Tuesday 11 February 1941

German Panzers arriving in Tripoli, 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The front remains stable on 11 February 1941, which effectively is of benefit to the Italians. The wrangling about what to do in Greece continues in London. Prime Minister Winston Churchill feels that the British should insert "at least 4 Divisions, rising to 6 or 10 in the summer." He wishes to "make an offer of assistance to the Greeks" and proposes sending guns and a squadron of American Curtis Tomahawk P-40 fighters there. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and General Sir John Dill both set agree to visit Cairo and Athens to coordinate the expected troop movements.

The Greeks are looking at the Bulgarian border and considering their own defensive military options. The Italians, meanwhile, are determined to defend the key port of Valona (Vlorë and are planning another counteroffensive in the next few days. To date, Italian counteroffensives in Greece have been unmitigated disasters, making no progress and winding up costing the Italians territory. However, the contest for the Trebeshina Heights near the Klisura Pass has produced some minor defensive successes for the Italians, who are fighting much better now than earlier in the campaign.

East African Campaign: The battle at Keren, Eritrea continues. British Indian troops are faced with the tactical problem of forcing their way through the narrow Dongolaas Gorge in order to enter the Keren Plateau. The 3/1st Punjab Regiment takes the top of Sanchil, a low peak overlooking the gorge and have men on the sides of Brig's Peak next to it. However, the Indians are faced with murderous crossfire from both sides of the gorge, as the Italians occupy the heights all around them. While they might be able to hold their ground despite this, the approaches to the peaks are flat ground which exposes anyone crossing it to machine gunfire. Thus, no matter how much they bring with them, the Indians eventually run low on supplies. The Italians rain mortar and artillery fire on the Indian troops throughout the day. Finally, the Italian Savoia Grenadiers advances on the Indian troops and forces them off of both Brig's Peak and Sanchil.

By day's end, the Indian troops wind up back where they started at Cameron Ridge. This reversal, identical to the first attempt to take the peaks several days before, does not interfere with plans to attack the other (right) side of the gorge on the 12th.

In Italian Somaliland, South African and Gold Coast troops (East African 22nd Infantry Brigade) complete the capture of Afmadu at the north end of the Juba River. The South African Air Force heavily supports these attacks.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 79 bombers against Bremen and 29 against Hanover during the night. There are other RAF operations as well during the day, including a Coastal Command attack on the seaplane base at Thisted, Jutland. There also are some Circus offensive RAF operations over northern France.

The day is notable for the first RAF attack by four-engine bombers. Three Short Stirlings bomb the docks at Rotterdam.

The Luftwaffe mainly stays on the ground today, as has been the practice for much of 1941 so far. A few bombs are dropped in the east and southeast of England, while the Luftwaffe attacks shipping off the Scottish coast.

An American, James Alton Jepson of Decatur, Georgia, has been serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force as an observer. Sergeant Jepson enlisted on 15 April 1940 in Ottawa, then was shipped to England with his unit. He goes missing today on a mission and is never found.

USS Long Island (AVG-1), 11 November 1941. Identifiable on her flight deck are 7 Curtiss SOC-3A scout planes and 1 Brewster F2A fighter. This was the US Navy's first escort carrier, commissioned 2 June 1941. Planes flown off the Long Island were the first US planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal (US Navy photo.)

Battle of the Atlantic: British monitor HMS Erebus parks off Ostend between 01:00 and 01:40 and bombards the port along with escorting destroyers HMS Quorn and Eglinton. This is Operation PX.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Snapper (Lt. G.V. Prowse) fires at German minesweepers M.2, M.13 and M.25 southwest of Ouessant, Finistère, France in the Bay of Biscay. The attack fails, and the German ships attack and sink Snapper. At least, this is believed to have been her fate, as none of the 41 men aboard survived to tell the tale. Another theory is that she hit a mine.

Operating between Portugal and the Azores, German battlecruiser Admiral Hipper encounters 1236-ton British freighter Iceland. Iceland is from Convoy HX 53, which already has been savaged by U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks and dispersed. Hipper makes short work of Iceland with its guns. In the evening, Hipper spots Convoy SLS 64 (19 ships) out of Freetown and stalks it through the night.

The Luftwaffe attacks 227-ton British trawler Eamont off the coast of northern Scotland. All ten men aboard take to the boats and survive, but the abandoned ship is run ashore by the winds and current and wrecked.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 215-ton British trawler John Dunkin 13 miles northeast of Buckie, Aberdeenshire. There is one death.

In a related attack nearby, the Luftwaffe attacks 488-ton British freighter Cantick Head and damages it.

Minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield ZME 16 in the Irish Sea.

Convoy OB 285 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Ultimatum is launched.

US destroyers USS Aaron Ward and Buchanan are laid down.

U-68 (Kapitänleutnant Karl-Friedrich Merten) is commissioned, U-80 is launched.

A burning Italian CR 42 biplane fighter. The original caption said that it was hit during aerial combat over Tobruk. El Adem, 11 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell requests permission from the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to continue Operation Compass into Tripolitania in western Libya. Whitehall denies this request, as Prime Minister Winston Churchill is more interested in sending troops to Greece.

The British decision to halt their offensive is made just in time - for the Wehrmacht. Today, the German convoy which departed from Naples with a stopover in Palermo arrives in Tripolitania as part of Operation Sunflower (Unternehmen Sonnenblume). The transports carry troops of the 5th Light Division, the vanguard of General Erwin Rommel's Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK). This is the first time that German troops have been on North African soil. These troops would still be quite vulnerable before they are reinforced - if the British were to attack. Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique spots the troop convoy and attacks one of the ships, German transport Ankara, but misses. Allied attacks on troop convoys from Naples will be a prime cause of the DAK's issues in North Africa.

General Rommel, en route to Tripoli, arrives in Rome. German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels has given him a camera and some color film, which Rommel intends to make use of.

The Italians never wanted the Germans involved in their "empire" of North Africa, but the situation has changed drastically over the past few months due to Italian reversals there and in Albania. Mussolini accepts the resignation of Libyan commander Rodolfo Graziani, who flies out of Tripoli today. He is replaced by the Italian 5th Army (Tripolitania) Commander General Italo Gariboldi.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies resumes his extended journey from Melbourne to London. He arrives today in Benghazi, where he meets with General Iven Mackay, commander of the Australian 6th Infantry Division. This division captured Bardia, Tobruk, and Benghazi, and Menzies somewhat cattily comments in his diary that the General's "tactics are highly praised, but [he] looks as gently ineffectual as ever." He dines with General O'Connor, commander of XIII Corps, of whom he notes:

He did this job [conquer Cyrenaica], but Wavell has received all the credit.... Wavell will probably get a peerage while this man gets a CB but that is the way of the world.

Menzies notes that life has changed little in Benghazi for the residents there, with "good Australians slapping down their money on the bar of a hotel conducted by a 'conquered' Italian."

The Royal Navy begins Operation Shelford, the clearing of Benghazi Harbor by minesweepers. A similar operation at Tobruk was a disaster, with several ships hitting mines after the port was declared free of mines. In fact, today 344-ton naval whaler HMSAS Southern Floe hits a mine off Tobruk and sinks, killing everybody on board (mostly South Africans) but one rating.

At Malta, there are some minor Luftwaffe attacks on St. Paul's Bay that cause minor damage to a seaplane base and petrol lighter. Antiaircraft fire downs a Junkers Ju 88.

Two Malta-based RAF reconnaissance pilots, Flying Officer Adrian Warburton of 431 Flight (now 69 Squadron) and his observer/navigator, Sergeant Frank Bastard, are decorated. Warburton receives the DFC, while Bastard receives the Distinguished Flying Medal. Bastard is the navigator who took over as pilot (without any training) and successfully landed the plane after the pilot (apparently Warburton) was rendered unconscious. As usual in the British military, the senior officer in such a situation invariably receives a plum award when a subordinate is decorated - as Menzies noted (see above), "that is the way of the world."

Free French forces under Leclerc take the Italian outpost Gadamis in southwestern Libya.

The body of an Italian soldier lies where he fell during battle, in a stone-walled fort in the West Libyan desert, on February 11, 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis rendezvouses with supply vessel Tannenfels east of Madagascar. Atlantis has captured Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig and 5159-ton freighter Speybank with it. The tanker, in particular, is prized because it has a load of fuel which is quite useful for all of the German ships. The Speybank is no slouch either, being used by the Germans as a minelayer off Cape Town.

Battle of the Pacific: In the Dutch East Indies, the military authorities for some reason go on a high military alert. They suddenly close all ports to Japanese shipping, order Dutch vessels to safe waters, put the military on alert and take other actions. The Japanese are not planning anything, however.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Thracian and minelayer HMS Man Yeung lay mines outside Hong Kong Harbor.

A 1941 Lincoln Continental. The Lincoln Continental was the idea of Henry Ford's son Edsel, who wanted something sporty to use on vacation. It originally was built as a one-off for him but was such a fine car that it went into limited production. This particular Lincoln, immaculately restored, was No. 290 of 400, built on 11 February 1941. This was the original model year, with only two dozen manufactured in 1939. All Continentals built 1939-41 are a single model year.

US/Japanese Relations: New Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura arrives in Washington. Nomura is a moderate who genuinely wants to broker some kind of deal to avoid conflict with US Secretary of State Cordell Hull. However, the hardliners in Tokyo want concessions (primarily economic), while the Americans are not interested, demanding major concessions of their own (entirely military and political ones). Major issues between the two powers are the US oil embargo of Japan, Japanese military action in China, and the Japanese occupation of Indochina.

Vichy French/German Relations: Rudolf Hilferding dies in a Gestapo dungeon in Paris. Hilferding is a prominent Jewish socialist from Austria who upon the accession of Hitler to power fled to Denmark, then Switzerland, then Paris. He would have been safe in Zurich, but he left there for Paris in 1939 (many expected Hitler to invade Switzerland in 1939). The Vichy French arrested him, and the Vichy government turned him over to the Gestapo on 9 February despite Hilferding securing an emergency visa to emigrate to the United States. The Gestapo tortured him at La Santé for two days, leading to his death. Hilferding's wife, Margarete, is sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp and perishes there in 1942.

Anglo/Italian Relations: Rumors are flying in Vichy France that Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain and Marshal Petain are trying to negotiate an Armistice between Great Britain and Italy. If this is the case, though, nothing seems to come of it.

"A sailor and his girlfriend are amongst the crowds listening to a speech by a member of the Socialist Party at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park." While Winston Churchill attempts to suppress prominent socialists from speaking on the BBC, he is unconcerned about agitators in Hyde Park. February 1941. © IWM (D 2095).

British Government: Churchill sends General Ismay a note suggesting that "an Anti-Mussolini or Free-Italian" force be organized in Cyrenaica using Italian POWs. He views this as "world propaganda." It is unclear where he came up with this idea, but he might not be flattered to be told that this is an old Soviet and Imperial Japanese tactic.

Churchill also complains to Minister of Shipping Ronald Cross about an incident involving a ship that refused to sail around from Liverpool to London. Agreeing with the captain's reasoning, Churchill points out the immense value of the ship's cargo to the war effort (19,677 sub-machine guns and about 2.5 million cartridges). Churchill notes that "I always follow the movements of these important cargoes."

US Government: President Roosevelt meets with U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, U.S. Secretary of the Navy William "Frank" Knox, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold R. Stark, and U.S. General of the Army George C. Marshall. Roosevelt suggests that the navy risk half a dozen cruisers and two aircraft carriers at Manila as bait to gt the Japanese to enter the war. Navy Chief of Operations replies:

I have previously opposed this and you have concurred as to its unwisdom. Particularly do I recall your remark in a previous conference when Mr. Hull suggested (more forces to Manila) and the question arose as to getting them out and your 100% reply, from my standpoint, was that you might not mind losing one or two cruisers, but that you did not want to take a chance on losing 5 or 6.

This is contained in Charles Beard's "President Roosevelt and the Coming of War 1941 (2003), p 424. I can't find any confirmation for this claim, which is a favorite of conspiracy theorists. That doesn't mean it isn't factual, though.

Another outcome of this meeting is that the US government decides to warn American nationals in vulnerable Asian targets such as Rangoon, Burma, and Singapore to leave while they still can.

Wendell Willkie appears before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the committee prepares to conclude its consideration of the Lend-Lease bill. He recommends passing the bill and quickly sending help to Great Britain because otherwise, the US would be at war with Germany within a month. Among his recommendations is that every American bomber in the US Army Air Corp should be sent at once to join the RAF, in addition to five or ten destroyers per month. Willkie does, however, suggest that specific time limits be attached to the President's exercise of lend-lease powers - this is a major concern of many, both within the government and outside it.

Willkie's opinion is given great weight because he just returned from a fact-finding mission in London for President Roosevelt - made at his own expense. Since Willkie was the 1940 Republican Presidential candidate, this suggests that who won that election really made little difference in the long-run course of events. After his testimony, Willkie continues his cozy relationship with his former opponent by meeting with him at the White House.

Look Magazine, 11 February 1941.

Dutch Government: The British severed diplomatic relations with Romania on the 10th, and the Dutch Government-in-exile (in London) follows suit today.

Dutch Homefront: Tensions between local German supporters and those defending Jewish interests have been sparking over the last week. Pitched battles break out today in Amsterdam's Waterlooplein. Pro-German Dutch militia "Weerbaarheidsafdeling" (defense section) is prominent in these attacks, targeting the old Jewish section of the city. Those fighting against the WA are effective, mortally wounding WA member Hendrik Koot (he dies of his wounds on 14 February).

American Homefront: There is a major gas leak in South Philadelphia which erupts into an explosion and fire. A row of eight houses is destroyed on Greenwich Street. The lots are cleared, and the lots remain empty for many years, used by neighborhoods to park their cars or grow vegetables. At least four people die, including a policeman, James J. Clarke, trying to rescue a mother and her two daughters.

Future History: William M. Landham is born in Canton, Georgia. As "Sonny" Landham, he begins an acting career in adult films. He later turns to mainstream films, appearing in such classics as "The Warriors" (he's the subway cop whose legs are broken by Michael Beck), "Predator" and "48 Hours." He also acts in such series as "The A-Team" and "The Fall Guy." Landham achieves his greatest degree of fame by appearing in an episode of "Miami Vice" as Toad, one of Reb Brown's Violator gang in the episode "Viking Bikers from Hell." Sonny later attempts to run for political office in Georgia and Kentucky, but to date has not been elected.

Destruction in South Philadelphia, 11 February 1941.

February 1941

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

2020

Monday 11 November 1940

The Italians waited too long to beach battleship Conte di Cavour in Taranto harbor.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation Judgment, the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, on 11 November 1940 launches 21 Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers (20 make it to the target) from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R 87). They attack the main southern Italian (Regia Marina) naval base at Taranto. The attack is technically risky because the aerial torpedoes could accidentally hit the shallow (12 meters) bottom when 23 m is considered the minimum necessary - but they don't.

Three battleships at anchor are bombed and torpedoed by RAF No. 815 Squadron beginning at 22:58:

• Conte di Cavour (sunk in very shallow water, 27 killed, 100+ wounded)
• Caio Duilio (beached)
• Littorio (three torpedo strikes, 32 dead, beached))

The British lose two planes. Littorio, the newest ship, is repaired in five months, Caio Duilio in six/seven months, Conte di Cavour is never fully repaired. The Italians also lose two aircraft on the ground and sustain damage to cruiser Trento, destroyer Libeccio (unexploded bombs hit them) and destroyer Pessagno.

The attack alters the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean. However, the change is subtle, and the remaining Italian fleet remains formidable. Two of the battleships sunk are old and likely would have remained in harbor anyway. The newer Littorio, meanwhile, is back in action fairly quickly. The underlying problem with the Regia Marina is not the number of capital ships that it has, but its unwillingness or inability to use them as aggressively as the Royal Navy does.

The attack originally was the idea of Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1938. When Pound handed off to Cunningham in mid-1939, he also bequeathed upon his successor the training and preparation for this attack.

Operation Judgment is just part of the overall Operation MB 8 currently being carried out in the Mediterranean. It involves the supply of Malta, the transfer of ships from Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Fleet, attacks on Italian bases throughout the Mediterranean, and other measures designed to improve the British position in the region. This attack on Taranto, though, is the climax of the larger operation.

The influence of the Taranto attack reverberates around the world. The Imperial Japanese Navy studies the attack closely and uses lessons from it during planning for the later attack on Pearl Harbor. The real effect of the Battle of Taranto, though, is the basic lesson that naval aviation based upon squadrons centered on aircraft carriers can have devastating power. It is a major step beyond the battleships that have dominated naval planning for the past 50 years. The US Navy also benefits from this object lesson in the long run.

A Fiat CR 42 Falco biplane fighter after crash-landing near Lowestoft, Suffolk on 11 November 1940. The plane was forced down by a propeller malfunction. Courtesy Australian War Memorial ID 005696.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue pushing the Italians back to the Kalamas River along the coast. Elsewhere, the Italians have taken up defensive positions except at Elea in the Negrades sector, where they make some small tactical gains. In the central Pindos sector, the Greek 1st Infantry Division continues attacking.

The Greeks, meanwhile, are bringing up reinforcements for a counter-offensive without too much hindrance from the Regia Aeronautica. The RAF sends night raids against Italian supply ports at Valona and Durazzo in Albania.

A crashed Fiat CR 42 on the beach at Orfordness, Suffolk. It was with the 95 Squadriglia 18 Gruppo, 56 Stormo. Pilot Sergente Pietro Salvadori becomes his Majesty's guest for the remainder of the war.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe sends fighter-bombers (Jabos) against London in two large waves during the day. Some of the Jabos get through, but the RAF forces most of them to drop their bombs early over random areas. Junkers Ju 87 Stukas also attack shipping off Kent, but have little success; seaplane attacks during the day, though, have great success (described below).

The Italian bomber fleet (Corpo Aereo Italiano, or CAI) based in Belgium sends a dozen Fiat BR 20M bombers and 42 Fiat CR 42 fighters across the Channel toward Harwich at 13:30. Three RAF Hawker Hurricane squadrons (Nos. 17, 46 and 257) shoot down three of the bombers and three fighters, and damaging two other bombers, at no cost of their own and deflect the attack. The Luftwaffe raids London with only about two dozen planes during the night due to poor weather.

Winston Churchill, never a big fan of Italian war prowess, finds the CAI's incompetence amusing, saying later:

[The Italian planes] might have found better employment defending the fleet at Taranto.

RAF Bomber Command attacks Lorient and various Luftwaffe airfields along the coast. The weather over the Continent is judged to be too poor for night attacks.

Top Luftwaffe ace Walter Oesau becomes Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 3, he is replaced at III,/JG 51 by Hptm. Richard Leppla.

Illustrating how personal the air war can get, leading ace Kommodore Major Werner Mölders of JG 51 gets distraught when a friend, Oblt. Georg Claus with 18 victories, is shot down over the Thames Estuary. He personally goes back and searches for the downed pilot with his wingman, Lt. Eberle, but can't find him.

RAF night fighter No. 650 Squadron shoots down a Junkers Ju 88A bomber by using A.I.IV radar. It is the first kill by the new Beaufighters.

Fiat BR.20M MM.22267 of 242a Squadriglia on the airfield. This plane was shot down on 11 November 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: In Operation Medium, the British battleship HMS Revenge and half a dozen destroyers bombard Cherbourg from 03:33 to 03:51.

It is a big day for aerial attacks on shipping. Aside from the RAF success at Taranto, the Luftwaffe also uses its seaplanes to sink a number of ships. While largely forgotten to the general public, the Heinkel He 115 seaplane was a fearsome Luftwaffe weapon during the war's early years.

The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of KGr 706) attacks convoy EN 23 in the North Sea 7.4 km south of Aberdeen. The convoy is defenseless except for the serendipitous fact that it is passing Convoy WN 34, which has as an escort anti-aircraft ship HMS Alynbank.

The seaplanes torpedo and sink 4327-ton British freighter Trebartha. (The ship's bell is recovered in 1999 and occasionally changes hands). Four crew perish.

The same Luftwaffe attack sinks 3997-ton British freighter Creemuir about 15 miles southeast of Aberdeen. There are 27 deaths. The Creemuir was the lead ship of the port column of the 31-merchant-ship convoy. The torpedo hits amidships and the ship sinks within three minutes. The ship is discovered and dived the wreck in 2009; the divers retrieved the ship's bell and gave it to surviving crew member, Radio Officer Noel Blacklock.

Another ship, British 1141-ton freighter Harlaw in Convoy WN 34, also is damaged in this attack.

Elsewhere, the Luftwaffe (possibly Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of 3,/KGr 906) torpedoes and sinks 3371-ton Norwegian freighter Ravnanger off Redcar, Yorkshire in Tees Bay. There are 26 survivors and one death.

British 2474-ton freighter Corsea is damaged in Barrow Deep off Middlesborough by Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of KGr 506. The Luftwaffe loses two Junkers Ju 88s and a Bf 109 during these attacks.

British freighter Colonel Crompton also is damaged in the same attack off Southend.

British 2345-ton freighter Corduff also is damaged in the same attack off Southend. (This ship was sunk in March 1941; it is a bit unclear what happened to it during this convoy on 11 November 1940, the damage, if any, must have been light).

There are other Luftwaffe attacks which damage 932-ton British freighter Pitwines east of Yarmouth.

British 314-ton trawler Iwate also is damaged by the Luftwaffe five miles southwest of Old Head of Kinsale.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors also get into the aerial action. A Condor of 1,/KG 40 bombs and sinks 1925-ton British freighter Balmore about 560 km west of Ireland. One of the great strengths of the Condors is their extensive range out over the convoy routes when operating from France. All 27 crew on the Balmore perish.

Royal Navy 417-ton trawler HMT Stella Orion hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off Herne Bay, Kent. Everyone survives.

British 118-ton coaster Skarv hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel. Five men perish.

British 406-ton coaster Porthcarrack runs aground and is lost near Porthcawl, Glamorgan, off the mouth of Ogmore River, Ogmore-by-Sea. There are four deaths and four survivors. Attempts are made to refloat the vessel, but it is too badly damaged to remain afloat.

Greek 5186-ton freighter Dionyssios Stathatos loses its rudder in the Atlantic west of the Outer Hebrides and is abandoned. Some sources place this loss on 12 December 1940.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vega hits a mine off Sunk Head Buoy while escorting Convoy FS 332. It is taken in tow by tug St. Mellons and brought to Harwich for repairs. The ship is badly damaged and takes two full years to return to service.

British 50-ton coaster Grit detonates a mine and is damaged just off Margate Buoy.

British freighter Ardmore sails out of the Port of Cork and then disappears. Some flotsam and jetsam are found, but nobody knows what happened to the ship until much later. Many accounts state that it was sunk by the Luftwaffe. In 1998, the wreck is found in 83 feet of water two miles south of Saltee Islands. It finally is learned that the ship struck a (likely magnetic) mine. As a coincidence, the wreck is near another ship named the Ardmore that sank 23 years earlier, almost to the day, during World War 1. All 24 men on board perish.

A plaque commemorating the SS Ardmore which relatives of the deceased placed upon the Penrose Quayside of the Michael Collins Bridge, near where the Ardmore departed on 11 November 1940. These daily summaries are full of numbers of people killed and wounded, it is good to recall that we are talking about real people with families and friends whose loss deeply hurt many people.

British liner Empress of Japan, attacked by the Luftwaffe on the 10th, makes port with light damage. German radio claims to have sunk her.

British corvette HMS Rhododendron spots U-103 and attacks it with depth charges 200 miles northwest of Ireland, but the U-boat escapes undamaged.

Convoy OB 242 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 332 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 333 departs from Methil, Convoy HX 85, recalled due to the Admiral Scheer attack, departs from Sydney, Canada.

American minesweeper USS Raven (AM 55) is commissioned.

Battle of the Indian Ocean/Pacific: German raider Atlantis encounters 7528-ton British freighter Automedon about 400 km west of Sumatra around 07:00. The crew of the Automedon has no idea that the Atlantis, disguised as another ship, is a German raider until they are only 5000 meters apart and the crew of the Atlantis runs up its German pennant. The Germans quickly block the Automedon's transmissions so it can radio for help. Because the Automedon does not surrender, the Atlantis opens fire and hits the bridge, killing the captain and many others. There are 6-8 deaths and 12 other casualties, who are taken as prisoners. In all, there are 75 crew, a gunner, and 21 passengers taken prisoner.

The Automedon is carrying 15 bags of Top Secret mail for the British Far East Command, decoding tables, Naval Intelligence reports - all sorts of valuable information. The most valuable information is an envelope addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command which details the British War Cabinet's detailed evaluation of British assets in the Far East. The captain of the Automedon almost certainly would have thrown this overboard if he hadn't been killed by the Atlantis' first shot. The Atlantis takes off all the useful information and supplies and then scuttles the Automedon at 15:07.

Captain Rogge of the Atlantis gives the captured intelligence to the prize crew which he puts on the captured Ole Jacob. He then sends that ship off to Kobe, Japan. The ship makes it there and delivers the intelligence to the German embassy on 4 December 1940. The ambassador, in turn, gives it to a courier to take to Berlin via the Trans-Siberian Railway. A copy is given to the Japanese.

While all this may seem a bit esoteric and perhaps irrelevant, in fact, the incident is seen by many as playing a huge factor in the Japanese decision to attack the British (and Americans) on 7 December 1941. The material taken shows how weak the British position is in the Far East and how easy it would be to conquer the region.

Wars are full of coincidences, and today two widely separate incidents occur which dramatically influence the events of 7 December 1941: this capture of the Automedon and its secret documents, and the Royal Navy attack on Taranto. In fact, if this decision does influence the Japanese decision to attack it is of far greater importance than the Taranto attack. Demonstrating how important this is, the Japanese bestow upon Captain Rogge an ornate katana (sword) on 27 April 1943, one of only three ever given to a member of the Wehrmacht (the others are given to Hermann Goering and Erwin Rommel).

The SS Sinaloa, which ran aground on a reef in Sac Bay off the Garden Peninsula, Michigan, US on Nov. 11, 1940.

Soviet/German Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov boards a train to take him to Berlin for his high-stakes meeting with Hitler and Ribbentrop.

Czech/Polish Relations: General Sikorski and Edouard Benes of Czechoslovakia sign an agreement in London calling for post-war union between the two nations. Neither man will be involved in his country's post-war government and the agreement is a nullity.

Italian Military: The Italian Regia Aeronautica forms the first Focke-Wulf 87 Stuka dive-bomber squadron.

US Military: Willys-Overland’s chief engineer Delmar Roos delivers the Quad prototype jeep to the US military at Camp Holabird. The Willys Jeep is a minor modification of the original American Bantam Jeep prototype delivered to Camp Holabird on 21 September 1940. While Willys is credited by almost everyone with designing the Jeep, in fact, it is an American Bantam design subcontracted out to freelance designer Karl Probst. Willys is involved only because the Army, which likes the Bantam design, does not think that Bantam is a big enough company to handle the military's needs. Accordingly, the Army has asked Willy and Ford Motor Company essentially to replicate Bantam's Jeep. Willys, for its part, only gets the fame as the "designer of the Jeep" because, with this delivery, it beats Ford's delivery of its own replica by ten days.

The origin of the name "Jeep," incidentally, is not known with precision. The most likely source is the comic strip Popeye, with its character Eugene the Jeep. Some Army men are heard calling the vehicle Jeep, and the name sticks.

Spain: The Spanish Ministry of the Navy submits a report to Franco indicating that the Germans must capture the Suez Canal before an operation against Gibraltar would be feasible.

A plaque in the Champs Elysees commemorating the 11 November 1940 protest. This lies near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

French Homefront: There is an anti-German demonstration in Paris by students on Armistice Day. Many participants are arrested and sent to prison. This is an extremely dangerous thing to do, as a similar protest a year earlier in Prague - on International Student's Day - induced vicious repression by the SS.

American Homeland: The Armistice Day Blizzard strikes.

Freighter William B. Davock, 4468 tons, is caught in the blizzard on Lake Michigan and sinks. All 32-33 crewmen aboard perish. A 2014/15 investigation by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association finds that the cause of the wreck was a broken rudder that jammed against the propeller, stripping it and rendering the ship helpless in the face of the wind and sea.

Several other vessels also are damaged or run aground, for a total of about 59 deaths. Two ships go down very near each other. Canadian 2227 ton freighter Novadoc runs aground near Pentwater, Michigan and is lost, with all crew saved 36 hours later when a tugboat, the Three Brothers II, goes out and rigs a breeches buoy to the freighter. Canadian 4285 ton lumber freighter Anna C. Minch breaks in two during the storm about one and a half miles south of Pentwood. All 24 crew perish.

The Armistice Day Blizzard leaves classic cars stranded everywhere.

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Sunday 21 July 1940

A Bf 110C-4 reconnaissance-fighter formerly of 4.(F)/14 that was forced down at Goodwood, England on July 21, 1940. It was subsequently repaired with parts salvaged from another crashed example. Both sides maintained armories of working enemy equipment for testing, spy missions and (often, but not always) use in combat.

British Government: There are some historians who consider 21 July 1940 the day when all possibility of peace talks between Germany and Great Britain was completely eliminated. As such, it may be a seminal date in history that is completely unknown to the public at large, but worthy of knowing about for true students of the war because it reveals the state of play at this critical juncture.

Churchill is at his country estate at Chequers during the morning and is reading through his daily intercepts (courtesy of the Enigma program at Bletchley Park) when he spots a message to Berlin from the German ambassador in Washington. The ambassador is informing Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop that the British ambassador there, Lord Lothian, had discreetly enquired for Germany's terms for peace.

Churchill is shocked. He supposedly is in charge of the government, and he has authorized no such thing. In the politics of the era, even opening discussions about "terms" is seen as a sign of weakness. Churchill, during the May cabinet crisis along similar lines, had emphatically shown himself to be against all peace initiatives. The British ambassador in Washington is freelancing, and Churchill decides to put a stop to it.

Churchill springs into action. He tells Lord Halifax, in charge of the Foreign Office, that his ambassador to Washington is strictly forbidden to talk to the German ambassador at all. Churchill sends a telegram to Lord Lothian telling him the same thing, to stop all communication. Further investigation reveals that the communications between the two had been clandestine, through a US Quaker (pacifist) intermediary. Lord Lothian is popular and competent but is acting outside his portfolio.

There also is speculation among some historians that during a later meeting this day with Sir Charles Portal, the Commander-in-chief of RAF Bomber Command, Churchill - with the peace issue directly on his mind - orders Portal to provoke the Germans by bombing Berlin. The objective would be to have the Luftwaffe bomb London and other English towns in retaliation (which Hitler has been avoiding because, as stated in his 16 July 1940 Fuhrer Directive about Operation Sea Lion, he would rather get a peace deal). Bombing Berlin, according to the theory, would escalate matters such that no peace talks would ever be possible. However, there is no proof of this rather convoluted conspiracy theory.

A German propaganda leaflet dropped on London following Hitler's 19 July 1940 "Last Appeal to Reason" speech to the Reichstag.

Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping during a day of fine flying weather.

In the morning, there is an unsuccessful attack on convoy "Peewit" by bomber squadron KG3, escorted by KG27. The RAF intervenes and loses a fighter, with no shipping damage. There is another raid on the convoy in the afternoon, which again is dispersed by the RAF. During the melee, a Bf 109 of JG27 and a Hurricane of Squadron No. 43 collide and fall into the sea.

Dornier Do 17s attack shipping off of Scotland, with the loss of a bomber.

There are scattered raids on Great Britain itself. A raid over Goodwood produces no results except the loss by the Luftwaffe of a Bf 110 (repaired by the RAF). A Bf 109 shoots down a Hawker Hector biplane and in turn is shot down by RAF No. 238 Squadron.

There also are raids over the West Country, with attacks on Leeds, Church Fenton, Tyneside, and nearby areas.

Fighter Command re-positions its forces, sending No. 152 Squadron of Spitfires from Warmwell to Middle Wallop and No. 253 Squadron of Hurricanes to Turnhouse.

While the RAF fighters are holding their own, the losses at this point in the battle are difficult to replace. No. 603 Squadron is down to three Hurricanes, and No. 263 Squadron is down to four.

The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, also is shifting fighters around. The remainder of JG26, II and III groups, join the advance party at Calais. They are using old British World War I airfields. I,/JG52 moves to Bayreuth, further strengthening Luftflotte 2, the air fleet carrying the main attack on England.

Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering is confident. He tells the commanders of the three Luftflotten facing England that convoys remain the priority, small attacks over wider areas are preferred, and that he does not want critical British installations destroyed which might be of use after an invasion. Goering centralizes where and what to attack.

The strategy at this point is to lure the RAF fighters into the air, where they can be gradually eliminated through combat. The Luftwaffe needs to destroy Fighter Command for an invasion to be possible, and it can't do that if the fighters remain hidden on the ground. The Achilles Heel of the RAF, meanwhile, is not a lack of planes, but of pilots.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks oil installations at Rotterdam and Bremen, factories at Wismarj, Bremen, Rotenburg, Kassel, and airfields all along the Channel coast.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-30 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) stops 712-ton British timber freighter Ellaroy about 180 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Portugal at 16:00. After disembarking the crew, the U-boat sinks the freighter at 22:39. All 16 aboard survive after being picked up by passing Spanish trawler Felix Montenegro.

The Luftwaffe sinks 2318 ton British freighter Terlings 10 miles southwest of St. Catherine's Point. There are 18 survivors, 10 crew perish. The Luftwaffe also damages Norwegian tankers Kollskegg and Nina Borthen in the same general area.

British submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines off Cyrenaica en route to Alexandria. It also sinks Italian freighter Cello.

Troopship Gibraltar departs from Gibraltar carrying evacuees headed to Madeira.

Convoy OB 187 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 228 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 227 departs from the Tyne, Convoy HG 39 (18 ships) departs from Gibraltar.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Regia Aeronautica bombs and sinks 3600-ton Finnish freighter SS Whirl about 20 miles southwest of Malta. The 26 survivors (no casualties) reach the island and request asylum.

At Malta, there are air raid alerts in the morning, with the attackers driven off by anti-aircraft fire without any bombs being dropped. The Regia Aeronautica mounts many of these half-hearted attacks throughout the campaign. One Italian plane is damaged and presumed by the British to be lost. The RAF loses a Swordfish torpedo plane sent up to investigate the incident. A London flying boat sent later on the same mission spots the downed Italian bomber, but in turn, is attacked by CR 42 fighters. The flying boat shoots one of the fighters down and escapes.

Housing on Malta is growing short. Some residents return to their bombed-out homes near the harbor after finding nothing acceptable anywhere else.

A Fiat CR 42 Falco 156G379SA 379, based at Comiso, Sicily.

Romanian/Bulgarian Relations: Under pressure from Berlin, King Carol and the Romanian government cede Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. Tensions between Romania and its northern and southern neighbors are steadily brewing, but there is little that Romania can do about the situation - yet.

Soviet/Baltic States Relations: With puppet governments in place, Molotov has them vote for a union with the USSR, to become sister Republics. The Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics are established. Latvian President Ulmanis tries to flee to Switzerland but is apprehended by Soviet authorities and sent to Siberia.

British/Czech Relations: The British grant official recognition to a provision Czech government-in-exile, headed by Dr. Edvard Benes as President and Jan Sramek as Prime Minister.

Latin American Relations: Foreign Ministers of the 21 American Republics arrive in Havana, Cuba for the start of talks about regional political and economic cooperation.

German Government: Hitler again mentions during an army (OKH) conference that the Soviet Union is a potential target at some point in the future. With Hitler's prestige enormous after the victory over France, nobody challenges him. Army Commander-in-chief Walther von Brauchitsch begins to work up some preliminary ideas for further discussion. During the conference, he states that England's situation is "hopeless" and that victory over the USSR would be "easy, easier than France." This can be considered the true start of planning for Operation Barbarossa.

British Homefront: Evacuation of schoolchildren continues, today from Eastbourne. The children are being sent to what amount to boarding houses, with many children staying with the same families in the countryside. Parents visit as they can on weekends, but travel is difficult in wartime England.

Head of the Library of Congress Archibald MacLeish with British Ambassador Lord Lothian (right) posing in front of the Magna Carta, being maintained in Washington during hostilities in part due to the latter's negotiations.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020