Sunday 2 February 1941

Dr. Serge Voronoff at his monkey-gland laboratory in France.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks (Cretan 5th Division of II Corps) on 2 February 1941 finally take full possession of the Trebeshina (Trebeshinë) massif. The nearby Greek 15th Division also makes small gains, completing the capture of the village of Bubeshi.

Italian forces in the area, however, remain unusually feisty for Italian troops of World War II. Thus, little profit appears likely from this commanding position in the area achieved by the Greek troops. Further progress may depend upon British troops, which remain in Egypt and Libya pending the completion of operations there and Greek approval to accept them. The RAF is busy in support of the Greeks. The Greeks are trying to take the strategically decisive port of Valona (Vlorë) quickly, and capture of the Trebeshinë heights is necessary to accomplish that. However, Klisura Pass is just the gateway toward Valona, not on its doorstep, and much work remains to be done (such as the capture of Tepelenë) before the port is even threatened, much less overcome.

With the benefit of hindsight and in light of later events (Operation Marita), the protracted defense of the Trebeshinë heights by two battalions of the Italian Blackshirts may be seen as having secured Valona and, thus, the entire Italian position in Albania for the duration of World War II. It salvages a tiny bit of Italian military honor. With the benefit of even more hindsight and perhaps a bit of arguable interpretation, the use of crack Cretan troops in Albania rather than keeping them in Crete may have contributed to future Allied defeats there as well.

Spinning things out a bit further.... perhaps beyond the breaking point... the successful Italian defense of the Trebeshinë heights may have played an even larger role in the outcome of World War II. If the Italians in Albania had folded completely in a short period of time, Hitler might not have authorized Operation Marita (at least partly intended to rescue the Italians). In that case, he might have had those troops available at the start of Operation Barbarossa. Many historians theorize that, had those troops been used in the Soviet Union right from the opening of hostilities, Moscow might have been captured before the winter snows and the entire course of world history altered. But, that is sheer speculation.

Map of initial attacks on Keren, Eritrea.

East African Campaign: The Italian collapse in Eritrea continues. The 5th Indian Infantry Division takes Barentu, with the Italians retreating at first down a small road that turns into a mule track. The reported prisoner haul is 8000, but this figure seems high. Ultimately, the Italians abandon the road altogether and simply hike overland toward the coast. While this prevents the pursuing British from catching up to them, it also forces them to abandon every single vehicle, including guns, trucks, and tanks. The Italian troops (largely colonial) from both the Cochen Mountain and Barentu fronts head for Keren on the Keren Plateau, which has fewer natural defensive advantages than the positions the British already have overcome. However, it is located at 4300 feet above sea level, which forces the British to attack essentially while going uphill.

Preliminary operations against Keren already are underway. Gazelle Force crosses the Baraka River with some difficulty (the Italians have blown the Ponte Mussolini bridge) and ascends toward the plateau. The British troops make it all the way to within about 6 km of Keren, where it is stopped at the Donglolaas Gorge. Normally, the area can be traversed without difficulty, but the Italians have dynamited the overhanging escarpments, filling the gorge with boulders and debris. The Italians also rather unhelpfully have mined the approaches.

In Abyssinia, the advancing South African troops capture Hobok.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command begins a sustained campaign against the Channel invasion ports, in conjunction with Coastal Command. Among the targeted ports today are Berck, Le Havre, and Ostend. After dark, the RAF bombs Brest.

The Circus Operations continue. As opposed to Rhubarb missions, which are fighters only, the Circus missions include a token force of bombers to make their interception by the Luftwaffe more potentially profitable. This attack in the daylight is by five Blenheims against Boulogne. The British claim three fighters destroyed.

The Luftwaffe remains dormant. There are scattered raids over eastern England, with a few bombs dropped here and there.

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which have been in the far North Atlantic near Bear Island for several days waiting for the weather to improve, finally manage to complete refueling from tanker Adria. They each receive about 3400 tons of fuel and then quickly head to the southwest. Rather than head south of Iceland, as they did during their abortive breakout attempt in late January, the two ships head north of Iceland. Their objective is a passage through the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland. Around this time, one of the Gneisenau's crewmen, named Liske, is lost overboard in the heavy seas and not recovered.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 834-ton British freighter The Sultan in the outer fringes of the Thames Estuary. There are two deaths and 12 survivors.

Royal Navy 505 ton trawler HMT Almond hits a mine and sinks off Falmouth. All 19 onboard perish.

Belgian 168 ton coaster Pallieter (formerly Hero) has its cargo shift during a storm. This causes the ship to sink in the Firth of Forth.

The Luftwaffe attacks 5135-ton British freighter Waziristan in the Atlantic shipping lanes west of the Faroes Islands. A near miss disables the ship, which eventually is taken under tow by tug Bandit and brought to Kirkwall.

Convoy FN 398 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 402 departs from Methil, Convoy BS 14 departs from Suez.

U-431 is launched.

Italian POWs are being brought to the fortress area at Tobruk for processing, 1941 (Australian War Memorial). Tobruk serves as the embarkation point for Italian POWs heading for Alexandria.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Australian 6th Division continues pursuing the Italians west of Derna. While not in wild flight, the Italians are moving with some alacrity back toward Benghazi - which itself is being evacuated. They also are engaging in skillful minelaying and combat destruction. This is slowing down the Australian infantry, as each minefield requires a methodical clearing before the advance can continue.

With Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell's permission in hand, General O'Connor of XIII Corps is preparing to send his armored forces south of the mountain (Jebel Akhdar, or Green Mountain) that bifurcates northeast Libyan operations. This requires supplies that must be shipped to Tobruk - not in perfect working order after the recent battles there - and then transport north toward Derna. O'Connor is torn between getting his supplies in order and then sending his troops (Combe Force) out fully prepared, or sending what he has available out quickly in order to increase the likelihood of blocking the Italian retreat.

O'Connor adopts the latter course. He orders Lieutenant Colonel J.F.B. Combe, commanding 11th Hussars, 2nd Rifle Brigade and assorted field, antitank and antiaircraft artillery) to set out first thing in the morning of the 3rd. The 7th Armoured Division will follow shortly thereafter. The basic plan is for the Australians to herd the Italians westward north of the mountain, while Combe Force moves directly westward and cuts them off further west. This unit becomes known as Combe Force.

Elsewhere, the Royal Navy is active. Operation Picket by Force H is launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. This is an attack by eight Skuas of RAF No. 810 Squadron on a strategically important San Chiara Ulla Dam at Lake Tirso, Sardinia. This attack, which aims to destroy hydroelectric facilities as well using torpedoes, is executed but does not damage the targets due to low clouds, hail, rain, antiaircraft fire, barking dogs and the whole lot. Four torpedoes are released, but apparently, they hit a sandbar or other obstruction. The British lose a Skua, with the three crewmen rescued by the Italians and taken prisoner. It is an interesting operation in the abstract, full of derring-do and the like, but results only in quite a bit of profitless effort on both ends of the Mediterranean.

Admiral Somerville still plans to carry off companion operation Operation Grog (formerly Result) (the bombardment of Genoa). However, he decides against it on this sortie due to the weather. Force H then retires to Gibraltar. Many lessons are learned from this somewhat embarrassing affair which is put to good use eventually in the famous "Dambusters" raid later in the war.

A diversionary operation for the disappointing Operation Picket and abortive Operation Result is underway in the eastern Mediterranean. In Operation MC 7, a large force of Royal Navy ships essentially simulates a typical convoy from Alexandria to Malta.

Italian tug Uso sinks between the islands of Korčula and Lastovo, Yugoslavia. The cause of sinking apparently is a mine; some accounts say it is by a torpedo, but the source of the supposed torpedo is not given. Sometimes, witnesses at the scene don't even know what happened and can only guess. Post-war record checks don't always resolve such issues.

In Malta, the government decides to set up a new department, the Food and Distributions Office. This office, under Marquis Barbaro of St George, will implement a rationing scheme. As part of this process, households will be issued rationing cards.

Wellingtons based on Malta attack Castel Benito, a Libyan airfield that the Italians enlarged in the late 1930s. This is but the latest in many air attacks on the field.

Keren, Eritrea, around the time of World War II.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst aren't the only German heavy ships operating in the Atlantic; battlecruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper also are on the loose. There also are many other German ships of various purposes roaming the high seas which can help them fulfill their commerce-raiding missions. One of them operating in the western Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar, is German raider Atlantis. Today, it captures 7301-ton Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig, which is full of 6370 tons of fuel oil and 4125 tons of diesel oil from Bahrain. The Atlantis puts a prize crew aboard and will use the tanker to fuel itself and whatever other Axis ships it encounters. This is an example of how an entire fleet can "live off the land" in the middle of the ocean.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable is on its way up the eastern African coast to join the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. Its presence there is necessary to replace the battered HMS Illustrious, which is heading for permanent repairs in the United States (at some point the two carriers pass, which must give the boys on the Formidable quite an eyeful of what to expect for themselves). Today, it operates as part of Force K, a determined British effort to track down German raider Atlantis. While having no success in that mission, it is in the vicinity of Italian Somaliland (Somalia), and the British decide to take advantage of that fact. Formidable launches its Swordfish against Mogadishu harbor to lay mines. The nine Albacores then attack Mogadishu itself in Operation Breach.

Italian destroyers are operating in the Red Sea. After dark, they attack one of the BS convoys but are deterred by the Royal Navy escorts.

German battlecruiser Admiral Scheer transits from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Orion completes an overhaul at Maug Island in the Marianas and heads for the Indian Ocean.

Dr. Voronoff claims that monkey glands may contain the secret to eternal youth. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 13 July 1924.

British Government: General Alan Brooke, commander of United Kingdom Home Forces and in charge of anti-invasion preparations, records in his diary that he had dinner at Chequers and then gave a presentation to Prime Minister Churchill, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and various others in Churchill's coterie. Everybody is complimentary, he says, but Churchill "would not acknowledge that an invasion ... was possible in the face of partial sea-control and local air-control."

US Government: Dean Acheson is made Assistant Secretary of State.

Canada: Prime Minister William Mackenzie King makes a radio speech to the Canadian people. He states that the Germans are engaging in barbarity:

Total war means an indiscriminate attack on every front, by every means, however fiendish. Practiced by the [fascists], as we have seen, it is war against homes, hospitals, schools and churches. It is war on men, women and children.

King emphasizes the importance of fully supporting the war effort. He informs the public that Canada will double the number of troops it already is contributing to the war effort in Europe.

Australia: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his epic journey from Melbourne to London, recorded in his voluminous diary (these entries most likely written on the plane). Today, he stops at Baghdad. He meets the Regent, who he describes as "clear-headed but only 25, afraid of his advisers." Menzies describes the new Iraqi Prime Minister as "a stop-gap, being a little better [than his predecessor] but not much." He then continues on to Jerusalem for the night.

China: The indeterminate fighting in Southern Honan (Henan) continues. The Japanese 11th Army evacuates Wuyang.

Dr. Voronoff claims that monkey glands may be able to create a race of supermen. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 23 September 1936.

French Homeland: For unexplained reasons, the Germans seize the monkeys of French researcher Dr. Serge Voronoff. Now, this leads to the question, who is Dr. Voronoff and who cares about his monkeys? Well, there's a story to that.

Dr. Voronoff is the 74-year-old brother-in-law of the wife of ex-King Carol II of Romania. He has maintained a monkey farm and laboratory near Mentone for decades. He is a specialist in monkey glands, specifically, applied uses of monkey glands for medicinal purposes.

Now, monkey glands may not sound like a particularly exciting field. However, at this point in time, there are many hopes that monkey glands may have special powers. Specifically, there are claims that monkey glands are the fountain of youth. Dr. Voronoff does not mind the publicity, and in fact has made some wild claims of his own, reported in the international press, that monkey glands literally can create an army of supermen. And, in German hands, that would be an army of Wehrmacht Supermen.

Which means there may be something quite special about these particular monkeys. Who knows what... alterations the good doctor has made to them? It makes the otherwise inexplicable decision of the Germans to seize the monkeys quite explainable. As for Dr. Voronoff - he and his 26-year-old wife previously booked tickets to New York and arrived there on 6 September 1940.

Italian Homeland: Apparently as a result of reversals in Libya, Benito Mussolini declares southern Italy a war zone and places it under martial law.

Dr. Voronoff's monkeys seized; 2 February 1941 Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

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

Monday 26 May 1941

Battleship Bismark steering in circles after being hit by a torpedo in the stern, 26 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: A supply train filled with Syrian Vichy French military equipment arrives in Baghdad on 26 May 1941. These supplies include 8 155 mm artillery pieces, 6000 shells, 30,000 grenades, and 32 trucks.

The British take the Luftwaffe airfield at Mosul, with the Germans evacuating before they arrive. Reinforcements in the form of 11 Italian Fiat CR-42 fighters of Italian 155th Squadriglia arrive at Kirkuk during the day. The Italian fighters immediately attack the advancing British troops, who are in the Fallujah sector and approaching Baghdad. The British hope to capture Baghdad on the 27th.

European Air Operations: RAF Fighter Command undertakes Rhubarb raids over occupied France. RAF Bomber Command sends a dozen planes on anti-shipping operations. After dark, the RAF sends 38 bombers to drop mines off Brest in anticipation of the arrival of battleship Bismarck.

East African Campaign: There are media reports, such as in the Malaya Tribune, that 9,000 Italian troops have been captured in the Abyssinian Lake region. The reports state that Sudanese troops "captained by British officers" have rounded up the Italians, who had fled from Addis Ababa.

"The BISMARCK is seen in the distance from a Fairey Swordfish from the aircraft carrier HMS VICTORIOUS just before the torpedo attack, 26 May 1941." © IWM (A 9798).

Battle of the Atlantic: The day begins with Bismarck steaming toward France at 20 knots. The British have not known where it is for 30 hours but has ships combing the North Atlantic for it. Thanks to Ultra, the Royal Navy knows that the Bismarck is heading for Brest, France, and has directed Force H from Gibraltar to conduct a search along the German ship's assumed course. However, the British are not the ones who locate it.

At 10:30 a patrolling US Catalina PBY flying boat (Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the US Navy) spots Bismarck about 690 nautical miles (790 miles, 1280 km) northwest of Brest. The British ships then turn to pursue the Bismarck. However, Bismarck now has a huge head start and just enough speed to make it to France if she can avoid being confronted before dark.

The British, though, have a trump card. Although it is badly needed in the Eastern Mediterranean to help protect Crete, Force H (Admiral James Somerville) is in position to attack Bismarck. Battleships HMS King George V and Rodney and aircraft carrier Ark Royal head to the northwest. Ark Royal launches its planes, and they spot a ship 60 nautical miles to the northwest. The planes, however, mistake Royal Navy cruiser Sheffield for the Bismarck and attack it with their torpedoes. Fortunately for the men of the Sheffield, the attack fails completely, and the Sheffield contacts the Ark Royal, which issues a recall order. However, at the same time, Bismarck fires at Sheffield, and shell fragments kill three crew and wound several others. This forces Sheffield to withdraw.

The identification of this photo is unclear, but it may be HMS Rodney during the hunt for German battleship Bismarck, 26 May 1941.

The Ark Royal's planes rearm and refuel. Light already is beginning to fade, but Somerville takes a chance and orders another airstrike. Fifteen Swordfish take off at 19:10, with distance having narrowed to 40 nautical miles. The Swordfish make two hits. One is in the Bismarck's armored belt and causes some minor flooding that can be managed. The second, though, by RAF pilot John Moffatt, is serious. It hits the stern on the port side and causes major damage to both rudders. While the starboard rudder is made workable again, nothing can be done about the port rudder, which is hopelessly mangled and stuck at a bent angle. The Bismarck can only steam forward with a 12 degree turn to port, making it unmaneuverable.

So, the Bismarck is left unable to proceed further toward France. It is outside the range of Luftwaffe air cover, being just under 700 nautical miles from land, and there are no U-boats in the vicinity to protect it. The crew suggests dynamiting the rudder to restore maneuverability, but Vice-Admiral Günter Lütjens vetoes the suggestion because of the likelihood that an explosion in that vicinity would likely blow off the ship's propellers as well. (Underwater inspection after the ship's wreck is found shows that this would not have helped anyway).

The crew of the Bismarck thus is forced to remain in place throughout the night, with powerful Royal Navy forces approaching from all directions (battleship King George V is 130 miles behind but now closing rapidly). The Bismarck's men try to launch a floatplane in order to fly off the ship's log. However, it turns out that the catapult is damaged from the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the plane cannot be launched, so they push it over the side.

HMS Formidable under Luftwaffe attack, 26 May 1941.

Knowing his ship is doomed, Lütjens at midnight signals headquarters with his final message:

Ship unmaneuverable. We shall fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer.

Just like the crew of Italian cruiser Fiume during the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941, the Bismarck's crew spends their last few hours of life contemplating their inevitable fate at the hands of the enemy.

Winston Churchill spends the day in the Admiralty War Room. He orders Admiral John Tovey aboard King George V to close on the Bismarck even if it means running out of fuel. In fact, cruiser Repulse has to pull out to refuel, but battleship Rodney takes its place. Around midnight, destroyers of Captain Philip Vian's 4th Flotilla approach Bismarck and launch torpedoes; whether any hit is unknown.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) completes its mission of laying seven mines in the port of Takoradi. It is a daring mission which includes cruising into the British port on the surface at night and brazenly unloading under the British guns.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 297-ton British freighter Gros Pierre off Sunderland. The master beaches the ship, and the Gros Pierre is later refloated and repaired.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 214-ton British trawler H.E. Stroud about 10 miles off Lamb Head, Stromsay. There is one death. The Stroud is taken under tow and taken to Kirkwall.

Royal Navy submarine H.31 runs aground at Lagan, but is freed and returns to Belfast for repairs.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Eastbourne (Lt. Commander Norman E. Morley) is commissioned.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Bayfield is launched at North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Norwegian corvette KNM Andenes (ordered in 1939 and formerly designated as HMS Acanthus) is launched.

Free French corvette FS Commandant d'Estienne d'Orves (which has been redesignated from becoming HMS Lotus) is laid down.

Heavy cruiser USS Baltimore and destroyer Doyle are laid down.

HMS Formidable being bombed by the Luftwaffe, 26 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation MAQ3, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, escorted by a powerful force including battleships Barham and Queen Elizabeth, launches six Fairey Albacore planes around 02:00 to attack the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka airfield on Scarpanto. Due to mechanical issues, two planes return to the carrier, and the four remaining planes bomb their airfield between 05:05 and 05:15. Some Wellingtons from Malta arrive as planned at the same time and participate in the raid. Four Fairey Fulmars then arrive from Formidable and strafe the airfield around 05:45. The pilots report at least two aircraft destroyed on the ground, but also note 15 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber and 15 Italian CR-42 fighters untouched by the attack.

As the British withdraw, the Stukas (led by II/StG2 led by Major Walter Enneccerus) hit the Formidable with two 1000 kg bombs, damaging it severely. In addition, destroyer Nubian is badly damaged by a Stuka and a Junkers Ju 88 but makes it back to port. There are a dozen deaths on the Formidable, with ten more wounded, and fifteen deaths on the Nubian, with six wounded. The Luftwaffe loses two Stukas. After fighting off further attacks, Formidable reaches Alexandria around dawn on the 27th.

HMS Formidable hit by bombs, 26 May 1941.

On Crete, the Germans continue expanding eastward, pushing the Greek 1st Regiment defenders from Kastelli after a bitter three-day fight and approaching Canea (Chania), the island's capital. The Allies muddle through a troop changeover in front of the city which goes disastrously wrong, leading to the Germans surrounding the arriving 1000 Commonwealth troops. The Allied troops retreat to the east. The Luftwaffe mistakenly bombs the German troops advancing from Galatas toward Canea, aiding the Allies' retreat.

However, the pace of advance is slowing, and only so many troops can be brought in by air to Maleme airfield. Elsewhere on Crete, at Retimo and Heraklion, the German troops are barely hanging on in hopes of a quick advance from Maleme.

, 26 May 1941: a German Junkers Ju 52 transport takes off from Eleusis Airport outside Athens, bound for Crete. Below it is a line of French Vichy Air Force’s Dewoitine D 520s fighters.

Despite the increasingly precarious British position, the Germans pessimistically conclude that it is beginning to look as if a long-term stalemate might develop. One of local air commander Wolfram von Richthofen's liaison officers returns from Crete today and reports that German morale is plummeting on the island. He states that there is an "absolute and critical need" for "reinforcement by sea shipment of heavy weaponry if the operation is to get ahead at all." The OKW thus contacts Italian Duce Mussolini and requests that he send Italian Army units. Mussolini agrees and begins preparations for a seaborne landing which would bring tanks.

The British, however, also are unhappy with the battle, and they try to reinforce the embattled troops there with multiple missions.  The Royal Navy covers its bets by landing at Suda Bay about 800 men from No. 7 and No. 8 Commandos under the command of Colonel Robert Laycock, part of "Layforce." Their orders are to cover evacuation from the port, though it is still hoped that some portion of the island can be retained indefinitely. Another convoy containing reinforcements, led by commando ship Glenroy, comes under attack by the Luftwaffe and is forced to return to Alexandria. Convoy AN.3 of three Greek ships containing reinforcements also sets out from Alexandria today, but it also is forced to return to port as the situation on Crete deteriorates.

The problem for the British, however, is that the only way they can remain on the island is by holding ports on Crete's north shore, and already they are threatened. General Bernard Freyberg, the commander on Crete, becomes the first to broach the idea of an overall evacuation from the island in a message to Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, a proposal that is not acted upon at this time.

Damage to HMS Nubian from the bombing of 26 May 1941, after returning to Alexandria Harbor. Incredibly, despite the entire stern being blown off, the engines and propellers continued to function.

At Kandanos and other hot spots on Crete, the Germans begin to develop a negative attitude toward the locals. The Germans have been taking heavy casualties despite their success, and they develop what may be characterized as a grudge against the local citizenry. Brutal repression is their response to those who oppose their rule.

The Luftwaffe continues attacking the British-held ports on Crete. The Germans sink 145-ton Greek freighter Emmanuel Pteris at Candia Harbour and 6426 ton Greek freighter Rokos at Suda Bay.

On the Libyan border, Afrika Korps Commanding General Erwin Rommel prepares to launch Operation Skorpion. Colonel Maximilian von Herff, in command of Kampfgruppe von Herff, assembles his troops at the foot of Halfaya Pass, the operation's objective. The plan is to bluff the British into giving up the pass voluntarily by simulating an outflanking attack in force to the east. The attack is scheduled for the morning of the 27th.

Italian torpedo boats (Calliope, Circe, Clio, and Perseo) lay mines east of Malta.

An Italian supply convoy of six large freighters leaves Naples bound for Tripoli.

The Stuka attack on HMS Formidable, 26 May 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Dutch gunboat Van Kinsbergen is operating east of Madagascar when it spots 8379 ton Vichy French freighter Winnipeg. The Dutch ship captures the Winnipeg.

Convoy BA.2 departs from Bombay, bound for Aden.

War Crimes: Courts-martial are begun of military personnel aboard HMT Dunera, used to transport evacuees from England in the summer of 1940. The captain and others on the vessel are accused of malicious and predatory conduct, including but not limited to theft and savage beatings. The hearings are held at Chelsea Barracks, London, on 26th and 27th May 1941. This is an incident shrouded in some mystery and receives no press at the time. Specifically, the commanding officer, a regimental sergeant major, and a serjeant are put on trial.

Technically, these are not war crimes, as they do not involve enemy combatants. However, the actions of the British military personnel are alleged to have violated their military oaths and duties during wartime to the detriment of others, so this seems like the appropriate category. To be fair, the entire Holocaust could go in this category under the same reasoning, along with many other incidents, but I have a separate category entirely for the Holocaust due to its oppressive and ubiquitous nature.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Irish Prime Minister Éamon de Valera sends British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a message about proposed British conscription in Northern Ireland:

Before your final decision is taken I feel that I should again put before your Government as earnestly as I can my view that the imposition of Conscription in any form would provoke the bitterest resentment amongst Irishmen and would have the most disastrous consequences for our two peoples.

Churchill very strongly feels that Ireland is not doing enough to help the war effort, but he takes this plea under earnest consideration.

A Fairey Fulmar hits the crash barrier while landing on HMS Formidable at 13:40 on 26 May 1941.

Japanese Military: The Japanese Imperial Air Force make the first flight of the Kayaba Ka-1, Army Model 1 Observation Autogyro. It is closely based on the US Kellett KD-1A single-engine two-seat autogyro and has an observation platform for artillery spotting and is powered by a 240 hp (180 kW) Argus As 10c engine. The plane is useful because it is easy to maintain and has a short 98 foot (30 meters) take-off run.

Life Magazine, "Army Nurse" Catherine Mary Hines, 26 May 1941.

British Government: Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton confides to his diary that there is a "general sense of gloom." After listing the various recent Royal Navy losses, Dalton comments:
Thus, says the PM [Churchill], the Germans have established a "unit superiority" over us. This is the most injurious and distressing naval incident [apparently referring to the Bismarck sinking the Hood] since we missed the Goeben [referring to a failed pursuit in the Mediterranean in 1914, when Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty]. It is clear that these are Churchill's thoughts, not just Dalton's, considering the references.

Private Secretary Alexander Cadogan similarly notes in his diary that "Poor Winston very gloomy - due of course to Hood and Crete. In the latter place, things look black." He notes that there was "A tiresome and most acrimonious discussion" on a minor point about publicizing shipping losses, reflecting the tense nature of the evening War Cabinet meeting.

Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, no doubt hearing of Churchill's "gloom," sends Churchill an inspirational (but odd) note:

This is a bad day; but tomorrow - Baghdad will be entered, Bismarck sunk. On some date the war will be won, and you will have done more than any man in history to win it.

Churchill does not respond.

On June 4, 1943, 381st Port Battalion Company "C" Scouts practice disembarking from a Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) in Newport News, Virginia. (Army Signal Corps Photograph/ Library of Virginia). This is a "Higgins Boat," designed by Andrew Jackson Higgins. It is the most recognizable landing craft of all time. The design passes its tests in Newport News 26 May 1941.

US Military: Marine Commander Ross Daggett, from the Bureau of Ships, and Major Ernest Linsert, of the Marine Equipment Board, observe the testing of the three landing craft designed by businessman Andrew Higgins. The tests in Newport News, Virginia, involve off-loading a truck and embarking and disembarking 36 of Higgins' employees, simulating troops. The design passes the test and later is designated LCVP—Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel.

German Military: Adolf Hitler holds a conference of tank experts at the Berghof, similar to the one he held there on 17 February 1941 when he ordered up-gunning of current tanks with 75 mm main guns (against Wehrmacht resistance that adding such guns would be excessive and impossible). Hitler today demands that 88 mm guns be used for future tanks, along with 100 mm frontal armor and 60 mm side armor. These are considered wildly excessive requirements at this time, but the demand will be met ultimately in the Tiger I and other heavy tanks. Once again, Hitler's orders will prove to be extremely prescient about future needs.

China: The Chinese lose 18 I-153s of the Chinese 29th Pursuit Squadron at Lanzhou. Eleven Japanese A6M Zeros of the 12th Kokutai attack Tienshui and Nancheng.

Bunker No. 8 in Hannover, Germany (Paul Moerenhout).

German Homefront: In Hannover, Bunker No. 8 is ready for use. It's rated capacity is 698 people to shelter during air raids, but many more people will pack into it. Its construction is an indication of growing German realization that the war is going to last and air raids are not preventable. Bunker No. 8 remains intact as of this writing, a vivid reminder of World War II in the heart of Hannover.

American Homefront: New York Mayor Fiorella La Guardia's Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) conducts one of a series of air raid drills in the Northeast, this one a blackout in Newark, New Jersey.

The US Supreme Court of the United States decides United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299 (1941). It empowers (or affirms the right of) the US Congress to regulate primary elections and political nominations procedures. The "right of participation"  is extended to primary elections. This is the first decision in a series that find that primaries are part of "two stages" of state and federal elections, both essential to the voting process and worthy of protection by appropriate laws.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) prepares to strike pursuant to a vote held on 24 May at the North American Aviation plant located at 5701 Imperial Highway in Inglewood, California. This is considered a key event in Los Angeles and US labor history.

Two Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters en route to attack Nanzheng, China, 26 May 1941.

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

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

Monday 10 March 1941

The King and Queen visit Dundee, 10 March 1941. © IWM (A 3383).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues into a second day on 10 March 1941. On the left flank, the Pusteria Division captures, then loses Mali Spadarit, a peak overlooking the strategic Klisura Pass. In the center, Italian attacks to take Monastery Hill fail, and the Italians begin to bring up the reserve Bari Division. Elsewhere, the Italians are stopped cold by fixed Greek defenses of the Greek 1st Division. The weather turns poor, with cold rain negating any advantage that the Italians have in the air. The Italian high command decides to try to outflank the main Greek positions.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. The troop convoys from Alexandria and Suda Bay are arriving every three days. So far, the first troop tranche has arrived at Piraeus, and the second is en route.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, Lieutenant-General William Platt remains frustrated at his troops' inability to fight through the narrow Dongolaas Gorge. The fierce Italian resistance at Keren is the only thing standing between the British and the coast at Massawa. Platt is assembling his troops for another attempt at the middle of the month.

Keren is a key crossroads whose capture will enable the British to scoop up all of Eritrea and head south into Abyssinia toward Addis Ababa, which is being threatened by the South African advance far to the south. Once the British are past Keren, the entire Italian position in East Africa will become unhinged - but there are very few routes in this rough country that are able to support large military operations. So far, attempts to flank Keren using secondary routes have produced no results.

Far to the south, the South African forces continue to advance north from the vicinity of Mogadishu. Operation Canvas continues without any meaningful results despite swallowing large amounts of territory. Now about 500 miles (900 km) past it, the Italian resistance begins to stiffen forward of the fortress of Jijiga, Abyssinia. The Italians top the 23rd Nigerian Brigade of the British 1st African Division at Dagabur (Degehabur), about 100 miles (160 km) south of Jijiga.

Belgian Congolese troops, meanwhile, cross the border into Abyssinia from the west and take Italian base Asosa.

Battery "Pooh," located at St. Margaret's near Dover, on 10 March 1941. It is a 14-inch gun designed to counter the German batteries at the Pas de Calais at Hellfire Corner.

European Air Operations: After the winter lull, air operations are picking up again. Both sides launch damaging raids, though the Luftwaffe continues to have the upper hand in terms of the devastating effects of their raids.

The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth after dark for the second night in a row. It is one of the most devastating raids outside of London for some time. The Germans put around 240 bombers over the city, the most since 1940, and cause extensive damage to the docks and shipping. They sink a minesweeping trawler, HMT Revello, killing one man, and damage destroyers HMS Sherwood, Tynedale and Witherington, training ship HMS Marshal Soult and four other minesweeping trawlers. Four sailors on shore also perish.

RAF Bomber Command raids Le Havre. While just another raid against a Channel port, this is the first raid by Handley Page Halifax bombers by No. 35 Squadron flying out of Yorkshire (Linton-on-Ouse). One of the Halifax bombers (L9489) goes down over Hog's Back in Surrey, killing four of the six crew, crashing on fields near Merrist Wood, Worplesdon. This is what is known as a "nursery raid," the first operational raid by new equipment which is intended as much to test it operationally as to produce actual results. The crash is a friendly fire incident, as the bomber is shot down over England by an RAF night fighter (Squadron Leader P A Gilchrist DFC) whose crew is completely unaware that it just shot down one of its own planes. One of the engines will be recovered from the field in 1996, and a plaque will be erected on the lonely spot on 8 March 1997.

Other RAF targets during the night are Cologne (19 bombers) and St. Nazaire (14 bombers). The RAF also conducts Rhubarb sweeps over the French coast during the day.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies writes down in his diary his impression of the Blitz:

Curious to see the North Lodge at Buckingham Palace lying in ruins this morning. Houses shattered in Curzon Street. Germans are poor psychologists. If they had left the West End alone the East Enders might have been persuaded that they alone were bearing the brunt of the war. And Buckingham Palace again! ha ha!

Of course, the German bombs at Buckingham Palace came within whiskers of killing the King, which would not have been such a laughing matter.

The Reykjaborg, sunk by U-552 today.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (KrvKpt. Erich Topp), on its first patrol just south of Iceland, comes across 687-ton Icelandic fish trawler Reykjaborg.  Topp fires a torpedo that fails to explode. Refusing to waste another torpedo, Topp surfaces at 23:14 and uses his deck and anti-aircraft guns to sink the ship about 460 miles southeast of Iceland. There are 12 deaths (13 if you count a man who dies just before his mates are rescued by HMS Pimpernel) and three survivors.

A convoy of British freighters blunders into a minefield off Hastings. Three ships sink:

• 870-ton Corinia (14 deaths)
• 708-ton Sparta (9 deaths)
• 1107-ton Waterland (7 deaths)

German S-boats (fast boats) attack Convoys FN 428 and FS 429A in the English Channel. The Royal Navy escorts fight them off without loss.

The Luftwaffe attacks a freighter off Wexford in St. George's Channel. It is the 4343-ton Norwegian ship Bur. The Bur is damaged and barely makes it to Fishguard, where the captain beaches it. The ship is repaired at Barry in the Bristol Channel. Another freighter, 391-ton Dutch ship Libra, also is damaged and towed into Swansea.

Royal Navy submarine HMS H.28 is damaged by a collision with an unidentified freighter in the Irish Sea. Repairs in Belfast take until mid-April.

German supply operations in the Atlantic operate without much hindrance these days. German tanker Nordmark rendezvouses with supply ship Alsterufer.

German minelayers lay minefield Pregel as part of minefield Westwall.

Convoy OB 296 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 25 departs from Halifax.

Destroyer HMS Chiddingfold is launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable completes its journey to join the British Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. HMS Illustrious, badly damaged but seaworthy, departs from Alexandria for Port Said.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Fenicia 160 km (100 miles) north of Tripoli.

In Malta, there are repeated attacks by the Luftwaffe throughout the day. At 12:21, nine German Bf 110s strafe the Sunderland flying boats in St. Paul's Bay, destroying one and damaging two others. In addition, a fuel lighter has to be beached with damage. The defending Hurricanes shoot down one of the Bf 110s. After dark, up to 20 bombers attack in bright moonlight, damaging Luqa Airfield and various other points on the island.

Convoy BN 19 departs from Aden, bound for Suez.

Applied Science: Centimetric radar is being developed both by the Americans and the British, and today both countries try out a prototype mounted in a bomber. The USAAC uses a Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber to try out the radar, but it is a first test of the equipment with no real results beyond making sure the aircraft can handle it. The British are at the next stage in their development and today use the radar to make an air-to-air detection. It is hoped that centimetric radar will have useful applications in naval warfare.

Spy Stuff: Acting Japanese Consul General Ojiro Okuda is continuing his spying operations on the US Pacific Fleet. Today, he sends another message to Tokyo listing the ships present there on the 9th. This includes "Four battleships... Five heavy cruisers... Six light cruisers... [and the aircraft carrier USS] Yorktown."

French diplomat Gaston Henry-Haye on the cover of Time Magazine, March 10, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 10 (Cover Credit: DAVID E. SCHERMAN).

Vichy French/US Relations: Marshal Petain requests humanitarian aid from the United States. The hold-up for such aid is not President Roosevelt or the US government, because Roosevelt has been pressing for such aid since late 1940. Instead, the British government, meaning Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is against such aid to any country that is not strictly neutral. The official British position is set forth concisely and coldly:

Nothing has since occurred to alter the view of His Majesty's Government that it is the responsibility of the German Government to see to the material welfare of the countries they have overrun, nor to weaken their conviction that no form of relief can be devised which would not directly or indirectly assist the enemy's war effort.

Speaking to US journalists, Admiral Darlan, now Petain's chief deputy, warns:

I am responsible for feeding 40 million people, plus millions more in Africa. I will feed them even if I have to use force.

The issue of humanitarian aid will remain throughout the war, with the US wishing to help the people of Europe, but the British government objecting on the grounds that any aid of any sort to countries controlled by the Germans will help the Axis war effort.

France confirms the Murphy-Weygand Agreement today. Pursuant to the agreement, the United States agrees to supply French North Africa with certain basic commodities, so long as the French do not build up stockpiles and do not export them.

Anglo/US Relations: The Lend-Lease Bill is not yet law, but President Roosevelt gets a jump on the process by requesting $7 billion in aid to England.

US Military: The USAAF 73rd Squadron (Douglas B-18s) begins transferring from McChord Field outside Tacoma, Washington to Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska.

Japanese Military: Japanese rear admiral Takijirō Ōnishi submits to Isoroku Yamamoto a plan for the Pearl Harbor attack.

British Government: There is a rare meeting of the War Cabinet at the Cabinet War Room bunker ("Paddock") located in Brook Road, Dollis Hill, northwest London. It is a massive, two-story underground facility under a corner of the Post Office Research Station site. The bunker is only used for two meetings during the war. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies gives a summary of Australian achievements in the war to date.

Soviet Government: Nikolai Voznesensky becomes the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Maksim Saburov becomes Chairman of the State Planning Committee.

"Squadron Leader James Wheeler, a Flight Commander of No. 85 Squadron RAF, gets into the cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I night fighter, 'VY-X', at Debden, Essex, for a sortie while taking advantage of the clear moonlit nights during the period of the full moon from 10-16 March 1941." © IWM (CH 2249).

Yugoslav Government: Regent Prince Paul convenes the Crown Council again to consider signing the Tripartite Pact. There is great disagreement about what course to take - support the British or succumb to the Germans.

Vichy French Government: The Vichy government orders that, as of this date, compulsory ceremonies be conducted in every school Dahomey. This includes raising and lowering the French flag to the sounds of choral music.

Indochina: The Japanese mediate the French into giving the Thais everything that they originally sought. Thailand takes possession of all land up to the Mekong River. As their "fee," the Japanese take a monopoly on Indochinese rice production and basing rights for their planes at a Saigon airfield. This is a major expansion of Japanese influence in Indochina, which formerly was confined to the northern area around China.

Australia: Queensland's Public Works Department begins construction of the Rocklea Small Arms Factory/Munitions Works.

China: The Western Hupei Operation continues. Japanese 13th Infantry Division advances to take Kuankungling, Hutzuchung, and Hsianglingkou along the Yangtze River as the Chinese (Kuomintang) continue retreating on Chunking.

French Homefront: The Vichy government rations beer. It cannot be sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

German Homefront: The government constantly monitors public views about the war and toward the regime. These reports continue throughout the war and, unlike German propaganda, are as accurate as the preparers can make them. This week's report notes that hawking pictures of Hitler at fairs next to those of religious icons is meeting resistance with the public.

American Homefront: Following upon the test of batting helmets in Havana, Cuba, the General Manager Lee MacPhail of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization announces that the team's players will wear them throughout the season.

Future History: Naw Louisa Benson is born in Burma. She becomes Burma's first Miss Universe contestant in 1956 and again becomes Miss Burma in 1958. Benson joins the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in 1964 and takes over command of her husband's brigade after he is assassinated.

On 10 March 1941, Transport Workers Union bus drivers in New York City go on strike over wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits. The strike halts most of Manhattan’s bus service.

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 Become 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