Saturday 22 February 1941

Jews rounded up in Amsterdam, 22 February 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS Sir John Dill move on from Cairo to Athens today, 22 February 1941, having also made a top-secret visit to Malta as well. Accompanying them are Mediterranean Royal Navy commander Admiral Cunningham and Air Marshal Longmore. They meet with King George II, Commander in chief Alexander Papagos and the government, who continue the Metaxas position that insufficient British troops would be worse than none at all. The two sides also disagree on proper strategy, with the Greeks wishing to defend the fortified Metaxas line at the frontier and the British preferring a line further back. However, ultimately the British convince the Greeks to accept a British expeditionary force.

East African Campaign: The 12th African Division and Gold Coast Brigade attack Jelib frontally while another force, 1/1 King's African Rifles, comes in from the rear. The 22nd East African Brigade cuts the road to Mogadishu, blocking the Italians from retreating. The action begins at 05:45, and the Italian Colonial Infantry rapidly gives way. The British advance in armored cars and brush aside all resistance. By 13:00, the 12th African Division takes Jelib, which effectively ends Italian resistance on the key Juba River line. Firefights continue in the area throughout the afternoon, but the Italians are sent into full retreat. They try to establish another line between the river and Mogadishu, but the Italian command had staked everything on defending the river and have nothing in reserve. Some 30,000 Italian troops (mostly native) are either killed, captured or fleeing in wild terror.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Shropshire sits offshore and bombards Brava. General Cunningham cables Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell in Cairo, telling him that his forces can continue operations toward Harar, some 800 miles beyond Mogadishu.

British troops take Cub Cub from the 112th Colonial Battalion.

"William Wyckoff, of the American-Scandinavian Field Hospital in Norway, x-rays a British boy in his bed at the American Hospital in Britain in February 1941. Wyckoff had previously been stationed at Namsos in Norway." This is the Park Prewett Hospital in Basingstoke, Hampshire. © IWM (D 2068).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Brest during the night with 42 bombers. Admiral Hipper is still in port but escapes damage.

The Luftwaffe switches targets after dark. It sends 17 bombers against the port of Hull. There are many deaths, and extensive damage is caused by aerial mines.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, provides a fresh and objective perspective on the effects of the Blitz in his diary. He notes that:

Once you get past St. Paul's, you come on whole blocks of which only an occasional twisted girder or brick wall remains.

This also is what contemporary photos show. However, the British press for one reason or another is minimizing the extent of the devastation by using such tricks as cropping photos to show St. Paul's and not the devastation around it.

RAF No. 317 "Wilno" (Polish) Fighter Squadron forms at RAF Acklington.

"Onboard a convoy vessel on patrol. Firing the starboard depth charge throwers." 22 February 1941. © IWM (HU 110317).

Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Lütjens, commander of Operation Berlin in the North Atlantic, has been searching daily for targets for his heavy cruisers Scharnhorst (Kapitan Kurt Caesar Hoffmann) and Gneisenau (Kapitan Otto Fein). Several days have passed, and nothing so far.

Today, his luck changes. At about 10:55, the lookouts spot a convoy heading west. This means that the ships are empty... but they are still worthy targets. Best of all, they appear to have no escorts at all. The two cruisers move in for the kill, but the ships disperse as soon as they see the German warships. During the entire engagement, they sink the following:

• British tanker Lustrous (6156 tons)
• British freighter Kantara (3237 tons)
• British freighter Trelawny (4689 tons, one death)
• British freighter A. D. Huff (5866 tons, ten deaths)
• British freighter Harlesden (5483 tons, seven deaths)

Scharnhorst sinks the Lustrous, while Gneisenau sinks the A.D. Huff and Trelawny. The two ships combine to destroy the Kantara (that must have been quick work). After dispatching these ships, Lütjens orders his seaplane aloft, and it spots the Harlesden about fifty miles away. Fortunately, as they are trained to do, the crew of the Arado seaplane destroys the Harlesden's radio aerial. After a long chase, Gneisenau sinks this fifth victim. All told, 25,431 tons of precious Allied shipping is sent to the bottom. Lütjens takes 180 prisoners, and the merchantmen crews suffer only 18 deaths - a relatively small number for so many ships sunk in the middle of the Atlantic without escorts.

Then, an event full of portent happens. Lütjens, of his own initiative, decides to send a radio report to Berlin detailing his force's success against the convoy. This, of course, ensures that his force's success will make the next day's propaganda broadcasts, which is highly prized in the Wehrmacht. Anyone familiar with the voyage of battleship Bismarck will recognize instantly that this unnecessary message-sending is a Lütjens trademark. It does not cost him anything... this time.

Lütjens now decides to move on, knowing that the surviving members of the convoy would have signaled the Royal Navy about his position. He signals tankers Schlettstadt and Esso Hamburg to meet him far to the south, near the Azores. The German ships steam on, unmolested and victorious.

U-96 (Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) is lurking around the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland on its third patrol when it spots an abandoned tanker west of the Hebrides. It is 6999-ton British tanker Scottish Standard, which the Luftwaffe bombed on the 21st. The crew has abandoned ship, but there is a destroyer, HMS Montgomery, standing guard. Lehmann-Willenbrock quickly puts two torpedoes into the tanker, finally sinking it, then dives to avoid the inevitable escort attack. The Montgomery spends five hours and drops 37 depth charges, but U-96 gets away. There are five deaths.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Montgomery, which rescued the survivors of the Scottish Standard, spots a submarine - but it isn't U-96. Instead, it is the Italian submarine Marcello. The Montgomery attacks and sinks the Marcello with all hands. One of the rebadged US destroyers sent to the Royal Navy in the destroyers-for-bases deal, the Montgomery is proving its worth.

U-108 (K.Kapt. Klaus Scholtz), on its first patrol out of Wilhelmshaven, is operating south of Iceland when it spots 1617-ton Dutch freighter Texelstroom. Scholtz makes short work of the freighter for U-108's first victory.

British 6554-ton tanker Luxor is damaged during the final night of the Luftwaffe bombing of Swansea on 21/22 February.

The Luftwaffe also damages 7628-ton British freighter Kingston Hill far out in the Northwest Approaches. The ship manages to make it to Loch Ewe in tow.

In the same attack as on the Kingston Hill, the Luftwaffe damages 3621-ton British freighter Keila. The ship manages to make it to the Clyde without assistance.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Icarus lays minefield JK in the English Channel.

Kriegsmarine minelayers Brummer, Cobra, and Konigin Luise lay minefield Swine east of the Shetlands.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Union (N 56, Lt. Robert M. Galloway) is commissioned, as is antisubmarine warfare trawler HMS Mazurka (T 30, Lt. Victor R. Tyrrell).

U-81 is launched, U-257 is laid down.

Rounding up Jews in Amsterdam, on or about 22 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Admiralty realized on the 21st that the Luftwaffe was beginning to pose too great a risk to shipping, so it withdrew all of its ships from Benghazi Harbor - except for one. Monitor HMS Terror, which has been providing sterling service throughout the campaign by bombarding Italian fortifications, stayed in the harbor overnight to provide anti-aircraft support (experience in Norway should have proven that ships providing antiaircraft support are themselves vulnerable). Today, overwhelmed by the Luftwaffe attacks, Terror makes a run for Tobruk. The monitor finally runs out of luck when the Luftwaffe spots it running along the coast and attacks. Bombs cause the monitor to lose power, and the crew abandons ship. It is disabled and bombed again on the 23rd. The British finally get tired waiting for it sink on the 24th and fire some depth charges at it, sinking it. All 204 crew survive, quite a lucky outcome.

At Tobruk, the confusion continues in the port. Several ships have hit mines in the harbor, which supposedly has been swept clean. Today, Royal Navy anti-submarine whaler Southern Seas collides with a lighter and suffers damage.

On or about this date, HMS Upright torpedoes and sinks 2365 ton Italian freighter Silvia Tripcovich off Kuriat Island.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent fires at Italian shipping off Tripoli but misses.

The Free French continue shelling the Italian El Tag fortress at Kufra. The fort is well-garrisoned, but the Italians have no defense to the French 75mm field gun or mortars that are firing at them. The inexperienced Italian commander of the fort also is unwilling to make a sortie out to confront the French directly, despite the fact that he outnumbers them.

The Luftwaffe mines the Suez Canal again. Previous minings have been extremely successful at disrupting traffic through the canal.

General Rommel is determined to take the initiative on land with his fledgling Afrika Korps despite the fact that all of his troops have not yet landed. He sends troops to forward positions near El Agheila to conduct probing attacks.

Trucks used to transport hostages to a police camp outside Amsterdam, 22/23 February 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Admiral Scheer has just sunk three ships east of Madagascar after a long dry spell, and today it adds a fourth. Dutch 2542 ton freighter Rantaupandjang succumbs, but it is able to send a distress call before the crew abandons ship (two men perish). Royal Navy cruiser HMS Glasgow already is on its way, having received similar calls from Scheer's victims on the 21st. It launches its Walrus seaplane, which spots Scheer. The admiralty quickly vectors in half a dozen cruisers and an aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes. Captain Krancke on the Scheer realizes his danger just in time, though, and makes good his escape to the southeast.

US/Chinese Relations: Ernest Hemingway and wife Martha Gellhorn are in Hong Kong on an unofficial mission to gather data on the war situation.

German troops assemble hostages in the Jonas Daniel Meijer Square in Amsterdam, 22/23 February 1941.

British Military: Churchill's contempt for the Middle East Command surfaces again in a memo to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal. He complains about the "tone" of a recent message from Middle East RAF Commander Air Chief Marshal Arthur Longmore. Among other things, Longmore has annoyed Churchill by calling visiting Foreign Minister Anthony Eden "Anthony" and CIGS Sir John Dill "John." Calling Longmore "unappreciative" and "most pessimistic," Churchill wishes for Portal to give Longmore "a hint" as to how to improve his attitude and be more respectful. Considering that Longmore is an Air Marshal with an important command, this incident illustrates just how hierarchical the British command is right to the very top.

Churchill, in a memo to Secretary of State for War David Margesson, fixes the projected size of the British army at 53 divisions, 11 of them armored. By comparison, the Wehrmacht at its peak has about 300 divisions, the US Army 90 divisions and the Soviet Union over 600, though the divisions of each army differ greatly in size and equipment (a full-strength Wehrmacht Division, for instance, is generally comparable to a Soviet Corps). Of course, it is still reasonably early in the war, and the British army could be expanded beyond that figure by taking more men from the British industry. Churchill proposes to take a "wait-and-see" attitude about transferring more men to the army.

In another example of his repeated attempts to control the media, Churchill sends a memo to Minister of Information Alfred Duff Cooper about Sir Robert Vansittart. Churchill is upset about broadcasts that Vansittart has been making which "do not represent the policy either of HMG [His Majesty's Government] or the USA." He commands Duff Cooper to end the broadcasts.

Soviet Military: General Dmitry Pavlov, the big loser of the war games held in January, is promoted to the new rank of General of the Army. This is the second-highest rung on the ladder, under Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is the commander of the key Western (Belorussian) Special Military District which defends Moscow.

Filipp Golikov, boss of the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), receives the Order of Lenin from Mikhail Kalinin. This is the Soviet Union's highest decoration, and it is Golikov's first of four - which actually is not very unusual. The record-holder is Defense Minister Dmitriy Ustinov, who received the award 11 times, and ten men received it at least 8 times. The principal characteristic of recipients is not necessarily quality of service, but rather their degree of fervor for the regime.

'Mrs. M Divolis, Mrs. A Marmaras and Mrs. L.J. Sigalas on duty at their stall', The Australasian (Melbourne), Saturday, February 22, 1941, page 20. State Library of Victoria Collection. A large parade is held today on "Greece Day" to honor the so-far successful fight of the Greeks against the Italians.

British Government: Menzies, in his diary, as usual, makes some sharp observations of the people that he meets. Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs Lord Cranborne, for instance, strikes Menzies as "an earnest lightweight whose fidelity to Anthony Eden has gained him advancement." Menzie views him as one of the "Yes men" of whom Churchill is so fond. As for Churchill himself, Menzies finds him "a tempestuous creature... pacing up and down the room, always as if about to dart out of it, and then returning." He also finds Churchill "Oratorical even in conversation," "the master of the mordant phrase," and "yes, I would think, almost without real humor." Churchill "Enjoys hatred," much of which he reserves for Irish leader Eamon De Valera who he calls "a murderer & perjurer." One thing Churchill is sure of, though, is "America's full help."
Dutch Homeland: In what is usually referred to as a pogrom, German Grüne Polizei (Orpo) and Dutch police continue rounding up hostages at the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein in reprisal for recent attacks on police. All told, 389-450 Jewish hostages (sources vary) will be taken, detained at the police camp (Internierungslager) in Schoorl, and ultimately sent to the worst concentration camps. Two will survive the war. Tensions on both sides throughout the city are inflamed, and the Dutch resistance - led by the Communist Party of the Netherlands - plans to call a general strike.

The A.I.F. Marches – Australian Holds out a Helping Hand to the Heroic Greeks', The Australasian (Melbourne), Saturday, February 22, 1941, page 20. National Library of Australia Collection. This parade on Greece Day is held on Swanston Street. There are 4000 men marching in their summer battle dress.

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

Friday 21 February 1941

A Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter.

Italian/Greek Campaign: As has been the case often recently, poor winter weather curtails operations in Greece today, 21 February 1941. Both sides are looking to launch offensives soon, with the Italians steadily building up forces for a major offensive.

East African Campaign: HMS Formidable is stuck in the Red Sea waiting for the Suez Canal to be cleared before it can join the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. The crew occupies itself supporting army operations, bombing Massawa, but they accomplish little. The Luftwaffe mining of the Suez Canal has achieved a tremendous amount for the small investment involved.

The campaign along the Juba River continues as the British move toward the ultimate prize of Mogadishu. At dawn, the Transvaal Scottish South African troops embark in armored cars to Margherita. The Italians have artillery positioned, but the South African artillery stops it. South Africans take Margherita during the afternoon. The new commander is Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon le Roux. The next objective to the north is Jelib, and the 22nd East African Brigade is coming from the north to block the Italians' retreat from that city.

The Indian 7th Infantry Brigade attacks the Italian 112th Colonial Battalion at Cub Cub but makes little progress.

Damage during the Swansea Blitz, 19-21 February 1941.

European Air Operations: After dark, the Luftwaffe completes its three-day attack on Swansea, Wales. As on the other nights, the bombers appear over the city around 19:50 and continue the attack until after midnight. Known as The Three Nights' Blitz, the attacks result in 230 dead (of 167,000 residents), 409 injured and 7000 homeless. The entire city center of about 41 acres is completely destroyed by 1273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 incendiary bombs. It is the worst sustained bombardment in Wales.

If there is a silver lining for the British, it is that the fire watchers organized by the Swansea Council prevent the incendiaries from combining to create a firestorm. This shows that, with adequate intervention, incendiary bombs can be greatly reduced ineffectiveness. In addition, the vital dock facilities and oil installations are largely unscathed. The number of casualties also is relatively light due to the presence of numerous Anderson and domestic shelters, some built before the war. Swansea is a textbook study on how to suffer a devastating aerial assault while containing the consequences as much as possible due to good preparation.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, sends 34 bombers to raid Wilhelmshaven. It also sends 42 aircraft to lay mines off Brest.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe also raids Skálafjørður, also known as Kongshavn (King's harbor) in Eysturoy, Faroe Islands. The British have oil installations there, along with associated shipping. They sink 398-ton anti-submarine trawler HMS Lincoln City, while anti-submarine trawler HMS Leicester City shoots down one of the attacking German planes.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Clare collides with British freighter Petertown just outside the Bristol Channel. Clare makes port at Plymouth but spends until October in port being repaired.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its first mission (though Topp previously commanded U-57), is heading out for its station along the convoy routes when it is spotted on the surface by RAF aircraft. The submarine takes some minor damage and continues with its mission. This is an omen of things to come, for U-boats are vulnerable while in transit to their patrol stations because they must make the trips on the surface.

The Lockheed Hudson bomber, T-9449, which crashed near Musgrave Harbour, 20 February 1941, killing Dr. Frederick Banting. This is some time after the crash, as the engines have been removed. The plane wound up in a remote area and survived intact through the 1970s. Pieces of it no doubt still lie where they came to rest.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Longmore sends the Air Ministry in London a telegram criticizing air supply to the Middle East. It is well known that Longmore feels that sending planes to Greece is a waste of time, and he is rapidly rising on Churchill's list of officers to get rid of.

Operation MC 8, a supply convoy to Malta, concludes without a hitch today. Light cruisers HMS Orion, Gloucester, Ajax, and destroyers Mohawk, Nubian and Diamond arrive in the predawn darkness. They deliver 1300 troops in total (two battalions), and the Germans and Italians apparently never notice. The ships (except for Diamond) head back out at dusk.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Ursula (Lt.Cdr. G.C. Phillips) spots a convoy from Trapani in Sicily, bound for Tripoli. It torpedoes and damages Italian freighter Sabbia. Italian torpedo boat Montanari counterattacks, damaging Ursula. Sabbia eventually makes it to Tripoli, and Ursula gets away.

Colonel Leclerc's Free French force continues pounding away at the El Tag fortress in Kufra. The Italians in the fort can do nothing about the mortars and 75mm field gun firing from 1.5 and 3 km away, respectively.

The last photograph of Major Banting.

Battle of the Indian Ocean:  German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, having sunk two ships about 2000 km east of Madagascar on the 20th, today sinks a third. It is 7178-ton Canadian freighter Canadian Cruiser. The entire crew becomes POWs. The Canadian Cruiser notifies the Royal Navy of its plight, causing nearby patrolling cruiser HMS Glasgow to head toward the spot.

Battle of the Pacific: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) stands 10-15 miles off Oahu and lanches 31 USAAC Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters. Taking off in flights of three, the fighters will be based at Wheeler Field in the Wahiawa District near Pearl Harbor (next to Schofield Barracks). Wheeler lies just north of the naval base. This is the first time in US Navy history that a regular USAAC fighter is flown off a carrier's deck in a ferrying operation - something the British have been doing with some regularity in the Mediterranean. Looking ahead, some of these fighters will be present and get into action on 7 December 1941.

The P-36 fighter is approaching obsolescence. The USAAC already has a better fighter, the P-40, in service. However, at this time, the P-36 is considered the basic American fighter.

Spy Stuff: In a memo to Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Alexander Cadogan, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inquires about a digest of intercepted phone calls between different foreign embassies in London. The British are tapping the Thai Embassy phones, and the Thais have conversations with the Japanese and Nepalese embassies which involve top secret information about Japanese war plans. This appears to be a primary source of British information about Japanese plans.

Sir Frederick Grant Banting.

Applied Science: Major Sir Frederick Grant Banting, inventor of insulin and a top aviation medicine researcher, perishes from wounds and exposure suffered following a 20 February 1941 Lockheed Hudson crash in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland. The plane's engines fail, causing the bomber to come down in a remote forested area. Banting survives in the frigid weather for a day, into 21 February 1941, before succumbing. Banting, who had just re-enlisted despite being in his forties, was on his way from Gander to London to serve as a liaison between the medical services of Canada and Great Britain. It is a terrible way to go, a Nobel Laureate wasting away in the wilderness.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill complains in a note to Harry Hopkins about having to give up "all our direct investments" to the Americans. "Is this really necessary?" he writes. It really is necessary. Despite his plaints, the British government authorizes the transfer. This effectively places the financial future of Great Britain in American hands - where, to be honest, it has been throughout the conflict.

Japanese Military: The Japanese Consulate in Honolulu is a hotbed of spies. Today, Consul Ojiro (Otohiro) Okuda sends his first true spy message to Tokyo. He observes fleet movements in Pearl Harbor from a hill hear his office, then sends the information to the IJN. The message notes the recent comings and goings of warships in the harbor, and also provides a detailed list of the ships currently in the harbor (which must have taken some effort to compile), to wit:

Seven battleships (three of the New Mexico class, two of the Pennsylvania class, one each of the Oklahoma and California classes); four heavy cruisers, (two of the New Orleans class and two of the Portland class); ten light cruisers, (four of the Honolulu class; six of the Omaha class of which one is in drydock); thirty destroyers; three destroyer tenders; aircraft carriers, Yorktown and Enterprise; one troop transport; one submarine tender; (no submarines were visible).

It takes quite some military knowledge to distinguish between different classes of ships, including cruisers, so Okuda likely received extensive training in Japan before assuming his position in Hawaii. The military planners in Tokyo find Okuda's information useful but do not wish to compromise him, so they consider sending a military aide to make the observations.

"Western Union," featuring a very young Robert Young in a rare early technicolor film, opens today, 21 February 1941.

Soviet Government: The Kremlin reveals today that former Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov and two others have been removed from the Central Committee. Tellingly, Litvinov's place is filled by V. G. Dekanozov, ambassador to Germany and an architect of the 1939 Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact. Litvinov is Jewish and married to an Englishwoman. Violently opposed to fascism, his dismissal is an obvious gesture to Hitler and Germany.

Another dismissal is of Polina Semyonovna Zhemchuzhina Molotov, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov's wife. Apparently not intended as a slap at her husband, the dismissal likely is due to the fact that she is Jewish, and also because Stalin dislikes her for personal reasons. Polina also is suspected of being a spy, apparently stemming from knowing some (unidentified) foreign spies. The fact that Polina is an outspoken Zionist probably doesn't help her cause, considering that Stalin is trying to improve relations with Hitler.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies finally makes it to London, a month after he set out from Melbourne. He is staying in the same suite at the Dorchester previously occupied by Wendell Willkie. Menzies notes that "So far I have seen only a few bombed places" and "Day raids have for the time been practically discontinued, and the street traffic... seemed almost normal." He has lunch with several cabinet ministers, noting that Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin "would be a great hand with a fractious union, but I would think of limited mental powers." He also finds Lord Woolton "quiet and perhaps a little deaf," while Home Secretary Herbert Morrison "is rather arresting, smallish, humorous, broadminded."

Norway: Following the lead of other nations, Norway breaks diplomatic relations with Romania.

South Africa: Lord Harlech becomes the High Commissioner.

Dutch Homefront: The German Grüne Polizei, local Dutch police and assorted German paramilitary organizations such as the WA ("Weerbaarheidsafdeling") are incensed by Jewish self-defense groups on the Waterlooplein injuring their comrades on the 20th. The Germans begin the process of rounding up 425 hostages, all young Jewish men and send them to Kamp School. After spending time there, the men will be sent to various concentration camps in Germany. Two will survive the war.

Italian Homefront: The government cuts the ration various cooking ingredients, including olive oil and butter, by half.

American Homefront: Promising young stars Robert Young and Dean Jagger team with Randolph Scott in Fritz Lang's "Western Union," which opens today. It is a rare 20th Century Fox technicolor film (there remain very few color film cameras in Hollywood) and is filmed on location in House Rock Canyon, Arizona and Kanab and Zion National Park, Utah. Reviews of the time generally focus on how colorful and vivid the film is - the acting and story are distinctly secondary. Several Native Americans appear in the film, including Chief John Big Tree and Chief Thundercloud. The Academy Film Archive will preserve the "Western Union" in 2000. Lang, incidentally, left Germany in 1934 in disgust at the German regime's control over the film industry despite being offered the plum position of head of UFA by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

Buster Keaton stars in Columbia Pictures' "So You Won't Squawk," a two-reeler directed by Del Lord, a veteran director for Mack Sennett. It also opens today.

Buster Keaton in "So You Won't Squawk," released on 21 February 1941. This period generally is considered a lull in Buster's career, and he vows never again to "make another crummy two-reeler" once his ten-picture deal with Columbia is up.

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 11 January 1941

RAF bombing the port of Valona, Albania, 11 January 1941. (AP Photo).

Italian/Greek Campaign: Greek II Corps has captured the key Klisura Pass by 11 January 1941. It is considered the gateway to the vitally important Italian port of Valona. The Italian Lupi di Toscana Division, which went into action after a 24-hour forced march and no preparation and no maps, continues to get mauled in its counterattack, with one of its battalions surrounded. The part of the division that has not been surrounded retreats to its starting point before launching the desperate counterattack.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe, true to form, hits Portsmouth again for the second night in a row. A lucky hit on the main water main while the tide is out - the Luftwaffe has been planning raids in conjunction with the tides recently, to good effect - cripples firefighting efforts. The one saving grace for the British is that many locals have gone elsewhere for this Saturday night. The City of London also is attacked by 137 aircraft. A bomb penetrates Bank Station, killing 51 people and causing a crater so large that the army has to build a bridge across it.

RAF Bomber Command sends 16 bombers over Wilhelmshaven in another attempt to bomb German battleship Tirpitz. There are no hits and no losses to either side. Other bombers hit Turin with good accuracy, starting fires at both the Royal Arsenal and a ball-bearing factory.

Royal Hospital, Commercial Road, Portsmouth, on January 11, 1941. During the attack on the hospital, a doctor, a constable, and several male nurses were killed.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe attacks on Portsmouth destroy an entire flotilla of motor torpedo boats under construction at Vosper yard: MTB 37, 39, 40, 74, 75, and 108.

The Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condors of I,/KG 40 achieve another victory today in the shipping lanes west of Ireland. They sink 1600-ton convoy rescue ship HMS Beachy. There are 5 deaths, and the survivors in their lifeboat are not picked up until the 29th.

Swedish 1216-ton freighter Bertha hits a mine and sinks between Saltholm and Middelgrundens, Denmark. There are four deaths and 13 survivors.

British 172-ton fishing boat Oriole hits a mine and sinks off Stakken North Point, Faroes. Everyone on board perishes.

German 679-ton freighter Brechsee hits a mine and sinks off Malmö, Sweden. Some sources place this as happening on the 21st.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages 1142-ton British freighter Greyfriars off Grimsby, near Hull. There are five deaths. The freighter drifts ashore but is later salvaged and taken to Hull for repairs.

British 8465-ton tanker British Fidelity hits a mine and is damaged in the Bristol Channel. It is towed to Cardiff.

Royal Navy 92-ton drifter Uberous runs aground off Londonderry and is wrecked.

US liner Manhattan runs aground off Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, about nine miles south of Palm Beach. The captain and first officer both are later suspended for negligence in this incident. The ship is refloated and repaired just over three weeks later.

Convoy FN 381 departs from Southend, Convoy BN 12A departs from Aden, Convoy HX 102 departs from Halifax.

U-598 laid down.

HMS Illustrious (under the crane in the center of the picture) at Malta on 11 January 1941. The smoke is from renewed attacks on the port.(Photo from the collection of P.O. Shipwright Wilfred George Heydon, R.N.) Courtesy of Philip J. Heydon, I.S.M.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Air Marshal Arthur Longmore, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East Command, begins transferring RAF forces north to Greece. The first to go are RAF Nos. 11 and 112 Squadrons. Equipped with Blenheims and Gladiators, respectively, these two squadrons set out for Athens immediately. This is done despite the sudden appearance of Fliegerkorps X operating out of Sicily, which already is achieving outstanding success against Royal Navy warships.

The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on the Royal Navy warships involved in Operation Excess, and once again draws blood. Having damaged heavy cruiser HMS Southampton on the 10th, Fliegerkorps X (2 Staffeln, Sturzkampfgeschwader 2) returns in the afternoon and finishes the job. The cruiser is hit three more times and must be abandoned. Cruiser HMS Gloucester, traveling in company with Southampton, also is hit (a bomb passes through five decks without exploding) and set on fire (9 deaths). Italian submarine Settimo fires three torpedoes at the Southampton, but it remains afloat. Royal Navy submarine HMS Orion later administers the kill shot. There are 668 survivors of Southampton, 80 dead and 87 other casualties (accounts vary on exact numbers).

Operation Excess basically concludes. Perversely, all the freighters and warships carrying troops and equipment reach Malta without any damage. However, the Royal Navy has lost destroyer HMS Gallant and light cruiser HMS Southampton, while having new aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious damaged to the point of sinking. Overall, Operation Excess has been a disaster for the Royal Navy due to the new, unexpected presence of the Luftwaffe operating out of Sicily.

On land, the Australians and English tighten their hold on Tobruk. General Wavell will have to complete its capture soon before Greece sucks up more of his remaining troops.

In Malta, the dockyard workers swarm over Illustrious in order to make her seaworthy again. They ignore the mangled flight deck and instead concentrate on repairing leaks and the ship's steering.

In southwest Libya, the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) boldly drives south into Murzuk, their objective, after almost being spotted by an Italian reconnaissance plane. They drive straight through town to the Beau Geste fort at the southern end. En route, they capture the town's postmaster, Signore Colicchia, who they find cycling toward the fort with the day's mail. The sentries in the fort spot the approaching British vehicles (23 in all) and close the gate. The LRDG then splits up, with half remaining outside the fort to contain the garrison while the rest go to shoot up the nearby airfield.

At the airfield, the LRDG men subdue about 20 soldiers guarding three Ghibli light bombers. They then destroy the planes and the hangar. Pat Clayton, in command of the New Zealanders, takes out an Italian machine-gun nest by driving over it. After destroying everything worthwhile there, the LRDG reforms in town and destroys the Italian fuel stores, ammunition, and everything else worthwhile in the town. They also damage the Murzuk fortress, which is impregnable to their light arms. The LRDG then leaves the town at about 16:00 and heads back toward British lines the way they had come. Overall, the Italians have ten killed and fifteen wounded, while the British lost two men and three wounded.

The raid has a devastating effect on Italian morale. The attack was completely unexpected and far behind the front. Damage at Murzuk airfield is never repaired, and in fact, remains exactly as the LRDG left it for decades after. More than any other single incident, this raid creates the legend of the LRDG.

The LRDG attack on Murzuk, 11 January 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Atlantis, having recovered from grounding on a rock in the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands and completed various maintenance projects, departs to resume its patrol. It leaves behind one man, a sailor whose grave is reckoned to be the German war grave of World War II that is the furthest south.

German Military: Following his most recent round of discussions with his military staff at the Berghof, Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 22, "German Support For Battles In The Mediterranean Area." In essence, it aims to prop up the Italian effort in the Mediterranean, both in Albania and North Africa. For the first time, Hitler specifies that Germany will provide "covering forces" for the defense of Italian North Africa, and also in Albania.

Hitler proposes to move the "approximate strength" of one army corps, which he specifies will include the 1st Mountain Division. He is not so specific about German forces in North Africa, though, saying that "Special orders for the composition of this force will follow." The Albanian transfer is to happen first, and then, once shipping is freed up, the transfer of forces to North Africa. This Directive is the germination of the Deutsches Afrikakorps.

This directive is an admission of weakness, not strength, in the Axis. While Hitler gives passing lip service to "Italian approval" of these troop movements, the Italians have been asking for help for a month. Fuhrer Directive No. 22 is only necessary because of Italian military failures, and while Germany has plenty of military force available and sitting idle, this directive opens up an entirely new sector of German responsibility that it never should have had to worry about. There is a vast amount of territory to cover in the Mediterranean, and it would have been vastly better for the Axis if the Italians had been able to hold their own there - but they can't.

The Luftwaffe's presence in the Mediterranean, also specified in the Fuhrer Directive, already is paying dividends, as discussed above. These forces are to be augmented and sent against British assets throughout the Mediterranean under the codename Operation Alpine Violets.

HMS Southampton, sunk today.

Soviet Military: The second round of Soviet wargames concludes. General Georgy Zhukov, in command of the "Red" or Soviet forces, scores a convincing victory over General Kulik, in command of the "Blue" or German forces. The Soviets choose to publicize this round of the war games and not the first, which was won convincingly by the "Blue" forces. Of course, both of the "winning" sides were commanded by Zhukov, a fact which the Stavka notices.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps orders two prototypes of the Northrop XP-61, along with two wind-tunnel models. This is a large, all-metal, twin-boom fighter carrying a crew of three. The XP-61 is designed to be a heavily armed night fighter used to intercept Luftwaffe bombers attacking London at night. Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons, based in London, has used the latest progress by the British in airborne radar to craft the requirements and specifications for this plane. Ultimately, this project will turn into the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. This is the second twin-boom fighter design for which the USAAC has ordered prototypes recently, the other being the Vultee XP-54 on 8 January 1941.

The US command problems at Cavite in the Philippines continue. Rear Admiral Harold M. Bemis relieves Captain Eugene T. Oates as Commandant, the Sixteenth Naval District and Navy Yard. Oates had just replaced Rear Admiral John M. Smeallie in December. Many consider these rapid-fire command changes to be a major factor in the US's lack of preparedness when the time comes for... action.

Dutch Military: The Government-in-exile begins forming the Princess Irene Brigade.

French Indochina: The Thai Army continues to attack into the Mekong Delta.

China: The Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) continue to press in on encircled elements of the Communist Chinese New 4th Army at Maolin on the Yangtze River.

American Homefront: William Randolph Hearst has banned his chain of newspapers from covering RKO pictures due to his outrage over Orson Welles' forthcoming "Citizen Kane." The front page of today's Daily Variety screams, "HEARST BANS RKO FROM PAPERS." Hearst has his lawyers working over the weekend to draft a temporary restraining order to enjoin RKO from distributing "Citizen Kane," which Hearst feels is personally defamatory. So far, RKO remains determined to release the picture. He also continues to look for other means to apply pressure on the studio.

"Store Gift Exchange," with art by Douglass Crockwell. Saturday Evening Post - January 11, 1941.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Thursday 9 January 1941

"Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspects the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard on Horse Guards Parade, London, on 9 January 1941." © IWM (H 6547).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek offensive to capture the key Klisura Pass continues on 9 January 1941. The Klisura Pass is considered the gateway to the strategic Italian port of Valona. Greek II Corps is attacking, with 1st Division on the left and 15th Division on the right. Defending is the Italian Julia Division.

The Italians frantically deploy the Lupi di Toscana division immediately after a 24-hour forced march in a blizzard. The Toscana has no maps, has not reconnoitered the terrain, and is not in communication with the Julia Division. The Greek 11th Division joins the 15th Division in its attacks on the right flank and makes good progress, surrounding part of the Toscana. The Julia Division begins pulling back from the pass. It is another absolute fiasco for the Italian military.

Four Italian destroyers (Ascari, Carabiniere, Folgore and Fulmine) shell Greek bases at Porto Palermo, Albania.

Despite the continuing Greek success against the hapless Italian military, everyone is looking over their shoulders toward the German forces assembling in Romania and Bulgaria - for "training."

European Air Operations: The Malta-based Wellingtons raid Messina. Damage is done to oil facilities, but they miss the ships in the harbor.

RAF Bomber Command hits scattered targets in northwest Europe, including another attack on the oil facilities at Gelsenkirchen, Dusseldorf, Duisburg-Ruhrort, and various invasion ports such as Rotterdam, Flushing, Dunkirk, and Calais. Coastal Command chips in with attacks on Brest, where the Admiral Hipper continues to linger. The Luftwaffe night fighter forces continue gaining experience, as Oblt. Reinhold Eckhardt of 6./NJG 1 destroys a British Whitley bomber over Nijmegen.

The Luftwaffe continues its period of primarily sporadic daylight raids by lone raiders, with small raids against London (67 aircraft) and Liverpool during the night. The major raid is against Manchester with about 143 bombers total.

Italian bombers in Albania/Greece, 9 January 1941 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe), operating out of Kiel, gets its first kill. It torpedoes and sinks 4843-ton British iron/grain freighter Bassano in the mid-Atlantic due south of Iceland. There are one death and 55 survivors.

Italian submarine Glauco claims that it shells a large freighter just south of where U-105 is operating and makes some hits. However, it is unknown what ship this may be.

Royal Navy 40 ton drifter Dusky Queen runs aground and is wrecked in the Dover Straits.

British 646 ton freighter Dorset Coast hits a mine and is damaged south of Cardiff in the Bristol Channel. The ship makes it to Penarth Dock.

The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth dockyard and slightly damages minesweeper Saltburn with a near miss.

The Royal Navy intercepts French trawler Urania in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar. The Urania is seized and sent to Gibraltar. The Urania has been en route from Saint Pierre et Miquelon off Canada to Casablanca.

Convoy FS 384 departs from Methil.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Pimpernel (K 71) and destroyer RNoN Bath (I-17) are commissioned.

U-410 is laid down.

"Pilots of No. 601 (County of London) Squadron run to their waiting Hurricane aircraft at RAF Northolt, 9 January 1941. Squadron scramble staged for General 'Hap' Arnold, USAAF." © IWM (HU 2408).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Today is known as the first Luftwaffe raid on Malta. There actually were scattered Stuka appearances over the island in 1940, but this is the beginning of the sustained German appearance in the Mediterranean and the first real Luftwaffe attacks on strategic targets by Fliegerkorps X. The Stukas appear just before sunset and attack the port of Marsaxlokk, without scoring any hits on shipping.

Australian 6th Infantry Division and British 7th Armoured Division have Tobruk encircled on the landward side. The 25,000 Italian defenders place great faith in fortifications remarkably similar to those that failed earlier in the month at Bardia.

Operation Excess, a typical 1940-41 supply operation to Malta, continues. Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal despatches five Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 821X Squadron to reinforce the RAF presence on the island. The Italians attempt an air raid on the Royal Navy ships, but it is beaten off with the loss of two SM 79 bombers to a Fulmar of 808 Squadron (Lt. Tillard). The Italians also lose two modern Macchi MC 200 Saetta (Arrow or Lightning) fighters during the day over Malta (island sources claim that four are shot down by Hurricanes and one by anti-aircraft fire, so it may be five planes altogether, but accounts differ).

As with all of these complex supply missions, there are diversions that sometimes take center stage. Swordfish raid Cagliari, losing one of their number (the crew is saved).

Force H turns back to Gibraltar once cruisers HMS Gloucester and Southampton return to the vicinity after unloading troops in Grand Harbor on the 8th.

Vichy French ocean liner Lamoricière (Commandant Milliaseau) gets caught in a storm about 10 km northeast of Cap Favaritx, Minorca, Spain. It has aboard 122 crew and 272 passengers. Despite sending out distress calls that bring several ships to her assistance, the Lamoricière capsizes during the night. There are 292 deaths, including the captain.

The Lamoricière was responding to a distress call herself, from 1708 ton freighter Jumièges. The Jumièges also vanishes on or around this date, taking with her 20 crewmen.

Italian 636 ton coastal freighter Giovanni Mari hits a mine and sinks a dozen miles off Bardia.

Royal Navy and Greek submarines are quite active today as part of the protective screen for Operation Excess. The Royal Navy subs are operating in the general vicinity of Sardinia and Corsica, positioned in case the Italian fleet chooses to seek battle as during the previous convoy runs. The Greek submarines are at the mouth of the Adriatic. The day is notable for the number of unsuccessful attacks.

Submarine HMS Pandora, operating off Cape Carbonara, Sardinia, torpedoes and sinks 2715 ton Italian freighter Palma and 5400-ton freighter Valdivagna.

Submarine HMS Parthian torpedoes 4208-ton Italian freighter Carlo Martinolinch off Calabria.

Submarine HMS Rover makes a surface attack on an unidentified Italian freighter, but the ship gets away.

Greek submarine Nereus attacks an Italian freighter off Brindisi, but it gets away.

Greek submarine Triton attacks an Italian submarine off Otranto, but it also gets away.

Italian submarine Beilul spots a convoy just northeast of the eastern tip of Crete and fires a couple of torpedoes. Both miss and the convoy gets away.

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) continues driving toward Murzuk, the Italian administration center in southwestern Libya which its soldiers plan to attack. They cross a main Italian road, then spend a tense time brushing away traces of their vehicle crossing marks. It is a tense time, as if an Italian convoy happened along at this time, the entire surprise attack endeavor might be ruined. However, they are not spotted.

The Indian 5th Infantry Brigade continues transferring from Egypt to Sudan for future operations there.

In Ethiopia, the RAF bombs the Italian fort of Gubba with three planes. While the attack is not of any value, it signals a new phase of the campaign where the skies are not solely under Italian control.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's crony, Harry Hopkins, arrives in London to schmooze with Churchill. Hopkins is a member of Roosevelt's kitchen cabinet who literally lives upstairs at the White House. He is on hand to assess the British will to win and is escorted all across the country personally by Winston Churchill. This is the first of Hopkins' unofficial visits to a key ally which will go a long way to smoothing relations within the sometimes fractious coalition-to-be.

Anglo/Free French Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill apologizes personally to Charles de Gaulle over the Muselier incident, which now has been closed. The Vice-Admiral is reinstated - to cause more trouble later.

US/Vichy French Relations: New US Ambassador to France Admiral William D. Leahy meets with Marshal Petain.

Separately, Secretary of State Cordell Hull gives French Ambassador Gaston Henry-Haye a diplomatic note of this date, entitled, "Refugee Problem in France." In the note, Hull notes numerous procedural obstacles to the US accepting German Jewish refugees currently living in Vichy France, as requested by the French. The biggest problem apparently is that:

forced migration in which people in great numbers are intended to be driven anarchically upon the receiving states [will create] unhappy consequences to the economic and social equilibrium of all.

Hull concludes by flatly denying this French request and even any further attempts to discuss it at all:

Accordingly, while this Government holds the view that the time will come when such conditions of order and peace will prevail in the world as will warrant a humane and orderly approach to the migration problem by the Governments collaborating in mutual confidence and mutual respect, it does not believe that any useful purpose can be served by discussing migration problems bilaterally with the French Government or multilaterally with the several Governments at this time.

US/Dutch Relations: The Dutch remain a major military presence in the Dutch East Indies. US Rear Admiral Purnell, Admiral Hart's chief of staff, visits Java for consultations.

The Avro Lancaster prototype BT308 right after its first flight, 9 January 1941.

British Military: The Avro Mk III Manchester (serial number BT308) makes its first flight at Manchester. This version has extensive modifications, including longer wings with four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. The name is changed to "Lancaster" immediately after the flight. Basically, the re-design - aside from everything else - is a success simply due to the substitution of the Merlins for the original Vulture engines, which have proven to be a disaster in terms of power and reliability. This plane, the Lancaster, has a longer range and heavier bomb load than any other British bomber - in fact, it is the very bomber that Hitler and Goering need very badly.

The British Chiefs of Staff and Defence Committee continue reviewing and weighing the conflicting priorities of the North African and Greek theaters. Today, the Chiefs of Staff wire Air Officer Commanding in the Middle East Air Marshal Arthur Murray Longmore that:

for political reasons, priority must now be given to Greece.... Absence of British help might put Greece out of the war, keep Turkey out and cause most serious political consequences both here and in America.

The units to transfer will be forwarded on the 10th. Longmore is not a fan of this decision, feeling that the battle in North Africa is far from over despite the huge recent successes in Operation Compass.

German Military: Adolf Hitler concludes a two-day conference at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden with his military chiefs. The main topic is the coming attacks the east, particularly in Greece and then Russia. Hitler, as usual at this stage of the war, is painting in broad strategic strokes. He figures that, by attacking the Soviet Union, the Japanese will be induced to launch their own campaign in the Far East, which will draw off US attention and forces. He basically shelves Operation Felix for the time being - but it remains on the back burner. His focus has turned to what the Italians should have been able to do by themselves, drive the British out of the Mediterranean.

Hitler does not seem to attach any significance to the economic might of the United States (and the Soviet Union) and how that might translate into the Allies being able to fight two major wars simultaneously, one in the Pacific and another in North Africa/Europe. To be fair, the US Navy also doubts this US ability at this time, as reflected in its most recent Rainbow plans. These plans envisage a holding operation in the Pacific while resources are devoted to the Atlantic - another possibility that Hitler does not seem to consider likely. Essentially, he just figures that Japan takes care of the US and keeps it occupied - a huge assumption. Everybody is about to learn quite a few basic lessons about how economic might translates into military power.

Soviet Military: The second set of Soviet war games proceeds. General Zhukov, in command of the "Red" or Soviet forces, is doing well against the "Blue" or German forces led by General Kulik. This series is tilted somewhat in favor of the Red forces, as the Red Army is given the initiative from the start from the original border - a scenario unlikely to happen in a real war, at least at the beginning of a conflict.

US Military: Construction crews begin building the new naval air station on Wake Island.

Members of the Chantiers de Jeunesse clearing a hillside above a roadway (A. D. Allier, 69 J 93, Crépin Leblond collection). Source: A. D. Allier.

Vichy France: The Chantiers de Jeunesse [Youth Workshops], voluntary until now, are slated to become mandatory for all men of age 20. Their duration also is extended to eight months. The entire organization is of a paramilitary character, with the men wearing uniforms, marching, and engaging in work designed to be of an educational character. The "educational" part is broadly defined, as the objective is to teach the young men to work together toward some common purpose, such as gathering firewood or building paths or creating ironwork. There are 52 camps with between 1500-2200 young men at each camp, and the daily routine very much resembles a Scout or summer camp - but with extreme discipline and often backbreaking work in harsh conditions.

China: The Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) 3rd War Area begins reducing encircled communist troops of the New 4th Army near Maolin on the Yangtze River.

American Homefront: CBS, under the auspices of Dr. Peter Goldmark, demonstrates field-sequential live color television ("Columbia Broadcasting Exhibits Color Television", Wall Street Journal, Jan. 10, 1941, p. 4. "CBS Makes Live Pick-up in Color Television", Radio & Television, April 1941). The Germans had demonstrated color television as early as August 1939, but the war interrupted further development - though the German television service is still very much in development.

Future History: Joan Chandos Baez is born in Staten Island, New York. She begins performing music in the late 1950s in various clubs near her father's job at MIT. Joan gets noticed, and records her eponymous first album in 1960 for Vanguard Records; it includes a pre-Animals recording of "House of the Rising Sun," one of many artists (including Roy Acuff, Andy Griffith, Woody Guthrie and Glenn Yarbrough) to record this classic folk song before it becomes a huge hit. Joan follows that with many other releases during the 1960s. Her singles begin making the charts in the mid-60s, with the most successful by far being the classic version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" in 1971. She becomes friends with many in the burgeoning "folk singer" music scene, including all the household names, and a household name herself.

Joan also becomes known for political activism, and this makes her a controversial figure. She begins with involvement in the '60s civil rights struggles and protests against the Vietnam War, among many other causes. Some of her personal experiences during a wartime visit to Hanoi, however, turn her off to the communist regime there, which she learns has its own human rights issues. Joan Baez continues in the 21st Century to perform at various venues and still releases live albums with some regularity. However, she has scaled back her political activism considerably in recent years after some more disillusionment with the political process.

Winston Churchill during his inspection of the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard at Horse Guards Parade in London, 9 January 1941. Mrs. Churchill is fashionably attired aside from her sensible shoes. Lieutenant-General Sir Bertram N. Sergison-Brooke (GOC London Area) is on the right.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020