Monday 28 July 1941

"'Rip' the dog and an ARP Warden survey the scene of devastation following an air raid in Latham Street, Poplar. The bomb crater is full of water. In the background, the remains of the local surface shelter can be seen, which, although slightly damaged, is still largely intact. Piles of rubble and timber can also be seen." 28 July 1941. © IWM (D 5950).

Eastern Front: The German forces make only minimal advances today because Hitler has ordered the consolidation of the massive gains already made. While not welcomed by the commanders at the front, this pause provides a chance for the mechanics to work on vehicles and the infantry to catch up to the leading panzers.

In the Army Group North sector, advance Wehrmacht units of Panzer Group 4 take Kingisepp, 138 kilometers (86 miles) southwest of Leningrad and 40 km (25 miles) south of the Gulf of Finland. The Soviets are preparing to make a stand on the Luga River.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Germans have closed a large pocket around Soviet troops in the vicinity of Smolensk and now are attempting to subdue it. A large group of trapped Soviet forces, led by the 20th Army, prepares to attempt a breakout.

In the Army Group South sector, the Stavka orders Marshal Budenny (Budyonny), in command of 1.5 million men of Southern and Southwestern Fronts, to focus on preventing the Germans from establishing any bridgeheads across the Dneiper. In effect, the Stavka tries to freeze the front and further orders that retreats are only permissible in an easterly direction. The Soviet troops still have an open road to retreat to the southeast, but now they cannot do that.

The Germans, meanwhile, continue compressing the huge concentration of Soviet troops in the Uman area into a smaller and smaller area. The two Soviet Fronts have their headquarters in the town of Podvisokoye (Подвысокое). The Germans continue struggling to close the pocket, with Panzer Group 1 (von Kleist) pushing toward advance units of 17th Field Army (Karl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel) and 16th Panzer Division heading toward the Hungarian Mechanized Corps.

Hauptmann (Captain) Walter Oesau leaves III./JG 3 to take the position of Kommodore of JG 2. Hptm. Werner Andres replaces Oesau as Gruppenkommandeur of III Gruppe JG 3. Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 downs a Russian I-18.

Finnish soldiers, 28 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).

European Air Operations: Weather continues to be poor over northwest Europe. The cloudy conditions make it difficult for bombers to find a particular city, let alone targets of value within them. There is a minelaying operation by 42 RAF bombers during the night in the Baltic.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine ShCh-307 torpedoes and sinks U-144 (Gert von Mittelstaedt) in the Gulf of Finland north of Hiiumaa. All 28 men onboard perish. Most sources place this sinking on 10 August 1941, and that is the generally accepted date for the sinking, but either date is possible. U-144 is in 22. Flotilla and sank one Soviet submarine, M-78, of 206 tons on 23 June 1941.

The Red Air Force bombs and sinks 315-ton German freighter Elbing III near Liepāja, Latvia.

The Red Air Force bombs and sinks German minesweeper R-169 near Libau.

German 3rd S-boat Flotilla is operating off Osel when it sinks 253-ton Latvian icebreaker Lashplesis near Saaremaa (Oesel/Ösel), Estonia.

German patrol boat  V.309/Martin Donandt hits a mine and sinks off Libau. The mine was laid by Soviet minesweeper T-204/Fugas.

A British motorcycle dispatch rider hands off a message to an occupant of a 1/2 ton, 4x4 Dodge Command Reconnaissance Car, 28 July 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: A U-boat wolf pack continues to stalk Convoy OG-69 northwest of Cape Finisterre. Attacks continue throughout the day, and it is a confusing affair, with different U-boat captains claiming the same kills.

U-68 (K.Kapt. Karl-Freidrich Merten) starts things off with Convoy OG-69 in the early morning hours when Merten claims to make an attack. However, the attack fails and U-68 has no success with the convoy now or later.

U-561 (Kptlt. Robert Bartels), on its first patrol out of Hamburg, later in the pre-dawn hours then gets its first-ever victory by torpedoing and sinking 1884-ton British freighter Wrotham in Convoy OG-69. All 26 crew survive. Bartels, like Mertens, claims to make additional attacks, but there is no record of them succeeding.

After dark at 21:27, U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks two ships of Convoy OG-69 in quick succession (with the same spread of torpedoes):

• 1330-ton British freighter Lapland
• 1516-ton Swedish freighter Norita

There are 26-28 survivors of Lapland (everyone survives) and 18 from Noria (two deaths), all rescued by corvette Rhododendron.

The Luftwaffe bombs 212-ton British fishing trawler Strathlochy about 180 miles northwest of Rora Head, Orkneys.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Tamarisk is launched and destroyer Wensleydale and minesweeping trawler Foula are laid down.

Norwegian 4785-ton freighter Highlander, which escaped from internment at Dakar and was being chased by Vichy French patrol boat Edith Germaine, is taken under protection by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Highlander. They proceed to Freetown along with destroyer Boreas.

The ships of Operation EF, the projected raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo, continue steaming toward their destination in northern Norway. The operation's destroyers refuel from fleet oiler Black Ranger near the Russian Kola coast.

Convoy HG-69 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

US Navy destroyer USS Corry is launched.

U-625 and U-626 are laid down.

"Women from the Winnica, Ukraine region come to a detention center to learn the fates of their husbands," 28 July 1941 (Hubner, Federal Archive, Bild 146-1979-113-05).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Utmost torpedoes and sinks 1466-ton Italian freighter Federico C. off Intavolata, western Calabria.

Dutch submarine O-21 torpedoes and sinks 747-ton Italian freighter Monteponi ten miles north of Cape Comino, Sardinia. This becomes a favored scuba-diving site

Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder spots an Axis convoy heading from Tripoli to Naples off Cape St. Vito. It torpedoes and sinks Italian light cruiser Garibaldi. The cruiser makes it to Palermo, Sicily at daybreak on the 29th and is under repair until November 1941.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy lighter A-8 off Bardia. There are 8 deaths. Another lighter, A-14, is nearby but escapes.

The Regia Aeronautica bombs and damages Royal Navy submarine HMS Olympus off Cavoli Light in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The submarine manages to make it back to Gibraltar.

The RAF launches raids from Malta on Sicily that destroy 36 Axis aircraft. The commanding officer of the Regia Aeronautica, General Federigi, perishes in aerial combat over Malta.

The Luftwaffe attacks the Suez Canal during the night.

The nightly run to Tobruk is made by destroyers HMS Hotspur and HMAS Vendetta. Early on the 29th, the ships take off some Australian troops - many of whom are exhausted from spending months isolated in the port with inadequate supplies and Axis shelling - and take them to Mersa Matruh.

Operation Guillotine, the Royal Navy reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as corvette HMS Hyacinth escorts transport Kevinbank to Famagusta.

An RAF night fighter unit begins operation at Malta. It is led by Group Captain George Powell-Shedden and based at Ta Qali.

Soviet POWs at Winnica, Ukraine, 28 July 1941 (Hubner, Federal Archives, Bild 146-1979-113-04).

Special Operations: Operation Chess, which began on 27 July, concludes. Second Lieutenant Philip Pinckney leads 17 men of No. 12 Commando to a landing from two landing craft. Much about this operation is obscure. Even the landing area is uncertain. According to some sources it occurs about two miles from the River Slack near Ambleteuse, Pas-de-Calais, France, while other sources claim it is further south at Fécamp. The landing force arrives at about 01:30 and occupies empty ground for an hour or two, then departs the way it arrived. There are one or two deaths from unknown causes - sources vary - but, apparently, they are not due to enemy action. Cdr. Sir Geoffrey Congreve Bt DSO, the Commando's Senior Landing Officer, is said to have perished during this raid, and perhaps a Lt. J. Templeton RNR and an unidentified rating, but details on the rather uneventful Operation Chess are hard to come by.

A Finnish soldier fires a Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, 28 July 1941. The L-39 weighed 50kg and was one of Finland's main anti-tank weapons. Over 1900 were built in Finland during the war.

Anglo/Finnish Relations: Finnish Foreign Minister Witting meets with British Ambassador Sir Gordon Vereker and rather sheepishly informs him that Finland has to 'interrupt' her diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. Relations with the United States, however, remain fully intact.

Dutch/Japanese Relations: The authorities in the Dutch East Indies ban all oil exports, an obvious slap at the Japanese. This piles on to US sanctions recently imposed.

US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese retaliate for the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States by doing the same to US assets in Japan. This is more of a symbolic move than anything else, as there aren't many US assets in Japan.

Imperial Japanese Navy oiler Otowasan arrives at San Pedro, California to take on a load of oil. However, due to the embargo placed on oil exports to Japan begun on the 26th, it is refused service and must return to Japan only with ballast.

"A Matilda tank and a Valentine of 40th Royal Tank Regiment, 23rd Armoured Brigade, 8th Armoured Division being 'bulled up' at Crowborough in Sussex for a 'Speed the Tanks' parade in London, 28 July 1941." © IWM (H 12185).

German/Vichy French Relations: The Petain government agrees to manufacture Luftwaffe aircraft in France.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives a message from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This continues a pattern in their correspondence in which Churchill sends a stream of messages and Stalin rarely responds (he is said to be "too busy running the war," but this does not seem to hinder Churchill). Churchill comments that President Roosevelt's crony, Harry Hopkins, has left to visit the Soviet Union (by air, though that is not mentioned) and "You will be advised of his arrival through the proper channels." Hopkins is heading for Archangel. As usual, Stalin does not respond.

A Soviet T-28 medium tank lies abandoned in Ukraine, July 1941.

Soviet Military: The Stavka issues Stavka Directive No. 00549, "Concerning Measures to Regulate the Employment of Artillery in the Defense." The general thrust of this directive is to employ massed artillery to weaken sections of the German line prior to counterattacks. While this is eminently reasonable and a staple of tactical doctrine, it is symptomatic of the state of the Red Army that the leadership thinks it necessary to issue such basic instruction.

US Military: The 1st Joint Training Force is formed, with commander Major General Holland M. Smith. This is just a redesignation of the joint US Army and US Marine Corps unit Task Force 18, attached to the US Atlantic Fleet.

German Government: Hitler recently has been clarifying in his own mind the ultimate objectives for Operation Barbarossa (incredibly, he seems not to have done this in any sort of detail before the invasion). According to the diary of his army adjutant, Major Gerhard Engel, today he somewhat randomly comments after the noon situation conference that he considers the southern lands of the USSR more important than Moscow or Leningrad. Engel writes that the Fuhrer reasoned:

Whereas Moscow was a big industrial center, the south was more important, where oil, wheat, more or less everything was located necessary to keep the country going. A land where milk and honey flowed.

Engel concludes his entry by noting that Hitler commented:

One thing at least was absolutely required, and that was a proper concentration of forces. To use Panzers in fighting to demolish cities, that was a sin against the spirit. They had to operate in the open areas of the south. He had already started to hear the cries of those from whom they had been stripped; but that was neither here nor there.

Hitler's generals, however, do not all agree with his economic reasoning. At least some think that taking Moscow would deliver a devastating psychological blow to the Soviet state, regardless of any economic considerations. In fact, some don't just think that but are covertly acting upon their own - and not Hitler's - priorities. Of course, they also would achieve renown by being the conquerors of Moscow.

French Indochina: The Japanese 25th Army begins landing its first of 30-40,000 troops at Saigon, Cam Ranh Bay and other strategic points in southern French Indochina. There are to be naval and air bases designed to project Japanese to the south - where the Japanese military covets sources of oil. The Japanese now have airfields within 300 miles of northern Malaya and naval bases within 750 miles of the British port of Singapore. Some Japanese army troops also arrive in Cambodia, the first of 8000 troops the Japanese will place there.

TIME Magazine, Sir Charles Portal, July 28, 1941.

Burma (Myanmar): The first advance party of General Clare Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG, or Flying Tigers) arrive by ship at Rangoon.

China: The Japanese Imperial Air Force attacks Sichuan Province with 108 aircraft. The Chinese put up only seven fighters in opposition, and lose three planes. Chinese Lieutenant Gao Chunchou (I-153 no. P-7237) is shot down.

Holocaust: A "Euthanasia Program" begins at Auschwitz Concentration Camp when a select team of SS men arrives on Heinrich Himmler's orders. The first group of 573 sick Polish prisoners is taken from Block 15, along with two German criminals, to Sonnenstein Castle. There, under the supervision of  Franz Hössler, the 575 men are exterminated in a shower room converted into a gas chamber. This apparently is the first use of such shower rooms, which quickly become stained blue due to the residue from the gas used.

At Drogobych, Ukraine, locals riot and kill an unknown number of Jews with their bare hands and whatever weapons are handy. Bodies of the dead and dying are thrown in the street.

Captured Soviet T-28 tank with Finnish crew, July 1941.

American Homefront: Judy Garland marries songwriter David Rose. Rose, a native of London, England, leads an orchestra and has his own twice-weekly show on the Mutual Broadcasting System. It is a troubled marriage without issue (and rumors that Rose and Garland's studio, MGM, pressured her into an abortion). They will divorce in 1944.

Future History: Peter Claver Cullen is born in Montreal, Canada. He becomes a noted voice actor, perhaps best known for his role of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s "Transformers" animated series, Eeyore in the "Winnie the Pooh" canon, and the voice of the title character in King Kong (1976). As of this writing in 2018, Peter Cullen remains active, particularly voicing Optimus Prime in new projects.

Life Magazine, "Circus Family," 28 July 1941.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Friday 2 August 1940

Using a bomb trolley to load up a Handley Page Hampden, 2 August 1940.

Battle of Britain: The rainy summer of 1940 continues its wayward way on 2 August 1940, with low cloud cover and occasional light rain over southern England. The Luftwaffe sends over small attacks on Forth Bridge in Scotland, Halton and Christchurch in Hampshire, and mining operations along the east coast.

Both sides lose planes for a variety of causes. Several Luftwaffe bombers fail to return for unknown reasons. The RAF losses, on the other hand, are a sign of a strained air force. For instance, a Spitfire of RAF No. 504 Squadron flips over on take-off at Hornchurch, a Blenheim bomber of RAF No. 219 Squadron overshoots the runway at Leeming airfield, and a Spitfire crashes on take-off whilst on night patrol at Rochford Airfield, killing pilot Squadron leader Cecil Sawyer of No. 65 Squadron. Pilots are tired, training hours have been cut, there are insufficient lighting and support for night operations, and sorties must be conducted despite extreme conditions that would never be tolerated in peacetime.

The official tally from some sources is four lost RAF planes with two pilots lost, and about a dozen Luftwaffe planes lost with 19 pilots missing or dead. However, aircraft losses during the Battle of Britain are an extremely sensitive topic, and also can be imprecise for very innocent reasons. For instance: do you count losses during the RAF bomber raids on the Continent, "accidental" losses, planes which land but are greatly damaged? If so, the figures shift appreciably.

A group of Heinkel He 111s attack shipping off Yarmouth, but are shooed away by Spitfires of RAF No. 19 Squadron based at Duxford.

A formation of Heinkel He 115 seaplanes later attacks the freighter Highlander off Stonehaven. The planes make strafing runs when their bombs miss, and one of them accidentally hits the ship in an unintended Kamikaze-style incident, spinning onto its poop deck after striking a lifeboat davit. The Highlander is only lightly damaged and returns to port with a largely intact He 115 on its deck. The formation also loses another plane to anti-aircraft fire from escort sloop HMS Weston. It is unknown what happened to the crews.

At night, the Luftwaffe continues its pattern of sending an assortment of solo raiders. The raids focus on the west coast of England and Wales and the midlands. There is minelaying in the usual spots such as the Thames Estuary, Aberdeen and elsewhere along the northeast coast, and East Anglia.

While planes do not attack London, some do come into the central area there (known as the London Artillery Zone) apparently for reconnaissance purposes. Swansea gets hits, causing five casualties. The Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton, a favorite Luftwaffe target, is bombed.

There are some isolated German successes. The Luftwaffe sinks Royal Navy anti-submarine trawler HMS Cape Finisterre traveling in a convoy off Harwich. One crewman perishes.

The Luftwaffe badly damages 8006 British freighter City of Brisbane in the Thames Estuary. Run aground to keep it from sinking, the freighter blazes for days. There are 8 deaths.

RAF Bomber Command attacks the Channel Ports with Blenheim bombers, losing several planes. Victory claims are filed by pilots from 4,/JG54, 7,/JG54 and I,/JG2. Bomber Command also launches daylight raids on airfields and oil installations across northwest Europe.

RAF No. 303 (Polish "Kosciuszko") Squadron forms at Northolt from personnel of No. 111 and 112 Squadrons of the Pursuit Brigade. It is the second "Polish" Squadron (that is an informal, not RAF, designation). These "foreign" squadrons are not popular with the top RAF brass due to the unknown quality of their pilots, but they perform quite well. In fact, some consider the Polish Squadrons to be the most effective in the entire RAF. One of 303 Squadron's pilots, Sgt. Josef Frantisek officially joins the RAF and becomes a top ace.

Luftwaffe planes continue dropping copies of Adolf Hitler's 19 July 1940 "Last Appeal to Reason" speech. These at the time are becoming souvenirs and conversation pieces, and over time have become collector's items.

Sgt Eugeniusz Szaposznikow (far right) and others of No 303 (Polish) Squadron RAF at RAF Northolt at its formation on 2 August 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Hurry, the Royal Navy plan to ferry a dozen Hurricane fighters on carrier HMS Argus to Malta with Force H out of Gibraltar, is in motion under the command of Admiral Somerville. The overall operation is one of the most complex undertakings of the war, as the Admiralty is extremely cautious about entering into the Mediterranean with capital ships given Italian air and naval dominance (not to mention possible Vichy French attacks). A diversionary sortie by Admiral Andrew Cunningham's fleet in Alexandria also is at sea, with feints toward the Italian island of Kastellorizo and various points in the Aegean.

The large flotilla of ships in Force H (including battlecruiser HMS Hood, battleships HMS Valiant and Resolution, two cruisers and many destroyers) is at a vulnerable point south of Sardinia. At 02:30, the Argus launches the Hurricanes. As part of the diversionary strategy that includes Operation Spark off Minorca, the Ark Royal attempts to send nine torpedo bombers to attack shipping and airfields around Cagliari at the same time. However, the weather closes in and one plane is lost with its crew, scrubbing the mission until daylight. Several hours later, the attack proceeds, scoring hits on airfields and laying mines despite the intense anti-aircraft fire. They lose one more Swordfish.

The Hurricanes fly off and reach Hal Far airfield Malta around 08:30, greatly strengthening the island's defenses. One Hurricane crashes near the field with engine failure, and the airfield's commander personally drives at madcap speed to the scene and rescues the pilot, Pilot/Sergeant F N Robertson of 66 Squadron. An escorting Skua also crashes on landing but later returns to operation.

The Hurricanes from RAF No. 261 Squadron. Separately, the British submarines HMS Proteus and Pandora arrive in Malta with crews for anti-aircraft guns. There are no air raids during the day, the Regia Aeronautica perhaps distracted by the diversionary operations conducted by the Royal Navy throughout the Mediterranean.

Force H, its mission complete, scrambles back to Gibraltar, pursued fruitlessly by 8 Italian submarines. Some of its ships, including the battleships and HMS Hood, split off for further operations.

23-year-old P/O Witold "Tolo" Łokuciewski upon joining RAF No. 303 Squadron, 2 August 1940. He was among the "Four Musketeers," along with P/O Jan EL "Johnny" Zumbach, P/O Jan KM "Long Joe" Daszewski and P/O Mirosław "Ox" Ferić.

Battle of the Atlantic: Around this date, U-25 hits a mine and sinks off the coast of Norway. The Minefield had been laid by Royal Navy destroyers HMS Esk, Express, Icarus and Impulse. Called Barrage Field No. 7, it is expressly situated in the path of U-boats transiting from Bergen. U-25 is a small Type IA U-boat, not really up to current standards. All 49 men on board perish.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Thames is sunk around this date by a mine (exact dates for these types of incidents are uncertain).
The 94-ton British tug Embrace runs around off the western Scottish coast and is lost.

A Lockheed Hudson from RAF No. 220 Squadron spots U-37 and U-38 together on the surface in the North Sea at 15:08. It attacks without results. In addition, about an hour later after the U-boats split up, Royal Navy submarine O-21 spots one of them and fires two torpedoes at them from extremely long-range, missing.

Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer in U-99 stalks Convoy OB 191 in the Atlantic about 340 miles west of Ireland throughout the day. He has success, but heroic efforts by his victims' crews prevent him from gaining victories.

U-99 torpedoes Norwegian tanker Strinda amidships at 02:51. The crew abandons ship in the dark but reboards it four hours later after the morning light shows it still afloat. They manage to re-start the engines and bring the tanker to port. Tankers are difficult to sink due to their inherent design.

U-99 then torpedoes at 03:43 the tanker Lucerna. Kretschmer surfaces and shells the ship with gunfire when it doesn't sink quickly. However, the tanker manages to elude the U-boat and later makes port.

U-99 then tries again and torpedoes tanker Alexia. The same pattern asserts itself, with the tanker badly damaged but remaining afloat. Once again, Kretschmer surfaces to shell the ship, but it also remains afloat and proceeds on its way.

Convoy FN 240 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 128 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 239 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OG 40 departs from Liverpool, Convoys SL 42 and SLF 42 depart from Freetown.

The Royal Navy reorganizes its Home Fleet destroyers into four flotillas (Destroyer Flotillas 3, 4, 6 and 12) of about 7-8 destroyers each.

British corvette HMS Peony (K 40, Lt. Commander Martyn B. Sherwood) is commissioned.

Hurricanes of RAF No 32 Squadron fly into Biggin Hill,  August 1940.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Kriegsmarine raider Atlantis, disguised as Dutch freighter Tarifa, captures 6732-ton Norwegian freighter Talleyrand, uses it as a target ship, and eventually scuttles it. The 36-man crew becomes POWs.

The RAF bombs Italian positions at Zula, Eritrea and other locales in the vicinity.

US Government: President Roosevelt and his cabinet bruit about ways to transfer 50 or 60 destroyers to the British, which all agree is necessary and proper. It is all about finding some legal way to do it.

President Roosevelt says that the draft is necessary because there is a "real possibility the US will soon have to fight alone."

General Spaatz meets with "Wild Bill" Donovan in London about the status of the Battle of Britain.

Soviet/German Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov confirms the alliance with Germany despite strains in the relationship over Soviet territory grabs in Romania and various issues over trade.

German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asks the German Ambassador to Moscow, Count von Schulenburg, to ask Molotov what it would be willing to give up in exchange for its desire (expressed on 13 July to the ambassador) to retain the strip of Lithuanian territory allocated to Germany under the secret protocols of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact of 23 August 1939.

German Government: Abwehr chief Admiral Canaris, back from his visit to Spain, discusses the prospects for invading Gibraltar with General Keitel (Operation Felix).

British Government: Canadian businessman William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook ("Lord Beaverbrook"), Minister of Supply for Aircraft Production, joins Prime Minister Winston Churchill's inner "War Cabinet."

"Photoflash" reconnaissance shows that RAF bombing accuracy is extremely poor. This is a subject that will occupy a lot of staff work and study during the war. The Luftwaffe's accuracy also is poor when the target is isolated factories and other industrial targets rather than large cities.

Vichy France: The trial against Free French General Charles de Gaulle concludes with a death sentence. They also seize his property.

Strict rationing imposed due to the British blockade.

Luxembourg: Germany appoints a civilian administrator over Luxembourg to replace the military governor.

USSR: The Moldavian SSR is formed from former Romanian territory in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.

Holocaust: The restrictions on German Jews continue growing. Jewish Germans are now banned from owning telephones and may shop during certain hours in the afternoon. Jewish hospitals are not allowed to paint a red cross on the roof to deter bombing. The ironic thing from the German point of view is that many non-Jewish German citizens suffer due to such petty and ridiculous laws.

French soldiers pose for a tourist snapshot in front of the Arc de Triomphe some time during August 1940.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020