Friday 28 November 1941

At the funeral for Colonel Werner Mölders on 28 November 1941, Adolf Hitler leads a delegation at the Reich Aviation Ministry. In the main group are, right to left, Field Marshal Erhard Milch (carrying baton), Hitler's attending physician SS Sturmbannführer Dr. Karl Brandt, Adolf Hitler, Hitler's Adjutant SS Gruppenführer Julius Schaub, and Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery SS Obergruppenführer Martin Bormann (Federal Archive Figure 183-H0422-0502-001).

Eastern Front: The events of 28 November 1941 are decidedly mixed for the Wehrmacht. With Adolf Hitler in Berlin attending the funeral of Luftwaffe ace Colonel Werner Mölders, the Wehrmacht leaders in the Army Group South sector make their move to evacuate Rostov-on-Don. While German III Panzer Corps, commanded by General der Kavallerie Eberhard von Mackensen, has not yet been forced out of the city, everyone realizes that may not last very long. Soviet South Front, led by General Yakov Cherevichenko, has brought in twenty-one divisions and obviously is planning something. The German corps has only two divisions in Rostov, 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (Sepp Dietrich) and the 13th Panzer Division, and Mackensen already has reported that they are worn out from endless fighting. The divisions are at only half to two-thirds of their normal strength. In addition, the German supply situation is catastrophic and the divisions are short of everything. Accordingly, during the day First Panzer Army commander General Ewald von Kleist orders Mackensen to evacuate the city. This is accomplished by nightfall.

Adolf Hitler arriving at the funeral of Colonel Werner Mölders on 28 November 1941. Hitler is in his Mercedes Cabriolet and is passing the military band (Federal Archive Figure 101I-597-B0526-17).

Hitler does not learn of the withdrawal from Rostov on the 28th, most likely because the Wehrmacht does not go out of its way to tell him. After the Mölders funeral, Hitler boards his command train "Amerika" and begins the journey back to his headquarters in East Prussia. While traveling through the night, Hitler does not receive any communications about the withdrawal and has no reason to think that one is being made. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group South, understands that Hitler may not approve the order but tells von Kleist's to order Mackensen to withdraw anyway. Since Hitler is unaware of the order to withdraw, he is not able to countermand it before it is executed. Everything is planned as much around Hitler's unavailability as it is the situation in Rostov. It is a perfectly timed operation... against both the Red Army and the Fuehrer.

"The crew of a Light Tank Mk VIB looking for any movement of the enemy near Tobruk, 28 November 1941." General Rommel's panzers are southeast of Tobruk skirmishing with British tanks. © IWM (E 6822).

The Soviets are counterattacking all around Moscow in order to disrupt German plans, and those battles are having the intended effect. West of Moscow, Soviet Western Front launches a powerful counterattack against the German 4th Army (Field Marshal Günther von Kluge). Von Kluge's forces are able to stop the Red Army, but this scrambles its own plans to launch an offensive against the Soviet capital beginning on 2 December. South of Moscow, at Tula, General Leo Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg’s XXIV Motorized Corps moves forward to attack Tula from the north and east while XLII Army Corps attacks from the west. However, von Schweppenburg's troops have to make a move parallel to the front along a narrow corridor to get into position for the attack and are subjected to fierce artillery fire from the city. The Soviets also are attacking the exposed German position north of Moscow at Tikhvin with the 52nd and 54th Armies by attacking the flanks of the long salient to the city in an attempt to cut off the garrison. Continuing Soviet counterattacks are not dislodging the German troops anywhere, but the endless pressure is definitely wearing them down.

Dutch submarine O-21, shown, sinks U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber) on 28 November 1941 near Gibraltar. Captain Schreiber and 11 of his men survive the sinking, are rescued by O-21, and spend the rest of the war in POW camps (© IWM (A 7083)).

Northwest of Moscow, the German attack is going better than elsewhere. Early in the morning, the Seventh Panzer Division (General Baron von Funck), led by Hasso von Manteuffel's rifle regiment, captures and crosses the Jakhroma (Yakhroma) bridge across the Moscow/Volga canal. A sergeant in Manteuffel's unit later remarks:

I was participating in the assault across the Moscow-Volga canal near Jakhroma and withessed our "little one" (Manteuffel) switch off the Muscovites' power in the ower station of Jakhroma. He was the first in the attack and the last to retreat.

The sergeant's comment about the "retreat" is telling because the German forces do not remain in place for very long. While Manteuffel's men hold a bridgehead throughout the day, some panzers that cross the bridge to support them are driven back to the other side by 10:00. The Soviet defenders of the 1st Shock Army unleash a torrent of fire that includes air attacks and Katyusha rocket launchers. Now within about 20 miles of the Kremlin, this is the closest that the Wehrmacht gets.

Two Eagle Squadron pilots, Sgt John J "Jack" Mooney (left) and P/O Donald W "Mac" McLeod, at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey on 28 November 1941. They are in  RAF No 121 Squadron, the second Eagle Squadron, formed with volunteer pilots from the United States in May.

US/Japanese Relations: With no active proposals on the table from either side, negotiations have broken down between the United States and Japan. The Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo sends a coded message to Ambassador Nomura in Washington, who has suggested submitting another peace proposal:

Well, you two Ambassadors have exerted superhuman efforts but, in spite of this, the United States has gone ahead and presented this humiliating proposal. This was quite unexpected and extremely regrettable. The Imperial Government can by no means use it as a basis for negotiations. Therefore, with a report of the views of the Imperial Government on this American proposal which I will send you in two or three days, the negotiations will be de facto ruptured. This is inevitable. However, I do not wish you to give the impression that the negotiations are broken off. Merely say to them that you are awaiting instructions and that, although the opinions of your Government are not yet clear to you, to your own way of thinking the Imperial Government has always made just claims and has borne great sacrifices for the sake of peace in the Pacific. Say that we have always demonstrated a long-suffering and conciliatory attitude, but that, on the other hand, the United States has been unbending, making it impossible for Japan to establish negotiations. Since things have come to this pass, I contacted the man you told me to in your #1180 and he said that under the present circumstances what you suggest is entirely unsuitable. From now on do the best you can.

The United States military "Magic" decoding unit is reading the Japanese diplomatic codes almost in real-time, so both sides understand that the situation is extremely grave. The Japanese fleet is at sea and heading toward Hawaii, but the Americans do not know this.

Adolf Hitler meets with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem on 28 November 1941 (Hoffmann, Federal Archive Picture 146-1987-004-09A).

German/Arab Relations: Since he is staying in Berlin today to attend Oberst Mölders' funeral anyway, Hitler meets with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al Husseini. The Grand Mufti was in Iraq when the British invaded earlier in the year and only reached Berlin after a very difficult and roundabout journey. He professes his loyalty to the German cause and offers to enlist Arab soldiers to fight beside the Wehrmacht. Hitler, in turn, promises that the Arabs can have Palestine once it is conquered by the Wehrmacht after breaking through the Caucasus and turning southwest into the Middle East. Both parties are united in their goal of eradicating any Jewish element in the region.

Group Captain [Elwyn] Roy King, DFC DSO of  No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC). Captain King died suddenly on 28 November 1941 (Australian War Memorial A03717).

November 1941

November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

2020

Wednesday 5 November 1941

Bomb damage from an Allied raid of 5 November 1941 in Harlingen, the Netherlands (Collection of Griet De Jong).

US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese government has made its preparations for war by 5 November 1941. The plans have been drawn up, the difficulties such as developing torpedoes to accommodate the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor have been overcome, and the Emperor has signed off on the overall plan.

Fita Benkhoff in the 5 November 1941 Filmwoche magazine. Fita was a German actress who appeared in over 100 films from the 1930s until her death on 26 October 1941. It is alleged that Benkhoff was an example of a lesbian who carefully hid that status during the Third Reich.

Now that they are fully prepared, though, there is a moment of hesitation by the Japanese. Everyone realizes the enormity of what is about to transpire. The government holds an Imperial Conference in the morning. Emperor Hirohito is not warlike, so the government gives peace one last chance. The Foreign Office sends Saburo Kurusu, a well-traveled professional diplomat whose only moment of celebrity was signing the Tripartite Pact on Japan's behalf in Berlin on 27 September 1940, to Washington as a "special envoy."

New Zealand troops entering Libya from Egypt through the defensive wire, November 1941 (New Zealand History).

Kurusu will not have much time - the trip to the United States capital will take ten days, and the Japanese task forces will have to depart roughly a week later to get in position on time. The main issue of contention between the two powers is Japan's invasion of China. However, maybe he can accomplish something that Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura cannot.

On the front page of the News-Palladium of Benton Harbor, MI of 5 November 1941, the war takes second place to a local trial. Note that it already has news of Special Envoy Kurusu "Racing to U.S. Capital."

The Japanese prepare two proposals for the Americans, to be handed to the United States Secretay of State Cordell Hull as soon as possible in sequence. In Proposal A, Japan promises to withdraw from China and French Indochina (Vietnam), which is what the Americans want. However, this depends upon Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek signing a peace treaty that would permit the Imperial Japanese forces to remain in parts of China indefinitely. In addition, the Japanese would agree to free trade principles which are important to the Americans, and basically cast aside its obligations under the Tripartite Pact. The Japanese are willing to abandon China... sort of.

"View of Devonport Dockyard from HMS IMPREGNABLE." 5 November 1941 © IWM (A 6233).

Proposal B is intended as a last resort should the Americans reject Proposal A. It provides that Japan would immediately withdraw all troops from French Indochina and also negotiate a final peace treaty with China - as long as the United States did not interfere. Japan and the United States then together would acquire the Netherlands Indies (Indonesia) and the two nations thereafter would become trading partners and, presumably, allies.

"Die Wehrmacht," the official OKW publication, shows train cars full of Soviet POWs on the cover of its 5 November 1941 issue. As can be seen, the cars are open to the elements as winter sets in.

As Kurusu journeys to Washington, however, Japanese war preparations are to continue in secret. Today, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yamamoto distributes copies of Top-Secret Order No. 1 to all commanders of the Japanese Combined Fleet. This order that is drafted by both the Imperial Army and Navy sets forth the invasion plans that will cover the entire Pacific basin. It provides in part:

[A]nticipating that war with the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands will begin in the early part of December, for self-preservation and self-defense, the Empire has decided to complete the various preparations for war.

The order provides that the fleet is to get into attack positions. Submarines are to depart on 20 November and the Carrier Striking Force is to depart the next day for Hawaii.

The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Honolulu (CL-48) operating off Hawaii on 5 November 1941, with her aircraft recovery mat draped over her stern. The ship is painted in dark Measure 1 camouflage, but her boats are still in peacetime light grey (National Archives, Navy History and Heritage Command).

While the Japanese carry their preparations out with extreme secrecy, the Americans are much more closely attuned to Japanese intentions than the Japanese know. They have been reading Japanese diplomatic ciphers for months in the "Magic" program but have done little with the information so received. United States Secretary of State Hull knows that something important is in the offing due to Japanese instructions to Ambassador Nomura that a resolution must be reached by 25 November. Hull drops a few broad hints to allies, and Congress decides to stay in session indefinitely rather than take its customary holiday breaks. The Magic team in Hawaii, led by Joseph Rochefort, begins detecting changes in Japanese naval communications, though they are not certain what to make of it. Rochefort also notes the recall of Japanese merchant ships. Two Japanese marine staff officers also leave Pearl Harbor. Various Americans, such as Ambassador Joseph Grew in Tokyo, are getting uneasy as they notice things start to change, but little out of the ordinary is done to prepare for war.

Operetta composer Paul Lincke with his daughter Gina Torsen, dressed as Mrs. Luna in his operetta "Frau Luna," as she gives him birthday wishes on 5 November 1941. Note the new Volkswagen behind the pair, which is a birthday gift that has been pulled on stage (Hoffmann, Federal Archive Fig. 183-B05557).

November 1941

November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

2020

Wednesday 24 September 1941

Citizens of Leningrad construct a defense barricade near the Kirov Factory No. 100, 24 September 1941

Spy Stuff: Japanese spying in the United States is a fact, and on 24 September 1941 it shifts into a higher gear. The Japanese Foreign Ministry sends its consulate general in Hawaii, Nagai Kita, instructions in Telegram No. 83 to ramp up his spying efforts. The Consul is to divide Pearl Harbor into five different spy zones:

Henceforth, we would like to have you make reports concerning vessels along the following lines insofar as possible: 1. The waters (of Pearl Harbor) are to be divided roughly into five sub-areas. (We have no objections to your abbreviating as much as you like.) Area A. Waters between Ford Island and the Arsenal. Area B. Waters adjacent to the Island south and west of Ford Island. (This area is on the opposite side of the Island from Area A.) Area C. East Loch. Area D. Middle Loch. Area E. West Loch and the communicating water routes. 2. With regard to warships and aircraft carriers, we would like to have you report on those at anchor, (these are not so important) tied up at wharves, buoys and in locks. (Designate types and classes briefly. If possible we would like to have you make mention of the fact when there are two or more vessels alongside the same wharf.)

These new instructions are a reflection of the increased pace of planning in the Japanese Navy for an attack on Pearl Harbor.

"ATS anti-aircraft artillery spotters learn to use an identification telescope at No.7 ATS Training Centre at Stoughton near Guildford, 24 September 1941." (© IWM (H 14189)).

The Japanese have been spying on US Navy activities both in Honolulu and in the Philippines for months. In fact, they have gone to the extent of putting a specially trained expert in military espionage on the staff of the Honolulu Consulate. In a 17 September 1941 cable from Santiago to D.C., the Japanese Embassy was instructed:

All of our offices in North America should give their immediate attention to the selection of spies.

So, while today's development marks a new phase in the degree of Japanese spying, it is not a completely new tactic. Rather, it is an extension of a growing attempt by the Japanese to develop intelligence that would be useful during a conflict with the United States.

Pearl Harbor drydocks on 24 September 1941. USS Utah (AG-16) is barely visible under the steel bridge in the background (National Archives).

There is spying going on by both sides. While the Japanese are spying on the US military in Hawaii, the Americans are reading the Japanese diplomatic code J-19 under which the spy reports are sent to Tokyo. The United States naval intelligence intercepts the instructions to Consul Kita, but the intercepted message must be sent to Washington to be decoded. This being spy stuff, the intercepted message can't just be sent by cable lest the Japanese intelligence services intercept the intercepted message in turn and realize their own codes are being read (the spy business gets very complicated sometimes). So, the transmission must be hand-carried and hand-delivered and generally treated with extreme care. There aren't any flights, so the courier goes by sea. Once the message gets to Washington, there aren't enough experts to decode it quickly. The whole process becomes a sort of "comic opera" version of spying.

Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille of  3./JG 27 shoots down five RAF planes today in North Africa. They are his 19th through 24th kills, four Hawker Hurricanes and a Martin Maryland bomber.

The end result is that the transmission isn't actually decoded by the "Magic" cryptanalysis project until 9 October 1941. Two of the Magic experts then find the message to be concerning and submit separate assessments to that effect. However, their superiors in the War Plans and Intelligence Divisions in Washington don't read anything sinister into the heightened spying efforts. Instead, the Magic staff just use the intercept to make some essentially literary criticisms of a Japanese tendency to pay too much attention to details. Pearl Harbor is never even notified that the Japanese are spying or warned that this might mean something for the future.

Linda McCartney, born on 24 September 1941.

Future History: Linda Louise Eastman is born in New York City to a father of Jewish Russian descent and a mother of German Jewish descent. Linda studies at the University of Arizona, where she develops an interest in photography. She becomes a top photographer of rock stars in England. There, Linda meets Paul McCartney and they get married in 1969. Later, Paul and Linda form rock group Wings in the 1970s and Linda participates in recordings with Paul McCartney then and later. Linda McCartney passes away from breast cancer on 17 April 1998.

Two young girls with three dogs at a Sears Roebuck store at 1148 Broadway in Manhattan, New York. This photo was taken to promote National Dog Week.

September 1, 1941: Two Years In
September 2, 1941: Germans Pushed Back at Yelnya
September 3, 1941: FDR Refuses to Meet with Japanese
September 4, 1941: Hitler Furious at Guderian
September 5, 1941: Germans Evacuate Yelnya
September 6, 1941: Japan Prepares for War
September 7, 1941: Hitler Orders Drive on Moscow
September 8, 1941: Leningrad Cut Off
September 9, 1941: Germans Attack Leningrad
September 10, 1941: Guderian Busts Loose
September 11, 1941: Convoy SC-42 Destruction
September 12, 1941: Starve Leningrad!
September 13, 1941: Zhukov at Leningrad
September 14, 1941: Germany's Growing Casualties
September 15, 1941: Sorge Warns Stalin Again
September 16, 1941: Soviets Encircled at Kiev
September 17, 1941: Iran Conquest Completed
September 18, 1941: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in Action
September 19, 1941: Germans Take Kiev
September 20, 1941: Death at Kiev
September 21, 1941: Raging Soviet Paranoia
September 22, 1941: Defense of Nickel Mines
September 23, 1941: Air Attacks on Leningrad
September 24, 1941: Japanese Spying Intensifies
September 25, 1941: Manstein at the Crimea
September 26, 1941: Kiev Pocket Eliminated
September 27, 1941: Massacre at Eišiškės
September 28, 1941: Ted Williams Hits .400
September 29, 1941: Babi Yar Massacre
September 30, 1941: Operation Typhoon Begins

2020