Finnish tanks on parade at Petrozavodsk on the western shore of Lake Onega, 12 October 1941.
Eastern Front: On 12 October 1941, the Spanish Blue Division troops of the 250th Infantry Division in the German Army (Heer) numbering system deploy on the Volkhov River in the Army Group North sector. The Spanish troops establish their headquarters on the outskirts of Veliky Novgorod in a village called Grigorovo. The Blue Division is responsible for a 50 km section of the front which runs from north of Novgorod south along the banks of the Volkhov River and behind Lake Ilmen.
An RAF technical intelligence team inspects a downed Luftwaffe Dornier Do-217 near Rye, England. The pilot and crew got disoriented while flying and thought they were crashlanding in France after running out of fuel. The Dornier wound up at RAF Farnborough for testing.
While used by the Wehrmacht as garrison troops to hold a quiet part of the line, the Spanish Blue Division is marked by high morale in its all-volunteer ranks. Serving on the eastern front is considered a high honor, and virtually everyone graduating from the Spanish military academy volunteers. While in the Soviet Union, General Agustín Muñoz Grandes, the Blue Division's leader, has his men replace their symbolic Blue Division uniforms. These uniforms include the red berets of the Carlists, the khaki trousers of the Spanish Legion, and the blue shirts of the Falangists. While in German service, however, the men wear the ordinary field grey Heer uniform.
A Blue Division soldier in 1941 wearing the normal Wehrmacht field grey uniform with the distinctive Spanish patch on his sleeve.
The Blue Division division gets its nickname from its blue shirts, though those are only worn while on leave in Spain. As with other affiliated troops in the Wehrmacht, the Blue Division's uniform is individualized with a special shoulder patch marking the soldiers' nation of origin. In this case, the badge has the Spanish national colors with the word "Espana."
Vought Kingfisher OS2U-3 (shown at another time) runs into trouble on 12 October 1941 during a ferry flight from NAS New York to NAS San Diego. After hitting a tree in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, the seaplane crashes, killing Pilot Sgt. McMahon. A passenger is thrown clear and survives. There is still debris at the crash site.
The Blue Division men have good reason to be tired, as they have just completed a 900 km march from the nearest railhead at Suwałki, Poland. Throughout the war, the main means of transportation within the Wehrmacht remains the railway system, which is both a strength and a weakness of the German Army. The railways are easy to control and make quick moves across long distances possible and efficient. However, troop moves are restricted by the absence of railway workers in the occupied eastern territories, the insufficient numbers of Soviet locomotives and rail cars, and the vulnerability of the rail system to partisan attack and aerial bombing. The Soviet rails are of a different gauge than the German ones, and so German trains cannot just continue east until new rails are laid - a massive undertaking that requires time and men. The result is that the German infantry, like the Blue Division, is forced to walk long distances and cannot possibly keep pace with the panzers and panzer grenadiers leading the offensive.
As the headline on this 12 October 1941 edition of The Wisconsin State Journal indicates, it seemed obvious that the "climax" of the German attack on Moscow was just around the corner and the city would soon fall.
It is unclear why the Germans diverted the Blue Division from the attack on Moscow, Operation Typhoon, their original assignment, to a quiet sector further north. Throughout the war, there is a general feeling within the Wehrmacht that "foreign" troops cannot be entrusted with critical missions. However, it also may be the case in this particular situation that the Germans want to keep the glory of taking Moscow to themselves - it would not do at all if a Spanish Division played a key role in taking the Soviet capital.
In any event, the German Army (Heer) does not seem to need any help at this point. The OKH today sends Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock curt instructions:
The Führer has reaffirmed his decision that the surrender of Moscow will not be accepted, even if it is offered by the enemy.
With these "no surrender" orders in hand, von Bock orders an immediate advance on Moscow all along the line. However, like the Blue Division men, the German troops already have marched hundreds of kilometers, including a quick advance of 70 km just in the past five days - all while fighting. As usual, the panzers move quickly, with 1st Panzer Division taking Rzhev and Staritsa, while General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 takes Kaluga about 100 miles southwest of Moscow. The German infantry is still marching to catch up, however, and two Soviet rifle divisions break out from the Vyazma pocket through swamps where the panzers can't operate.
Three sailors at Father Duffy statue in Duffy Square (northern half of Times Square), Manhattan, NY, October 12, 1941. Incidentally, this monument to a World War I chaplain is still there. Note that Humphrey Bogart's "The Maltese Falcon" is playing at the Strand Theater across the street (Rodney McCay Morgan/NYC Parks Photo Archive).
Even the panzers are feeling the strain, however. Where once missions could be accomplished by just one panzer division, now they have to be combined. Today, for instance, SS Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Das Reich’ from XLVI. Armeekorps (mot.) is given a critical mission of pushing east along the Minsk-Moscow main road. However, it has been so weakened by months of constant combat that it must be joined by a Kampfgruppe from the 10th Panzer Division. The weather is terrible, the roads are muddy, and General Guderian notes in his diary that it snows throughout the day.
Judy Garland with producer Ted Sherdeman on 12 October 1941 while appearing on the CBS Radio "Silver Theater" adaptation of "Eternally Yours" (Kim Lundgreen via JudyGarlandNews.com).
German transport destroyed by partisans on the railway line Sarajevo - Visegrad, Yugoslavia, 24 August 1941.
Eastern Front: General Halder is furious with General Guderian on 24 August 1941. Guderian had been drafted by Halder, Army Group Center commander Field Marshal von Bock, and others to change Hitler's mind about the wisdom of attacking Moscow rather than Kyiv during their meeting on the 23rd. Halder writes a scathing critique of Guderian's failure. He notes that Guderian told Hitler that his troops could not attack south due to weariness and lack of fuel, then notes that today Guderian has completely changed his position and now maintains that he can, in fact, immediately attack south. Halder writes:
My reply to [Guderian] is that I had no sympathy for such a 100% change of mind. His retort was: What he told us yesterday was framed with a view to furnishing OK with arguments against the ordered operation to the south. Now, having become convinced by his interview that the Fuehrer was firmly resolved to execute this drive to the south, it was his duty to make the impossible possible in order to put those ideas into effect.
Halder concludes that "This conversation shows with devastating clearness with what complete irresponsibility official reports are twisted to fit any specific purposes."
In the Far North sector, the Soviet 115th and 123rd Rifle Divisions launch a counterattack against the Finnish bridgehead across the Vuoksi River. The Finnish Light Brigade T is partially surrounded and forced to fight for its life. Things look grim, but the Finns have reinforcements available while the Soviets do not, and the Soviet units are tired from long marches. The Finns quickly send units of IV Corps which are due to arrive on the 25th.
Finnish 8th Division (Col. Winell) crosses Viipuri Bay unopposed, isolating the Soviet forces in Viipuri by cutting their escape route along the coast. The Soviet troops are not going to retreat without orders anyway, as they know from experience that bad things happened to troops that retreated on their own initiative during the Winter War and the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. Thus, the Soviets essentially allow the Finnish crossing because they are staying put anyway.
Finnish 36 Corps continues advancing in the area of Nurmi Lake and Nurmi Mountain. On their right flank, the Finns take the village of Vuoriyarvi, while in the left the Finnish 6th Division is racing to cut off Soviet troops that are trying to escape to the north along a logging road that they have found which is not on maps.
Fighting at Novogord, 24 August 1941 (Kempe, Federal Archive, Bild 183-L19934).
In the Army Group North sector, the fighting features only local actions. The Soviets at Tallinn (Reval) realize their plight as German 18th Army presses in and organize a convoy to transfer troops and any remaining dependents back to Leningrad - with disastrous results (see below). Heavy fighting at Novgorod.
In the Army Group Center sector, Soviet General Ivan Konev attacks toward Gomel, recently taken by the German 2nd Army. Second Army itself is planning an attack on the south in conjunction with General Guderian's Panzer Group 2, which is about 75 miles to the east at Starodub. General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 continues thrusting in the direction of Velikie Luki, advancing to within a mile of the city.
Field Marshal von Bock is bitter about the emphasis on Kyiv and Leningrad over Moscow, writing:
This is the seventh or eighth time in this campaign that the army group has succeeded in encircling the enemy. But I'm not really happy about it, because the objective to which I have devoted all my thought, the destruction of the enemy armies, has been dropped. Perhaps we will overrun the Russians in from of my northern wing and thus get things going to the point that at least pressure on my eastern front is relieved...If, after all the successes, the campaign in the east now trickles away in dismal defensive fighting for my army group, it is not my fault"
A Soviet tanker surrenders his T-26B tank, August 1941 (Friedrich, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-267-0115-24).
In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 4th Army is bogged down around Odessa. The Soviet defenders are fighting desperately, helped by timely bombardments from the Black Sea Fleet and, as with their comrades in Karelia, a lack of authorization to retreat. The Romanians report that they have suffered 5,329 killed and 27,307 total casualties. On the bright side for the Romanians, they have inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders, and their artillery at Kubanka is pounding the Soviet port facilities. OKH agrees to send some spare battalions to help the Romanians get their attack moving again.
There is heavy fighting at Dnepropetrovsk and south of Kyiv. German 6th Army continues pulling the noose tight around Kyiv. German 11th Panzer Division reaches the Desna at Oster, but the retreating Soviets set it on fire.
Luftwaffe Oblt. Hans Philipp of II./JG 54 receives the Eichenlaub, becoming the 33rd soldier to receive it. Philipp has 62 kills, over 40 in the USSR.
This is a Whitley V from RAF No. 51 (Z6505/MH-F). It was one of two Whitleys based at Dishforth, Yorkshire lost during the Düsseldorf raid of 24 August 1941 (actually shot down at 01:30 on the 25th). Lt Hans-Dieter Frank of I./NJG1, flying a Bf 110 G-4b/R3, shot it down.
European Air Operations: During the day, six RAF Blenheim bombers raid Bremerhaven. They attack a ship but miss. There are no losses.
RAF Bomber Command mounts a large raid over Düsseldorf with 25 Whitleys, 12 Hampdens, and 7 Halifax bombers (44 total). It is cloudy and accuracy is very poor. The RAF loses 2 Whitleys and one Halifax.
The RAF mounts a special operation targeting searchlights in the Wesel area. Six Hampden bombers mount a sustained attack against searchlights that are illuminating another bomber and find that directly attacking them causes them to either go out (either from being destroyed or voluntarily) or lose their tracks on other bombers.
The Luftwaffe takes advantage of low cloud cover over England to send six planes against targets from Blyth to Teesside. The RAF responds, and a tragedy results. There is a friendly fire incident when RCAF Hurricane Mk. I Hurricanes of No. 1 Squadron based at Northolt, Middlesex mistake two Blenheim bombers for Junkers Ju-88s and shoot them down.
Battle of the Baltic: The Germans are closing in on Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, so the Soviets send a convoy carrying departing troops and refugees. The convoy sails into a German minefield off Cape Juminda (near Keri Island), with disastrous results. The following ships hit mines and sink:
Destroyer Engels (formerly the Desna)
Minesweeper T-209/Knecht
Minesweeper T-213/Krambol
Minesweeper T-212/Shtag
3618-ton freighter Lunacharski
1430-ton freighter Daugava
2029-ton freighter Zheleznodorozhnik
Soviet tanker No. 11 also sinks in the Gulf of Finland, it is not clear if this was part of the convoy.
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The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Soviet freighter VT-532 in the Baltic. The master manages to beach the freighter near Prangli Island. There are 44 deaths.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs British 1283-ton freighter Skagerak with a FAB-XI aerial a mine and sinks it in the River Orwell, Harwich. There are 18 deaths, including the river pilot, and six survivors. This is a new German mine and its first success.
Royal Navy anti-submarine whaler Kos XVI collides at 23:30 with destroyer Wolsey in the Irish Sea and sinks just after midnight in the early hours of the 25th. Wolsey remains in service.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Royal Navy sloop Black Swan while Black Swan is escorting a convoy in the Irish Sea. Black Swan makes it to Milford Haven for repairs that take three weeks.
An RAF Catalina sights an attack a U-boat about 30 miles southwest of the River Tagus near Lisbon but apparently misses.
In Operation Cutting, Royal Navy sloop Milford departs from Freetown escorting 1984-ton British freighter Lady Denison-Pender. The latter ship is to cut and remove the Dakar-Pernambuco cable.
The Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF), established at St. John's on 23 May, continues adding ships and expanding its operations. Today, Canadian corvettes Agassiz, Alberni, Chambly, Cobalt, Collingwood, Orillia, and Wetaskiwin depart from Halifax for St. John's, while corvette Kenogami arrives there.
Royal Navy Force A, beginning operations in the Arctic, arrives at a point 60 miles west of Isfjord, Spitsbergen. It prepares to conduct Operation Gauntlet, a Royal Navy raid on Spitzbergen scheduled to begin in the early hours of 25 August.
First Lord of the Admiralty A.V. Alexander visits Scapa Flow for an inspection tour of battleship HMS Prince of Wales.
Royal Navy minesweeper Fort York is launched.
Norwegian Navy submarine HNoMS Uredd, formerly HMS P-41, is launched (the formal transfer to the Norwegians is on 7 December 1941).
Convoy SC-41 departs from Sydney, Cape Breton bound for Liverpool, Convoy SL-85 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool.
HMS Manxman, a key part of Operation Mincemeat.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Mincemeat gets into gear as minelayer HMS Manxman, disguised as a Vichy French destroyer, lays 140 mines (70 contact mines, 70 magnetic) off Livorno, Italy. Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal sends Swordfish torpedo-bombers on a sweep over Sardinia, dropping incendiary bombs west and southwest of Tempio. Later, the Ark Royal sends off ten more Swordfish to bomb Tempio airport.
The Italian fleet, led by battleships, continues patrolling off the western Italian coast but does not locate the British ships. The Royal Navy, however, does spot the Italian fleet. After aerial reconnaissance reveals the presence of battleships, the British head back to Gibraltar. In any event, the British have accomplished their main objective, the minelaying of Manxman.
The Italian Navy sets up a patrol line of five submarines and 13 motor torpedo (MAS) boats across the Sicilian Strait in order to waylay an expected Royal Navy move through the Mediterranean. Other submarines take up position southwest of Sardinia. The Italian fleet sets up station at the entrance to the Sicilian Strait, waiting for the British - while ships of the Royal Navy now are heading in the other direction. Royal Navy submarine Upholder spots the fleet and attacks light cruiser Luigi Di Savoia, but misses.
The Royal Navy officially writes off submarine P-33 (Lieutenant R.D. Whiteway-Wilkinson). It is the second U-Class submarine lost in two days, the other being P-32.
Operation Treacle, the replacement of Australian soldiers at Tobruk with Polish troops of the Carpathian Brigade, continues. The Polish troops depart from Alexandria aboard minelaying cruiser Latona and destroyers Griffin, Kingston, and Kipling. The mission proceeds without incident.
British patrol planes from Malta spot Italian patrol boat Grazioli Lante between Tripoli and Benghazi and sink it. Nine Wellingtons attack Tripoli and damage the docks and the city.
Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine L-4 (Lt Cdr Polyakov) lays 20 mines off Cape Olinka, Romania. The Soviets have four other submarines patrolling off the Romanian coast while two others patrol off the Bulgarian coast.
Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Ceres collides with 6129-ton Norwegian tanker Gylfe off Bombay. Ceres sustains major damage to its stem, fracturing it, but proceeds with its mission anyway, escorting Convoy BM-8 to Port Swettenham, Trincomalee.
Australian coaster Dellie, sunk on 24 August 1941.
Battle of the Pacific: Australian coaster Dellie (formerly Sphene) runs aground and is wrecked at Tweed Heads, Fingal Light, New South Wales, Australia while on a voyage to Tasmania. Her crew of 15 survives.
Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy begins reconstructing patrol boat PB-2, adding 4.47-inch/45 cal main guns. It also is modified to be able to carry and launch two 46-foot Daihatsu landing craft.
British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons:
Napoleon in his glory and genius spread his Empire far and wide. ... Napoleon's armies had a theme. They carried with them the surges of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. ... There was a sweeping away of outworn, medieval systems and aristocratic privilege. There was the land for the people, a new code of law. Nevertheless, Napoleon's empire vanished like a dream.
Both sides use historical precedent throughout the war, with the British awkwardly using the example of Napoleon (and subtly appealing to Gallic pride) and the Germans just as awkwardly using the example of the Teutonic Knights battling Russia - both of whose forces lost.
China: Japanese planes sink Chinese gunboats Chiang Hsi and Chiang Kum at Patung, Szechuan, China.
Holocaust: During his radio address to the nation today, Winston Churchill refers to the "scores of thousands" of executions of civilians by the Germans. He does not, however, mention that the primary victims are Jews.
The Germans in Vilna, Lithuania arrest local leader Dr. Jacob Wigodsky, 86 years old. They schedule his execution to take place in a week.
German graves of 11/506 in Estonia, all three KIA 24 August 1941.
German Homefront: Reacting to public pressure stirred up by sermons delivered by the Bishop of Münster von Galen and others, Hitler terminates the Aktion T4 euthanasia program (a name not actually used by the Germans themselves, T4 stands for Tiergartenstraße 4, the address of the Berlin headquarters of the Gemeinnützige Stiftung für Heil- und Anstaltspflege which runs the euthanasia program - it is a euphemism, "Charitable Foundation for Curative and Institutional Care"). The T4 program targets those "deemed incurably sick, after most critical medical examination." Naturally, the criteria are subjective, and some people judged "insane" and exterminated aren't necessarily mentally ill at all. They may, however, have offended someone important or said something ill-advised.
It is a rare instance of popular pressure within the Reich forcing Hitler's hand. Hitler, however, knows that the Catholic Church is one of the only institutions that have a large following other than him - and privately he vows retribution after "final victory." This also is a rare case of the Church opposing Hitler, something for which it gets scant credit in postwar histories. The killings, however, continue within concentration camps after this date. It is estimated that about 70,000 people perish before this date and about 20,000 people after under the T-4 program, including one of Hitler's own relatives.
The now-unemployed T-4 personnel are not out of work for long. They soon are shipped to the Eastern Front, where they turn their extermination expertise against Jews.
British Homefront: Winston Churchill makes a radio speech in which he summarizes the Atlantic Charter and the world situation. The public has been underwhelmed by his meeting with President Roosevelt because many hoped that the meeting would result in a war alliance, so Churchill plays up the results:
This was a meeting which marks forever in the pages of history the taking up by the English-speaking nations, amid all this peril, tumult and confusion, of the guidance of the fortunes of the broad toiling masses in all the continents, and our loyal effort, without any clog of selfish interest, to lead them forward out of the miseries into which they have been plunged, back to broad high road of freedom and justice.
He warns Japan that Great Britain will aid the Americans in the Pacific if war breaks out.
American Homefront: Tom Dewey, District Attorney of New York County, gives a speech to the Williamstown Institute of Human Relations. He concludes that "Only by a respect for the rights of every other individual can we protect our own rights."
Today is the first performance of the Dodger "SymPhony" (a named coined by announcer Red Barber), a five-man pop band that becomes an institution at Brooklyn Dodgers home games at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.
Future History: Paola Pitagora is born in Parma, Italy. Paola becomes an Italian television hostess in 1960, then makes her theatrical debut in debut in "Gog e Magog." Pitagora goes on to become a major Italian film and television star, debuting in motion pictures with "Shot in Three-Quarter Time" (1965) and continuing through "Help Me Dream" 1981). Paola Pitagora also has written some popular songs for children. She continues to work as of this writing in 2018.
German troops entering the Kremlin of Novgorod, 17 August 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 183-H26513).
Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht on 17 August 1941 continues to hold the initiative, but every day more trucks break down and more men get killed and more tanks need new tracks and engines and other maintenance. Generalleutnant Wolfgang Fischer at the 10th Panzer Division headquarters notes in the war diary that there are no spare parts available, and when trucks break down, the choice either is to leave them or to tow them.
In the Far North sector, the Finnish 18th Division crosses the Vuoksi River and establishes a secure bridgehead. Other Finnish forces continue putting pressure on trapped Soviet troops throughout the Karelian Isthmus. For most of them, the only possibility of escape is by boat across Lake Ladoga.
Infantry support gun (7.5 cm light infantry gun) of the German 291st Infantry Division on the firing position near the Narva River, on or about 17 August 1941.
In the Army Group North sector, the Germans take Narva, Estonia, and 56th Panzer Corps of Panzer Group 4 strengthens its grip on Novgorod. The Wehrmacht is busy transferring three divisions from Army Group Center to Army Group North, but Field Marshal von Bock at the former is resisting releasing one of the motorized divisions because of the ongoing Soviet offensive south of Lake Ilmen.
In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 continues driving toward Bryansk, while 2nd Army advances on Gomel. The Soviets continue attacking the exposed German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya, but the Germans are holding fast. Field Marshal von Bock calls off an offensive planned against Mozir. Halder talks with von Bock during the day, and the latter remains fixated on the possibility of renewing the attack on Moscow as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Soviet 24th Army attacks a German bridgehead at El'nia.
In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 4th Army scores a major success by capturing the water supplies of Odessa. The Soviets are under strict orders to hold the city for as long as possible, an order underscored by Stalin's Order No. 270 issued on the 16th which prescribes death for anyone who exhibits dereliction of duty. The Romanians still have not made a real assault on the city, however.
The Soviets are retreating in the vicinity of Dnepropetrovsk, which the German Panzer Group 1 captures. The Luftwaffe sends fighter-bombers from I. and II./JG 3 along with III./JG 52 against the city. The Luftwaffe pilots claim to shoot down 33 Soviet planes, including 29 bombers. The Soviets complete their evacuation from Nikolayev, covering their final withdrawal with 8 destroyers of the Black Sea Fleet. The Germans also take Nikopol on the Dneiper.
Home Guard troops practice defending a roadblock with smoke and rifle fire, 17 August 1941.
European Air Operations: Today's RAF missions are distinguished by few losses. However, the results of the missions are mediocre, so not much is accomplished by either side. All in all, it is a fairly unremarkable day in the air.
During the day, the RAF sends 20 Blenheims on the usual coastal sweeps. These include all three major types of aerial operations: Circus, Roadstead, and Rhubarb operations. Some shipping is attacked off Terschelling. All of the aircraft return safely.
After dark, the RAF continues its series of heavy attacks on German. Tonight's targets are Bremen and Duisburg.
The RAF puts 39 Hampdens and 20 Whitleys over Bremen. The targets are the Focke-Wulf factory and railways yards. The Germans shoot down two Hampdens. The RAF pilots claim hits on the airplane factory.
The RAF puts 41 Wellingtons over the Duisburg railway yards, with all of the planes returning. Not much is accomplished on this raid because the weather prevents accurate aiming.
Also during the night, a dozen Hampdens also lay mines off of Denmark, a Wellington raids Dunkirk, and 6 bombers go on training missions over Europe. No losses on these missions.
Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine Shch-307 hits a mine and sinks near Suursaari Island (Gogland).
German torpedo boat S.58 sinks Soviet minesweeper/patrol boat No. 80 in the Gulf of Finland.
German auxiliary minesweeper M-1707 hits a mine and sinks in the Gulf of Finland.
Soviet patrol boats attack a German convoy in the Gulf of Finland off Cape Domesnas. They cause the ships to engage in evasive maneuvers, during which German minesweeper M.1707 "Luneburg" comes under fire from Soviet coastal artillery, which causes Luneburg to engage in more evasive maneuvers. The end result is that Luneburg blunders into a German minefield off Arensburg, Ösel Island and strikes a mine, and sinks.
Estonian submarines Kalev (Lt. Cmdr. Nyrov) and Lembit (Lt. Cmdr. Poleschuk) lay mines off Bornholm.
Soviet submarine ShCh-216 is commissioned.
Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy submarine HMS Tigris torpedoes and sinks 1482-ton Norwegian freighter Haakon Jarl off Svaerholt, Norway in the Barents Sea. There are three deaths.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1999-ton British freighter Kindersley a few miles off Blyth. Kindersley makes it to the Blyth on the 18th.
The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN-68 off Aberdeen but scores no hits.
In Operation Kedgreree (part of Operation Ration), the Royal Navy sends ships to sea to intercept what is believed to be a Vichy French convoy carrying contraband destined for Germany. There is a similar mission in the Indian Ocean by cruisers HMS Hawkins and HMAS Australia, with the same code names. Neither of these operations spots any French ships.
A Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor of I,/KG 40 spots Convoy OG-71 and radios the location to BdU in Paris. The Kriegsmarine vectors in U-201 (ObltzS Adalbert Schee), which shadows the convoy.
Spanish freighter Navemar departs from Lisbon bound for Cuba and New York. The ship is overcrowded with 1800 refugees, mainly Jews fleeing Hitler, and conditions are terrible. The ship acquires the nickname "the floating concentration camp."
Convoy WS-10 arrives at Freetown
Group photos of some Royal Marines aboard either HMS Neptune or HMS Kandahar, 17 August 1941. These men all lost their lives later in the year when their ship hit a mine and sank. (Neptune Association).
Battle of the Mediterranean: Dutch submarine O-23, operating in the Sicilian Strait, attacks an Italian convoy sailing from Naples to Tripoli. O-23 torpedoes and badly damages 5479-ton Italian freighter Maddalena Odero. The freighter, escorted by Italian torpedo boats Pegaso and Sirtori, heads for Lampedusa. The RAF (Bristol Blenheim aircraft of No. 105 Squadron) later attacks Maddalena Odero twice, setting its cargo on fire. Maddalena Odero is written off on the 18th.
Tonight's Tobruk run is made by Royal Navy destroyers HMS Kipling and Nizam. The British land supplies and rotate in some Polish troops, then make it back to Alexandria without incident.
Royal Navy submarine Regent is damaged at the dock in Alexandria when one of its own torpedoes explodes. Nobody is injured, but the submarine is damaged.
At Malta, RAF Hurricanes shoot down a Caproni seaplane east of Zonqor Point. RAF No. 800 Squadron Swordfish attack the Italian convoy that O-23 also attacks, claiming hits on three ships, but only the hits on Maddalena Odero are confirmed. Three Hurricanes attack seaplanes in Syracuse harbor, claiming hits on several targets.
Battle of the Pacific: German raider Komet (AMC Schiff 45), operating southeast of the Galapagos Islands, captures 7322-ton Dutch freighter Kota Nopan. The cargo includes valuable commodities including 2800 tons of sago, 1500 tons of rubber, 1200 tons of tin, and 1200 tons of manganese. The Germans put a prize crew on the ship and send it to France (where it arrives safely in November). This is Komet's second success in the area in recent days after a long quiet period in the vastness of the Pacific.
Public hanging in Belgrade, 17 August 1941 (Muzej Revolucije Narodnosti Jugoslavije).
Spy Stuff: German agent Juan Pujol Garcia, who has been sent to London via Lisbon, instead is camping out in Lisbon and only pretending to be in London. His mission is to recruit British spies - in London. Today, from Lisbon, he radios his handler, Friedrich Knappe-Ratey aka "Frederico," and claims that he has successfully recruited a local agent. At this time, Garcia is not yet working as a double-agent - he is simply making up believable nonsense and reporting it as fact.
Partisans: The Germans stage a public hanging on Terazije in Belgrade. This is becoming a standard punishment for suspected partisans and terrorists.
Tito, who has led the partisan movement in Yugoslavia, begins to coordinate his partisan activities with Moscow (Comintern).
The repair workshop on Maleme airfield, Crete, where the dozens of Luftwaffe transport planes damaged during Operation Mercury are being repaired (Krempl, Federal Archive, Bild 183-B10713).
US/Japanese Relations: With President Roosevelt back in Washington following the Atlantic Conference, Secretary of State Cordell Hull brings Japanese Ambassador Nomura in to see him. This is the fourth meeting between Roosevelt and Nomura. Responding to Nomura's request for a summit meeting between Roosevelt and the leader of the Japanese government, Prince Konoye, Roosevelt says he requires a clear statement of Japan's intentions in the Pacific. Roosevelt says that the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union wished for peace for in the Pacific, but few others did (a veiled reference to the Tripartite powers).
Roosevelt seems open to a summit meeting with Konoye. However, he says it cannot be in Hawaii because "I am not permitted to travel in an airplane." He proposes that Konoye come to Juneau, Alaska, Seattle, Washington, or San Francisco. Nomura casually mentions that such a meeting would best be held by mid-September.
Anglo/US/Chinese Relations: The Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking indicates its approval of the Atlantic Charter - though everybody in Asia is scratching their heads about its implications for the region. A common interpretation is that the Americans have refused to go along with British attempts to drag the United States into the war and thus may be more accommodating to the Japanese than previously thought.
Benigno Aquino Sr. (4th from left) with President Manuel L. Quezon, August 17, 1941.
Soviet Military: Admiral Vladimir Tributs is put in charge of the defense of Leningrad.
Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy continues requisitioning merchant ships for use in various roles within the navy. Today, those include:
6486-ton freighter Kenyo Maru
7158-ton Sanuki Maru
17,526-ton liner Kamakura Maru
The IJN converts the Snauki Maru into a seaplane tender, mounting two 150-mm/45 cal single-mount guns, two 80-mm single-mount guns, two 13.2-mm single-mount machine guns, and a catapult. The IJN converts Kamakura Maru into a charter vessel for the Yokosuka Naval District.
American Aggregates railroad car in service at the Oxford, Michigan, gravel pit, 17 August 1941. It remains in existence in 2018 in a railway museum (Donald S. Moore photo from IRM Collection).
British Government: Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden submits a report to the War Cabinet on the current state of morale in Italy. The report finds that Italian civilian and military morale has plummeted during the war and that many Italians dislike the Germans and like the British. The reports cautions, however, that:
The chances of knocking Italy out of the war (ie forcing her to a separate peace) can now be discounted since the Germans would certainly forestall any such move in Italy by converting the present moral occupation into a physical occupation of the country. But the more depressed and restless the Italians become the less effective is the Fascist Government’s contribution to the German effort, and the greater do Germany’s policing responsibilities in Italy become.
The report concludes:
The moral of this is that, even though we cannot now hope to knock Italy out, we should not relax efforts to hit metropolitan Italy by air and from the sea whenever opportunity offers. Each blow against Italy is a blow against Germany.
The RAF based at Malta has been bombing Rome, Milan, and Naples, but overall it has not suffered nearly as much from Allied bombing as has Germany.
Australia: The government approves the formation of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS).
Memorial to the Ludza Massacre of 17 August 1941 (Find a Grave).
Holocaust: From now until 27 August, the Jews of Ludza, Latvia, about 800 people, are taken 7 km out of town. There, they are marched into two long pits, shot, and buried.
Walt Disney, wife Lillian, and his party arrive in Rio de Janeiro, 17 August 1941.
American Homefront: Walt Disney begins a goodwill tour of Latin America. Accompanying Walt on the trip, which is underwritten by a $70,000 government grant, is his wife Lillian and studio personnel Mary Blair, Frank Thomas, Bill Cottrell, Ted Sears, and a dozen other animators. Flying Pan American Airways, the group arrives today in Rio de Janeiro. This is the beginning of a 10-week journey. Thomas later recreates the trip in the documentary "Walt and El Grupo." Thomas credits the trip with enhancing Mary Blair's skills - she becomes one of the most renowned artists, animators, and illustrators in Disney history.
Future History: John Wesley Powell is born in Lakeland, Florida. As "Boog" Powell, he becomes a Major League baseball player best known for his years on the Baltimore Orioles. He wins the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1970 and plays on championship teams in Baltimore in 1966 and 1970. Boog Powell retires in 1977. Boog later explains that "Boog" is a shortening of "bugger," an affectionate nickname for children in the South.
Fritz Wepper is born in Munich, Germany. He becomes a well-known German actor in the late 1950s and plays Inspector Harry Klein in the crime series "Derrick."
Francesco Columbu is born in Ollolai, Sardinia. He becomes a renowned bodybuilder who wins Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981. He alternates titles with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wins the 1980 Mr. Olympia, and the two become friends, with Columbu serving as Schwarzenegger's best man during his marriage to Maria Shriver. Columbu generally is considered to be Schwarzenegger's most famous contemporaneous bodybuilding competitor. Like Schwarzenegger, Columbu branches out into acting, appearing in movies such as "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) and "Ancient Warriors" (2003), as well as television shows and commercials. Schwarzenegger appoints Columbu to the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, where he serves from February 2006 to January 2014.
Gabriella Farinon is born in Oderzo, Italy. Farinon becomes an actress in films such as "Space-Men" (1960) and a prominent television presenter on Italian television public broadcasting company RAI. She remains active throughout the 1960s-1990s and apparently is retired as of this writing in 2018.
Wesel, Brückstraße, Altstadt. In the background Willibrordi Cathedral (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archive, Bild 212-291)
Eastern Front: In the Army Group North sector, German 16th Army begins an offensive on 9 August 1941 toward Kingisepp and Novgorod at the northern tip of Lake Ilmen. German troops already are in Staraya Russa to the south of Lake Ilmen, taking Novgorod would enable the Germans to use the lake as part of the German line. The 21st Infantry Division (General Sponheimer), reinforced by 424th Infantry Regiment of 126th Infantry Division, attacks east along the main road. The offensive advances five miles by nightfall in a very rough and well-fortified area.
In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviets continue attacking the German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya. The Germans repulse the attacks after hard fighting.
In the Army Group South sector, the Uman pocket now has surrendered and the 100,000 prisoners are being processed prior to being sent to POW camps. Pursuant to orders, General von Kleist is driving north toward Kyiv in order to effect a junction with General Guderian's Panzer Group 2. While this makes some sense from an operational viewpoint because the possibility exists of surrounding a large force of Soviet troops, it also alters the initial Army Group South goal of heading south and taking the Crimea, an important objective in Hitler's view. The Stavka takes advantage of this new diversion and begins reinforcing the neck of the Crimea with the 9th Coastal Army (independent) and remnants of other battered armies.
Romanian 4th Army makes some small gains in Ukraine, capturing the villages of Ponyatovka and Razdelnaya, while the German 11th and 17th Armies attack along the Southern Bug River. German 6th Army continues pressing forward in the Kyiv area.
Flak gun at the Bug River in the Soviet Union, 9 August 1941. (Federal Archive, B 145 Bild-F016203-15).
European Air Operations: The RAF has a light schedule today. Its only mission is a Circus Operation with five Blenheim bombers against the Gosnay power station. The bombers get lost or are deterred by fighter opposition and bomb Gravelines instead. All return to base.
During this mission, RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader in his Spitfire Mk VA shoots down a Bf 109 and maybe a second when apparently his plane is hit by either friendly or enemy fire (Bader himself thinks it is a mid-air collision, but other records indicate this is unlikely). Bader successfully parachutes out after losing his right prosthetic leg which becomes ensnared in the falling aircraft (it is later found in an open field but is too damaged to use again). No German pilot is awarded the victory, suggesting strongly that it may have been friendly fire, and there is some other inconclusive evidence to support that theory.
Bader has 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probable victories, one shared probable victory, and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.
The Germans treat Bader with great respect, as they are well aware of RAF propaganda heroes. JG 26 commander Adolf Galland has lunch with Bader but refuses Bader's request to "try out" a Bf 109, explaining, "It would pain me to have to chase you and shoot you down." The Germans are a little too respectful, it turns out, as Bader attempts to escape from his hospital but is quickly recaptured.
Hermann Goering, a former fighter pilot himself, personally authorizes the RAF to air-drop a replacement artificial leg for Bader at St. Omer airfield in the "Leg Operation" on 19 August. Galland later recalls that the British also drop bombs on the Luftwaffe airport in addition to the replacement leg.
Oberstleutnant Hans von Ahlfen confers with officers about a bridge being built across the Bug River as part of the German advance, 9 August 1941 (Federal Archive, B 145 Bild-F016203-19).
Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine SC-307 (Treska), commanded by N. I. Petrov, torpedoes and sinks U-144 (Kptlt. Gert von Mittelstaedt), on its third patrol out of Stormelö, near the Estonian island of Hiiumaa (Dagö). All 28 men on U-144 perish. This is revenge for U-144 sinking 206-ton Soviet submarine M-78 on 23 June 1941, the only victory claimed by U-144.
Soviet auxiliary minesweeper T-487 sinks today from unknown causes.
German 210-ton freighter Gertrude III hits a mine and sinks off Windau/Ventspils, Latvia.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill at Placentia Bay, 9 August 1941.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans continue their aggressive patrols in the far north at the Kola Inlet, sending a destroyer force (Hans Lody, Freidrich Eckholdt, and Richard Beitzen) that sinks Soviet patrol ship SKR.12. The Soviets, as they have done elsewhere when the Germans begin operations in a new area, have reinforced the area and now are able to fight back. They furiously attack the German ships with artillery and air attacks and force them to withdraw. Destroyer Richard Beitzen is damaged by near misses but makes it back to port with the other ships.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Croome rams and sinks Italian submarine Maggiore Baracca northeast of the Azores.
Some sources state that U-206 (ObltzS Herbert Opitz), on its first patrol out of Trondheim, sinks 202-ton British fishing trawler Ocean Victor today. Other sources claim that Ocean Victor is sunk by the Luftwaffe. In any event, Ocean Victor sinks southeast of Iceland roughly halfway between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2345-ton British freighter Cordene, which is traveling in Convoy FN-503 a few miles east of Cromer in the North Sea. Escorting destroyer HMS Electra, on its first escort mission after a refit, picks up the entire crew and takes them to Scapa Flow.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Norwegian 1392-ton freighter Dagny about 20 km east of the southern Faroe Islands. Dagny is in tow of trawler Leicester City when it is attacked. There are two deaths, the rest of the remaining 61 crew and passengers on board are picked up by the trawler.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 868-ton British freighter Glendalough near where the Cordene is sunk off Cromer. Another ship tows Glendalough to Yarmouth Roads for emergency repairs, then to Hull for permanent repairs.
Royal Navy gunboat MGB.62 collides with the gunboat MGB-67, in the North Sea and sinks.
Churchill and Roosevelt aboard USS Augusta, 9 August 1941. Roosevelt, wearing a naval uniform, likes to call himself "former naval person" in his regular cables to Roosevelt.
Norwegian submarine B.1 has an explosion in her engine room caused by her battery at Blyth. The explosion sets off some ammunition, causing extensive damage. The submarine is already under repair and this just adds to its time in the shipyard.
A commercial flight between London and Lisbon spots an unidentified freighter west of La Rochelle. The Royal Navy sends multiple ships out to investigate from Gibraltar and passing convoys, but none finds the ship.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Severn spots a submarine, apparently Italian, several hundred miles west of Tangier in the Atlantic. The Italian submarine apparently notices it is being watched because it immediately submerges. Neither submarine launches an attack.
Convoy HG-70 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Cowslip (Lt. Frederick Granger) is commissioned, minesweeping trawler Shiant is launched.
U-267 and U-360 are laid down.
Star Weekly magazine, August 9, 1941. Star Weekly is a publication of the Toronto Star.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy destroyers HMS Jervis and Kingston make a supply run from Alexandria to Mersa Matruh, while destroyers Decoy and Havock make a supply run from Alexandria to Tobruk.
At Malta, an RAF No. 69 Maryland on patrol over Sicily drops a few bombs in August, damaging some buildings.
Air Marshal Arthur Coningham arrives in Egypt from London and takes command of RAF No. 204 Group in North Africa.
Earl Oliver Hurst, "Cream Puff Sailor," Collier's, August 9, 1941.
Anglo/US Relations: Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales arrives in Placentia Bay carrying British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Atlantic Conference (codenamed Riviera). President Roosevelt has been waiting there for Churchill aboard heavy cruiser USS Augusta for a couple of days idling his time by fishing off the forecastle. The two men quickly get down to business. Meeting on Augusta over lunch and dinner, Churchill and Roosevelt hammer out any remaining issues concerning the Atlantic Charter which the two men intend to sign during the four-day conference. After dinner, Churchill returns to Prince of Wales. The top military staff of the US and the UK get to know each other in a similar fashion.
US Secretary of State Cordell Hull gives a memorandum to Lord Halifax, the British Ambassador. It provides that Hull will confer with his counterpart in England (currently Anthony Eden) in the case of further Japanese military movements to the south (apparently meaning beyond French Indochina).
Finnish/Swedish Relations: A battalion of Swedish volunteers under Finnish command is ordered into the line in southern Finland facing the Soviet enclave of Hango.
British Military: King George VI arrives at Scapa Flow for an inspection.
The New Yorker, August 9, 1941.
Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 8606-ton freighter Kanto Maru and begins converting it into an armed auxiliary aircraft transport. The military version receives 120-mm (4.7-inch) guns at the bow and the stern.
The Imperial General Headquarters staff once again approves a strategy of attacking south toward the oil fields in Indonesia rather than attacking north into the USSR. Attacking the Soviet Union remains under consideration. However, the high command makes a firm decision to do nothing in that regard before the spring of 1942.
Holocaust: Germans execute 534 Jews in Kaunas.
American Homefront: Charles Lindbergh, a prominent figure in the America First anti-war movement, makes a speech in Cleveland that is broadcast over the radio. He warns of interventionists planning "incidents and situations" that will lead the US intentionally into war "under the guise of defending America."
Warner Bros. releases "Manpower," directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft. The film received a lot of publicity during filming due to a reported fistfight on the set between Raft and Robinson, reportedly due to Raft's resentment at Robinson's late hiring which made Robinson the headliner instead of Raft (this may all be studio fakery, though, because it rather suspiciously mirrors a film plot point). Raft turned down "The Maltese Falcon" to make "Manpower," a pretty poor career decision, as "Falcon" made Humphrey Bogart a major film star after years of being just a character actor. "Manpower" goes on to become a box office hit, though it gets mixed reviews and never achieves the rank of a true classic in most filmgoers' eyes.
Saturday Evening Post, August 9, 1941, "Dunked Under Water."
The Looney Tunes cartoon "We, the Animals Squeak" is released on 9 August 1941. It is a colorized Looney Tunes cartoon starring Porky Pig. The cartoon is directed by Bob Clampett. The voices are performed by Mel Blanc, Sara Berner, Billy Bletcher and Michael Maltese. This is one of the Porgy Pig cartoons that is colorized. "We, the Animals Squeak" is a parody of the 1930s radio program, "We the People," an early reality program where people would share unusual stories with the audience. Porky Pig is the program's moderator.
