Friday 4 July 1941

A Panzer IV at Lepel being pulled off a bridge with a chain. The panzer slipped off the bridge and broke the bridge railing. (Federal Archive, Bild 146-1994-009-33).

Eastern Front: The German advance slows on 4 July 1941 due to recent rains that make the roads muddy. This problem with the roads is only a foretaste of serious difficulties the Wehrmacht will have in the Soviet Union with muddy roads throughout the war.

General Halder notes in his war diary that the panzers are outrunning the infantry, something Hitler already has tried to prevent by temporarily halting the panzers. Halder notes that "special measures will be necessary to bridge the gap." Overall, though, Halder notes that "on the whole, we discern distinct withdrawal movements, covered by armored counter-thrusts." He concludes optimistically that:

The situation supports the assumption that the enemy does not have sufficient forces left for a sustained defense of the line running from the old Russo-Estonian frontier along Dvina and Dniepr to the south. This theory is borne out also by a Russian order, intercepted yesterday, to the effect that the Dvina river will be held only by groups concentrated at the crossings.

In the Far North sector, Operation Arctic Fox, the joint German/Finnish operation toward Salla and ultimately the Murmansk railway, has stalled. The problem is that the Germans do not have sufficient forces at the point of attack just west of Salla. Army of Norway commander General Dietl moves some troops up from 163rd Infantry Division in Southern Finland (the division controversially moved across Sweden on the railway line) and asks the Finns to make a flank attack to restart the offensive. This will take a couple of days, and until then, the operation is on hold.

In the Army Group North sector, advance units of General Erich Hoeppner's 4th Panzer Group reach the vicinity of Ostrov. This marks the pre-1939 Russian frontier. A little further south the panzers meet strong opposition, but Army Group commander Field Marshal von Leeb brings up infantry in trucks and sustains the advance.

In the Army Group Center sector, the 19th Panzer Division of General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group reaches the Western Dvina River at Rogachev. Guderian's men immediately seize a bridgehead from Soviet 51st Rifle Corps of 22nd Army. The Germans quickly move the 18th Motorized Division into the bridgehead. A little further north, General Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group crosses the Beresina River. Hoth reports to OKW that he is down to 50% of combat strength.

The Soviets are taking advantage of the stormy weather which hit on 2 July to plan a counterattack along the main Moscow road. To do this, they mass troops in the vicinity of Smolensk. However, this will take them a couple of more days.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, moves his headquarters to Baranovichi. General Günther von Kluge, whom von Bock has put in command of Hoth's and Guderian's panzer groups, moves his headquarters to Minsk.

In the Army Group South sector, the panzers reach Buchach, Ukraine and take it without opposition after the Soviets abandon it. The Hungarian 3rd and 4th Armies reach the northern rim of the Carpathian Mountains. The Soviet forces are retreating to the east within the Pripet Marshes. Heavy fighting breaks out in the Mogilev-Podolski area.

The Jewish residents of Storow or Slarov, Ukraine digging their own graves prior to their executions, 4 July 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 183-A0706-0018-029).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Australians plan a major attack for the 5th on Damour, which is a Vichy French administrative center. This town on the coast and the associated Damour River is the last major obstacle for the Australian advance north toward Beirut.

To the northeast, General Slim's Indian troops prepare to advance west from Deir ez-Zor. Their next objective is Raqqa, a road junction to the northwest on the road to Aleppo.

Off the coast, light cruisers Naiad and Ajax lead a destroyer force to shell Vichy French positions.

Flight Lieutenant A. Keith Ogilvie, DFC, Ottawa became a German POW on 4 July 1941. Flight Lieutenant Ogilvie had shot down seven enemy aircraft when he was wounded in combat when a German cannon shell fragment lodged in his shoulder. Ogilvie took part in the famous "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was recaptured. He passed away in 1998. (PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-36843).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 11 Bristol Blenheim bombers of RAF Nos. 105 and 107 Squadrons to Bremen. Using an unusual tactic, they come in low at 50 feet and attack factories and a minesweeper, dropping 6 tons of bombs. The daring raid, led by Australian Wing Commander Hughie Idwal Edwards, is very nearly a disaster for the RAF. Every plane is damaged, and four fail to return. This adds to the growing body of evidence that daylight bomber raids, long since abandoned on the western front by the Luftwaffe, are too costly to be profitable.

Edwards, already partially disabled from earlier injuries and further wounded during this raid, ultimately receives the Victoria Cross for his leadership during the raid.

There also is a Circus mission during the day to Choques.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Brest (88 aircraft) and Lorient (47).

The Luftwaffe sends 75 aircraft on scattered missions over Great Britain after dark.

East African Campaign: It is the rainy season in Abyssinia. The Italians slowly are being rounded up by the British forces. General Pietro Gazzera, the Governor of Galla-Sidama and the new acting Viceroy, is trapped at Kulkaber (Culqualber) with a large body of troops by Free Belgian forces under Major-General Auguste Gilliaert and has no chance to escape.

Battle of the Baltic:  Following a close escape on 3 July from one Finnish submarine, the Vetehinen, Soviet freighter Viborg (Vyborg) sees its luck run out. Finnish submarine Vesikko torpedoes and sinks Viborg east of Gogland Island. There is one death.

U-69 commander Kptlt. Jost. Metzler.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, is operating several hundred miles north of the Cape Verde Islands when it spots and sinks 5444-ton British freighter Auditor. There is one death. The 75 survivors make land in the Azores and Cape Verde islands in lifeboats.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) is returning to France after a lengthy patrol and is out of torpedoes, but it spots a freighter off the west coast of Africa. Metzler cannot resist attacking, so he orders the U-boat to the surface. His men use the deck guns to sink 2918-ton British freighter Robert L. Holt (Master John Alexander Kendall). This sinking sometimes is listed as taking place on either 2 or 3 July 1941. Nobody survives, 56 men perish.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy trawler Akranes off Bridlington Bay, Yorkshire. There are no casualties.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 362-ton British freighter Balfron a few miles off Ravenscar, Yorkshire. There are four deaths.

Local 454-ton vessel Goldfinch hits a mine about ten miles off St. Bees Head, Solway Firth. The ship is taken under tow to Whitehaven.

British 363-ton freighter Lunan hits a mine and sinks off Cardiff in Bristol Channel. There are five deaths and one survivor.

Royal Navy ocean boarding vessel Cavina stops 5522-ton German blockade runner Frankfurt in the mid-Atlantic hundreds of miles southwest of the Azores. Rather than allow the Frankfurt to be captured, the crew scuttles it. There are 26 survivors and 20 deaths.

Minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield BS.67 in the North Sea.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Furious leads a convoy of empty troops ships north from Gibraltar to the Clyde.

Convoy OG-67 departs Liverpool bound for Gibraltar.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Cowichan is commissioned.

Jews of Storow or Slarov, Ukraine being forced to dig their graves prior to their execution on 4 July 1941. The overseers in this picture are ethnic Germans local to the area. (Federal Archive, Bild Y 01-3861).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine Torbay sinks two caiques transporting troops and supplies off Doro Channel (near Euboea).

The RAF spots Vichy French auxiliary cruiser St. Didier off Adalia, Turkey. The St. Didier is disguised as a Turkish merchant ship. The RAF planes proceed to sink the St. Didier.

The Luftwaffe attacks Tobruk.

The RAF based in Malta sends five Wellington bombers to raid Tripoli, causing some damage.

It is a quiet day on Malta, with no air raid alarms. Royal Navy submarine HMS Osiris arrives and offloads 70 tons of bulk petrol in Marsaxlokk. Submarine Utmost also makes port after its patrol.

Bedford QLD GS (1941) (Alfvan Beem via Wikipedia).

Spy Stuff: The Japanese decide that they will link their espionage agents in the United States into a network that funnels its spy information south through the Mexican Embassy and its Ambassador Miura. In order to avoid US scrutiny, the Japanese intended to be the conduits of such information flows are to be reduced from official status to civilian status so that they can move across the border without incident.

Partisans: Joseph Broz aka Tito is named Military Commander by the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party. He issues a call to Yugoslavians to revolt against German/Italian rule. Meanwhile, the Chetniks, a completely separate Yugoslavian partisan group led by monarchist Draža Mihailović, attacks a police station in Serbia.

British Military: Orde Wingate, recently demoted and removed from his dismantled Gideon Force command in Abyssinia, attempts suicide by stabbing himself in the neck. The authorities decide to repatriate him to England. The incident may be attributed to side effects of Atabrine that Wingate is taking to combat a bout of malaria. Wingate's military career is not destroyed, however, because he has personal support from highly placed individuals within the British government.

Soviet Military: The NKVD arrests General of the Army Dimitry Pavlov, disgraced former commander of Western Front. He faces the death penalty for failing to stop the German invasion.

Iceland: Patrol Squadron Seventy Two (VP-72) begins operating PBY-5 Catalinas from Reykjavik, Iceland. These are in anticipation of the upcoming occupation of Iceland by US Marines to replace British troops. The Marines already are at sea, having left Argentia at dawn on 2 July. They are due to arrive at Reykjavik by 7 July. The Icelandic government is not thrilled at being occupied, but the prime minister reluctantly has cabled President Roosevelt that it is "in the best interest of Iceland."

The corpse of a dead German soldier, 4 July 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 146-1981-151-15A).

Holocaust: Riga's main synagogue is destroyed. There are many people trapped inside the structure who perish.

Einsatzkommando 9 (a unit of Einsatzgruppen B) in partnership with Lithuanians, begins shooting Jews in the pits of Ponary, a holiday destination before the war that is 10 km (6 miles) from Vilna. In addition, Germans arrive at the Synagogue on Zydowska (Zydu) Street in Vilna and demand that the Shamash (beadle), Haim Meir Gordon, form a governing group. This is the birth of the "First Judenrat," which is established on 24 July.

In one of many similar incidents all along the front, Soviet Army deserters ransack Jewish homes in Buchach after the Red Army retreats and before the Wehrmacht marches in later in the day. Joining them are various local people looking to take advantage of a temporary period of lawlessness. Many Jews lock themselves in their homes and welcome the arrival of the German troops as restoring order. Locals quickly sense the mood of the new occupiers and resume their depredations against the Jews, sometimes robbing them and kidnapping them as slaves.

At Tarnopol, German and local Ukrainian forces begin a pogrom against Jews. The Germans begin shooting at Jews in the street and invading Jewish homes. The reason for this incident appears, from local accounts, to be related to German anger at Soviet executions of prisoners at the Tarnopol prison - presumably including German POWs. The occupiers force Jews to dig up the courtyard of the prison in search of corpses and then carry them out for burial elsewhere.

At the Polish city of Lwów, several units composed of the SS, police and field gendarmerie under the command of SS officers arrest professors of the higher academic institutions at their homes. The SS men don't make distinctions and simply arrest all men over 18 in the homes (many adult children live with their parents). According to the sole survivor, Professor Groër, the arrested people are taken to the Abrahamowicz dormitory and told to stand against a wall for over an hour. The victims are taken to a cellar and shot one by one. When it is Groër's turn, he is asked why he, of German descent, did not leave the town when the Soviets (Bolsheviks) took over in 1939. He replies that he considers himself Polish and, in any event, the Soviets would not have allowed him to leave due to his university position. The only reasons Groër is spared are that he is married to a titled English woman, which for some reason impresses the executioners, and also has prewar contacts within the SS. This incident is a good example of Holocaust executions that are not based on the victims being Jewish.

British Homefront: Coal is in short supply because the miners have been called to active service duty. Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin now requires ex-miners to register for recall. Until production is increased, domestic users of coal are restricted to one ton a month of coal, coke or any related fuel. While this does not affect most private homes, it is a serious inconvenience to hotels and offices.

The British Communist Party, recognizing the reality of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, belatedly decides to support the war effort.

Lou Gehrig's memorial plaque at Yankee Stadium that is dated 4 July 1941 but actually was unveiled on 6 July 1941 due to a rained-out game.

American Homefront: It is Independence Day in the United States, and that means a number of speeches. President Roosevelt gives a relatively brief radio address from his home in Hyde Park, New York in which he warns that:

I tell the American people solemnly that the United States will never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship.

He urges sacrifice to preserve freedom.

Failed Presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie also gives a speech over the NBC radio network. He urges free trade and a form of globalism:

We must see to it that the trade areas of the world are enlarged, that artificial barriers between men are removed, so that there will be a constantly rising standard of living for all men who work, in which men of all races and creeds and religions and nations can live in peace and harmony, in which the just fruits of enterprise will find their just fulfillment, in which children may look forward to a constantly better world, free of hatred and bitterness and narrow isolationism and of economic degradation.

He concludes his speech by hopefully predicting the end of tyranny before the next fourth of July.

The New York Yankees wish to honor the recently deceases Lou Gehrig by unveiling a monument in Memorial Park, directly behind center field, today. He is the second player to be so honored. Gehrig is not buried there - his grave is in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York - but this is considered "his place" by many fans. Unfortunately, today's doubleheader against the Senators is rained out, so the date of the unveiling is moved to 6 July. Rainchecks for today's rained-out games become prized collector's items because they bear the Iron Horse's picture.

Paramount film "Caught in the Draft" is released. It stars Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, both taking a break from the "Road" films with Bing Crosby. Capitalizing on the war situation, the comedy featured Hope as a movie star who wants to evade the draft by getting married, but winds up with a colonel's daughter - and in the army. The film goes out of its way to make the military seem lenient and understanding in order to aid the war effort. The film opens at the Paramount in New York and becomes only the second film in the theater's 15-year history to run for five weeks.

A Rain Check for the 4 July 1941 Memorial Game honoring Lou Gehrig. The ceremony finally took place on 6 July 1941.

July 1941

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

2020

Tuesday 6 May 1941

Australian 6th Division Troops landing at Suda Bay, Crete after their evacuation from Greece (Australian War Memorial).

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 6 May 1941 gradually have been pushing the Iraqis back from their stronghold at Habbaniyah Airfield west of Baghdad. Today, they clear the plateau to the south which overlooks the airfield from which the Iraqis have been shelling the airfield with 28 artillery pieces. The Iraqis flee in disarray after taking 1000 casualties, falling back on Baghdad with the rag-tag British troops (chiefly the King's Own Royal Regiment) in pursuit in armoured cars. The British catch up to the Iraqis at Sinn El Dhibban, taking 433 prisoners while losing 7 killed and 14 wounded.

Hitler still wants to send troops and planes to Iraq. His representative in Paris, Otto Abetz, receives tentative permission from Admiral Darlan, the Foreign Minister of Vichy France under Petain, to do so (in exchange for cutting the French indemnity owed to Germany from 20 million to 15 million Reichsmarks per day). Of course, there is the little matter of getting German troops to Syria in the first place, which is a tricky proposition given Royal Navy command of the eastern Mediterranean. The British already have two columns of troops of their own on their way across the desert from their possessions in Palestine and today receive the 21st Indian Brigade at the port of Basra, so the possibility of a remote battle between Axis and Allied troops in the desert looms.

Hermann Goering is eager to increase his prestige with operations in Iraq. He organizes Fliegerführer Irak with 12 Messerschmitt Bf110 fighters and 12 Heinkel He111 bombers under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel Werner Junck. Of course, this force also must find its way to Iraq.

In London, Winston Churchill writes an angry memo to General Ismay about a military appreciation he has received of the Iraq situation. The analysis by Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and General Bernard Auchinleck of the Indian Command suggests that the British troops in Palestine, which are headed to relieve the British forces in Iraq, are insufficient to overcome the Iraqi Army. Wavell and Auchinleck are pessimistic and they project that the outnumbered British will be forced to surrender by the 12th of May. Churchill notes that British losses in Iraq "have been nominal as so far reported" and rejects the recommendation that negotiations with Iraqi leader Rashid Ali be planned. "We should treat the present situation like a rebellion," Churchill concludes, and the British Army has a century of experience in handling those.

Damage in Belfast, Ireland from the Belfast Blitz which concluded on 5 May 1941 (Belfast Telegraph).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Liverpool again as part of the May Blitz. The bombing causes additional damage.

The Germans damage several ships. These include:

• 4861-ton British freighter Industria, but it manages to make it to Greenock for repairs
• 3874-ton Greek freighter Moscha D. Kydoniefs

The Germans also attack Greenock, Scotland. This is the first of two consecutive nightly attacks that collectively are known as the Greenock Blitz. The Luftwaffe loses at least two bombers during the night.

The RAF sends a Roadstead operation to Gravelines during the day. RAF Bomber Command sends 8 aircraft to attack shipping. After dark, it sends 16 bombers against Le Havre and 115 to attack Hamburg.

Kommodore Mölders of JG 51 shoots down an RAF No. 601 Squadron Hurricane for another victory in his new Bf 109F fighter.

East African Campaign: Indian Troops attacking at Amba Alagi are pinned down by withering Italian crossfire throughout the day. They retreat after dark.

HMS Camito, sunk on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 5529-ton British freighter Surat about 100 miles off Conakry, Guinea. There are three deaths. There is still an element of chivalry in the sea war, with the Germans helpfully righting a lifeboat for the struggling British crew.

U-103 also torpedoes and sinks 4752-ton British freighter Dunkwa in the same area. There are three deaths.

U-556 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth)  is on its first patrol out of Kiel when it uses its deck gun and sinks 166-ton Faroes fishing trawler Emanuel west of the Faroe Islands. There are three deaths.

U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe) torpedoes and sinks 4255-ton British freighter Oakdene midway between Guinea-Bissau and Brazil. Everyone survives.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Camito southwest of Ireland. There are 28 deaths and a few survivors. U-97 also torpedoes and sinks 6466-ton Italian freighter Sango in the same area. The Camito has been escorting the recently captures blockade runner Sango to port in England - obviously ineffectively.

Convoy HG 61 departs Gibraltar bound for Liverpool, Convoys HX 125A and B departs from Halifax also bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sea Nymph is laid down.

U-613 and U-614 are laid down.

Igor Sikorsky, wearing his customary homburg, at the time of his record-breaking helicopter flight in VS-300 on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The battle on land at Tobruk has subsided for the moment, so attention turns to the war at sea. Both sides depend completely on supplies from their home countries, with the Axis troops favored by the short but somewhat risky route from Naples to Tripoli. The Allies have a relatively clear supply route - setting aside the omnipresent threat of U-boats - around Cape Horn and up toward Suez. However, that passage takes several weeks, time that the Allies cannot spare. So, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as the main instigator, the decision has been made to send a convoy "up the gut" from Gibraltar all the way across the Mediterranean to Malta and Alexandria. This is the Tiger Convoy.

Tiger leaves Gibraltar today. It is composed of five large troop transports escorted by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleships Renown and Queen Elizabeth, cruisers Fiji, Gloucester, Naiad and Sheffield, and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Ark Royal has a new commander, Captain Loben Maund, as Captain Holland has been relieved due to "stress." The convoy is limited in speed by its slowest ship, as all convoys are, and travels at a still-brisk 14 knots (26 km/h). Italian aircraft quickly spot it, and the Luftwaffe readies its forces on Sardinia and Sicily to intercept it. Curiously, the Italian Navy remains in port.

Winston Churchill, who apparently is in a foul mood throughout the day, sends an angry memo to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal which includes in relevant part:

Here is another shocking week at Takoradi. Only 18 aircraft have been despatched, whereas I think a programme of nearly double the number was promised. I am afraid it must be realized that this is a very great failure in our arrangements, which may play its part in a disastrous result to the great battle proceeding in the Nile Valley [by which Churchill apparently means North Africa in general].

Takoradi is the airfield in the British colony of the Gold Coast (Ghana) which serves as the key transit hub for flights to Cairo (a 3700-mile air route) aka the West African Reinforcement Route (WARR). Churchill wishes more planes to be shuttled from Takoradi to Cairo to help in the defense of North Africa. Bemoaning the "complete breakdown," Churchill demands an accounting.

Churchill also sends a sarcastic memo to General Sir John Dill, asking that the suitability and supply of maps by Allied forces in Crete be determined, "Otherwise we shall soon find that any German arrivals will be better informed about the island than our men."

In another memo, Churchill demands of Admiral Pound an inquiry into a "lapse of Staff work" over problems transporting a mobile naval base defense organization to Suda Bay, Crete. The base took 12 weeks to arrive and was packed in a disorganized fashion, he notes.

British military intelligence is hardening that Crete will be the next German objective in the Mediterranean. This is largely based on Ultra decrypts of coded Wehrmacht transmissions. However, Churchill is desperate to not let the Ultra secret out, so he allows commanding General Bernard Freyberg to believe that the Germans will arrive in ships rather than by air.

The German 8th Panzerregiment arrives at Tripoli aboard a convoy to Tripoli.

The RAF (830 Squadron) attacks Tripoli, losing a plane. Two crewmen are made prisoner and one perishes.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks 2322 ton Italian freighter Cagliari about three miles (5 km) off Fuscaldo, southern Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant torpedoes and sinks 1716 ton Italian freighter Bengasi a few miles off Cavoli, Elba, Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph spots a German convoy heading north from Tripoli. It attacks but misses.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Cachalot arrives at Gibraltar from England loaded with supplies for Malta. It will continue toward the island on the 8th.

At Malta, the air defense is refined to alternate defense by fighters and anti-aircraft fire. During a large 36-plane Luftwaffe raid in the evening on Grand Harbour, the fighters shoot down one or two raiders and damage another. In addition, anti-aircraft fire shoots down two Junkers Ju 88s.

Convoy AN 30, composed of four freighters, departs from Haifa and Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete.

Joseph Stalin, 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Convoy US 10B departs from Colombo. It includes three large liners - 44,786 ton Aquitania, 43,450 ton Ile De France, and 35,739 ton Mauretania. It is escorted by New Zealand light cruiser Leander.

War Crimes: Churchill sends a memo to General Ismay which states in relevant part:

Surely I gave directions that the C-in-C was to have full liberty to capture enemy hospital ships in retaliation for their brutality.

On its face, this memo is evidence of Churchill authorizing war crimes (Churchill asks for previous correspondence on the matter to be found, but it is unclear if such exists).

Attacking or capturing hospital ships is against the rules of war. There have been many instances on both sides of attacks on hospital ships, though, so it is open to interpretation how much of a breach of international law Churchill's stance really is. Certainly, whoever wins the will is likely to hide their own breaches of the rules of warfare and prosecute the other side's transgressions, this is known sardonically on both sides as "victor's justice."

Ernest Hemingway with Madame Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Martha Gellhorn in provisional capital Chungking (Chongqing), China.

Spy Stuff: Soviet spy Richard Sorge, posing as a hard-partying newspaperman in Tokyo, warns Stalin of German plans to invade the Soviet Union. In his dispatch today, he writes:

Possibility of outbreak of war at any moment is very high…. German generals estimate the Red Army’s fighting capacity is so low…[it] will be destroyed in the course of a few weeks.

This information, of course, is extremely accurate and jibes with more general warnings coming from various other sources, such as his military attache in Berlin. However, Stalin does not think much of Sorge - viewing him as a sort of ne'er-do-well more interested in partying than providing useful information. Accordingly, Stalin does not change his own dispositions to any great extent.

Separately and coincidentally, Ernest Hemingway, who many think serves as a US spy (this is only hypothetical and never proven) and who accurately predicts the eventual outbreak of war between the National and Communist Chinese, departs today from Hong Kong aboard a Pan Am Clipper to return to the United States. Hemingway has been in Asia for 100 days on a very curious trip accompanying his new bride, Martha Gellhorn. Hemingway has led a hard-partying lifestyle (which seems to have been common among expatriates in Asia at the time). Hemingway, in fact, has spent much of the trip alone - or, shall we say discreetly, without his wife - and his solo departure is commonly seen as marking the end of his brief marriage. Gellhorn, who actually may have been the spy in the couple (all of this is conjecture), will carry a grudge against Hemingway for the rest of her life. Hemingway will have many more direct interactions with World War II over the next few years.

US/Australian Relations: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, aboard a Clipper flying boat, arrives safely in Bermuda. He has breakfast, then departs immediately for New York aboard a Douglas DC-3. He is ensconced in the Ritz-Carlton by dinnertime.

Vichy French/Japanese Relations: The Japanese conclude a trade agreement with French Indochina.

Republic XP-47B Thunderbolt prototype, 40-3051, at Farmingdale, New York, 1941. (Republic Aviation Corporation).

US Military: First flight of the Republic XP-47B (40-3051), with Lowry P. Brabham as the pilot, at Republic Field in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. The aircraft performs well, and the US Army Air Corps approves further development. Designed by Alexander Kartveli, the large all-metal fighter with elliptical wings has had several redesigns, but this one sticks. After much further development, the design will become the famous P-47 Thunderbolt, of which 15, 579 will be built.

Igor Sikorsky continues working on his helicopter design, the VS-300, which has been the designation for a constantly changing design. Today, he scores a major success when he flies the experimental chopper (hovering) for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds, which is a new record, beating that of the Luftwaffe's Focke-Wulf Fw 61.

The Douglas Aircraft Company begins taxiing tests of its new XB-19 four-engine bomber at Santa Monica Airport. The plane is the largest in the world and is so heavy (86,000 lbs or 39,009 kg) that it breaks through the airport pavement. The U. S. Government has paid $1,400,064 for it and Douglas itself has spent almost $4,000,000 in company funds to complete it.

Looking ahead, the XB-19 is remembered as the B-19, but after a long period of development (which aided the development of other planes) was not accepted for production and was scrapped. Two of its enormous main tires will be saved and put on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, though apparently, they are no longer there. Of course, the Germans would love to have any effective four-engine bomber, while the Americans have the luxury of testing out different kinds, keeping some and rejecting others.

Radio star Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope does a rare personal appearance at March Field in Riverside, California, broadcasting his Pepsodent show from there. Hope unexpectedly finds that he enjoys performing before a live audience, particularly servicemen who are not too demanding about the quality of the show. This will lead to Hope's long association with the USO during World War II and thereafter. Hope is a US citizen, naturalized at the age of 17 in 1920 after having immigrated from the United Kingdom, but is well past draft age and is not compelled to participate in the war. Hope will be a leading figure among a select group of celebrities including Hemingway and John Wayne who will work with the US military to provide various specialized services without actually mustering in.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV 5) is transiting the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal at night when it scrapes the side and sustains slight damage.

A postcard of the B-19. It receives a lot of attention in the media throughout its unsuccessful life.

Soviet Government: In a decision approved several days ago, Stalin officially succeeds Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Thus, Stalin becomes the de jure as well as the de facto leader of the Soviet Union - but there never at any time has been any doubt whatsoever that he is the boss. This ruling-from-behind-the-scenes strategy is a recurring theme in Russian politics.

The change is noted by the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Werner von der Schulenburg. Schulenburg opposes any military action against the Soviet Union, though he has not officially been made aware of the plans for Operation Barbarossa (though he may at this time be aware through rumors and personal observations). Ambassador Schulenburg reports the change in Soviet leadership to Berlin but passes it off as nothing but a public rebuke of Molotov for allowing German/Soviet relations to wither. The reasons for the change, in fact, are murky and subject to interpretation, especially considering that on the 5th of May, Stalin had given two bellicose secret speeches to graduating military officers in the Kremlin which strongly suggested that he, too, was contemplating beginning a war with Germany. Molotov, in any event, is not out of favor. Stalin may, viewing the change in that context, be preparing his leadership role for the war he himself intends to start.

Wehrmacht soldiers chatting with Dutch kids, May 1941.

Philippines: Newly arrived Brigadier General Henry B. Clagett assumes command of the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. His chief of staff is Colonel Harold Huston George.

Poland: A Polish doctor, Zygmunt Klukowski, observes the Germans conscripting local civilians to build military installations. Klukowski finds this curious as he notes it in his diary since there seems little need to do so in peacetime conditions.

Yugoslavia: Serbs in Kijevo and Tramošnja villages are celebrating Đurđevdan slava, an Eastern Orthodox holy day in honor of Saint George when the Ustaše do something that provokes them. This develops into a massive revolt called the May 1941 Sanski Most revolt, or alternatively the Đurđevdan uprising or the revolt of the Sana peasants. The Serbs generally were pro-British before the war, and there is an element of baiting going on by the Ustaše regime. The revolt quickly spreads, and the Serbs chase the Ustaše out of town. The escaping Ustaše request German military aid from the garrison at Prijedor.

American Homefront: US Secretary for War Henry L. Stimson makes a radio broadcast in which he announces his support for using US warships to protect British freighters. He says that Americans must sacrifice in defense of freedom. According to Stimson:

The world is facing so great a crisis that all of our efforts must be turned toward the defense of our nation's safety. . . . our own self-defense requires that limits should be put to lawless aggression on the ocean. The President has said that we must not allow the steps which we have already taken to become ineffective.

USS Grayback during a shakedown cruise in Long Island Sound, 6 May 1941 (United States National Archives and Records Administration).

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

Tuesday 28 January 1941

British tank officers in North Africa on January 28, 1941, read an Italian newspaper. The puppy was "captured" at Sidi Barrani.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians and Greeks continue to battle over the heights of Trebeshina (specifically Height 1923) on 28 January 1941. Two Italian Blackshirt battalions have recovered the peaks in appalling weather, while the Cretan 5th Division of II Corps is trying to dislodge them again. The Blackshirts, heavily indoctrinated political troops akin to the SS, are fighting strongly.

East African Campaign: In Eritrea, the Italian 4th Colonial Division under General Orlando Lorenzini is making a stand at Barentu Agordat. He has 76 guns and a company of both medium and light tanks, not an inconsiderable force in the area. Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse, in command of the 4th Indian Division, sends his troops (3rd Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment) on a flanking move to the Cochen Hills to the south of the Italian defenses. Elsewhere, the British troops are advancing to catch up with the retreating Italians.

European Air Operations: The lousy winter weather continues to hamper air operations in northern Europe. The Luftwaffe continues its random nuisance raids on scattered targets in the southeast, dropping a few bombs dropped on London. The RAF raids the Naples airport, railway facilities, and marshaling yard. The bombers also attack Catania and Comiso airfields, the bases of Fliegerkorps X.

A carload of Germans pedals their way through the Bailiwick of Jersey on 28 January 1941. "To save petrol German soldiers use a pedal car to get around in town." (Photo- Keystone Photo Agency).

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather is extremely rough in the North Atlantic. This causes collisions, ship sightings that are hard to confirm, and similar issues. The Luftwaffe can't get enough planes in the air to provide proper scouting reports for the U-boats, due to the lack of sufficient Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors in KG 40.

At about 06:49, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the two Kriegsmarine battlecruisers attempting to break out into the Atlantic to join Admiral Scheer, sight two British cruisers on radar patrolling south of Iceland. Admiral Lütjens, under strict orders not to engage capital ships, immediately turns around 180 degrees and heads back to the northeast. Hitler, in particular, is prone to giving his ship captains very cautious instructions which some feel unduly inhibit their discretion and opportunism. This time, Lütjens follows such orders, which is likely a good thing in this instance. Being too aggressive in the Atlantic can pay big rewards for German raiders - but it also, as will be seen in May 1941, be extremely hazardous to one's health. The entire British Home Fleet is at sea waiting in the general vicinity for the two German ships, and there would be a very little margin of error should a lucky Royal Navy hit slow them down or disable one of them.

The HMS Naiad also spots the two German ships at about the same time, but for some reason, the commander of the force - Admiral John Tovey - does not believe the lookouts. The Naiad thus does not shadow the German ships, but Tovey sends battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers to reinforce the two cruisers just in case. Admiral Lütjens does not intend to give up the mission but instead plans a rendezvous with tankers Adria and Schlettstadt in the far north near Bear Island and considers going north of Iceland instead of south.

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli torpedoes and sinks a straggler from Convoy HX 102 about 250 miles off Ireland in the Western Approaches. It is 5198-ton British freighter Urla. All 42 onboard survive.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors) bombs 1944 ton British freighter Pandion in the Northwest Approaches north of the westernmost points of Ireland. The ship makes it to Loch Swilly, where it anchors. However, the damage proves too great for the crew to handle. First, the crew beaches the ship, and later abandon it. The weather eventually destroys the ship entirely.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 4574-ton British freighter Mendip Grelrosa about 400 miles off Malin Head, Ireland in the Northwest Approaches. There are five deaths.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages 3635-ton British freighter Baron Renfrew in the same general area in the Northwest Approaches. The ship eventually makes it to Loch Lathaich and later to Glasgow for repairs.

British oil refinery ship 13,640-ton Tafelberg hits a mine and is badly damaged in Bristol Channel southwest of Cardiff. This area has seen numerous mine-strikes recently. The crew beaches the Tafelberg at Porthkerry but declared a total loss (it breaks in two). However, salvagers recover it and take it to Whitmore Bay, where the ship is completely rebuilt as tanker Empire Heritage.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Bluebell collides with the destroyer HMS Westcott in the Western Approaches. Both ships head for port, the Westcott's damage very minor but Bluebell's repairs at Cammell Laird taking until 4 March 1941.

Norwegian freighter Erling Jarl runs aground and sinks at Brønnøysund, Nordland. There is one death. The ship later is raised, repaired and renamed Bodø.

Responding to completely erroneous rumors that liner Empress of Australia has been sunk, the Admiralty decides to issue an odd statement that the ship is "safe in port."

Convoy OB 279 departs from Southend, Convoy AN 14 departs from Port Said for Piraeus,
Royal Navy submarine HMS Urchin is commissioned, the submarine HMS P-33 is launched, the destroyer HMS Pakenham is launched, corvettes HMS Mignonette and Myosotis are launched.

Dutch submarine O-12, sunk and refloated earlier in the war, is recommissioned as UD-2 in the Kriegsmarine.

U-411 is laid down.

Recruiting poster for the SS in Norway.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Derna, the Italians hold out throughout the day as Operation Compass grinds forward. However, the Australian 2/4th Battalion and British 7th Armored Division are threatening to cut the coast road. Rather than risk another catastrophe with the loss of the entire garrison, the Italian commanders order the evacuation of Derna during the night. While pulling out, the Italian Babini Group conducts a skillful retreat, harassing the advancing British troops, laying mines and wrecking the coast road. Italian artillery, situated north of Wad Derna, is particularly effective in slowing down the Australians and covering the retreat.

Elsewhere, the British consolidate at Mechili, which the Italians also abandoned. The issue is not one of tiredness or casualties, but more of fuel and supplies. The key supply port of Tobruk opened on the 27th, which will ease the supply situation going forward, but it will take time to resupply the troops, give the tanks proper maintenance, and the like. The Italians also are showing a bit more fight than they have before. In addition, the weather is lousy and heavy rain is causing issues.

Taking advantage of the start of a lull in the Libyan operations, British Middle East Commander General Wavell flies to Nairobi to discuss with General Cunningham plans for an offensive into Italian Somaliland. Wavell also meets with General Platt, commander of the forces entering Eritrea. Wavell will stay here for several days, leaving on 1 February.

Greek 5197 ton freighter Kate hits a mine and sinks in the Aegean.

Royal Navy submarine Upholder (Malcolm D. Wanklyn) torpedoes and damages 7389-ton German freighter Duisburg off Cape Bon, Tunisia. The Duisburg is towed into Tripoli. Wanklyn is one of the more enterprising Royal Navy submarine commanders.

Taking the Italian prisoners at Tobruk to prison camps once again becomes a major operation. Net layer HMS Protector sails from Suda Bay to bring prisoners from there to Alexandria.

Royal Navy submarine Rorqual lays 29 mines in the Adriatic off the port of Ancona.

The weather at Malta is overcast and it is a quiet day. While fears remain high about a planned German invasion from Sicily, reports from spies and observers (such as Americans) are mixed about what may actually be going on there.

Anglo/US Relations: Having read and pondered the handwritten note from President Roosevelt brought to him by Wendell Willkie, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill writes a lengthy "Personal and Secret" response. He notes the following:

• "All my information shows that the Germans are persevering in their preparations to invade this country";
• "[A]dvance parties of the German air force have already to the extent of several thousand infiltrated themselves into Bulgaria";
• "[Hitler] could carry out both offensives [in the East and against Britain] at the same time."

The reply does not really break any new ground, but definitely continues the brewing bromance between the two men.

US Military: Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson approves the construction of 12 detector radar stations in Alaska. Originally, the plan was for 8 locations, but a survey found that five of those sites were unacceptable and, in fact, a dozen sites were necessary. All of the sites are south of Cape Prince of Wales. Both Japan and the US fear an air attack using the Aleutian island chain, so these stations are oriented toward Japan, not the USSR. Commander General DeWitt of the Ninth Corps Area and Fourth Army is in charge of construction, while Colonel Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. is in charge of US troops in Alaska. Troops are being slowly inserted into Alaskan naval bases such as Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor due to rising war fears with Japan.

Heinrich Himmler in Norway, January 1941. Aside from work, Himmler dabbles in his theories about the origin of the Aryan Race during this visit (Mobius, Federal Archive).

German Military: General Keitel meets with Hitler and gives him the conclusion of the OKH (army high command) regarding Operation Felix (invasion of Gibraltar). They believe that:

[I]n the event of preparations being resumed on 1 February, the attack on Gibraltar was not possible before the middle of April and that therefore the forces envisaged for this operation would not be available in time for 'Barbarossa.'

Hitler may wish to invade Gibraltar, but he wants to invade the Soviet Union more. Accordingly, he states that "Operation Felix will have to be dropped because it was impossible to create the political prerequisites." While Hitler continues to cajole Franco into joining the Axis and permitting Operation Felix, a project which remains on the docket for years (like Operation Sealion), this marks the death knell for the planned operation.

Two hundred Norwegian volunteers, recruited by the SS, swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. These Norwegian volunteers are to serve in the "Wiking" Division. They will be part of Army Group South, heading toward the Ukraine, where numerous atrocities will take place (of course, atrocities will take place across the entire front). Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler watches with approval.

British Government: Home Secretary Herbert Morrison appears before the House of Commons to defend his recent closure of the Daily Worker and other communist publications. He claims that the publication has been blaming the government for deaths from air raids, which Morrison claims is "cruel and cynical, sheer sniveling hypocrisy." The MPs support the move as removing a subversive element of the press. Support is not unanimous, with Labour MP Aneurin Bevan claiming it was an unjustified restriction on the press, but the move carries 297-11.

Minister of Food Robert Boothby gives a speech in the House as well, defending himself against charges of self-dealing. Churchill rises and reflects upon this "heartbreaking business" without really taking a position. In a note to his son Randolph, Churchill states that Boothby's speech was "a remarkable parliamentary performance." The House continues to consider the matter.

An official painting memorializing Ho Chi Minh's return to Indochina today.

Indochina: The Thai 50th Bomber Squadron bombs Sisophon, Cambodia with B-10 medium bombers. This is the last significant action of the brief border campaign between French Indochina and Thailand. This raid induces the Vichy French somewhat belatedly to agree to mediation by Japan, an offer previously accepted with some alacrity by Thailand. There is no question - from the outcome - which side Japan favors in this border war. An effective but unofficial ceasefire now takes place, which is formalized later. Negotiations proceed aboard Japanese battleship IJN Natori, anchored off Saigon.

Ho Chi Minh (Nguyễn Ái Quốc), a committed Chinese communist of Vietnamese descent who has studied in Europe, returns to Indochina today after 30 years overseas. Ho at first lives in a cave in Pac Bo and sets to work preparing for the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) 8th Party Congress. His ultimate goal is to form an organization eventually called the Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (Vietnam Independence League), or Viet Minh. The Viet Minh is a Communist front organization to organize resistance against French colonial rule and occupying Japanese forces. It ostensibly is more nationalist than communist (in order to appeal to a wider audience), and equally, voices outrage about "French jackals" and the "Japanese fascists." However, Ho's ICP actually controls the Viet Minh behind the scenes. Having learned from his experiences in China, Ho successfully stresses the unity of opposition within Indochina to achieve independence, contrary to the infighting between the Kuomintang and the Communists in China which hampers their opposition to the Japanese.

This date of 28 January - unremarked in the Western world - is considered to be a very significant date in Vietnam today, with various official commemorative meetings held on the anniversary.

Ho Chi Minh with happy American soldiers during World War II. As happens later in many other places around the world, the Americans support a revolutionary disruptive force in an area controlled by a temporary enemy... and learn to regret it.

China: The Battler of Southern Honan continues, with the Japanese 11th Army continuing its attacks against the Chinese 5th War Area near Hsianghokuan.

American Homefront: "The Pepsodent Show" aka "The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope" aka "The Bob Hope Show" features Basil Rathbone today.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Thursday 14 March 1940

Viipuri Castle burning.

Winter War: With the Winter War over, the terms must be implemented beginning on 14 March 1940. The Finnish government begins evacuating 470,000 citizens from areas being ceded to the USSR in Karelia. Many evacuees burn their homes, villages and other property.

The Finns also evacuate Viipuri. Viipuri Castle is burning.

The Finnish negotiators return to Helsinki with the signed Moscow Peace Treaty. The Finnish Parliament begins debating ratification.

Lord Halifax requests return of British war matériel from the Finns. Finnish ambassador to the Court of St. James G.A. Gripenberg refuses, stating that Finland properly bought it.

UK General Pownall notes the cynical nature of the "aid" being offered to the Finns: "Of 4 or 5 division that were to be sent, not 1 was meant for Finland- maybe a brigade or 2. A most dishonest business"

Finnish sniper Simo Hayha awakens from a coma after being shot and learns that the war is over.

The Soviet rank and file are frustrated and angry at the war and its outcome. They are in no mood to celebrate. One Soviet soldier, Lt. Viktor Iskrov: "Finns walked out of their trenches with vodka bottles, shouting: 'Russkies, come drink with us!' But we just sat in our trench."

The New York Times contributes to the vitriol being launched at the Allied powers for the Finnish capitulation: "Once again a small nation relied on the help of the Western powers and paid dearly for her trust."

Battle of the Atlantic: Convoy SL 24 departs from Freetown.

European Air Operations: Three Heinkel 111s attack three fishing trawlers in the North Sea but fail to sink them.

German Homefront: Economic Czar Hermann Goering decrees that all items made of copper, bronze, nickel, and other useful metals be surrendered to the war effort. The pretext is to donate them as a gift to Hitler for his 51st birthday.

Polish Government-in-exile: The Poles publish a white paper that appears designed to cause dissension within the Axis. Among other tidbits, it reveals a 1935 discussion by Hermann Goering with Polish leader (at the time) Marshal Pilsudski in which Goering suggested a joint invasion of Ukraine. The Poles further claim they emphatically rejected the idea.

Australia: Prime Minister Menzies forms a new coalition cabinet.

Canada: The government establishes an "Inventions Board" to process "secret weapons" suggestions from the public.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong offers to contribute £100,000 to London for the construction of two minesweepers and four harbor defense boats.
China: In the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 22nd Army counterattacks against the Chinese advancing on Nanning from the Yangshuo area.

German Homefront: No economy is too petty to be considered. The government urges the country's tea drinkers to save their used tea for recycling into artificial coffee.

American Homefront: Paramount releases "Road to Singapore," the first Bob Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour "Road" film.

Soviet soldiers examining a captured Finnish flag.

March 1940

March 1, 1940: Soviet Breakthroughs Past Viipuri
March 2, 1940: Soviets Swarm West in Finland
March 3, 1940: Soviets Across Gulf of Viipuri
March 4, 1940: USSR Apologizes to Sweden
March 5, 1940: Katyn Forest Massacre Approved
March 6, 1940: Finns Head to Moscow
March 7, 1940: The Coal Ships Affair
March 8, 1940: Peace Talks Begin in Moscow
March 9, 1940: Soviets Harden Peace Terms
March 10, 1940: Germany Draws Closer to Italy
March 11, 1940: Winter War Peace Terms Finalized
March 12, 1940: War is Over (If You Want It)
March 13, 1940: Winter War Ends
March 14, 1940: Evacuating Karelia
March 15, 1940: The Bletchley Bombe
March 16, 1940: First British Civilian Killed
March 17, 1940: Enter Dr. Todt
March 18, 1940: Mussolini To Join the War
March 19, 1940: Daladier Resigns
March 20, 1940: Soviets Occupy Hango Naval Base
March 21, 1940: Paul Reynaud Leads France
March 22, 1940: Night Fighters Arise!
March 24, 1940: French Consider Alternatives
March 25, 1940: Reynaud Proposes Action
March 26, 1940: C-46 First Flight
March 27, 1940: Himmler Authorizes Auschwitz Construction
March 28, 1940: Allies Ponder Invading Norway
March 29, 1940: Soviets Prefer Neutrality
March 30, 1940: Allied Uncertainty
March 31, 1940: The Tiger Cage

2019