Friday 28 March 1941

"An Italian cruiser (Bolzano?) firing her guns." Battle of Cape Matapan, photograph from attacking RAF plane, 28 March 1941. © IWM (A 9794).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The military action is minimal in Albania on 28 March 1941, but the action behind the scenes has switched into overdrive. Pursuant to Adolf Hitler's Fuhrer Directive No. 25, General Franz Halder, Chief of Staff of the OKH (army high command, spends all night putting together an invasion plan for Yugoslavia in addition to Greece. Normally, OKW - the military high command - would prepare such plans, but the army jealously protects its primacy in the East. This dichotomy - the OKW in command in western and southern theaters of operation, OKH in the East - is a brewing issue in the Wehrmacht. Some interpretations of Hitler's command style, though, view him as actually favoring a dispersal of command authority and spheres of influence.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. Convoy AN 23 (six Greek and seven British ships) departs from Alexandria for Piraeus.

East African Campaign: The Italians continue withdrawing in Abyssinia. They abandon Diredawa, northwest of Harar, and flee to Addis Ababa.

The Indian 4th and 5th Indian Infantry Divisions continue pursuing the Italians fleeing from their breached defenses at Keren, Eritrea. The Italians have no intention of holding anywhere but do engage in some minor delaying actions when the local geography is favorable. The RAF also attacks the fleeing Italians.

RAF No. 826 and 829 Squadron Fairey Albacores on board HMS Formidable, morning of 28 March 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe conducts its usual fighter sweeps over England during the day, dropping a bomb here and there. The RAF, meanwhile, sticks to its own agenda of attacking shipping off the Dutch, Belgian and French coasts.

The "Eagle" Squadron, RAF No. 71 Squadron, becomes fully operational. This is staffed by volunteer American pilots.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe attacks 10,683-ton freighter/liner Staffordshire about 150 miles northwest of the Butte of Lewis. The ship is damaged and on fire, so the captain beaches it at Loch Ewe. There are 28 deaths, half crew, and the rest passengers. The ship will be refloated and repaired. There are some relatives of victims who believe that Staffordshire was not attacked by aircraft, but by a U-boat and that the U-boat then surfaced and machine-gunned the survivors. This latter belief has not been verified and may just be misinformation, but is possible. There are many such rumors when information is scarce but very, very few proven instances of this actually happening.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 364-ton Dutch freighter Antwerpen at the mouth of the Bristol Channel off of Lee. There are three deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs British 75-ton trawler Kestrel and gets a near miss. The concussion causes the ship to draw water, and the captain must beach it on Lundy Island. While the damage is not severe, the weather turns foul and the ship is lost.

British 925-ton freighter Olivine sinks in the Bristol Channel/St. George's Channel area of unknown causes. Nobody survives.

Norwegian 341-ton fishing trawler Borgund disappears in the North Atlantic after departing Reykjavik, Iceland bound for Scrabster, Scotland. All 13 men on board are never seen again. The Borgund, incidentally, was the ship that rescued 39 men from Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Glorious after it was sunk by German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Norwegian submarine B1 collides with 518-ton anti-submarine trawler Lady Elsa near Campbelltown. The submarine is damaged and must return to port.

Three Royal Navy destroyers (HMS Icarus, Impulsive and Intrepid) lay minefield GX in the English Channel, while submarine HMS Cachalot lays minefield FD 32 off Bayonne.

Convoy OB 303 departs from Liverpool.

The Short Sunderland Mark I (N9029, NM-V) of RAF No. 230 Squadron which was used by Flight Lieutenant A Lywood to spot the Italian fleet on the 27th. His report led to the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Battle of Cape Matapan takes place. Admiral Iachino has taken his fleet in the general direction of the British convoys from Alexandria to Piraeus. The British receive word of this both from spies and Ultra decrypts. Admiral Cunningham takes battleships HMS Barham, Warspite and Valiant, along with aircraft carrier Formidable, out of Alexandria to confront the Italians.

The Italians spot Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell's cruiser squadron south of the Greek island of Gavdos, south of Crete. Iachino gives chase, but no hits are made. A cat-and-mouse game follows, with first the Italians following the Royal Navy cruisers, and then the Royal Navy cruisers following the Italian ones.

At 09:38, Pridham-Wippell orders an attack by Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers from HMS Formidable. Both sides spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon repelling air attacks.

Finally, at 15:09, the British draw first blood, torpedoing Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto. Admiral Iachino, who is on board, immediately heads back to Italy. More air attacks follow, but the Italians avoid most of them.

Iachino leaves his 1st Division of cruisers Fiume, Pola, and Zara to cover the withdrawal. Just before dark, the British torpedo cruiser Pola, disabling it. It comes to a dead stop, with no electricity to run the guns. Iachino sends back the Fiume and Zara to support the Pola while he continues back to port. Admiral Carlo Cattaneo, searching for the Pola, blunders into the advancing Royal Navy fleet.

The British creep up unobserved during the night, guided by radar. When they are within 2800 yards/meters, they turn on their searchlights and open fire with all their guns. The Italians are taken by complete surprise and never even fire a shot - the Fiume and Zara sink quickly, the Fiume at 23:30, the Zara at 02:40 on the 29th when a Royal Navy destroyer finally torpedoes the blazing hulk.

The British find the disabled Pola and are bemused by its plight. It seems a pity to simply sink it. After considering simply sinking it with a torpedo, the British instead decide to board it and see what they can get from it. Using cutlasses for the last time in Royal Navy history, a British boarding party and make off with some Breda anti-aircraft machine guns and capture 257 (very grateful) crewmen. Not long after, the British sink the Pola at 04:00. The British also sink destroyers Vittorio Alfieri and Giosue Carducci and damage destroyer Oriani.

While Iachino makes it back to port in his battleship, he loses three cruisers, two destroyers and hands the Royal Navy an absolute victory. The Italians lose about 3000 men, the British barely any. Among the dead is Italian Admiral Cattaneo.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Utmost (Lt. Commander Cayley) intercepts an Italian/German convoy bringing General Rommel supplies and troops. Operating off Kerkennah, Cayley torpedoes and sinks 1927-ton German freighter Heraklea and damages 5954-ton German freighter Ruhr. The Ruhr returns to Trapani.

Italian 428-ton trawler Maremola sinks from unknown causes near Misurata.

Italian torpedo boat Generale Antonio Chinotto hits a mine and sinks off Palermo west of Sicily. This is one of the mines laid recently by Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual (Lt. Commander Dewhurst).

The Afrika Korps diary entry for today: "Nothing new."

At Malta, the troops are placed on high alert in expectation of an Italian invasion on the 29th. There is an air raid alert during the night that hits numerous spots across the island, including airfields at Hal Far and Kalafrana.

Oblt. Muncheberg of JG 26 downs a Hurricane over Malta for his 33rd victory.

This Fairey Albacore Mark I of RAF No. 826 Squadron is the first plane to take off from HMS Formidable on the morning of 28 March 1941.

Anglo/Yugoslav Relations: British CIGS John Dill has been stuck on Malta on his way back to London, much to his chagrin. However, this turns into somewhat of a serendipitous event due to the sudden coup in Yugoslavia. Dill flies to Belgrade to discuss the situation with new Prime Minister Dusan Simovic. The British, though, do not even have enough forces to defend Greece, much less Yugoslavia.

US/Australian Relations: Rear Admiral John H. Newton takes his cruiser squadron from Brisbane, Australia to Suva, Fiji Islands. It has been a seminal moment in US/Australian relations, building a lot of goodwill that will come in very useful.

US/Greek Relations: President Roosevelt lifts an embargo of 30 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters ordered by Greece.

Applied Science: Scientists at UC Berkeley, under the direction of Ernest O. Lawrence and Glenn T. Seaborg, demonstrate that Plutonium -239 undergoes fission with slow neutrons with a large probability. This fission makes an atomic bomb possible.

Hurricane V7430, piloted by Pilot Officer R.J. Goode, is shot down on 28 March 1941 in Pwales Valley, Malta. Goode apparently is the 33d victim of Luftwaffe ace Joachim Müncheberg of JG 26.

US Military: Admiral Thomas C. Hart files papers to remain in command of the US Asiatic Fleet beyond normal retirement age in June. His headquarters is located in Manila, but his ships are spread out in the Philippines and Borneo.

German Military: In a ceremony that receives extensive coverage in the German media, Adolf Hitler awards test pilot Hanna Reitsch the Iron Cross Second Class. She is the first woman ever to receive the Iron Cross - and she isn't even in the Wehrmacht, she is a private citizen.

China: As the Japanese continue slowly withdrawing from Shanggkao, the Chinese 19th Army Group of the 9th War Area recovers Kuanchiao.

Holocaust: German "racial theorist" Alfred Rosenberg gives a radio speech from Berlin. The occasion is the opening of the Institute for the Exploration of the Jewish Question in Frankfurt. This speech is entitled "The Jewish Question as a World Problem." He views the solution as "Aussiedlung," or resettlement. Rosenberg mentions Madagascar as a possible destination. He calls the current conflict a "war of encirclement of Jewish-British finance" and says that Germany must fight to abolish "indentured servitude and slavery [of the German Volk (people)] for the Jewish and non-Jewish financiers and world bankers."

Yugoslavian Homefront: King Peter makes a triumphal visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church cathedral in Belgrade, where he swears his fealty to the constitution, taking the oath of King of Yugoslavia in the presence of the Patriarch. This somewhat settles the populace after the coup of the 27th.

South African Homefront: South African Airways Lockheed Model 18-08 Lodestar, msn 18-2034, registered ZS-AST, crashes while en route from Windhoek, Namibia to Cape Town. The plane flies into the mountains at Elands Bay. All ten aboard (four crew, six passengers) perish.

Virginia Woolf is "Missing in England" for the time being. She has committed suicide on 28 March 1941.

British Homefront: Novelist Adeline Virginia Woolf writes a suicide note addressed to her husband, then walks down to the River Ouse near her home. After filling her coat pockets with rocks, she walks into the river and drowns herself. Her body is not found until 18 April. Woolf has had a history of mental issues, and the destruction of her London home during the Blitz is thought to have contributed to her depression.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies attends a conference at the Department of Information, led by Minister Duff Cooper. Menzies records in his diary that they have a frank discussion about censorship, which among other things means making sure that the BBC does not scoop official government announcements. Menzies, always a bit catty, provides a capsule description of Duff Cooper:

Duff Cooper presides with dullness and disinterest. A queer fellow, with a dead face and I should think great gifts of indolence.

That, incidentally, is far from the least-flattering description of someone in Menzies' diary.

American Homefront: Workers begin clearing trees from a large tract of land near Ypsilanti, Michigan. This is to be the site of the Ford Motor Company's Willow Run plant. The factory will cover 3.5 million square feet and employ 42,000 people.

Republic Pictures releases 'The Adventures of Captain Marvel. The first superhero film, it is the first in 12 chapters and stars Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his mild-mannered normal self. The series follows the adventures of the title character as depicted in Fawcett Comics comic books Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures.

Erika Helmke, Filmwelt Magazine Cover, 28 March 1941.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Becomes Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Sunday 23 February 1941

HMS Terror, sunk today.

Italian/Greek Campaign: British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS Anthony Dill inter alia continue their discussions with the Greek government throughout the day of 23 February 1941. The Greeks feel that putting insufficient British troops on the Greek mainland (the British already are on Crete) would merely invite an invasion that could not be repelled. Finally, with great reluctance, Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis agrees to accept a British expeditionary force projected at 100,000 well-armed troops. The disagreement about tactics lingers, however: the Greeks want to defend the Bulgarian frontier along the Metaxas Line, while the British prefer positions (along the Aliakmon River) further back.

In Cairo, Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell considers, then rejects a proposal from London that the RAF bomb the Ploesti oil fields from bases in Greece. He reasons that this would violate Turkish air space and also give the Wehrmacht a pretext (not that it needs one) to invade Greece by revealing the British presence there. Neither of those reasons, however, has a particularly strong foundation (Hitler should know about RAF activity in Albania already, and the bombers could avoid Turkey). However, there is another reason that would make any attack on the oil fields explosive in more ways than one. While the British don't know this, one of Hitler's greatest fears (he confesses to Marshal Mannerheim at their meeting in June 1942 that he has nightmares about it) is the Allied bombing of the Romanian oil fields. RAF attacks on the oil could force Hitler's hand early before the British are even on mainland Greece. Thus, Wavell makes the proper decision from mistaken premises. Great weight is placed upon Wavell's support since it is common knowledge (as noted in the minutes) that he would prefer to finish off the Axis forces in North Africa first.

Prime Minister Churchill, the most ardent backer of a British presence in Greece, is under no illusions about possible success in the Balkans. He notes in a message to Eden that the "odds seem heavily against us in Greece." Australian Prime Minister Menzies discusses the question of a campaign in Greece "largely with Australian & New Zealand troops" with the heads of RAF Bomber Command (Air Marshal Sir Richard Pearse) and Fighter Command (Sholto Douglas) and comes away with more questions than answers. He notes that committing his men to an uncertain campaign in Greece "is not easy." A big War Cabinet meeting is scheduled for the 24th to discuss the issue, and Menzies is a troubled man.

East African Campaign: Operation Canvas begins. It is a two-pronged advance to take Mogadishu and other Italian forces in Italian Somaliland (Somalia). Having pocketed Jelib (Somalia), General Cunningham begins sending his forces on the road northeast to Mogadishu. He sends the 11th African Division together with the 23rd Nigerian and 22nd East African Brigades toward Mogadishu. Italian defenses are now in a state of collapse, and the 35th Works Company quickly throws a bridge across the Juba river at Mabungo. Meanwhile, the British 12th African Division drives along the Juba River toward the Abyssinian border.

Indian 7th Infantry Brigade and Free French Brigade d'Orient capture Cub Cub. The British capture 436 prisoners, four guns and many supplies.

Propaganda leaflet dropped in France, 23/24 and 24/25 February 1941 (McMaster University, WWII Propaganda Collection 0102).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Skaalefjord, missing British tanker War Pindari. It also sends 49 bombers against Hull just after dark at 19:30. There are 13 deaths and 27 injured, including the death of a six-month-old baby, and 36 are left homeless. Right at midnight, an aerial mine hits the Alexandra Dock and sinks lighters "Brakelu" and "Monarch."

RAF Bomber Command attacks Boulogne with 52 planes.

Battle of the Atlantic: A classic Wolf Pack operation unfolds against Convoy OB 288 south of Iceland. It is a textbook operation of how the Luftwaffe can work in combination with the U-boat fleet to wreak devastation on the convoys. A Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor of I,/KG 40 spots Convoy OB 288 heading west about 500 km south of Iceland (370 km northwest of Rockall). The convoy has dispersed and is without escort, but it aware that it is being shadowed and has turned north to avoid U-boats. The ships also close up their spacing again - which makes it easier to attack them.

The Condor vectors in (via U-boat command B.d.U) every U-boat and Italian submarine in the vicinity:

• U-69 (Kapitänleutnant Jost Metzler, first patrol)
• U-73 (Kptlt. Helmut Rosenbaum)
• U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber)
• U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock)
• U-107 (K.Kapt. Günther Hessler, first patrol)
• U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle)
• Italian submarine Michele Bianchi (C.C. Adalberto Giovannini, first BETASOM patrol from Bordeaux)
• Italian submarine Barbarigo (Capitano di Corvetta Enzo Grossi)

The submarine attacks begin at 23:27, with an attack by U-69. Details of this convoy attack have been uncertain, with who sunk what unclear and subject to some controversy and guesswork. All told, the victims of OB 288 (including those sunk on the 24th, but not those in following days) are:

• 4542-ton British freighter Marslew (U-69, 13 deaths, 23 survivors)
• 5457-ton British freighter Anglo-Peruvian (U-96, 29 deaths, 17 survivors)
• 3385-ton British freighter Linaria (U-96)
• 5458-ton British freighter Sirikishna (U-69)
• 3807-ton British freighter Cape Nelson (U-95)
• 1908-ton Norwegian freighter Svein Jarl (U-95, all 22 perish)
• 4427-ton British freighter Temple Moat (U-95, a straggler)
• 5360-ton Royal Navy ocean boarding ship HMS Manistee (U-107, no survivors)
• 8685-ton Dutch freighter Grootekerk (U-123, no survivors)
• 4260-ton British freighter Waynegate (U-73)
• 5360-ton British freighter Manistree (U-107, first attacked by Bianchi, all 141 perish)
• 10,946-ton British transport Huntingdon (Bianchi and U-96, everyone survives).

Simply listing the victims does not give the full flavor of the action. U-107 and Bianchi chase HMS Manistee (Lt Cdr E. H. Smith RNR) throughout the night before finally sinking it (destroyer HMS Churchill finds no survivors). U-123 similarly spends nine hours chasing the Grootekerk before sending it under. The Royal Navy escorts counterattack, and U-69 is subjected to a three-hour attack. However, all of the submarines escape, leaving behind a nightmarish scene of burning ships and men in the frigid water.

The Linaria sinking is particularly murky, as Italian submarine Bianchi, U-73 and U-96 all may have sunk it. The sinking of the Huntingdon also is murky, but the best scholarship (Jürgen Rohwer, Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte, Marinearchiv) suggests that U-96 hit the ship first, followed by the kill shot from Bianchi. Even the men on the scene did not know who did what, so piecing it all together requires a lot of detective work, comparison of different accounts and the like.

British 698-ton coaster Shoal Fisher hits a mine and sinks east of Falmouth. Everyone survives and arrives safely at Falmouth.

Convoy OB 290 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 111 departs from Halifax.

President Roosevelt and Fala in his Ford Phaeton, February 1941 (National Archives  NPx 73-113:59).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Upright (Lt. Edward Dudley Norman, DSC, RN) torpedoes and sinks 2365 ton Italian freighter Silvia Tripcovich off Sfax (east of Kuriat Island). This is roughly along the line that Italian convoys take to Tripoli.

Greek submarine Nereus claims to sink an Italian freighter near Valona in the Adriatic, but there is no confirmation.

A German convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. It has a heavy escort and carries more troops for General Rommel's Afrika Korps.

Royal Navy Monitor HMS Terror, bombed on the 22nd, sinks off the Libyan coast at 04:20. The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on Benghazi and Tobruk.

The Free French continue bombarding Italian fortress El Tag at Kufra. The Italians are holding out, but are not mounting any sorties despite outnumbering the surrounding French.

Governor Lt. General William Dobbie issues a statement about conscription on Malta, which as created many hard feelings among the locals:

We must be as strong as possible in order to ensure that all attacks are decisively beaten off, should they be attempted.  The Government must, therefore be in a position to utilise the resources of Malta (including the manpower) to the best advantage, and it is for that reason that conscription of manpower is being brought into being.

Applied Science: Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, who discovered Plutonium (atomic number 94) on 14 December 1940 (credit to Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin M. McMillan, and Arthur C. Wahl as well), makes further progress in his research of the element. Working in famous Room 307 of Gilman Hall of University of California, Berkeley. Seaborg, working together with Arthur C. Wahl and Joseph W. Kennedy, produces and identifies plutonium in the 60-inch cyclotron. Progress is quickening, with the scientists gaining more knowledge about what will become a key part of nuclear weapons. However, at this point they still have not produced visible amounts of plutonium, merely traces that are too small to be weighed.

U-203 during its commissioning at Kiel on 18 February 1941.

German/Japanese Relations: Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop meets with Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima. Ribbentrop takes the position that the Japanese should strike only at the British, and go to war with the Americans only if the Americans attacked. Throughout this period, Ribbentrop maintains a healthy respect for United States power, though he does blithely tell Oshima that the Japanese Navy could defeat the US Navy. The general gist of Ribbentrop's counsel is that Japan enter the war soon - but avoid the US.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: In a somewhat cryptic note sent to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (currently in Athens), British Prime Minister Winston Churchill rejects a suggestion (coming from Sir Richard Stafford Cripps, a Socialist who specializes in relations with the USSR) that Eden should visit Moscow. Churchill does not trust Stalin, feels that he could arrest Eden, and muses that the "Best way of gaining Russians (favor) is a good throw (success) in the Balkans."

A3-1 of the CA-6 Wackett Trainer at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Fishermans Bend factory in February 1941. Photo: CAC.

Italian Homefront: In one of these odd but characteristic fascist moments, Il Duce Benito Mussolini gives a speech in Rome's Adriano Theater which is defiant with hints of defensiveness. He dates the beginning of the war from February 1, 1935, not September 1, 1939, when the conquest of Ethiopia began - but then corrects himself and says it actually began in 1922 when he seized power. He emphasizes that despite the "gray days" so far in the war:

Great Britain cannot win the war. I can prove this logically and in this case belief is corroborated by fact. This proof begins with the dogmatic premise that although anything may happen, Italy will march with Germany, side by side, to the end.

Earlier, Mussolini foretold where this might lead: "to the last drop of blood." Fatalistically, he does not say what "anything may happen" might mean, but the "last drop of blood" the war might require is chilling (and, in his case, accurate). This sense of fatalism imbues many of Hitler's speeches throughout the war as well.

Dutch Homefront: The Germans, with the assistance of Dutch police, complete their roundup of 450 Jewish male hostages, all aged 25-30. They will all be sent to concentration camps, and two will survive the war. Many ordinary Dutch citizens are outraged at the Germans' heavy-handed approach, and a general meeting of various groups, such as the local communist party, is scheduled for the 24th in the Noordemarkt to discuss retaliation.

Future History: Ronald Kenneth Hunt is born in St. Louis, Missouri. Ron Hunt becomes a major league baseball player in 1963 with the new New York Mets. Playing second base, he set a single-season record for being hit by more pitches (50) in a season than anyone since 1900.

Lodz, Poland, Jews on the bridge above Zgierska St., which connects the two parts of the ghetto. February 1941.

February 1941

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

2020

Saturday 14 December 1940

Italians on the run in Egypt, 14 December 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British pursuit of the fleeing Italian soldiers forced out of their encampments outside Sidi Barrani continues on 14 December 1940. Operation Compass now has accomplished far more than was ever planned. The British 7th Support Group and the 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades sweep south through the desert, circling around Sollum and Halfaya Pass while disregarding Italian outposts further to the south. The 4th Armoured Brigade is across the Libyan border, about 20 miles west of Bardia. So far, the Italians are staying put in their Libyan encampments, which they have had for decades.

The Royal Navy is heavily engaged in transporting the numerous Italian prisoners taken at Sidi Barrani to Alexandria. Armed boarding ship HMS Fiona arrives in Alexandria with 1600 prisoners, HMS Farouk takes 200, and HMS Fawzia transports 1300. This barely makes a dent in the total number of POWs, so all three immediately turn around and return to Mersa Matruh for more.

Royal Navy destroyers HMS Hereward and Hyperion, conducting a sweep off the Libyan coast with destroyers Diamond and Mohawk, spot Italian submarine Naiade on the surface off Bardia. They shell the submarine, sinking it. There are 25 survivors who are taken as prisoners.

The air war takes another decided turn against the Italians. RAF No. 274 Squadron Hurricanes clearly outmatch the Italian biplane CR 42 fighters, while the lumbering Italian bombers also are easy prey. The Hurricanes shoot down six Savoia Marchetti SM. 79 Sparviero bombers and five CR 42s during the day.

The RAF bombs Naples, damaging Italian cruiser Pola. The Italians once again divide up their fleet there as a result, sending some to Maddalena and others to Cagliari. This is part of repeated comings-and-goings of Italian warships from various ports as they twist and turn to evade RAF attacks.

On Malta, Royal Navy Swordfish take off and bomb Tripoli. RAF No. 148 Squadron forms at Luqa Airfield with Wellington Mk IC bombers, the first bomber squadron actually based on the island.
Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek offensive continues grinding forward, though it is confronting both the Italians and the elements. The Greek 3rd Infantry Division consolidates its hold on Porto Palermo, which it captured on the 13th. The Italian defense is stiffening the closer the Greeks get to the key port of Himara. The RAF raids Valona. Greek III Corps, facing blizzards in the mountains, suspends operations.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command braves continued bad weather during the night to attack enemy shipping near Wilhelmshaven. However, no results are achieved in part due to poor visibility, and the Luftwaffe shoots down five Wellingtons. Coastal Command attacks Brest and Lorient.

The Luftwaffe is quiet today due to the weather. The Italian Corpo Aereo Italiano (CAI) sends 11 bombers against its usual target, Harwich.

German fighter pilot Franz von Werra is awarded the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) for exemplary bravery as Oberleutnant Adjutant of II./Jagdgeschwader 3. Von Werra is a major German propaganda hero who is famous for his pet lion cub.

Hauptmann Franz Xaver Baron von Werra sporting his Knight's Cross.

Battle of the Atlantic: Poor weather continues to wreak as much havoc on British shipping as the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. Two French torpedo boats in the service of the Royal Navy founder in poor weather - La Melpomene east of the Lizard, and Branlebas near the Eddystone Rocks south of Portsmouth. There are only three survivors of the Branlebas and at least five deaths.

U-96 (Kplt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) continues its very successful first patrol. Today it puts two torpedoes into 10,926-ton British liner Western Prince and sinks it about 740 km west of the Orkneys. There are 14-15 deaths and about 144 survivors, including 50 survivors among the 61 passengers who are rescued by HMS Active.

U-96 at 21:02 spots 5118-ton British freighter Empire Razorbill, a straggler from Convoy OB 257, and for some reason conducts a surface attack, perhaps because it is running low on torpedoes. The U-boat scores three hits on the freighter, but the weather is horrendous and the Empire Razorbill escapes into the night.

U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke) is operating southwest of Rockall when it torpedoes and sinks 3670-ton British freighter Kyleglen. There are no survivors of the 36-man crew in the rough seas.

U-100 then torpedoes and sinks 3380-ton British freighter Euphorbia. There are no survivors from the 36-man crew of this victim, either.

During the night, Royal Navy submarine HMS Thunderbolt - the former HMS Thetis which was raised from the mud of Liverpool Bay, sights Italian submarine Capitano Raffaele Tarantini outside of its base near Bordeaux and sinks it.

Heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer resupplies from SS Nordmark in the South Atlantic. The Germans are beginning to assemble a force in the region - aside from Admiral Scheer, cruiser Admiral Hipper and U-65 are not far off. The British do not know any of these German ships' whereabouts, but they know something is going on. The Admiralty sends Force H from Gibraltar, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and battlecruiser HMS Renown, to patrol around the Azores. German ships occasionally have been spotted in the vicinity, and the British believe is on Hitler's invasion list.

Battleship HMS Ramillies and aircraft carriers HMS Furious and Argus, no longer really needed in the Mediterranean for the time being, arrive in the Clyde during the afternoon. The Ramillies needs a refitting, which it will receive in Plymouth. Destroyer HMS Bradford sustains damage to its propellers along the way and must be taken in tow.

German freighter Rio Grande completes a very risky journey from Brazil to Occupied France. It carries 300 prisoners taken by German raider Thor in the South Atlantic and recently transferred for passage to POW camps.

Convoy OB 259 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 359 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 361 departs from Methil, Convoy HX 96 departs from Halifax.

U-71 (Kapitänleutnant Walter Flachsenberg) is commissioned.

U-151 and U-152 are launched, and U-254 is laid down.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Blencathra is commissioned.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Burdock and destroyer HMS Lamerton are launched.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Quinte and corvette HMS Timmins are laid down in Esquimalt, British Columbia.

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet is launched.

Percy Arnold Turton, aged 21, perished on 14 December 1940 on the Branlebas. He is listed on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Always good to remember that these are people we are talking about ... not numbers.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Atlantis, having split up from its companion raiders Pinguin and Orion after all three refueled from the captured tanker Storstad, arrives at the remote Kerguelen Island. A heavily armed landing party finds the only town on the island, Port Couvreux, uninhabited.

The crew suffers a scare when the ship grounds in one of the poorly charted bays. It hits a rock that pierces its outer hull. The ship remains stuck on the rock for three days but eventually pulls free. The Pinguin, meanwhile, headed for the whaling fleet south of Bouvet Island, the Komet headed back toward Nauru, and the Storstad set sail back to Europe with numerous prisoners.

The crew of the Atlantis sets to work performing maintenance on the ship, stocking up with water, and taking a break from constant patrols. At some point during this break, crewman Bernhard Herrmann falls while painting the funnel and perishes. His grave on the island is grandly referred to as the southernmost German military cemetery. It is the ship's first casualty during its phenomenally successful cruise. The ship will stay on the island, where it is summertime, into the new year.

Battle of the Pacific: British 1896-ton coaster Cardross collides with British freighter Fiona off Sydney and sinks.

Glenn Seaborg on a 1961 cover of Time Magazine.

Applied Science: Glenn Seaborg and his team discover plutonium in Room 307 of Gilman Hall at the University of California, Berkeley. The team quickly begins developing a process to create plutonium-239 by bombarding uranium with deuterons. This discovery will be used by the Manhattan Project as it works toward the atomic bomb.

Terrorism: At Curragh Camp outside Dublin, Irish Republican Army (IRA) detainees revolt against their guards (Garda) and troops called in to quell the violence. They set fire to the camp (which they call "Tin Town" (Baile an Stáin) and clash with British soldiers. There are four casualties. The unrest continues through the night into the next day.

The Éamon de Valera has imprisoned these IRA members for the duration of "The Emergency," as the war is called. Some 2000 men pass through the camp during the war. The camp's mere existence, incidentally, is proof positive that the Irish government is in some small ways acting to support the British, though not nearly enough to satisfy Winston Churchill.

Vichy French Government: Vichy French Premier Marshal Petain, having ordered Pierre Laval arrested on the previous evening after having deviously obtained and accepted his resignation, announces that Laval is now no longer a part of the government. Pierre Étienne Flandin is his replacement as Foreign Minister. Laval is kept under house arrest only briefly, then allowed freedom of movement. This will remain the status quo until 1942.

It is unclear what motivated Petain to dismiss Laval. Some speculate that it was due to Laval's marked lack of deference to Petain. However, a clue may be found in two other things that Petain does today:

• Petain declines Hitler's invitation to attend a ceremony on the 15th marking the return to France of the remains of Napoleon II;
• Petain sends a message to Roosevelt reassuring him that the French fleet will not fall into German hands.

Laval is the prime architect behind French collaboration with Germany, though that is not yet blatantly obvious. Removing Laval appears to be Petain's way of making a statement about where his own sympathies truly lie. Declining the invitation from Hitler and cabling Roosevelt simply reinforces the impression that Petain feels that his country was getting a little too cozy with Hitler's Germany. Laval finds support from the German ambassador, though he is not restored to his previous powerful position as Petain's Vice-Premier.

British Military: General Richard McCreery becomes commander of British 8th Armored Division.

US Military: The US Army Air Corp increases its order for Boeing XB-29 bomber prototypes from two to three planes. Consolidated, meanwhile continues to work on its own quite similar heavy bomber, the Model 33, so that the US is not reliant on just the Boeing project. The XB-29 has numerous issues, including finicky Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines, but overall it is a groundbreaking airframe. It eventually becomes the B-29.

Yugoslavia: Former Prime Minister Anton Korošec passes away in Belgrade. Korošec was a fierce anti-Semite who introduced two laws limiting the rights of Jews, specifically barring them from the wholesale food industry and limiting the percentage of Jewish students in higher education, just a couple of months before his death. The laws only passed because Korošec warned that failure to do so would provoke Hitler.

American Homefront: Winston Churchill arranges a private screening of Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator," which opened in Britain on the 11th. British reaction to the film is decidedly mixed, as the climax of the film - a rambling speech by Chaplin's character posing as the dictator about understanding people and so forth - comes off as a bit late in the game considering the devastation of the Blitz.

German battleship Bismarck on the Elbe, December 1940.

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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