President Roosevelt gives his State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of Congress on 6 January 1942.
Battle of the Pacific: Japanese pressure on Commonwealth troops defending the Slim River line continues on 6 January 1942. The Indian 11th Division has to defend both its north-facing main front on the western half of the Malay Peninsula and also its rear line of communications because Japanese forces have infiltrated behind it. The Indian 6/15 Brigade Group reaches the Batang Berjuntai area in an attempt to block one this flanking move. Here, south of the Selangor River, they dig in to oppose a Japanese advance from the west. Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, the British Kuantan Force withdraws through Jerantut after dark and moves west toward Raub.
Artillery in action in North Africa, 6 January 1942.
In the Philippines, the Allied troops have withdrawn to a short line across the neck of the Bataan Peninsula. The Main Battle Line runs from Abucay to Mount Natib to Mauban. The Allies have a switch position south of Layac Junction, and Japanese attacks today take Dinalupihan after the Allies evacuate it. The Japanese have brought up artillery which is made more effective by their dominance in the air, where Japanese observers act as artillery spotters. During the day, Major Toyosaku Shimada brings his assault force of about 17 Type 97 medium tanks and 3 Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks forward. He requests permission for a night attack, which is unusual in the Japanese Army, and the local commander, Colonel Ando, approves the request. This will be a head-on assault, not a flanking attack and with no diversions, which also is unusual. The attack is planned for 03:30 on 7 January. Elsewhere, a week-long Japanese aerial campaign against the fortress island of Corregidor ends with little to show for it, as the island's extensive pre-war fortifications are mainly deep underground and remain undamaged.
In the Netherlands East Indies, a Japanese amphibious force lands at Brunei Bay, British Borneo. Seven Japanese flying boats attack Ambon Island's Laha Airfield during the night, scoring hits on two RAAF Hudson and a Brewster Buffalo.
Gene Tierney on the cover of Pic Magazine, 6 January 1942. She is promoting "The Shanghai Gesture" (1941), an early film about (among other things) addiction.
The Second Marine Brigade of the United States Marines under the command of General Henry L. Larsen has been ordered to transfer to Pago Pago, American Samoa. The Marines go aboard Matson Line passenger liners which recently have been used to evacuate non-essential military personnel and civilians from the Hawaiian Islands. The liners are SS Lurline, Matsonia, and Monterey, and they are accompanied by freighter USS Jupiter and ammunition ship Lassen. US Navy Task Force 17, which includes aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, heavy cruiser Louisville, light cruiser St. Louis, and three destroyers, serves as the Marines' escort.
"Bardia, Cyrenaica, Libya. 6 January 1942. An aerial view taken on the day that Bardia fell shows a long line of prisoners stretching down the road being rounded up by the Allied land forces and transported in the back of trucks." Australian War Memorial MED0280.
Japanese submarine I-7 remains lurking off Hawaii as it has since the war began. It sent its seaplane on a daring reconnaissance mission over Pearl Harbor on 18 December, and today it sends it on another mission over the US naval base after dark. The Americans never detect either flight and do not even know that they happened until after the war.
Christmas service (January 6, 1942) in the monastery church in Kharkov (Herber, Federal Archive Bild 183-B16165).
Eastern Front: The Soviets have committed to a General Offensive beginning on 7 January, so 6 January is fairly quiet as they position their troops and plan their strategy. The German position outside Moscow is more tenuous than it appears on a map because it is composed of often isolated groupings connected by long stretches of vulnerable roads and railways. Fourth Army, for instance, relies on one good road - the Rollbahn - for virtually all of its supplies Yukhnov. The road runs parallel to the front and the Red Army is only a few miles away from it. The Fourth Army chief of staff already has noted to OKH operations chief General Franz Halder that "If the Russian thrust gets through to it, it will be deadly." It would only require an advance of a few miles there and elsewhere for the Red Army to cause the Wehrmacht extreme problems that could lead to catastrophic losses. However, the Soviet effort could come to little if the attacks are poorly made or in the wrong places, so the degree of success depends upon good execution and clever strategy.
Western Front: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends another attack against the German warships at Cherbourg. The 31 Wellington bombers score a close miss on heavy cruiser Gneisenau that floods two compartments. A couple of the bombers bomb the port facilities. In other attacks, 11 Whitley bombers attack Stavanger Airfield in southern Norway and small groups of Hampden bombers attack a potpourri of German cities: five bomb Essen, three attack Munster, two each hit Cologne and Emden, and one each attack Aachen and Oldenburg.
V Corps of the United States Army deploys the first American soldiers to the European Theater of Operations today. This force is known as the U.S. Army Northern Ireland Force or MAGNET. The V Corps troops are fated to be in the first wave on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944.
"Bardia, Cyrenaica, Libya. 6 January 1942. Aerial view of Bardia taken on the day that the town was re-captured by Allied forces. The town sits on the end of a high and long rocky outcrop." Australian War Memorial MED0281.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The final surrender of the isolated Axis garrison of Bardia in North Africa, already agreed to, concludes today. The last of about 7000 Axis troops march into captivity. Other Axis troops remain nearby in Halfaya Pass, but they have little hope of relief and are running out of basic necessities like food and water.
US/Chinese Relations: The recent Tulsa Incident in Rangoon, which badly strained Allied relations in the Far East, has been resolved to China's satisfaction. This has been due to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull intervening in a local dispute in which a British officer ordered the confiscation of US Lend-Lease supplies intended for China by declaring that they are Chinese property and not subject to confiscation. The US then nominated Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek as the Supreme Commander of an Allied China Theater. To return the favor, Chiang requests that a senior US officer act as his chief of staff. Chiang remains very upset at the British for their attempt to take "his" supplies, so this is both a gesture of gratitude toward the Americans and a slap at the British, who actually maintain a vastly greater presence in the Theater.
Messerschmitt Bf 109Es of I.(J)/LG 2) of JG 77 at Kecskemét Airfield, Hungary 1941. The nearest plane is that of Hauptmann Herbert Ihlefeld, Gruppenkommandeur of this unit during the period 30 August 1940 – 6 January 1942, until the squadron was reorganized and he took over I./JG 77. Ihlefeld became an "ace in a day" on 30 August 1940. While Ihlefeld was in command of I./JG 77, the unit was credited with 323 enemy aircraft downed for the loss of only 17 Bf 109s. If you look closely, you can see the victory markings on the tail of Ihlefeld's plane.
US Government: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress. He begins by noting the country's determination to win the war:
In fulfilling my duty to report upon the State of the Union, I am proud to say to you that the spirit of the American people was never higher than it is today—the Union was never more closely knit together—this country was never more deeply determined to face the solemn tasks before it.
This is the President's first speech to Congress since the war began, and he calls for massive new spending. The President's budget for the Fiscal Year 1943, which begins on October 1, 1942, is $59 billion. This will fund the construction of 45,000 aircraft, 45,000 tanks, 20,000 antiaircraft guns, and 8 million tons of new shipping. The figures are all unprecedented, but Roosevelt says they are necessary:
These figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will give the Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished.
Roosevelt's requests are certain to be passed, as his party has healthy majorities in both houses of Congress and the nation is gripped by a patriotic determination to win the war at any cost.
The U.S. Navy troop transport USS Wharton (AP-7) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), 6 January 1942. Photograph 19-N-26645 from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
American Homefront: The issue of what to do about Japanese-Americans remains a very hot topic on the West Coast of the United States. Congressman Leland Ford of California sends a telegram to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull requesting their internment, stating:
I do not believe that we could be any too strict in our consideration of the Japanese in the face of the treacherous way in which they do things.
Congressman Ford's feelings are shared by many who greatly fear attacks from Japan such as those experienced at Pearl Harbor.
Pan American Airways Boeing B-314A, MSN 2083, registered NC18609 and named "Pacific Clipper." arrives in New York City after making an unprecedented journey for a commercial flight. Having flown from the United States to Auckland, New Zealand before the war, the Pacific Clipper was directed to fly back across the Indian Ocean rather than return across the unsafe Pacific (which typically would include stops at Midway and Wake Islands). The plane's journey totals 31,500 miles via Australia, the East Indies, India, Africa, South America, and Trinidad.
Emma Calvé.
French Homefront: French soprano Emma Calvé (15 August 1858-6 January 1942), perhaps the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque, passes away in a clinic in Montpelier, aged 83.
German Panzer IV tanks and armored personnel carriers attacking a Soviet-held village in the vicinity of Istra on the Moscow-Riga railway on 25 November 1941 (Tannenberg, Hugo, Federal Archive Figure 183-B17220).
Battle of the Mediterranean: The British Operation Crusader, an offensive whose goal is to liberate Tobruk, has been going badly since its start on 21 November. British 7th Armored Division of Eighth Army has been pummeled by General Erwin Rommel's panzers and fierce artillery fire by well-sited Italian gunners. On 24 November Rommel decided to launch a counteroffensive, and today, 25 November 1941, he sets in motion more forces whose aim is to relieve a trapped German garrison at Bardia and threaten British lines of communication back into Egypt. This is known as General Rommel's "dash to the wire" because it sends Afrika Korp panzers behind the British outposts to the area of the Egyptian/ Libyan border where a wire barricade stretches inland from the coast.
Battleship HMS Barham ((Capt G.C. Cooke, RN)), covered with sailors, explodes in the Mediterranean north off Sidi Barrani, Egypt after being hit by three torpedoes from U-331 (Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen) on 25 November 1941. Total casualties number 56 officers and 806 men.
With part of Afrika Korps and the Italian Ariete Division already heading toward Sidi Omar, the 15th Panzer Division today heads northeast toward Sidi Aziz. To their shock, the German tankers find no enemy to be seen and their only opponents the omnipresent RAF Desert Air Force. The 5th Panzer Division of the 21st Panzer Division hits the 7th Indian Brigade at Sidi Omar, but are fought off with great difficulty by the 1st Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. The German tanks try again, but the Royal Artillery picks the panzers off over open sights at 500 meters and destroys or damages almost all of them. It is a brilliant defensive victory by the British caused by their valor and the overconfidence of the panzer commanders. The rest of the 21st Panzer Division heads unmolested to the border at Halfaya, the key to the vital coastal road.
HMS Barham listing to port shortly after being hit by three torpedoes. Barham becomes the only Royal Navy battleship to be sunk by a submarine during World War 11. This photo was taken from HMS Valiant.
The Germans reach the area west of Sidi Aziz by sunset, but they have taken heavy tank losses during the day. They have only 53 panzers remaining with no possibility of reinforcement. The 5th New Zealand Brigade is located further up the coast between the panzers and their closest supply dumps, posing a logistical problem. The Germans camp here for the night and prepare to bypass the New Zealanders on the 26th in order to liberate Bardia and resupply.
HMS Barham.
One of the paradoxes of the war in North Africa is that it is actually won at sea. The Royal Navy has done a very efficient job of disrupting supplies sent from Naples to Tripoli. Today, however, the Germans take their revenge when U-331 (Kptlt. Hans-Diedrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen) somehow evades the Royal Navy destroyer screen and pumps three torpedoes into battleship HMS Barham. The Barham sinks quickly and takes the better part of 1000 men with her.
Eastern Front: General Guderian's men continue to put pressure on the Red Army units defending Tula, but it is an increasingly hopeless battle. Today, the 17th Panzer Division (Brig. Gen. Rudolf Eduard Licht) approaches Kashira, about 50 km north of Venev, which looks impressive on the map as it is a great deal closer to Moscow than Tula. However, Lictht's advance causes as many problems as it solves, because it is extremely difficult to supply his panzers. Meanwhile, the bulk of Guderian's forces are making no progress at all on the direct road to Moscow through Tula. The Germans only control the territory within reach of their guns, with large stretches in between their isolated forces virtually undefended. This gives the Red Army units the ability to cross between the different Wehrmacht positions. The 239th Siberian Rifle Division, for instance, escapes from the 29th Motorized Division near Epifan, southeast of Tula, simply by driving around the German units. Lacking strong infantry support, the German effort south of Moscow is turning into the equivalent of tank raids rather than a full-fledged offensive.
North of Moscow, the German 18th Army continues to hold the strategically important city of Tikhvin despite brutal winter weather and increasing Red Army attacks. The commander of the 18th Army, Colonel General Georg von Küchler, accepts the inevitable after his men have made no progress since taking the city and orders them to cease all offensive operations. This leaves the most advanced German troops isolated at the tip of a dead schwerpunkt (spearhead) with long supply lines that are open to Soviet assault from both the north and south.
HMS Barham exploding in a fireball, 25 November 1941.
US/Japanese Relations: For several days, United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull has been preparing a modus vivendi agreement to restart stalled peace talks with the Japanese. This is a counter-proposal to the Japanese Proposal B submitted on 21 November which was completely unacceptable to the Americans. The modus vivendi would prohibit "any advance by force" in the Pacific - an obvious restriction on Japanese ambitions - and require a Japanese withdrawal from southern French Indochina. In exchange, the United States would resume limited trade with the Japanese to the extent of $600,000 worth of cotton, oil "for civilian needs" and medical supplies. The agreement by its terms would only last for three months and would be a stop-gap measure to reach a longer-lasting agreement.
Der Adler, 25 November 1941 (Heft 24, 25. November 1941.: Deutsches Reichsluftfahrtministerium).
The US War Council debates this very mild counterproposal on the 25th and decides that it would make sense to submit this modus vivendi to the Japanese. The obvious alternative is war, and the Army and Navy want more time to prepare for that. However, the decision to submit this counterproposal to the Japanese - who it is expected would take it - does not lie with the US War Council. Only one man can make that decision. Hull, who personally thinks the modus vivendi is pointless, schedules a meeting with President Roosevelt for the 26th.
The proposed B-36 bomber would feature dramatically greater bombload, range, and service ceiling in addition to its unprecedented size. Two prototypes are ordered from Consolidated on 25 November 1941.
US Military: The US Army Air Force contracts with Consolidated Aircraft (later Consolidated Vultee and then Convair) to produce two prototypes of a new experimental bomber. Consolidated is an experienced military plane manufacturer, having built the successful B-24 Liberator heavy bomber and the PBY Catalina. The overall wing area of the new plane is to encompass just under 5000 square feet and hold six engines placed at the back of the wings to push its 163-foot fuselage. This is a massive design that dwarfs current bombers, and the plane is designed to be able to fly from the continental United States, bomb targets in Europe, and then return without landing or refueling. The fixed fee payable to Consolidated is approximately $800,000 for each prototype and the first plane is scheduled to be ready by mid-1944. This plane ultimately is developed and becomes the B-36 Peacemaker.
HMS Barham right before it explodes and sinks. This apparently is a capture taken from a film made of the sinking. If one looks closely, men clinging for their lives are seen on the upraised hull and the decks.
Captain C. E. Morgan, commanding nearby HMS Valiant, gave an account of the sinking of HMS Barham:
"Our battleships were proceeding westwards line ahead, with the Valiant immediately astern the Barham and with a destroyer screen thrown out ahead of the battlefleet. At 4.23 p.m., carrying out a normal zigzag, we turned to port together, thus bringing the ships into echelon formation. Suddenly, at 4.25, I heard a loud explosion, followed by two further explosions a couple of seconds later. Fountains of water and two enormous columns of smoke shot skywards. The smoke formed an enormous mushroom, gradually enveloping the whole of the Barham, except the after part, which was subsequently also blotted out as the ship slid into a vast pall of smoke. As the explosions occurred the officer on watch gave the command “ Hard to port,” to keep clear of the Barham. Fifteen seconds later I saw a submarine break the surface, possibly forced there by the explosion. Passing from left to right, the submarine was apparently making to cross the Valiant’s bows between us and the Barham. He was only about seven degrees off my starboard bow and 150 yards away, though he must have fired his torpedoes from about 700 yards. As the periscope and then the conning tower appeared I ordered “ Full speed ahead, hard starboard.” But, with the helm already hard to port, I was unable to turn quickly enough to ram him before he crash-dived only 40 yards away on our starboard side. The submarine was visible for about 45 seconds, and, simultaneously with our ramming efforts, we opened fire with our starboard pom-poms. He was so close, however, that we were unable to depress the guns sufficiently and the shells passed over the conning-tower. I then gave the order “Amidships” again to avoid turning into the Barham, which was still underway with her engines running but listing heavily to port. As we came upon her beam she heeled further about 20 or 30 degrees, and through the smoke, I could see all her quarter-deck and forecastle. Men were jumping into the water and running up on the forecastle. The Barham was rolling on a perfectly even keel with neither bows nor stern sticking into the air. For one minute she seemed to hang in this position; then, at 4.28, she suddenly rolled violently, her mainmast striking the’ surface of the sea sharply a few seconds later. I saw water pouring into her funnels. There followed a big explosion amidships, from which belched black and brown smoke intermingled with flames. Pieces of wreckage, Hung high into the air, were scattered far and wide, the largest piece being about the size of my writing-desk. I immediately ordered “ Take cover ” as the wreckage started flying, and that was the last we saw of the Barham, which had run almost’ a mile since the moment she was hit. When the smoke cleared the only signs left were a mass of floating wreckage. … The 35,000-ton ship disappeared with unbelievable suddenness; it was only 4 minutes 35 seconds exactly from the moment the torpedoes struck until she had completely disappeared."
The U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull with Ambassador Nomura and Special Envoy Kurusu on or about 20 November 1941.
Japanese/US Relations: More than any other day's events until the actual attack on Pearl Harbor, those of 20 November 1941 is conclusive with respect to the likelihood of war in the Pacific Theater. With special envoy Saburo Kurusu now in Washington, D.C., Japanese Ambassador Nomura delivers the final Japanese peace proposal to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. This is "Proposal B," the U.S. already having rejected proposal A. Both proposals were formulated at the Imperial Conference held in Tokyo on 5 November. The Americans already know from the "Magic" intelligence operation that the peace proposal handed over today is the last one that the Japanese have any intention of making.
In Proposal A, Japan promised to withdraw from China and French Indochina (Vietnam), which is what the Americans want. However, this depended upon Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek signing a peace treaty that would permit the Imperial Japanese forces to remain in parts of China indefinitely. In addition, the Japanese would have agreed to free trade principles which are important to the Americans, and basically cast aside its obligations under the Tripartite Pact.
This is the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-1 on 20 November 1941 of Oblt Walter Schneider, an ace with Adolf Galland's JG 26 fighter unit based at Abbeville. Schneider will be shot down and killed just after getting victory No. 20 on 22 December 1941.
Proposal B, delivered today, is intended as a last resort but is no more acceptable to Hull and President Roosevelt. It provides that Japan will immediately withdraw all troops from French Indochina and also negotiate a final peace treaty with China - as long as the United States does not interfere. Japan and the United States then together would acquire the Netherlands Indies (Indonesia) and the two nations thereafter would become trading partners and, presumably, allies. It is a sweeping proposal that basically calls for a predatory alliance between the two powers, with the clear implication that Japan and the United States could do similar "deals" in the future.
In his memoirs published in 1948, which may or may not accurately reflect Hull's thinking in 1941, Hull is dismissive of the proposals. He writes that the Japanese offer
put conditions that would have assured Japan's domination of the Pacific, placing us in serious danger for decades to come.
Hull goes even further in his memoirs, at least rhetorically, claiming that this Japanese proposal called for "virtually a surrender" by the United States.
Since Hull knows this is the final Japanese proposal, he faces a stark choice of either trying to work with it somehow or knowing that war is going to break out. Both Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, and Brigadier General Leonard T. Gerow, a member of the War Plans Division who is representing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General George C. Marshall, both off advice. They counsel Hull to continue trying to find some modus vivendi with the Japanese despite the unacceptability of this plan. Gerow says:
Even a temporary peace in the Pacific would permit us to complete defensive preparations in the Philippines and at the same time ensure continuance of material assistance to the British -- both of which are highly important.
Despite indicating that the Japanese proposal is insufficient, Hull thus continues the negotiations even though the likelihood of some accommodation is very dim. Hull tasks Gerow, Stark, and their staffs to work up some more drafts of peace proposals over the next few days that might at least keep the negotiations going indefinitely. He promises Nomura that the U.S. will make a counterproposal.
General Kurt Briesen, commander of LII Army Corps, in Paris in front of the city commandant. He perishes on 20 November 1941 due to a Soviet aircraft attack (either bombing or strafing) near Isjum on the Seversky Donets River, southeast of Kharkiv. (Federal Archive Picture 146-2008-0358).
The Japanese, however, are not prepared to wait for Hull's empty gestures. Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori sends a revealing message to the Japanese Ambassador to Turkey today:
Insofar as Japanese-American negotiations are concerned, in proceeding upon these negotiations for the adjustment of diplomatic relations on a just basis, conferences have been in progress since the 7th. However, there is a great disparity between their opinions and our own. In the light of the trend of past negotiations, there is considerable doubt as to whether a settlement of the negotiations will be reached. Insofar as we are concerned we have lent our maximum efforts in order to bring about a settlement of the negotiations. However, the situation not permitting any further conciliation by us, an optimistic view of the future is not permitted. In the event that negotiations are broken off, we expect that the situation in which Japan will find herself will be extremely critical. The above is for your information alone.
Given the rejection of Proposal B by Hull, the Japanese government begins battening down for a likely conflict. All communications are cut with Iturup in the Kuril Islands because of the presence there of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier fleet which is assembling in Tankan Bay for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The government also makes a number of administrative changes that reflect the need to shift the government to a war posture. These include upgrading Ryojun Military Port (Port Arthur) and the naval base at Mako in the Pescadores Islands to the status of Guard Districts.
Police booking photo of Iris Eileen Mary Webber dated 20 November 1941. Webber, a petty thief and "grog seller" earns the title "The most violent woman in Sydney" by carrying a "knuckleduster" to mug people. She physically attacked men who competed with her, including some notorious toughs of the day. The men often dropped the charges and claimed that a man had attacked them. This photo was probably taken after she was arrested for selling beer out of her home in Woolloomooloo. Or, it could have been for assaulting a man named Jackie Holder with a tomahawk. Webber passed away in 1953 (State Archives & Records New South Wales).
Eastern Front: German 1st Panzer Army under General Ewald von Kleist seizes a bridge across the frozen Don River, the last natural barrier before the Caucasus. The panzers of 1st Panzer Division Leisbstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" under the command of Josef "Sepp" Dietrich are fighting in Rostov-on-Don. Things look promising for further advances in the oil fields to Hitler back at the Fuehrer Headquarters. However, the German spearhead, led by III Panzer Corps in Rostov and XIV Panzer Corps guarding its north flank, is elongated and vulnerable. The Red Army prepares forces to the south, east, and north of Rostov for a counterblow.
A wedding announcement in the 20 November 1941 Madison, Wisconsin State Journal. The article notes that the married couple "will leave on a short wedding trip," which during 1941 likely meant Niagara Falls.
Anglo/Iraq War: Luftwaffe Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck), after only a few days at Mosul, already as of 18 May 1941 has suffered a 30% attrition rate. Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Junck now has 8 Messerschmitt Bf 110s, 4 Heinkel He 111s, and 2 Junkers Ju 52s. Oberst Junck also has few bombs or supplies, so repairing his planes requires cannibalizing others. After his fierce introduction to the theater, Junck begins husbanding his forces and avoids engagements pending further reinforcements - whenever they might arrive.
The British advance on land continues, with a company of King's Own Royal Regiment being transported by air on the road to Baghdad. The RAF pounds Fallujah, which troops of column Kingcol are approaching. In addition, the British bomb airfields in Syria being used as transit points by the Luftwaffe.
Air Vice-Marshal Harry George Smart, who heroically has been in command at Habbaniya, is relieved of command now that Kingcol has arrived. In a murky incident, Smart suffers some kind of mental breakdown due to the strain of command. He is taken to Basra aboard a DC-2 for transport back to England and is replaced by Air Vice Marshal John Henry D’Albiac in command of the RAF in Iraq.
European Air Operations: It is a rare day in the northwest European theater when neither the Luftwaffe nor RAF Bomber Command launches any major operations.
East African Campaign: With surrender to the British agreed to on the 17th, the Duke of Aosta prepares to march out of his fortress of Amba Alagi with his 18,000 troops on the 19th. The Italians will exit in parade formation and temporarily be permitted to keep their rifles. The entire affair is quite cordial, and the Duke lunches with General Mosley Mayne, the British commander of the 5th Indian Division in the Duke's mountain cave. Both sides adhere to the agreement scrupulously, with the Italians leaving their installation intact and the British not molesting their captives.
U-boat Depot Ship Seeburg, involved in a collision today with U-126.
Battle of the Atlantic: U-107 (Kptlt. Günther Hessler) is operating about 130 miles southwest of Freetown when Hessler spots a ship in the evening. It is an independent 8286-ton British refrigerated ship Piako. Hessler pumps one torpedo into the Piako at 22:27, then another at 22:43. The radio operator has enough time to get off distress signals, and the crew gets off in good order. Ten men perish and 65 survive, to be picked up by destroyer HMS Bridgewater.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 483-ton British freighter Begerin about 17 miles south of South Bishops. Everyone survives.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 472-ton British freighter Eskburn off Blythe. The ship is disabled and must be towed to the Tyne for repairs.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 51-ton Free French fishing trawler La Brise about ten miles northwest of Sevenstones Lightship (moored off the Seven Stones Reef, which is almost 15 miles (24 km) to the west-northwest (WNW) of Land's End, Cornwall, and 7 miles (11 km) east-north-east (ENE) of the Isles of Scilly). The trawler manages to limp into Newlyn.
Royal Navy 84-ton naval drifter HMT Jewel hits a mine and sinks in Belfast Lough. There are 14 deaths, including master Lt. H.J. Cresswell.
U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer) is virtually within sight of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen at Gdynia (Gotenhafen) when it collides with U-boat Depot Ship for the 27th U- Boat Flotilla Seeburg. The U-126 is still working up for its first war patrol, and the damage to both ships is relatively minor.
German battleship Bismarck being outfitted at Seebahnhof dock 4 in Gdynia (Gotenhafen). Photo is taken from the Prinz Eugen, which dates it to between 15-18 May 1941.
Operation Rheinübung ("Rhine Crossing") is set to begin, so battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen make preparations to leave Gdynia (Gotenhafen). Admiral Lutjens, a hero of the invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung) and the daring sortie by heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau earlier in the year (Operation Berlin), and also Commander of Battleships and the third Flottenchef (Fleet Commander) of the Kriegsmarine, is in command of the operation. At 10:00, Lutjens inspects Prinz Eugen's crew, then holds a commanders' conference on Bismarck with Kapitän zur See Harald Netzband (Lütjens Chief of Staff), Generaladmiral Alfred Saalwächter (Commanding Officer, Group West) and the two commanding officers of Bismarck (Lindemann) and Prinz Eugen (Brinkmann). Lutjens briefs them on the mission and informs them that the ships will sail north along the Norwegian coast and refuel from tanker Wesenburg, then proceed through the Denmark Strait to the open Atlantic.
Prinz Eugen leaves port for Operation Rheinübung at 21:00. The Bismarck waits until the morning of the 19th. In Scapa Flow, Admiral Tovey has received reports (possibly through Ultra) of such a sortie, and today he gives cruiser HMS Suffolk, on patrol in the Denmark Strait, orders to keep a close watch for German ships.
A key feature of Operation Rheinübung is the Kriegsmarine's supply network in the Atlantic, so far relatively undisturbed by the Allies. German 9789-ton tanker Egerland relieves tanker Nordmark today, and the latter proceeds to the Bay of Biscay and, ultimately, Hamburg.
Convoy OB 324 departs from Liverpool.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lightning (Commander Richard G. Stewart) is commissioned.
Canadian corvette HMCS Baddeck (Lt. Alan H. Easton) is commissioned.
Alfred Edward Sephton receives the Victoria's Cross for services rendered today aboard HMS Coventry. Sephton receives an eye wound and perishes on 19 May.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italian High Command in Rome issues a communique stating in part that "Our counteroperations against the Allies in North Africa have been completely successful." This is close to the truth, as the British still retain Halfaya Pass but otherwise have relinquished their recent gains from Operation Brevity. That Rome is announcing this success rather than Berlin is an expression of Hitler's desire to make Mussolini and his military seem more imposing than most think that they are.
The activity on the Operation Brevity front in southeast Libya dies down, and the opposing forces settle down to garrison duty. General Erwin Rommel, in command of the Afrika Korps, begins planning an attack on Halfaya Pass to restore his original lines.
Everyone's attention now shifts to Crete, which the Luftwaffe is preparing to invade with airborne troops and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill knows is next on the German docket of operations through Ultra decrypts. Churchill sends messages full of foreboding to Mediterranean Fleet commander Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and the commander of British forces on Crete, General Freyberg, telling Freyberg that these are "fateful days" and Cunningham that the outcome of the battle will "affect whole world situation. Hitler, meanwhile, has pawned the difficult Operation Mercury off on Hermann Goering and shows very little interest in it. The British codename for the defense of Crete is Operation Scorcher.
The British continue reinforcing Crete, which already is packed with soldiers who basically are refugees from the failed campaign on the mainland. After sunset, 700 Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders arrive at Tymbaki, Crete from Port Said on troopship Glengyle.
The Luftwaffe continues its operations against British installations on Crete in preparation for Operation Mercury. During an attack on Suda Bay, the German planes further damaged heavy cruiser HMS York, which has been disabled since an attack by Italian explosive motorboats on 26 March, and corvette Salvia. The Luftwaffe also damages 12,667 ton Royal Navy tanker RFA Olna during the attack and its master prevents sinking by beaching it.
The Luftwaffe lands planes on mainland Greece, in the north, and in Attica in the south, in preparation for Operation Mercury.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch, on patrol off Benghazi, torpedoes and sinks 2362-ton Italian freighter Giovinezza.
At Malta, it is another quiet day, as the Luftwaffe merely carries one reconnaissance flight without incident. RAF reconnaissance reports that a hospital ship, apparently the Aba which had been attacked by Luftwaffe planes on the 17th, was approaching the island.
German spy Karel Richter, who has been brought back to his landing ground on 18 May 1941 as part of his interrogation, gestures to show what he did in his few hours after landing by parachute in the woods. With Richter from left to right are Major R.W.G. Stephens, Lt. G.F. Sampson, Lt. R.A.F. Short, Richter, Captain D.B. Stimson, and Lt. E.B. Goodacre. Richter is being held at Camp 020, and these men of military intelligence are from that camp ((Imperial War Museum - HU 66766).
Special Forces: A force of 23 men from the Haganah's maritime section leaves the port of Haifa bound for Tripoli. Their mission is to blow up refineries there and blow them up. The mission is a complete failure and, after landing, the force disappears. German/Vichy French Relations: While the Germans have reached an agreement with Vichy French Vice Premier Admiral Darlan on several matters, the agreement remains uncertain. Adolf Hitler is unhappy with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and Ambassador Abetz for making too many concessions (release of French prisoners in exchange for transit rights in Syria), and lets loose one of his famous rants at Ribbentrop's expense. Hitler also has mixed feelings about how to treat France, feeling that the Vichy regime is unstable and the entire country will have to be invaded at some point. At this time, however, no changes are made in any agreements with the French. Somewhat tellingly, he is more concerned about the French today than he is about the imminent invasion of Crete.
Anglo/Irish Relations: Winston Churchill responds to a request by General Ismay and Viscount Cranborne for armaments sales to the government of Eire by stating in part:
I do not object to the ten Hector aircraft being given to Southern Ireland, nor to their purchasing the one Hurricane and one Hudson which are interned there. I do not like giving them Vickers guns, or all these demolition materials... because they are much more likely to be used against us if we march down from the North than against German invaders, of whose coming there is very little chance.
He adds that he views the proceeds from any arms sales to Eire as "petty cash."
Soviet Military: Around this time, the Politburo becomes concerned about the high accident rate in the Red Air Force. The members also are perturbed about a mysterious incident in which a German transport manages to fly into Moscow and land without being detected by the Soviet Air Defense. This incident is poorly understood, with few known facts (it may have been a Junkers Ju 52, a Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance plane, or perhaps a DC-2 in German civil service). However, what is known with certainty is that it sends Soviet paranoia about pro-German conspiracies within the Red Air Force skyrocketing.
The investiture of Tomislav I of Croatia, 18 May 1941.
Croatia: The Independent State of Croatia is established. Prince Aimone, the Duke of Spoleto and next in line to be the Duke of Aosta and a cousin of King Victor Emmanuel III, is crowned King Tomislav I of Croatia at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Ante Pavelić, the leader of the fascist Ustaše movement and de facto ruler of Croatia, attends the ceremony. The new principality the prince will rule, carved out of the former state of Yugoslavia, covers most of the later states of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The official communique state:
By virtue of further. agreements entered into with representatives of the so‑called 'Independent State of Croatia' that 'state,' previously established on Yugoslav territory by the military authorities of occupation, has been declared by the Italian Government to be a hereditary monarchy under Italian protection, thus establishing in effect if not in name an annexation of these territories by the Italian Government.
Bulletin, Vol. IV, No. 102, p. 683. Pursuant to the agreement, the Italians get the coastal area of Split and Kotor and a large area around Zara. Italian troops are permitted access to all areas of Croatia. The Germans also maintain a military sphere of their own in Croatia which is unaffected by the Italian/Croatian agreements.
The new king gets off to a bad start by refusing to go to Duvno (Tomislavgrad) in Croatia for the investiture, preferring to remain in Rome. This is probably prudent since within the past few days an assassination attempt on King Victor Emmanuel failed while he was visiting Albania. Prince Aimone never will go to Croatia, preferring to rule from Italy and Hungary. In any event, Prince Aimone is merely a figurehead for Pavelić.
French Homefront: In Paris, the Gestapo arrests prominent French Communist journalist and politician Gabriel Péri (Peri). Peri is a strident anti-fascist, and his arrest (and later execution on 15 December at Fort Mont-Valérien) is a galvanizing moment in the growth of the French Resistance.
Belgian Homefront: The German authorities agree to a wage increase of 8 percent, ending the Belgian "Strike of the 100,00." The strike actually never involved 100,000 workers (more like 70,000), and from now on the occupying force keeps a close eye out for similar disturbances. The Germans also bear a grudge against the Belgian communists who organized the strike, but for the time being, they decide not to act against them to avoid provoking the Soviet Union.
American Homefront: Secretary of State Cordell Hull makes a radio broadcast from Washington, D.C. to commemorate National Foreign-Trade Week. It is a wide-ranging speech that emphasizes the importance of free trade despite foreign "conquest." He enumerates five principles for "world economic reconstruction";
Extreme nationalism must not again be permitted to express itself in excessive trade restrictions.
Non-discrimination in international commercial relations must be the rule, so that international trade may grow and prosper.
Raw-material supplies must be available to all nations without discrimination.
International agreements regulating the supply of commodities must be so handled as to protect fully the interests of the consuming countries and their people.
The institutions and arrangements of international finance must be so set up that they lend aid to the essential enterprises and the continuous development of all countries, and permit the payment through processes of trade consonant with the welfare of all countries.
These principles will guide the main strains of post-war trade theory for decades.
A strike at the Goodrich rubber plant in Akron, Ohio ends when the CIO workers agree to a $0.06/hour raise. There currently are about 18 other strikes with national defense implications.
Future History: Diane McBain is born in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain goes on to do some child modeling, then, during her senior year at Glendale High School (the family had moved to California), she is spotted by a talent scout. McBain signs with Warner Bros. and goes on to an cting career. McBain is perhaps best known for roles in early '60s television series "Surfside 6" and Elvis Presley's "Spinout" (1966). McBain continues acting into the 21st Century, but after an incident in the 1980s also becomes a rape counselor. Diane McBain is still alive as of this writing.
