Monday 9 June 1941

Adolf Hitler greets Croatian strongman Ante Pavelić at the Berghof, 9 June 1941 (US Holocaust Memorial Museum).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The British invasion of Syria, Operation Exporter, continues on 9 June 1941. The main battle is at the mouth of the Litani River. The 21st Australian Brigade heading for Beirut must cross the river to reach its goal of Beirut, but the British Commandos sent to seize the important Qasmiye bridge over the river can't land due to rough seas. The French thus have time to destroy the bridge.

The 420 Commandos (British No. 11 (Scottish) do land - but in daylight. This deprives them of the element of surprise, a key advantage of Commando forces. They arrive in three different places, and the French barely notice them because they are fighting the advancing Australians. Subsequently, the Commandos under Lieutenant Colonel R.L. Pedder (Highland Light Infantry) serve as infantry and take heavy casualties (including Pedder himself, who is replaced by Geoffrey Keyes). By dint of hard fighting, the Commandos and some Australian troops of the 2/16 Australian Brigade do land on the other side of the river by using canvas boats. Australian engineers immediately begin building a pontoon bridge, which they complete after midnight.

The French use armored cars to counterattack the bridgehead, but the Commonwealth troops hold their position. The war then becomes active out at sea. Vichy French destroyers Valmy and Guépard sortie to bombard the British troops in the bridgehead. It is one of the few times during the war when British troops face naval bombardment (which turns out to be quite inaccurate).

The Royal Navy quickly responds by sending destroyer HMS Janus, followed by New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Leander and. Destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kimberley are nearby bombarding the Khan Bridge, and they also sally against the Vichy French destroyers. The Australian shore-based artillery also fires at the attacking French ships.

Faced with overwhelming firepower, the French ships withdraw to Beirut, chased by destroyers Hotspur, Isis, and Jackal. However, before they go, the French ships damage two of the British ships, destroyers Janus and Jackal, the former badly. Janus must be towed to Haifa by Kimberley, taking two British ships out of the fray. Jackal, only slightly damaged by one shell strike, stays in service.

French submarine Caiman is operating off the Syrian coast. It attacks British light cruiser HMS Phoebe. However, the attack fails and the Phoebe is undamaged. The incident induces the British to withdraw their ships to Haifa.

Elsewhere, Australian troops capture Fort Khiam but are stopped there. Free French 1st Infantry Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade advance to Kissoue south of Damascus.

The Luftwaffe, as in Iraq, has a very minimal presence in Lebanon and Syria. The Vichy French, though, have a formidable array of new fighters, including the new Dewoitine D.520. The RAF sends Gloster Gladiators from Amman to support the advancing British trips on the road to Damascus.

The outcome of the day's fighting is that the advancing Commonwealth troops are slightly behind schedule but still crossed the river. The road to Tyre, and beyond to Beirut, is now accessible.

RAF Bomber Command sends 18 planes on a sweep of the French coast.

East African Campaign:  The 3/15th Punjab Regiment in Aden prepare to invade Assab, the last Italian port on the Red Sea, on 10 June. This is Operation Chronometer. Destroyer HMS Dido heads out during the night to bombard the port just before sunrise on the 10th.

Kapitänleutnant Herbert Kuppisch of U-94, St. Nazaire, France, 9 June 1941 (Buchheim, Lothar-Günther, Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-3495-04).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass), on its 12th patrol out of St. Nazaire and in the mid-Atlantic southwest of Ireland, torpedoes and sinks 5623-ton British freighter Phidias. There are 8 deaths and 43 survivors.

While U-46 has one more patrol to go, this is its last sinking. During its career, U-46 has sunk 20 merchant ships of 85,792 tons, two auxiliary warships of 35,284 tons, and damaged five other ships (one written off). After its next uneventful patrol, U-46 serves as a training boat with the 26th U-boat Flotilla.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient in the mid-Atlantic west of Ireland, torpedoes and sinks 1190 ton British freighter Trevarrack. All 45 men onboard perish despite Mengersen seeing three lifeboats launch.

The Luftwaffe (Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 40) bombs and sinks 942-ton British freighter Diana southeast of Iceland. There is one death, the survivors are taken aboard ASW trawler Cape Portland.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 844-ton British freighter Dagmar south of Bournemouth. There are three deaths.

The Luftwaffe (Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 40) bombs and sinks 1894-ton Finnish freighter Fenix west of the Faroe Islands and southeast of Iceland. There is one death.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages 174-ton British freighter Remagio off Bamburgh, Northumberland in the North Sea. The crew abandons the ship, and it drifts ashore. Efforts are made to salvage it, and eventually, it will be refloated and repaired. Some sources place this incident on 8 June.

Belgian 5382-ton freighter Persier, beached during a storm east of Vik in Myrdalur, Iceland in February, breaks her keel while being towed to the Kleppsvik Strand and is beached again.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Urge attacks an Italian freighter northwest of Lampedusa but misses.

The NEF continues expanding its support services at St. John's when auxiliary oiler HMS Clam arrives.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Zetland (L59) is launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Saskatoon ( Lt. Joseph S. Scott) is commissioned, minesweepers Canso (North Vancouver) and Granby (Quebec) are launched.

HMS Zetland (L59), launched at Glasgow, Scotland on 9 June 1941. It later became Norwegian destroyer KNM "Tromsø."

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British continue assembling their forces for Operation Battleaxe, another attack on the Libyan frontier south of Tobruk. Tanks finally arrive at the front in General O'Moore Creagh's units. Operation Battleaxe now is scheduled for 15 June. The 15th Panzer Division (General Walter Neumann-Silkow) is the main defender of the frontier.

Spanish 2421 ton freighter Sabina hits a mine and sinks 40 miles (74 km) off Genoa, Italy. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy landing barge SD15 "Leaving" makes it to Sidi Barrani from Crete. It is sailed by an English and Australian crew who stole the craft from the Germans. It is one of the last escape boats from Crete.

In Malta, there is an uproar because they find out there is an Axis informant on the island. Lord Haw-Haw, who makes propaganda broadcasts from Berlin, mentions that gas respirators on Malta feature yellow flaps. The flap is to differentiate British soldiers from enemy invaders who also are wearing gas masks. However, the islanders get some good news when two captured Italian aviators deny that an invasion force is being assembled in Sicily.

RAF fighters shoot down an Italian SM-79 bomber off Malta, and perhaps another, and two others are damaged. The RAF loses a Hurricane.

Chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains, Greene County, Georgia. The photograph was taken in June 1941 by Jack Delano (original color photo, Library of Congress LC-USF35-599).

Spy Stuff: Light cruiser HMS Neptune arrives in Gibraltar. It lands German prisoners and captured documents from German supply ship Gonzeneheim.

German Military: The Wehrmacht continues assembling along the Soviet border. The Luftwaffe now is transferring planes to forward airfields. Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, remains scheduled to begin on 22 June.

From Berchtesgaden, Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 31, "German Military Organisation in the Balkans." It intends to "establish a clear and unified system of command in the occupied areas of the Balkans." He appoints Field Marshal List, still in the region following his command of German forces during Operation Marita, as the first Commander Armed Forces Southeast. He lists other appointments in the region to be filled by others. The order seeks to ensure the "coordinated defense" of the region, both from external and internal (partisan) threats. He sets the organization and establishment of Crete as the "most urgent task confronting us in the southeast" due to its usefulness to the Luftwaffe. The Italians shall occupy the eastern portion of Crete, but be subordinate to the Wehrmacht. This Directive supersedes Fuhrer Directive No. 29 of 17 May "in so far as it is superseded by the above orders."

Hitler calls his top generals to the Berghof for the final planning of Operation Barbarossa. While the plan is finalized, there remains quite a bit of disagreement about the proper objectives of the advance - Hitler prefers to focus on the southern prong to secure the grain of the Ukraine and Soviet oilfields, while some generals feel that Moscow in the center is the proper objective.

Canadian Military: Leading Airman W. McCulloch of 31 SFTS Kingston, Ontario, is killed when his Battle crashes near Gananoque, Ontario during training.

US Military: The US military terminates plans to occupy the Azores in the event of a German invasion due to military intelligence indicating that Hitler has no plans to invade Spain and Portugal.

Funeral of Kaiser Wilhelm, 9 June 1941. Leading the dignitaries is Field Marshal August von Mackensen.

Dutch Homefront: The funeral of former Kaiser Wilhelm II takes place in Doorn. The family decides that it must respect the Kaiser's wishes for a funeral in Doorn due to his position that he would never return to Germany unless the monarchy were restored. The Wehrmacht sends an honor guard, and German Commissioner Arthur Seyss-Inquart attends. While Hitler, who desired a state funeral in Berlin, does not attend, he makes sure that Swastikas feature prominently at the funeral.

British Homefront: The UK establishes a national Fire Service Council. This results from issues arising during the Blitz from fire services in one town not wishing to help fight fires elsewhere - or only doing so for a price. The 1400 local fire brigades are merged into 32 regional brigades.

Original caption: "The Busiest Man is the Boss. Complete relaxation comes to Walt Disney every day at the noon hour when he strolls around the paths of his studio at Burbank, Calif. In the background are some of the staff who helped produce "The Reluctant Dragon," the latest Disney feature-length film." Dated 9 June 1941.

American Homefront: The former Governor of Ohio and Democratic candidate for US President in 1920 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt as his running mate), James Cox, gives the commencement address at the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta. In his speech, entitled "We are Now Nearing the Fateful Hour," Cox states in part:

I have never believed, nor do I now, that the need will come of sending our soldiers overseas. It is machines not men that we must supply.

This capsulizes the Isolationist view, that the US should not get entangled in overseas wars, but it is fine to give them the weapons with which to fight.
Future History: John Douglas Lord is born in Leicester, England. In 1968, Jon Lord co-founds rock group Deep Purple. Lord retires from the band in 2002 and passes away in 2012. John Lord is posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 8 April 2016 for his work with Deep Purple.

U-46, which gets its final victory today, becomes the subject of "Das Boot" (1981), directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Jürgen Prochnow, which is based on the novel by Lothar G. Buchheim.

Benito Mussolini on the cover of Time magazine, 9 June 1941.

June 1941

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

2020

Wednesday 4 June 1941

Babe Ruth attends the open casket funeral of Lou Gehrig. June 4, 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The pro-British government in Iraq on 4 June 1941 is now firmly installed. Regent Prince Abdullah is in charge. The British continue mopping up, solidifying their control over Mosul and negotiating surrenders where necessary.

The Japanese Ambassador in Baghdad, Miyazaki, sends his counterpart in Ankara, Turkey a cable reporting the British takeover in Iraq. The Turkish ambassador, Kurihara, sends Tokyo a blunt message:

Unless some direct and summary measures are taken by Germany and Italy in following up this recent incident, it is feared that the whole Arabian movement will be severely hampered in its development. At this time, when it is thought that the Iraqi oil field pipeline and the railroad line connecting this city with Basra has been destroyed, British interests chiefly lie in the Habbaniya base which serves as a point in air and land transport from Trans-Jordan. Inasmuch as there are large oil reserves maintained in underground reservoirs and other subterranean facilities, please do your very utmost to have the German and Italian authorities bomb this base immediately.

The Germans and Italians, however, no longer have any airplanes with the ability to bomb targets in Iraq.

"On June 4, 1941, at No. 1 Air Navigation School in Rivers, Manitoba, a trio of Commonwealth airmen walk down a line of Avro Ansons to the aircraft that will carry them on a navigation training flight. From left to right are Sergeant J. A. Mahood, Royal Air Force, Sergeant E.M.D. Romilly, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Sergeant W.H. Betts, Royal Australian Air Force." PHOTO: PL-3738, DND Archives.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends planes from 2 Group, Nos. 18, 107 and 139 Squadrons to attack Dutch airfields. The RAF also sends 54 aircraft on anti-shipping missions.

Four Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s of III./KG 27 bomb the Bristol area during the night, around 02:30 on the 4th. The targets are airfields and aircraft factories at Cheltenham and Bristol. The Germans bomb some buildings and destroy a Gloster plane on the ground. The Luftwaffe loses a Junkers Ju 88C in a separate intruder mission when it flies into a hill at Skelder Moor near Whitby just after midnight - all three crew perish.

After dark, the Luftwaffe attacks the Midlands and Medway areas. These attacks do not cause much damage, the bombs falling on the undeveloped ground.

RAF Fighter Command conducts Roadstead operations over occupied France.

There is fighter action over Folkestone. Feldwebel Janke and Fw. Helmut Jürgens of IV./JG 51 record claims.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Rühl of 1./JG 53 goes missing in Bf 109 F-2 "Black 3" (W.Nr. 6707) near Dover following aerial combat with Spitfire fighters (he apparently collides with a Spitfire). Rühl has five victories. This is Rühl's second time in the Channel, the first having been on 2 September 1940. In the earlier instance, Rühl was picked up by a Dornier Do-18 rescue plane, but this time he is not found.

The British record in the British Home Security Situation Report that for the week ending at 06:00 on 4 June 1941, there were about 178 deaths due to the Blitz, with 185 seriously injured.

New Castle News, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 4 June 1941.

Gideon Force is disbanded. Orde Wingate is reduced in rank to that of major. He leaves for Cairo, Egypt. The reduction in rank may be related to friction he has had with higher British authorities regarding decorations and back pay for his men. Wingate is very put out by his peremptory treatment - he is not even given leave to say goodbye to his comrade in the jungle, Emperor Haile Selassie - and he determines to write an angry report about his experiences and the British officers who have obstructed his efforts on behalf of Abyssinian freedom. At this time, Wingate already may be infected with malaria, though he does not yet show symptoms.

June 4, 1941: Lou Gehrig's funeral/members of the High School of Commerce bow their heads with their gloves and caps in hands and pay respect to their hero.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues seeking out the Kriegsmarine's supply vessels throughout the North and South Atlantic. Today, the British find and dispose of three such vessels:

1. 8923-ton tanker Gedania (captured by ocean boarding vessel Marsdale, renamed Empire Garden for British use);
2. 4104 ton supply ship Gonzenheim (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the battleship HMS Nelson);
3. 9849-ton tanker Esso Hamburg (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the heavy cruiser HMS London)

There are 63 survivors from the Gorzenheim and 87 from the Esso Hamburg. Basically, nobody dies during these events, but the German ability to supply U-boats and surface craft in the Atlantic to extend their operations is severely damaged. These sinkings and seizures cut the remaining number of Kriegsmarine supply ships almost in half.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient and on patrol in the mid-Atlantic west of Brest, at 05:03 torpedoes and sinks 5271-ton British freighter Trecarrell. The encounter is a little unusual because U-101 rams Trecarrell at 06:40 in the bow to hasten its sinking. There are four deaths and 43 survivors. It is not a happy day on U-101, though, because it loses a crewman, Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl, overboard.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 36. It bombs and sinks 3911-ton British freighter Queensbury. There are 11 deaths, the entire crew.

British 2879-ton suction dredger Robert Hughes hits a mine and sinks at the mouth of the Lagos River. This was one of the mines laid by U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) recently. There are 14 deaths and 17 survivors.

Dutch minelayer Van Meerlant hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There are three deaths and one crewman is wounded.

Convoy OG-64 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar, Convoy HG-64 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

On June 4, 1941, Philippines President Manuel L. Quezon signs into law Commonwealth Act No. 616, known as An Act to Punish Espionage and other offenses against National Security.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After dark, the Luftwaffe mounts a surprise raid on Alexandria. There are 170 killed and 200 injured.

Martin Maryland bombers of the RAF based on Malta bomb and sink Italian freighters Beatrice C and Montello off the coast of Tunisia. Some sources list this incident as having occurred on 3 June.

The Royal Navy sets off another supply mission to Malta. Operation Rocket features aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Furious being escorted by battleship Renown and many other vessels. The plan is to deliver 43 Hawker Hurricane Is to the beleaguered island.

Invasion jitters continue on Malta. Building on lessons learned on Crete, the British emphasize killing or capturing the German paratroopers (fallschirmjäger) upon descent or immediately thereafter, before they can defend themselves. British troops have occupied the island of Gozo, normally left unguarded. Otherwise, it is a quiet day on Malta, with just one Luftwaffe fighter sweep that results in no damage or bombs dropped.

"On June 4, 1941, RCAF Sergeant E. Romilly, the Royal Australian Air Force’s W. Betts, and the Royal Air Force’s J. Mahoud practice navigation techniques onboard an Anson aircraft at No. 1 Air Navigation School, RCAF Rivers, Manitoba." PHOTO: DND Archives.

Spy Stuff: Hitler having told Japanese Ambassador Ōshima his plans for Operation Barbarossa on the 3rd, the latter dutifully cables Tokyo with this information. British military intelligence intercepts the coded message. The Japanese codes have been broken, but British intelligence does not forward the coded translation to The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) for decoding until the 12th. In any event, it would just add to the pile of warnings from numerous sources that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin has been ignoring.

The Algonquin Regiment leaves Port Arthur, Canada on June 4, 1941 (Thunder Bay Public Library).

British Military: Lieutenant Commander R.C. Robison, RAN is awarded the DSC for "bravery and enterprise" while serving on destroyer HMAS Stuart during the battle of Cape Matapan (when the Italian Navy suffered a serious defeat).

US Military:  Chief of Staff of the United States Army George Marshall sends a memo to General Richardson regarding the development of a unit that comes to be composed by men called the Tuskegee Airmen. Marshall writes:

Dr. Patterson, head of Tuskegee Institute, has been doing a very fine thing in assisting the Air Corps in the development of a negro aviation unit. He has been under heavy attack from the Chicago and Harlem elements, and for a time it appeared that they would succeed in emasculating the Tuskegee Air program for national defense.

Marshall suggests crafting "a definite program of publicity" to support the program.

Image of Japanese female factory workers from Shashin Shūhō 171, June 4, 1941. Shashin Shūhō was a propaganda magazine established in 1938 by the Cabinet Information Office. Interestingly, it shows the factory workers engaging in exercises decades before this became popular elsewhere.

China: The Japanese follow through on past threats to interrupt British efforts to supply the Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking. The Imperial Japanese Navy sends bombers based at Hanoi in French Indochina to bomb bridges along the Burma Road.

Holocaust: The Republic of Croatia orders all Jews to wear a star with the letter Z. The Reich prohibits Jews from using beaches and swimming pools.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in exile in Doorn in the Netherlands, 1933 (German Federal Archives, Bild 136-C0804).

Dutch Homefront: Wilhelm II, the former Kaiser of the German Empire and King of Prussia passes away at his home in Doorn at the age of 82, The Netherlands. He has not set foot in Germany since 10 November 1918, vowing not to return until the restoration of the monarchy, and has lived at Doorn since 15 May 1920.

The Dutch government in the past has protected Wilhelm II from prosecution by the Allies by refusing to extradite him as required by Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles. While a lukewarm supporter of Hitler and his NSDAP party in the 1920s, Wilhelm II soured on them as the 1930s wore on due to their persecution of the Jews. As he stated in December 1938:

For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he [Hitler] has got rid of or even killed... He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters!

That said, Hitler has used Wilhelm for propaganda purposes at times, including publishing a brief, perfunctory telegram congratulating Hitler on his victory over The Netherlands in 1940. For his part, Hitler for many years has taken a dim view of Wilhelm II, calling him an "idiot" and other disparaging terms.

Hitler makes no plans to attend the funeral and is furious when he learns that the local Wehrmacht commander has provided an honor guard for the funeral procession. Wilhelm is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of his Doorn home.

American Homefront: The funeral of baseball legend Lou Gehrig takes place at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale. His remains are cremated and he is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

"Power Dive," directed by James P. Hogan and starring Richard Arlen, Don Castle and Jean Parker, premieres. A typically short 1940s film (67 minutes) from Pine-Thomas Productions (as Picture Corporation of America), the film features a revolutionary new airplane made of plastic. The film is in the public domain due to the failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright.


June 1941

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

2020