Saturday 16 August 1941

Finnish soldiers under a sign of Joseph Stalin. They are at the entrance of Antrea's raw sugar factory on 16 August 1941.

Eastern Front: In a move that has immediate and lasting repercussions on the Eastern Front, on 16 August 1941 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 270. This order sets forth penalties for dereliction of duty and desertion (execution and imprisonment of deserters' families), commands soldiers not to surrender, and sets forth severe penalties for any acts detrimental to the Soviet war effort. The lengthy order is somewhat unusual in that it gives detailed examples of "heroic" behavior, which includes Lieutenant-General Boldin's escape from encirclement while deputy commander of the Western Front (the commander of the Western Front, General Pavlov, was shot on Stalin's command for dereliction of duty). It also gives examples of "cowardice," which includes the surrender of 28th Army Commander Lieutenant General Katchalov.

The order is quite plain: don't surrender unless we tell you to. While signed by all of the members of the State Defense Committee, it clearly reflects Stalin's own views on how troops should conduct themselves. The concerns raised in Order No. 270 never go away, and, in fact, they remain Stalin's obsession throughout the war. Stalin will return to this basic issue of "keeping the men at their guns" repeatedly throughout the war, particularly during the bitter summer of 1942, but nothing ever works to his complete satisfaction.

Regarding Order No. 270, comrade Stalin is heard to say, "There are no Soviet prisoners of war, only traitors."

Soviet prototype HTZ-16 armored tractor, 16 August 1941. This was an improvised armored vehicle based on the Kharkiv Tractor Factory/Agricultural Tractor Research Institute (SHTZ-NATI) tractor. The Red Army used the HTZ-16 at training schools and around Kharkiv, where the tank factory was located.

In the Far North sector, the Germans remain blocked on the Murmansk front, while the Finns trying to reach the Murmansk railway at Loukhi also have come to a standstill about 20 miles southwest of the main railway line after a recent rapid advance. Finnish Group F of III Corps is attempting probing attacks but remains stalled just north of Ukhta (Kalevala) in its separate advance to the Murmansk Railway. As usual, the Soviets have found just enough forces to stop each of the separate thrusts heading toward strategic objectives.

The Finns are still on the move in the direction of Leningrad, however. Today, they capture three encircled Soviet battalions at Tolvajaervi and Aeglaejaervi. This is about 50 miles north of Lake Ladoga and about 170 miles north of Leningrad and enhances Axis control of the region.

In the Army Group North sector, LVI Panzer Corps (von Manstein) of Panzer Group 4 (Hoepner) secures Novgorod after fighting into it on the 15th and attacks southwest toward Dno. The Germans also secure a bridgehead across the Volkhov River. This is a strategically vital city at the northern tip of Lake Ilmen that, in conjunction with holding Staraya Russa at the lake's southern tip, enables the Wehrmacht to use the lake as part of the front line and shift units due north toward Leningrad.

The Soviets, of course, realize this and are counterattacking the German position at Staraya Russa. While the Soviets make some progress to the south of the old Russian town, the Germans defend it fiercely, and by day's end OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder is able to write in the war diary that "south of Lake Ilmen the danger appears to have passed if there ever was any."

Joseph Stalin.

Elsewhere in the Army Group North area, the Germans make progress at Luga. There are about 20,000 Soviet troops there who have little chance of escape, and Stalin's Order No. 270 requires them to stand and fight anyway upon pain of death.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's panzers continue making progress in the direction of Gomel and Bryansk. The attacks, however, are taking longer than the high command would like. Otherwise, the front is unusually quiet.

Complying with Hitler's orders, the OKH reassigns three divisions (12th Panzer, 20th Motorized, and 18th Motorized) from General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 to Army Group North. Hitler hopes that these divisions will help Army Group North take Leningrad quickly, enabling a later attack on Moscow.

In the Army Group South sector, Romanian leader Ion Antonescu authorizes a resumption of the offensive against Odessa following a three-day pause. The Romanians make progress across the entire line, particularly in the area of the city's water reservoirs. The Soviet defenders, under orders to fight to the last man, resist bitterly.

The Germans solidify capture Nikolayev, which the Soviets have evacuated after a brief but fierce defense. The port is stocked with equipment, including coastal guns, the hulks of half-finished ships, ammunition, and repair facilities.

The Red Air Force raids the oilfields at Ploesti, Romania. A Romanian Heinkel He 112 shoots down one of the bombers.

"The crew of a Blenheim IV of No 88 (Hong Kong) Squadron climb from their aircraft at Attlebridge, Norfolk, after returning from an Army co-operation exercise, 16 August 1941." © IWM (CH 17172).

European Air Operations: After taking a day off, the RAF swings back into action today. During the day, RAB Bomber Command sends 30 Blenheims on coastal sweeps to Marquise and a Circus operation to St. Omer. The bomber pilots claim to hit an ammunition factory at Marquise. All of these planes return.

The RAF also sends two Fortresses to Brest and two to Dusseldorf.  Luftwaffe fighters badly damage a Fortress over Brest. While it limps back to England, it makes a difficult crash-landing and has to be written off. This becomes the first RAF Fortress casualty.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends major raids to Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Duisburg.

The RAF puts 72 bombers (37 Wellingtons, 29 Whitleys, and 6 Halifaxes) over Cologne. The objectives are railway yards. Visibility is poor, and there are no casualties and only very light damage. Seven Hampden bombers and one Wellington fail to return.

The RAF sends 54 Wellington bombers to attack railway yards at Duisburg. The attack causes moderate damage, and one Wellington fails to return.

The RAF sends 52 Hampdens and six Manchester bombers over Düsseldorf. As with the other attacks, the objectives are railway yards. The RAF pilots claim to see a large number of fires, but the Germans themselves often set fires as decoys, so the amount of damage caused is uncertain. The RAF loses three Hampdens and two Manchester bombers on this raid.

There also are minor raids to Rotterdam (10 Wellingtons), Ostend (4 Hampdens and 2 Manchester bombers), and one training flight over the Continent. There are no losses on these missions.

Luftwaffe Lt. Hans Hahn of I./NJG 2 downs a Wellington over Scunthorpe. Shrapnel from the exploding plane destroys one of the engines on his own Junkers Ju 88 night fighter, but he manages to nurse the plane back to base.

An Enigma machine in the radio car of the staff of the 7th Panzer Division while serving in the Soviet Union, 16 August 1941 (Lücke, Federal Archive, RH 82 Bild-00028).

Battle of the Baltic: A Soviet convoy led by icebreaker Oktyabr runs into a German minefield ("Juminda") while en route from Suursaari (Hogland (Island) to Tallinn (Reval), Estonia. Losses are unknown, but apparently, several ships hit mines and sink.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans organize their operations in northern Norway and Finland by establishing an Arctic Ocean U-boat Command. The Kriegsmarine has U-451 and U-566 operating in the area with plans to send more there. The Royal Navy now also has a submarine operating in the area, HMS Trident (Cmdr. Sladen), which is based in Polyarny and today leaves port on a patrol.

The Luftwaffe scores a near-miss against tug Ness Point at Lowestoft. The tug sinks, but it is raised on the 23rd and repaired.

The 17th Motor Launch Flotilla departs from Gibraltar bound for Bathurst.

US Navy battleship USS Mississippi ends its neutrality patrol when it returns to Hampton Roads, Virginia along with accompanying destroyers.

Part of Convoy WS-10X departs from the Clyde and meets another part of the convoy, which had departed from Liverpool on the 15th, at sea. It is bound for Capetown, Aden, and Suez. Convoy ON-8 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX-145 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lamerton (Lt. Commander Hugh C. Simms) is commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS The Pas is launched at Collingwood, Canada.

Australian minesweeper HMAS Geraldton and boom defense ship Karangi are launched.

U-135 (Kptlt. Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius) is commissioned, U-88 and U-407 are launched, U-667 is laid down.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 7 Wnr.12866 from 3./JG1, damaged by Lt. Heinz Knoke while training, 16th August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British Secretary of State for War David Margesson gives a speech which stresses the need for vigilance despite inevitable boredom between attacks. He holds up Malta as an example, citing the 26 July 1941 Italian attack using speedboats. He states in part:

On 26 July there were certain coast defences on the Island of Malta manned by the Royal Malta Artillery which had not opened fire for the whole of the war. There they had stood at their posts, day after day, night after night.  What a good reason for boredom; what an excuse for relaxing vigilance... by the skill and unceasing watchfulness of the Royal Malta Artillery, a British machine-gun detachment and some anti-aircraft guns manned by Maltese, this first serious attack of Italian surface craft was smashed.

The Italian attack actually was "smashed" by Italian clumsiness when a charge they set to remove a net from a bridge blew up the bridge itself. However, this is a rare moment for the isolated defenders of Malta to bask in the publicity of a speech disseminated around the world.

Destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kimberley make the nightly supply run to Tobruk, immediately unloading and heading back to Alexandria as usual. This is part of the continuing rotation of Australian troops out of Tobruk and Polish troops in to replace them. During the entire operation, which lasts about a week, about 5,000 men rotate out and are replaced.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay sinks 28-ton Greek steamboat Evangelistra (being used by the Italians) near Benghazi.

The RAF bombs Syracuse and Catania airfields on Sicily.

Italian minelayers Aspromonte and Reggio lay minefield SN-42 in the Sicilian Strait.

An Italian supply convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. It has six freighters/transports escorted by three destroyers and three torpedo boats. Dutch submarine O-23 spots an Italian ship midway between Naples and Palermo and attacks but misses - it is probably this convoy.

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

130mm coastal guns left behind by the Soviets in Mykolaiv when they evacuated it on 16 August 1941.

Battle of the Black Sea: As the Soviets withdraw from Nikolayev, they blow up submarines S-36 and S-37. However, they do a very poor of destroying the port facilities, and they all fall into the hands of the Germans.

Soviet submarine L-5 (Lt. Cmdr. Zhdanov) lays 14 mines off Mangalia, Romania.

US/Japanese Relations: With all sorts of different interpretations regarding the Atlantic Charter and its effects upon the Pacific region being floated, Japanese Ambassador Nomura meets with Secretary of State Cordell Hull in Washington in an effort to renew relations. Nomura stresses the need for peace because a war would last for several years until one side or the other were exhausted. He hints that it is important for the United States not to allow Britain to drag it into a war. Nomura denies that Japan is under a military dictatorship and only sought to defend the region. He again, as he has in the past, proposes a summit meeting between the leaders of the United States and Japan.

Hull, at least in Nomura's opinion as relayed to Tokyo, seems less rigid than previously about Japanese activities. Hull promises to talk to President Roosevelt about the matter when the President returns to Washington. However, Nomura is clear about the consequences of any further Japanese adventurism:

As I have successively reported to you, Japanese-American relations have today reached a stage in which anything might happen at any moment, and they are likely to grow worse suddenly as soon as Japan makes her next move. That this sudden change will take place with Japan's occupation of Thailand is a view upon which both Japanese and Americans agree.

Nomura also notes in his report that Allied confidence in ultimate victory was growing because the war in the Soviet Union was turning into a battle of attrition which would weaken Germany regardless of whether it conquered the USSR or not.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: In Moscow, British and Soviet representatives sign a trade pact. The British grant the Soviets a £10 million credit at 3% interest, which is set quite low as a gesture of good faith. At this time, the British expect the Soviets to pay in cash for all deliveries, with the value of Soviet purchases offset for any sales to the British.

Convoy Dervish, carrying British supplies bound for the USSR, departs from Scapa Flow today.

Men of the Manchester Regiment manning a Vickers machine gun, Southern Command, 16 August 1941.

Anglo/Soviet/Iranian Relations: The British and Soviets warn the Iranian government to deport any Germans in the country. The diplomatic note states in part:

As in other neutral countries, German authorities have endeavored to pursue in Iran a policy of infiltration by sending their agents to mingle with and replace the resident German community...

While the note's reasoning is quite accurately, there actually aren't many Germans in Iran. However, the Allies want to set up a casus belli because Iran is a strategically important country due to its location on the Strait of Hormuz and oil supplies. It also is a potential route for England and the United States to supply the Soviet Union in the event of further German advances.

Anglo/Vichy Relations: With the British satisfied that the Vichy French have returned Commonwealth prisoners from metropolitan France, they permit another Vichy French convoy carrying 5094 troops to depart from Haifa to France.

Entrance to the Kolosjoki nickel mines in Petsamo, Finland, 1930s.

German/Finnish Relations: While Marshal Mannerheim carefully guards his independent control over the Finnish military, he has no issue with close economic ties with the Reich. Today, the Finns reach an agreement with the Germans to devote the entire output of the nickel mines in the far North at Petsamo to the Germans. The Germans, with Finnish agreement, already control the mines and huge processing plant, so this is simply an official recognition of the reality of the situation.

US/Australian Relations: US Navy heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and Salt Lake City (CA-25) call at Rabaul, New Britain on a goodwill visit. The port of Rabaul has been used by the Australians as a regional base, but the eruption of volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan in 1937 forced them to shift most operations to Lae. However, a fairly large Australian population remains there, along with some Australian navy operations.

US Military: The 206th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-aircraft) arrives at Dutch Harbor, Alaska after training at Fort Bliss, Texas since early January 1941.

Japanese Military: The Japanese requisition three cargo ships for use in the navy:

7397-ton Awata Maru
6667-ton Onoe Maru
3209-ton Kofuku Maru

In addition, Japanese liner Heian Maru returns from Seattle to Yokohama today. It marks the last Japanese ship from Seattle until after the war. It returns empty.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill reviewing United States Marines during his visit to Iceland, 16 August 1941 (© IWM (A 4971)).

British Government: Prime Minister Churchill is in Reykjavik, Iceland as a stop on his way back to England from the Atlantic Conference. Churchill gives a speech to the crews of the ships in Reykjavik, including that of US battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) and other US ships. Churchill, aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales, departs in the evening.

While visiting Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, Churchill allegedly leaves a half-smoked cigar in an ashtray. Someone retrieves the cigar, then gives it to his son. It goes on sale in 2012.

US Government: President Roosevelt's yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) arrives at Rockland, Maine, where the President boards his special train and heads back to Washington.

The Defense Base Act is enacted. this is an extension of the Longhore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to cover persons employed at United States defense bases overseas. Workers covered include civilians working for private employers on US military bases or anywhere the US military is operating. Compensation is given to those injured while working on such projects.

Preparing for Sunday night blackout tests at South Brisbane Australia, 16 August 1941.

German Government: There is little question that, however little he knows about the true state of the Soviet military, Hitler does understand how Stalin's cynical mind works - because they think alike in many ways. Hitler discusses the inner workings of the Soviet Union over dinner:

When Russia barricades herself within her frontiers, it's to prevent people from leaving the country and making certain comparisons. That's why Stalin was obliged to introduce Bolshevism into the Baltic countries so that his army of occupation should be deprived of all means of comparison with another system. At the beginning that wasn't Stalin's idea at all. 

One can see the Iron Curtain descending across Europe in 1946 in Hitler's words.

American Homefront: The top song on the Billboard charts in today's weekly issue is "Daddy" by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye with the Kaye Choir. It is in week 7 of an 8-week run atop the chart.

An Australian trooper, Thomas Cogan, on leave in Perth, 16 August 1941 (Elizabeth Huggett).

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

2020

Saturday 2 August 1941

Two Finnish soldiers manning a Maxim machine gun, August 2, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: Japanese Ambassador to Germany Oshima cables Tokyo on 2 August 1941 with news about the Eastern Front. He reports that an unnamed Swedish reporter who claims to have visited the front in the Baranovichi area has related that, while Germany must inevitably triumph over the Soviet Union, not everything is going well for the Wehrmacht. The Red Air Force remains powerful, and the Red Army has substantial reserves that it is throwing into the front around Leningrad. The reporter also relates to Oshima that German officers he has talked with already have noticed US tanks and planes being used in the Volga and Siberia areas.

Oshima's report also notes that:

Germany's greatest ordeals have been the result of guerrilla tactics used by the Soviet soldiers and civilian inhabitants. There is a thickly wooded area in the Pripet swamps. There are many, many remaining troops taking refuge in it. A German force endeavored to rout them, but knowing nothing of the area, failed completely.

The report seems grounded in solid fact (though the presence of US equipment at this time is questionable). The German offensive has prospered by sticking to the roads and quickly heading east to capture cities and Soviet military bases. This strategy, however, has the inherent drawback of leaving many Soviet troops and even entire units in the rear areas, fully capable of resisting and even taking offensive action against nearby Wehrmacht units and bases. Perhaps most tellingly, the German officers are surprised and even worried because captured Soviet troops remain loyal to the Stalin regime and appear committed to continuing their guerrilla warfare even if Moscow falls.

A Finnish patrol leader’s kit, including a KP-31 submachine gun, grenades, and a Luger pistol, August 2, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

In the Army Group North sector, German 16th Army (Colonel General Ernst Busch) continues attacking Staray Russa below Lake Ilmen.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 attacks toward Roslavl as it heads south on Hitler's express orders to help with the conquest of Kiev. The Soviet, meanwhile, ramp up their attacks on the advanced German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya.

In the Army Group South sector, after many days of very hard fighting, Panzer Group 1 (General Ewald von Kleist) completes the encirclement at Uman. This happens when German XLVIII Corps (General Kempf) hooks up with German 17th Field Army (General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel). The closure southwest of Uman is all the more dangerous to the trapped Soviet forces because 16th Panzer Division and Hungarian Mechanized Corps (Gyorshadtest) also are close to forming a second, separate closure at Pervomaisk. The Soviets have parts of 20 divisions of their 6th, 12th, and 18th armies inside the pocket, including four corps commanders and 11 division commanders. Resistance does continue until about 8 August. However, except for small parties, the Soviets trapped today are unable to break out, and 103,000 Soviet soldiers go into captivity.

Young Finnish soldiers marching to the front. Laamala, August 2, 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 24 Blenheim bombers on Rhubarb coastal sweeps during the day between Cherbourg and Texel. The British lose one plane. Another attack is made on Kiel with three Fortresses. Kiel takes light damage, with one person killed and 9 injured, and all the Fortresses make it back to base.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command goes back into action in a big way after about a week of unsettled weather and light operations. There are multiple raids, as the British believe in diversionary raids to distract the Luftwaffe night fighters. It is one of the RAF's biggest efforts of the war to date but produces only modest returns.

The main British attack is on Hamburg with 80 bombers (58 Wellingtons, 21 Whitleys, 1 Stirling). They lose two Wellingtons. Hamburg takes moderate damage, with 5 dead, 38 wounded and 738 made homeless. Five large fires and five other small fires break out, some of which burn throughout the night.

A secondary attack on Berlin is made by 53 aircraft (40 Wellingtons, 8 Halifaxes, and 5 Stirlings). The sky still is a bit opaque and bombing accuracy is poor. The British lose 3 Wellingtons and one Stirling.

Another attack is made on Kiel by 50 Hampdens. The British lose five planes. The damage to Kiel is light, with one injury and one house hit, though the RAF pilots claim that the raid is a great success on the dockyards area.

The RAF also sends 20 Wellingtons to Cherbourg, but little is accomplished there because of low-lying clouds. In addition, five Hampdens are sent to lay mines off of Kiel. There are no losses from these operations.

Overall, for 208 sorties, the RAF loses 11 aircraft during the night. This works out to a 5.3% loss rate, which is at the upper margins of sustainable losses.

RAF No. 129 Squadron (Mysore), equipped with Supermarine Spitfires at RAF Leconfield, becomes operational and its pilots quickly shoot down a Junkers Ju-88 near Flamborough Head. No. 129 Squadron is named after an Indian province in recognition of the Indian government raising substantial sums of money for the war effort. However, it is not manned by Indian pilots.

A Finnish soldier looks down the sights of a 20mm Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle, 2 August 1941 (SA-Kuva). At this time, a 20-mm anti-tank weapon is still capable of destroying most armor except for Soviet KV tanks. A well-placed round could blow off a tread or penetrate the rear or the sides of most tanks.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine S-11 hits a mine and sinks in the Soela Väin Strait, Estonia (between Saaremaa and Hiiumaa). There are 44 deaths and three survivors. The submarine is raised after the war and scrapped. Soviet submarine M-99 also sinks around this time due to mines.

German 2nd S-Boat Flotilla lays 36 TMB mines off Cape Rista in the Gulf of Finland.

The Luftwaffe (KG4) drops 22 aerial mines north of Moon Sound, 15 east of Moon Sound, and 18 LMB mines west of Worms Island.

Finnish submarine Veshiisi (Lt. Cdr. Kijanen) lays eighteen mines in Minefield F.17 east of Odensholm.

Experts of the British Ministry of aircraft production examine a Bf 109F forced down near Kent, England, August 2, 1941. (AP Photo).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy finally concedes that Operation EF, the Force K attack on Kirkenes and Petsamo, has turned into a liability when it spots German reconnaissance shadowing the fleet. The Admiralty calls off a planned attack on Hammerfest, Norway due to inability to maintain surprise and heads for home.

The RAF bombs and sinks Dutch pilot boat Loodsboot No. 12 west of Den Helder.

German guard ship H 855 Stoomloodsvaartuig 12 sinks, perhaps due to an RAF attack.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1110-ton British freighter Koolga about 20 km off Great Yarmouth. It makes it to Great Yarmouth under tow on the 3rd.

Two Dutch tankers, 8252-ton Murena and 2068-ton Rozenburg, collide at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The bigger ship usually wins in such situations, and that is the case this time, as Rozenburg goes to the bottom.

Some sources pin the Luftwaffe bombing of British freighter Trident to today, while others list it on 1 August.

U-204 (Kptlt Walter Kell) spots Convoy SL-81 in the North Atlantic and informs U-boat headquarters in Paris.

US Navy battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) returns to New London, Connecticut from a neutrality patrol.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Tadoussac is launched, submarine HMS P-48 and minesweeper Wedgeport are laid down.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Minas (Lt. Commander Lt. James B. Lamb) is commissioned.

US Navy light cruiser USS Miami is laid down in Philadelphia.

U-154 (Korvettenkapitän Walther Kölle) is commissioned.

Liberty magazine, 2 August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There is a brief stir on the usually static Tobruk perimeter when two Australian companies attack Italian positions, supported by a heavy artillery barrage of over 60 guns. The Australians are attempting to recover some tactically useful territory lost during the May fighting but fails with heavy casualties. The Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment holds its ground against the Australian 2/43rd and 2/28th Battalions.

Operation Style, a convoy mission to Malta, continues. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal launches a load of Hurricanes to Malta. Light cruisers Arethusa and Hermione continue on to Malta with fast minelayer Manxman and destroyers Lightning and Sikh, unloading collectively 54 officers and 970 other ranks, along with 130 tons of supplies. All of the ships unload quickly and the entire force, including Ark Royal, returns to Gibraltar.

During the afternoon, Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Hermione, sailing with the Operation Style ships, spots a submarine shadowing the convoy. It rams and sinks Italian submarine Tembien off Tunis.

The Luftwaffe attacks Australian destroyer Vendetta and Royal Navy destroyer Havock off Tobruk during the night supply run. However, South African fighters drive the Germans off. Both sides lose about three planes.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine L-5 (Lt Cdr Zhdanov) lays 14 mines off Mangalia, Romania.

Battle of the Pacific: Dutch patrol boat Bellatrix seizes Vichy French vessel Dupleix and gives it to the Netherlands East Indies naval forces for use.

To make a point about the consequences of unlawful communications with England, the Germans post this notice (in English, right) in the Channel Islands about a Frenchman being executed on 2 August 1941. In fact, someone on the Channel Islands will at one point also be shot for supposedly using carrier pigeons to communicate with England.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese continue to keep a close eye on US activities across the Pacific. Interest is keen on US intentions given the recent imposition of sanctions on Japan. The Japanese embassy in Manila reassures Tokyo that the number of planes flying over Manila has decreased considerably, and the US planes flying over the Philippines have not been camouflaged or otherwise altered in a war-like fashion. This information helps to defuse tensions in Tokyo.

The Japanese also are spying on US fleet movements in the Atlantic. Tokyo receives a report today from its spies in Cuba stating the composition of US naval forces in Guantanamo Bay from 16-24 July 1941: two battleships, four light cruisers, four destroyers, two Coast Guard cutters, and two bombers.

US/Japanese Relations: The economic sanctions imposed by President Roosevelt on Japan recently have caught some ships at sea without instructions as to how to proceed. Tatsuta Maru sits off San Francisco Bay with a load of $2.5 million of raw silk, but the captain refuses to make port without assurances that the US government will not seize his cargo. A Japanese liner, 16,975-ton Asama Maru, is sailing about 980 miles north of Honolulu but also is unsure how to proceed.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry scrambles to come up with a solution. Finally, it instructs Tatsuta Maru to stop at Honolulu. It also orders freighter Heian Maru at Seattle to proceed to Vancouver and unload there.

Japanese Ambassador Nomura has a conversation with an unidentified US Cabinet member. As Nomura informs Tokyo after the meeting:

The United States is trying to restrain Japan, first of all, by waging an economic war... [T]he United States is at the same time making military preparations against the possible eventuality of a clash of arms... That the Russo-German war is lasting longer than expected has proved to be an advantage to the United States... The cabinet member believes firmly in the necessity of this war lasting for several years for the reason that due to destruction of her men and materials, and due to the shortage o foil, Germany would not be able to do anything on a great scale even after the fighting on the Eastern Front has come to an end.

This, of course, proves prophetic, but not exactly in the manner intended.

Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Kleczynski (holding cane) with his ground crew of RAF No. 305 Polish bomber squadron in front of a Wellington (Lindholme, August 2, 1941). Kleczynski Papers, Box 2, Hoover Institution Archives.

US/Dutch Relations: US Army Air Force General Henry Clagett arrives in Java to coordinate future air operations with the local Dutch authorities and to survey airfields and base sites.

US/Soviet Relations: President Roosevelt's personal emissary to the Soviet Union, Harry Hopkins, announces that he has arranged with Joseph Stalin for the commencement of US lend-lease shipments to the Soviet Union.

Chinese/Soviet Relations: The local Soviet army in Outer Mongolia orders the Chinese Communist forces under Liu Po-Chao to transfer to Suihoku, which the Chinese do. This is the beginning of cooperation between Soviet and Chinese forces. The Soviets also promise to provide supplies to the Chinese via Outer Mongolia, which the Chinese help to transport.

Japanese/Thai Relations: The Japanese reach an agreement with the Thai government in which the Thaiese authorities will extend a letter of credit worth 10 million bahta to finance Japanese purchases of Thai goods. This enables trade to continue between the two nations despite the recent economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Great Britain.

Oliver Wendell Harrington, The Amsterdam News, 2 August 1941. "That jive he's playin' on his tooter may not be in the army manual, Major, but that's the only way we can get them cats up in the mornin'." This cartoon plays upon the idea in the Andrew Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," recorded on 2 January 1941 and included in the Abbott and Costello film "Buck Privates, released in January 1941.

Japanese/Dutch Relations: Due to heightened tensions and the Dutch impositions of sanctions, Japanese nationals in the Dutch East Indies are fleeing the territory, swarming shipping agencies for passage back to Japan. The Netherlands Indies do relent just a bit on the sanctions recently imposed on Japan in conjunction with the United States and Great Britain. The Dutch allow one shipment of rubber, tin, and Ilmenite. The Japanese, meanwhile, are putting pressure on the Dutch by restricting food shipments from French Indo-China.

Japanese/Croatian Relations: Croatia, an Italian puppet state, officially recognizes the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Anglo/Japanese Relations: The subject of British aid to China is a sore spot for the Japanese. Tokyo receives a report from Shanghai today revealing that the British are cooperating closely with Chinese military authorities.

Anglo/Finnish Relations: Having broken relations with Finland on the 1st, the Royal Navy extends its blockade of Europe to include the northern Finnish ports. For the moment, this is somewhat symbolic, as the British have nowhere nearby to supply their ships that far north.

Anglo/Iran/Afghani Relations: The British demand that Iran and Afghanistan expel all German nationals immediately. Having retained Iraq, the British feel they are in a strong position in the Middle East. Some Germans caught in Iraq have escaped to Iran and Afghanistan, but, still, there are very few there.

Errol Flynn on his yacht "Scirocco," 2 August 1941. There later are unproven allegations that Flynn was a German sympathizer at this time.

German/Italian Relations: The Italian Pasubio Infantry Division and Torino Infantry Division move to the Eastern Front in the Army Group South region. However, they do not see combat at this time.

Japanese Military: The Nakajima Ki-43-I Hayabusa ("Peregrine Falcon," or "Oscar" in US military nomenclature) begins arriving at the Japanese 59th Flight Regiment (FR) at Hankow Airfield. The pilots begin training with the new plane, which will see operational use beginning on 29 October 1941.

Soviet Military: The NKVD is given orders to shoot on sight anyone suspected of injuring themselves to avoid combat. This is a pet suspicion of Joseph Stalin, who also suspects cowardly troops of sabotaging their own equipment. Deserters, meaning anyone walking away from the battlefield, already are subject to summary execution.

British Military: The British open a mosque in London for Muslim soldiers serving in the British armed forces.

US Military: The U.S. War Department dedicated the Millville Army Air Field (MAAF) as “America’s First Defense Airport.” The Millville, New Jersey airport serves as a gunnery school for fighter pilots, with training first conducted in the Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, then for most of the war in the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

US Government: With trade severed between the United States and Japan, rayon (some forms are called "artificial silk") imported from Japan suddenly is in short supply. The US government thus decides to ration rayon.

Hildesheim Marketplace, showing the Town Hall, 2 August 1941 (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archive, Bild 212-274).

German Government: In the early morning hours, after the midnight conference, Hitler sits around with his cronies expostulating on random topics as he often likes to do. Today, his topic is bureaucracy:

It's certain that we have a clean, incorruptible administration, but it's also too punctilious. It's over-organized, and, at least in certain sectors, it's overloaded. Its principal fault is that nobody in it is seeking for success and that it includes too many people without responsibility. Our functionaries fear initiative worse than anything else — and what a way they have of behaving as if they were nailed to their office chairs! We have much more elasticity in the army, with the exception of one sector of the Wehrmacht than in these civilian sectors. And that although the salaries are often inadequate!

Some neutral observers would likely agree that the World War II German bureaucracy is over-organized. However, that also, in the view of some, is one source of the efficiency of Wehrmacht divisions, which are very good at logistics and planning.

Rexist leader Léon Degrelle (center) during his medical examination on August 2, 1941, before his departure to the Eastern Front. Degrelle is one of Hitler's favorites - reportedly (accordingly to Degrelle after the war, at least), Hitler likes to say that if he had a son, he wishes it would be someone like Degrelle. The notation on the back of the photo reads: "Medical examination of the Walloon volunteers for the anti-Bolshevist front."

Holocaust: Germans massacre a large number of Jews at Ponary, Lithuania, allegedly numbering in the thousands.

Germans kill approximately 200 Jews at Kovno, Lithuania. This massacre apparently includes an American Jewish woman.

Norwegian Homefront: The German occupation authorities confiscate all civilian radios that they can find. However, as in other occupied nations, many remain used with great secrecy to listen to the BBC, which is considered a much more accurate source of news than German or Norwegian radio broadcasts.

American Homefront: The first Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, designated V-1650-1, rolls off the assembly line. It is a version of the Mark XX generating 1,390 hp (1,040 kW). It is intended for the Curtiss P-40F and XP-60 fighters. Packard Motor Car Company is producing the Merlin under license from Rolls Royce that was granted in September 1940. Rolls Royce made an order for $130 million worth of the engines. Packard will produce a total of 55,523 Rolls-Royce Merlin engines under license during World War II. Some remain in use well into the 21st Century.

Picture Post, 2 August 1941. Is this the prettiest face in films? The magazine answers that question with a "yes." It is US actress Veronica Lake.

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

2020

Sunday 11 May 1941

Ludgate Circus, London, 11 May 1941.

The Rudolf Hess mission to England in May 1941, as discussed below, is one of the most controversial and debated incidents of World War II. There are few "absolute" answers to the myriad questions raised. The official story is that Hess went insane, flew to Scotland, and was locked up by the British for the rest of his life. Everything else is subject to contrasting stories deriving from different sources of varying reliability. How far you are willing to veer from the official line depends upon how much credence you are willing to give to unofficial sources, and every deviation must be taken with a degree of educated skepticism.

Hitler Youth celebrating the Hour of Commemoration in front of the Town Hall in Tomaszow, occupied Poland, 11 May 1941 (US National Archives ARC 540131).

Anglo/Iraq War: The Arab Legion arrives at Rutbah Fort on 11 May 1941 and patrols show that the Arabs have abandoned the position. The British thus take possession without a fight. The Iraqis, however, remain nearby, and the British armored cars engage in firefights with them throughout the day. The commander of Kingcol, one of the main columns, arrives at Fort Rutbah and makes it his headquarters.

Fritz Grobba, the German representative to Baghdad, arrives there via Syria. The Luftwaffe liaison officer to Rashid Ali, Major Axel von Blomberg, though, is killed by mistake while trying to land at Baghdad when Arab tribesmen open fire on his transport.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its latest reversion to previous failed bombing strategies, sending large aerial forces against RAF airfields during the night. The damage caused is insignificant because many of the airfields are dummies marked out precisely for this purpose. If there is one common characteristic of Luftwaffe bombing strategies to this point, it is their abandonment right when it appears they are making a real impact in favor of another, completely different strategy.

London remains barely functional following the massive air raid of 10 May. The House of Commons chamber is badly damaged, so the Members of Parliament now meet in the House of Lords. Streets are clogged with debris, some 150,000 London residents are without basic utilities, the main railway sheds such as Victoria Station are all damaged, and 5,000 homes are destroyed. Fires remain unextinguished, and incendiary bombs lie in many streets and parks. The mayors of Westminster and Bermondsey are dead, the city has the pungent aroma of the burning Palmolive soap factory west of downtown. The Paul Delaroche painting "Charles I Insulted by Cromwell's Soldiers" is presumed lost in the fires, but in fact is rolled up in a secure location and in perfect condition (this happenstance is not realized, though, until 2009).

Berlin radio reads the following communique from the OKW:

Over the last few nights the British air force has once again deliberately bombed the residential districts of German cities, including the German capital. In retaliation, strong German Luftwaffe forces carried out a major assault on London last night. Ground visibility was good and the British capital was bombed throughout the night by relay waves that dropped high-explosive bombs of all calibres and tens of thousands of incendiary bombs.

During the Luftwaffe operations over London, Royal Navy 261 ton auxiliary petrol base ship Gypsy sinks at Tower Pier. The Luftwaffe loses six Heinkel He 111 bombers from KG 55.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, sends 92 aircraft to bomb Hamburg and 81 to attack Bremen.

The new Bf 109F is beginning to make more appearances over England, and today one is shot down.

The lobby of the House of Commons following the bombing of 10/11 May 1941.

East African Campaign: The South African 1st Brigade reaches Amba Alagi after a long march from Addis Ababa. This completes the encirclement of the Italian positions, though they have established a typically strong perimeter defense based on mountain-based machine guns with clear fields of fire.

The Gold Coast 24th Infantry Brigade continues advancing westward from Wadara toward Wondo in Galla-Sidamo, supporting the East African 21st Infantry Brigade.

British freighter City of Shanghai, sunk 11 May 1941 by U-103.

Battle of the Atlantic: After a 16-hour chase because his prey spotted his U-boat and tried to flee, Viktor Schütze in U-103 finally closes on the freighter City of Shanghai (Master Arthur Frank Goring) off St. Paul Rocks near Freetown. Taking the whole incident as a sort of challenge, Schütze writes in the U-boat's log:

Nun muss er fallen, wenn ich auch nur einen Aal im Rohr habe (Now he must fall, even if I have only one torpedo in my tube).

Using his last torpedo, Schütze hits the freighter and disables it, then surfaces and completes the destruction using his 105-mm deck gun. There are 6-8 deaths and 68 survivors.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 8790-ton British freighter Somerset in the Northwest Approaches. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4970-ton British freighter Caithness in St. George's Channel off Porthgain. The ship is able to make it to Belfast.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages three small ships at Brixham: 58-ton tug Dencade, 40-ton fishing trawler Silver Lining and 49-ton Belgian trawler Hernieuwen In Christus.

Convoy OB 321 departs from Liverpool.

The Royal Navy transfers a corvette to the Free French, and it is recommissioned as FFL Mimosa (Lt. Commander Roger R. L. Birot).

German troops using caiques to occupy the Aegean islands, May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Wehrmacht completes its low-key occupation of the Aegean islands, taking Kythera. These islands are of little strategic value to anyone and will become a pointless sideshow for the remainder of the war as both sides take and lose them over and over. Many soldiers on both sides will spend a lot of time whiling away the hours in beautiful surroundings while great events take place elsewhere.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant fails to return to Malta today as scheduled, and never will. Her fate is unknown, with one theory being that an Italian torpedo boat Pegaso sank it on 12 May.

Five Royal Navy destroyers bombard Benghazi Harbour as part of the Tiger Convoy operations.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines in the Gulf of Salonika.

Special Operations: The Free French and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) launch Operation Josephine B (or Operation Josephine) when a sabotage team composed of six Polish volunteers parachutes into Occupied France during the night. The objective is a transformer station at Pessac, near Bordeaux. The team quickly finds that the station is heavily guarded and request to be picked up by a submarine.

"Members of the London Fire Brigade train their hoses on burning buildings in Queen Victoria Street, EC4, after the last and heaviest major raid mounted on the capital during the 'Blitz', 11 May 1941. For six hours on the night of 10-11 May 1941, aircraft of the Luftwaffe dropped over 1,000 tons of bombs on London, claiming 1,486 lives, destroying 11,000 houses and damaging some of the most important historical buildings, including the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum and St James Palace. The low tide and more than 40 fractured mains deprived the firefighters of water and many of the 2,000 fires blazed out of control." (© IWM (HU 1129)).

Anglo/German Relations: Having spent his night in a Scottish military hospital following his bizarre flight to Great Britain on the 10th, Rudolf Hess sleeps late and then is ready to discuss - something. British intelligence service spy Ivone Kirkpatrick flies up to visit Hess, who seems a bit confused about who he is actually dealing with. Hess tells Kirkpatrick that he has come to talk peace and spells out his proposal, and it is all taken down by a stenographer. Kirkpatrick is somewhat bemused by Hess' attitude, which is that of a victor making a generous offer. Whether Hess actually is communicating an offer from Hitler is debatable, although Hess is clear that he is an unofficial official emissary.

The "Hess Peace Plan," if it can be called that, is murky. Apparently, in essence, Hess offers an armistice wherein the Germans will evacuate all of France except for its traditional territories of Alsace and Lorraine. In addition, Germany would relinquish Holland, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark, while keeping Luxembourg. Furthermore, Germany under the right circumstances would agree to give up Yugoslavia and Greece and, apparently, North Africa. Everything depends on neutrality by Great Britain that is "benevolent."

It is unclear how specific Hess is about Hitler's plans in the East, but there seems little question that at the very least he drops very broad hints that the Soviet Union is Hitler's real military objective. Hess is very clear that Hitler wants peace in the West and will go to great lengths to achieve it so that the Reich can turn on the USSR. There is a sense that Hess (and presumably Hitler) want to turn the entire war into a crusade against Soviet communism, something that the Japanese also are hinting at in their secret negotiations with the Americans. Kirkpatrick nods and takes notes throughout the day, as Hess proves to be quite talkative, but Kirkpatrick is not a dealmaker and is simply there to get information.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, staying at his country home at Ditchley near Oxford, is not interested enough in Hess to even interrupt a special screening of the latest Marx Brothers film. However, he does ask the Duke of Hamilton to report in person.

Dutch SS march in Utrecht, Netherlands, 11 May 1941.

Anglo/Canadian Relations: Churchill cables Canadian leader William Mackenzie King and arranges a conference "about July or August for a month or six weeks." He notes that Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, with whom King just met, is a "staunch comrade."

US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura and US Secretary of State Cordell Hull engage in private diplomacy, spending 40 minutes together. Hull states (as reported to Tokyo by Nomura):

As we are now conducting talks and negotiations, I have been exercising a great deal of secrecy in regard to them and have absolutely made no reference to them in my press conferences. Knowing Your Excellency's discreetness and astuteness you likewise, I am sure, are carefully guarding its secrecy.

Tokyo emphasizes that "It goes without saying that this matter should be handled in absolute secrecy."

Hull demands that Japan evacuate China, and Nomura indicates that Japan does expect to do so "with the exception of those troops stationed in North China and Inner Mongolia who are there to suppress Communism." Hull asks if Japan intends to strike to the south, and Nomura replies that "Our true intent is peaceful Southward penetration."

Regarding the war in Europe, both Nomura and Hull agree that a long European war would be ruinous for everyone. The true threat, they agree, is a war that saps the energies of the non-Communist states that allows the Soviet Union to expand.

Bethnal Green Road, London, looking west, after the raid of 10/11 May 1941.

German/Vichy French Relations: Vichy Vice-Premier François Darlan meets with Hitler at Berchtesgaden. The two reach an agreement (after much bluster and threats by Hitler) whereby Hitler will release French World War I veterans from POW camps in exchange for German transit rights in Vichy Syria. Of more lasting importance, Darlan agrees to cooperate in allowing German supplies to pass trough French Tunisia.

The timing of the agreement is fortuitous because the limits of German and French cooperation are tested during the day when 3 Bf-110's from No. 4 Squadron, 76 Destroyer Wing fly over French-occupied Syria. The French send up two Morane 406 fighter planes of 7 Squadron, 1st Fighter Group (GCI/7) to intercept them. The Luftwaffe planes land at Palmyra. The Germans have a much larger force on the way from Greece and expect to use Syrian airfields as a transit point to Iraq, but apparently, local Vichy French commanders have not been specifically told to allow Germany transit rights yet.

German Government: Hess' adjutant who had accompanied him to the airfield, Karlheinz Pintsch, acts upon Hess' final instructions and carries Hess' special letter addressed to Hitler to the Berghof, where the Fuehrer is enjoying a holiday. Accounts differ on exactly how Hitler responds, and the generally accepted view is that Hitler is shocked and immediately orders German state media to disavow Hess and claim that he has gone mad.

However, according to Pintsch's own account written in February 1948 (discovered in the 21st Century in the State Archive of the Russian Federation by German historian Matthias Uhl of the German Historical Institute Moscow), Hitler is not surprised at all when he reads the letter. In the account, Pintsch writes, "Hitler calmly listened to my report and dismissed me without comment." Pintsch also writes that the flight had been arranged in advance by Hitler with the British, a view supported by the presence at the Duke of Hamilton's airfield of secret service agents awaiting Hess.

Hitler's butler, Heinz Linge, also states (also after the war) that Hitler's "behavior told me that not only did he know about [the flight] in advance, but that [Hitler] probably even sent Hess to England." This interpretation of Hitler's reaction was echoed by two others at the Obersalzberg that day, Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, the head of the NSDAP's foreign organization, and Hermann Göring's liaison Karl Heinrich Bodenschatz.

In any event, Berlin Radio puts out the "Hess is insane" line throughout this and succeeding days.

China: The Japanese North China Front Army remains on the offensive, capturing Wufuchien and attacking Tungfeng.

Meanwhile, the Japanese puppet government of Ching-Wei attacks the Nationalist forces along the lower Yangtze River.

There is considerable tension between the Kuomintang and Communist Chinese forces. Zhou Enlai and Chiang Kai-shek meet at the latter's capital, Chungking, to clear the air.

American Homefront: Former President Herbert Hoover gives a radio address entitled "We Are Not Prepared For War: We Can Help England Better By Staying Out." Hoover states that "I do not need to express again my abhorrence of the whole totalitarian movement or its dangers to the world." He warns, though, that "We are not prepared to go to war," and notes that "we are a divided people." By staying out of the war, the US "can take more risks in parting with our tools of war." More ominously, he warns of "the sacrifice also of our own liberty to a dictatorship of our own, inevitable in total war." In sum, Hoover advocates retaining United States liberty by having the British fight Germany to defend it while using US war material.

Future History: Eric Burdon is born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Burdon will become a renowned singer/songwriter best known for his work with The Animals in the 1960s. The Animals' biggest hit is "The House of the Rising Sun," and they are key component of the British Invasion of the 1964-68 era.

Frederick Russell Burnham, the "Father of Scouting," on his eightieth birthday being honored by the Boy Scouts of America in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, 11 May 1941 (Martha Burnham Burleigh).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020