Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

"The Long Swing," Joe Dimaggio.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14, 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2020

Saturday 2 August 1941

Two Finnish soldiers manning a Maxim machine gun, August 2, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: Japanese Ambassador to Germany Oshima cables Tokyo on 2 August 1941 with news about the Eastern Front. He reports that an unnamed Swedish reporter who claims to have visited the front in the Baranovichi area has related that, while Germany must inevitably triumph over the Soviet Union, not everything is going well for the Wehrmacht. The Red Air Force remains powerful, and the Red Army has substantial reserves that it is throwing into the front around Leningrad. The reporter also relates to Oshima that German officers he has talked with already have noticed US tanks and planes being used in the Volga and Siberia areas.

Oshima's report also notes that:

Germany's greatest ordeals have been the result of guerrilla tactics used by the Soviet soldiers and civilian inhabitants. There is a thickly wooded area in the Pripet swamps. There are many, many remaining troops taking refuge in it. A German force endeavored to rout them, but knowing nothing of the area, failed completely.

The report seems grounded in solid fact (though the presence of US equipment at this time is questionable). The German offensive has prospered by sticking to the roads and quickly heading east to capture cities and Soviet military bases. This strategy, however, has the inherent drawback of leaving many Soviet troops and even entire units in the rear areas, fully capable of resisting and even taking offensive action against nearby Wehrmacht units and bases. Perhaps most tellingly, the German officers are surprised and even worried because captured Soviet troops remain loyal to the Stalin regime and appear committed to continuing their guerrilla warfare even if Moscow falls.

A Finnish patrol leader’s kit, including a KP-31 submachine gun, grenades, and a Luger pistol, August 2, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

In the Army Group North sector, German 16th Army (Colonel General Ernst Busch) continues attacking Staray Russa below Lake Ilmen.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 attacks toward Roslavl as it heads south on Hitler's express orders to help with the conquest of Kiev. The Soviet, meanwhile, ramp up their attacks on the advanced German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya.

In the Army Group South sector, after many days of very hard fighting, Panzer Group 1 (General Ewald von Kleist) completes the encirclement at Uman. This happens when German XLVIII Corps (General Kempf) hooks up with German 17th Field Army (General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel). The closure southwest of Uman is all the more dangerous to the trapped Soviet forces because 16th Panzer Division and Hungarian Mechanized Corps (Gyorshadtest) also are close to forming a second, separate closure at Pervomaisk. The Soviets have parts of 20 divisions of their 6th, 12th, and 18th armies inside the pocket, including four corps commanders and 11 division commanders. Resistance does continue until about 8 August. However, except for small parties, the Soviets trapped today are unable to break out, and 103,000 Soviet soldiers go into captivity.

Young Finnish soldiers marching to the front. Laamala, August 2, 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 24 Blenheim bombers on Rhubarb coastal sweeps during the day between Cherbourg and Texel. The British lose one plane. Another attack is made on Kiel with three Fortresses. Kiel takes light damage, with one person killed and 9 injured, and all the Fortresses make it back to base.

During the night, RAF Bomber Command goes back into action in a big way after about a week of unsettled weather and light operations. There are multiple raids, as the British believe in diversionary raids to distract the Luftwaffe night fighters. It is one of the RAF's biggest efforts of the war to date but produces only modest returns.

The main British attack is on Hamburg with 80 bombers (58 Wellingtons, 21 Whitleys, 1 Stirling). They lose two Wellingtons. Hamburg takes moderate damage, with 5 dead, 38 wounded and 738 made homeless. Five large fires and five other small fires break out, some of which burn throughout the night.

A secondary attack on Berlin is made by 53 aircraft (40 Wellingtons, 8 Halifaxes, and 5 Stirlings). The sky still is a bit opaque and bombing accuracy is poor. The British lose 3 Wellingtons and one Stirling.

Another attack is made on Kiel by 50 Hampdens. The British lose five planes. The damage to Kiel is light, with one injury and one house hit, though the RAF pilots claim that the raid is a great success on the dockyards area.

The RAF also sends 20 Wellingtons to Cherbourg, but little is accomplished there because of low-lying clouds. In addition, five Hampdens are sent to lay mines off of Kiel. There are no losses from these operations.

Overall, for 208 sorties, the RAF loses 11 aircraft during the night. This works out to a 5.3% loss rate, which is at the upper margins of sustainable losses.

RAF No. 129 Squadron (Mysore), equipped with Supermarine Spitfires at RAF Leconfield, becomes operational and its pilots quickly shoot down a Junkers Ju-88 near Flamborough Head. No. 129 Squadron is named after an Indian province in recognition of the Indian government raising substantial sums of money for the war effort. However, it is not manned by Indian pilots.

A Finnish soldier looks down the sights of a 20mm Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle, 2 August 1941 (SA-Kuva). At this time, a 20-mm anti-tank weapon is still capable of destroying most armor except for Soviet KV tanks. A well-placed round could blow off a tread or penetrate the rear or the sides of most tanks.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine S-11 hits a mine and sinks in the Soela Väin Strait, Estonia (between Saaremaa and Hiiumaa). There are 44 deaths and three survivors. The submarine is raised after the war and scrapped. Soviet submarine M-99 also sinks around this time due to mines.

German 2nd S-Boat Flotilla lays 36 TMB mines off Cape Rista in the Gulf of Finland.

The Luftwaffe (KG4) drops 22 aerial mines north of Moon Sound, 15 east of Moon Sound, and 18 LMB mines west of Worms Island.

Finnish submarine Veshiisi (Lt. Cdr. Kijanen) lays eighteen mines in Minefield F.17 east of Odensholm.

Experts of the British Ministry of aircraft production examine a Bf 109F forced down near Kent, England, August 2, 1941. (AP Photo).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy finally concedes that Operation EF, the Force K attack on Kirkenes and Petsamo, has turned into a liability when it spots German reconnaissance shadowing the fleet. The Admiralty calls off a planned attack on Hammerfest, Norway due to inability to maintain surprise and heads for home.

The RAF bombs and sinks Dutch pilot boat Loodsboot No. 12 west of Den Helder.

German guard ship H 855 Stoomloodsvaartuig 12 sinks, perhaps due to an RAF attack.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1110-ton British freighter Koolga about 20 km off Great Yarmouth. It makes it to Great Yarmouth under tow on the 3rd.

Two Dutch tankers, 8252-ton Murena and 2068-ton Rozenburg, collide at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The bigger ship usually wins in such situations, and that is the case this time, as Rozenburg goes to the bottom.

Some sources pin the Luftwaffe bombing of British freighter Trident to today, while others list it on 1 August.

U-204 (Kptlt Walter Kell) spots Convoy SL-81 in the North Atlantic and informs U-boat headquarters in Paris.

US Navy battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) returns to New London, Connecticut from a neutrality patrol.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Tadoussac is launched, submarine HMS P-48 and minesweeper Wedgeport are laid down.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Minas (Lt. Commander Lt. James B. Lamb) is commissioned.

US Navy light cruiser USS Miami is laid down in Philadelphia.

U-154 (Korvettenkapitän Walther Kölle) is commissioned.

Liberty magazine, 2 August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There is a brief stir on the usually static Tobruk perimeter when two Australian companies attack Italian positions, supported by a heavy artillery barrage of over 60 guns. The Australians are attempting to recover some tactically useful territory lost during the May fighting but fails with heavy casualties. The Italian 7th Bersaglieri Regiment holds its ground against the Australian 2/43rd and 2/28th Battalions.

Operation Style, a convoy mission to Malta, continues. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal launches a load of Hurricanes to Malta. Light cruisers Arethusa and Hermione continue on to Malta with fast minelayer Manxman and destroyers Lightning and Sikh, unloading collectively 54 officers and 970 other ranks, along with 130 tons of supplies. All of the ships unload quickly and the entire force, including Ark Royal, returns to Gibraltar.

During the afternoon, Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Hermione, sailing with the Operation Style ships, spots a submarine shadowing the convoy. It rams and sinks Italian submarine Tembien off Tunis.

The Luftwaffe attacks Australian destroyer Vendetta and Royal Navy destroyer Havock off Tobruk during the night supply run. However, South African fighters drive the Germans off. Both sides lose about three planes.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine L-5 (Lt Cdr Zhdanov) lays 14 mines off Mangalia, Romania.

Battle of the Pacific: Dutch patrol boat Bellatrix seizes Vichy French vessel Dupleix and gives it to the Netherlands East Indies naval forces for use.

To make a point about the consequences of unlawful communications with England, the Germans post this notice (in English, right) in the Channel Islands about a Frenchman being executed on 2 August 1941. In fact, someone on the Channel Islands will at one point also be shot for supposedly using carrier pigeons to communicate with England.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese continue to keep a close eye on US activities across the Pacific. Interest is keen on US intentions given the recent imposition of sanctions on Japan. The Japanese embassy in Manila reassures Tokyo that the number of planes flying over Manila has decreased considerably, and the US planes flying over the Philippines have not been camouflaged or otherwise altered in a war-like fashion. This information helps to defuse tensions in Tokyo.

The Japanese also are spying on US fleet movements in the Atlantic. Tokyo receives a report today from its spies in Cuba stating the composition of US naval forces in Guantanamo Bay from 16-24 July 1941: two battleships, four light cruisers, four destroyers, two Coast Guard cutters, and two bombers.

US/Japanese Relations: The economic sanctions imposed by President Roosevelt on Japan recently have caught some ships at sea without instructions as to how to proceed. Tatsuta Maru sits off San Francisco Bay with a load of $2.5 million of raw silk, but the captain refuses to make port without assurances that the US government will not seize his cargo. A Japanese liner, 16,975-ton Asama Maru, is sailing about 980 miles north of Honolulu but also is unsure how to proceed.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry scrambles to come up with a solution. Finally, it instructs Tatsuta Maru to stop at Honolulu. It also orders freighter Heian Maru at Seattle to proceed to Vancouver and unload there.

Japanese Ambassador Nomura has a conversation with an unidentified US Cabinet member. As Nomura informs Tokyo after the meeting:

The United States is trying to restrain Japan, first of all, by waging an economic war... [T]he United States is at the same time making military preparations against the possible eventuality of a clash of arms... That the Russo-German war is lasting longer than expected has proved to be an advantage to the United States... The cabinet member believes firmly in the necessity of this war lasting for several years for the reason that due to destruction of her men and materials, and due to the shortage o foil, Germany would not be able to do anything on a great scale even after the fighting on the Eastern Front has come to an end.

This, of course, proves prophetic, but not exactly in the manner intended.

Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Kleczynski (holding cane) with his ground crew of RAF No. 305 Polish bomber squadron in front of a Wellington (Lindholme, August 2, 1941). Kleczynski Papers, Box 2, Hoover Institution Archives.

US/Dutch Relations: US Army Air Force General Henry Clagett arrives in Java to coordinate future air operations with the local Dutch authorities and to survey airfields and base sites.

US/Soviet Relations: President Roosevelt's personal emissary to the Soviet Union, Harry Hopkins, announces that he has arranged with Joseph Stalin for the commencement of US lend-lease shipments to the Soviet Union.

Chinese/Soviet Relations: The local Soviet army in Outer Mongolia orders the Chinese Communist forces under Liu Po-Chao to transfer to Suihoku, which the Chinese do. This is the beginning of cooperation between Soviet and Chinese forces. The Soviets also promise to provide supplies to the Chinese via Outer Mongolia, which the Chinese help to transport.

Japanese/Thai Relations: The Japanese reach an agreement with the Thai government in which the Thaiese authorities will extend a letter of credit worth 10 million bahta to finance Japanese purchases of Thai goods. This enables trade to continue between the two nations despite the recent economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Great Britain.

Oliver Wendell Harrington, The Amsterdam News, 2 August 1941. "That jive he's playin' on his tooter may not be in the army manual, Major, but that's the only way we can get them cats up in the mornin'." This cartoon plays upon the idea in the Andrew Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," recorded on 2 January 1941 and included in the Abbott and Costello film "Buck Privates, released in January 1941.

Japanese/Dutch Relations: Due to heightened tensions and the Dutch impositions of sanctions, Japanese nationals in the Dutch East Indies are fleeing the territory, swarming shipping agencies for passage back to Japan. The Netherlands Indies do relent just a bit on the sanctions recently imposed on Japan in conjunction with the United States and Great Britain. The Dutch allow one shipment of rubber, tin, and Ilmenite. The Japanese, meanwhile, are putting pressure on the Dutch by restricting food shipments from French Indo-China.

Japanese/Croatian Relations: Croatia, an Italian puppet state, officially recognizes the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Anglo/Japanese Relations: The subject of British aid to China is a sore spot for the Japanese. Tokyo receives a report from Shanghai today revealing that the British are cooperating closely with Chinese military authorities.

Anglo/Finnish Relations: Having broken relations with Finland on the 1st, the Royal Navy extends its blockade of Europe to include the northern Finnish ports. For the moment, this is somewhat symbolic, as the British have nowhere nearby to supply their ships that far north.

Anglo/Iran/Afghani Relations: The British demand that Iran and Afghanistan expel all German nationals immediately. Having retained Iraq, the British feel they are in a strong position in the Middle East. Some Germans caught in Iraq have escaped to Iran and Afghanistan, but, still, there are very few there.

Errol Flynn on his yacht "Scirocco," 2 August 1941. There later are unproven allegations that Flynn was a German sympathizer at this time.

German/Italian Relations: The Italian Pasubio Infantry Division and Torino Infantry Division move to the Eastern Front in the Army Group South region. However, they do not see combat at this time.

Japanese Military: The Nakajima Ki-43-I Hayabusa ("Peregrine Falcon," or "Oscar" in US military nomenclature) begins arriving at the Japanese 59th Flight Regiment (FR) at Hankow Airfield. The pilots begin training with the new plane, which will see operational use beginning on 29 October 1941.

Soviet Military: The NKVD is given orders to shoot on sight anyone suspected of injuring themselves to avoid combat. This is a pet suspicion of Joseph Stalin, who also suspects cowardly troops of sabotaging their own equipment. Deserters, meaning anyone walking away from the battlefield, already are subject to summary execution.

British Military: The British open a mosque in London for Muslim soldiers serving in the British armed forces.

US Military: The U.S. War Department dedicated the Millville Army Air Field (MAAF) as “America’s First Defense Airport.” The Millville, New Jersey airport serves as a gunnery school for fighter pilots, with training first conducted in the Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, then for most of the war in the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

US Government: With trade severed between the United States and Japan, rayon (some forms are called "artificial silk") imported from Japan suddenly is in short supply. The US government thus decides to ration rayon.

Hildesheim Marketplace, showing the Town Hall, 2 August 1941 (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archive, Bild 212-274).

German Government: In the early morning hours, after the midnight conference, Hitler sits around with his cronies expostulating on random topics as he often likes to do. Today, his topic is bureaucracy:

It's certain that we have a clean, incorruptible administration, but it's also too punctilious. It's over-organized, and, at least in certain sectors, it's overloaded. Its principal fault is that nobody in it is seeking for success and that it includes too many people without responsibility. Our functionaries fear initiative worse than anything else — and what a way they have of behaving as if they were nailed to their office chairs! We have much more elasticity in the army, with the exception of one sector of the Wehrmacht than in these civilian sectors. And that although the salaries are often inadequate!

Some neutral observers would likely agree that the World War II German bureaucracy is over-organized. However, that also, in the view of some, is one source of the efficiency of Wehrmacht divisions, which are very good at logistics and planning.

Rexist leader Léon Degrelle (center) during his medical examination on August 2, 1941, before his departure to the Eastern Front. Degrelle is one of Hitler's favorites - reportedly (accordingly to Degrelle after the war, at least), Hitler likes to say that if he had a son, he wishes it would be someone like Degrelle. The notation on the back of the photo reads: "Medical examination of the Walloon volunteers for the anti-Bolshevist front."

Holocaust: Germans massacre a large number of Jews at Ponary, Lithuania, allegedly numbering in the thousands.

Germans kill approximately 200 Jews at Kovno, Lithuania. This massacre apparently includes an American Jewish woman.

Norwegian Homefront: The German occupation authorities confiscate all civilian radios that they can find. However, as in other occupied nations, many remain used with great secrecy to listen to the BBC, which is considered a much more accurate source of news than German or Norwegian radio broadcasts.

American Homefront: The first Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, designated V-1650-1, rolls off the assembly line. It is a version of the Mark XX generating 1,390 hp (1,040 kW). It is intended for the Curtiss P-40F and XP-60 fighters. Packard Motor Car Company is producing the Merlin under license from Rolls Royce that was granted in September 1940. Rolls Royce made an order for $130 million worth of the engines. Packard will produce a total of 55,523 Rolls-Royce Merlin engines under license during World War II. Some remain in use well into the 21st Century.

Picture Post, 2 August 1941. Is this the prettiest face in films? The magazine answers that question with a "yes." It is US actress Veronica Lake.

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Wednesday 4 June 1941

Babe Ruth attends the open casket funeral of Lou Gehrig. June 4, 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The pro-British government in Iraq on 4 June 1941 is now firmly installed. Regent Prince Abdullah is in charge. The British continue mopping up, solidifying their control over Mosul and negotiating surrenders where necessary.

The Japanese Ambassador in Baghdad, Miyazaki, sends his counterpart in Ankara, Turkey a cable reporting the British takeover in Iraq. The Turkish ambassador, Kurihara, sends Tokyo a blunt message:

Unless some direct and summary measures are taken by Germany and Italy in following up this recent incident, it is feared that the whole Arabian movement will be severely hampered in its development. At this time, when it is thought that the Iraqi oil field pipeline and the railroad line connecting this city with Basra has been destroyed, British interests chiefly lie in the Habbaniya base which serves as a point in air and land transport from Trans-Jordan. Inasmuch as there are large oil reserves maintained in underground reservoirs and other subterranean facilities, please do your very utmost to have the German and Italian authorities bomb this base immediately.

The Germans and Italians, however, no longer have any airplanes with the ability to bomb targets in Iraq.

"On June 4, 1941, at No. 1 Air Navigation School in Rivers, Manitoba, a trio of Commonwealth airmen walk down a line of Avro Ansons to the aircraft that will carry them on a navigation training flight. From left to right are Sergeant J. A. Mahood, Royal Air Force, Sergeant E.M.D. Romilly, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Sergeant W.H. Betts, Royal Australian Air Force." PHOTO: PL-3738, DND Archives.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends planes from 2 Group, Nos. 18, 107 and 139 Squadrons to attack Dutch airfields. The RAF also sends 54 aircraft on anti-shipping missions.

Four Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s of III./KG 27 bomb the Bristol area during the night, around 02:30 on the 4th. The targets are airfields and aircraft factories at Cheltenham and Bristol. The Germans bomb some buildings and destroy a Gloster plane on the ground. The Luftwaffe loses a Junkers Ju 88C in a separate intruder mission when it flies into a hill at Skelder Moor near Whitby just after midnight - all three crew perish.

After dark, the Luftwaffe attacks the Midlands and Medway areas. These attacks do not cause much damage, the bombs falling on the undeveloped ground.

RAF Fighter Command conducts Roadstead operations over occupied France.

There is fighter action over Folkestone. Feldwebel Janke and Fw. Helmut Jürgens of IV./JG 51 record claims.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Rühl of 1./JG 53 goes missing in Bf 109 F-2 "Black 3" (W.Nr. 6707) near Dover following aerial combat with Spitfire fighters (he apparently collides with a Spitfire). Rühl has five victories. This is Rühl's second time in the Channel, the first having been on 2 September 1940. In the earlier instance, Rühl was picked up by a Dornier Do-18 rescue plane, but this time he is not found.

The British record in the British Home Security Situation Report that for the week ending at 06:00 on 4 June 1941, there were about 178 deaths due to the Blitz, with 185 seriously injured.

New Castle News, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 4 June 1941.

Gideon Force is disbanded. Orde Wingate is reduced in rank to that of major. He leaves for Cairo, Egypt. The reduction in rank may be related to friction he has had with higher British authorities regarding decorations and back pay for his men. Wingate is very put out by his peremptory treatment - he is not even given leave to say goodbye to his comrade in the jungle, Emperor Haile Selassie - and he determines to write an angry report about his experiences and the British officers who have obstructed his efforts on behalf of Abyssinian freedom. At this time, Wingate already may be infected with malaria, though he does not yet show symptoms.

June 4, 1941: Lou Gehrig's funeral/members of the High School of Commerce bow their heads with their gloves and caps in hands and pay respect to their hero.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues seeking out the Kriegsmarine's supply vessels throughout the North and South Atlantic. Today, the British find and dispose of three such vessels:

1. 8923-ton tanker Gedania (captured by ocean boarding vessel Marsdale, renamed Empire Garden for British use);
2. 4104 ton supply ship Gonzenheim (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the battleship HMS Nelson);
3. 9849-ton tanker Esso Hamburg (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the heavy cruiser HMS London)

There are 63 survivors from the Gorzenheim and 87 from the Esso Hamburg. Basically, nobody dies during these events, but the German ability to supply U-boats and surface craft in the Atlantic to extend their operations is severely damaged. These sinkings and seizures cut the remaining number of Kriegsmarine supply ships almost in half.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient and on patrol in the mid-Atlantic west of Brest, at 05:03 torpedoes and sinks 5271-ton British freighter Trecarrell. The encounter is a little unusual because U-101 rams Trecarrell at 06:40 in the bow to hasten its sinking. There are four deaths and 43 survivors. It is not a happy day on U-101, though, because it loses a crewman, Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl, overboard.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 36. It bombs and sinks 3911-ton British freighter Queensbury. There are 11 deaths, the entire crew.

British 2879-ton suction dredger Robert Hughes hits a mine and sinks at the mouth of the Lagos River. This was one of the mines laid by U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) recently. There are 14 deaths and 17 survivors.

Dutch minelayer Van Meerlant hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There are three deaths and one crewman is wounded.

Convoy OG-64 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar, Convoy HG-64 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

On June 4, 1941, Philippines President Manuel L. Quezon signs into law Commonwealth Act No. 616, known as An Act to Punish Espionage and other offenses against National Security.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After dark, the Luftwaffe mounts a surprise raid on Alexandria. There are 170 killed and 200 injured.

Martin Maryland bombers of the RAF based on Malta bomb and sink Italian freighters Beatrice C and Montello off the coast of Tunisia. Some sources list this incident as having occurred on 3 June.

The Royal Navy sets off another supply mission to Malta. Operation Rocket features aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Furious being escorted by battleship Renown and many other vessels. The plan is to deliver 43 Hawker Hurricane Is to the beleaguered island.

Invasion jitters continue on Malta. Building on lessons learned on Crete, the British emphasize killing or capturing the German paratroopers (fallschirmjäger) upon descent or immediately thereafter, before they can defend themselves. British troops have occupied the island of Gozo, normally left unguarded. Otherwise, it is a quiet day on Malta, with just one Luftwaffe fighter sweep that results in no damage or bombs dropped.

"On June 4, 1941, RCAF Sergeant E. Romilly, the Royal Australian Air Force’s W. Betts, and the Royal Air Force’s J. Mahoud practice navigation techniques onboard an Anson aircraft at No. 1 Air Navigation School, RCAF Rivers, Manitoba." PHOTO: DND Archives.

Spy Stuff: Hitler having told Japanese Ambassador Ōshima his plans for Operation Barbarossa on the 3rd, the latter dutifully cables Tokyo with this information. British military intelligence intercepts the coded message. The Japanese codes have been broken, but British intelligence does not forward the coded translation to The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) for decoding until the 12th. In any event, it would just add to the pile of warnings from numerous sources that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin has been ignoring.

The Algonquin Regiment leaves Port Arthur, Canada on June 4, 1941 (Thunder Bay Public Library).

British Military: Lieutenant Commander R.C. Robison, RAN is awarded the DSC for "bravery and enterprise" while serving on destroyer HMAS Stuart during the battle of Cape Matapan (when the Italian Navy suffered a serious defeat).

US Military:  Chief of Staff of the United States Army George Marshall sends a memo to General Richardson regarding the development of a unit that comes to be composed by men called the Tuskegee Airmen. Marshall writes:

Dr. Patterson, head of Tuskegee Institute, has been doing a very fine thing in assisting the Air Corps in the development of a negro aviation unit. He has been under heavy attack from the Chicago and Harlem elements, and for a time it appeared that they would succeed in emasculating the Tuskegee Air program for national defense.

Marshall suggests crafting "a definite program of publicity" to support the program.

Image of Japanese female factory workers from Shashin Shūhō 171, June 4, 1941. Shashin Shūhō was a propaganda magazine established in 1938 by the Cabinet Information Office. Interestingly, it shows the factory workers engaging in exercises decades before this became popular elsewhere.

China: The Japanese follow through on past threats to interrupt British efforts to supply the Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking. The Imperial Japanese Navy sends bombers based at Hanoi in French Indochina to bomb bridges along the Burma Road.

Holocaust: The Republic of Croatia orders all Jews to wear a star with the letter Z. The Reich prohibits Jews from using beaches and swimming pools.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in exile in Doorn in the Netherlands, 1933 (German Federal Archives, Bild 136-C0804).

Dutch Homefront: Wilhelm II, the former Kaiser of the German Empire and King of Prussia passes away at his home in Doorn at the age of 82, The Netherlands. He has not set foot in Germany since 10 November 1918, vowing not to return until the restoration of the monarchy, and has lived at Doorn since 15 May 1920.

The Dutch government in the past has protected Wilhelm II from prosecution by the Allies by refusing to extradite him as required by Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles. While a lukewarm supporter of Hitler and his NSDAP party in the 1920s, Wilhelm II soured on them as the 1930s wore on due to their persecution of the Jews. As he stated in December 1938:

For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he [Hitler] has got rid of or even killed... He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters!

That said, Hitler has used Wilhelm for propaganda purposes at times, including publishing a brief, perfunctory telegram congratulating Hitler on his victory over The Netherlands in 1940. For his part, Hitler for many years has taken a dim view of Wilhelm II, calling him an "idiot" and other disparaging terms.

Hitler makes no plans to attend the funeral and is furious when he learns that the local Wehrmacht commander has provided an honor guard for the funeral procession. Wilhelm is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of his Doorn home.

American Homefront: The funeral of baseball legend Lou Gehrig takes place at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale. His remains are cremated and he is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

"Power Dive," directed by James P. Hogan and starring Richard Arlen, Don Castle and Jean Parker, premieres. A typically short 1940s film (67 minutes) from Pine-Thomas Productions (as Picture Corporation of America), the film features a revolutionary new airplane made of plastic. The film is in the public domain due to the failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright.


June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020

Tuesday 3 June 1941

Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima Meets Hitler at the opening of the Japanese art exhibition in Berlin in 1939.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Now that the situation in Iraq has stabilized on 3 June 1941, the British turn their full attention to Syria. The Vichy French hold on Syria only has become an issue because of the French decision to allow its use to the Axis as a transport hub to Iraq, but even though that is no longer an issue, the ball is rolling toward a British invasion. Today, the RAF bombs and strafes oil installations in Beirut, French Lebanon.

The Vichy French government states that it will defend both Syria and Tunisia against the British.

The British begin stockpiling landing craft and equipment in Port Said for Operation Exporter, the invasion of Syria. Royal Navy troopship Glengyle heads there from Alexandria, while two destroyers (HMS Hotspur and Ilex) leave Alexandria for Famagusta, Cyprus to embark commandos for transfer to Glengyle for upcoming Exporter.

In Iraq, the British continue mopping up. Gurkha troops (2/4 Gurkha Rifles) fly into Mosul and occupy it. Baghdad settles down after the two-day Farhud of 1-2 June, with the British and local police enforcing a strict curfew. The hundreds of dead are being buried.

The Maori Battalion performing the Haka for the King of Greece at Helwan, Egypt during June 1941. This is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. The Maori Battalion are hard fighters, leading German General Erwin Rommel to comment, “Give me the Maori Battalion and I will conquer the world.”

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Hull and Tweedmouth before dawn. A lone raider bombs and strafes the village of Boulmer. There are strafing attacks across northern England.

A private British de Havilland Dragon aircraft unwisely is taken up for private use for a flight between St. Mary's on the Isles of Scillies to Penzance. Unfortunately for the people on the Dragon, a passing German Heinkel He 111 bomber (I./KG 28) on its way back from bombing England spots it. The Heinkel shoots down the Dragon, killing all six aboard, including two girls aged 9 and 11. Pilot Captain W.D. Anderson DFC (Australian) and the entire Leggitt family is killed, including the mother of Mrs. Leggitt. Mrs. Sheelagh Leggitt was the Secretary to Sir Walter Monckton, Director-General of the Ministry of Information. A group of six Hawker Hurricanes of RAF No. 87 Squadron was withdrawn from the island only days before.

East African Campaign: A fierce battle on the approaches to Gondar, a key Italian stronghold in Abyssinia, develops. The British take Debarech, but then the Italians take it back. The town seesaws back and forth, but ultimately the British wind up with it. It is about 100 miles west of Amba Alagi, which fell in May, and the fierce battle shows that the Italians are going to put up a fierce battle for their remaining bastions in East Africa.

"View of Fleet Tender C, off Lincolnshire Coast." This photograph is from early October 1941 taken from a passing destroyer, HMS Whaddon, while escorting a convoy. You can see how the liner Mamari was disguised to look like an aircraft carrier. © IWM (A 5915).

Battle of the Atlantic: In order to prevent more German surface raiders from emerging like the Bismarck, and also to crimp the U-boat offensive, the Royal Navy has made it a priority to hunt down the Kriegsmarine's overseas supply network of disguised oil tankers and freighters. The Germans have nine such supply ships cruising the Atlantic in support of the abortive German Operation Rheinübung. Today, cruisers HMS Aurora and Kenya spot 6367-ton German tanker Belchen about 80 miles southwest of Greenland. The cruisers badly damage the German ship, and the Belcher's crew scuttles it. U-boat U-93 (Kptlt. Claus Korth), which the Belcher was in the process of refueling, stays nearby and rescues about 50 men after the British leave.

U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze), on its 12th patrol out of Lorient, is operating in the mid-Atlantic west of Brest (650 miles north of the Azores). It is shadowing Convoy OB-327, which recently has dispersed. At 01:01, U-48 torpedoes and damages 9456-ton British tanker Inversuir. Schultze gets impatient and fires a second torpedo at 01:11, then surfaces and uses his deck gun. Some accounts claim that U-75 (Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann), also involved in attacks at the same location, actually sinks the Inversuir with a coup de grace torpedo at 03:59. The entire crew survives.

U-75, operating with U-48 in the mid-Atlantic east of Brest and on its second patrol out of Lorient near U-48, torpedoes and sinks 4801-ton Dutch freighter Eibergen. There are four deaths, and 35 survivors are picked up by anti-aircraft vessel HMS Cairo on the 7th.

SS Prince Rupert City, sunk on or about 3 June 1941 by the Luftwaffe.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 4749-ton British tramp steamer Prince Rupert City in the mid-Atlantic. Some sources place this sinking on 2 June. There are 4 deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2187-ton British freighter Royal Fusilier in the English Channel east of High Buston. The ship sinks about four miles from May Island. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1600-ton British freighter Dennis Rose about 50 miles southwest of Start Point. The Dennis Rose makes it to port.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Royal Navy minesweeper Franklin as it is laying mines in the North Sea. The damage is not serious and Franklin continues with its mission.

Royal Navy decoy shop Fleet Tender C (formerly the Mamari aka liner Zealandic), disguised as aircraft carrier Hermes, hits a sunken wreck (tanker Ahamo, sunk by a mine on 8 April) southeast of Grimsby. It cannot get unstuck, and during the night, German S-boats attack. The Mamari is a write-off, but the entire crew survives. The half-sunken ship becomes a prominent "landmark" off the coast for years.

A Royal Navy stores ship, City of Dieppe, arrives in St. John's to join the fledgling Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF). The NEF's first convoy operation already is at sea, having sailed on 2 June, but there are very few support facilities in St. John's for the large and growing force. The British and Canadians are making plans to bring more ships and construct shore infrastructure to support the fleet.

Royal Navy battleship Rodney, fresh off the victory over the Bismarck, heads from the Clyde to Boston, the US to refit.

Submarine P.32, damaged on its journey by the Bay of Biscay by air attack, limps into Gibraltar.

Convoy WS 9A (Winston Special) departs from Liverpool en route to Freetown, Capetown, Durban, Aden, and Suez.

The Inversuir, sunk today in the North Atlantic.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Parthian torpedoes and badly damages 5232-ton Italian tanker Strombo in Salamis Bay. The Strombo's master manages to beach the ship, but it is a write-off.

Royal Navy submarine Unique torpedoes 736-ton Italian freighter Arsia off Lampedusa. The Arsia manages to make it to Trapani, Sicily.

Royal Navy submarine Torbay uses its deck gun to sink a caique carrying oil drum off Mitylene.

Royal Navy motor torpedo boat MTB 215 sinks Turkish schooner Iki Kardeshler a few miles off Anamur, Turkey (north of Cyprus). This is a violation of Turkish neutrality, the Royal Navy explains this by arguing that it thought the ship was involved in covert operations ("false orders").

The Luftwaffe damages a Royal Navy service ship, the KLO, during an air raid on Mersa Matruh. The ship's master and one other man are killed (the other man, Lt. Pullman, dies of his wounds on 2 July).

A large Italian force that includes light cruisers Atttendolo, Duca D'Aosta, and Eugenio D'Savoia of the 7th Cruiser Squadron, and light cruisers Bande Nere and Di Guissano of the 4th cruiser squadron, lays two minefields northeast of Tripoli. This is an area where Royal Navy submarines like to lie in wait for Axis convoys coming and going from Tripoli.

An Italian convoy of six transport ships/freighters departs Naples bound for Tripoli.

On Malta, RAF Martin Maryland and Blenheim bombers of No. 89 and 139 Squadrons on patrol claim to attack a convoy off Tunisia and sink a freighter while setting fire to another. The sunk ships apparently are the Italian freighters Montello and Beatrice C.. The RAF loses a Blenheim during the patrol, hit by flying debris as the first ship hit explodes.

There is one minor bombing raid on Malta by the Luftwaffe which causes no damage, while the RAF claims a victory over an Italian tri-motor transport west of Malta.

Invasion fears are rampant in Malta. The British troops garrison Gozo, normally uninhabited, and practice fighting paratroopers. The War Office issues an alert to expect an invasion within a week by a force of 6000 Axis troops based on spy sources.

A German sign at the site of Kandanos (one of two, with separate wording) which reads: “Kandanos was destroyed in retaliation for the savage ambush murder of a paratrooper platoon and a half-platoon of military engineers by armed men and women.” (Segers, German Federal Archive, Bild 101I-779-0003-22)

War Crimes: Following on atrocities committed at Kondomari and Alikianos, Crete on 2 June, the German 1III Battalion of the 1st Air Landing Assault Regiment (most probably led by Oberleutnant Horst Trebes) storms into the village of Kandanos. Acting pursuant to standing orders of temporary island commandant General Kurt Student, the Germans destroy the town. This is in retaliation for civilian resistance during Operation Mercury. The German troops execute most of the population, about 180 people, and kill the livestock.

The Germans declare Kandanos a "dead zone" which nobody can visit or inhabit. The Germans post two warnings in both German and Greek, one of which reads: "Here stood Kandanos, destroyed in retribution for the murder of 25 German soldiers, never to be rebuilt again." A war memorial using this exact language will be built after the war at the site of the village.

The Germans also attack the villages of Floria and Kakopetro.

Spy Stuff: German Ambassador Graf von Schulenburg is strongly opposed to Operation Barbarossa. He violates his duty by telling the head of Soviet International Affairs that Adolf Hitler had decided to begin a war with the Soviet Union on June 22. The Soviets treat this as proof that the Germans are engaging in a disinformation campaign and that there will not be any invasion.

German/Japanese Relations: Adolf Hitler meets with Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Ōshima at the Berghof. He informs Ōshima of the upcoming Operation Barbarossa. There are some hopes within the German high command that Japan will join Germany in attacking the Soviet Union.

Repair ship USS Prometheus (AR-3) laid up at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, while being reconditioned for a return to active service after lying "in mothballs" since 1924, 3 June 1941 (Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives).

German/Finnish Relations: Following up on preliminary negotiations held in Salzburg on 25 May 1941, German members of the OKW arrive in Helsinki to discuss upcoming operations.  President Ryti, Foreign Minister Witting, Defence Minister Walden, Field Marshal Mannerheim, and Lt Gen Heinrichs agree to military cooperation, but not to Finnish initiation of hostilities. 

Specifically, agreements are negotiated regarding Finnish use of its army and air force against the Soviet Union in certain circumstances, both of which the Germans consider top quality. Tentative plans are formed for the Germans to occupy northern Finland and use that as a springboard to invade the Soviet Union in the far north and take the Soviet port of Murmansk. The Finns are not doing the Germans any favors - they want assistance to recover their historic territory lost during the Winter War.

The Finns remain wary about granting the Germans a "blank check." Heinrichs even warns them that any attempt to mount a coup in Finland and install a puppet government favorable to Germany would be met with absolute resistance. However, overall the talks are cordial and the Finns begin preparations for some kind of military activity. Based on the agreements reached at this meeting, Luftwaffe transport planes carrying service personnel begin arriving at Finnish airfields.

While the Germans are coy about the likelihood of Operation Barbarossa, it is hard to believe that the Finns can't figure out that the Germans intend to invade the Soviet Union, and soon. 

These meetings last until 6 June.

German/Vichy France Relations: Premier Petain, supported by his Council of Ministers, refuse to ratify Vice Premier Admiral Darlan's recently negotiated Paris Protocols. However, they have gone into effect anyway.

"HMS SUFFOLK's Supermarine Walrus amphibian taxi-ing back to the ship after a flight over the Arctic ice. Ice can be seen in the background." June 1941 on Arctic patrol in the Denmark Strait. © IWM (A 4185).

US Military: Due to a shortage of pilots, the US Army has decided that it needs to train enlisted men as pilots. There have long been enlisted pilots in the Army (the Air Corps Act of 1926 authorized their training, but trained pilots have served beginning in 1912), but the educational requirements are stiff and few enlisted men can meet them to get trained. To meet that need, Public Law 99 goes into effect today. For the first time, it authorizes the US Army Air Corps (and its successors) to take men without a college education. With the introduction of Sergeant pilots, the average age of pilots goes down to between 18 and 22. Enlisted pilot candidates will train six days a week in class or in the air and spend Sundays doing drills.

British Government: A memorandum drafted by Clement Attlee which provides that "A necessary prelude to a just peace is a total victory" is approved at a Labour Party conference by 2,430,000 to 19,000.

China: The new Nakajima Ki-43 Type 1 Fighter ‘Hayabusa’ (Allied codename "Oscar") is allocated to the Japanese 59th Sentai at Hankou. The unit begins transferring them from Japan. The Ki-43, however, turns out to have wing problems that requires repair.

Aerial view of the construction progress of Camp Polk, Louisiana on 3 June 1941.

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020