Thursday 3 July 1941

Remarks of Joseph Stalin, 3 July 1941.

Eastern Front: On 3 July 1941, after disappearing from public view for ten days, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin gives a radio speech. It is a remarkable event in the history of the Soviet Union. It is one of the most dramatic and influential speeches of the 20th Century because it produces results that change the history of the world. As British newsman Alexander Werth writes, for the first time Stalin speaks to the country as if his listeners are his friends. Listeners can hear the clink of Stalin's glass as he takes occasional sips and marvel at his very thick Georgian accent. It is as if Stalin is sitting at the table with you, explaining the tragedy that has befallen the country and asking personally for your help.

The gist of the speech is that the entire Soviet Union must engage in total war. On a tactical level, Stalin advocates that his "brothers" and "sisters" adopt "Guerilla tactics." He admonishes "We must not leave … a single kilogram of grain or a single liter of petrol to the enemy." He summarizes the strategic situation quite honestly, one of the few times the Soviet government gives a clear picture of the situation throughout the war:

Hitler's troops have succeeded in capturing Lithuania, a considerable part of Latvia, the western part of White Russia, a part of the western Ukraine. The Fascist air force is extending the range of the operations of its bombers and is bombing Murmansk, Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol.

However, the speech touches on themes that go far beyond the tactical or even strategic.

Thus the issue is one of life or death for the Soviet state, for the peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the issue is whether the peoples of the Soviet Union shall remain free or fall into slavery. The Soviet people must realize this and abandon all heedlessness; they must mobilize themselves and reorganize all their work on new, war-time lines, when there can be no mercy to the enemy.

Stalin concludes with a populist call to "the people" - unheard of in the Soviet state to date:

The State Committee of Defense has entered in its functions and calls upon all our people to rally around the party of Lenin-Stalin and around the Soviet government so as self-denyingly to support the Red Army and Navy, demolish the enemy and secure victory. All our forces for support of our heroic Red Army and our glorious Red Navy. All the forces of the people—for the demolition of the enemy! Forward, to our victory!

The results of Joseph Stalin's speech will become clear as we continue our review of the days of World War II.

German soldiers recovering a fallen StuG III assault gun in the Pruth River, 3 July 1941 (Federal Archives, Bild  B 145 Fig. F016207-0008).

In the Far North sector, General Dietl's Army of Norway 3rd Mountain Division establishes a bridgehead across the Litsa River on the way to Murmansk in Operation Silver Fox. The Soviets quickly send reinforcements to the area and stop any further German penetration. Further south, the Operation Arctic Fox advance toward Salla bogs down, largely due to the inexperience of the German SS-Infantry Kampfgruppe Nord division. The Germans call for reinforcements from southern Finland and ask the Finns to mount a flank attack on the Soviet defenders to free up their front, but this will take several days to organize.

In the Army Group North sector, Field Marshall von Leeb's troops continue attacking the Stalin Line with 4th Panzer Group. The Soviet defenders manage to hold their positions through great sacrifices.

On the Army Group Center Front, the panzers of General Walter Model's 3rd Panzer Division of Panzer Group 2 reach the Dneipr River at Rogachev southeast of Minsk despite determined Soviet counterattacks. There is some confusion on the German side, with local commanders determined to move forward while Hitler's 29 June "stop" order technically remains in place. Field Marshal von Bock supports Generals Guderian and Hoth against Army Commander von Brauchitsch, and the panzers continue eastward past Minsk.

Some of the 290,000 Soviet troops taken prisoner at Bialystok. 3 July 1941 (Hermann, Federal Archives, Bild 101I-006-2212-30).

Behind the front, General Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group helps infantry troops to subdue the large Soviet Bialystok pocket west of Minsk. Ultimately, 290,000 Soviet troops and 2500 tanks surrender.

Soviet Colonel Yakov Grigorevich Kreizer, commander of the elite 1st Moscow Motor Rifle Division, attacks the bridgehead established by General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group at Borisov (near Lipki). The attack is spotted before it arrives by Luftwaffe reconnaissance. The attack is sharp and vicious but fails. Guderian's 18th Panzer Division in the bridgehead is aided in planning its defense by intercepts of Soviet communications made "in the clear" - not in code - and also by Luftwaffe reconnaissance. The Soviets have a success of sorts, getting the remnants of 4th and 13th Armies across the Dneipr, but all of the Soviet armies are battered an no longer worthy of the name. Marshal Timoshenko orders the 21st Army forward to hold the river line, which the Germans are unable to cross before nightfall.

In the Army Group South sector, the main action is in Soviet Moldavia, where Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies and German 11th Army continue their offensive. The Soviets attempt some counterattacks, but they barely slow the Germans.

Soviet Naval Air unit 402 IAL, based at Idritsa in Russia and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel P. Stefanovsky, goes into action with its new MiG-3 fighters for the second straight day with outstanding results. It destroys six more Luftwaffe planes, as it did on the 2nd. The unit has as its adjutant an aerobatic champion, Major K. A. Gruzdev, who devises special strategies for the unit's pilots such as picking an altitude where the new MiG-3 fighters enjoy a performance advantage over the Bf 109s. Gruzdev quickly develops into one of the top aces in the Red Air Force.

Wilhelm Pruller writes in his diary, published after the war as "Diary of a German Soldier," about the general German tactics used at this stage of the war. The panzers use the road network to push east, "Without securing the land lying to the right and left of the road." This means that uncounted numbers of Soviet troops are left behind the Wehrmacht spearheads hidden in gullies and forests. Pruller's unit is in Kamionka. Early in the morning, Pruller's unit encounters and wipes out a force of Russian cavalry hiding in a ravine by using artillery. Later, a Soviet tank (apparently a KV) drives alone into town from the north carrying a large party of Soviet soldiers armed with pistols. The tankers are just trying to make it back to Soviet lines, but they have to get through the German-held town. The tank makes it through Kamionka and across a bridge almost to safety before German artillery finally destroys it. The Germans find that some of the soldiers on the tank were women - they all were burned alive.

British troops under fire near Damascus, 3 July 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The main action in Syria switches today from Palmyra, which fell to the British on 2 July, to northeastern Syria. General William "Bill" Slim of Iraq Command controls 10th Indian Infantry Division plus the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles from 20th Indian Infantry Brigade. Based in Haditha, its goal is to advance westward toward Aleppo, and Slim's forces so far have not met much opposition.

The 2/10th Gurkha Rifles attacks Deir ez-Zor from the south-west at 09:00. They take the garrison by surprise and seize important bridges intact. Other Gurkha Rifles then advance from the southeast and clear the town against heavy Vichy French air attacks. By 15:30, Deir ez-Zor is in British hands, with the British capturing booty of five aircraft, nine guns, and 50 trucks. However, the defending Syrian troops hurriedly take off their uniforms and blend into the civilian population, evading capture. Only about 100 prisoners are taken.

Vichy France sends more aerial reinforcements for Syria from Tunis. They take the northern route via Brindisi, Italy, and Athens. Today, 21 Dewoitine D.520 fighters of No. 3 Squadron, 2nd Fighter Grup (GD II/3) land at Rhodes, their last stop before entering the battle zone.

Jewish forced laborers unloading German ammunition at Isbica railway station (15 km north of Zamosc, Poland), 3 July 1941 (Paris, Hans Joachim, Federal Archives, Bild 146-1994-027-33).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe makes a rare daylight raid on Great Britain, attacking Land's End in southwestern England. The attack fails, however, when the bombs fail to explode. Many British observers conclude that the Luftwaffe has so many defective bombs because slave laborers in German factories are secretly sabotaging their ordnance.

During the day, RAF Fighter Command conducts two Circus missions to Hazebrouck. The RAF loses two Spitfires in the first mission and four in the second to JG 2 and JG 26, most near St. Omer.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command attacks Essen (90 bombers) and Bremen (68). Bombing accuracy is terrible, and the entire area around Essen is hit (including Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Hagen, and Wuppertal).

During the RAF night raids, at 01:00, Luftwaffe night fighter pilot Oblt. Reinhold Knacke of 2./NJG 1 destroys a British Whitley bomber and a Hampden bomber.

Luftwaffe Major Wilhelm Balthasar, Kommodore of JG 2, is shot down and killed. He had 47 victories. His replacement is Oblt. Walter Oesau.

Following a recent air battle in which he shot down five Soviet bombers, Werner Mölders, now serving on the Eastern Front as Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51, is awarded the Swords to his Knight's Cross from the hand of Adolf Hitler.

East African Campaign: The Italian garrison at Debra Tabor surrenders. In addition, Free Belgian troops under the command of Major-General Auguste Gilliaert surround General Pietro Gazzera's army of about 7000 men at Saio in the south Ethiopian Highlands. The Belgians also attack Dembidollo in Galla-Sidamo.

A funeral in Zăicani, Rîșcani, Moldova, 3 July 1941. Note German soldier on horseback watching as others carry the coffin behind a priest (Federal Archives, Bild B 145 Fig. F016207-0029).

Battle of the Baltic: Finnish submarine Vetehinen uses its deck gun to attack 4100-ton Soviet ship Vyborg north of Stenskaar. The Viborg gets away for the time being (sunk on 3 July by submarine Vesikko).

Soviet Navy transport Imanta hits a mine off Suursai. The master manages to beach the ship before it sinks, but it is a total write-off.

German naval trawler KOL-72 hits a mine and sinks at Kołobrzeg, Poland.

Soviet motor torpedo boat No. 12 is lost somewhere in the Baltic of unknown causes.

The Soviets scuttle freighter Everiga at Pyarnu rather than allow it to be captured by the advancing Germans.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler), on its third patrol out of Lorient and operating southwest of the Canary Islands, sinks 2918-ton British freighter Robert L. Holt at 06:50. The Robert L. Hold happens to be the ship of Commodore Vice-Admiral N.A. Wodehouse of recently dispersed Convoy OB-337. It is an unusual encounter because the U-boat is out of torpedoes, so Metzler decides to surface and use his deck gun. This proves to be a risky decision when the armed freighter fires back, which Metzler probably wasn't expecting. Ultimately, U-69 fires 102 high explosives and 34 incendiary rounds from the deck gun, along with 220 rounds from the 20mm anti-aircraft gun and 400 rounds from its MG 34 machine gun. There are 49 deaths. This is the final success of U-69 on this eventful patrol, which has seen it almost bring the United States into the war six months earlier than would be the case with its sinking of US freighter Robin Moor.

British 86-ton drifter Receptive hits a mine and sinks in The Swale near Uplees. There is one death.

Royal Navy 82-ton auxiliary ship Rosme hits a mine and sinks off Foulness Island.

Convoy SL-80 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Rothesay (Commander Alaster A. Martin) is commissioned.

U-577 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Schauenburg) is commissioned, U-265 and U-521 are laid down.

Jews being forced to carry ammunition by German troops near Zamość, Izbica, 3 July 1941 (Paris, Hans Joachim, Federal Archives, Bild 146-1991-014-08).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks 5870-ton Italian freighter Laura Cosulich east of Calabria.

Spanish 308-ton freighter Felipe Crespi hits a mine and sinks off Genoa, Italy.

Off the Libyan coast east of Tobruk, Italian submarine Malachite spots light cruiser HMS Phoebe making a sweep in the company of light cruiser HMAS Perth and three destroyers. Malachite fires a torpedo, but misses.

British submarine HMS Osiris makes it to Malta with 70 tons of bulk petrol.

Danish/US Relations: Expanding the recent "Consulate War" between the US, Germany, and Italy, Denmark leaps into the fray by demanding that the US evacuate its consular staff by 15 July. In general, these expulsions are a bad thing for the Allies, as the US consulates behind the Reich lines can provide valuable intelligence to Great Britain.

"Kennedy family friend, Stanley Rogers "Stan" Resor (with a towel draped around his head, and one foot on a pair of water skis), stands on a dock at Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, during the Fourth of July holiday; Gaspard d'Andelot "Don" Belin sits in the stern of a docked boat at left." This photo was taken circa 3 July 1941. Resor goes on to serve in Europe, wins the Silver Star and Bronze Star, and serves as Secretary of the United States Army from 1965 to 1971. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Libary and Museum).

Soviet Military: All men aged 16-60 and women aged 18-50 are mobilized, with very few exceptions.

British Military: The Handley-Page Halifax Mk II makes its maiden flight. It features improved Merlin 22  engines, a more streamlined nose, a four-gun Defiant-type dorsal turret, and some minor structural improvements.

Bell P-39C Aircobra fighter planes arrive at RAF Colerne, the first of 675 ordered by the British Purchasing Commission. They will serve with RAF No. 601 Squadron. RAF pilots, however, take an immediate dislike to the planes once they find that the rate of climb and performance at altitude is lacking.

Romanian Government: Romanian leader Ion Antonescu reveals his thinking during an address at the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

We find ourselves at the broadest and most favorable moment for a complete ethnic unshackling, for a national revival and for the cleansing of our people of all those elements alien to its spirit.

Holocaust: In Tallinn, Estonia, the Soviet NKVD shoots prominent politician Friedrich Akel. The Soviets imprisoned Akel in October 1940 but apparently preferred to shoot him rather than evacuate him with the rest of the retreating Soviet population. His wife Adele Karoline Tenz already has been deported.

July 3, 1941, The Sporting News- Detroit All-Star Game Issue- All-Stars & Briggs Stadium Cover. The game is scheduled for 8 July 1941.

American Homefront: Eleanor Roosevelt publishes a column with the United Feature Syndicate, Inc. entitled "My Day, July 3, 1941." In her column, she simply describes her thoughts during the day and philosophizes about "modern life." Among her thoughts today are the plight of "underprivileged youngsters," including "above all, our young Negro people," whom she feels are not getting enough recreation. She encourages people to send soldiers "packages of small luxuries, and even of necessities."
Future History: Gloria Rachel Bloom is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gloria grows up and becomes a lawyer, becoming interested in women's issues. Using her married name of Gloria Allred, she goes on to become a prominent attorney in California who is still active at the time of this writing.

 Wylie Walker Vale is born in Houston, Texas. He becomes a top endocrinologist who discovers the stress hormone.


July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Thursday 15 May 1941

Gloster -Whittle G.40 E28/39 on its first flight, 15 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Junck, in command of Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck), arrives in Mosul, Iraq on 15 May 1941 with the balance of his command. He now has a dozen Bf 110s, 5 Heinkel He 111 bombers, some light aircraft for communications, 3 Junkers Ju 52 transport planes, and a unit of anti-aircraft guns.

Oberst Junck sends a Heinkel bomber to Fort Rutbah, which it finds under British command and bombs. While this does little to damage the fort, it confirms British intelligence that the Luftwaffe has arrived in Iraq. Some accounts state that Major Axel von Blomberg, head of the reconnaissance group that preceded Junck's flight, is shot and killed by ground fire today while flying to Baghdad, other accounts state that this happened several days previously.

The RAF also continues conducting air attacks. The Iraqis get a rare success against the British airplanes today when they shoot down a Swordfish of 814 Squadron during a dive-bombing attack on some military barracks at Samawah, midway between Baghdad and Basra.

The air situation in Iraq is confused. The Iraqis have some Bristol Blenheims, and they use one today to attack Kingcol, the troop convoy coming from Palestine. However, the RAF basically has control of the air even despite recent Luftwaffe reinforcements. The French High Commissioner in Syria, General Dentz, protests to the British about the recent RAF air raids on his airfields at Palmyra and Aleppo which are being used by the Luftwaffe.

General William Slim assumes command of the Indian 10th Infantry Division at Basra.

Free French General Catroux issues a demand for Vichy Syria to surrender to British forces.

Luftwaffe General Ulrich Grauert, KIA 15 May 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe launches scattered night attacks against targets including Newcastle, Scarborough and Middlesbrough's dock installations. Notably, the 39 bombers are accompanied by 14 night fighters, a sign of increasing Luftwaffe bomber vulnerability at night.

The RAF sends Rhubarb operations composed of 20 planes along the French coast. RAF Bomber Command raids Berlin (14 bombers), Cuxhaven and Hannover (101 aircraft).

During the RAF Rhubarb attacks, the Junkers Ju 52 transport of Luftwaffe Generaloberst Ulrich Grauert, commander of the 1st Air Corps, is spotted flying near St. Omer, France. F/Lt Jerzy Jankiewicz, flying a Supermarine Spitfire, and Sgt Wacław Giermer, flying a Spitfire II, from the No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, combine to shoot the plane down and kill Grauert. This is a sign of increasing RAF penetrations over the Continent during daylight hours. There is the possibility that this interception is not a moment of serendipity, as the British are reading many Luftwaffe coded messages in the Ultra program.

British Royal Air Force Vickers Wellesley taking off in East African, 15 May 1941.

East African Campaign: At Amba Alagi, the British attacks make progress against the Italians. The recently arrived South African troops link up with Indian troops at Triangle Hill. The British have the support of Abyssinian guerilla fighters who are loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie. The Italians, meanwhile, are running short of the most basic and essential supplies, a situation made direr by shell damage to an oil tank containing the Italians' only source of drinking water.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe), on a lengthy second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5920-ton British freighter Benvenue a little over 400 miles off Freetown. There are two deaths and 55 survivors.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient, spots a three-masted sailing ship on the fourth day of its patrol. It is 488-ton French sailing ship Notre Dame du Châtelet. Rather than waste a torpedo on it, Lüth surfaces and uses his deck gun. U-43 pumps 45 shells into the ship, sinking it. The French crew reflects the state of confusion in their country's allegiances by assuming they had been sunk by a British submarine. Because the ship took so long to sink, Lüth assumes that it has alerted the Royal Navy to his position and quickly leaves the area. There are ten survivors and 28 deaths, with the survivors being picked up by passing Italian submarine Otaria on 23 May.

The RAF sinks 1564 ton Swedish freighter near Heligoland. There are three deaths. Great Britain, of course, is not at war with Sweden, but the ship is operating in a well-known war zone.

Free French submarine Surcouf is assigned to patrols based on Bermuda. US Navy heavy cruisers USS Quincey and Vincennes of the 11th Destroyer Squadron also join the Central America Neutrality Patrol there.

The 1st Minelaying Squadron lays minefield SN 9B.

Convoy OG 2 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar.

Battleship USS Washington, a sister ship of USS North Carolina, is commissioned at the Washington Navy Yard. While this is months ahead of schedule and a boost to US Navy morale, the commissioning is a bit premature, as Washington's engines have not been run at full power. In fact, the engines have some unnoticed issues (acute longitudinal vibrations from her propeller shafts) that will be noticed when they are properly tested and require further work. USS Washington is scheduled for Atlantic service.

Submarines USS Amberjack and Halibut are laid down.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Coltsfoot is launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Galt (Lt. Alexander D. Landles, K 163) is commissioned.

U-577 and U-578 are launched, and U-169 and U-195 are laid down.

The bombed-out horseshoe gallery at Liverpool museum, May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At 0600, the British Under Major General William "Strafer" Gott launch Operation Brevity. This is a counteroffensive in southeast Libya to put pressure on the Afrika Korps and possibly relieve Tobruk.

The British attack with three columns aimed squarely at Halfaya Pass and the surrounding coast and inland area. The 22nd Guards Brigade and 4th Tanks under the overall command of Brigadier William Henry Ewart "Strafer" Gott, commander of the 7th Support Group, open the offensive at Halfaya Pass and achieve complete surprise against Italian defenders. However, the Italians recover quickly and make use of the heights to destroy seven heavy Matilda tanks before giving up the top (but not the bottom) of the pass. The Germans occupying Fort Capuzzo then move forward and put up a spirited resistance. The battle seesaws back and forth throughout the day, with Fort Capuzzo changing hands several times and the Germans recapturing Musaid at the top of Halfaya Pass. General Rommel acts quickly and sends his own panzers forward, both to repel the British attack and to reinforce the southern perimeter of Tobruk. As the day ends, the British have secured the critical Halfaya Pass, but little else of value, and are under pressure by the German response.

The Royal Navy gets ready for the coming Luftwaffe attack on Crete by organizing its forces into Forces A, B, C, and D. Force A, led by battleships Barham and Queen Elizabeth, is the most powerful. During the night, the Royal Navy sends elements of the 2nd Battalion Leicester Regiment to Heraklion aboard cruisers HMS Fiji and Gloucester.

Luftwaffe attacks on Suda Bay, 15 May 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping and airfields on Crete in preparation for Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. They complete the destruction of Greek destroyer Leon, first damaged on 22 April, at Suda Bay.

Italian 861 ton freighter San Giusto hits a mine and sinks about 15 miles from Tripoli.

The Luftwaffe raids Cyprus, perhaps as misdirection for Operation Mercury. The British, amply informed by Ultra, are not fooled.

Air raids continue on Malta. During the day, the airfields at Luqa and Hal Far are hit. The Luftwaffe continues using Bf 109 fighter-bombers (Jabos) with great success. While the Jabos can't carry large bomb loads, they have great accuracy and incur few losses. During the night, there is a large raid centered on Grand Harbour and Luqa. Destroyer HMS Encounter is hit in a bomb that explodes in its boiler room, while MV Amerika suffers from a near-miss.

The Germans lay many mines at the entrance to Grand Harbour, a problem for the British magnified by the fact that so many minesweepers at Malta have been sunk recently. These include the new G mine.

New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser arrives in Cairo on an inspection tour of New Zealand forces.

Spy Stuff: Soviet sleeper agent Richard Sorge, posing as a newspaper reporter in Tokyo, uses his clandestine radio to report to Moscow. He apparently gives further warning of Operation Barbarossa, this time specifying the third week of June for the attack. Sources vary on exactly when Sorge makes these transmissions and exactly what he says in them. The Soviet "Korsikanets" and "Starshina" sources in Berlin and other sources also have been giving Stalin confirmation of the coming German invasion, but Stalin prefers to trust his personal instinct and Hitler's secret reassurances that he considers the USSR to be a staunch ally.

In London, British intelligence officers interrogate Karel Richter, a German spy captured recently. Richter gives them valuable information about other German spies in the UK. This includes information about German cabaret singer Clara Bauerle, who is not a spy, but is the mistress of Josef Jakobs, who is a German spy and thus suspected of being a spy.

Applied Science: At Suffield, Canada, artillery shells are tested containing metallic cadmium mixed with explosive RDX. This is intended to release smoke that damages the inhalers' lungs. Chemical warfare, of course, is banned following the tragedies of World War I.

German/Vichy French Relations: Marshal Petain gives his approval of Vice Premier Admiral Darlan's recent agreement with the Germans. Pursuant to this agreement, Germany has free access to Syrian airfields held by Vichy French forces. This is a sign of growing collaboration between the two governments.

Anglo/US Relations: US Navy Patrol Squadron 52 (VP-52) transfers from Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point, Rhode Island north to NAS Argentia, Newfoundland. The ten PBY-5A Catalinas, serviced by seaplane tender USS Albemarle (AV-5), are intended to fly anti-submarine patrols along the North Atlantic convoy routes to Great Britain.

Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4 Willys MA (left), Truck, Command Reconnaissance, 3/4 ton, 4x4 Dodge WC-56, and Truck, Radio, 1/2 ton, 4x4 Dodge, 15 May 1941.

US/Vichy French Relations: President Roosevelt addresses relations with France by issuing a statement:

The policy of this government in its relations with the French Republic has been based upon the terms of the armistice between Germany and France and upon recognition of certain clear limitations imposed upon the French Government by this armistice.

Roosevelt strongly disapproves of French collaboration:

The people of the United States can hardly believe that the present Government of France could be brought to lend itself to a plan of voluntary alliance, implied or otherwise, which would apparently deliver up France and its colonial empire, including French African colonies and their Atlantic coasts, with the menace which that involves to the peace and safety of the Western Hemisphere.

The statement appears to be timed to Senate passage of the Ship Seizure Bill, as France has over a dozen ships sitting idle in US ports that are subject to seizure - including massive liner Normandie.

Soviet Military: Stalin, following his bellicose 5 May speech to graduating officers in Moscow, has had General Zhukov prepare a plan of attack against the Reich. In the Zhukov Plan of May 15, 1941, the Southwestern and Western Fronts (centered around Zhukov's former command at Kyiv) will be the axis of advance. The objective of the invasion will be to destroy the opposing Wehrmacht defense and advance across Poland toward the Reich border. This, Zhukov believes, would force the Wehrmacht to abandon Greece and Yugoslavia and cut the Germans off from their essential Romanian, Hungarian and Bulgarian allies (Romania is important more for its oil fields than its military). Once the Red Army has broken through, it could turn north and northwest to encircle the northern wing of the German defenses. Furthermore, the Red Army would invade Finland and complete the unfinished business from the Winter War.

The plan, which has no start date, and of course is never executed, reflects the poor state of Soviet military intelligence at this time. Zhukov is under the impression that the main Wehrmacht forces are across the border from Kyiv rather than further north, and that defeating them would eliminate the Wehrmacht's ability to resist. This is an easy mistake to make because Hitler also prefers to place more emphasis on this sector than the Baltic states and Moscow, which he thinks are pointless political objectives. The Wehrmacht generals, however, are of the opinion that taking Moscow is a top priority, and the OKW subtly has been orienting the main attack further north.

Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G in its original configuration (Gloster).

British Military: The Gloster E.28/39, the first British jet-engined aircraft to fly and powered by a single 860-lb thrust Whittle W. 1 turbojet engine (designed by Frank Whittle), has its first flight at dusk. Piloted by Gloster's Chief Test Pilot Flight Lieutenant Gerry Sayer, the jet flies under its own power from RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. The jet-powered flight lasts for 17 minutes and attains 350 mph, which is in line with the top-performing propeller aircraft. Great Britain thus becomes the third member of the jet aircraft club, following German (August 1939) and Italy (August 1940). The Germans are working on multiple jet and rocket-powered aircraft at this time, though the Luftwaffe already is focusing on the Me 262.

The Royal Navy transfers corvettes HMS Arrowhead, Bittersweet, Eyebright, Fennel, Hepatica, Mayflower, Snowberry, Spikenard, Trillium and Windflower to the Royal Canadian Navy. This is a reflection of the continued move westward of U-boat attacks. The corvettes all retain their names but now will be manned by Canadians.

US Military: During parachute training, a Marine Corps officer, 2nd Lieutenant Walter S. Osipoff, is left dangling from his transport after a mishap. Two US Navy men, Lt. John Lowery and Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate John McCants, quickly get in a Curtiss SOC-1 Seagull biplane and fly up to save Osipoff by cutting his lines with their plane's propeller and hauling him into the rear cockpit. Lowery and McCants are awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The first Civilian Public Service camp for conscientious objectors opens near Baltimore, Maryland.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill answers questions in the House of Commons. He inadvertently lets slip that Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton (who coincidentally marks his one-year anniversary in the post today) is part of the country's propaganda efforts. Since Dalton presumably is providing real information regarding trade, this calls into question his ministry's regular press releases.

Churchill rejects a request that representatives of all three major political parties be included in the War Cabinet - and not just Churchill's cronies. Churchill's reasoning is that the War Cabinet is composed of non-Departmental Ministers, and the leader of the Liberal Party is Air Minister.

Regarding Rudolf Hess, Churchill denies that his mission was intended to seek a separate peace for Scotland, stating, "Whatever delusions may exist, that is not among them." He does not mention that Hess has proposed a complete peace, not just one with Scotland.

At the evening War Cabinet meeting, Churchill claims that the Japanese "always showed nervousness when either the United States or [Great Britain] took a strong line." Reasoning that the Japanese would never attack the Dutch East Indies without the certainty of US neutrality, he denies an Admiralty request that naval forces be sent to the Far East to strengthen its defenses.

Labour Minister Ernest Bevin makes the first official government statement on the Rudolf Hess incident, stating:

I do not believe that Hitler did not know that Hess was coming to England. From my point of view Hess is a murderer. He is no man I would ever negotiate with and I don't change even for diplomatic reasons. I am not going to be deceived.

Interestingly, he does not adopt the "Hess is crazy" line that Germany already is using and that the British themselves believe is the most convenient cover story.

The government announces that, in operations in Norway and France, there were 13,250 men killed and 41,000 captured out of a total of 437,000 soldiers deployed.

A new Dodge WC9 truck, 1/2 ton Ambulance, 15 May 1941.

US Government: The US Senate passes the Ship Seizure Bill, which already had passed the House on 7 May. This bill has been drafted and passed in accordance with President Roosevelt's request for congressional authority to purchase or lease 83 European ships (including 2 German, 26 Italian, 36 Danish, 1 Belgian, 14 French, 2 Estonian, 1 Lithuanian, 1 Romanian) lying idle in New York Harbor. These ships total half a million tons in total. This bill as drafted grants the US Navy the right to take over vessels "by purchase, charter, requisition" or into "protective custody."

New York congressman Hamilton Fish has called the bill "the grossest breach of international law in history," while Illinois congressman Leo Allen has warned of German and Italian retaliatory seizures of US property. US Air Force General Hoyt Vandenberg also thinks the move imprudent, terming it a "provocative step toward war."

Now that the bill has passed Congress, all that remains is for President Roosevelt to sign it for it to become law, which he promptly does. It is commonly believed that this bill is passed in retaliation for Vichy French collaboration with the Reich. French freighters are still coming into US ports, and they now are liable to seizure as they arrive. The biggest prize of all is the 83,423-ton liner Normandie, berthed in New York City. FDR sends guards to board all French ships in US ports pursuant to the new law.

Yugoslavian Homefront: Croatian strongman Ante Pavelić visits Rome to meet with Pope Pius XII. The Pope offers de facto recognition of Pavelić and his government. This is controversial on many levels, including the massacre in Glina that just concluded, but there is disagreement about how much the Pope knows about what is happening in occupied Yugoslavia.

Singapore: General Percival returns from England by air.

Haiti: Elie Lescot becomes president.

Holocaust: Dr. Sigmund Rascher, a captain in the Luftwaffe's Medical Service, writes a letter around this time to Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler requesting permission to perform medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners. Rascher makes clear that the experiments, to test human physiology at altitude, would involve fatalities. Himmler quickly has his adjutant, Rudolf Brandt, grant permission.

"Further large numbers of British troops arrived today, 15-5-41, to strengthen the defence of Malaya. The Royal Navy and merchant marines showed their capacity again in the arrival of this contingent which traveled through the North Atlantic and the 11,000 miles to Malaya without incident. The picture shows:- British troops arriving in Malaya." © IWM (K 667).

French Homefront: Marshal Petain addresses the public in a radio address. He states in part, "For you, the French people, it is simply a question of following me without mental reservation along the path of honor and national interest."

British Homefront: There is a report in the British press today that Dame Sibyl Mary Hathaway, DBE (née Collings), the Dame of Sark in the Channel Islands, has been arrested by the Germans and deported to a concentration camp. However, this appears to be erroneous, as the Dame (who survives the war) makes no mention of the incident in her autobiography and is known to be present on the island throughout the war. How the story originated is a mystery, since there was no communication of any kind permitted between the occupied Channel Islands and Great Britain during the war aside from rare Red Cross deliveries. It is unclear if the Dame was aware at this time that her son, Francis William Lionel Collings Beaumont, heir to the Seigneur of Sark, had recently been killed (on 4 May) in the Liverpool Blitz.

American Homefront: New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio hits a single in the first inning to drive in the team's only run in a 13-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. This is the start of DiMaggio's famous 56-game hitting streak.

Joan Crawford's film "A Woman's Face," directed by George Cukor, opens in New York City. Some consider this tale of a female blackmailer who tries to go straight to Crawford's finest performance. The tale is told in the form of flashbacks by other characters.

The long swing of Joe DiMaggio.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020