-time job as Jack Webb's story editor on "Adam-12." After that, Stephen J. Cannell goes on to create or co-create (writing pilots for lucrative compensation) about three dozen series, including World War II-themed "Black Sheep Squadron" (which focuses on the adventures of Pacific ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. His last huge success is "The Commish," which airs from 1991-1996, and after that takes only some occasional acting gigs and writes novels (including the Shane Scully series). Stephen J. Cannell passes away on 30 September 2010 from melanoma and is interred at Forest Lawn.

David Lynn Selby is born in Morgantown, West Virginia. He becomes famous for playing Quentin Collins in "Dark Shadows" (1969-71). He later stars as Richard Channing in "Falcon Crest" and stars in other series. David Selby remains active in the business as of this writing.

The War Department Air Corps, Materiel Division performs flight tests at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio on the P-39 (Bell YP-39) and submits its results of the findings today, 5 February 1941. The report finds that top speed is 368 mph, it can reach 20,000 feet in 7.3 minutes, and that "the P-39 should not be spun intentionally under any circumstances." The overall tenor of the report is that the Allison V-1710-35 engine has serious issues.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020