Thursday 6 February 1941

U-107 returning from a successful patrol, as evidenced by all the victory pennants. Today, 6 February 1941, it sinks its third ship on its very first patrol, the 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Operations in Greece remain at a standstill on 6 February 1941. The weather is inhibiting both sides. The Greeks have captured the gateway to the strategic port of Valona, the Klisura Pass, but so far they have been unable to capitalize on this success. The Greeks are planning another attack for the middle of the month. At this point, the Greek hopes to capture Valona fast so that they can shift forces to the Bulgarian frontier to oppose an expected German invasion there  have been frustrated despite early indications of success. The RAF bombs Italian positions west of the Telepini Heights which the Greeks have recently recovered despite fierce resistance from Italian Blackshirts.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, the British troops (the 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division) are supplemented by the arrival of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Indian soldiers retain an exposed position to the left of the Dongolaas Gorge which controls entry to Keren proper, much like a drawbridge and gate control entrance to a castle. However, while the British are off to a good start, the Italians have heavily fortified positions in the surrounding heights and retain a tight grip on the gorge itself, which, because of the terrain, the British troops cannot bypass. The Indian troops rest after their march from Agordat and prepare for a major attack on the 7th.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Boulogne with 25 bombers during the day, and Dunkirk with 24 bombers after dark. The Luftwaffe does little during the day or after dark.

German battlecruiser Scharnhorst in rough North Atlantic seas during Operation Berlin in February 1941. This picture was taken from the Gneisenau.

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refuel from tanker Schlettstadt south of Cape Farewell, Iceland and proceed south toward the shipping lanes. Admiral Lütjens, in command of Operation Berlin, decides to first attack the HX and SC convoys between Canada and Great Britain. He heads to the southwest, closer to the North American mainland than previous naval battles south of Greenland.

The Allies still have no idea where the German raiders are, though they are looking for them furiously. The Germans are under standing orders to avoid engagements with capital ships and certainly do not want to draw any attention until they strike a convoy. While most convoys have few escorts at all in the mid-Atlantic, and fewer still have battleship escorts, it is impossible to know in advance which do and which do not have protection, and what degree of protection they have. Thus, as much as anything, the two German ships are heading into the unknown.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau aren't the only German surface ships in operation. The Kriegsmarine 2nd MTB Flotilla makes a sortie against a convoy in the Ipswich area. S-30 sinks 501-ton British freighter Angularity. There are two deaths, and one crewman is picked up by the Germans and made prisoner.

U-107 (K.Kapt. Günther Hessler), on its first (and very successful) patrol, torpedoes and sinks 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt. It is traveling in Convoy SC 20 in the Northwest Approaches. Everybody on board perishes.

Battleship HMS King George V arrives back in Scapa Flow from its journey to America to deliver Lord Halifax to Washington.

Convoy WS (Winston Special) 6A forms off Liverpool. It includes more large troop transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy HG 53 departs from Gibraltar, bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Quantock (Lt. Commander David J. A. Heber-Percy) and minesweeping trawler HMS Coriolanus (W. D. Bishop) are commissioned.

U-556 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Wohlfarth) is commissioned, U-176 is laid down.

At the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wing B, 2nd Floor, Gallery 18A, an exhibit opens today called “French Fashions, 1800-1900.” It runs from February 6 to March 26, 1941 (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art.) This is such a timeless historical picture; while taken in 1941, it could just as easily have been taken at a similar exhibit last week. Roughly speaking, this exhibit in 1941 showed a period which is about as far back in time as World War II is as I write this.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Many histories place today as when the British capture Benghazi. That, however, seems a bit premature. The Italians are evacuating the city, but it remains in their hands as the day ends. In any event, the actual date of the "fall" of the city is of little moment, as the Italians have no intention to defend it.

South of Benghazi, in the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italian 10th Army is trapped on the main road (the Italo Balbo) between the Australian 6th Infantry Division behind them and the Combe Force in front of them. The retreating Italian column is strung out along 7 miles of the road. The Italians have new tanks and a 4:1 advantage in numbers, but their tanks - though new - are inferior and the Italian tactical situation dire.

Lieutenant-General Annibale Bergonzoli in command of the XX Motorised corps tries to break out first thing in the morning, making a diversionary frontal attack while sending the Babini Group (mainly tanks) through the desert to try to get behind Combe Force. However, the British have brought up 32 cruiser tanks and 42 light tanks, and the Italians make little progress. The Australians, meanwhile, reach Benghazi and attack it from the north.

The Italians continue evacuating Benghazi, sending a greater force to the southwest, but the British block on the main road to the south holds. Italian M13 tanks arrive from the city, but many are quickly knocked out - the Italians quickly lose 40 tanks. The Italian artillery proves effective against the British cruiser tanks, though, and Italian vehicles manage to make some progress over rough terrain to the south. A running battle develops, with some Italian vehicles making a run for Tripoli, others surrendering, and more British armor arriving. In confused actions, the Italians make some progress, but the mass of British armor remains intact and draws a tighter cordon around the Italians.

While Operation Compass is an astounding success, it also has imposed a huge strain on the British forces. While the Italians are not much of an obstacle, the climate and terrain are. The desert air becomes loaded with sand at regular intervals, playing havoc with aircraft and other engines. The Middle East Command's RAF headquarters wires Whitehall today, noting that problems are developing with engine maintenance. Simply operating in the desert without adequate engine filters and equipment specially designed for such conditions is softening the British up for a possible counterstroke by fresh Axis forces.

Erwin Rommel already is a legend in February 1941. A hero of two world wars, if he never does another thing, his place in history still would be secure. However, fate now leads him to entirely new challenges.

In Germany, events of far-reaching significance for the war in Africa take place today which in fact promises just such a counterstroke. Having watched the continuing collapse of Italian resistance despite good defensive possibilities, the German high command - Hitler - issues an order to deploy German troops to North Africa. This is Operation Sonnenblume - “Sunflower.” Chosen to command Operation Sunflower is General Erwin Rommel, the hero of the Battle of France while leading the 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division.

The Operation Sunflower force is envisaged as a supplement to the Sperrverband (blocking detachment) previously authorized in Fuhrer Directive No. 22 of 11 January 1941. This is just a couple of divisions, the 5th Light Afrika Division (Generalmajor Johann von Ravenstein) and elements of the 15th Panzer Division (Oberst Maximilian von Herff). None of those troops have reached North Africa yet, but the 5th Light Division is almost ready to go. The North African Wehrmacht force (later named Afrika Korps (DAK)) is not intended as a war-winning effort by itself, but simply as a way of stiffening Italian troops already there so that the Italian position can be maintained and the Italians perhaps encouraged to fight better.

Rommel apparently is not Hitler's first choice to lead this new operation. Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus, deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I), later recalls that he was offered the position first, but turned it down. However, when discussing it with his wife, she apparently says that being a secondary theater, North Africa is not a place where a General could ever make a name for himself. Russia - that was the place for a German General to really succeed.

Force H out of Gibraltar departs for another attempt to launch Operation Result (now Grog), the bombardment of Genoa. The Force (Group 1) is lead by battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and battlecruiser HMS Renown. The operation will include a feint toward Sardinia, the scene of the recent aerial attack on a dam which failed and presumably the Italians may believe will be repeated.

The British lose two more ships due to the German mining of the Suez Canal. The ships, 1500 ton hoppers No. 34 and No. 39, compound the problems the British are facing in clearing the Canal, which remains blocked from earlier sinkings. There are two deaths on No. 39.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt nominates John Gilbert "Gil" Winant as Joseph Kennedy's Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Winant is publicly on record as supporting Roosevelt's own view that Great Britain constitutes the "front lines" against Hitler, and its war effort should be supported wholeheartedly without any thought of negotiation or the possibility of Great Britain losing. This is directly contrary to Kennedy's view that England was sure to lose to Germany and should be negotiating, not fighting.

German/Spanish Relations: Adolf Hitler already basically has given up on Operation Felix due to the logistical requirements of preparing for the upcoming Operation Barbarossa. However, today he sends another lesson to Caudillo Francisco Franco. In it, Hitler says that England has no intention of helping Spain, while German already has promised 100,000 tons of grain. He concludes that "the British power in Europe is broken," and that the Wehrmacht is "the mightiest military machine in the world."

Anglo/Japanese Relations: The War Cabinet minutes for today mention a report by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden about Japan. According to Eden, the Japanese government has told its Embassy staff in London to be ready to "leave the country at short notice," and that Washington has been apprised of this information. A separate diary entry by Sir Alexander Cadogan addresses this more bluntly: "Some more very bad-looking Jap telephone conversations, from which it appears they have decided to attack us."

104th Medical Battalion, 29th Infantry Division as it moves to its new post at Fort Meade, 6 February 1941. The 104th later landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 23, "Directions For Operations Against The English War Economy." It begins "Contrary to our former view" - apparently meaning that the Luftwaffe bombing command on English factories has failed - "the heaviest effect of our operations against the English war economy has lain in the high losses in merchant shipping." The order candidly confesses that:

The least effect of all (as far as we can see) has been made upon the morale and will to resist of the English people.

Thus, those who supported the switch to terror bombing on 7 September 1940 are recognized as having been wrong - and disastrously so, though that will not become apparent for some time.

The "consequences" of all these mistakes in the aerial campaign against Great Britain are:

More focused air attacks against British shipping assets;
An increased orientation on stopping British imports.

The striking thing about this Directive is how pessimistic it is and how low a priority Great Britain is to become. Operations are to be continued "by such forces as remain available for operations against England." It also gets into minutiae of target priorities, showing that the high command feels the Luftwaffe needs special guidance to attack the right places. The order may not be an actual slap in the face of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (who opposes Operation Barbarossa), but it certainly comes close.

Grooms and stablehands at Santa Anita Park vote to strike, 6 February 1941 (LA Times).

British Military: The RAF establishes the Directorate of Air Sea Rescue aka Air Sea Rescue Services (ASRS) aka the RAF Search and Rescue Force. This force operates closely with Coastal Command.

British Government: The British House of Commons votes for a£1,600,000,000 war credit, money which the country essentially does not have.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill continues his war against the British press. He sends a memorandum to Information Minister Alfred Duff Cooper noting a recent BBC report that apparently gave hints as to future British strategy in North Africa. He tells Duff Cooper to "clean up your arrangements and tone up your men."

US Government: Charles Lindbergh testifies before Congress again today. This time, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he opposes the Lend-Lease Bill, saying that it will only deplete US defenses.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he is in Cairo. Menzies has dinner with British Middle East Commander General Wavell and RAF chief Longmore, among others. Menzies notes in his diary that his talk "seems encouraging to these Generals & Marshals." His words of encouragement are probably very welcome by the Middle East command team, as London has been far from encouraging recently with all of its talk about the supposedly inefficient "tooth to tail ratio" and switching forces to Greece.

Norway: The Bishops of Norway begin to resist the German occupying forces.

China: The Chinese 5th War Area takes possession of Nanyang, burnt to the ground by the departed Japanese 11th Army.

Future History: Gigi Perreau is born in Los Angeles, California. Gigi goes on to become a child actress in films such as "Madame Curie" (1943). She remains popular until she is too old for her child roles, and in 1959 turns to television. Gigi Perreau remains active in the industry, doing voice work in "Time Again" (2011) and other recent films. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is or was a member of the board of directors of both the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts and the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

Babe Ruth cuts the cake in his New York City apartment at the Ansonia on his 46th birthday, 6 February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Tuesday 31 December 1940

"A 7.2-inch howitzer in action during the attack on Bardia, 31 December 1940." © IWM (E 1513).

Overview: The year 1940 now comes to a close, and it has been military successful for Germany. This is the best year-end position it ever will hold. Germany has the strategic initiative, its people are well-fed (from captured lands and stolen goods), and its allies, satellites, and dominions are docile. The Wehrmacht is busy increasing its forces, creating new divisions and solidifying control over conquered nations. Hitler is able to plan new invasions and operations without hindrance.

However, not everything is quite as rosy for Germany as the military status quo would make it appear. Germany's military advantage already is dissipating. Great Britain remains unsubdued, and its backing by the United States has grown steadily throughout the year. In fact, just a couple of days ago, on 29 December, President Roosevelt basically announced during his "Arsenal of Democracy" speech that his goal - and that of the United States - was the defeat of Germany. That is not a good omen for Germany. While the full weight of the US is not being felt yet, already it is proving to be Great Britain's lifeline and the only thing still keeping it in the war (except, perhaps, for Hitler's timidity about invading it). Indications are that US public opinion is shifting dramatically in favor of Great Britain and against Germany.

The Luftwaffe remains ascendant, but the balance never has been so far in its favor as to say that it has aerial supremacy. At this stage, Germany essentially controls the daylight skies over Europe, but that is not stopping mounting RAF raids. The German shift to area bombing on 7 September 1940 has done nothing to improve its military position and has simply invited reprisal raids. It also may be a factor in changing US opinion about the war, as daily Blitz broadcasts by reporters such as Edward R. Murrow paint the Germans as predators and killers (and no such broadcasts are made showing RAF attacks on Germany and France). The German change in bombing tactics right when the RAF was in trouble was a tremendous tactical error and a public relations disaster.

The Kriegsmarine has had a number of surprising successes and no giant failures to date. However, The Royal Navy controls the surface despite the slipperiness of numerous German raiders around the world. Possession of the French and Norwegian coasts makes further German U-boat gains likely, but Germany's surface fleet remains hopelessly outclassed with no signs of parity within sight.

The German shift toward a peripheral strategy in the Mediterranean is proving to be a failure. It relies upon the Italians, and the Italians are weak. Italian troops are numerous, but they refuse to fight except when holding an overpowering advantage. Excepting the great success over the summer in British Somaliland, a victory accomplished with a relative handful of troops, every Italian military initiative during 1940 - the ludicrous tiny advance in southern France, the bizarre participation in the Luftwaffe's assault on England, the ghastly reversals in Albania and North Africa - has been a colossal embarrassment. Hitler already is having to alter his strategy to support Italy, by moving Luftwaffe units to the Mediterranean and planning Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece (and, ultimately, Yugoslavia as well). Looking over the entire span of the war, Italy's failures in 1940 are the first nail in Germany's coffin. Italy's failures also are raising doubts in France and Spain that are limiting German possibilities. Rather than helping Germany, Italy already is becoming a drag on the war effort and giving the Allies successes that should never have occurred.

One concludes that Germany's position is powerful but tenuous. Stalin continues to back Hitler, though he is trying to drive a hard bargain for military support. The US remains on the sidelines militarily but holds the world balance of power. In Europe, Germany controls the land, while Great Britain controls the seas. Neither side can defeat the other - unless something dramatic changes.

President Roosevelt as shown in Universal Newsreels, Release 941, December 31, 1940 (filmed on 29 December as part of his Arsenal of Democracy speech). Roosevelt holds the world balance of power.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The major Greek counter-offensive is over by 31 December 1940. However, the Greeks continue minor actions to improve their positions. Greek II Corps is attacking in the vicinity of the Klisura Pass, which is defended tenaciously by the Italian Julia Division. The Greeks are making small gains.

The RAF attacks the Italian supply port at Valona (Vlorë).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command targets German transportation nodes such as bridges at Cologne, Rotterdam, Ijmuiden, and Emmerich. The Luftwaffe sends a few solo raiders across during the day, one of which strafes a passenger train in Kent. The Luftwaffe does not attack after dark.

December 1940 has seen the widest dispersion of Luftwaffe attacks and with the greatest intensity. During the month, the following cities were targeted with concentrated attacks, meaning over 50 tons of high explosives:

• London (3 attacks, 605 tons of high explosives, 4129 incendiaries)
• Liverpool/Birkenhead (2 attacks, 485 HE, 1701 incendiaries)
• Manchester (2 attacks, 467 HE, 1925 incendiaries)
• Sheffield (2 attacks, 435 HE, 1057 incendiaries)
• Birmingham (3 attacks, 409 HE, 1317 incendiaries)
• Bristol (2 attacks, 198 HE, 773 incendiaries)
• Southampton (1 attack, 147 HE, 586 incendiaries)
• Portsmouth (1 attack, 88 HE, 148 incendiaries).

Total civilian casualties during December 1940: 3793 deaths, 5244 serious injuries.

The Daily Mail of 31 December 1940 features Herbert Mason's famous shot from Fleet Street of St. Paul's Cathedral. Not to take anything away from the paper or the shot, but the extreme damage to buildings in the foreground appears to be deliberately obscured. It is much more visible in other copies of this famous photograph. The British government was careful about what was shown in the press, though whether they were involved in this is unclear. Just an observation, in most versions of this picture it is cropped just to focus on St. Paul's, and that may have been the only intent here, too.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe), operating in the Northwest Approaches about 200 miles south of Iceland, finds a straggler from Convoy HX 97, 3760-ton Swedish freighter Valparaiso, and torpedoes and sinks it. There are no survivors, and one of the survivors of the Anglo Saxon is on board and also perishes; 35 men perish in all.

U-65 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), operating much further south than other U-boats, also finds an easy target, a tanker sailing a straight course east of the Cape Verde Islands. Stockhausen fires two torpedoes at 17:52, but both miss. Stockhausen does not give up but instead trails the tanker north for several hours. Finally, a third torpedo at 23:00 hits and damages 8532-ton British tanker British Zeal off the coast of Africa. The 50-man crew abandons ship, and then Stockhausen puts a second torpedo into the tanker. Stockhausen assumes the tanker is finished, but the next morning the crew in their lifeboats see the tanker still afloat, though very badly damaged. They reboard and find the engines intact, but abandon the ship again out of fear that the U-boat is still lurking. However, after another night in the lifeboats, the crew re-boards again the following morning and raises steam. Even with all of its damages - three tanks on the starboard side flooded and massive damage to the deck - the tanker proceeds on its way. It ultimately is towed to Freetown and undergoes temporary repairs. Ultimately, it sails to Baltimore for permanent repairs and then returns to service in February 1942.

The seas remain rough, leading to more collisions. German 764 ton freighter Porjus collides with another ship near Brunsbüttel, Schleswig-Holstein and sinks.

British 390 ton freighter St. Fergus also collides with 1574 ton Glasgow freighter Fidra east of Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire and sinks. In such situations, the bigger ship usually (but not always) wins.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Berwick, badly damaged during the Christmas encounter with German cruiser Admiral Hipper, makes port at Gibraltar. After landing her wounded, the Berwick will proceed to Portsmouth for permanent repairs.

Convoy FN 372 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 376 departs from Methil.

Allied shipping losses for December 1940 to the listed causes (amounts vary by sources, so any figures are approximate):

• U-boats: 76 ships, 212,590 tons
• Luftwaffe: 14,890 tons
• Surface Raiders: 55,728 tons
• Mines: 54,331 tons

No U-boats lost in December. However, the Axis loses 11 ships of 55,138 tons in the Mediterranean.

• Total losses for 1940:
• Allies: 1,059 ships 4,055,706 tons
• Axis: 22 U-boats, 20 Italian submarines

The Germans end the year with 27 U-boats available for service in the Atlantic. Typically, at any particular time, 1/3 are on station, 1/3 are traveling to or from their station, and 1/3 are in port. The Italian submarines, while numerically much greater than the U-boats, are spread out throughout the Mediterranean and in the vicinity of the Azores and have a much lower success rate than the U-boats. The Royal Navy lost 9 submarines in the Mediterranean during the year, and they sank only 10 Italian merchant ships totaling 45,000 tons. However, they have proven quite useful at times in ferrying supplies to Malta.

Captain George Lindemann returns from his holiday and re-assumes command of the battleship Bismarck.

Big Christmas party on board HMS Hood, as recounted by future US Admiral Joseph Wellings. Everybody he encounters that night in the well-attended function, from the Admiral and Captain on down, will perish in May 1941, after he leaves the ship.

U-126 launched.

Soviet submarine M-34 joins the Black Sea Fleet, while Soviet submarine S-54 joins the Pacific Fleet.

This Consolidated PB2Y-2, bureau number 1633, is the first production Coronado four-engine flying boat. It is delivered to the US Navy on 31 December 1940. Here it is shown, sans-camouflage, in flight. This is probably somewhere in the vicinity of San Diego.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Australian 6th Division continues rehearsing its assault on Italian-held Bardia. Australian General Mackay has postponed the start of the assault by 24 hours, from the morning of the 2nd to the 3rd. This will give him more time to site artillery and bring up ammunition.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dainty captures 231-ton Italian schooner Tiberio and 244-ton schooner Maria Giovanni en route between Bardia and Tobruk. The Italians are trying to transfer people to Tobruk because it is considered less vulnerable. Dainty seizes them while it is escorting gunboats HMS Aphis and Ladybird to Bardia and Sollum in preparation for the Australian assault on Bardia.

Greek submarine Katsonis (Lt Cdr Spanides, RHN) makes a surface attack on 531-ton Italian tanker Quinto in the Bay of Valona. It sinks the Quinto with gunfire.

The Royal Navy forms Submarine Flotilla 8 at Gibraltar. It will include HMS Olympus, Otus, and Pandora, which are all in the process of traveling there or already have made port.

Royal Navy gunboat HMS Ladybird parked off Bardia, 31 December 1940.

Anglo/French Relations: Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives Pierre Dupuy, the Canadian chargé d'affaires for the Canadian legations for France, Belgium and the Netherlands, a proposal for Marshal Petain. Canada has not broken relations with France, and Dupuy has been shuttling (secretly) between England and France, maintaining a back-door line of communications unknown to Hitler. Churchill claims this is his only means of communication with Petain, though Petain has his own emissary who visits London via Lisbon with some regularity.

Churchill proposes according to his memoir, "The Second World War," Vol. II, pp. 550-51), that Vichy France "profit by the favorable turn of events." To do that, France should re-join the war against the Axis. Great Britain was prepared to land six divisions of troops in Morocco if Petain agrees to switch sides. This is all well and good, but Churchill does not explain how he would stop the Germans from then occupying the rest of France itself.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill cables President Roosevelt in reference to the latter's 29 December "Arsenal of Democracy" fireside chat:

I thank you for testifying before all the world that the future safety and greatness of the American Union are intimately concerned with the upholding and the effective arming of that indomitable spirit.... All my heartiest good wishes to you in the New Year of storm that is opening upon us.

Churchill also references the destroyers-for-bases deal of September 1940. The formerly US destroyers, the Royal Navy has found, are of limited value. The British crews despise them, and they require extensive refits before being useful. Of the 50 turned over to the British, only 9 are in service with the Royal Navy, the others undergoing various modifications and upgrades. Some are in such bad shape that the Admiralty doesn't want them in normal service, but instead is trying to figure out ways to use them for such purposes as running them into German-held Channel ports and blowing them up. Churchill pointedly annexes a list of problems with the destroyers to his telegram, "in case you want to work up any of the destroyers lying in your yards."

Of course, the real value of the destroyers-for-bases deal was not the destroyers themselves, which are almost incidental; it is getting US troops to take over defense of British bases in the Atlantic, freeing up British troops for other purposes, and cementing the relationship between the United States and Great Britain - or, more specifically, the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. In that latter sense, the deal has been phenomenally successful.

Roosevelt also sends Churchill a telegram today on another topic: humanitarian relief to occupied Europe. In a message drafted by Sumner Welles, Roosevelt proposes "for humanitarian and also political reasons" giving "limited quantities of milk and vitamin concentrates for children." These will be shipped through the International Red Cross to Spain and Vichy France (not the parts occupied by Germany, which is the greater part of France). Spain long has been on Roosevelt's mind, but this message adds unoccupied France to the list. Churchill would have to approve such a measure due to the British blockade of anything useful going to Europe. Churchill so far has been resistant to such shipments, figuring that it gives aid to the enemy. Roosevelt hints that aiding Spain and Vichy France might make them more susceptible to deserting Hitler, something that Churchill - likely unknown to Roosevelt - is actively working on today.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asks Attorney General Robert Jackson to investigate Memphis, Tennessee. Atlanta Daily World, 31 December 1940.

German/Italian Relations: Churchill's memoir also references a letter from Hitler to Mussolini of today's date. Hitler complains that, given the British advance in North Africa, Operation Felix, the proposed assault on Gibraltar, is now no longer feasible because Spanish leader Franco has gotten cold feet. "Spain, profoundly troubled by the situation, which Franco thinks has deteriorated, has refused to collaborate." Having Gibraltar, he whines, would have kept the French in northwest Africa from considering changing sides. Hitler, however, says that he "still had the hope, the slightest hope, that Franco will realize at the last minute the catastrophic consequences of his conduct." However, he admits to Mussolini that Operation Felix is indefinitely postponed, and the "German batteries which were to be sent to reinforce the Spanish islands and coast are not to be delivered."

German/Soviet Relations: Replying to a letter from Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler writes Stalin a personal letter dated 30 December 1940. Addressed "Dear Mr. Stalin," Hitler vows to "put an end to this rather drawn-out affair by seizing and occupying the heart of the British Empire - the British Isles." He claims that German troops are only in Poland for "reorganization and training" and to keep them away from British bombers and intelligence. He promises that "beginning in approximately March" these troops will be "moved to the Channel coast and the western coast of Norway." He also intends, he says, to use these troops to "force the British out of Greece" by moving them south through Romania and Bulgaria. You may read the letter here.

In his letter to Mussolini of today's date, Hitler writes that "our present relations with the USSR are very good." He lists a few reasons why, and concludes that there was "considerable hope that we can resolve in a very reasonable manner the remaining points at issue... and reach a solution which will avoid the worst...."

Finnish/Soviet Relations: The Helsinki government terminates the Finland-Soviet Peace and Friendship Society.

New Year's Eve on Broadway, 31 December 1940. While this is only a small group of people, Times Square is jam-packed for the celebration.  Photo: Daily News/UCLA Digital Collection.

German Military: Hitler sends out a New Year's Order of the Day to the Wehrmacht (as recorded by the monitoring services of the BBC). In it, he writes:

According to the will of the warmongering democrats, and of their capitalist and Jewish allies this war must be continued. The representatives of the crumbling world hope that in 1941 it may be perhaps possible to do that which was impossible in the past. We are ready. We find ourselves at the beginning of 1941, armed as never before. I know that each one of you will do his duty. God, great and powerful, does not abandon the man who is threatened by a world of enemies, and who is determined to defend himself with a firm and stout heart. Soldiers of the National Socialist Armed Forces of Greater Germany, the year 1941 will bring us, on the Western Front, the completion of the greatest victory of our history.

As usual, Hitler casts the war as a defensive struggle, even as he plans to invade not one, but a handful of new countries.

American Homefront: Investor sentiment about the US economy remains in the doldrums: the Dow Jones Industrial Average concludes the year at 131.13, completing a 12.72% loss for 1940. The Great Depression remains in force, despite some upswings at various points during the 1930s.

Bette Davis marries businessman Arthur Farnsworth in Rimrock, Arizona.

Future History: Princess Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria, is born in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1967, she marries Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, heir presumptive to both the former Bavarian Royal House and the Jacobite Succession. They have five daughters. Max, incidentally, is the great-grandson of King Ludwig III of Bavaria, the last King of Bavaria and cousin of famous King Ludwig II, the builder of famous Neuschwanstein Castle. Max and Elisabeth live at Schloss Tegernsee and Schloss Wildenwart, not too far from Füssen, the town near Neuschwanstein Castle.

A holiday costume party in Riga, Latvia, 31 December 1940. Many of those pictured perished in the Holocaust.

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

Tuesday 10 December 1940

An Italian POW carries his dog into captivity, guarded by a British soldier. 10 December 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Compass, the British attack on advanced Italian positions in Egypt, continues on 10 December 1940. Thousands of Italian troops of the Italian 4th Blackshirt Division and some Libyan formations have been pushed northward from their desert camps - place inland in part due to Royal Navy bombardments - to a 16x8 km pocket near Sidi Barrani. The British 16th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Division comes forward to hem them in. The attack beings at 16:00, and by nightfall a couple of hours later, the British have taken Sidi Barrani itself.

With Selby Force blocking any retreat, the Italian 4th Blackshirt Division 3 Gennaio and two Italian Libyan Divisions must while away another night in the pocket without any food, water or shelter. The British troops are held up more by a sudden sandstorm than by anything the enemy is doing. The British don't even know how many Italian prisoners they have caught: the Coldstream Guards report simply that there are hundreds of acres of prisoners. General Wavell in Cairo, satisfied that the Italians no longer pose a threat, begins withdrawing troops to send south to Sudan. There, he hopes to terminate the endless back-and-forth around the border outpost of Kassala.
The Royal Navy sends the Mediterranean Fleet to sea from Alexandria in order to assist operations in the Western Desert. Force C (led by battleships HMS Barham and Valiant) and D (led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious) sail to bombard Sollum and Tobruk, respectively. The fleet also will come in handy if the Italians attempt a seaborne rescue. Overnight, monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and Aphis shell the Italian base at Maktila and causes the Italians there to abandon it.

The RAF also is very active today, particularly in harassing Italians retreating along the coast road to Libya. Force H sails from Gibraltar to help out as well.

In the Gulf of Aden, Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Southampton bombards Kismayo, Somalia. Japanese 5028-ton freighter Yamayuri Maru is damaged. This may be the first Japanese ship damaged by a western power during World War II.

Italian 5257-ton freighter Marangona hits a mine and sinks 50 km south of Pantelleria. It apparently hit an Italian mine.

German freighter Marburg hits a mine and sinks northeast of Ithaca, Greece in the Ionian Sea.

Pilots of No 312 (Czechoslovakian) Squadron RAF mock a scramble after receiving an alert at RAF Duxford in December 1940. The Czech fourth in line has been identified as Sgt Jan Truhlář. These guys fought in France, fought through the Battle of Britain, and are still fighting.

Western Front: In a unique incident, a German coastal gun at Cap Gris Nez scores a lucky hit in Hellfire Corner near the 13.5-inch British "Peacemaker" rail gun sited at Martin Mill, England. The explosion destroys one of the gun's sets of carrying wheels (bogies) and kills one of the accompanying Royal Marine gunners. This may be the only military fatality on English soil caused by German ground fire in two world wars.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue slogging through the snow in the mountains, with Greek II Corps capturing the high ground northwest of Pogradets. The RAF raids the port of Valona (Vlorë).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a small raid of four Blenheims against the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen. The RAF also bombs several invasion ports along the Channel coast. The Luftwaffe sends a few desultory raids into East Kent and Esses.

Fliegerkorps X transfers from Norway to Sicily and southern Italy. This force includes Junkers Ju 87 Stukas and is under the command of General Hans Ferdinand Geisler. His first priority, according to Hitler: "Illustrious mussen sinken" ("Sink HMS Illustrious"). The force will include about 100 aircraft, most based at Comiso and Catania.

Tory Member of Parliament John Rathbone, serving in the RAF as a Flight Lieutenant, is killed in the Bristol Blenheim Mark IV bomber he is piloting on a mission over Antwerp. He is buried at Schoonselhof cemetery, Antwerp, Belgium. Rathbone is the sixth MP to be KIA during the conflict.

John Rathbone's 1935 election address, KIA 10 December 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Greek 4330-ton freighter Aghia Eirini runs aground at Achill Head, Clew Bay, County Mayo, Ireland after its steering gear fails, perhaps in part due to the rough weather during its crossing.

287-ton Faroes trawler Tor I hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea.

German 109-ton freighter Thor sinks near Cherbourg. This is not the famous German raider Thor (Schiff.10), which is operating in the South Atlantic with Admiral Scheer. This Thor apparently sinks during a sweep by Royal Navy destroyers.

Convoy FN 356 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 358 departs from Methil, Convoy HX 95 departs from Halifax.

Minesweeper HMAS Ballarat launched.

U-125 launched.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Captain Bernhard Rogge of the German raider Atlantis receives a signal from Berlin informing him that he has been awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross). The Atlantis is currently refueling with the Pinguin from captured Norwegian tanker Storstad in the southern Indian Ocean.

Spy Stuff: Karl Heinrich Meier and Jose Waldberg are executed in the Pentonville Prison in London. Both had been convicted of spying at the Old Bailey in November. Meier is a Dutchman of German origin who was caught by a suspicious landlady at the Rising Sun Pub in Lydd after rowing ashore in Kent. Waldberg, a native German, claimed that he had been coerced into cooperating with the Germans due to Gestapo pressure on his father. These are the first two executions under the Treason Act.

US/Japanese Relations: President Roosevelt expands the list of items that cannot be exported without a license - which currently includes oil and scrap metal - to encompass steel and iron.

Anglo/Chinese Relations: The British government extends a $40 million loan to China. This is quite generous, as the British themselves are running out of money.

The graduation picture of the first class of No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School at Sky Harbour, Ontario. This is part of the Imperial Training Scheme, and these men now are all RAF pilots. 10 December 1940 (photographer J. Gordon Henderson).

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 19, "Operation Attila." This directive instructs the Wehrmacht to plan for the eventual occupation of unoccupied Vichy France "In case those parts of the French Colonial Empire now controlled by General Weygand should show signs of revolt." This operation, given the codename Operation Attila, would be essentially a continuation of the Battle of France, with all resistance "ruthlessly suppressed." The Directive specifically instructs Admiral Raeder, using Admiral Canaris' Abwehr military intelligence organization, to keep tabs on the French Navy so that it can be seized or neutralized. Tellingly in light of current events, the Directive specifies at the end that "The Italians will be given no information about our preparations and intentions."

Fuhrer Directive No. 19 is telling in another way. Hitler realizes, given the obstinacy of Francisco Franco in Spain, that trying to convince other European leaders not yet under his thumb to cooperate in his war effort isn't working. Thus, he must plan to resort to force with them. This is one of the few Hitler Directives that essentially will be carried out as stated, but he much rather would have France with him than against him.

Separately - and not in Hitler's Directive - General Wilhelm Keitel issues an order announcing that Operation Felix, the planned subjugation of Gibraltar, is suspended indefinitely. Hitler, having read Admiral Canaris' negative report about his meeting with Franco on 7 December, has decided that Operation Felix cannot be pursued due to Spanish unwillingness to cooperate.

Taken in conjunction, this order and the Fuhrer Directive show how much things have changed since October when Hitler was hopeful that Petain and Franco would join in his war against England. Now, there appears to be no hope of that. Backroom planning for Operation Felix remains alive, however, until 1944.

US Military: The US Navy opens NAS Tongue Point, Oregon. It will service patrol planes.

Polish Military: Marshal Rydz-Smigly escapes from captivity in Romania and heads for Hungary to join the Polish underground there.

German Homeland: Even during 1940, which many consider the peak of German military success, Adolf Hitler repeatedly adopts a defensive tone. Today, he gives a speech at a Berlin munitions plant and says:

I am not a man who, once he is engaged in a fight, breaks it off to his own, disfavor.... [T]here will be no defeat of Germany, either by military or economic means, or by time.

It is a remarkable statement, full of foreboding, and sounds as if it were made in 1945, not 1940.

American Homeland: The NFL Draft is held. NFL Champions the Chicago Bears select Tom Harmon of the University of Michigan with the number one overall pick.

The Benjamin Fitzpatrick Bridge opens, connecting Tallassee and East Tallassee, Florida.

Tom Harmon, a University of Michigan halfback, poses with his 1940 Heisman Trophy. Today, 10 December 1940, Harmon gets drafted by the NFL's Chicago Bears. In five months, he will be drafted again... in a much different way.

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Thursday 5 December 1940

London furniture vans atop one another after a raid. December 5, 1940.

Italian/Greek Campaign: In Greece, the Greek advance grinds forward on 5 December 1940. Greek I Corps captures Delvinë. Greek II Corps also advances. The Greeks advance on Argyrocastro and take heights near Librohovo, six miles southeast of the town. The Greek air force attacks Italian communications.

The British hand over a dozen Gloster Gladiator biplanes to the Greek air force.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command raids Düsseldorf and Turin. Coastal Command attacks Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Lorient, and Haamstede. The Luftwaffe sends some fighter-bombers across during the day which drop bombs in scattered areas of East Kent. After dark, the RAF cancels its raids due to the weather, while the Luftwaffe sends small raids against London and points along the south coast.

Adolf Galland of JG 26 gets his 57th victory claim. He now has surpassed both Werner Molders and the now-deceased Helmut Wick. Galland is the leading ace of the war. Molders, however, remain active and could regain the lead.

The RAF makes plans to open ten new airfields by Spring. They will house ten fighter squadrons, ten medium bomber squadrons, and two heavy bomber squadrons.

Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) Thor. Thor was a converted banana boat originally named the Santa Cruz.

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Thor successfully has broken out into the Atlantic. The auxiliary cruiser is southeast of Rio de Janeiro when it spots 20,062-ton Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Carnarvon Castle. The ships are armed reasonably evenly, both with 15 cm (5.91 inches) guns, but the British ship has eight of those guns to Thor's four. Thus, in theory, the Carnarvon Castle should have the advantage. However, German Kapitän zur See (Captain) Otto Kähler displays superior tactics and his gunners better accuracy. Kähler induces the Royal Navy ship to give chase - putting its rear guns out of action and evening the combat scales. Thor's gunners then score 27 hits on its pursuer, badly damaging the Carnarvon Castle and forcing it to withdraw to Montevideo, Uruguay. The British lose 6 crew and have 32 wounded. Thor, undamaged, then proceeds to a rendezvous with cruiser Admiral Scheer, while the Royal Navy sends other ships fruitlessly to search the vast ocean for it.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages destroyer HMS Cameron while in drydock in Portsmouth Harbour. Cameron is one of the former US destroyers acquired in the bases-for-destroyers deal. There are 14 deaths. The destroyer capsizes as the bomb hits allow water to pour into the drydock. She can be refloated and repaired, though Cameron will never return to service. Instead, it will be used for testing purposes regarding things like bomb damage.

Italian submarine Argo torpedoes and sinks 5066-ton British freighter Silverpine. All 36 aboard perish. The Silverpine is a straggler from convoy OB 52.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sunfish torpedoes and sinks 2182-ton Finnish freighter Oscar Midling off Stadlandet., Norway. Everybody on board perishes.

British torpedo boats MTB 29, 31 and 32 find a German freighter, the 6062-ton Paranagua, off Flushing and sink it.

Royal Navy 214-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Calverton hits a mine and sinks at the mouth of the Humber.

A severe storm hits the Irish Sea and sinks several ships before it is over.

British 632-ton collier Amlwch Rose gets caught in a storm after departing Liverpool for Dublin. It sinks in Liverpool Bay.

British 360-ton collie Privet also sinks in the rough weather in Liverpool Bay. All nine aboard perish.

Seaplane tender USS George E. Badger also gets caught in rough weather on the other side of the Atlantic and runs aground off Hamilton, Bermuda. However, luckily there is no damage, and the ship later floats off.

German freighter Klaus Schoke, seized by HMS California off the Azores and under tow to Gibraltar, sinks. The German ship's crew had tried to scuttle her, but only partially succeeded - at first.

The German coastal guns at Calais get another rare success when they damage 1107 ton British freighter Waterland in Dover Harbour.

Torpedoed several days ago, destroyer HMCS Saguenay makes it to port. It is the first Canadian naval casualty of the war.

Convoy AN 9 departs from Port Said, bound for Piraeus, Greece. It is a troop convoy carrying British troops to aid in the defense of Greece. The poor weather keeps convoys in the Atlantic in port.

German battleship Bismarck completes her sea trials in the Baltic Sea and heads for Hamburg.

U-109 (Korvettenkapitän Hans-Georg Fischer) is commissioned.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Salisbury, formerly the USS Claxton, is commissioned.

The 5 December 1940 edition of PM, a New York City paper with good reporting from Europe. This edition describes that the British now think that the Germans won't invade until the Spring - something that the British in fact have known about since September.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian 795 ton torpedo boat Calipso hits a mine and sinks east of Tripoli about 6 miles from Cape Misurata. The mine had been laid by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual on 5 November.

At Malta, the local government puts out an appeal for donations to fund Christmas parties for refugees. There are literally thousands of refugees housed in various villages throughout the island.

Battle of the Pacific: Australian 1052 ton freighter Nimbin hits a mine and sinks off Norah Head, New South Wales. There are seven deaths and 13 survivors. The mine was laid by the German raider Pinguin in November. This is the first Australian registered merchant ship sunk. Fortunately for the survivors, the ship is carrying a cargo of plywood bundles that float and provide a means to survive until rescued by SS Bonalbo a few hours later. Captain Bryanston goes down with the ship.

Anglo/French Relations: Louis Rougier, Marshal Petain's unofficial representative to Great Britain, sends Prime Minister Winston Churchill a letter. It clarifies Petain's intentions regarding participation in the war. Specifically, Petain promises not to make a separate peace with Germany - a hollow assurance given the current state of relations between Vichy France and Germany. He also promises not to allow Germany to occupy French colonies in North Africa, nor allow it possession of the French fleet. In addition, Petain promises not to contest Charles de Gaulle's occupation of Gabon. Basically, the promises are simply rehashes of old promises or meaningless gestures, and some of them will be broken before the war is over while others will be kept.

Anglo/US Relations: The subject of how to continue supplying weapons to Great Britain despite its growing financial issues heats up. Talks are proceeding in Washington regarding a possible $2.5 billion loan to Great Britain for war aid, to be secured by British gold production over the coming five years. Bankers consider the UK to be a good credit risk, but the Johnson Act prohibits private lending to any nation in default of its Great War debt - such as Great Britain. President Roosevelt, touring the Caribbean with Harry Hopkins on the USS Tuscaloosa, also is thinking about the same general topic, but his solution isn't a loan - it is what will come to be called Lend-lease.

German/Spanish Relations: The German ambassador in Madrid telegrams Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and tells him that the Spanish have agreed to allow German tankers to anchor in small bays. These can be used to refuel U-boats and raiders. The scheme depends upon the British not finding out. This is another of the Spaniard's small gestures toward the Germans while also cultivating friendly relations with the British.

The Seattle Daily Times, 5 December 1940.

Spy Stuff: The Seattle Daily Times, in its 5 December 1940 edition, reports ominously that the German consul general posted to San Francisco, Fritz Wiedemann, had been seen visiting Seattle without informing the newspaper. Wiedemann apparently was in town to meet some local German-Americans at their weekly roundtable at the Maison Blanc, but the newspaper implies that there is something more to the visit. The paper reports that Wiedmann has a reputation at this time of being "tight" with Hitler because he supposedly saved Hitler's life during the 1939 bombing of the Brown House. Thus, his whereabouts are a matter of national security.

The legend about Wiedemann saving Hitler's life appears to be apocryphal. Hitler survived the 1939 bombing because he had left the building before the bomb went off. It is not inconceivable that Wiedemann himself spreads these tales far from Berlin, where there is nobody who knows better.

The paper also reports more generally that the Pacific Northwest is a hotbed of spy activity due to Boeing's bomber plants in the Seattle area. In fact, the Germans have very little interest in the US West Coast and they - or at least Foreign Minister Ribbentrop - consider the San Francisco post to be the ultimate diplomatic backwater, a place to send people they want to get out of the way. While Wiedemann does know Hitler, he by no means is within his inner circle.

That said, there actually is a growing German presence on the West Coast at this time. However, it is not in the Pacific Northwest, but just outside Los Angeles. The Murphy Ranch is an isolated, self-contained compound with its own water storage tank and energy production. The premises survive into the 21st Century, though gradually demolished by its current owner, the City of Los Angeles.

German Military: Adolf Hitler meets with his two army chiefs, Colonel-General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff, and Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army. They discuss the plans for Operation Barbarossa, which Hitler approves and following which he begins preparing a Fuhrer Directive. The operational plan at this time, which eventually will be called Operation Barbarossa, for now, is called Operation Otto. The Germans have a tendency to re-use code names, and Otto is named after the crown prince of Austria-Hungary at the time, Otto von Habsburg. It previously was used to refer to the Anschluss with Austria in 1938.

The plan at this stage envisions three axes of invasion in the north, center, and south of the Soviet border. The strength of each prong will remain a subject of much deliberation and disagreement over the coming months - some of the Generals prefer maximum effort in the direction of Moscow, while Hitler sees the taking of the Soviet capital as essentially pointless. The tentative timing for the invasion is May 1941.

Another topic broached at the meeting is Operation Felix. Hitler is trying to convince Franco to allow the passage of German troops, but the Spaniards do not want to alienate the British. Hitler tentatively sets 10 January as the date for the Wehrmacht to cross the border and 4/5 February for Operation Felix itself. Everything, however, depends upon Franco's assent - though some in the German High Command, such as Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, think that the Wehrmacht should cross the border regardless of what Franco allows.

Canadian Military: The Royal Navy commissions four former US Navy destroyers acquired in November at Halifax during the destroyers-for-bases deal:

• USS Ringgold (DD-89) becomes HMS Newark (G 08)
• USS Sigourney (DD-81) becomes HMS Newport (G 54)
• USS Tillman (DD-135) becomes HMS Wells (I 95)
• USS Robinson (DD-88), becomes HMS Newmarket (G 47)

Additional Canadian escorts are needed to help fill the gaps in escort coverage in the Atlantic now that U-boats are based in France and are roaming further and further west.

The Hawker Tornado. The project ultimately was canceled but served as the foundation for later aircraft Typhoon and Tempest.

British Military: The first flight of the second prototype of the Hawker Tornado, P5224, takes place 14 months after that of the first prototype. Its armament has been significantly upgraded to four 20 mm Hispano cannon and it now is powered by a Vulture II engine. The flight is a success, but problems will continue to plague the plane's development, primarily relating to the Vulture engine.

US Military: The US 17th Pursuit Squadron, formerly based at Selfridge Field, Mount Clemens, Michigan, transfers to Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines. It does not yet have its fighters and begins practicing with Boeing P-26 Peashooters. Even when they get their "real" aircraft, Seversky P-35s, they will be flying obsolete planes.

Construction begins on the 20-mile US Army Railway serving Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, which includes a major trestle that can still be visited. This is part of a major national defensive initiative to build up military infrastructure.

US Government: Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired) becomes the new US Ambassador to Vichy France.

British Government: In a very rare gesture toward peace, the House of Commons of Parliament votes on a peace amendment offered by John McGovern of the Scottish Independent Labour Party. The measure fails, 341-4. There always is a peace faction England, though it makes little noise outside of times like this.

India: The British release from prison Nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose after a hunger strike. They will continue to keep Bose under house arrest.

China: The Chinese Communists conclude their Hundred Regiments Offensive. They have captured much ground, but also taken heavy casualties.

American Homefront: Director Ludwig Berger's "The Thief of Baghdad" opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Zane Grey thriller "West of the Badlands" also opens today.

Artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo take out their second Marriage License at San Francisco City Hall, December 5, 1940.

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020