Wednesday 27 August 1941

U-570 is captured by a Royal Navy anti-submarine warfare trawler on 27 August 1941. This picture was shot by an Allied plane circling the U-boat.

Iran Invasion: The invasion of Iran by British and Soviet forces continues without too much hindrance from the defenders on 27 August 1941, but there are some isolated situations where the Iranian Army shows its mettle. British forces reach Ahvaz, where Iranian troops under General Mohammad Shahbakhti has prepared a fortified position on the far side of the Karun River. Ahvaz controls the entrance to the Zagros Mountains, through which the British hope to drive north toward Tehran. However, British probing attacks show that Ahvaz would require a costly battle, so the British Indian troops come to a halt and wait for the campaign to be decided elsewhere.

In central Iran, the 10th Indian Infantry Division is hindered more by the rough terrain than by the defenders. Defenders in the town of Gilan-e-Gharb put up a spirited resistance, but it is soon overcome. This opens the Pai Tak Pass, which leads toward Tehran. The retreating Iranians cut down some trees across the road and dynamite it in places, slowing the British down but not stopping them.

In the northwest, the Soviets face stiffer opposition, but overcome it with the aid of Red Air Force bombers and utter ruthlessness (along with taking a lot of casualties of their own). The Iranians retreat on Ramsar and hope to make a stand there. In the northeast, the Soviets invading from Turkmenistan SSR have a real battle against Iran's 9th Infantry Division at Mashhad and Khorasan province. The Soviets have been stopped for three days at the frontier, but the Iranians have taken heavy casualties and their hold on Mashhad is becoming tenuous.

Australian sloop HMAS Yarra captures 4901-ton Italian freighter Hilda at Banda Addas. The Iranian crew sets Hilda on fire, but the British put them out. Royal Navy tug Sydney Thubron tows Hilda to Karachi, where it is converted into a Royal Navy repair ship.

In Tehran, everyone can see how things will turn out. The Prime Minister resigns and German nationals look for escape routes. Mohammad Ali Foroughi becomes the new Prime Minister, but everyone knows that it won't be for long.

Members of the ground crew paint victory bar number 44 on the rudder of Erich Schmidt`s "Yellow 11," Surash, Bf 109F, 27 August 1941.

Eastern Front: OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder's war diary for the 27th is full of notations that the Soviet positions are "weak" and "beaten." He notes that the Soviets in the Valdai Hills are trying to regroup their "beaten" forces, that that the Soviet position southeast of Bryansk is "still very weak," that the Soviet troops on the Dneipr between Kyiv and Zaporozhe  are "weak forces," that the Soviets on the lower Dneipr are building up a defensive line "though only with weak forces." These are not the only times he points out how "weak" the Soviets are. What is missing from Halder's diary, however, are any indications that the Germans are strong enough to take advantage of all this Soviet weakness.

The Germans are beginning to formulate a plan for taking Kyiv. General von Sodenstern, Chief of Staff at Army Group South, cautions that Sixth Army must not become "locked" with the Soviet defenders, but instead should circle around the city to the east and cut off its supplies and escape route. This is extremely wise counsel that the same Sixth Army would have been well to heed exactly a year later at Stalingrad.

In the Far North sector, the Finns mount major attacks on the Soviet-held port of Hango in southwest Finland by both land and sea. The heavily fortified Soviets, though, are well-provisioned and the small beachhead is heavily armed. The Soviets resist the assaults.

The Finnish Light Brigade T, 12th Division, and 18th Division continue pursuing the Soviet 43rd, 115th, and 123rd Rifle Divisions near the Vuoksi River. Finnish troops are spreading out all across the Karelian Isthmus, cutting off Viipuri tightening their grip on the shore of Lake Ladoga. However, despite being experts at forest warfare, they are having difficulty drawing tight lines to hem in the retreating Soviets because the terrain offers too many chances to escape unseen.

Northeast of Nurmi Lake, a bloody battle develops between Finnish XXXVI Corps and fleeing Soviet troops. A German SS battalion fails to close a pincer at the narrows at Kayrala in the morning, allowing Soviets to escape on foot without any equipment. The Axis troops quickly regroup, and XXXVI Corps sends some Finnish troops to the Wehrmacht's 169th Division while attaching three SS battalions to the Finnish 6th Division. The Axis troops hurry toward the town of Allakurtti along a road and a railway line, but the Soviets get there ahead of them and prepare fortified positions. The Soviets fight for their lives and manage to hold their line sufficiently for most of their troops to escape.

Finnish soldiers examine a disabled Soviet tank, 27 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).

In the Army Group North sector, German troops of 18th Army advance on Tallinn (Reval), the capital of Estonia as the Soviet 10th Rifle Corps and affiliated troops and civilians begin a massive evacuation. Once Tallinn is taken, it will free up German soldiers for the all-important advance on Leningrad. So, no matter how the evacuation turns out, it is a strategic victory for the Wehrmacht.

In the Army Group Center sector, Panzer Group 3 recaptures Velikie Luki after Soviet counterattacks. Group Stumme at Velikie Luki prepares for a drive on Toropets. General Stumme reports to headquarters that his troops have captured 34,000 Soviet soldiers and 300 guns of 22nd Army. German 250th Infantry Division, the Spanish Blue Division, begins marching on foot from the Polish border to Smolensk. General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 expands its bridgehead south of the Desna River at Novgorod-Seversk, but the going is slow both for the Panzer Group and Second Army which is also moving toward Kyiv.

In the Army Group South sector, the Germans complete their movement of an assault battalion and ten heavy artillery battalions to assist the Romanians in a resumption of the attack on Odessa. The Soviets have little chance of prevailing but have been ordered to fight to the end. Hitler and Mussolini tour areas behind the front lines and meet with army leaders. In what may be a related incident, the leader of Panzer Group 2, General Paul von Kleist, is mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht, one of the Reich's highest honors.

Soviet bombers hit Koenigsberg during the night.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Stępina during their inspection tour, 27 August 1941.

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends 13 Blenheim bombers on Circus operations to Lille and St. Omer. However, the missions are recalled.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 91 bombers (35 Hampdens, 41 Wellingtons, and 15 Whitleys) against favorite target Mannheim. The bombers must overcome ground haze and cause only moderate damage, damaging 13 buildings and injuring 13 people at a hotel. The RAF loses 7 Wellingtons and a Whitley when the planes return to England, apparently due to bad weather.

In addition, the RAF sends 2 Wellingtons to bomb Boulogne, 2 Wellingtons to bomb Dunkirk, and 17 Hampdens on minelaying operations in the Frisians. There are no losses.

Pilot Officer William R. Dunn, an American pilot flying a Spitfire Mk II with RAF No. 71 "Eagle" Squadron, downs two Bf 109 Fs. Dunn, who also got the squadron's first confirmed victory on 21 July 1941, thereby becomes the first American ace of World War II. Dunn is wounded in the right leg in the action and, after recovery, becomes an instructor.

German troops manhandling an artillery piece. The arrow points to a German soldier using a captured SVT 38/40 rifle (screen capture from Die Deutsche Wochenschau, 27 August 1941).

Battle of the Baltic: There is a short, sharp action off Cape Domesnas, Latvia. Four Soviet TKA boats attack a German motorboat convoy. No boats are sunk, but two of the German boats (Adele and Diete Korner) are damaged and beached

The Soviet Baltic Fleet evacuates Tallinn, Estonia in a maximum effort of over 200 vessels. The ships head toward Kronstadt, Kotlin Island near Leningrad. There are four separate convoys and a Soviet main covering force commanded by Vice Admiral V.F. Tributs. Prior to leaving, the Soviets scuttle a number of vessels, including:

• sailing ship Juno
• sailing ship Kodu
• sailing ship Leidus
• sailing ship Minnalaid
• sailing ship Delphin
• sailing ship Kihelkonna
• 185-ton freighter Salmi
• 403-ton freighter Saturn.
• minelayer Amur (blocking ship)
• 696-ton freighter Gamma (blocking ship)
• 80-ton tugboat Virre (blocking ship)
• 160-ton freighter Alar (blocking ship)
• freighter Diana (blocking ship)

The Soviet evacuation proceeds without incident today (it runs into difficulties on the 28th). Shortly after the last ship leaves, the Germans occupy the port. It is an audacious gamble made in the teeth of German aerial and naval supremacy of the mine-infested Baltic even though the route only covers 150 miles.

An RAF Catalina takes a picture of U-570 surrendering to a British Royal Navy ship, 27 August 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-570 (Kptlt. Hans-Joachim Rahmlow), on its first patrol out of Trondheim, surfaces directly below a patroling RAF Hudson of RAF No. 269 Squadron due south of Reykjavik. The plane quickly drops depth charges on U-570 south of Iceland, forcing it to the surface and to surrender. There are 44 survivors. The Royal Navy captures the submarine and tows it to Thorlakshafn, Iceland. The Royal Navy ultimately recommissions it in the Royal Navy as HMS Graph and uses it operationally.

U-557 (KrvKpt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen), on its third patrol operating out of Lorient, has a big day. It torpedoes and sinks several ships of Convoy OS-4 west of Ireland and south of Iceland:

• 4414-ton Norwegian freighter Segundo (seven deaths, 27 survivors)
• 6303-ton British freighter Saugor (59 deaths, 23 survivors)
• 4736-ton British freighter Tremoda (32-35 deaths, 18-21 survivors )
• 4954-ton British freighter Embassage (39 deaths, 3 survivors).

U-202 (Kptlt. Hans-Heinz Linder), on its second patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 230-ton British freighter Ladylove. Ladylove is part of Convoy OS-4 south of Iceland. All 14 men on board perish.

There is a tragedy on HMS Lulworth when Canadian seaman Lt. C.A. Keeler jumps off the ship to rescue a female survivor from 439-ton Norwegian freighter Ingria of Convoy OS-4. Both are lost at sea and their bodies are never found. Keeler receives the Albert Medal posthumously.

The German 6th Destroyer Division, based at Kirkenes, Norway, already is suffering from combat and the elements. After only six weeks in Northern Norway, destroyers Richard Beitzen and Hermann Schoemann must return to German for repairs. This leaves only two destroyers to patrol the northern convoy routes - right when activity is starting to ramp up with British supply missions to Murmansk and Archangel.

US Battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41) departs from Hampton Roads, Virginia on a neutrality patrol. American Task Group TG-2.5, led by aircraft carrier Yorktown, arrives at Bermuda to conclude a neutrality patrol. Royal Navy battleship Rodney departs from Bermuda and joins American Task Force TG2.6 to search for a reported Kriegsmarine cruiser in the North Atlantic (reported by Canadian AMC Prince David).

Convoy ON-10 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroys Rotherham and corvettes Eglantine and Soroy are commissioned, destroyer Aldenham and submarine Traveler are launched.

"A soldier of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade with his monkey mascot onboard one of the Royal Navy destroyers on the way from Alexandria to Tobruk, 27 August 1941." © IWM (E 5050).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Treacle, the replacement of Australian soldiers at Tobruk with Polish soldiers of the Carpathian Brigade, continues. Royal Navy minelaying cruiser HMS Abdiel and destroyers Hotspur, Kingston, and Kipling are escorted to Tobruk after dark from Alexandria. Unlike previous Treacle missions, however, the Italian Regia Aeronautica makes a successful attack on the convoy. An Italian S.79 of 279 Squadron hits escorting light cruiser Phoebe with an aerial torpedo about 100 miles northeast of Tobruk. The attack kills eight sailors. Phoebe makes it back to Tobruk under its own power, and the rest of the ships make it to Tobruk and back without suffering further attacks. Phoebe later proceeds to New York Navy Yard for repairs that last until 15 April 1942.

While en route from Naples to Tripoli, an Italian convoy is attacked. Royal Navy submarine Urge (Lt Cdr Tomkinson) torpedoes 497-ton Italian freighter Aquitania, but Aquitania is able to return to Trapani, Sicily at reduced speed. Italian torpedo boat Clio counterattacks Urge and damages the British submarine. Two other Royal Navy submarines, Unbeaten and Utmost, also attack ships in the area but miss.

Royal Navy submarine Triumph (Cdr Woods) captures and then sinks an Italian fishing boat off the Furano River, Sicily.

Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues today with the departure from Port Said of Australian sloop HMAS Parramatta and transport Salamaua. The ships proceed to Famagusta, arriving on the 29th, and then return to Alexandria to conclude the operation.

The Luftwaffe attacks Tobruk, and a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka sinks 245-ton whaler Skudd III. There are three deaths immediately, another man dies later of wounds, and two sailors are missing. An additional six men are wounded.

Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille shoots down a Hurricane fighter near Gambut, Libya.

There is an invasion alert on Gozo beach at Malta due to reports of Italian torpedo boats in the area. However, there is no invasion.

USS North Carolina firing her forward 16" guns during trials, 26-27 Aug 1941.

Partisans: Pierre Laval attends a review of the Legion des Volontaires Français contre le Bolshevisme (LVF), a collaborationist militia unit on its way to the Eastern Front. Laval is shot by 21-year-old Paul Collette, a disaffected former member of the nationalist Croix-de-Feu and then French Social Party (PSF). The bullet just misses Laval's heart and, for a bullet shot, causes minimal injury. Marcel Déat, another collaborationist, also is shot and injured.

The incident hardens the Vichy government's resolve to eliminate dissent within its zone. It arrests political opponents and simply calls them "communists" to justify the arrests regardless of their true political affiliations.

Laval, shortly after being shot, prevents the Germans from immediately shooting Collette. He tells the German officer who has apprehended the shooter, "Don't do that. You do not know how the French will react like I do." Laval is not particularly popular in France despite being a long-time politician and former head of the government, so he has no illusions that the public will support his ordering instant executions by the occupying army. However, Collette is not let go - he will go on trial, be sentenced to death, have his sentence commuted by Petain, and then be sent to a succession of French prisons and ultimately Mauthausen concentration camp.

Collette, despite his own arduous path for the duration of the war and murky motives, becomes something of a symbol for the French Resistance. He survives the war, publishes a book, "I Shot Laval," in 1946, and dies in 1995.

U-570 is captured by the Royal Navy, 27 August 1941.

Spy Stuff: U-570, captured by the Royal Navy today, has its cipher gear intact. The scientists at Bletchley Park know all about German cipher equipment already, though extra and current copies are always welcome. Contrary to myth, this capture does prove of war-winning benefit to the codebreakers at Bletchley Park. The German crew has plenty of time (actually, all day long, as the British take that long to get ships in the area) to destroy its current codes and anything else of value before being taken as prisoners. Thus, the capture is worth less than it might seem from a codebreaking standpoint, though of course it is a daring feat and does deprive the Kriegsmarine of a submarine. Many Kriegsmarine codes remain unbreakable throughout the war because German sailors are the best-trained and most disciplined ciphers in the Wehrmacht. Lapses in coding are the main source of codebreaking - not having copies of the equipment used - and the Kriegsmarine makes relatively few errors that give codebreakers an opening.

In Washington, D.C., Dusko Popov meets with FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover. Popov is a putative spy for the Germans who is a double agent for the Allies. Popov has in his possession a list of questions given to him to ask about which prominently features Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - the main base of the US Pacific Fleet. Hoover, however, sees no significance in these questions.

Special Operations: Operation Gauntlet continues in Spitzbergen without any interference from the Germans. The Norwegians are sending the Germans in mainland Norway false weather reports of fog which keep away Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights by Wettererkundungsstaffel (Wekusta 5). The Canadians settle in and continue destroying mining equipment and coal dumps in the midnight sun. The Germans don't know anything is amiss, so they continue sending colliers to pick up loads of coal - which the Canadians gladly seize.

Applied Science: Winston Churchill approves the MAUD Committee's suggestion that an atomic bomb should be developed:

Although personally, I am quite content with the existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement, and I therefore think that action should be taken in the sense proposed by Lord Cherwell.

The Americans already are working toward an atomic bomb, and also have reached the same conclusions as Churchill based on their reading of the same MAUD Report.

"Soldiers of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade getting their mascot pets, a monkey and a dog, used to each others company, 27 August 1941. Photograph was taken on board of one of the Royal Navy destroyers on the way from Alexandria to Tobruk." (© IWM (E 5051))

US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura hand-delivers a note from Prime Minister Prince Fumimaro Konoye to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. It states in part that he wants:

to discuss from a broad standpoint all important problems between Japan and America covering the entire Pacific area, and to explore the possibility of saving the situation.

In a sign of things to come, the Japanese embassy staff has difficulty completing the translation of Prince Konoye's message in time for Nomura's meeting with the Secretary of State - even though they have the message a full day in advance. Thus, Nomura must deliver the message only partly in writing and partly orally. Hull denies Nomura's request to see President Roosevelt immediately but says he will try to set up a meeting in the morning.

The Director of the American Bureau for Japanese Foreign Affairs, Mr. Terasaki, delivers a statement intended for US Ambassador Joseph Grew. It demands that the US tankers bound for Vladivostok be recalled or, if that is impossible, be rerouted to avoid passing through the Straits of Saya and Tsugaru. The Japanese note says that Imperial Japan resents supplies being sent through Japanese waters to the USSR, which may later use those supplies against Japan.

A Finnish soldier receives his cigarette ration, 27 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Japanese military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 6667-ton freighter Onoe Maru.

British Government: Giving in to its usually latent socialistic impulses, the British Government nationalizes the railways for the duration of the conflict. The owners are given £43,000,000 per year as compensation.

China: At Macau, the Japanese issue an ultimatum to the Portuguese administrators of the city: either the city takes a pro-Japanese stance, or the Japanese will block all food imports.

Hungarian Jews being led to their executions at Kaments-Podolski, 27 or 28 August 1941.

Holocaust: SS units under the command of the Higher SS and Police Leader for the southern region, SS General Friedrich Jeckeln, murder 23,600 Hungarian Jews at Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukrainian SSR. This figure is taken from Jeckeln's own report, and some estimates place the number closer to 25,000. As usual in such incidents, the victims are marched to pits outside of town and shot so that they fall into them (in this case, bomb craters). This incident is the largest mass execution to date and a precursor of much larger ones to come in September 1941 and thereafter.

Soviet Homefront: An Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-6-G2 (TB-3) (CCCP-L1996) crashes into a hill near Kyzyl-Arviat, Turkmenistan. It is carrying cargo on the Tashkent-Ashgabat route, apparently in support of the Soviet invasion of Iran. The pilot apparently cannot find the airport and tries to land in the countryside, but the plane is destroyed and all six crew are killed.

American Homefront: Charlie Root gets his 200th win, the first to do so in Chicago Cubs history, in a 6-4 win over the Boston Braves. Root gave up the famous "called homerun" to Babe Ruth in the 1932 World Series. Root will retire at the end of the season with 201 career victories.

Paramount's "Aloma of the South Seas" premieres. It stars Dorothy Lamour as Aloma and is directed by Alfred Santell. The film, in Technicolor, is later nominated for two Academy Awards for cinematography and visual effects.

Future History: Cesària Évora is born in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde. She becomes a popular singer and earns the nickname "The Barefoot Diva" due to her penchant for singing without shoes. She passes away on 17 December 2011 in her hometown.


August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Saturday 21 June 1941

Members of the Free French forces entering Damascus after Vichy forces surrendered the town on 21 June 1941 (Australian War Memorial AWM 009747).

It is the last day of the old world, with multiple power centers. Adolf Hitler has managed the unthinkable, to amass over three million men on the Soviet border without having his plans discovered by Soviet leadership. After this day, the course is set for a world of very few superpowers who keep the peace by having complete control within their own domains.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: During the early morning hours of 21 June 1941, the Australian troops to the south and west of Damascus take possession of several stone forts atop hills that overlook key roads leading to Damascus. The battle rages back-and-forth through the night, with the defending Vichy French launching counterattacks that temporarily succeed in dislodging the Australians in places. Ultimately, the Australians consolidate their control over the forts that control the approaches to Damascus. Australian troops also take the Barada Gorge on the road running west to Beirut and hold it against furious French counterattacks. This completes the isolation of Damascus, which the Vichy French now can neither supply nor reinforce.

The battle outside of Damascus having been decided by daylight, the Vichy French in the city surrender to Gentforce around 11:00. The remaining Vichy French forces in the vicinity retreat west toward Beirut. This completes the first phase of Operation Exporter.

Free French 1st Infantry Brigade (General Dentz) and 2nd Infantry Brigade enter Damascus. While Free French troops are present at the surrender of Damascus and usually given credit for the victory, there is little question that Australian and Indian troops (hundreds dead in Mezzeh just west of Damascus) have done much of the fighting that made the capture possible.

Habforce arrives in Syria, having returned from Baghdad. They approach Palmyra, which is the site of a major Vichy French airbase.

A Vichy French destroyer, the Vauquelin, evades the Royal Navy ships off the coast of Lebanon and makes it to Beirut with a much-needed cargo of ammunition. The Royal Navy does capture a French hospital ship, 9684-ton Canada, and takes it to Haifa for "inspection" until the 22nd.

A German Panzer IV tanks preparing for the start of Operation Barbarossa, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0861).

European Air Operations: After dark, the Luftwaffe bombs Southampton, England. The bombers drop naval mines in surrounding waters. The bombing causes a leak in the King George V Dry Dock, and demolishes the down-line platform of the Southern Railway Central Station, blocking rail traffic.

The Luftwaffe, having transferred the bulk of its units east, now has only two fighter units remaining on the "Kanal Front." These are JG 2 and JG 26. These units total about 140 Bf 109 E and F fighters, the Reich's only front-line fighter at this time. Henceforth, the Luftwaffe, for the most part, will be fighting a defensive battle against the RAF in northwest Europe.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne with 68 aircraft, Boulogne with 18 planes, and Dusseldorf with 55 planes. During the day, it sends 23 planes on anti-shipping missions.

The RAF conducts a Circus attack on JG 26's airfield at St. Omer around noontime. It results in wild melees in the sky, with the RAF losing six fighters and one Blenheim to the Luftwaffe's six planes (with four pilots killed and two taken as prisoners, including ace Franz Luders of JG 26). Among the deaths is ace Carl-Hans Röders, with eight victories.

It is a day of legendary accomplishments by legendary figures of the air war. Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore  Adolf Galland of JG 26 destroys two Blenheims in quick succession during the Circus attack. These are his 68th and 69th victories. After that, an RAF plane damages his fighter and Galland has to force-land at Calais-Marck airfield. After driving back to his base, Galland takes off again alone at 16:00 to defend against another attack. This time, Galland shoots down a Spitfire northeast of Boulogne, his 70th claim. However, then Galland is shot down at low altitude and badly injured. His parachute only opens at the last second before he hits the ground, and he survives only with the aid of French civilians who take him to an aid station.

The unit commander, Oberst Theo Osterkamp, drives over to the hospital and lets Galland know that he is to be awarded the newly created Schwerten Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). Galland is the first Luftwaffe pilot to be so honored with his "1st Swords."

During the same action, RAF Ace Douglas Bader shoots down a German Bf 109E aircraft off Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France. This, however, is not Galland's aircraft.

Lt. Josef ‘Pips’ Priller of 1./JG 26 also downs a Spitfire from RAF No 603 Squadron during these actions. This is his 24th victory.

A first look at the Soviet Union from occupied Poland on the morning of 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0867).

East African Campaign: East African 22nd Infantry Brigade captures Jimma in Galla-Sidamo, Abyssinia. Italian commander General Pietro Gazzera escapes unobserved, but 15,000 men surrender.

Battle of the Atlantic: The confused state of relations between Great Britain and Vichy France explodes in the Atlantic. French warships Air France IV and Edith Germaine intercept Royal Navy prize ship 4564-ton SS Criton (captured on 9 May) on its way to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Criton is part of Convoy SL-78 from Freetown on its way to Belfast, but has developed engine trouble and is on its way back to Freetown for repairs. Thus, it is traveling alone.

The French ships order the Criton to stop, but it radios a distress call. Air France IV then opens fire from close range (about 50 yards/meters). The crew of Criton launches its lifeboats on the side opposite the firing. Shortly after the crew abandons ship, the Criton sinks off Conakry, French Guinea. Two crew perish and the remaining crew survives the sinking, though Captain Gerald Dobeson (King's Commendation for Brave Conduct) of the Criton is injured when he falls into his lifeboat. The French take the crew prisoner, but four will perish during their extended captivity (which lasts until December 1942).

Royal Navy cruiser HMS London intercepts 4422-ton German supply ship Babitonga near St. Paul Rocks. The Babitonga's crew scuttles the ship rather than allow it to be captured. This continues the Royal Navy's successful destruction of the Kriegsmarine's Atlantic supply network for U-boats and surface raiders.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 3176-ton British freighter Dorine off Sheringham. The ship makes it to Hartlepool for repairs.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1304-ton Norwegian freighter Skum near No. 57 Buoy in the Thames Estuary. The ship is towed to Great Yarmouth, then London for repairs.

British 3001-ton freighter Gasfire hits a mine and sinks about ten miles east of Southwold, Suffolk. There are no casualties, with all 26 aboard surviving.

British 1546-ton freighter Kenneth Hawksfield also hits a mine and sinks a few miles off Southwold. There is one death.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Arrow hits a mine off Flamborough Head and is badly damaged. The ship makes it to Middlesborough for repairs, which last until 28 November.

Minesweeper HMS Plover lays minefield BS.60 in the North Sea.

Troop Convoy TC-11 departs from Halifax bound for the Clyde.

Convoy OB-338 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 35 departs Sydney, Nova Scotia for the Clyde.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Heythrop (Lt. Commander Robert S. Stafford) and ASW trawler Minuet (Lt. Alexander M. Sullivan) are commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville is launched at Port Arthur, Ontario.

Soviet submarine M-120 is launched.

U-374 (Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fischel) and U-434 (Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Heyda) are commissioned, U-87, U-158, U-436, U-455 and U-456 are launched, U-264 is laid down.

Refueling trucks from barrels in the Baltic States (probably Lithuania), 21 June 1941 (Zoll, Federal Archive Bild 101I-208-0002-14A).

Battle of the Mediterranean: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell that he is being sacked. This is due both to the failure of Operation Battleaxe and also to the fierce fighting that has developed in Syria and Lebanon during Operation Battleaxe. Wavell's replacement is General Claude Auchinleck, who has held command in a backwater (India) with only minor operational experience during the Norwegian campaign.

Wavell is to replace Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief, India and a member of the Governor General's Executive Council. Wavell's new command also encompasses Iraq, which is highly desired by all sides due to its oil supplies. He also has responsibility extending to the Southern Pacific, which also is a brewing hot zone.

Wavell's dismissal appears a bit abrupt to some but has been brewing for quite some time. Churchill long has felt that the Middle East command has required too many British resources, particularly for the minor advantages it has conferred to the British war effort. Viewed dispassionately and without Churchill's exaggerated expectations and personal animosity toward Wavell, however, most (including Auchinleck) agree that Wavell has done an outstanding job by eliminating the Italian presence in Africa, holding the Afrika Korps to a stalemate in the Western desert, and invading Syria and Iraq. The durable British presence in the eastern Mediterranean has greatly affected the course of the war, including diverting Wehrmacht troops to Yugoslavia and Greece and remains a stable launching pad for further operations against the "soft underbelly" (Italy) of the Axis.

The Luftwaffe bombs Alexandria with about 25 planes.

At Malta, there is an air raid that destroys the Della Grazia searchlight. When Hurricane fighters try to intercept the attackers, they are unable to because.... there is no searchlight.

Working on tracks for a vehicle in Lithuania, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 146-1987-024-09A).

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese seize Portuguese vessel Guia in the neutral territory near Macau. This is the beginning of a campaign of intimidation by the Japanese against the Portuguese colony. Macau becomes a favorite haunt of local Japanese officers looking for a little fun at the gambling tables and restaurants.

Spy Stuff: Although it now is too late to affect matters, warnings of an upcoming German attack on the Soviet Union continue to flow into the Kremlin. Soviet military attaché to France Major General Ivan Sousloparov sends one such warning. Soviet sleeper agent Richard Sorge in Tokyo, who is friends there with the German ambassador, radios in another message today that he drafted on the 20th. Sir Stafford Cripps, the British ambassador to Moscow, warns Ambassador Maisky that Germany will invade the Soviet Union "this weekend." Soviet military attaché to Germany Mikhail Vorontsov sends a more definitive warning at 19:05.

Premier Joseph Stalin and Soviet State Security Lavrentiy Beria review the warnings along with Chief of Staff General Georgy Zhukov. They are meeting to plan the attack Stalin has been talking about recently against Germany (the reason for this meeting is controversial and not accepted by everyone, but it is accepted that they meet today). At first, Stalin and Beria disregard the warnings as they have all the others. Zhukov, however, is not so sure. The message from Vorontsov finally catches everyone's attention. Stalin immediately convenes the Politburo, which authorizes two new wartime fronts.

Tokyo requests information today from its consulate in Manila on comings and goings of the US Navy in Manila Bay. Specifically, they inquire about the departure of eleven US pilots who they have heard have departed for Chungking to join the Flying Tigers. The Japanese have a trained espionage agent on their staff as Vice-Consul, and he continues supplying Tokyo with detailed reports on US warships and other matters such as this. The Japanese Consulate conveniently is situated on a hill overlooking the bay.

In Panama, the Japanese Consul, Minoru Izawa, wires Tokyo that his staff there is inadequate for its duties. These "duties" include recently securing a detailed map of the Panama Canal Zone which shows US military defenses and which the Japanese military command in Tokyo wishes to see. However, Izawa is having difficulty smuggling the large maps out because airline personnel are searching through everyone's luggage.

General of Infantry Fritz Erich von Manstein (right center) and Generalmajor Erich Brandenberger in East Prussia as they plan their advance to the bridges over the Dubissa River at Ariogola, Lithuania, 21 June 1941 (Kriegsberichter Koch, 694th Propaganda Unit).

Applied Science: Soviet aircraft engineer A. M. Isayev comes up with a plan to use compressed air rather than a pump to force propellant into the rocket engine that he is developing for a new fighter design.

British/Yugoslavian Relations: King Peter, 17, and the Yugoslav Prime Minister, General Simovic, arrive in London to form a shadow government. Peter ruled Yugoslavia for less than a month, and now he will lead one of many governments-in-exile in London. He will never return - alive - to his country.

German/Soviet Relations: Having seen messages flooding in today from Soviet spies around the world that Germany is about to invade the Soviet Union, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov meets with German Ambassador Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg and asks him if Germany is planning to invade. Count von der Schulenburg, who officially has not been informed of the invasion (though he has his suspicions based upon his own observations in the Reich), denies that an invasion is planned.

A wrecked Junkers Ju 52 transport at Maleme airport, Crete, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive).

US/Italian Relations: Following up on its recent closure of German consulates, the United States orders Italy to close its consulates by 15 July. Italy already has ordered the closure of US consulates on its soil on 19 June. From this point, the US will retain its embassies in each country, and Italy and Germany will retain their embassies in the US, but that is it.

While this all may seem to be "just for show" and petty tit-for-tat, consulates offer valuable listening posts that can provide useful information. On balance, the "war of the consulates" tends to benefit the Axis more than the Allies, because the Americans gathered useful intelligence "behind enemy lines" on Germany and Italy for the British.

German/Finnish Relations: By noon on 21 June 1941, German liaison officer Infantry General Waldemar Erfurth shows the Chief of the Finnish General Staff a message he has just received from his superiors in Berlin. It informs the Finns about the onset of hostilities on 22 June 1941. This, officially, is the first notification by Germany to the Finns about Operation Barbarossa. Finnish troops are deployed in defensive positions all along the front as part of "maneuvers."

After dark, German Navy and Finnish Navy submarines lay mines along the coast of occupied Estonia. This is to deter any Soviet "aggression."
German/Italian Relations: Hitler wires Benito Mussolini about Operation Barbarossa:

I waited until this moment, Duce, to send you this information, it is because the final decision itself will not be made until 7 o'clock tonight. I earnestly beg you, therefore, to refrain, above all, from making any explanation to your Ambassador at Moscow, for there is no absolute guarantee that our coded reports cannot be decoded. I, too, shall wait until the last moment to have my own Ambassador informed of the decisions reached.

The cable appears to answer the question of whether Hitler already has informed Mussolini about the invasion. However, the part about "waiting until 7 o'clock" to decide whether to invade appears to be a pure prevarication, as Hitler long ago ordained 22 June as the invasion date.

Hitler's worry about "our coded reports" being "decoded" is justified, because the British have been reading German diplomatic messages for the past year. However, it apparently never occurs to Hitler that the British and others might also be reading the Wehrmacht's coded messages - which the British also have been doing.

A Wehrmacht column parked and ready to go at Memel, 21 June 1941.

German/US Relations: Having thought overnight about the USS Texas incident of the 20th, in which a U-boat tried to attack the US battleship, Hitler reaches a decision. He sends instructions to Admiral Raeder (head of the Kriegsmarine) and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (head of the Luftwaffe):

Fuhrer orders avoidance any incident with USA during next few weeks. Orders will be rigidly obeyed in all circumstances. In addition, attacks till further orders will be restricted to cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers and then only when identified beyond doubt as hostile. Fact that warship is sailing without lights will not be regarded as proof of enemy identity.

Raeder disagrees with this decision and immediately comes to see Hitler, protesting that such incidents "warn off" the United States. However, Hitler is adamant: no attacks on the United States until Russia is defeated.

Soviet Military: Red Air Force fighter pilots intercept a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight, but are ordered not to attack.

Soviet border guards are put on alert, but ordered to do nothing that might be "provocative."

The Red Air Force is under orders to camouflage its forward airfields, but this barely has begun.

General Semyon Timoshenko, one of the heroes of the campaign in Finland, orders troops to occupy fortifications in the Molotov Line in Soviet-occupied Poland. The local commanders, however, take their time assembling their men, and many put the task off until the 22nd.

Shortly before midnight, the Soviet Navy issues Grade 1 Alert to fleet commanders, upgrading from the previous Grade 2 Alert.

General Boris Shaposhnikov is appointed the chief of staff to the Western Special Military District. Kirill Meretskov is appointed the High Command representative in Leningrad.

Free French troops entering Damascus, 21 June 1941.

German Military: General "Fast" Heinz Guderian, commander of Panzergruppe 2, completes an inspection of the forward units of his command. He is satisfied that the Soviets are unaware of "Operation Barbarossa," scheduled to begin in the early morning hours of 22 June. Guderian notes with satisfaction that the Soviet troops across the border are busy engaging in peacetime activities such as parade formations. Soviet strongpoints along the River Bug, the dividing line in this sector, are unoccupied. After some deliberation, Guderian decides not to cancel a planned one-hour artillery barrage just in case the Soviets have some kind of surprise in store.

The Luftwaffe moves Stab, II and III./JG 77 from airfields around Bucharest to new fields at Bacau and Roman. These forward airfields will provide good opportunities to attack Soviet airfields on the morning of the 22nd.

German commandos and saboteurs (German Brandenburg special mission units and the Polish White Guard ) set out after dark to infiltrate Soviet positions.

The Luftwaffe sends pathfinder bombers across the border very late in the day. German ships lay mines in the Baltic.

Field Marshal Bock moves his headquarters of German Army Group Center to Rembertow near Warsaw.

Finnish Military: The Finnish military lays mines in the Baltic.

US Military: US commercial aircraft under contract to USAAF depart Miami to pioneer the Trinidad - Brazil - Ascension Island - Africa southern air route across the Atlantic.

Inside the Warsaw Ghetto, 21 June 1941 (Albert Cusian, Federal Archive Bild 101I-134-0778-38).

German Government: Throughout the day, Hitler remains firm about the start of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June. Unlike earlier invasions, there are no postponements. However, similar to those previous invasions, there is no warning given to his victim or declaration of war prior to the invasion.

Soviet Ambassador Dekanozov asks to see Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop. With the invasion of the Soviet Union about to start, the stakes are high. Ribbentrop "disappears" and tells his staff to have Dekanozov see a junior official whenever he arrives. In fact, Ribbentrop is in the Chancellery with Hitler, who is doing routine paperwork such as drafting correspondence to other dictators and official proclamations to the German public about Operation Barbarossa.

Ribbentrop is not idle, however. He instructs Ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg in Moscow to burn his codebook, destroy his radio equipment, and request an appointment with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov to issue a declaration of war - after it has begun.

Meanwhile, Dekanozov arrives at the Foreign Ministry at 21:30 and, as on the 19th, only wishes to complain about Luftwaffe violations of Soviet airspace - which have been quite frequent recently. Molotov complains in a similar fashion to Schulenburg in Moscow, writing "A series of symptoms gives us the impression that the German government is dissatisfied with the Soviet government." Hitler and his cronies at the Chancellery have a good laugh about how he will respond to these complaints in very short order.

Hitler stays up through the night with a small staff, awaiting reports from the Eastern Front.

A scene from the liberation of Damascus, 21 June 1941.

Holocaust: New laws in Vichy France restrict Jewish students to only 3% of university spots.

American Homefront: New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets a hit in today's game against the Detroit Tigers, a single against pitcher Dizzy Trout. This extends DiMaggio's club-record hitting streak to 34 games.

Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra (using the name "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye") take over the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart with "Daddy." This becomes the first of eight weeks that "Daddy" spends atop the charts.

Future History: Sammy Kaye's "Daddy" is written by Bobby Troup, a college student at the University of Pennsylvania. Troup enlists in the US Marine Corps after graduating from college around the time of the song's success, but he does not receive his orders until January 1942. Troup becomes an officer supervising Montford Point, a recruit depot for the first Black Marines. After the war, Troup continues his musical career during the 1950s and 1960s but due to only middling success, he branches out into acting. He reaches his greatest success in the 1970s as the star of the television series "Emergency!" (and also in a memorable cameo in the Robert Altman film "M*A*S*H"). Bobby Troup passes away in February 1999.

Joe Flaherty is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He becomes famous in the 1970s as a star of Canadian sketch comedy show "SCTV" and on "Freaks and Geeks."

Looking across the Soviet border from occupied Poland, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archives Bild 183-L25085).

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

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