War damage in Riga, the capital of Latvia, on 3 October 1941 (AP).
Eastern Front: While the Luftwaffe maintains clear aerial supremacy over the Soviet Air Force, one of the informal rules that German fighter pilots like to follow is to not stray too far past the front. While this is to some degree because their main purpose in the overall scheme things is to support the ground troops, around which the entire Luftwaffe has been developed, there is a deeper impulse at work. Quite simply, German pilots do not want to be shot down and captured. Unlike England, where Luftwaffe airmen can be assured of fairly correct treatment, the Soviet Union is not known for treating downed airmen fairly well. In fact, this is simply reciprocity for how Soviet prisoners are treated by the Germans. It is a savage war and especially savage if you are taken as a prisoner.
Damage from a Luftwaffe attack on South Shields Market Place, 3 October 1941, the morning after the attack.
On 3 October 1941, though, the German offensive in the middle of the Eastern Front, Operation Typhoon, is rolling toward Moscow and the Luftwaffe decides to establish aerial supremacy in that direction. So, in the morning, the German pilots of JG 51 and JG 54 engage in fierce battles around the Soviet capital. As usual, the Luftwaffe pilots do quite well and make several claims against the Red Air Force. Oblt. Erbo Graf von Kageneck of 9./JG 27, for instance, shoots down an I-18 fighter north of Vyazma for his 57th victory.
Luftwaffe ace Heinrich Hoffmann, KIA 3 October 1941.
The day is not a complete success for the Luftwaffe, however. Oberfeldwebel (Staff Sergeant) Heinrich Hoffmann, an ace ("experte") with 63 victories who has just moved south with his group from the Leningrad Front to support Operation Typhoon, goes missing. It is assumed that he perishes in a crash, but if not, he may wind up wishing that he had. There is conjecture that Soviet 233 IAP's (233rd Fighter Aviation Regiment) Starshiy Leytenant Sergeyev is the one to shoot him down at Shatalovo, Chernsky District, Tula Oblast (south-southwest of Moscow) on 19 October 1941, the 36th officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored. south of Moscow), but this is just conjecture based upon a post-war review of loss claims. Hoffmann in his Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2 Werknummer (factory number) 12876 just disappears after engaging with several Soviet Il-2s. The loss is deeply felt, and Hoffmann posthumously is awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 19 October 1941. He thus becomes the 36th officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored, and also the first made posthumously and the first made to any non-commissioned officer.
South Shields, England on 3 October 1941 after a Luftwaffe raid by about 50 bombers. The Luftwaffe objective was the Tyne Bridge, a key link between Scotland and England. However, they attacked the River Drive bridge of a somewhat similar appearance that passed over some railway lines (this bridge was not hit). This damage was caused by bombs that overshot that target. There were 68 deaths and 117 seriously wounded, including many from a direct hit on an air-raid shelter.
Hoffmann, obviously, was a highly valued pilot. He had the distinction of being "ace in a day" twice, just like Chuck Yeager would do for the USAAF in 1944. Of more immediate concern to his fellow pilots, though, is that Hoffmann just vanishes and is never heard from again. Pilots notice these things about their comrades. This incident reinforces the latent fear that all German pilots have about operating over enemy territory. The lesson from this and many similar incidents is clear: no matter how tempting it may be to seek out prey behind enemy lines, don't do it. Having your plane disabled there is an almost certain death sentence unless you somehow manage to sneak back to German lines. Life is short, and it becomes a whole lot shorter if the Soviets capture you.
A German anti-tank gun being hauled into position on the Russian front on Oct. 3, 1941, likely in the Operation Typhoon sector. The Russians have set fire to the buildings before withdrawing. (AP Photo).
On the ground, Operation Typhoon is going very well, helped immeasurably by the Luftwaffe's dominance. Hermann Hoth's Panzer Group 3 reaches the Dnepr River at Kholm-Zhirkovskii and seizes two bridges intact. However, all this activity is putting a real strain on the Germans' equipment. OKH Chief of Staff General Halder notes in his daily war diary:
On Hoth's northern wing there are complaints about the deficient mobility of 1st Panzer Division. Small wonder, for the division comes straight from the battle of Leningrad, without a pause for rest and refitting. It will probably be the same story with Nineteenth and Twentieth Panzer Divisions.
The German forces are still strong despite these complaints. Hoth's panzers shrug off a weak counterattack south of the town by Soviet Group Boldin. However, the effects of Field Marshal von Leeb's decision to use his panzers in a pointless attack on Leningrad just before shifting them south to the Moscow front as ordered is having its foreseeable effect on the far more important operations on the road to the Soviet capital.
Captured German U-boat U-570 arrives in Barrow-in-Furness sailed by a Royal Navy crew on 3 October 1941. The Royal Navy captured U-570 on 27 August 1941, repaired it in Iceland in great secrecy, and later put it into Royal Navy service as HMS Graph.
General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 (the 4th Armored Division of the 24th Motorized Corps) captures Orel, 120 miles off the original front and only 220 miles south-southwest of Moscow. In retrospect, the capture of Orel can be seen as Guderian's greatest and longest-lasting triumph during Typhoon, though nobody can know that now, of course. The jaws of another gigantic Wehrmacht pincer threaten to close around the Soviet Bryansk Front (3rd, 13th and 50th Armies under the command of General Andrey Yeremenko/Eremenko), which would blow a hole in the Soviet defenses in front of Moscow. The German advance is so swift and unexpected that the 10th Panzer Division (General Fischer) captures Red Army columns moving west from the vicinity of Moscow at Mozaisk, which falls.
Wehrmacht troops using horse-drawn carts to move their supplies near Salla, Finland during October 1941.
Operation Typhoon is all going exactly as the Germans hoped. It is going so well, in fact, that Adolf Hitler makes a radio address from the Berlin Sportpalast to the people of the Reich declaring "… that this enemy [the Soviet Union] is already broken and will never rise again." He adds that the Soviet Union was "to a great extent" already destroyed and that Germany had the capability to "beat all possible enemies" no matter "how many billions they are going to spend." This comment suggests that Hitler has very good sources of information in high Allied circles because the Moscow Conference just ended on the 1st at which the United States pledged a billion dollars in aid - and it is quite a coincidence for Hitler to mention that sum. In any event, Hitler certain has grounds for confidence. The Soviet defense is weak and uncoordinated. However, there is still a lot of ground to cover before the actual attack on Moscow can start, so time is of the essence before the weather changes.
Battleship USS Iowa under construction at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn. This is looking aft from the bow area (that is the barbette for turret No. 2 at the bottom). The US Navy is in the process of building many new battleships and Essex-class aircraft carriers.
India: Mohandas Gandhi suggests using passive resistance techniques against the British. While hardly a supporter of the Axis, Gandhi wishes to hamper the British war effort in order to convince them to leave their colonial empire in India. This does not have immediate effects, but will after the war.
Vidkun Quisling (who may be barely visible to the right) administers the oath of service to Den Norske Legion (Norwegian Legion) in Norway, 3 October 1941.
American Homefront: Ernest Evans is born in Spring Gully, South Carolina. He becomes a renowned singer and dancer under the stage name Chubby Checker and is considered a pioneer of rock 'n roll. Among his top hits is "The Twist," which Billboard Magazine has determined is the most popular single to appear in its Hot 100 list since its debut in 1958. As of 2019, Chubby Checker is still active in the music scene.
Lincoln Borglum, who completed Mount Rushmore started by his father Gutzom Borglum, goes over the side of the mountain to mark out the final work on the face of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in Keystone, S.D. on Oct. 3, 1941. Work on Mount Rushmore ended on 31 October 1941 (AP Photo).
Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue struggling through the winding valleys and mountain passages of central Albania on 24 December 1940. The Greek III Corps is about 12 miles east of Berat, while Greek II Corps is motionless near Kelcyre. Greek I Corps is still on the move, reaching Tepelena. Italian defense is stiffening as reinforcements flow across the Adriatic and the lines of communication to supply ports shorten. The Greeks, meanwhile, now are facing some of the problems faced by the Italians when they began their offensive in October, such as lengthy supply lines over goat tracks and through mountain defiles.
Benito Mussolini is thoroughly disgusted by the failures of his troops. He pens a letter to Italian military commander Ugo Cavallero, complaining that the fall of Himara a couple of days ago was due to high Greek morale.
European Air Operations: While absolutely unofficial and unrecorded, today begins a virtual two-day cessation of hostilities between the RAF and Luftwaffe on the Channel front. It is reminiscent of the "Christmas Truce" of World War I, but not nearly as well-known and without any joint parties being held. Everyone just needs a break after a very hard year. Both sides' pilots are fierce competitors, but they also respect valor on both sides regardless of what insignia is on the outside of an aircraft.
There are no night bombing operations, though the Luftwaffe engages in some strafing runs against trains during the day and drop a few random bombs.
Oberfähnrich Hans Joachim Marseille joins 3,/JG 27 at Döberitz. Marseille has 8 kills and is renowned for his ability in the German press. However... Marseille also is widely known within the Luftwaffe as a prima donna who does not follow orders, abandons his wingmen (who then get shot down), and freelances in order to get more victories. He also is a "British ace," having lost more of his own mounts than just about any other Experte.
Group Captain John Alexander Kent is awarded the Virtuti Militaire (Polish VC) for his services with 303 (Polish) Squadron. He already has won the DFC. Kent joined the 303 on 2 August 1940 and, in one notorious engagement, faced 40 Bf 109s alone and shot down two of them, damaging a third, while escaping alive. Kent is known as a strict disciplinarian, a "born leader" according to his DFC citation.
John Kent with some Polish pilots of RAF No. 303 Squadron in August 1940. The 303 was known as the best of the best during the Battle of Britain. Left to right: P/O M. Feric, Fl/Lt J.A.Kent, F/O B. Grzeszczak, P/O J. E. L Zumbach, P/O W. Lokuciewski, F/O Z. K. Hennerberg, P/O J. K. M. Daszewski, and Sgt E. Szaposznikow.
Battle of the Atlantic: Battlecruiser HMS Hood leads a force to patrol from Scapa Flow to patrol in the Iceland/Faroes "gap" in search of the German raiders known to be in the Atlantic, but which have yet to be located. It is fashionable for later historians to denigrate the Hood's strength, but the Admiralty for all intents and purposes views the Hood as equivalent to a battleship and disposes of it as such - as in this incident.
German cruiser Admiral Hipper, at loose in the Atlantic and the object of all this British attention, spots Convoy WS 7 about 700 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain late in the day. The WS ("Winston Special") convoys are particularly attractive targets, as they transport British troops to the Middle East to support General Wavell's forces there. In fact, this convoy has 40,000 British soldiers and 150,000 tons of supplies on board, a staggering haul if they could be eliminated. That said, the WS convoys also are extremely well guarded, and this convoy has not one, but two aircraft carriers (HMS Argus and Furious), three cruisers and four corvettes as escorts - extremely lavish support even for later in the war. Admiral Hipper skipper Admiral Wilhelm Meisel, blissfully unaware of all this firepower barely over the horizon, readies the crew for an attack on the 19 freighters for Christmas morning.
Shipping at Oban in Scotland has become a prime Luftwaffe target, and the Admiralty responds by sending anti-aircraft cruisers HMS Phoebe and Aurora there.
U-65 (K.Kapt. Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), operating farther south than any other Kriegsmarine U-boat, spots a straggler from Convoy SLS-60 off Freetown. Stockhausen puts two torpedoes into 5872-ton tanker British Premier at 16:41, sinking it about 370 km southwest of Freetown. There are 32 deaths and 13 survivors. The survivors, adrift in lifeboats in the middle of the South Atlantic, have a hell of a time. Nine wait until 3 January 1941 to be found by HMS Hawkins, which is bad enough. However, four others are not found and rescued by HMS Faulknor for 41 days, on 3 February 1941. How they survived at all without food and water for so long is a tale of epic survival skills.
Auxiliary minesweeper HMS Mercury hits a mine south of Ireland. The Mercury is taken in tow but eventually sinks.
British 98 ton drifter Lord Howard is involved in a collision at Dover and sinks.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 5221-ton British freighter Peterton in the North Sea.
Convoy OB 264 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 367 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 369 departs from Methil, Convoy SLS 60 departs from Freetown.
U-178 laid down.
An Italian stands in front of a Savoia Marchetti S.79 of the 46th Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre, Scutari, Albania, 24 December 1940. (Victor Sierra).
Battle of the Mediterranean: General Wavell telegrams the General Staff in London and tells them that he is not ready to attack Bardia yet. The Italians are resisting, Sollum is not proving to be a particularly helpful port due to Italian bombing, and supplies are difficult to get to the advanced troops in the Western Desert. Wavell even complains about the weather, which is quite cold for the desert.
The Italian defense in Libya is firming, as in Greece. However, the Italian forces in Libya make no attempt to relieve the besieged garrisons in Bardia and Tobruk despite fairly obvious indications that the British troops in Libya are over-extended.
Greek submarine Papanicolis, operating in the Adriatic, torpedoes and sinks 3952-ton Italian troopship Firenze off Sazan Island (Saseno, Qendër Vlorë, Vlorë County in Albania). There are 800 Italian troops on board, but, somewhat miraculously, only 63 perish in the sinking.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent attacks an Italian freighter off Libya but misses.
Lieutenant William Marsden Eastman and Captain Robert Llewellyn Jephson-Jones of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps receive the George Cross. Based on Malta, they disarmed 275 bombs without any training before the Royal Engineers arrived and were able to take over this hazardous work.
No Midnight Mass in Malta due to the continuing curfew.
Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Komet makes a stop at Rabaul in order to lay mines. However, they need to use their ship's boat to lay the mines and the engine malfunctions. Unable to seed the mines, Captain Kurt Weyher then decides to sail back to Nauru and finally destroy the phosphate-loading terminal there.
Peace Talks/Propaganda: Mahatma Gandhi (apparently) writes his second letter to Adolf Hitler (dated 24 December). Addressing Hitler as "Dear Friend," Gandhi (supposedly) pleads with Hitler:
in the name of humanity to stop the war. You will lose nothing by referring all the matters of dispute between you and Great Britain to an international tribunal of your joint choice. If you attain success in the war, it will not prove that you were in the right. It will only prove that your power of destruction was greater. Whereas an award by an impartial tribunal will show as far as it is humanly possible which party was in the right.
This letter is somewhat longer than Gandhi's previous (supposed) letter (sent just before the war in August 1939). This letter goes into reasons why Hitler should stop the war, including that "some other power will certainly improve upon your method and beat you with your own weapon...."
As with the first letter, British authorities seize this letter in transit, so Hitler never sees either one (and this is one of the reasons we know Gandhi wrote and sent them at all). And that raises a certain suspicion...
There is a big "however" to all this. There are some who claim that this letter (and the more famous August 1939 letter) is a British forgery. Gandhi is not known to have been a particularly prolific letter-writer, with most of "his" letters actually written by others. In addition, Gandhi is known to have written his letters by hand, whereas the letters produced by the British always are neatly typed without errors and signed by Gandhi in a manner whose authenticity some doubt. The gist of this letter would, indeed, have been of propaganda value to the British at the time. It also would have given British Intelligence delicious fun to turn the tables on their principal Indian antagonist and use him for their own propaganda purposes (and in the process smear Gandhi by association with the "Dear Friend" salutation). It also seems odd that Gandhi would have written the letter in (absolutely perfect) English, which was not native to either sender or recipient.
On balance, both letters appear to be forgeries - but draw your own conclusions, because many historians take them at face value. This probably is an example of "Black Ops" or "Black Propaganda," something at which MI5 excels throughout the conflict. However, there is no proof of that - perhaps because it is done so well. As an aside, many papers from the war remain under a 100-year exclusion and not everything is known about all of the types of covert activities that went on.
US Military: The 2nd Marine Brigade (Colonel Henry L. Larsen) is activated at Camp Elliott, California. The US 1st Marine Aircraft Wing completes its move to the West Coast.
The US Navy sends 80 men and 2000 tons of equipment from Honolulu to Wake Island aboard the USS William Ward. They are to begin construction of a Naval Air Station there.
Adolf Galland, on steps, waiting for Adolf Hitler at Château de Bonnance in Abbeville. Behind Galland on the platform are, left to right: Hauptmann Gerhard Schöpfel (Kommandeur III.Gruppe/JG 26 "Schlageter"), Hauptmann Walter Adolph (Kommandeur II.Gruppe/JG 26 "Schlageter"), and Hauptmann Rolf Pingel (Kommandeur I.Gruppe/JG 26 "Schlageter").
German Government: Having spent the night on his train parked in a tunnel north of Boulogne - which was bombed during the night - Adolf Hitler resumes his tour of coastal fortifications in France. He proceeds to Desvres, where Hitler visits the squadron Von Lützow (encamped somewhere outside of town). At 12:30 hours Hitler joined the Christmas lunchtime activities there, then proceeds to Saint-Etienne-au-Mont and the castle Point-de-Briques. Afterward, around dinnertime, he travels to Abbeville and visits JG 26, led by Adolf Galland, the leading scorer in the entire Luftwaffe. JG 26 is known as the "Abbeville Kids" and is based there for much of the war.
Arriving at 16:05 and staying just short of an hour, Hitler gives a brief address in which he states that the U-boats and lack of interference by the Soviets will make ultimate victory certain. Needless to say, this visit is a tremendous honor and privilege for the Schlageter Squadron, considered the elite Luftwaffe fighter formation on the critical Channel front (though of course some other squadrons also have their partisans). Hitler's visit to this Geschwader instead of others speaks volumes.
After giving his speech, Hitler proceeds from Abbeville to Laboissière. He spends another night in his train, parked in a tunnel outside of town.
Adolf Galland seated next to another Adolf, 24 December 1940. Facing the camera, from left to right (starting from the leftmost red arrow): Oberleutnant Gustav Sprick (Staffelkapitän 8./JG 26); Hauptmann Walter Adolph (Kommandeur II.Gruppe /JG 26 "Schlageter"); Hauptmann Rolf Pingel (Kommandeur I.Gruppe/JG 26 "Schlageter"); Führer Adolf Hitler, Adolf Galland, Oberstleutnant (Kommodore JG 26); and Gerhard Hauptmann Schöpfel (Kommandeur III.Gruppe/JG 26 "Schlageter"). Hitler remained loyal to Galland right to the end despite attempts to liquidate him by others in the German hierarchy (Pinterest).
India: During the night, the British stage an "imitation German air raid." In a suburb of Calcutta, a plane bearing Luftwaffe insignia (but apparently an RAF plane) bombs a small village, starting fires. The local Air Raid Precaution (ARP) organization extinguishes the fires quickly and rescues people from the bombed homes. Overall, the "test" or "simulation" is reckoned a success. It is an odd, real-life live-fire exercise that must result in some casualties, but there is no record of any. This bizarre incident is recounted in a publication, Amrita Bazar Patrika, of today's date.
Canada: Colonel J. Saul of the Canadian Defence Ministry announces that a full Canadian Corps will be formed in Great Britain.
Bulgaria: The Anti-Jewish Law for the Protection of the Nation is approved by the government, to take effect on 23 January 1941. Among other measures, the law:
Forces Jews to change their names;
Restricts where Jews may live;
Confiscates Jewish property;
Excludes Jewish workers from public jobs;
Excludes Jews from certain trades;
Establishes quotas for Jews in universities.
The law goes well beyond those specific provisions, though. It also levies a one-time tax of 20% of Jewish net worth - not income - and also prohibits secret organizations of any kind, particularly Freemasonry. That said - and of course, it all is very bad - the law does not provide for the deportation of Jews to German extermination camps such as Auschwitz. Well, at least not all Jews, but the law does provide for the deportation of Jews from recently acquired territories which formerly were parts of Greece and Yugoslavia. The law takes its lead from the German Nuremberg Laws and obviously is passed due to German influence and pressure. The last thing the Bulgarians want is to be left to face the Soviet Union alone.
German Homefront: A special Christmas ration is distributed, 26 bonus ounces of rice and vegetables and about 20 ounces of sugar, jam, and coffee. There is an active black market for meat, which the government knows is widely available - but expensive - so these extra allowances provide all the makings of a typical pre-war Christmas day.
British Homefront: Seen in downtown London in a shop window:
"Christmas is 1,940 years old, and Hitler is only fifty-one. They can't spoil our Christmas."
The lighting of the National Christmas Tree, Washington DC, December 24, 1940. (US National Archives). This ceremony began in 1923 and gradually expanded through the years. This tree begins a tradition of transplanting a tree from elsewhere and replanting it in the original location in January. This 34-foot (10 m) high red cedar has over 700 hand-colored lights, 700 ornaments, and six blue-green mercury-vapor lights. It came from along the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway.
American Homefront: New Hampshire experiences a classic aftershock earthquake after the one that hit on 20 December. This one is slightly more powerful, registering 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale as opposed to 5.3 for the first one. The quake is centered in central New Hampshire, just north of the lakes. There are additional aftershocks in the following months, but this is the one that causes the most damage throughout the New England region. That said, casualties and serious damage are almost nonexistent.
Future History: Janet Carol Thiese is born in Chicago, Illinois. Taking the stage name Janet Carroll, she becomes an accomplished classical singer with a 3 1/2 octave vocal range. Carroll begins acting professionally in the late 1960s in local theater productions, then moves to Los Angeles and begins getting film roles. Her most recognizable role is as the Tom Cruise character's mother in the 1983 "Risky Business" ("Don't break mother's egg!"). Another well-remembered turn is as Al Bundy's boss Gary in "Married with Children." Janet Carroll passes away from brain cancer in 2012.
King and Queen visit Home Sweet Underground Shelter, 24/25 December 1940.
Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition Fritz Todt greets Adolf Hitler during the latter's inspection tour of German coastal fortification in France, 23 December 1940. Todt's "Organisation Todt" built the autobahns and gravitated into war work after the invasion of Poland.
Italian/Greek Campaign: Having taken Himara on the 22nd, the Greeks on 23 December 1940 continue pushing the Italians back along the coast. Or, more accurately, the Greeks chase the Italians up the coast. In addition, Greek II Corps is in action further east, but the weather is horrendous in the mountains and little progress is possible. Fierce and inconclusive battles rage around Klisura Pass.
Mussolini has been despondent ever since the Italian offensive in Albania failed in early November, and recent events only have made it worse. During a private discussion with Count Ciano, his brother-in-law and Foreign Minister, Mussolini moans:
I must nevertheless recognise that the Italians of 1914 were better than these. It is not very flattering for the regime, but that’s the way it is.
Of course, "the Italians of 1914" were on the British side, not the German, a point which Winston Churchill makes during his evening broadcast (see below).
European Air Operations: German propagandist Lord Haw-Haw brazenly reveals the Luftwaffe's plans to bomb Manchester for the second night in a row, and then the attack takes place as he describes. Throughout the night, 171 German bombers drop 195 more tons of high explosives and 893 incendiary bombs on the city. Overall, through the two nights, there are 363 dead and 1183 other major casualties.
RAF Bomber Command attacks Boulogne, Dunkirk, and Ostend. It also hits Ludwigshafen in the Rhineland.
Hitler during his inspection tour, 23 December 1940 (Leitstand of the Marine-Küstenbatterie "Großer Kurfürst" in Cap Gris Nez).
Battle of the Atlantic: There is another engagement in the North Sea involving German motor Torpedo Boats. The 1st MTB Squadron attacks Convoy FN 366, which had departed from Southend earlier in the day. MTB S-28 sinks 358-ton British trawler HMT Pelton north of Aldeburgh (off Lowestoft), while S-59 badly damages 6552-ton Dutch tanker Stad Maastricht east of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. There are 19-20 deaths on the Pelton, but everyone on the Stad Maastricht survives. The freighter is taken in tow by three other ships, but it later sinks. One of the German craft also is reported sunk by the British, but there is no verification.
The Luftwaffe (either Heinkel He 111s or Focke-Wulf Fw 200 of I,/KG 40, sources vary) bombs and badly damages 6941-ton Dutch freighter Breda off Oban in Loch Etive. The Breda is taken in tow and beached, but ultimately is written off. Everyone survives.
During the attack near Oban, the Luftwaffe also damaged 2022-ton British freighter Flynderborg, 88-ton drifter Lupina and 4652-ton Dutch freighter Tuva.
The Luftwaffe (IX Air Corps) also drops an aerial mine on and sinks 400-ton Dutch trawler Ystroom in Liverpool Bay near Southport, Lancashire. Everyone survives
The Luftwaffe attacks on Manchester damage 6734-ton British freighter Pacific Pioneer.
The Luftwaffe also damaged 314-ton British freighter Iwate.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Warwick hits a mine off Liverpool (near the Bar Lightship) and has to be towed to shore, where it is beached prior to repair. The damage is severe and repairs will take well over a year.
Royal Navy anti-aircraft ship HMS Alynbank hits another ship (not identified) in the night and is damaged. It proceeds to Rosyth for repairs.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Havock collides with battleship HMS Valiant and is put out of action for two months.
Royal Navy minelaying cruiser HMS Adventure lays minefield ZME 9 in the North Sea.
Convoy OB 263 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 366 departs from Southend, Convoy SC 17 departs from Halifax.
U-553 (Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann) is commissioned, U-558 launched.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Aubretia (K 96) and anti-submarine warfare trawler HMT Hamlet (T 167) are commissioned).
US submarine USS Grampus is launched.
Hitler inspecting the coastal guns in France, 23 December 1940. He is talking with Friedrich-Wilhelm Fleischer, Marinebefehlshaber Kanalküste at the Marine-Küstenbatterie "Großer Kurfürst" in Cap Gris Nez.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian Commander-in-chief Rodolfo Graziani sacks the commander of the Italian 10th Army, General Mario Berti, and replaces him with 10th Army Chief of Staff General Giuseppe Tellera. Operation Compass is at a standstill at this point, with the Italians holding firm in Bardia and Tobruk while the British Army brings up Australian units to assault those long-standing Italian fortresses. The British continue sorting out Italian prisoners, with the number evacuated from Sidi Barrani numbering 35,949, including 1704 officers. The RAF raids Tripoli and Castel Benito.
Italian destroyer Fratelli Cairoli hits one of the mines laid by HMS Rorqual off Tripoli on 5 November and sinks near Misrata, Libya.
German/Vichy French Relations: Jacques Bonsergent, a 28-year-old civil engineer, was one of the protestors against German rule on 10 November 1940 (they were laying wreaths on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier). Arrested (along with 122 others), Bonsergent was convicted on 5 December by a German military tribunal of violating the occupation rules by fighting with a Wehrmacht sergeant. In fact, Bonsergent was only visiting Paris and had no interest in the protest, but got caught up in the melee.
Today, the Germans execute Bonsergent. Jacques Bonsergent is believed to be the first Frenchman executed by the Germans under the occupation. He is buried at Malestroit, Brittany, and a station of the Paris Métro on line 5, which has its entrance on Place Jacques Bonsergent, is named after him.
Hitler emerging from the coastal bunker of the Marine-Küstenbatterie "Großer Kurfürst" in Cap Gris Nez, 23 December 1940. Friedrich-Wilhelm Fleischer is on his left, to his right is Fritz Todt (in Luftwaffe uniform for some reason).
Anglo/Italian Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcasts a speech to the Italian people. He reminds them that Italy and Great Britain were allies during World War I against the "barbarous Hun," and blames the two countries' current struggle on Mussolini:
It is all one man – one man, who, against the crown and royal family of Italy, against the Pope and all the authority of the Vatican and of the Roman Catholic Church, against the wishes of the Italian people who had no lust for this war; one man has arrayed the trustees and inheritors of ancient Rome upon the side of the ferocious pagan barbarians.
Italians are forbidden from listening to any BBC broadcasts, so few are likely to hear it - or at least admit to hearing it. However, people all across Occupied Europe surreptitiously listen to the BBC despite the regulations, and this is a clever way for Churchill to reach them and demoralize them, too.
US/Sino Relations: Claire Chennault's talks with President Roosevelt bear fruit when the US government agrees to provide the American Volunteer Group with 100 P-40B Tomahawk fighters - which are America's front-line fighters. This will enable Chennault to begin battling the Japanese over China with American pilots. Everything, however, is strictly unofficial - there is no direct government involvement, and Chennault's AVG is to be managed by a private company.
Hitler during his inspection tour in France, 23 December 1940. He is at the Leitstand of the Marine-Küstenbatterie "Großer Kurfürst" in Cap Gris Nez.
German Military: Today is the first flight of the Messerschmitt Me 261, flown by Karl Baur. This is a long-range, twin-engine aircraft originally designed to break the world long-distance flight record and carry the Olympic Flame from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (site of the 1936 Winter Olympics) to Tokyo, Japan for the 1940 Summer Olympics. This would be a flight of 5870 miles (9445 km), powered by Daimler-Benz DB 606 "power systems" (two DB 601 engines coupled in pairs, a difficult mechanism some German designers favored but which caused all sorts of heating and other problems).
With the 1940 Olympics canceled and no real need for long-range transport, the Me 261 is a plane without a purpose - but it is an advanced design, so the design and manufacturing process continues. It does not hurt its state backing that the Me 261 has acquired the nickname "Adolfine" in honor of the Fuhrer, who likes the long-range concept. The test flight goes well, and development continues.
Soviet Military: The Red Army begins a conference at the Kremlin. Attending are all the top Generals, including Meretskov, Zhukov, Timoshenko, Voroshilov, and Pavlov.
US Military: The Army absorbs the National Guard's 35th Division. This division is populated by men from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
The US Navy establishes NAS Key West.
Japanese Military: The Japanese navy determines that aircraft carrier Hōshō, the world's first commissioned ship designed from the keel up to be an aircraft carrier, was obsolete. The ship is found to be too small to carry the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Aichi D3A "Val", and/or the Nakajima B5N "Kate" in combat, and in any event it cannot carry enough aircraft to make it useful. However... the Japanese keep it in service anyway, used mainly to provide air cover for capital ships.
German Government: Hitler makes a rare tour of coastal fortifications in France. Riding in his train "Amerika," Hitler inspects railway guns at Audruicq, Rinxent, the Siegfried/Todt bunkers at La Sence, Pointe aux Oies near Wimereux, Wimereux itself, Boulogne, and the defense zone Grosser Kurürst. Hitler will continue his inspection on the 24th, spending the night in his train (parked in a tunnel north of Boulogne). This is as close as he ever gets to England - and one of his closest visits to the enemy until 1945.
Adolf Hitler touring coastal fortifications in France, 23 December 1940. With him are Friedrich-Wilhelm Fleischer, commander of the coastal guns, and labor boss Fritz Todt. Todt's men have built massive fortifications, and some are grandly engraved with "Batterie Todt" in giant letters.
British Government: The appointments of Lord Halifax as Ambassador to the United States and Anthony Eden to be the new Foreign Secretary are announced.
Singapore: Some units of the 2/15 Punjab arrive in British Borneo from Singapore as garrison troops. Air Marshal Brooke Popham, the British Commander-in-Chief in the Far East, takes the opportunity to give a press conference in which he touts the increase British forces in the Far East. The Japanese, however, are in possession of the Top Secret military assessment of British defenses in that theater by the Churchill War Cabinet. The Japanese thus know that any claims of British strength not only are spurious but evidence of mere puffery designed to mislead them and conceal British weakness.
China: Due to clashes between Communist and Nationalist forces, Chiang Kai-Shek demands that the Communist Party of China (CPC) army evacuate Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces, where they recently have been battling the Japanese with some success. After some hesitation, the Communist New Fourth Army complies. However, Chiang is not happy with the overall situation despite the CPC bowing to his demand, and he or his minions plot reprisals. This is the start of a brewing civil war in the middle of the far more important war against the Japanese.
American Homefront: Eddie August Henry Schneider, a famed 1930s aviator who set several transcontinental speed records and became the youngest certified pilot in the United States, perishes at age 29 in an airplane crash. His plane crashes while Schneider is training another pilot at Floyd Bennett Field. The other plane, piloted by a US Naval Reserve pilot, clips his tail and sends his private plane into the sea. Both the Naval Reserve pilot and the air traffic controllers are held accountable for the tragedy. Schneider had flown with the Yankee Squadron supporting the Spanish Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War.
Lana Turner is profiled in Life Magazine today, illustrating why she is known as the "Sweater Girl." Source: Niven Busch, "Lana Turner: She Was Sipping a Strawberry Malt When Fame Walked in to Make her the Movie Sweater Girl," Life, December 23, 1940, pp. 62-67.
October 21, 1940: Accordion players and singers playing at the Aldwych tube station subway stop. The troupe traveled from station to station each night.
Battle of Britain: The weather on 21 October 1940 remains poor, with normal English fall weather: overcast, drizzly, low visibility. The Luftwaffe mounts mainly smaller raids by pirate bombers and other lone wolves.
During the morning, there are small raids in London, Liverpool, Northampton, Cambridge, and the Duxford area.
Some Junkers Ju 88s and Dornier Do 17s attempt bombing missions during the afternoon when the weather clears a bit. One odd incident takes place at Old Sarum when a Ju 88 poses as a Bristol Blenheim while attacking the airfield there. However, ultimately the bomber is shot down by RAF No. 609 Squadron.
After dark, there are raids on the usual targets: London, Liverpool and the Midlands with further raids on Sheffield, South Wales and Lancashire. The Luftwaffe also drops mines in the Thames Estuary and off Swansea. A particularly devastating hit is scored by a land mine at Strathmore Avenue, Beverley High Road, near the River Hull. It devastates the entire area, kills two, and injures many others.
Tonight counts as Liverpool's 200th air raid, conducted by KGr 606 and III,/KG 27.
Coventry, home to many strategic factories, also gets hit again. This is a particularly devastating raid that devastates both businesses and infrastructure. A water main break floods the nearby Northern Line.
The day is pretty much a wash, with a handful of Luftwaffe planes lost and nary a single RAF plane - an extreme rarity during the Battle of Britain.
The coastal guns at Hellfire Corner (the Dover Strait) exchange fire between 14:00 and 16:00. Several of the six German shells fired fail to detonate, as was the case yesterday.
European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command attacks the ports of Boulogne and Gravelines. It also attacks a convoy off the French coast, damaging a ship. After dark, the targets include the Skoda plant at Pilsen, the Hamburg dockyards, oil installations at Reisholz, and Stade Airfield near Hamburg.
A Vickers Wellington V is tested for altitude and reaches 20,000 feet.
The Luftwaffe night fighters get another victory when Hptmn Karl Hülshoff of 1./NJG2 damages an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley of RAF No. 58 Squadron. It almost makes it back to base but crashes into a hillside at Botton Head on Ingleby Greenhow Moor, North Yorkshire.
The Luftwaffe shuffles some of its personnel. Kommodore of KG 2 Generalmajor Johannes Fink becomes Inspector of Bomber and Ground Attack Flyers. Oberst Herbert Rieckhoff from KG 30 replaces him, and Oblt. Erich Blödorn replaces Rieckhoff.
Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth of U-93.
Battle of the Atlantic: The last few days have seen tremendous victories by the U-boat fleet over the British convoy system. While the U-boats involved in those actions have spent most or all of their torpedoes, there remain other ways to continue the savage attacks on Britain's ocean lifeline. Today, mines and the Luftwaffe take over.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 825-ton Irish collier Kerry Head about 9 km south of Blackball Head, County Kerry. All 12 men aboard perish in the sinking.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4935-ton British freighter Houston City in the Thames Estuary northeast of Leysdown-on-Sea. The crew beaches the ship, but it later is bombed again by the Luftwaffe and written off.
Royal Navy auxiliary minesweeper HMT Waveflower also hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, Suffolk. There are seven survivors and 15 crew perish.
Royal Navy trawler HMT Joseph Button investigates the sinking of the Waveflower and also hits a mine and sinks. There are five deaths.
Royal Navy motor torpedo boat MTB 17 (Lt R. I. T. Falkner) hits a mine and sinks off Ostend, West Flanders. It sinks in shallow water and can be salvaged.
Royal Navy minelayers HMS Teviotbank and Plover, along with destroyers Icarus and Impulsive, lay minefield BS 42 in the North Sea.
Convoy OB 232 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FS 316 departs from Methil.
Wolfgang Lüth transfers out of U-138 and assumes command of U-43, an ocean-going submarine.
Royal Navy corvette HMCS Jonquil (K 68, Lt. Commander Robert E. H. Partington) is commissioned.
Hurricanes of RAF No. 1 Squadron and Spitfires of RAF No. 266 Squadron performing a flyover for factory workers. October 1940.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Italy begins preparing for the invasion of Greece by forming a new naval command. The Maritrafalba will escort convoys from the Italian ports of Bari and Brindisi to Albania. British submarines have been targeting this area recently, with some success.
Convoy BN 7, sailing out of Bombay, is attacked by Italian destroyers Manin, Sauro, Battisti and Francesco Nullo, operating out of Massawa, at 02:19. The Nullo is badly damaged by HMS Kimberley and Australian sloop HMAS Yarra and is beached/runs aground (it is unclear which). Bristol Blenheim bombers later destroy the Nullo, which is beached on Harmi Island, Italian Somaliland.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kimberley is hit by Massawa shore artillery and damaged. Three men are wounded. The destroyer must be towed by light cruiser Leander to Port Sudan, and later travels to Bombay for permanent repairs.
The RAF attacks Italian transport between Sollum and Buq Buq. Other operations include attacks on Italian East Africa/Abyssinia (Bahir Dar and Tessenei) and Eritrea (Gura and Asmara).
The Royal Navy is planning an airstrike, Operation Judgment, against the Italian fleet at Taranto. Fire on aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious destroys four Swordfish of RAF No. 819 Squadron postpones the operation for at least a week.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Parthian spots an Italian submarine off Cape Colonna and tries to ram it, but fails.
Italian submarine Scirè, which carries three manned torpedoes, sails from La Spezia once again for Gibraltar to carry out its mission against the Royal Navy based there.
At Malta, the Information Office announces that enemy air losses over Malta since the outbreak of the war have been 25 and badly damaged aircraft 20. RAF losses to date have totaled three fighters and two pilots. This is a rebuttal to Italian propaganda which has stated that the Regia Aeronautica has crushed RAF resistance on the island.
The South African 2nd Infantry Brigade arrives at Mombasa.
Battle of the Baltic: Finnish 623 ton wooden coaster Astrid is crossing the Baltic from Leningrad at 21:50 carrying salt when it sinks near Kovisto to the south of Gogland/Suursaari. It usually is reported that the coaster hits a mine, but the better sources suggest that a Soviet submarine rams it. There are 3 survivors and 9 men perish. The Soviet sub rescues the survivors and takes them to the naval base at Kronstadt near Leningrad, where they are kept for a month. This incident is subject to much suspicion about what actually happened, and not even the identity of the submarine is certain (apparently S-102). Many hard feelings were left over from the Winter War at the time. Some blame the Finnish ship for not running navigational lights. Others claim that the Finnish ship had its lights on and it was the new Soviet sub that was running dark, and this is supported somewhat by the fact that S-102's crew was inexperienced as the submarine was still on its trials. In any event, the timing of this incident is striking because Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov and the rest of the Politburo are quite concerned about transit rights recently granted by the Finns to Wehrmacht troops. There is no evidence, however, that this was a planned incident, perhaps a question of Soviet indifference or inattention. This is the kind of murky incident that keeps World War II discussion boards humming.
Battle of the Pacific: Light cruiser HMNZS Adelaide and Achilles depart for patrols out of Sydney and Auckland, respectively, after reports of a German raider in the vicinity. They find nothing. However, the reports are probably accurate, as raider Pinguin and its consort Passat are traveling in the vicinity to lay minefields off southern Australia.
Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis captures 5623-ton Yugoslavian freighter Durmitor. The Germans quickly rename it Radwinter and put a prize crew on it to sail to Mogadishu.
Ernest Hemingway at his Sun Valley, Idaho hunting lodge in October 1940. Photographed by Lloyd Arnold for Life Magazine. With him is Gary Cooper. Lloyd Arnold/ Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Lloyd Arnold.
German/Soviet Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov replies to German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop's lengthy letter of 13 October about a New World Order. The letter, signed by Stalin, is considered so important that Gustav Hilger personally brings it to Berlin.
In his reply, Stalin agrees to Ribbentrop's proposal that they meet in Berlin, to be followed by a meeting in Moscow:
I agree with you that a further improvement in the relations between our countries is entirely possible on the permanent basis of a long-range definition of mutual interests.
Molotov proposes 10-12 November as good dates for his visit. However, he carefully sets aside any possibility of involving Italy and Japan in the negotiations. Hitler's grand idea is to get the USSR to sign on with the Tripartite Pact, and he remains confident that will happen. The Germans are extremely excited at what appears to be a thawing of relations between the two parties.
Both sides, meanwhile, have been busy crafting war plans to invade the other. Molotov, in particular, is greatly concerned by German activity in Finland, where the Finns have granted the Wehrmacht transit rights and engaged in trade agreements with Germany. In the paranoid minds of the Kremlin, this all seems directed at them - and to a large extent, they are right. The Soviet attitude on the recent matter is not nearly as rosy as the Germans assume or would like to believe.
Terrorism: Two men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers on Malta are arrested and face dishonorable discharges for suspected IRA activities. Ultimately, one is repatriated, the other jailed for two years for "involuntary homicide."
German Military: Naval officer Friedrich Ruge, who won the Iron Cross 2nd Class during World War I, now receives the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as Kapitän zur See and commodore leader of the Minensuchboote West.
Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock's Army Group B headquarters, now redesignated Army Group Center, moves to Posen. Field Marshal Wilhelm List takes temporary command when von Bock goes on medical leave.
US Military: The Greenslade Board departs from San Juan, Puerto Rico to visit Hamilton, Bermuda. The Board is inspecting naval bases recently acquired pursuant to the destroyers-for-bases deal.
Italy: Benito Mussolini sets a firm date for the invasion of Greece of 28 October.
India: The British authorities are working valiantly to prevent any civil war by nationalists. Today, Gandhi's Congress Party begins non-violent protests. The British begin arresting the first of thousands of protesters for such acts as demonstrations and anti-war speeches.
China: Heitaro Kimura becomes chief of staff of Kenkichi Ueda, leader of the Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China.
American Homefront: Ernest Hemingway publishes "For Whom the Bell Tolls" about the Spanish Civil War.
"Young Bill Hickok," starring Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes, is released.
British/French Homefront: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a stirring speech to the nation from the Cabinet War Rooms. However, the nation he speaks to is not Great Britain, but France, as he provides a version in the French language ("Dieu protege La France") as well as English. It is one of Churchill's darkest speeches, not so much uplifting as it is savage in its denunciation of "this evil man" Hitler and his "little Italian accomplice" Mussolini.
In an angry tone, Churchill gets off some of his sharpest taunts at Hitler's expense, who he at first calls "Herr Hitler," but then "this evil man, this monstrous abortion of hatred and defeat":
We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes.
As he is wont to do, Churchill references Napoleon in a sentimental manner - not exactly how England felt about the Emperor while defeating him, but times have changed - and casually throws in a mention of "our friends across the Atlantic Ocean" as a sort of ace in the hole. Referencing Hitler, he vows:
If he does not destroy us, we surely shall destroy him and all his gang and all his works.
Churchill also plays on French fears by hinting darkly that Italy intends to wrest away the best parts of France, including "Nice, Savoy, and Corsica - Napoleon's Corsica." He notes that there is little love lost between the Germany/Italy coalition and France at this point, and offers little subtlety in warning about how "these two ugly customers" intent to not only rape France but cause its "complete obliteration."
Churchill has good reason to be angry. U-boat wolfpacks in the last few days have destroyed two convoys from Canada (SC 7 and HX 79), brushing aside the Royal Navy escorts as if they weren't even there. Those weren't the only losses at sea, either. Churchill, as former First Lord of the Admiralty, is extremely sensitive to naval developments, more so than events in the air. Despite the victories in the air, this is one of the darkest periods of the war for Great Britain.
But there are things going on behind the scenes that cast the situation in an entirely different light. Unbeknownst to anyone, Marshal Petain and Churchill secretly are negotiating through an intermediary. Petain, in fact, is in the process of sending his representative to London to see if some kind of reconciliation can be worked out between the two countries. This, of course, is particularly sensitive for Petain, because Hitler literally is on his way to meet Petain, Laval, and Franco (all separately) to discuss his own vision of forming a united front against England. If Hitler knew what Petain was doing behind his back, he would not be pleased. Churchill does, and he fairly gloats about it in this address without revealing why.
How much each side knows about the other's plans is unclear, but Churchill has a habit of interjecting himself forcefully into the internal affairs of the Continent in quite unsubtle (in hindsight) ways. The timing of this France-friendly address appears a bit too coincidental. It is likely Churchill knows what Hitler has in mind and is throwing in his own two cents before the big meetings. We shall see more of this in the near future.
Separately, Britain institutes a purchase tax.
Future History: Manfred Sepse Lubowitz is born in Johannesburg, Union of South Africa. He moves to London in 1961, changes his name to Manfred Mann while writing for a jazz magazine, and forms a blues-jazz band. They are signed to a record deal with EMI in 1963 as part of the "British Invasion." Mann goes on to front a number of acts which include his name in the moniker. He continues to perform with his most recent band, "Manfred Mann's Earth Band."
The US Presidential campaign is entering the home stretch, with Republican Wendell Willkie trying to prevent a third term by Franklin Roosevelt.
