Tuesday 30 December 1941

The wreckage of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, 30 December 1941. The superstructure seen in this picture eventually is cut off and dumped on nearby Ford Island. It may still be there, but it is a restricted area. A hatch was removed and later taken to the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas. This photo likely was taken as part of the preparation for the removal of safes and sensitive military information that began in early 1942. Incidentally, all photos showing damage at Pearl Harbor were classified for many years.

Soviet Army Group Center, at Orel. - Discharge of a wagon with provisions and loading of a truck using Soviet prisoners of war. Inscription on the right wagon: "Wehrmacht - AK Kursk"; Dec. 1941 / Jan. 1942. (Koll, Federal Archive Picture 1011-287-0872-30).

Eastern Front: In the Crimea, Soviet landings at Feodosia and near Kerch have created a very difficult situation for the German 11th Army on 30 December 1941. Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck's 42nd Army Corps has only one German division, and he has withdrawn it entirely from the Kerch Peninsula. Generalmajor Kurt Himer, the 46th Infantry Division commander, has abandoned vast quantities of equipment in a hurried retreat through rain mixed with snow. Himer disregards the losses and simply flees to the west as fast as he can in order to save his men. This he does, but the division leaves a trail of abandoned vehicles and artillery in its wake. Altogether, the division loses 80% of its trucks, half of its communications equipment, two dozen artillery pieces, and nearly all of its engineer equipment.

German gunners on the Eastern Front at Orel, December 1941/January 1942 (Koll, Federal Archive Picture 1011-287-0872-04).

General Erich von Manstein, commander of the 11th Army, suddenly realizes the danger of an unchecked Red Army advance from Kerch. He transfers Sponeck to a quiet front (he later is sent to Germany for a court-martial) and begins shifting troops east from the Sevastopol perimeter. He orders 46th Division to stop retreating and to attack south toward Feodosia.

German armor (StuG III and Panzer III) in the Soviet Union, December 1941/January 1942 (Lachmann, Hans, Federal Archive Picture Bild 183-84001-0011).

However, Himer's men have lost all of their offensive power and are heading to the northwest away from Feodosia on narrow country roads that do not permit a U-turn. Himer follows the order, but to little effect. The 40,000+ Soviet 44th and 51st Army troops that have landed in Feodosia, meanwhile, remains largely unopposed throughout the day. Soviet 44th Army advances to the northwest, toward Himer's fleeing remnants, while 51st Army heads east to secure Kerch.

In Army Group North, a war reporter attached to the SS Totenkopf Division digs his car out after a snowstorm during December 1941 (Wittmar, Federal Archive Picture 101III-Wittmar-023-01).

Around Moscow, the Germans continue to give ground. Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge calls Hitler at midday and renews his request for large-scale withdrawals. Hitler, however, will have none of it. He lectures Kluge, telling him that withdrawals simply "perpetuated" themselves. Once they begin, he argues, "one might as well head for the Dnepr or the Polish border right away." He tells Kluge to listen to "the voice of cold reason," which apparently means Hitler's own voice. As usual, Hitler refers to his own experience during World War I. When Kluge boldly remarks that the situation is vastly different than in France during 1914 and that the troops are incapable of further resistance, Hitler snaps, "If that is so then it is the end of the German Army." Hitler then abruptly hangs up.

An Indian soldier guards German U-boat POWs at Agemi, Egypt, 30 December 1941 (© IWM (A 7990)).

Later in the day, Kluge reviews messages from the front. Ninth Army reports that troops at Staritsa which are forbidden to withdraw have been almost surrounded, while Red Army units behind Ninth Army are heading south. Rzhev also now is at risk due to this advance by Soviet 39th Army. For the first time, it appears that the Red Army may be able to surround the entire Army Group if they push their breakthrough further to the south. Ninth Army commander General Adolf Strauß warns that a disaster may occur unless the entire mass of Army Group Center withdraws beyond the Soviet spearhead.

"German U-boat prisoners on the right, watching Italian prisoners passing to their camp." Agemi, Egypt, 30 December 1941 (© IWM (A 7987)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: British 22nd Armored Division of XIII Corps makes one more attempt to pierce the new Axis line and take Agedabia. However, the Germans now benefit from shortened lines and supplies flowing again through Tripoli and inflict heavy tank losses on the British. Following today's battle, British Eighth Army ceases offensive operations and both sides begin building up supplies for eventual offensive actions. Which side will prevail in future battles is entirely dependent upon supplies brought in by sea. While the Germans have great difficulty getting their supplies across the Mediterranean from Naples, it is a short sail and resupply can be very quick. The British, while they have fewer losses of supply convoys at sea than the Axis, have a much lengthier supply route and it takes much longer to build up a large force. As usual in North Africa, victory in the desert depends upon successes and failures at sea.

Admiral Ernest J. King, appointed to the command of the entire US Fleet on 30 December 1941.

US Military: Admiral Ernest J. King, who has been Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANT), becomes Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH). He replaces Admiral Husband Kimmel, who is in disgrace following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. While King has been serving in the Atlantic, he believes that the Japanese threat is greater than others realize. King now is the main proponent in top Allied circles of allocating more resources to the Pacific Theater of Operations. This becomes a perpetual annoyance to the British, who argue that the defeat of Hitler is the top priority. King's first orders are to embark 5000 US Marines on transports at San Diego and send them to Samoa to protect US shipping lanes to Australia.

British Government: During a two-day visit to Ottawa, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the Canadian Parliament. He gets off one of his more memorable lines. Referencing a comment made by Philippe Pétain that Germany would invade England and "have its neck wrung like a chicken," Churchill comments, "Some chicken! Some neck!"

Winston Churchill addressing the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, 30 December 1941.

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

2020

Monday 29 December 1941

North American Aviation XP-51 41-038 at NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, right profile. This plane arrives at Langley Field on 29 December 1941 for flight testing. (NASA).

Eastern Front: As German Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck, commander of 42nd Army Corps, prepares to finish off the tenuous Red Army landings on the Kerch Peninsula on 29 December 1941, the Soviets spoil his plans. Units of the Soviet 44th Army arrives at Feodosia (Feodosiya) on the south coast of the Crimea at around 05:00. There are few German troops in the town and the landings are virtually unhindered. Nearby Germany artillery units score some hits on Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz and Luftwaffe attacks sink a minesweeper and patrol boat, but the Red Army units secure the port by 07:30 and begin receiving artillery and vehicles. Sponeck quickly calls off the attacks near Kerch and instead redirects Romanian 8th Cavalry Brigade and 4th Mountain Brigade to contain the dangerous new threat in Feodosiya.

General Douglas MacArthur on the cover of Time magazine, 29 December 1941. Covers such as this are quite rare and valuable if in good condition.

Sponeck realizes that his troops far to the east of Feodosiya are now in great danger. He requests permission from 11th Army Commander General der Infanterie Erich von Manstein to withdraw the 46th Infantry Division - the only full division under his command - west beyond Feodosiya to avoid encirclement. Manstein refuses and orders Sponeck to counterattack with every available unit. Manstein also orders the 170th Infantry Division and part of the 73rd Infantry Division to the area to help in the counterattack. In a very rare act of open defiance to direct orders within the Wehrmacht, Sponeck shuts down communications with the 11th Army at 08:30, and orders the 46th Infantry Division west.

On 29 December 1941, USS Swordfish, shown, becomes the last of eight U.S. submarines based in Manila Bay to depart for Australia. From this point on, U.S. submarines only return as blockade runners. Swordfish returns twice in February 1942 to evacuate Philippine President Quezon and other VIPs.

Sponeck's order unquestionably saves the German troops but also eliminates any possibility of preserving the German position east of Feodosiya. This order eventually leads to Sponeck's court-martial and disgrace. General Manstein now beings a long, slow process of assembling troops on a north-south line on the Crimea, essentially abandoning the Kerch Peninsula for the time being until a large-scale counterattack can be prepared. In Feodosiya, the returning Red Army soldiers are later accused by the Germans of committing atrocities against any German soldiers, including wounded left behind in hospitals, who fall into their hands. This includes beating and mutilating German soldiers and throwing wounded men from hospital windows, then pouring cold water on them to freeze them to death. A dozen German soldiers hide out in cellars and other places of concealment awaiting rescue, and they later testify to this alleged activity by Red Army troops in Feodosiya.

"Mr. Churchill on the steps of Government House, Ottawa, acknowledging the greetings from the crowd." Churchill is in Ottawa from 29-31 December 1941. © IWM (A 6722).

Further north around Moscow, the Germans also are in trouble. Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge feels hamstrung by Hitler's "no retreat" order. Kluge calls Hitler - not something that is ever done lightly, even by field marshals - and requests permission to order a general withdrawal. Kluge proposes to take the Fourth Army line due west of Moscow back about 10-15 miles. This, he says, will free three divisions for use shoring up the line further south at Yukhnov and Sukhinichi. Somewhat surprisingly, Hitler agrees after some back and forth, but limits the withdrawal to troops stationed at Kaluga. Kluge, who probably has accomplished more than he expected, sends the news to the local army generals. They, meanwhile, are somewhat bemused by this order because Kaluga already has been lost.

"Mr. Anthony Eden, Mr. Maisky, Lieut General Nye, and Sir Alexander Cadogan on the bridge of the tender." This is their return from Russia to Princes Pier, Greenock on 29 December 1941.  © IWM (A 6699).

Battle of the Pacific: In the Philippines, the Japanese anticipate the US endgame in Luzon and bomb Corregidor for the first time. US General George Parker continues moving supplies as fast as possible out of Manila, now an open city but still under US control, to the Bataan Peninsula. Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur hopes to create a redoubt for an indefinite length of time. However, there are few if any usable airfields in Bataan suitable for large forces. Japanese bombers raid Mariveles and damage converted submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9), wrecking her propeller shaft and starting fires. All US submarines now have left Manila Bay. Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Far East Air Force, leaves the Philippines and arrives in Darwin, Australia. The new local commander of US Army Air Force units is Colonel Harold H. George. All he has left are units at Del Monte Field on Mindanao. These, however, are able to accomplish little, so George has little to do. Colonel (later General) George, incidentally, eventually becomes the namesake of George AFB, formerly Victorville AFB, California, which is about 74 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

The Winnipeg Free Press for 29 December 1941 announces the arrival of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

In Borneo, the Japanese continue to advance from Kuching and take Singkawang. The British and Dutch troops in the area continue to retreat toward the Dutch airfield at Kotawaringin near Sampit and Pangkalanbun.

"The local inhabitants of Benghazi line the streets as the British troops arrive, 29 December 1941." The British captured Benghazi on 24 December. © IWM (E 7392).

US/Chinese Relations: US Ambassador to China Clarence Gauss sends a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull on December 29, 1941, which references the Tulsa Incident. This is a misunderstanding that has arisen in Rangoon, Burma about the ownership of US Lend-Lease supplies destined for China. Local British officials have impounded these shipments from US freighter Tulsa on the theory that they need the supplies to try to hold Burma. Gauss notes that this has "aroused deep resentment on the part of Chiang against both America and Britain." Gauss suggests that "everything possible should be done by the British to make amends for their action" and that "it should be made known to Chiang that the matter has come to the attention of the President who confirms" that the supplies are for China, not the local British commanders. This is a seemingly minor diplomatic incident that has an outsized influence on future diplomatic relations between the three powers in Asia.

North American Aviation XP-51 41-038 in the collection of the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (EAA AirVenture Museum).

US Military: The first North American Aviation XP-51 fighter prototype, Air Corps serial number 41-038, arrives at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Field, Hampton, Virginia, for flight testing. The RAF has placed an order for the plane, and this is the fourth production Royal Air Force Mustang Mk.I, RAF serial AG348 (North American serial number 73-3101). Testing of this plane lasts for a year, until 2 November 1942, and leads to the design of a new aileron. The engine is a liquid-cooled, supercharged 1,710.60-cubic-inch-displacement (28.032 liters) Allison Engineering Company V-1710-F3R (V-1710-39) single overhead cam 60° V-12 engine, with a compression ratio of 6.65:1 and a single-stage, single-speed supercharger. The XP-51, after much development and use of a new engine, becomes the legendary P-51 Mustang.

"U.S. Aerial Gunner" is the cover photo and story of the 29 December 1941 Life magazine.

American Homefront: World War I ace and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Eddie Rickenbacker cancels the 1942 Indianapolis 500 due to the war situation.

Local authorities in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington order all German, Italian and Japanese aliens to surrender contraband. Contraband is defined to include any weapons, binoculars, cameras, and short-wave radios.

A tourist snapshot of Freiburg im Breisgau showing the tram on Kaiserstraße. This was taken on 29 December 1941 by Italian embassy official Ugo Proietti. His photos show undamaged cities that wouldn't be like this for much longer (Federal Archive Bild 212-340).

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on the US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

2020

Thursday 27 November 1941

A British tank passes a burning German Panzer IV in North Africa in this nicely colorized shot. See the details of this shot below.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British relieve Tobruk on 27 November 1941 when the 6th New Zealand Brigade overcomes the Italian 9th Bersaglieri Regiment at Ed Duda and the 32nd Tank Brigade and accompanying units create a small corridor to the port. This action technically justifies the British Operation Crusader, but the British have suffered severe tank losses as German General Erwin Rommel sent his main panzer forces into the British rear. After three days of deliberation, British Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command General Claude Auchinleck makes the very hard decision to relieve Eighth Army commander Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham and replace him with Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie. This is a very rare case of a general being sacked at the very moment that he achieves his main objective. Thus, in some sense, Operation Crusader has become a Pyrrhic victory for the British, at least so far.

This is the original of the shot above. "A Crusader tank passes a burning German PzKpfw IV tank, 27 November 1941." (Davies, L.B. Lt., © IWM (E 6752)).

General Rommel, meanwhile, is fighting a completely different campaign to the southeast. He sends 15th Panzer Division to Bir el Chleta, where it runs into 22nd Armored Brigade. The sides are roughly equal in tanks at about 50 until 4th Armored Brigade rushes up from the northeast. In conjunction with the RAF Desert Air Force, the British tankers wreak havoc on the panzers. However, after darkness falls, the British forces inexplicably move to the south to regroup, leaving the surviving German forces free to threaten the narrow British corridor to Tobruk to the northeast. During the night, General Rommel confers with Afrika Corps commander General Crüwell and, while Rommel wants the panzers to cut the corridor, Crüwell convinces Rommel to instead attack the British tanks to the south. Once this is done, the men agree that 15th Panzer can be resupplied and have a better chance of once again isolating Tobruk.

"The Axis Offensive 1941 - 1942: A British Crusader tank passes a burning German Pzkw Mk IV tank during Operation Crusader." 27 November 1941. It is fairly obvious from comparing this picture to the ones above that the Crusader tank and crew have been carefully posed while the photographer takes multiple shots of this "action scene" from different angles. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not, propaganda shots are taken by all armies and they create a good historical record. (Davies, L.B. Lt., © IWM (E 6751)).

Eastern Front: The German commanders in the Army Group South section of the front prepare for the final evacuation of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. General Ewald von Kleist's First Panzer Army will withdraw toward Taganrog and the Mius River, which is considered an easily defensible winter line. It will be an unforced withdrawal, and thus all units can be expected to reach the safety of the Mius River in good order. There, they can enter winter quarters and await the spring to retake Rostov and advance into the oil-rich Caucasus.

Jews were for the first time deported from Würzburg toward the East on 27 November 1941. These deportees will wind up Riga, Latvia in a few days to become residents of the Jungfernhof concentration camp (Yad Vashem Photo Archives 7900/58, Courtesy of the State Archives in Würzburg (Staatsarchiv Würzburg)).

The Wehrmacht at this point has only occupied Rostov for six days, but the local commanders knew virtually from the day that they took Rostov that it was indefensible. Soviet 37th Army is waiting to march into Rostov after the Germans leave. While Army Group South commander Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt does not have permission to withdraw, Adolf Hitler is in Berlin attending to other affairs. He is out of touch with developments at the front and thus is not available to countermand any orders. Hitler could return to the Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia any day now, though, so if the withdrawal is to be completed without his interference, it will have to be done soon. Everyone knows that Hitler's standard response to any difficult military situation is to not retreat and that ordering a withdrawal without his permission will displease him, so there likely will be consequences. This is accepted by the commanders on the spot.

SS Lurline sets sail on 27 November 1941. It makes regular voyages from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii and is at sea on 7 December 1941 between those two ports.

In the Crimea, General Erich von Manstein decides to postpone his offensive against Sevastopol until 17 December. He is concerned about supply difficulties - four out of five railway locomotives have broken down due to frost and road transport has been reduced by 50% - and the Soviet unit holding the port shows no signs of cracking. Hitler still wants the entire Crimea, including Sevastopol, taken as soon as possible, but Manstein feels he isn't ready. However, on the other side, General Petrov, the Red Army commander at Sevastopol, figures that holding out at Sevastopol will help divert German forces from Moscow. So, for the time being, both sides just try to maintain the status quo. Advantage Soviets.

Ordinary Seaman Harold Clyde Dunn aboard HMAS Parramatta. KIA 27 November 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

US Military: Negotiations with the Japanese have broken down completely, so President Roosevelt meets with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General George Marshall and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Stark. The consensus is that the Japanese will attack somewhere, but it is unknown where and Japanee intentions "cannot be forecast." Marshall and Stark submit a memo to the President today which states in part:

The most essential thing, from the United States point of view, is to gain time... [Military action should be avoided] so long as consistent with the national policy... [Military action should be contemplated] only if Japan attacks or directly threatens the United States, British, or Dutch territory.

The War Council meets later in the day and, at the urging of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, drafts and sends a war warning for Hawaii, Panama, San Francisco, and the Philippines. The warning cautions local commanders to let the Japanese make the "first overt act" but to "undertake such reconnaissance and other measures" as necessary. The operative plan in case of an attack is Rainbow 5, which assumes that the United States will be allied with Britain and France and contemplates offensive operations by American forces in Europe, Africa, or both. The major assumption of Rainbow 5 is that the United States will follow a "Europe first" policy while temporarily going on the defensive in the Pacific.

Ceremonial handshake between the Eighth Army relief force commander and the commander of the garrison at Tobruk on 27 November 1941. Original caption: "Relief of Tobruk. Join up of 8th Army and Tobruk garrison, 27 November 1941. Lieutenant-Colonel S F Hartnell is on the left. British official photograph. Notes on the back of file print include 'Prob 19 NZ Bn [?] at Ed Duda. NZ Officer - Lt/Col S F Hartnell. Tobruk - Link-up - 2 Libyan Campaign. 19 NZ Bn - Ed Duda. 32 Army Tank Bde - Ed Duda.'"

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

Monday 10 November 1941

"Men of the Leicestershire Regiment man a Bren gun near Tobruk, 10 November 1941" © IWM (E 6436) (colorized).

Eastern Front: General Erich von Manstein has been given the task of conquering the Crimea with his 11th Army. So far, it has gone quickly and fairly routinely as these things go. On 10 November 1941, he launches his first planned attack on the Soviet naval base of Sevastopol in the southeastern section of the Crimea. It is well-defended and surrounded by natural obstacles but defended by isolated and presumably demoralized troops. Sevastopol does not seem like much of a problem. As OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder confidently notes in his war diary on 10 November 1941:

Good progress has been made in the Crimea, but it will take a few more days before we have cleared out the last enemy.

So, everything thing is going as planned and Soviet resistance is collapsing as everyone knew it would. Manstein uses the 50th Infantry Division to begin the assault in the area southeast of Sevastopol. It is commanded by Lieutenant General Karl-Adolf Hollidt, a recipient of both classes of the Iron Cross during World War I who is considered a true fighting general. General Hollidt is just the man to roll into Sevastopol and accept the honor of the surrender.

Private Nancy Stewart Eglinton of Adelaide. She volunteered on 10 November 1941 to serve in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and later served with the newly formed Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (Australian War Memorial P03947.001).

Hollidt's attack makes good ground in the direction of Balaklava. His men capture Uppa near the upper reaches of the Chorna (Chernaya) River, which flows into Sevastopol. As the day progresses, though, Manstein waits before expanding the attack with additional forces, which blunts the effort. Thus, Hollidt's offensive turns into more of a probing attack than a full-scale attempt to conquer the elaborate Soviet defenses, which include numerous bunkers and fortifications. The Sevastopol perimeter is 44 kilometers long, which poses problems for both armies but more so for the Germans, who have difficulty concentrating their forces for a determined attack. However, the Germans have heavy Luftwaffe support, though its effectiveness is somewhat lessened due to the hilly terrain. Manstein is confident that he can expand the gains in the morning.

USS Long Island (AVG-1, later ACV-1, Commander Donald B. Duncan), photographed in Measure 12 (Modified) camouflage, 10 November 1941. Planes on her flight deck include seven Curtiss SOC-3A scout observation types and one Brewster F2A fighter. The Long Island was the first ship of her class and the first escort carrier in the US Navy (US Navy).

On the Soviet side, Major General Ivan Efimovich Petrov commands the Coastal Army that had been evacuated in good order by sea from Odesa, which fell to the Romanians. Petrov first had led his forces north of Sevastopol after entering the Crimea at Sevastopol to try to defend the Perekop Isthmus. However, after discussing it with his divisional commanders, Petrov then had decided to retreat to Sevastopol rather than east to the safer Kerch Peninsula (because it would be easier to retreat further east from there). Petrov's decision rests on his belief that it is important to defend this main base of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and that he has enough men to do it. Petrov commands about 52,000 Red Army soldiers, an impressive number. However, they have left much of their equipment and supplies behind in Odessa, and 21,000 of them are sailors untrained in land warfare. His best asset is 170 artillery pieces, some protected by massive concrete bunkers constructed in the 1930s that are impervious to all but the largest artillery shells or bombs. Petrov's troops only returned to Sevastopol one day ago, so the terrain is almost as new to them as to the Wehrmacht.

"Men of the Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry lighting up their Italian cigars in Tobruk, 10 November 1941" © IWM (E 6509). Lighting up a friend is considered a mark of success and victory by both sides in World War II, particularly with captured smokes.

Hollidt's attack follows the coastal route from Yalta to Sevastopol along the old Vorontsov road which achieved fame during the Crimean War of the 1850s. This is the traditional attack route into Sevastopol by those coming by sea, as did the British 90 years earlier. The advantage of this route is that it avoids the hills in the central and northern sectors of the Sevastopol perimeter which serve almost as towering walls. However, Petrov is no fool and also realizes that the coastal road is easy to perceive as the "easy" road into the port and thus a likely avenue of attacks. He defends the area with crack troops of the first and second defensive sectors. Their objective is to give ground in the flatlands but hold the hills around Balaklava and at the village of Kamary (Oboronnoye), where the east-west valleys coming from the east end and the ground becomes flat again into the port itself. Hollidt today gets nowhere near these vital spots. Thus, while Hollidt does make some progress, he does not succeed in capturing anything vital to the Soviet defense. Manstein prepares to feed in another division on the 11th and see what happens. So far, everything still seems to be going according to plan on the German side.

Actress Rita Hayworth on the cover of Time magazine, 10 November 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal completes its mission of ferrying aircraft to Malta and turns to head back to Gibraltar with the rest of Force H. The Germans have received word of this operation and have positioned U-81 (Friedrich Guggenberger) along the route.


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

Monday 27 October 1941

A Scharfschütze (sniper) team in action, October 1941. It is unclear if the propaganda photographer realized that they were using a captured Soviet Mosin-Nagant PU rifle. Both sides had outstanding snipers, and this was a virtual war-within-a-war. Some snipers preferred to work alone because that enabled them to get closer to the enemy in concealment, but a two-man team was standard.

Eastern Front: While much of the Eastern Front is bogged down by the annual fall Rasputitsa, or muddy season, on 27 October 1941 it has not yet reached its full level in the southernmost sectors. General Erich von Manstein's 11th Army busts into the Crimea after a long struggle against fierce Red Army resistance in the Perekop Isthmus. The Soviet 51st Army retreats in the fog and mud toward the bastion of Sevastopol in the southwest, and to the Kerch Peninsula in the east. Pretty much everyone expects a fairly quick German victory and occupation.

Bellows Field (Bellows  Air Force Station) in Waimanalo, Hawaii on 27 October 1941. The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks Bellows Field in addition to Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, though the Bellows Field attack receives little attention.

The Crimea is one of the foundations of von Manstein's reputation - it is the reason he becomes a field marshal. However, in the grand scheme of World War II, the Crimea is a sideshow. It is useful to capture the Soviet naval base at Sevastopol, but the Soviet Black Sea fleet is never much of a hindrance to German operations. Hitler, however, is fixated on the Crimea - as he tells Finnish Marshal Mannerheim in June 1942, worries about Soviet bombers operating from the Crimea against the Romanian oil fields were one of the reasons he invaded the USSR in the first place. So, while objectively it might make more sense to simply seal off the Crimea and instead focus on the drive into the Caucasus, where success would effectively surround the Crimea anyway, its capture and retention lead to a major campaign. This ultimately is profitless and strategically pointless but occupies some of the best Wehrmacht minds and troops throughout the war.

USS Solace (AH-5) at anchor in Hawaiian waters after her arrival there on 27 October 1941. The hospital ship is present at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and saves many lives.

Elsewhere, the Germans make some small gains. Just to the north of the Crimea, the Soviet 12th Army of Soviet Southwest Front continues withdrawing gradually and exposes more cities for the Germans to capture. German Sixth Army, for instance, takes Kramatorsk in the Donetsk Oblast north of Stalino when the city surrenders without a fight. Italian troops are involved in the Wehrmacht's occupation of the industrial Donets Basin, and the OKW issues a communique about their efforts:

In the Donets Basin, an attempt to retard our advance was prevented by Italian troops. The enemy was thrown back with heavy and bloody losses and left several hundred prisoners in the hands of our allies

The Soviet defenders in the southern sector are outmatched at this stage. However, their retreat is orderly and efficient, preventing outright breakthroughs and forcing the Germans to advance at a measured pace.

"Photo #: 80-G-6678 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless scout bombers, of Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) Composite photograph of 9 planes in flight, with USS Enterprise (CV-6) and a plane guard destroyer below. The original photo is dated 27 October 1941. Note differences in ocean surface wave patterns between the upper and lower images skillfully blended to combine the two photographs. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives." (Navy History and Heritage Command).

Further north, the German attack on Moscow, Operation Typhoon, is mostly shut down pending an improvement in the weather but does make some gains in some places. On the extreme southern axis of the advance, General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army continues up the road from Mtsensk toward Moscow, with the main forces of Kampfgruppe Eberbach at Plavsk south of Tula. On the northwest axis of the advance, the 4th Panzer Army makes progress at Volokolamsk, where it has been stalled for two weeks. At Mozhaysk, the 4th Army stops dead and is allowed by Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock to dig trenches - when it is supposed to be attacking. The Wehrmacht is on the outskirts of Moscow and in a good position to attack the city, but past battles have worn it down so much that it cannot make significant progress until conditions improve.

Viktor Talalikhin, Hero of the Soviet Union, was most famous for ramming a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber with his I-16 at night in August 1941, causing both planes to crash. On 27 October 1941, Talalikhin is attacked in his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 near the village of Kamenka by a swarm of Bf-109 fighters. Talalikhin shoots down two of the fighters before being shot down in turn. Talalikhin is a permanent name on the muster list of the 1st Squadron of the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment, with monuments to him in Moscow and Podolsk. KIA 27 October 1941 (colorized).

The Soviets defending Tikhvin, north of Moscow, are now under the command of General Fedyuninsky, and he makes an immediate impact. He orders three Red Army divisions to attack advance elements of General Harpe's 12th Panzer Division at the village of Sitomlia about 40 km northeast of Budogsh' (Budogoshch). While Harpe's small unit is wildly outgunned, its commander decides to fight and goes into a defensive crouch while calling for reinforcements. The Red Army units attack piecemeal, like the bad guys in a karate flick who attack the hero only one at a time. Harpe is able to shift his men around just enough to hold the attackers off until help arrives. General Rudolf Schmidt, commander of 39th Army Corps and the man in charge of this portion of the advance, quickly sends the 8th Panzer and 18th Motorized Divisions to rescue the trapped men, which is accomplished by nightfall. The 12th Panzer reconnaissance team winds up doing its job - identifying the enemy units - but not quite in the way it had planned.

The original caption reads (and these may offend readers, but this is what it says): "To make room for construction in the Poznan suburb of Wallischei, a number of houses must be demolished. For this work, columns of Polish Jews are used, who get to know manual labor for the first time in their lives." (Schwahn, Ernst, Federal Archive Picture 183-2006-0320-500).

US/German Relations: President Roosevelt, who on the 25th issued a strong statement condemning Wehrmacht atrocities on the Eastern Front, on 27 October 1941 continues his rhetorical onslaught. During a Navy Day speech (Roosevelt is a former Secretary of the Navy), Roosevelt says in part about recent U-boat attacks at sea:

I say that we do not propose to take this lying down. Our determination not to take it lying down has been expressed in the orders to the American Navy to shoot on sight. Those orders stand... [W]hen we have helped to end the curse of Hitlerism we shall help to establish a new peace which will give to decent people everywhere a better chance to live and prosper in security and in freedom and in faith. Each day that passes we are producing and providing more and more arms for the men who are fighting on actual battle-fronts. That is our primary task.

In reference to the recent U-boat torpedoing of destroyer USS Kearny, FDR adds, "Hitler’s torpedo was directed at every American….was to frighten the American people off the high seas - to force us to make a trembling retreat." This, he claims, has "aroused" the "American spirit" because "America has been attacked." However, despite this "attack," Roosevelt is not yet ready to declare war on the Reich.

Life Magazine of 27 October 1941, "Air-Raid Spotter."

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020