Friday 18 July 1941

German soldiers taking down a Soviet Red Star somewhere in Russia, 18 July 1941.

Eastern Front: In the Far North sector on 18 July 1941, the Finnish Army of Karelia continues clearing out Soviet resistance around the northern part of Lake Ladoga and the Jänisjoki River. German 163rd Infantry Division battles towards the road junction of Suvilahti (Suojärvi or Suoyarvi) in Ladoga Karelia to the northeast of Lake Ladoga (140 kilometers (87 mi) northwest of Petrozavodsk), a tiny border town which suffered badly during the Winter War and will again. The difficulty of pinpointing battles in that region exemplifies the anonymity of warfare in the endless forests of the region which have few points of reference.

In the Army Group North sector, General Erich von Manstein's LVI Army Corps withstands a determined Soviet counterattack by Soviet 11th Army and 27th Army, with part of Manstein's force escaping from encirclement. The German 8th Panzer Division is mauled, and Manstein's force loses a large portion of its striking power.

In the Army Group Center sector, Panzer Groups 2 and 3 continue moving toward each other east of Smolensk. Today, they advance to within 16 km (9.9 miles) of each other. The laggard is General Hoth's Panzer Group 3, which is struggling with the swampy terrain that has been swollen due to recent rains. Soviet resistance also has strengthened, as the Kremlin now realizes the danger - the Soviets have hundreds of thousands of troops around Smolensk - and are pulling troops out of the closing pocket and placing them in a position to hold the jaws of the trap open. Under newly appointed General Konstantin Rokossovsky, the motley collection of Soviet defenders manage to slow Hoth's advancing 7th Panzer Division to a crawl and keep the trap from closing.

In the Army Group South sector, the German 17th Army crosses the Bug River near Vinnytsia. German 11th Army attacks in the direction of Sorokin, while German 6th Army batters against Soviet 37th Army in front of Kyiv.

"Lieutenant Kokko (center), who, with his men, attacked the rear of the enemy on their own initiative, and brought the battle to victory." Village of Yläjärvi - 18 July 1941.

European Air Operations: The weather over northwest Europe remains unsettled, disrupting air operations. RAF Bomber Command sends a handful of Stirling bombers to raid Holland and Germany, but they turn back and one is lost. In another action, three Blenheim bombers undertake Operation Channel Stop and attack shipping off Gravelines. While they damage some ships, including a tanker, none of the planes returns, so the RAF loses four bombers on the day without achieving much.

RAF Fighter Command sends a Roadstead Mission to Dunkirk.

The Luftwaffe sends a large raid of 108 planes against Hull and other targets in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire. The attack lasts for about two hours and starts 160 fires, with four becoming serious. There are 111 killed, 108 seriously wounded, and 3500 people are left homeless.

Battle of the Baltic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet motor torpedo boat TK-123 in the Gulf of Riga.

Luftwaffe pilot Fritz Fliegel, KIA 18 July 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 7046-ton British freighter Pilar de Larrinaga several hundred miles west of Northern Ireland. There are four deaths. The Pilar De Larrinaga makes it to Belfast Lough in tow.

Luftwaffe pilot Fritz Fliegel, who has been mentioned twice in the prestigious Wehrmachtbericht, is killed in his Focke-Wulf FW-200 C-3 "F8+AB" (Werknummer 0043—factory number) while attacking Convoy OB-346. Fliegel's five-man crew also perishes. This occurs during the attack on freighter Pilar de Larrinaga when the gunners on the freighter score a lucky hit that tears off the plane's starboard wing.

Convoy HG 68 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

U-703 is launched.

An E.A.Scammell tank transporter named 'Snow White' carrying a British Cruiser tank to the workshops for an overhaul in the Western Desert, 18 July 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Twin Pimples Raid takes place at Tobruk. The 43 soldiers of No. 8 Commando, who have infiltrated behind Italian lines, lie undercover and wait for a diversionary attack by 18th Cavalry. While this occurs and the Italians are preoccupied, the Commandos stealthily advance toward the two hills (the "Twin Pimples") overlooking the Tobruk perimeter that are their objective.

When the Commandos get within about 30 yards/meters, they are challenged. Rather than respond, the Commandos open fire and charge ahead. There is a four-minute fire-fight. The Australian engineers following the Commandos plant explosive charges on Italian artillery pieces and an ammunition dump. Then, the entire force heads back toward the Tobruk perimeter. On the way, Italian artillery opens up and one Commando is killed (Corporal John Edward Trestrail later dies of his wounds) and four others wounded. The raid is considered a success, but No. 8 Commando is disbanded soon after this because the high command thinks the Commando can be employed better elsewhere.

Operation Guillotine begins. This is a Royal Navy movement of troops and supplies from Haifa and Port Said to Famagusta, Cyprus. The first ship to go is 6676-ton Australian freighter Salamaua, escorted by sloop HMS Parramatta. The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica notice and begin attacking Cyprus today.

Australian morale at Tobruk is plummeting. It is hot, the Axis artillery can reach much of the Allied territory, there are flies everywhere, and food and water supplies require effort to obtain. General Blamey, the commander, requests their relief.

The nightly supply run to Tobruk is made by destroyers Hero and Hotspur. They make it there and back without incident.

At Malta, two Blenheim bombers attack a power station in Tripoli. They hit the target, but one of the bombers is shot down by defending fighters. Another five RAF bombers attack Palermo Harbor. Malta reports to Whitehall that Axis bombs have destroyed a fuel tank, causing the loss of ten tons of fuel.

Luftwaffe Generalmajor Theo Osterkamp becomes Fliegerführer Afrika.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet freighter Kola hits a mine and sinks in the Black Sea. There are three deaths, and 30 crew survive.

Fw 200 C-3/U2 W.Nr. 0043 "F8+AB", Stab I./KG 40, Bordeaux-Mérignac, Autumn 1940. This is the plane, piloted by Hptm Fritz Fliegel, that will be lost on 18 July 1941.

Partisans: Communist member of the Politburo Milovan Đilas establishes the Command of People's Liberation Troops of Montenegro, placing Boka, and Sandžak under his own command. Dilas accepts the help of those former Yugoslav Army officers that are willing to fight under communist control.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese have been keeping tabs on US movements throughout the Pacific. Today, the Japanese Consul (one of his staff is a trained spy) in Manila reports that one light cruiser was undergoing repairs, while four destroyers departed from the harbor and six submarines entered it.

Applied Science: The RAF puts ASV radar equipment on a PBY Catalina and a couple of PBM Mariner planes.

Soviet/Czech Relations: The Czech government-in-exile signs an agreement in London with the Soviet government. It provides that the two "countries" will exchange ambassadors and that the Czechs will form an army in the USSR. Of course, the Czechs no longer have a country (it is now called the Reich's Province of Bohemia and Moravia), but there are enough Czechs in exile to give the London Czech government some influence. Czech President Edvard Beneš (he claims to have only "resigned" in 1938 under duress, making the act null and void) harbors illusions of eventually forming a true alliance with the USSR in a post-war world.

German 8.8cm Flak battery operating in Russia as indirect fire artillery, July 1941.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin writes to Winston Churchill, responding to two prior notes from the latter. Stalin remarks that the Red Army is "strained" and admits that the Soviet troops were placed too far forward (which some attribute to Stalin's own offensive plans). He then brings up one of his favorite themes of the war, writing:

It seems to me, furthermore, that the military position of the Soviet Union, and by the same token that of Great Britain, would improve substantially if a front were established against Hitler in the West (Northern France) and the North (the Arctic).

A front in the North of France, besides diverting Hitler's forces from the East, would make impossible invasion of Britain by Hitler. Establishment of this front would be popular both with the British Army and with the population of Southern England. I am aware of the difficulty of establishing such a front, but it seems to me that, notwithstanding the difficulties, it should be done, not only for the sake of our common cause, but also in Britain's own interest. The best time to open this front is now, seeing that Hitler's forces have been switched to the East and that he has not yet been able to consolidate the positions he has taken in the East.

Churchill is happy to help, but he has economic aid to the USSR more in mind right now rather than military assistance.

The Belgian Training Center, 18 July 1941.

Anglo/Czech Relations: The British government recognizes the Czech government-in-exile (formally the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee) led by President Edvard Benes and Prime Minister Jan Šrámek. It appoints an ambassador to conduct business with Benes and Sramek.

Finnish/Japanese Relations: Finland establishes diplomatic relations with the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Australian Military: Vice-Admiral Sir Guy Royle, KCB, CMG, becomes Australian First Naval Member and Chief of Naval Staff.

German Military: General Keitel's youngest son, Hans-Georg Keitel, perishes in a field hospital after being badly wounded on July 17th.

Minister of Labor Ernest Bevin opens the Belgian Training Center in London on 18 July 1941.

Japanese Government: Prime Minister Prince Konoye Fumimaro reshuffles his Cabinet. The most significant change is that he drops Foreign Minister Matsuoka from the Cabinet altogether. Matsuoka has alienated the military which really runs the government through his advocacy of closer ties to the Reich and the importance of attacking the USSR to the north rather than the British and Dutch to the south. Matsuoka is replaced as Foreign Minister by Vice Admiral Teijirō Toyoda, a careerist, and reliable yes-man.

US Government: At a House committee hearing, Corrington Gill, assistant commissioner of the Works Progress Administration, claims that there are still 5 million unemployed over a decade after the Great Depression began.

The War Department agrees to allow the Department of Justice to monitor and round up enemy aliens in the event of war.

A publicity photo of singer/actress Evelyn Dall, taken 18 July 1941.

German Government: At the Wolfschanze in Rastenburg, Hitler meets with veterans of Operation Mercury.

During the night, Hitler rambles about various topics, including Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, as recorded in Hugh Trevor-Roper's "Hitler's Table Talk":

Stalin is one of the most extraordinary figures in world history. He began as a small clerk, and he has never stopped being a clerk. Stalin owes nothing to rhetoric. He governs from his office, thanks to a bureaucracy that obeys his every nod and gesture. It's striking that Russian propaganda, in the criticisms it makes of us, always holds itself within certain limits. Stalin, that cunning Caucasian, is apparently quite ready to abandon European Russia, if he thinks that a failure to solve her problems would cause him to lose everything. Let nobody think Stalin might reconquer Europe from the Urals! It is as if I were installed in Slovakia, and could set out from there to reconquer the Reich. This is the catastrophe that will cause the loss of the Soviet Empire.

Hitler's line about Stalin being a clerk foreshadows a somewhat similar line in "Apocalypse Now."

Executions at Marjampole, on or about 18 July 1941.

Holocaust: Einsatzcommando 3 (Karl Jäger) of Einsatzgruppe A, attached to Army Group North, executes 39 Jewish men and 14 Jewish women at Marjampole.

American Homefront: Paramount picture "The Shepherd of the Hills" is released. Starring John Wayne, Harry Carey, Beulah Bondi, Majorie Main, and Ward Bond, the film follows the travails of an Ozark Mountain moonshiner played by Wayne.

New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets two hits in a 2-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. This is the start of another hitting streak, of 16 games, right after his famous 56-game streak ended.

Future History: Lonnie McIntosh is born in Harrison, Dearborn County, Indiana. He becomes an influential rock and blues guitarist.

Martha Rose Reeves is born in Eufaula, Alabama. She becomes an R&B singer most known for her work with '60s girls group Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas. She is perhaps best remembered for "Dancing in the Street."

The fire brigade put out a fire at the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam (renamed by the Germans to the more Aryan "Tivoli"). The fire completely destroys two viewing rooms.

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

Sunday 9 February 1941

HMS Renown firing on Genoa, 9 February 1941 (© IWM (A 4048)).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The front remains quiet on 9 February 1941, and the real activity is hundreds and thousands of miles away. Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell, in Cairo, responds to a telegram from the British Military Mission in Cairo inquiring whether he would be willing and able to send forces to Greece and/or Turkey quickly, if necessary. Wavell - despite well-known reservations about ending a winning campaign in Libya in favor of an assumed one in Greece - replies in the affirmative. He indicates that he has one armored brigade group and the New Zealand Division (two brigades) available immediately, with other troops available in March and April. The competition for resources between Greece and North is becoming white-hot on the British side, and the growing implied threat of a German invasion of Greece is becoming almost as effective German aid to Mussolini (in North Africa) as would be an actual invasion of Greece.

East African Campaign: The Indian troops at Keren take a breather today, regrouping and recalibrating. Having been pushed back on both sides of Dongolaas Gorge, it is clear that either a different strategy or greater force is required to dislodge the Italian defenders. The attackers settle on a strategy of focusing on the left side of the gorge, which is dominated by a string of peaks.

HMS Renown and HMS Sheffield, with aircraft overhead from HMS Ark Royal. This is taken from HMS Malaya after the bombardment of Genoa, 9 February 1941. © IWM (A 4034).

European Air Operations: The RAF resumes its rabid and so-far fruitless attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz, which dangles like a pinata just out of reach at Wilhelmshaven. Either 13 or 23 bombers (sources vary) based at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire return to base with their crews elated at having scored hits on the ship, but in actuality, the attack failed utterly - as have all the attacks before. The RAF makes other attacks on Flushing oil tanks and Antwerp docks.

The RAF sends a Rhubarb raid (offensive patrol) over Calais that does not result in any losses by either side.

The Luftwaffe ends an extended period of dormancy with night raids on Plymouth, Birmingham and Humberside. The attack apparently damages light cruiser HMS Neptune in Plymouth Harbour, which just arrived in port for a refit, but the damage is not significant.

The crew aboard HMS Malaya enjoying a moment of frivolity after the bombardment of Genoa, 9 February 1941. "Gun crews enjoy some refreshment after the action, but remain at their action stations." © IWM (A 4044).

Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Lütjens in command of battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau heads northwest in order to elude any pursuers from the abortive attack on Convoy HX-106. The Royal Navy does have many ships looking for them, but they are far to the east. Lütjens' plan is to head northwest to a point relatively close to western Greenland, then return south to the shipping lanes nearer to Canada than last time.

U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its tenth patrol out of Lorient and one of the most successful submarines of the first two years of the war, stumbles upon Convoy HG 53 off the coast of Portugal (east of the Azores, about 160 miles from Cape St. Vincent) on the 8th. After stalking it for a day, Clausen goes to work. He successfully attacks and sinks two ships, then returns later and tries again. However, the second attack is unsuccessful.

U-37 torpedoes and sinks 1325-ton British freighter Courland. There are three deaths and 30 survivors (rescued by fellow freighter Brandenburgh).

U-37 torpedoes and sinks 1983-ton British freighter Estrellano. There are six deaths.

Clausen informs the headquarters of the convoy. Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors based in Bordeaux, France are sent in to attack as well. They go in for the attack and sink:

• 2490-ton British freighter Britannic (one death);
• 2471-ton British freighter Dagmar I (five deaths);
• 1759-ton British freighter Jura (17 deaths);
• 1514-ton British freighter Varna (everyone survives);
• 967-ton Norwegian freighter Tejo (four deaths).

This incident is prime evidence of the utility of having U-boats and patrol aircraft working together. The Kriegsmarine has requested more aircraft, but Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, defending his Luftwaffe fiefdom, has only given them one small unit.

Norwegian 1159-ton freighter Ciss, en route from St. John to Louisbourg, is caught in ice near Louisbourg. The captain stops the engines to prevent damage. The ice carries the ship toward Portnova Island, and the ship hits Little Shag Rock. Drifting further, the ships wind up aground on Scatarie Island, where it is wrecked. Taking to the boats, the crew barely makes it to Long Beach. The crew later blames the harbormaster at Louisbourg for failing to send an icebreaker upon request and claiming there was no ice - when in fact the Ciss was on the verge of being destroyed by ice.

Another ship is lost to grounding off Cape Agulhas, Nova Scotia. British 2018 ton freighter Kervégan, a member of Convoy SC 22, runs aground and apparently capsizes. All 26 onboard perish, so the exact details are not known. The only reason the location is known at all is that that is where wreckage washed ashore.

Convoy OB 284 departs from Liverpool, Convoy BN 15 departs from Aden, Convoy HX 108 departs from Halifax.

This picture was taken from HMS Malaya of HMS Ark Royal and HMS Renown after the bombardment of Genoa, 9 February 1941. © IWM (A 4035).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Grog (formerly Result) takes place in the morning. Admiral Somerville takes Force H from Gibraltar and parks it off Genoa. Led by the battleship HMS Malaya heavy cruiser HMS Sheffield and battlecruiser HMS Renown, Force H lobs 300 tons of shells on the harbor and the city. There is thick mist, which reduces the effectiveness of the Italian defense. Sheffield also concentrates on railway installations at Pisa. Tanker Sant Andrea is damaged by a hit from Sheffield but is towed back to port. Italian battleship Duilio, in dry dock just north of the Molo Ciano, escapes damage, though one salvo comes within 50-100 yards. Total civilian casualties are 144 dead and 272 wounded.

As part of Force H, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal raids oil installations at Leghorn and railway infrastructure. The force also lays mines outside the entrance to La Spezia. RAF No. 820 Squadron loses a Swordfish in the attack.

Admiral Iachino is at sea with battleships Vittorio Veneto, Cesare and Doria. He learns of the attack on Genoa only two hours after it ends - why this extremely important news took so long is unclear - and the signal incorrectly tells him that that the Royal Navy ships are heading west along the coast. In fact, Admiral Somerville is heading southwest. The two fleets miss each other completely, though the Italians at first mistake a number of French freighters for the Royal Navy ships and prepare for action.

At the naval operations room in Rome, a Captain Bragadin made the following notation:

The bombardment of Genoa inflicted serious damage on the city. In the harbor four steamers and the old training ship Garaventa were sunk. Fortunately, the most important target, the Duilio, which was still under repair after Taranto, was not hit. There were grave moral effects throughout Italy, all the more because, whilst the efforts of our aircraft were appreciated, not a word was announced about the search made by our naval squadron. As a result of such silence the Italian people thought - in so many words - that the navy had run away.

Of course, the Italian Navy had not run away, and under slightly different facts a major naval engagement may have resulted. However, Bragadin is a bit too blithe in his summary about where to pin the blame for the Italian navy's inability to act effectively. Failure by shore observers to notify the Italian battle fleet of the attack in a more timely fashion, and failure to track the Royal Navy's subsequent movements, were faults just as grievous to any kind of effective defense as would have been "running away" - the effect was the same.

On land, British patrols of the 11th Hussars range to Agedabia and El Agheila and occupy them. They find a few Italians and a little equipment, but no organized resistance. This marks the decisive end of Operation Compass, one of the operations of World War II which most exceeded expectations. However, while the Italians have been pushed out of half of Libya, they have not been defeated; they retain a strategic portion in the west and south which provides a possible springboard for recovery. General O'Connor certainly has the troops to advance further, but he does not have the authorization from General Wavell yet. O'Connor has sent his liaison officer to Cairo for permission, but that is a rough journey which will take several days.

Operation Sunflower, the installation of Wehrmacht troops in Tripolitania, continues. General Erwin Rommel's first load of troops is at sea out of Naples. They are scheduled to land in North Africa in a couple of days. This would be an excellent convoy for the Royal Navy to intercept, and indeed they have large naval forces not far away - but they are far to the north, bombarding Genoa rather than where the real action is. Rommel, meanwhile, receives a promotion to Generalleutnant, befitting his new status as an Army Group commander.

The hasty minesweeping of Tobruk Harbor continues to reveal its flaws. British 2590-ton freighter Crista hits a mine and is damaged.

Small Italian ships have some difficulty on the other side of Libya. Freighter IV Novembre (61 tons), Tenax and Rosanna (205 tons) run aground and are lost on the Gulf of Sirte coast.

7 Staffel of JG 26, led by Oblt. Müncheberg, arrive in Sicily. They are based at Gela Airfield and will supplement Fliegerkorps X indefinitely.

Another shot of HMS Renown firing on Genoa, 9 February 1941. © IWM (A 4046)

German/Vichy France Relations: As a sign of growing collaboration, the Vichy French hand over Rudolf Hilferding to the Germans. Hilferding is a prominent former German Minister of Finance in the Weimar Republic. He also happens to be a Jewish socialist. Hilferding disappears into the Gestapo dungeon of La Santé in Paris, where he is subjected to torture. He perishes on 11 February.

Vichy French Government: Marshal Pétain shakes up the government. He appoints Admiral Darlan to fill Pierre Laval's vacant spot of Vice Premier. In addition, Foreign Minister/Prime Minister Pierre Étienne Flandin resigns. Not only is Darlan elevated, but Petain designates him as his chosen successor - for what that is worth.

Laval turned down a spot in the cabinet on the 8th, so he may have been the one who Petain had in mind for the Flandin slot - and, when told at that time by Petain that Darlan was taking his former position of Vice Premier, decided that half a loaf was worse than none. He does have a steady pro-German orientation. Darlan, for his part, is a shady character, who throughout the war plays a devious game of courting the Allies and Germans, in turn, depending on who will offer him the best chances of advancement. The strategy certainly is working for the moment.

Flandin's dismissal - which it almost certainly was - is a bit odd because he only occupied the position for two months as the replacement for Laval. Perhaps he was only intended as a stop-gap while Petain got over whatever personal issues Petain had with Laval. This essentially ends Flandin's career - which, given the course of events for those who remained in the government, was not the worst thing that ever happened to him.

Australian Government:  Prime Minister Robert Menzies, breaking his journey from Melbourne to London in Egypt, has dinner with Middle East RAF chief Sir Arthur Longmore. They listen to Winston Churchill's "give us the tools" broadcast. Menzies's review is not kind. He is not impressed with Churchill's tone, finding it to be a "hymn of hate" which appeals to the "lowest common denominator among men." Menzies scribbles down that he does not like the recent appointment of Malcolm McDonald as High Commissioner to Canada, feeling that "Winston likes Yes Men." Overall, it is clear that Menzies feels that Churchill is becoming autocratic and inflexible - an appraisal shared by many closest to Churchill as well.

China: In the Battle of Southern Honen, the Japanese 11th Army is retreating to its base at Hsinyang, and the Chinese 5th War Area is pursuing it. However, the Chinese maintain their distance and allow the Japanese to return to their base. This is a well-established pattern, with the Japanese making occasional raids (often called "rice offensives") and then taking their ill-gotten goods back to their lines.

HMS Renown bombarding Genoa, 9 February 1941. © IWM (A 4047)

Luxembourg: For administrative purposes, Luxembourg is united with Koblenz-Trier.

Dutch Homefront: A pro-Jewish cafe in Amsterdam, the Alcazar, has refused to hang a "No Jews" sign in the entryway. It also is displaying artwork by Jewish artists. Germans or German sympathizers attack the cafe today and destroy it. The police intervene and suffer 23 casualties.

Feelings against the German occupation are simmering in Amsterdam, and this attack is one of several "provocations" in Jewish neighborhoods. This violence is gradually escalating, with the Dutch pro-German movement NSB and its streetfighting arm, the WA ("Weerbaarheidsafdeling" - defense section) on one side, and Jewish self-defense groups and their supporters on the other.

British/American Homefronts: Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcasts his first speech in five months. It is to both a British and an American audience. He compares the Luftwaffe attacks on London to the British stand at Waterloo, and apparently refers to progress within the US government on the Lend-Lease Bill as the ultimate harbinger of victory:

It seems now to be certain that the Government and people of the United States intend to supply us with all that is necessary for victory. In the last war the United States sent two million men across the Atlantic. But this is not a war of vast armies, firing immense masses of shells at one another.... We do not need the gallant armies which are forming throughout the American Union.... Bue we do need most urgently an immense and continuous supply of war materials and technical apparatus of all kinds. We need them here and we need to bring them here.

He concludes with the words with which the speech is remembered:

Give us the tools, and we will finish the job. 

Interestingly, Churchill also refers to Laval, who he calls the "French Quisling," as turning France into a "doormat" for Hitler. Laval, of course, is known to history as a great collaborator, but at this time he is not in the Vichy French government at all. This comment betrays a certain lack of knowledge by the British as to what is actually happening in Vichy France.

American Homefront: Senator Reed Smoot, co-sponsor of the infamous 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and defeated in the 1932 election, passes away. At the time of his death, he was third in the line of succession for the leadership of the LDS Church and is buried in Provo, Utah.

February 1941

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

2020

Thursday 2 January 1941

Burial of victims of the Cardiff raid of 2 January 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: There is continued light fighting in the Klisura Pass on 2 January 1941. The key pass is contested by Greek II Corps and the Italian Julia Division. Other Greek forces are mounting local operations to improve their positions (they take the tiny village of Dobrenjë east of Berat and cross the scenic Bence River in the mountains southeast of Savona/Vlore), but there are no large operations in the works on either side. However, the Greek High Command has a large attack to capture Klisura Pass in the planning stages.

The British offer the Greeks to send army troops to help in Albania. Already, RAF planes are operating out of airfields near Greece, but not too many British ground troops are in the country. The RAF raids Elbasan in the center of the country.

Unidentified Royal Hellenic Air Force Pilot, 2 January 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe picks another city off the map - this time Cardiff, Wales - and sends 100+ bombers against it during the night. As in London, the Luftwaffe concentrates on incendiaries, starting numerous fires. Llandaff Cathedral is hit hard. This is considered the worst night of the Cardiff Blitz. A six-year-old boy sings "God Save the King" for six hours as workers dig him out from beneath his home's staircase, where he hid because it was considered a safe spot (and he did survive, so it was).

Once again, some Luftwaffe bombers go astray and bomb the Terenure district of Dublin. There are three deaths in the Shannon family, whose home is hit, with two others injured. Other counties along the Irish coast in a line stretching 100 miles to the south of Dublin also are bombed. The Germans blame the errant bombings on high winds, the British suspect a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Irish.

The Italian Aereo Italiano (CAI) stages its last raid against England, attacking Ipswich with five bombers.

RAF Bomber Command launches its own raid on Bremen, dropping incendiaries and high explosives on the German port of Bremen. About 47 bombers operate during the night. Breman is an inviting target because, being a medieval city, it burns easily. It also is packed with armaments factories (particularly a Focke-Wulf plant) and a naval base in the harbor. This is but the latest attack on the city, and, like the ones before, it is only moderately successful due to poor bombing aim.

Luftwaffe night fighters, which are somewhat ahead of their RAF counterparts, continue to confront the RAF bombers. Both Uffz. Arnold (1,/NJG 2) and Lt. Hans Hahn (3,/NJG 2) score victories, a Wellington and a Whitley, respectively.

"Fleet Air Arm pilots and observers, 2 January 1941, onboard HMS Victorious at Scapa." "Left to right: Sub Lieut (A) A Mc D Garland, a fighter pilot attached to 809 Squadron; Sub Lieut (A) F Rabone, an Observer in a Fairey Albacore; Sub Lieut (A) W H G Browne, an Observer attached to 832 Squadron." © IWM (A 6931).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors have been a bright spot in the German blockade of Great Britain. However, they have been "freelancing," attacking shipping themselves when they find targets, rather than focusing on helping the U-boats (with scattered success). All planes in Germany are under the control of the Luftwaffe, and there may be inter-service rivalries at play. In any event, today U-boat commander Admiral Doenitz asks the OKW operations chief, General Jodl, for better coordination between the Condors and the Kriegsmarine, to serve as the "eyes" of the U-boats. Reichsmarschall Goering apparently has no objection - he has final say over any Luftwaffe deployments - so a dozen Condors of KG 40 based in Bordeaux soon begin daily reconnaissance sweeps.

U-65 (Kptlt. Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), nearing the end of its extended cruise which began in October, sends a torpedo into 6,579-ton British transport Nalgora about 650 km north of the Cape Verde Islands. The Nalgora is taking men and supplies to General Wavell's Middle East Command. Since the freighter takes its time sinking, the U-boat finally surfaces and finishes it off with the deck gun. All 105 men on board survive, but they all spend over a week in lifeboats. This is U-65's final victory on this epic and highly successful (8 ships of 47,800 tons sunk) patrol, for which Stockhausen will be promoted to Korvettenkapitän and awarded the Knight's Cross. It also is his final victory, as he leaves U-65 after this and takes command of the new 26th U-boat Flotilla.

U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe), on its eighth patrol, is operating in the sea lanes about 300 miles (450 km) northwest of Ireland when it is attacked by Royal Navy ships with depth charges. U-38 survives the attack with minor damage that does not interfere with its patrol.

During the Luftwaffe's attack on Cardiff after dark, a delayed action bomb falls on the 5252-ton British freighter Loch Dee. The bomb explodes early on the 3d and kills a crewman.

The Royal Navy 1st Minelaying Squadron sets off to lay minefields SN 6 and SN 65 in the North Sea. This is a major operation, covered by HMS Hood and other warships. Meanwhile, minelaying cruiser HMS Adventure lays minefield ZME 10 in St. George's Channel.

In the South Atlantic, German tanker Nordmark refuels raider Thor.

Convoy SC 18 departs from Halifax, Convoy HX 98/1 departs from Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Liverpool/Belfast.

Royal Navy trawler HMS Saragande (Skipper Laurence F. Scarlett) is commissioned.

U-66 is commissioned.

U-174, U-462, U-707, and U-762 laid down.

US submarine USS Tuna (Lt. Commander John J. Crane) is commissioned.

British infantrymen outside Bardia, January 1941 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Major General Iven Mackay readies his troops for an assault on Bardia at 05:30 on the 3rd. The 6th Australian Division has been practicing on a mock-up of the Italian defenses there, which essentially are composed of two main lines that include anti-tank ditches. The attack will be supported by the RAF, gunboats parked offshore, and artillery fire. The Australians, bayonets fixed, take up final assault positions during the night, along with "I" tanks and engineers that will follow to exploit the breakthrough.

Offshore during the day, British monitor HMS Terror, gunboats HMS Ladybird and Aphis, destroyer HMS Dainty and Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager bombard Bardia. The Italians stage an unsuccessful air raid against the ships. The RAF (RAF Nos. 70 and 216 Squadrons) stages its second massive attack on the fortress in a row, dropping 30,000 tons of ordnance. The Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Cunningham sorties from Alexandria to support the land operation.

The Luftwaffe is shifting planes to the Mediterranean, but they will not be there in time to affect present operations.

Italian 2364 ton freighter Albano hits a mine and sinks just east of Cape Laghi, Albania.

HMS Ladybird shelling Bardia. That is a 6-inch 50-caliber Mk XIII gun. 2 Jan 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

Spy Stuff: A sub-committee of MI5, the XX Committee, is established. Its name is a sort of pun, as it is to focus on "double-crosses," turning German spies into double-agents. Based on the Roman Number meaning of its name, this is formally called the "Twenty Committee." Members of all the British intelligence services and other related organizations are participants. The Chairman is an MI5 agent and Oxford professor, J.C. Masterman. The process of turning Abwehr (German military intelligence) into British double-agents actually began in the 1930s (with Arthur Owens, who began as a British spy, became an Abwehr spy, and then was turned to be solely British again) and has been achieved during the war as well, but the XX Committee will continue and extend the process.

Separately, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden informs Free French leader Charles de Gaulle of the arrest of Vice-Admiral Muselier on the 1st. De Gaulle does not believe that Muselier, his commander of Free French naval forces, is a traitor, and suspects a plot by the British to discredit him.

In addition, the Luftwaffe attacks on Ireland recently are fueling British suspicions that the Germans may be using these attacks as a pretext to deposit agents there in order to spy on Royal Navy fleet movements.

Soviet Military: The Soviets being a major War Games exercise, with troops simulating an attack in the "northwest" direction, i.e., toward Stalingrad and Moscow. General Georgy Zhukov commands the attacking forces, i.e., the  "Western/Blue" forces against "Eastern/Red" forces commanded by Colonel General D.G. Pavlov. This exercise will continue for the remainder of the week (accounts vary on exactly what happened with these exercises, but it is clear that war games were held). The assumption built into the exercise is that the "Eastern Forces" have a large numerical advantage and that hostility is initiated by the "Western/Blue" forces. This is a clear anticipation of an attack by the Wehrmacht.

Vichy French Government: Banker Paul Baudouin resigns from the government. He has been the Vichy French Minister of Foreign Affairs since June and also briefly the Minister of Information (propaganda minister). It was he who initiated the communications with German, via the Spanish Ambassador, that led to the Armistice. Baudoin is a somewhat shadowy figure of mixed loyalties, a Monarchist who at some points in time is considered by Marshal Pétain to be his preferred successor. Baudouin was among those who pressured the Premier to excise Pierre Laval from the government. It is unclear exactly why Baudouin resigns at this time, but there are intense power struggles going on in French politics on both sides of the English Channel between Left and Right. To what extent Baudouin is an advocate of collaboration is unclear, but that is what he eventually is charged with (and convicted of) despite leaving the government at this early juncture. He returns to private banking.

Troops in Palacios, Texas, 2 January 1941 (Historic Palacios Photos).

Holocaust: Reinhard Heydrich, the Head of the Security Police and the SD, issues a letter (styled as a "decree") for internal distribution to the Security Police. It states that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler has approved new divisions within the concentration camp system. The new categories are:

• Category I: prisoners "definitely capable of being reformed," to be held at Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz I;
• Category Ia: "old prisoners" to be held at Dachau;
• Category II: prisoners facing "strong accusations" but still capable of reform, to be held at Buchenwald, Flossenburg, and Auschwitz II;
• Category III: "asocial" prisoners with criminal convictions and "virtually incapable of correction," to be held at Mauthausen.

While these classifications are quite vague, they do provide some hints for the future. The Category III camp, Mauthausen, will become renowned for its brutality and savagery as prisoners are worked to death and invariably do not survive their mistreatment (which smacks of punishment). The other camps will become outright extermination camps, without so much of the "work" or "punishment" aspect of Mauthausen.

Future inmates will be accorded a certain classification upon forwarding to the system, but, especially as the war progresses, assignment to any of the camps will be a death sentence and the categorizations essentially meaningless. Heydrich does require that recommendations for Category III prisoners be "justified" based upon previous convictions and related factors. It is unclear how many - if any - inmates at any of the camps are ever "reformed" sufficiently to exit the system altogether.

Bren gun carriers of the Australian Light Cavalry in the North African desert, January 1941 (AP Photo).

French Homeland: Bread rations are cut to 10 ounces daily.

American Homefront: The singing Andrews Sisters (Maxene, Patty, and LaVerne) record iconic "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince) at Decca's Hollywood Studios. Beyond its initial success, the tune goes on to become ranked No. 6 on the Songs of the Century list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. The song is recorded during the latter stages of the filming of Abbott and Costello film "Buck Privates." The song's introduction during that film featuring the Andrews Sisters is considered by many to be a classic music video (and arguably one of the first, though there's a lot of competition for that title).

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was nominated that year for an Academy Award for Best Song. It lost out to "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in "Lady Be Good." If you want to talk about ridiculous Academy decisions, start here. Hollywood was very traditional with its song awards in those days, and perhaps the voters felt that "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a bit too "modern" compared with the "Paris" ballad. Plus, comedies did not get too much respect in those days (and still don't).

The song has been covered by other artists, most notably by Bette Midler in 1972 (produced by Barry Manilow) to great acclaim. Midler originally intended it as a "B" side to another song. However, her rendition of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was so good that radio stations played "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" on the flip side instead of the intended single, and it hit No. 1 on the Billboard easy listening chart 42 years after the song's introduction. Christina Aguilera copied the style of the Andrews Sisters' performance of this song in "Buck Privates" for one of her most successful music videos. More than any other of their songs, this one made the Andrews Sisters enduring legends, and "Buck Privates" made Abbott and Costello film stars.

Below is a 1941 live performance of the song (a "V-Disc") for the Special Service Division. It has some very shaky camera work (changing lenses mid-song was not a good idea) but is an excellent rendition nonetheless. One of the top-two enduring classics of the World War II-era (kudos if you can name the other, I guarantee that you know it but it's not a Glenn Miller tune).

Okay, first, a promotional performance by the Andrew Sisters for the US military of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."


And second, here is the version from "Buck Privates."

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

Friday 26 October 1940

North American Aviation’s prototype fighter, NA-73X, NX19998, at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California. (North American Aviation).

Battle of Britain: The weather continues to offer acceptable flying conditions today, so operations on both sides again are busy.

The day begins with the usual reconnaissance flights. Around 10:30 on 26 October 1940, a fighter-bomber (Jabo) sweep accomplishes little, though the Luftwaffe pilots down a Spitfire of 4,/JG53 near Biggin Hill. There also is an exchange of losses off the coast.

A little later, a large formation heads across from Boulogne. Per recent policy, there are patrolling Hurricanes who intercept. A massive dogfight erupts which extends all the way across the Channel. A pair of Hurricanes of No. 229 Squadron attack a Heinkel He 59 rescue plane - standing orders for the RAF - and are both shot down by Bf 109s. One of the pilots becomes a POW, a relative rarity for RAF fighter pilots at this stage of the war, the other perishes.

During the noon hour, Jabos raid Kent and Sussex. Once again, there is a major dogfight. The RAF takes the worst of this encounter, but there are only a few planes lost altogether.

After that, there are primarily only small raids and RAF Fighter Command does not bother with them. There is one major action over Kent in which JG 26 tangles with RAF No. 605 Squadron (Hurricanes) and No. 222 Squadron (Spitfires). Adolf Galland of JG26 claims his 46th victory, a handful behind leader Werner Molders.

Toward dusk at 18:00, a small raid on RAF Wick by two Heinkel He 111s kills three and wounds a dozen other civilians. It causes moderate damage to the airfield and demolishes several nearby houses. The raid is a bit unusual because the Heinkels pretend to be RAF planes, flashing proper recognition signals. Among other damage, a Hudson plane is destroyed and two others damaged.

At 18:30, a somewhat similar raid by a pair of Heinkels is made on RAF Lossiemouth. They destroy one Blenheim and damage two others. There are two dead and a dozen wounded. The planes fly so low that one of the Heinkels is destroyed by its own stick of bombs.

After dark, the weather takes a turn for the worse, but both sides continue operations. The fledgling RAF night fighter service has a bad night when two Hurricanes of RAF No. 151 Squadron crash for unknown reasons shortly after taking off.

London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, and the Midlands take the brunt of the night attacks. While the raid on London is considered one of the longest of the Battle of Britain, the attack on Birmingham is particularly notable and effective. Bombs hit the center of the city and destroy a large area of important buildings. Several factories are completely flattened, and an unexploded bomb comes to rest on one of the station platforms at New Street (LMS). Large fires break out at Saffron Hill but are brought under control after maximum effort.

In London, mass transit is in trouble. The subway station at Victoria Station, St. Pancras, is demolished along with nearby portions of Victoria Station itself. More and more provincial buses are in town to replace buses lost in bomb craters and the like. Numerous other stations, such as Balham, are completely out of service. The underground is vital to the functioning of the city, but "lucky hits" slowly are making it difficult to use.

The Luftwaffe also continues its mining operations in the Thames Estuary. Mines have taken an increasing toll on smaller ships, though larger vessels have been lucky recently.

Overall, it is a fairly normal day in terms of losses. The Luftwaffe loses about 10 planes and the RAF roughly half as many.

A Swordfish from RAF No. 821 Squadron on a training flight crashes into Quendale Bay in the Shetlands, killing the three men on board.

RAF ace James Lacey scores a victory, shooting down a Bf 109.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command launches a heavy raid on Berlin. It also attacks the ports of Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Flushing, Antwerp, and Bremen. Other targets include oil installations at Stettin, Leuna, and Cologne and various rail lines and airfields in northwest Europe.

Coastal Command attacks a power plant at Brest.

RAF Beauforts attack shipping in Sognefjord (Norway's largest fjord). They bomb and sinks 763-ton Norwegian freighter H.J. Kyvig. Five crew perish. Some sources place this incident on the 28th.

Empress of Britain (in naval gray) on fire and listing after being bombed. If you look closely, you can see the lifeboats being lowered.

Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy troopship (Canadian Pacific line) Empress of Britain, a 42,348-ton liner, is about 70 miles northwest of Aran Island, Ireland off the west coast and nearing its destination of Liverpool when it is spotted at about 09:20 by a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200C Condor long-range bomber of I./.KG 40, commanded by Oberleutnant Bernhard Jope. The Empress of Britain is a fast, modern liner, but fortunately, it only has few passengers on board for its size. Jope strafes the liner and drops two 250 kg bombs on it. The bombs start a fire, and the bulk of those on board (416 crew, 2 gunners, 205 passengers) quickly abandon ship and are picked up by nearby destroyers and trawlers.

The Luftwaffe meanwhile sends reconnaissance planes to review the Empress of Britain's situation and they conclude that because the passengers are abandoning ship and it is on fire, that it is sinking. The ship, however, is only disabled and listing but not sinking. As the day ends, the Royal Navy makes plans to tow the Empress of Britain to port. There are 25 crew and 20 passengers who die in the attack and all subsequent events.

The Empress of Britain is the largest Allied liner hit during the war. Liners, being fast, are difficult to attack. The bombing is big news in Germany. Berlin radio strongly implies that the liner has been sunk, but the Kriegsmarine vectors in U-boats just to make sure.

British 8053 ton tanker Dosinia hits a mine and sinks in Liverpool Bay near Southport, Lancashire. Everybody aboard survives.

Royal Navy 8053 ton destroyer HMS Delhi stops Vichy French freighter Albi off Western Africa. The crew of the Albi scuttles it.

Belgian freighter Katanga hits a mine in the River Mersey near the Bar Lightship and is damaged.

Swedish 6549 ton tanker Strombus hits a mine near Mumbles Light and sinks. Everybody aboard survives.

Swedish 9583 tanker Pegasus also hits a mine a couple of kilometers south of Bar Light Vessel, Mersey and is damaged.

Norwegian 6549 ton whale factory ship hits a mine in the Bristol Channel off Swansea and sinks. All 40 crew aboard survive.

Destroyer HMS Sikh hits a tug at Rosyth and suffers minor damage.

Convoy FN 320 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 320 departs from Methil.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Thunderbolt (N 25, Lt. Cecil B. Crouch) is commissioned.

Oberleutnant Bernhard Jope (center) after he bombs the Empress of Britain.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Malta government long ago made hoarding illegal, but that hasn't stopped anyone. Police now are authorized to search houses for stockpiles. Petrol and silver are in short supply - both being hoarded - and buses only run a few hours a day. Nobody really knows where everything is heading, the German rapprochement with Romania, a key trading partner of Malta which heretofore has supplied much of its fuel, has created numerous problems on the island.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis, operating in the eastern Indian Ocean, transfers 216 POWs to captured Yugoslavian freighter Durmitor. The freighter then is sent toward Italian Somaliland with insufficient provisions for a large number of people on board. It is not a happy trip.

German Government: Adolf Hitler spends the entire day in Munich, his original power base, as he prepares for his meeting with Benito Mussolini in Florence on the 28th. Hitler, in fact, still maintains an apartment there (and will throughout the war). He stays in Munich until 18:00 on the 27th when his train heads south.

Commonwealth Relations: To coordinate Far Eastern defenses, representatives of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand meet in Singapore.

Soviet/Romanian Relations: Continuing its high-handed and predatory behavior to its neighbors, the Soviet Union occupies islands in the Danube Delta, contending that they are part of Bessarabia - which the USSR already has occupied.

Italian/Greek Relations: Italy has been making aggressive moves against Greece in recent years as part of an ancient rivalry that stretches back to the dawn of time. Today, Italy lodges a diplomatic protest against Greece alleging incursions across the Albanian border due to "anti-Italian bigotry." Italian forces in Albania are preparing for the invasion of Greece still scheduled for 28 October 1940.

Three Italian bombs attack Greek territory even though the countries are not yet at war.

German Military: Hubert Lanz, Chief of Staff for XVIII Corps, takes over command of the 1st Mountain Division. This division had been earmarked for Operation Felix, the capture of Gibraltar, but that mission essentially has been scrubbed due to Spain's unwillingness to join the war effort on the Axis side. The 1. Gebirgs-Division soon will head east, along with many other army units. Lanz is an interesting figure during the war, a stout, relentless soldier who leads many successful operations but also a covert opponent of the Hitler regime. That said, he certainly is no saint and is implicated in war crimes.

Vance Breese in the cockpit of the NA-73X after the first five-minute test flight, 26 October 1940. (North American Aviation).

US Military: Prototype NA-73X of the North American P-51 Mustang has its first flight, only 102 after the order was first placed. An all-aluminum design, test pilot Vance Breese reports that the plane handles during a five-minute flight well despite a heavy fuel load. It is heavily armed, with two .50 caliber Browning machine guns in the fuselage and four .30 inch Browning machine guns in the wings. Even fitted out with armament and everything else, the plane is 56 km/hour faster than the Spitfire V. The Allison engine, however, does not do well at altitude and soon shows other issues.

The US Marine Corps forms a Marine Parachute Detachment at the naval air station at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

A program for the Indiana-Northwestern game, 26 October 1940.

China: Japanese aircraft raid Loiwing (Leiyun), China. They cause extensive damage to the CAMCO factory which assembles CW-21 fighters from kits.

In the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi, Japanese army troops at Lungching and Pinghsiang are cut off and begin retreating to French Indochina.

British Homefront: The British government realizes some basic things about the homefront:

1. Many citizens love fish and chips;
2. Potatoes are one food item that people can grow at home fairly easily and thus are in fairly plentiful supply.
3. The daily fish catch is sufficient for present needs.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Food begins subsidizing the consumption of fish and chips.

American Homefront: US Secretary of State Cordell Hull makes a radio broadcast about the necessity of a strong defense. He states:

To have peace, we must have security. To have security, we must be strong … Essential to effective national defense are constant and skilful use of political and economic measures, possession of' military weapons, and continuous exercise of wisdom and of high moral qualities. We must have planes and tanks and ships and guns. We must have trained men. We must hold to the ideal of a world in which the rights of all nations are respected and each respects the rights of all; in which principles of law and order and justice and fair dealing prevail. Above all, we must be a united people - united in purpose, and in effort to create impregnable defense … Thus can we maintain our inheritance.

A game program for the 26 October 1940 football game between the Eagles and the Dodgers at Shibe Park.

October 1940
October 2, 1940: Hitler's Polish Plans
October 3, 1940: British Cabinet Shakeup
October 4, 1940: Brenner Pass Meeting
October 5, 1940: Mussolini Alters Strategy
October 6, 1940: Iron Guard Marches
October 7, 1940: McCollum Memo
October 8, 1940: Germans in Romania
October 9, 1940: John Lennon Arrives
October 10, 1940: Führer-Sofortprogramm
October 11, 1940: E-Boats Attack!
October 12, 1940: Sealion Cancelled
October 13, 1940: New World Order
October 14, 1940: Balham Tragedy
October 15, 1940: Mussolini Targets Greece
October 16, 1940: Japanese Seek Oil
October 17, 1940: RAF Shakeup
October 18, 1940: Convoy SC-7 Catastrophe
October 19, 1940: Convoy HX-79 Catastrophe
October 20, 1940: Convoy OB-229 Disaster
October 21, 1940: This Evil Man Hitler
October 22, 1940: Aktion Wagner-Burckel
October 23, 1940: Hitler at Hendaye
October 24, 1940: Hitler and Petain
October 25, 1940: Petain Woos Churchill
October 26, 1940: Empress of Britain Attack
October 27, 1940: Greece Rejects Italian Demands
October 28, 1940: Oxi Day
October 29, 1940: US Draft Begins
October 30, 1940: RAF Area Bombing Authorized
October 31, 1940: End of Battle of Britain

2020