Tuesday 17 June 1941

Soldiers of German 6th Army at a religious ceremony shortly before Operation Barbarossa in the Polish Gouvernement-General, June 1941. Note the severe military haircuts. At this moment, the men in this picture do not know what their next assignment is - but they can sure give a good guess. In fact, within days they are headed east toward Kyiv... and Stalingrad (Source: the book "The Onslaught; The German Drive to Stalingrad Documented in 150 Unpublished Colour Photographs" by Max Hastings).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Battle of Kissoué has resolved on 17 June 1941 after fierce fighting in the hills south of Damascus. The British win, but it is only a stepping-stone to more important objectives.

British Gentforce under Major-General Paul Legentilhomme (now wounded and replaced by the commander of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd) now plans to advance further. It will use the two main roads from the south - passing through Quneitra and Kissoué - to attack Damascus. However, there is a slight problem - the Vichy French have retaken Quneitra (Kuneitra) on one of the two roads. However, the British 16th Infantry Division can bypass the town without too much trouble.

The British, despite the setback at Quneitra, decide that offense is the best defense and decide to attack north to Damascus anyway. So, the British plan to send the 5th Indian Brigade north from Aartouz along the Quneeitra road early on the 18th.

The battle in front of Damascus saps British strength elsewhere. Lieutenant-General Lavarack sends part of the Australian 21st Brigade from Sidon on the coast to reinforce Jezzine. They managed to blunt a Vichy French attack there along with the Australian 25th Brigade. In the east, Free French Senegalese troops take Ezraa after a hard battle, with the Vichy French losing 160 prisoners and the Senegalese losing 70 prisoners. At Merdjayoun, an Australian attack is stopped by the determined Vichy French resistance.

RAF bombers attack a French destroyer carrying ammunition which has evaded the blockade and made it to Beirut. The ship is further damaged.

The British still feel in control of the campaign, but a sense of wonder infuses General Henry Maitland Wilson's headquarters in Jerusalem. The Vichy French were not supposed to resist, and defectors consistently reported that morale in Syria and Lebanon were terrible. However, the troops on the ground have been fighting fiercely over villages and towns that have no meaning. Why all this resistance from an army that was an ally only one year before?

Some answers come from the prisoner of war camps. Interrogations show that the Vichy French actually have excellent morale. However, it comes from a curious source: sheer pride. The French POWs claim that they are tired of being disparaged by both sides for their supposed lack of military prowess. In particular, they resent being lumped in with the Italians as ineffective (the French handily stopped the bulk of the Italian army along the Riviera coast in 1940). By resisting the British, they are proving something to the world - and to themselves.

The British order Habforce from Baghdad back into Syria, creating a long round-trip for the weary soldiers.

RAF Ops board for No. 75 Squadron, the night of 16/17 June 1941. The first column is labeled Serial No and shows the MSI three alpha followed by the three-digit number for each aircraft. Also shown is the 4 numeric of the aircraft serial under Aircraft No. The Ops board does not show the target - that is communicated verbally in the pre-flight briefing. They would announce the name - "Schweinfurt" - and then there often would be a chorus of boos and groans.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends Circus missions over Boulogne and Cherbourg. During the action over Cap Gris Nez, Lieutenant Josef "Pips" Priller of 1./JG 26 claims a Hawker Hurricane for his 23rd claim.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command continues its raids on western German targets, attacking Cologne (75 bombers), Duisburg (26) and Dusseldorf (57).

RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert, the new commander of Coastal Command, for the first time reveals that the RAF is using radio-location (RDF, or radar) to guide its planes. He reveals that Robert Watson-Watt developed the system.

"These men, who have finished their training course at HMS GORDON, signed on for service with the Royal Navy but were asked to volunteer for the Merchant Navy instead." June 1941, taken by Lt. Col. LC Priest © IWM (A 4464).

Battle of the Atlantic: German surface raider Atlantis, disguised as the Dutch motor-ship Brastagi, is operating a few hundred miles west of Ascension Island when it spots a target. Atlantis sinks 4760-ton British freighter Tottenham with gunfire after taking off the crew. Tottenham goes down with much-needed supplies for the Western Desert forces, including aircraft, ammunition, trucks, and cars. The Atlantis takes 26 crew prisoners of war, while 17 others take to the boats and eventually make it to Trinidad on 2 July.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient and shadowing Convoy SL-76, at 03:17 torpedoes 2727-ton British freighter Cathrine. The Cathrine carries 3700 tons of manganese ore and goes down quickly about 250 nautical miles (460 km, 290 miles) southwest of Cape Clear, Ireland. There are 24 deaths and three survivors. The three survivors are in a lifeboat, but spend 33 days before being rescued by a passing British trawler.

Royal Navy AMC HMS Pretoria Castle spots 9645-ton Vichy French freighter Desirade east of the Antilles. The Pretoria Castle seizes the Desirade.

The Canadian ferry Charlottetown runs aground off Port Mouton, Novia Scotia. It is written off and sinks off Little Hope Island on the 18th. Fortunately, the Charlottetown has no passengers on board, and nobody is hurt.

The Luftwaffe bomb and damage 833-ton British freighter Jim near Tyne. The ship makes it back to Tyne.

Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Clair collides with oiler Clam and has to return to St. John's. The destroyer is badly damaged and is not returned to service until 2 December.

Minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield BS.58 in the North Sea.

The Canadians recall their destroyers serving in Europe in order to beef up the Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF).

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Blyth (Commander Grenville M. Temple) and ASW trawler Polka (Lt. Kenneth C. Donaldson) are commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS Rosthern (Lt. Walter Russell) is commissioned and minesweeper Lockeport is laid down in North Vancouver.

Free Polish destroyer ORP Kujawiak is commissioned (originally built as HMS Oakley).

Vichy French corvette FS Alysse (Jacques P. Lehalleur) is commissioned.

ORP Kujawiak. Commissioned on 17 June 1941, lost to a mine on 16 June 1942 near Malta during Operation Harpoon.

Battle of the Mediterranean: On the Libyan frontier, the British offensive, Operation Battleaxe, has turned against them. Following initial reverses, General Erwin, helped by intercepts of Australian radio communications, now has the upper hand after masterful handling of his forces. As the day begins, the British still cling to their only gain of the offensive, Fort Capuzzo, but elsewhere they have been sent reeling.

At 04:30,  the 5th Light Brigade resumes its counterattack against the British 7th Armoured Brigade. By 06:00, the Germans grind into the British positions and start pushing them back again.

At Fort Capuzzo, the British have planned a resumption of their offensive, but the Germans have been very active. This activity spooks the British commander, General Frank Messervy, who cancels the attack. The confusion on the British side reaches a fever pitch, and Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell hurriedly boards a plane to fly from Cairo to the command post of front commander General Noel Beresford-Peirse at Sidi Barrani.

Meanwhile, General Rommel is reading the British wireless messages in real-time and knows that Wavell himself now is involved. As he writes later:

It sounded suspiciously as though the British commander no longer felt himself capable of handling the situation. It being now obvious that in their present bewildered state the British would not start anything for the time being, I decided to pull the net tight by going on to Halfaya.

Rommel repeatedly uses words like "bewildered" and "complained bitterly" to describe the tone of the British intercepts, which he obviously reads with great delight. One can almost hear him laughing at the image of Wavell rushing to the airport to fly to the scene of the end of his career.

This is one of Rommel's truly great operations, though little-remembered amongst his other successes. He demonstrates true talent as a counter-puncher, turning a well-played defensive battle into an opportunity to push the enemy back. Rommel reorients his counter-offensive on the fly to take account of the changed circumstances. He directs the 5th Light Division and 15th Panzer Division in a concentric attack, the former from the southwest and the latter from the northwest, on Halfaya, to destroy the fleeing British troops. The panzers reunite with their trapped comrades in Halfaya Pass without difficulty and only fail to encircle the main body of British tanks and infantry because they are headed east so fast.

At 10:00, the Germans brush aside the remaining tanks of the 4th Armoured Brigade, which was ruined by previous ill-fated attacks on German positions protected by hidden anti-tank guns. The local British commanders agree by 10:45 on a general retreat, and the British spend the rest of the day abandoning all of their remaining gains and retreating back into Egypt.

June 17, 1941, marks the last remnant of Operation Battleaxe, which has been a disaster for the British. The Allies have suffered 122 killed, 588 wounded and 259 missing men, while the Germans have 93 killed, 350 wounded and 235 missing. The British also lose 98 tanks (3 light, 30 cruisers, and 65 Matildas), while the Germans lose about 50 tanks total. The Germans recover the field of battle and thus get both their own wrecked tanks to salvage and also the British tanks for study and possible repair. The outcome in the air is similar, with the RAF losing 33 fighters and 3 bombers against total Luftwaffe losses of ten planes.

Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille shoots down two Hawker Hurricanes over Halfaya Pass while flying escort for Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers. They are his victories 12 and 13.

Operation Battleaxe has been as futile as Operation Brevity in mid-May despite the concentration of massive British armored forces brought by the Tiger Convoy. The Germans advance to Sidi Suleiman and then pause. Not only have the British not gained any ground, in fact, but they also wind up 30 miles further east than they started.

This KV-2 was among 20 sent on 17 June 1941 from the factory to Leningrad for use at Grodno by the 29th Armored Division of the 11th Mechanized Corps of the Western Special District. It never made it to Leningrad - the train was stopped near Lida and partially unloaded. This tank - B-4704 - encountered some kind of operational problem and was left by the side of the road near Lida - no time to fool around with balky tanks with the Wehrmacht nearby. The Germans recovered it and used it in some fashion.

Wavell sends Winston Churchill a cable that begins:

I regret to report the failure of "Battleaxe."

Winston Churchill did not have to read anything after that. He is furious with his generals in the Middle East, all of whom he quickly will replace. He was obsessed for the past month oversupplying the Middle East Command with tanks from England, and, instead of the great victory he desired and frankly expected, all that effort now is wasted. He blames the reversals on ineffective commanders and supposed slackers in the British army. The real reason for the British problems in North Africa, though, is simply that the German forces are too effective at this stage of the war.

Dutch submarine O-24 (P 24), commanded by Lt. Commander Otto de Booy, is operating off La Spezia, Italy when it attacks a target. However, the torpedoes miss.

The 173 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers is ordered to Malta to dig underground facilities. The government on the island has decided that the surface is becoming too hazardous and wants to build a headquarters, storage area and operating theater in the mountains. An air raid in the early morning hours damages Iz-Zebbieh, Hal Far, Luqa, Ta Qali, and Rabat.

"Bristol Blenheim Mark IVs taxying out for an air-test after assembly at Tengah, Singapore, following their urgent shipment to the theatre." June 1941 (© IWM (K 1175)).

Battle of the Pacific: RAAF Hudson aircraft depart Townsville for Dutch possessions Rabaul and Kavieng. Their mission is to make secret recon flights over Kapingamarangi Atoll, the southernmost point in the Japanese mandated the Caroline Islands. Rabaul itself will become the main Japanese headquarters in the Southern Pacific.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese begin assembling copies of secret charts for Panama from Italian officials. These charts show the location of guns, equipment, and buildings in the Canal Zone. The Japanese, however, are unsure how to get the charts from Panama to Tokyo without the Americans finding out because baggage in the area is being routinely opened and searched.

Pavel M. Fitin, chief of the NKVD Foreign Intelligence, sends Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin a report which asserts in part:

all preparations by Germany for an armed attack on the Soviet Union have been completed, and the blow can be expected at any time.

NKVD man Fitin knows this report is valid: the source is within Reichsmarschal Hermann Goering's own air ministry. However, at this point, Stalin has a stack of warnings of an invasion in his filing cabinet. As with the others, Stalin files it.

US/Canadian Relations: The US and Canada set up a Joint Economic Committee. Its purpose is to:

study and to report to their respective governments on the possibilities of (1) effecting a more economic, more efficient, and more coordinated utilization of the combined resources of the two countries in the production of defence requirements (to the extent that this is not now being done) and (2) reducing the probable post-war economic dislocation consequent upon the changes which the economy in each country is presently undergoing.

This is another step on a long journey by the United States in supporting the British without actually declaring war on the Axis.

The unsuccessful Brewster SB2A-4 Buccaneer. A total of 1052 are built, and many are never used but sent immediately to be scrapped.

German/Swedish Relations: The Swedish government, which leans toward the Allied cause but is surrounded by Axis territory, permits the German 163rd (Erwin Engelbrecht) Infantry Division to use the rail line from Narvik to Helsinki so that it may be used in the Continuation War. This decision is extremely controversial within Sweden for violating neutrality and leads to the "Midsummer Crisis." The division is not yet ready to move, however; that will take place from 25 June through 12 July.

German Military: Adolf Hitler confirms 22 June 1941 as the date for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion is to begin at 03:00 along three axes of advance: north, center, and south.

About 10,000 Wehrmacht troops assembled in Finland as co-belligerents (technically not allies) head north to take up positions near Petsamo in preparation for Barbarossa. Their aim is to secure vital nickel supplies and advance toward Murmansk.

The Luftwaffe engages in reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union, largely without being spotted. The photos are of historical interest for showing undamaged locations that soon will become famous for being destroyed by combat. Yesterday the photographed Kharkiv, today Zapolyarny in the far north.

British Military: The British Army reestablishes the Guards Armoured Division. Its first commander is Major General Sir Oliver Leese.

The prototype Brewster Bermuda (the name given to the Brewster SB2A Buccaneer by the United Kingdom) on Long Island, summer of 1941.

US Military: First flight of the Brewster SB2A Buccaneer, a US single-engined mid-wing monoplane scout/bomber. It is designed for the US Navy, but many are sent to Great Britain. The Buccaneer is found not suitable for combat and is assigned mundane tasks such as target towing and training. On lists of terrible designs, the Brewster Buccaneer places pretty highly for its underpowered engine and lack of maneuverability.

Finnish Military: General Heinrichs, the Finnish Chief of Staff, orders a general mobilization. All reservists up to the age of 44 are to report immediately for duty.

Finland announces that it is leaving the League of Nations, an organization that is moribund anyway.

Iceland: Sveinn Bjornsson is elected Regent of Iceland. While the Iceland military is occupied by the British (and soon the Americans), in other regards it continues to function independently.

David Lloyd George opens the new Welsh Services Club in London - 17-June-1941.

The Netherlands: Dutch composer and organist Johan Wagenaar passes away in Den Haag.

Latvia: Soviet deportations of 7000 women, children, and elderly people conclude in Latvia. They are taken to Siberia on freight cars. Everybody is woken before or at dawn without warning, given an hour to pack, and everything that they leave behind is seized by the state.

Holocaust: Using the little-known back-door route to escape Europe, Jewish refugees aboard Japanese ship Hikawa Maru have arrived in Vancouver, Canada. The group includes many families with children.

SS-Obergruppenführer/General der Polizei Reinhard Heydrich conducts a briefing session in his Berlin office. Attending are the commanders of Einsatzgruppe, Einsatzkommando, and Sonderkommando units in preparation for Operation Barbarossa.

Having just returned from a three-day SS conclave held at Castle Wewelsburg, Heydrich sets out in detail the policies to be followed by the Einsatzgruppen ("Task Forces"). These policies will include following the advancing army troops and serving as mobile execution squads of Jews and other undesired locals such as communist functionaries.

There is to be no judicial proceeding, no discussion - the intended victims are to be taken to places outside of town and shot without ceremony. Einsatzgruppen are composed of members of the SS, Gestapo, Criminal Police, and State Security Service. The colloquial name for Einsatzgruppen is "death squads."

American Homefront: New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets a hit in his 30th straight game, this one against the Chicago White Sox. This breaks the team record set by Roger Peckinpaugh and Earl Coombs, both of whom are in attendance to see the record fall.

Graduating class of the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics in Newark, New Jersey, 17 June 1941. The US Army Air Corps becomes the US Army Air Force three days later, 20 June 1941.

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020

Thursday 30 January 1941

"A Vickers machine gun crew outside Derna, 30 January 1941."  © IWM (E 1818).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue on 30 January 1941 trying to pry the two Italian Blackshirt Battalions off Mount Trebeshina. The Cretan 5th Division of III Corps has joined II Corps in the effort. The Italians are dedicated fascists and continue to hold out.

Alexander Koryzis takes over as Prime Minister from the recently deceased Ioannis Metaxas. On the positive side, Koryzis is not a dictator like his predecessor. On the downside, though, he is not seen as being nearly as forceful in dealing with the difficult military situation.

East African Campaign: At Mount Cochen, five Italian colonial battalions supported by artillery push back the 14th Punjab Regiment and 1st Battalion of the 6th Rajputana Rifles Regiment. It is a rare victory by the Italians, matching one recently in a similar manner in Albania.

The 5th Indian Division, meanwhile, is attacking the Italian 2nd Colonial Division commanded by General Angelo Bergonzi at Barentu. Bergonzi has nine battalions containing 8000 men and 32 guns, a not inconsiderable force in the interior. Not only is Bergonzi successfully defending his position, but he is able to launch some occasional counterattacks. His position, however, depends on flank protection on other forces holding Agordat, and that is in doubt.

The Italian airfield at Derna in 1941, showing Italian bombers and pieces of a downed Bristol Blenheim Mk 1, shot down while bombing the airfield. Those look like Cant Z1007 bombers in the background.

European Air Operations: It is cloudy and the flying weather is poor again. The Luftwaffe sends pirate raiders across during the day to hit London with random bomb drops. Luftwaffe fighter pilots, apparently bored, amuse themselves with knocking down some barrage balloons at Dover.

Battle of the Atlantic: In a speech before 18,000 at the Berlin Sportpalast to honor the anniversary of his accession to power in 1933, Adolf Hitler announces that any ship bringing supplies to Great Britain will be sunk. This is a very sensitive topic, considering that it would be dangerous to provoke the United States, but Hitler hints darkly that bad things will happen to the United States if it tries to intervene militarily. Hitler is feeling very confident and expounds that this will be "the crucial year of the great New Order in Europe." He, in fact, will be absolutely correct, but not in the way that he intends or desires. Another of his remarks:

... Where we can beat England, England will be beaten.

betrays a certain cautiousness about Germany's prospects that appear in his speeches throughout the war but are little noticed at the time.

German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, having sailed far to the northeast in order to evade patrolling Royal Navy warships south of Iceland, rendezvous with 6358-ton tanker Adria. The weather is horrendous, however, and refueling operations are impossible until the weather clears.

U-94 (Kptlt. Herbert Kuppisch), on its second patrol out of Lorient, follows up the sinking of West Wales on the 29th with the sinking of 5125-ton British freighter Rushpool. The Rushpool is another straggler from Convoy SC 19 due to the weather. All 40 men on board survive, picked up by Convoy SC 19's escort HMS Antelope.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 3677-ton Norwegian freighter Austvard 130 miles west of Galway Island, Ireland. There are 23 deaths and five survivors. The event is tragic because the lifeboats were damaged or destroyed in the attack, and many survivors perished because they took refuge on rafts that later disappeared.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 5266-ton British freighter Olympier in the Southwest Approaches about 250 miles out to sea. However, the freighter is able to continue onward to port.

German 2530-ton freighter Konigsberg hits a mine and sinks in the Elbe near the Elbe 1 lightship.

The Luftwaffe strafes Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vimiera in the North Sea while attacking Convoy FS 397. The destroyer sustains only light damage.

Convoy HX 106 departs from Halifax, escorted by battleship Ramillies, Convoys SL 64 and SLS 64 depart from Freetown.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Goathland is laid down.

U-555 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim Horrer) is commissioned, U-175 and U-217 are laid down.

Italian M13/40 tanks of the Banini Group outside Derna, January 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italians spend much of the morning extricating the last civilians and stores from Derna. The evacuation is aided by attacks by the Regia Aeronautica and well-placed artillery, all intended to pin the advancing Australians down for sufficient time to make the evacuation succeed. The Italians make good their escape, and then the Australians walk in basically unopposed. It is another brilliant success for Operation Compass.

After taking the town, General O'Connor in the evening decides to ask Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell for permission to have the Australians pursue the retreating Italians northwest of Derna along the Via Balbia. More desert sandstorms hinder operations, and the supply lines once again are becoming quite extended, a serious issue particularly in terms of having sufficient water supplies. Wavell, in Nairobi until the 1st, will give O'Connor his answer upon his return.

The next town is Giovanni Berta, but it will take at least another few days to get there. The plan is for the 7th Armoured Division to proceed cross-country south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) via Msus and Antelat. Thus, the British forces would be divided by the mountain, the Australians to the north and the 7th Armoured to the south. As it will be slow going for the British tankers, General O'Connor proposes to split off his fast wheeled vehicles under the command of Lieutenant Colonel J.F.B. Combe and send them ahead. This Combe Force will head to the northwest to try to cut the fleeing Italian 10th Army off south of Benghazi, whose capture is seen as the climax of Operation Compass.

The Luftwaffe's attacks on the Suez Canal pay off quickly when one sinks a dredger of the British Suez Canal Company in Lake Timsah. The dredger is later raised and repaired.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder (Malcolm D. Wanklyn) attacks an Italian convoy thirty miles north of Zavia (Zawiya), Libya. However, it is unsuccessful, and the Italian escorts then unsuccessfully attack the Upholder.

On Malta, the military authorities consider using a burning petroleum mixture to defend against an invasion. Rather than burn the invaders, the intent is to create a thick smokescreen. The idea's main flaw is that the island does not have enough benzene to enact the strategy.

German/Finnish Relations: Finnish Chief of General Staff General Axel Erich Heinrichs visits Berlin for a meeting with OKH Chief of Staff Generaloberst Franz Halder (under cover of giving lectures about the Winter War). Halder at this point is preoccupied with developing the plans for Operation Barbarossa, and he makes the first official mention - more of a hint, but a broad hint - of the proposed operation to the Finns (of course, have been many rumors and hints previously, but this was semi-official and reasonably direct).

Halder expresses interest in the condition of the Finnish Army and the sort of terrain it would encounter during offensive operations. He notes that the Reich particularly is interested in the nickel mine at Kolosjoki, Petsamo, in Finnish Lapland, which now lies just across the border in the USSR. In fact, the mine is one of the top German strategic targets on the entire 2000-mile (projected) front. Neither side makes any commitments at this time, and officially, the Reich and USSR remain allies.

However, as noted, rumors are flying about in all sorts of different directions, with some casting all the talk about Operation Barbarossa as simply a diversion intended to cover the true objective: an invasion of Great Britain. While the Finns remain in doubt after this meeting about how serious the plans are to invade the Soviet Union, there now is no doubt that they are aware that the Germans are at least thinking and talking about it.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's assistant private secretary, Jock Colville, records in his diary that Churchill drafts a telegram to Turkish President İsmet İnönü today for delivery on the 31st requesting that the RAF be permitted to base some squadrons on its territory in order to counter assumed German aggression in Bulgaria. Turkey is firmly neutral, however, and being closely watched (and courted) by the Germans as well, so it has to tread carefully.

"'I'll Torpedo U.S. Aid To Britain,' Says Hitler," NY Post, 30 January 1941.

German Military: Reichsmarschall and Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering institutes the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe is instituted. This is awarded in Bronze, Silver, and Gold, with various elaborations above those levels contemplated similar to those for the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz). There are slightly different permutations of the medal for different types of missions completed:

• Day Fighters
• Night Fighters
• Long Range Night Fighters
• Heavy Fighters
• Air to Ground Support Fighters
• Bombers
• Reconnaissance
• Transport and Glider

The criteria for the gradations of the medal are, Bronze: 20 flown missions; Silver: 60 missions flown; Gold, 110 missions flown. Many pilots on the Channel Front already qualify for the Gold medal.

Rudolf Höss is promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer. Otto Skorzeny is promoted to Untersturmführer (notification in March).

Italian prisoners at Tobruk, January 1941.

British Military: General Oliver Leese becomes commander of the 15th Infantry Division.

Soviet Government: Lavrentiy Beria, head of the NKVD (forerunner of the KGB), is elevated to be the Soviet Union's "top cop, becoming Commissar General of State Security. Beria, already a candidate member of the Politburo, is a particularly rough character who, it is said, personally strangled his predecessor, Nikolai Yezhov - but this may simply be Soviet mythmaking. Perhaps. Beria is one of Stalin's favorites because he does a lot of the state's "dirty work," which usually involves eliminating people. He also plays a direct role in the war at certain critical points, again in his role as "enforcer."

Australia: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his lengthy and tortuous journey to London, flying to Rangoon and then to Calcutta.

China: In the Battle of Southern Henan, the Japanese 11th Army is attempting, in three separate columns, to take over the southern section of the Ping-Han Railway. The Chinese 5th War Area (Li Zongren) does not oppose the Japanese frontally but instead forms a "crescent" which proves a danger to the Japanese flanks. Today, the Japanese take Wuyang, meeting little opposition from the Chinese.

German Homefront: Industrialists Friedrich Flick and Albert Vögler receive the War Merit Cross. The War Merit Cross is one of the only, and maybe the only, award made during the war that could be worn openly in Germany after the war (after 1957).

Future History: Richard Bruce Cheney is born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He attends Yale University, then interns with Congressman William A. Steiger. This begins a long career of public service which includes election to the US House of Representatives in Wyoming in 1978, serving until 1989. He becomes Secretary of Defense under President George Herbert Walker Bush, and then the 46th Vice President of the United States with President George W. Bush. Dick Cheney remains involved in politics in an emeritus role.

Australian troops approaching Derna, January 1941. (Australian War Memorial).

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

Monday 30 December 1940

London still smoldering on the morning of the 30th from the previous night's devastating fire raid.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Some fighting develops on 30 December 1940 in the central sector between Greek 2nd Corps and the defending Italians for possession of strategically important Klisura Pass (Kelcyre). The Greeks have not yet launched their main attacks there, but they already are having success against the Italians, who are showing a pronounced willingness to surrender.

European Air Operations: London digs out from the Second Great London Fire caused by the Luftwaffe raid on the night of 29/30 December. Royal Engineers and other troops are brought in to bring order to ravaged streets and dynamite destroyed buildings in the City of London. The incendiaries have fallen in about a two-and-a-half-mile diameter centered near St. Paul's Cathedral. The boroughs of Poplar and Westminster, near the Thames River, are hit the hardest. The authorities count a total of 1500 fires, with 52 of them listed as "serious," 28 as "major," and six as "conflagrations."

The Air Staff comes out with new guidelines. They want a person on every building ready to quickly douse incendiaries, which are easy to extinguish if caught quickly. A "fire-watching" system is set up in which everyone is held responsible for protecting their own house or business.

The Luftwaffe sends only a single bomber over East Anglia and Kent during the day and does not operate during the night of 30/31 December. They have been using X-Gerät beams to guide their bombers and using about ten bombers from KG 100 which are specially outfitted to receive such beams to guide them to the targets. The RAF steps up countermeasures to the beams at their special station at Cheadle (Cheshire).

The Arroyo Seco Parkway around the time of its opening in 1940. The black lanes are the "passing" lanes" and not part of the median. This road along a dry riverbed remains in use in the 21st Century in almost exactly the same configuration as shown here, although it now has more lanes and handles much more traffic (Caltrans).

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather is very rough in the North Atlantic, leading to ships colliding and others running aground. The convoy system places numerous ships unusually close to one another, and today that causes some damage.

A Luftwaffe (IX Air Corps) aerial mine hits and sinks 613-ton British freighter Calcium near Liverpool Harbor. When 608 ton British freighter Sodium goes alongside to take off the crew, the Calcium hits the Sodium and damages it.

In the same attack as sank the Calcium, the Luftwaffe also hits and damages Royal Navy destroyer HMS Venomous with an aerial mine at the entrance to Liverpool harbor. It requires repairs in Liverpool lasting for almost two months. There is one death on the Calcium.

Other ships damaged in the Luftwaffe attack on Liverpool Harbour are 5645-ton Swedish freighter Buenos Aires and 5218-ton British freighter Catrine. British 8053 ton tanker Dorcasia also hits a mine in the same general vicinity as the other ship; it is not clear if it is an aerial mine or a sea mine. In any event, it makes it back to port.

British 6402 ton freighter the City of Bedford gets in an accidental collision with 5342-ton British freighter Bodnant. The incident happens when Convoy SL 58 and Convoy OB 264 merge. The City of Bedford sinks, and the convoy Commodore, Rear Admiral JC Hamilton (Rtd.), perishes in the sinking.

British 3896 ton freighter Baron Ardrossan runs aground at Barra, Outer Hebrides. It is a complete write-off.

Force H, which has been fruitlessly out looking for the Admiral Hipper (which has made port at Brest), arrives back at Gibraltar. Heavy cruiser HMS Renown has suffered weather damage and requires repairs.

Convoy OB 267 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 371 departs from Southend.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Meynell (Lt. Commander William H. Farrington), the submarine HMS Undaunted and corvette HMS Kingcup are commissioned. Minesweeper HMS Boston, submarine HMS Umpire and corvette HMS Violet are launched.

Time Magazine features opera soprano Lily Pons on the cover of its 30 December 1940 issue. Pons, who became an American citizen in 1940, opened in Donizetti's La fille du regiment (Daughter of the Regiment) as Marie at the Met in New York City on 28 December 1940 (when this issue would have been on the newsstands). The revival resonates because it was last done at the end of World War I, and it concludes with a big flag-waving scene as Marie hoists aloft the French Napoleonic tricolors with the orchestra playing the Marseillaise. Thus, while this cover seems to be about opera... it's not just about opera.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In a collision in the Gulf of Sollum off Egypt, 913-ton anti-submarine trawler HMT Bandolero is sunk by Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen. Everybody survives. The Waterhen also is damaged, but makes it back to Alexandria under escort and requires a month of repairs.

The RAF raids Taranto, Naples, and Palermo. This apparently is done by the Wellingtons stationed on Malta.

The Australian 6th Division continues preparing for its assault on Bardia scheduled for 2 January 1941. Bardia now is cut off from relief by the Australian 16th and 17th Brigade troops. While Tobruk is not invested, the British do have patrols of the 7th Armoured Division in that general area.

An accounting on Malta shows that the Christmas Appeal to fund parties for refugee children provided enough money to fund 45 parties all across the island. Not only was cash raised, but also toys, food, candy, and free entertainment.

The Italians raid Malta again. This time, they actually fly over the island and drop some bombs, unlike on the 29th. The raid around 11:30 damages Luqa Airfield but causes no casualties on either side.

Life Magazine looks at "Britain's Desert Warriors" in its 30 December 1940 issue.

Battle of the Pacific: The Royal Navy organizes convoys for ships sailing in the Tasman Sea. This is in response to German raider Komet's successful attack on the phosphate facilities at Nauru.

Convoy US 8 departs from Sydney for Egypt. It is a major troop convoy which includes 11,093-ton transport Empire Star, 8536 ton Port Chalmers, 16,801-ton transport Empress of Russia, and 7527-ton transport Maunganui.

Spy Stuff: MI-6 agents in Tokyo have interviewed one of the crewmen taken from the Automedon and later landed in Japan by the German-captured Ole Jacob. The crewman reveals that the secret communications carried by the Automedon have fallen into German and Japanese hands. That information, which describes in detail British defenses in the Pacific region, indeed is in the hands of Japanese and German authorities.

Anglo/Abyssinian Relations: Winston Churchill sends a directive to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to support the return of exiled emperor Haile Selassie to the country for purposes of leading a revolt against the Italians there which can be capitalized upon by the British forces in neighboring Kenya.

US/Vichy French Relations: Admiral and Mrs. Leahy arrive in Lisbon onboard the USS Tuscaloosa. They will proceed to Vichy, where the Admiral will take up his post as US Ambassador to France.

German Military: Admiral Doenitz, commander of the U-boat fleet, gives a speech to the OKW in which he touts the value of the long-range Focke-Wulf FW Condor patrol planes:

Just let me have a minimum of twenty Fw 200s solely for reconnaissance purposes, and the U-boat successes will shoot up!

While they have their own issues, the Condors are the Luftwaffe's only four-engine aircraft and have proven quite serviceable in actions against the convoys, both from reconnaissance and attack perspectives.

A Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina, of the kind that entered production in 1940.

US Military: Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch, Commander of the 14th Naval District (and former Commander-in-chief of the US Fleet) in Hawaii, writes the first of three letters to the War Department (Chief of Naval Operations) warning that defenses there are inadequate. His specific complaint is that there are not enough long-range Consolidated PBY Catalina patrol planes to complete a proper search radius of the islands. CINCPACFLT endorses Bloch's appeals, but nothing is done, though Admiral Stark promises to send some PBYs. In fact, Admiral Bloch at no point has a single PBY to perform searches, though he can use some of the Navy's planes when they are not needed by the fleet. Admiral Kimmel, with no patrol planes, decides not to conduct air patrols at all despite the occasional availability of planes. Instead, the planes are devoted to fleet protection. There are many practical issues involved in this decision, including the lack of spare parts in Hawaii and the strain that endless patrols would place on the inadequate flight crews.

Admiral Bloch, incidentally, is the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the US armed forces during World War II.

British Military: The export version of the Bell P-39 Aircobra, the Bell P-400 Airacobra, is flown for the first time by an RAF pilot in England. Christopher Clarkson takes the plane up and has no issues. The plane is highly touted, and a production run of 675 aircraft destined for England is scheduled.

General Oliver Leese becomes commander of the West Sussex County Division of the Home Defense.

"Wunschkonzert," released on 30 December 1940, establishes Ilse Werner as one of the top film stars in Germany.

German Homefront: UFA releases "Wunschkonzert," a film set in part at the 1936 Olympics and named after a popular radio program in which soldiers from around the Reich call-in requests for songs. While she does not receive top billing (except on some film posters), the lovely (Dutch) Ilse Werner steals the movie and becomes one of Germany's top film stars (and also a radio and television star during the war). Werner builds on this success to become known for her trademark whistling as part of her singing act. "Wunschkonzert" becomes the highest-grossing film in UFA history and, in an excellent example of synergy, propels the radio show on which it is based to new heights of popularity. All that said... it is not a very interesting film for modern audiences, with a rote and maudlin love-triangle plot, obvious German propaganda touches and, inexplicably, no singing from one of the Reich's top singing stars, Wagner.

American Homefront: California Governor Culbert Olson and Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron dedicate the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway, State Route 110) in California. Note that parts of the freeway were first opened to traffic on 20 July December, but this dedication marks the entire route as open and ready for traffic.

As a fact sheet put out by Caltrans puts it:

It has the distinction of being the first freeway -- a grade-separated, limited-access, high-speed divided road -- in the urban western United States. Termed an “engineering marvel,” it was the initial stretch of road for what would become the world renowned Los Angeles metropolitan area freeway system.

The Arroyo Seco Parkway roadbed remains in the 21st Century exactly where it was laid out in the 1930s. It remains in good shape partly because trucks were banned from it shortly after its construction. Designed to accommodate 27,000 vehicles at an average speed per day, the highway has been widened and now handles about 122,000 vehicles per day. It reverted to its original name in 2010. Incidentally, at the dedication ceremony, five Native American leaders, including Chief Tahachwee of the Kawie tribe that lived in the Arroyo, smoke a 150-year-old peace pipe to celebrate this "modern progress."

Opening Day caravan for the Arroyo Seco Freeway, 3 December 1940. There is a black left lane for passing, a gray right lane for normal traffic, and a shoulder lane.  The shoulder lane and the median area are long gone.

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

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