Saturday 23 August 1941

A Finnish soldier threatens a Stalin statue with his "puukko" knife, 23 August 1941. What appears to be a cut or two in the statue's cheek are actually scratches on the surface of the photograph (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder has a big day on 23 August 1941. He meets with Army Group Center commander Field Marshal von Bock and General Guderian at Army Group Center headquarters in Borisov, then flies to the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia to confer with Hitler. Guderian flies with Halder and makes an impassioned plea to Hitler for authorization to drive on Moscow. Hitler, however, rejects it and argues that advances in the north and south were ""tasks which stripped the Moscow problem of much of its significance." He tells Guderian that the situation at Kyiv represents "an unexpected opportunity, and a reprieve from past failures to trap the Soviet armies in the south."

Hitler, in fact, feels that there will be plenty of time to move on Moscow later. He says:

the objections that time will be lost and the offensive on Moscow might be undertaken too late, or that the armored units might no longer be technically able to fulfill their mission, are not valid.

Guderian and Halder return to the front with clear orders to push Guderian's Panzer Group 2 south to link up with Army Group South and encircle the Soviet troops at Kyiv. This is a bitter blow for Guderian, Halder, and von Bock, who all feel that a quick attack on Moscow will be decisive.

Finnish Maxim machine gun team in a position defending a river crossing, 23 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).

In the Far North sector, the Finns continue their advance on the Karelian Isthmus. The Finns capture the village of Taipale on the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga. In addition, the Finnish 10th and 15th Divisions clear a "motif" (fortified position) held by Soviet 142nd Rifle and 198th Motorized Divisions on the Kilpola islands just off the shore of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets, however, have had time to evacuate 26,000 troops from the motif across the lake by boat.

A little to the southwest, the Soviet 115th and 123rd Rifle Divisions prepare to attack advance Finnish detachments of the Finnish Light Brigade T that have crossed the Vuoksi river. Finnish Group F, struggling forward toward Ukhta (Kalevala) on Ozero Sredneye Kuyto Lake, take another small village, Korpiyarvi, northwest of Ukhta. The Soviets are putting up fierce resistance, and the numerous small lakes and marshes in the area favor the defense.

Finnish 6th Division of 36 Corps have trapped some Soviet troops at Nurmi Lake and Nurmi Mountain, and the Soviet troops there are in desperate straits. The Finns intercept a Russian radio message during the night that claims the troops are in "complete encirclement." The Finns, though, also are very strained, and today use the last of their own reserves to extend its line northward to prevent the Soviets from escaping. The Soviets, though, discover a logging road which is not on any maps north of the lake along which they begin to withdraw. The battle becomes a race between the retreating Soviets and the extension of the Finnish troops to the north through rough terrain.

In the Army Group North sector, Marshal Voroshilov, in command at Leningrad, assigns 48th Army to the Northern Front and gives it responsibility for defending the approaches to Leningrad. General Alexander Novikov becomes his air commander.

German soldiers in the ruins of Gomel, 23 August 1941.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviets plan an offensive to be led by reinforced 24th Army. It is planned to begin on 30 August. The plan is to smash a small hole through some weakened German divisions. It is hoped that this will force the entire Wehrmacht front back. Meanwhile, since General Guderian now has plans to head south with his Panzer Group 2, the Germans will have few reserves to counter a massive offensive - though the Soviets do not know this. On the German side, General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 continues attacking toward Velikiye Luki.

In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 4th Army is bogged down in front of Odessa. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet has been instrumental in providing artillery support. Both sides have taken heavy casualties, but the Romanians have an easier time bringing in reinforcements than the Soviets, who can only be supplied by sea.

A Soviet Army soldier teaches Russian partisans how to operate a Browning Hi-Power handgun. Near Smolensk, Russia, Soviet Union. 23 August 1941.

European Air Operations: There is no major action today by either side. The RAF is beginning to equip Bristol Beaufighters with airborne radar sets, and these are beginning to make an impact. Beaufighter pilot John Cunningham, in particular, is developing a reputation in the press as "Cat's Eye Cunningham," but his eyes are nothing special - this is just a cover for his use of radar.

Later in the afternoon, six Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111H-5s of KG 26 attempt to intercept a reported convoy in the North Sea. One crashes into the sea after being hit by destroyer fire. The five crewman take to a dinghy and are taken prisoner by the British.

Battle of the Baltic: The Germans are pressing in on the port of Tallinn (Reval), Estonia, so Soviet cruiser Kirov and destroyers Gordy, Leningrad, and Minsk provide supporting gunfire.

Soviet minesweeper T-204 Fugas hits a mine and sinks west of Kronstadt.

Peter Ferdinand Freiherr von Malapert-Neufville (2 February 1922 – 23 September 1999) becomes an ace today. While flying a Bf 109 F-2 in 7 Staffel of JG 54, he shoots down an I-16 over Jan-Jedrow east of Ilmensee (Lake Ilmen) for his fifth victory. He is shot down and taken as a prisoner on 11 September 1941. There are sketchy reports that he collaborated with the Soviets thereafter, writing leaflets to Luftwaffe pilots urging them to defect. He receives the Eichenlaub and Ritterkreuz on 8 June 1942. After the war, he joins the Bundesluftwaffe and rises to the rank of Obstlt.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have been stalking Convoy OG-71, and their reconnaissance is bearing fruit. The convoy loses several ships today, adding to two lost on the 22nd.

U-564 (KrvKpt. Reinhard Suhren), on its second patrol out of Brest, sank two ships of Convoy OG-71 west of Portugal on the 22nd, and today it adds a third. Suhren torpedoes and sinks 900-ton British corvette HMS Zinnia (K-98, Lt Cdr C. G. Cuthbertson DSO RNR). There are 49 deaths and 36 survivors.

U-564 also damages 2129-ton British freighter Spind from Convoy OG-71. U-552 (ObltzS Topp) then tries to finish off Spind with two torpedoes and then twenty rounds from its 88mm deck gun. The crew of Spind abandons ship but it remains afloat, blazing. Later Royal Navy destroyer Boreas scuttles Spind.

U-201 (Kptlt. Adalbert Schnee), on its third patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks two ships in Convoy OG-71:

• 787-ton British freighter Stork (19 deaths)
• 1974-ton British freighter Aldergrove (one death).

Elsewhere, U-143 (Oblt. Ernst Mengersen), on its fourth patrol and operating 130 miles northwest of Butt of Lewis, Scotland, torpedoes and sinks 1418-ton British freighter Inger. There are nine deaths (7 Norwegians, 2 British) and 14 survivors.

Finnish 1847-ton freighter Cisil hits a German mine and sinks off Kolberg, Germany.

The RAF bombs 4845-ton Finnish freighter Wisa in the Ems estuary with an aerial mine. Wisa is towed into Emden.

Royal Navy minesweeper Speedwell collides with 1951-ton British freighter St. Julian in the North Sea, damaging both ships. However, the destroyer's damage is minor.

Operations EGV1 and EGV2, whose objectives are to provide convoy protection in northern waters near Murmansk and Archangel, begin when Force M departs from Scapa Flow. It is led by heavy cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk.

German raider Orion (FKpt Weyher) arrives in the Gironde Estuary escorted by U-75 and U-205, completing its 510-day raiding mission by docking at Bordeaux. During that time, Orion sank 9 1/2 ships of 57,744 tons on its own and 7 ships in concert with raider "Komet." Perhaps just as importantly, Orion and the other raiders have spread fear and panic in the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas that otherwise the Germans cannot reach.

The Royal Navy receives reports of a German raider south of Bermuda, so it dispatches Canadian AMC Prince David to search. In addition, AMC Circassia is dispatched from Freetown to search for it. The reports may have referred to Orion, which makes port.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser Devonshire leads a group of minelayers to lay minefield SN-70A east of Iceland.

US Navy battleship USS New Mexico returns to Hampton Roads from a Neutrality Patrol.

Convoy OS-4 departs from Liverpool bound for Freetown.

Royal Navy submarine HMS P39 is launched.

Canadian Corvette HMCS Calgary is launched in Sorel, Province of Quebec.

US Navy destroyer USS Emmons is launched.

U-155 (Kapitänleutnant Adolf C. Piening) is commissioned, U-629, U-630, and U-755 are laid down.

"The presentation of diplomas by Mr Paul Riddle to Royal Air Force cadets of the first course, Class 42-B, at Embry-Riddle Company. The cadets wear the white flash identifying aircrew in their caps. Shirts and trousers are USAAC issue." Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida, August 1941 (© IWM (TR 80)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch torpedoes and sinks two Italian ships near Sirte:

• 413-ton freighter Fratelli Garre 12 miles northwest of Sirte
• 395-ton freighter Francesco Garre 1 miles north of Sirte

Royal Navy submarine P-33, reported overdue on the 21st, is sunk while attacking a convoy off Pantelleria by Italian torpedo boat Partenope. This action may have taken place on 18 August.

An RAF Bristol Blenheim bombs and sinks 582-ton Italian freighter Constanza south of Lampedusa.

Italian aircraft bomb and sink Royal Navy destroyer Fearless south of Sardinia.

Italian aircraft bomb and damage Royal Navy light cruiser Manchester south of Sardinia.

Due to sightings of Italian ships sailing to Bardia, the Royal Navy dispatches destroyers Jackal and Napier to intercept them. However, no contact is made because the Italian ships change course back to the north.

Italian minelayers Aspromonte and Reggio lay minefield SN-44 in the Sicilian Strait. This is a massive minefield of 1125 mines.

Having heard of the departure of Royal Navy Force H from Gibraltar (Operation Mincemeat), the Italian fleet goes to sea. Led by battleships Littorio and Veneto based at Taranto and heavy cruisers Bolzano, Gorizia, Trento, and Trieste, along with five destroyers from Trapani and three light cruisers from Palermo, the fleet patrols off the western Italian coast.

There is a heavy air raid on Malta after dark. Corrodino, the area northeast of Ta Silch, Safi, and St. George's Barracks are hit with incendiary bombs. In addition, five incendiaries fall on the dockyard area, but they are put out quickly.

The RAF at Malta sends 10 Wellingtons to bomb the area northwest of Tripoli, while 5 Blenheim bombers attack a convoy.

"An Air Raid Precautions Warden reports for duty to the Chief ARP Warden, Mr Davies, at his local ARP post in Springfield, Essex." August 1941 (© IWM (D 4263)).

War Crimes: Strict new rules imposed by the German occupation authorities go into effect. The order by the Kommandant of Greater Paris, General Schaumberg, provides in part that due to the recent assassination of a German naval cadet at a Paris train station:

...all Frenchmen taken into custody, either by the German authorities in France or on orders originating with them, will be regarded as hostages. Should any further criminal action occur, hostages will be shot in a number corresponding to the seriousness of that action.

This practice of taking hostages from the civilian population and executing them is a common tactic by the Germans during World War II and is considered a war crime.

Partisans: Italian troops of the 2nd Army begin relieving German troops on garrison duty in the former Yugoslavia. The German troops' next assignment is the Russian Front, where replacements are badly needed.

US/Italian Relations: US authorities seize a handful of Italian freighters at Norfolk, Virginia and New York City:

• 5932-ton Laconia  in Norfolk (becomes Panamian Elwood)
• 6131-ton Alberta in NYC (becomes Panamanian Ballot)
• 5441-ton Aussa in NYC (becomes Panamanian Africander)
• 5060-ton Guidnia in Norfolk (becomes Panamanian Plaudit)
• 6140-ton Pietro Campanella in Norfolk (becomes Panamanian Equipoise)

Authorities also seize 5234-ton Italian freighter Ada O in New Orleans, which becomes Panamanian Hermes.

P-36 Hawks of the 18th Pursuit Squadron lined up at Elmendorf Field, Alaska, August 1941 (US Army Air Forces USGOV-PD).

US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese inform Ambassador Nomura that there have been reports in US newspapers about shipments of US goods to Russia. Tokyo instructs Nomura to explain to the US that shipments to Russia via Japanese coastal waters will be looked upon with disfavor. Nomura calls on Secretary of State Hull and expresses Japan's desire for peace, which Hull reciprocates. Hull, however, notes that the Japanese press has been touting a new policy of Japanese expansion in the Pacific. Nomura responds that his government knows about US oil shipments to Vladivostok and feels that this evinces a lack of sincerity on the US side.

Nomura returns to see Hull again later in the day and tells him that his government wishes the two countries' heads of state to have a summit meeting before 15 October 1941. He also asks that the US stop shipping supplies to Russia and delay a proposed Allies conference at Moscow. Hull is noncommittal but promises to tell President Roosevelt about the requests.

German/Japanese Relations: The Japanese are keeping their negotiations with the Americans secret and have been lying to the Germans about what they are doing. German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop meets with his Japanese Ambassador Oshima in Berlin and admits that the war in the USSR may last into 1942 - a very rare admission. When communicated to Tokyo, this reinforces the hotly contested decision not to invade the Soviet Union.

Canadian Military: Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King addresses 10,000 Canadian troops in Aldershot, England. He receives a mixed reception, as the soldiers are tired of waiting for action. Some boo and hiss his speech.

Soviet Military: Soviet Transcaucasus Military District is redesignated Transcaucasus Front, commanded by General Kozlov. He has four armies - 44th Army, 45th Army, 46th Army, and 47th Army - and it is given responsibility for the entire coastal region from Turkey to Tuapse.

Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, which enters service on 23 August 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Imperial Japanese Navy 30,000-ton aircraft carrier Shokaku departs from Yokohama on a shakedown cruise. Afterward Shokaku docks at Ariake, Tokyo and becomes the flagship of 1st Air Fleet of Carrier Division 5.

The IJN begins converting 7397-ton freighter Awata Maru into an auxiliary cruiser at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Kobe, Japan.

The IJN begins converting 5181-ton freighter Hide Maru into an ammunition ship at Osaka Iron Works.
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Vichy French Government: Premier Petain authorizes courts to impose the death penalty for offenses deemed to be by terrorists.

Prommers at Last Night of the Proms, 23 August 1941.

British Homefront: It is Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall - the first-ever, as previously the annual event was held at the Queen's Hall at Langham Place, which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in June 1941. Chief conductor Sir Henry Wood leads the London Symphony Orchestra through the night and gives the first-ever "Conductor's Speech."

American Homefront: "Daddy" by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye with the Kaye Choir marks its eighth non-consecutive week at the top of the Billboard singles chart.

The Ryder Cup begins at Oakland Hills Country Club. Bobby Jones captains the Challengers and Walter Hagen is the U.S. Ryder Cup Captain. The US team defeats the British 8 1/2 to 6 1/2 on 24 August. Over 20,000 people attend. Jones wins his match against Henry Picard, 2 and 1.

Future History: Margaret Julia Leon is born in Ringwood, Hampshire, United Kingdom. As Julia Lockwood (her mother's last name), she becomes a child actress, first appearing in "Hungry Hill" (uncredited) and turns to television in the 1950s, appearing in shows such as "The Royalty" (1956-58), "Don't Tell Father" (1959), and "Birds on the Wing" (1971). Julia continues to act occasionally but mostly retired in 1976.

On 23 August 1941, an unidentified drummer during a jam session at the 'NW3 Group', a rhythm club in London. Original Publication: Picture Post - 858 - ...And This Is A Rhythm Club's Jam Session - pub. 1941 (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images).

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

Thursday 14 August 1941

A Finnish soldier collecting potatoes for tonight's dinner, 14 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder notes in the war diary on 14 August 1941 that Finnish achievements so far in the war are "truly remarkable." Morale is good in the army, but he notes that "Losses in the armored and rifle units considerable." Due to tank losses, the armored divisions have "an abundance of personnel," while the rifle divisions are short of men. Field Marshal von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, complains that Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering is shifting air support without consulting him, and a fierce debate rages whether Yelnya is worth keeping due to the heavy losses there.

Reports in other army commands are a little more direct about the actual situation than Halder. Generalleutnant Hans Reichsfreiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, commander of the 4th Panzer Division which is with XXIV Panzer Corps, notes in his war diary that

Battles on 13 and 14 [August] very costly, also in material. There was little benefit [in the fighting] because the enemy mass had already evacuated. Trucks in bad condition. Men tired. Division increasingly more worn out...Russian tanks, especially the heavy ones, are good.

The troops may be tired, but there is a lot of fighting left, with no end in sight.

Finnish soldiers on a break check out a Soviet Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, 14 August 1941. See below for what such a rifle can do. (SA-Kuva).

In the Far North sector, the Finnish 18th Division of II Corps captures the key town of Antrea (Kamennogorsk) in the center of the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River. The Finns now are 170 km (110 miles) northwest of Leningrad. Antrea is important strategically because it controls one of the few bridges across the river, and taking it traps Soviet 115th Rifle Division on the wrong side of the river. The Soviet division now must either succumb or find a way to cross the forests and river to rejoin Soviet 19th Corps near Vyborg (Viipuri), the prime target in the sector.

Going is slow in this region due to the harsh terrain with few roads, which slows down even the Finns who are experts at going across the roughest country. Already, some Soviet units such as 142nd Rifle and 198s Motorized Divisions are backed against Lake Ladoga with no way out except by boat. Finnish I Corps also is making good progress to the east, with 2nd, 7th, and 19th divisions on the verge of taking Sortavala, where the Soviets also have no landward line of retreat.

A little further north, Finnish Group J of III Corps today confirms that the Soviets have brought in the 88th Rifle Division from Archangel (Arkhangelsk) to the north in order to block their advance to Loukhi. Thus, the Finnish advance to the Murmansk railway, a key strategic objective only 20 miles away along a spur railway line and improved road, is stopped for the time being.

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans make some forward progress at Luga and on either end of Lake Ilmen. The Soviets pierce the German line south of Lake Ilmen with a cavalry division, a reminder that the German line is being stretched thin with little behind the hard crust at the front.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Halder notes in the war diary that there are "gratifying successes against the enemy in the Rogachev salient" but that "costly fighting continues" at Yelnya. "All quiet elsewhere on the front." Panzer Group 2 approaches Bryansk, where the Soviets are concentrating in order to protect Kyiv from exactly what the Germans have in mind - an attack south toward Kyiv.

A German StuG III with 75mm gun carrying infantry across a swamp near the village of Berezhok in Ukraine, August 1941.

In the Army Group South sector, the German capture of Cherson on the Dneiper makes the Soviet position at Nikolayev (Nikolaev) untenable. Thus, after dark today the Soviets begin evacuating the port, and in the process destroy the unfinished 59,150-ton battleship Sovetskaya Ukraina and several other ships under construction, including:

• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Ordzhonikidze
• submarines S-36, S-37, S-38
• two gunboats
• 34,540-ton battlecruiser Sevastopol
• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Sverdlov
• destroyers Obshitelny, Obuchenny, Otchayanny, and Otmenny

The retreating Soviets also destroy other potentially useable items. Several warships undergoing refits, including the following, are towed away to other ports:

• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Frunze
• 11,300-ton heavy cruiser Kuibyshev
• destroyer leaders Erevan and Kiev
• destroyers Ognevoi, Ozornoi, and Svododny
• submarines S-35, L-23, L-24, and L-25
• icebreaker Mikoyan

This evacuation continues for the next three nights. A large flotilla of destroyers covers the retreat, including:

• Frunze
• Bodry
• Boiki
• Bezuprechny
• Besposhchadny
• Dzerzhinski
• Nezamozhnik
• Shaumyan

The Romanian 4th Army advance on Odessa is temporarily paused on direct orders from leader Ion Antonescu. The Romanians are busy bringing troops forward to reinforce their coastal positions along the Hadjibey bank, and the Soviets in the town are under orders to resist to the last man.

The Germans advance to within sight of Krivoy Rog (Kryvi Rih) due north of the neck of the Crimea. It is a regional center of iron-ore mining, one of the economic objectives that Hitler prefers over political objectives such as Moscow.

Luftwaffe Oblt. Heinz Bär of JG 51 receives the Eichenlaub for achieving 60 kills, while Hptm. Hans ‘Assi’ Hahn of JG 2 also receives it for 42 victories. In the air, Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 claims two Soviet I-153s over the Bay of Kolga. German pilots are racking up huge sums of victories on the Eastern Front, much quicker than has happened on the Western Front.

Luftwaffe ace Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Schenck is awarded the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1941 (Federal Archive).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends 26 Blenheim bombers on coastal sweeps all along the continental coastline. The bombers attack shipping and dockyards in Boulogne harbor and further north. The British lose one airplane. There is another raid by five Blenheim bombers to the Marquise ammunition factory, but they turn back without attacking.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command mounts another large effort against three German targets: Hanover (Hannover), Brunswick, and Magdeburg.

Against Hanover, the British send 152 bombers (96 Wellingtons, 55 Whitleys, and 1 Stirling. The British lose 5 Wellingtons and four Whitleys during attacks that use the main railway stations as targets.

Against Brunswick, the British send 81 Hampdens also to bomb railway targets. One aircraft fails to return.

Against Magdeburg, the British send 52 bombers (27 Wellingtons, 9 Halifaxes, 9 Stirlings, and 7 Manchester bombers). Once again, the targets are railway stations. There is cloud cover over the target that forces the bombers to drop their loads by guesswork. The British lose two Wellingtons, one Halifax, and one Stirling.

The RAF sends minor diversionary raids to Boulogne (13 Wellingtons), Rotterdam (9 Wellingtons and Whitleys), Dunkirk (two Wellingtons), and on minelaying in the Frisian Islands. All of these bombers return.

Overall, it is not a bad night for the RAF. For 314 sorties, the British only lose 14 bombers for a 4.5% loss rate. In terms of maintaining a sustainable bombing campaign, this is considered acceptable, as the average crewman can be expected to survive a 20-mission tour. Naturally, the lower, the better, 14 bombers is still a lot to lose and a lot of RAF crewmen wind up in POW camps after a night like this.

The Luftwaffe sends a few bombers against the north of England. The German planes drop their bombs at random, in fields and along roads, then head home quickly. Targets hit include the vicinities of Northumberland, Gateshead (4 killed), and Bishop Auckland. The damage is minimal, but occasional "lucky hits" destroy a road here or there, cut some utility lines, or land on luckless people in their homes.

Luftwaffe Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Schenck earns the Knight's Cross Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 1./SKG 210.

A colorized view of Wolfgang Schenck. Sometimes color brings out a little more humanity in the subject.

Battle of the Baltic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet transport Sibir, which is carrying 2500 wounded from Tallinn, Estonia to Kronstadt near Leningrad. An estimated 400+ perish. The date of this sinking is disputed, some sources place it on 19 August.

Two ships hit mines laid by German S-boats:

• 125-ton Soviet freighter Vodnik
• 542-ton Lithuanian freighter Utena

Both ships sink in the Gulf of Finland, Vodnik east of Prangli, Estonia, and Vodnik seven nautical miles north of Cape Juminda.

Battle of the Atlantic: Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi spots independent 2589-ton Yugoslavian freighter Sud hundreds of miles west of Portugal. Marconi fires a torpedo and misses, then surfaces and uses its deck gun, severely damaging but not sinking Sud. U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer), on its first patrol out of Kiel, also is in the vicinity and torpedoes and finishes off Sud four hours later. The entire 33-man crew survives and picked up by Portuguese freighter Alferrarede. Sud was traveling as part of Convoy HG-70 but fell behind. This is the fifth success of the patrol for Bauer and U-126, with sinkings totaling 13,693 tons.

RAF Coastal Command planes bombs and sinks 1193-ton German freighter Lotte Halm off Borkum.

Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Circassia captures 4272-ton Italian freighter Stella west of the Cape Verde Islands. The British put aboard a prize crew and send it to Bermuda. Stella is later renamed Empire Planet and put into service.

US 2686-ton freighter Norlindo (some sources say Norluna) collides with US Navy submarine chaser PC-457 off San Juan, Puerto Rico. As is usually the case, the bigger ship wins, and PC-457 goes to the bottom.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN-66 heading south along the Channel coast during the night but scores no successes.

US battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) departs from Hampton Beach, Virginia with accompanying destroyers on a Neutrality Patrol.

Free French submarine Rubis departs from Dundee to lay minefield FD-33 off Jaederen.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Serapis is laid down (later given to Royal Netherlands Navy as Piet Hein).

U-583 (Kptlt. Heinrich Ratsch) is commissioned, U-252 is launched.

A wounded Finnish soldier shot by a Soviet sniper smiling bravely for the camera, August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There is almost a tragic case of friendly fire outside the port of Alexandria when Royal Navy submarine HMS Talisman spots a submarine and fires a torpedo at it. Instead of an Axis submarine, however, it is fellow Royal Navy submarine Otus, which is on a supply mission to Malta. Neither submarine is damaged.

Royal Navy antiaircraft cruiser Coventry and destroyers Nizam and Kingston escort 9809-ton troopship from Alexandria to Port Said en route to the Suez Canal. This apparently is part of the relief of the Australian troops at Tobruk which is ongoing at this time.

German 1297-ton freighter Bellona has been sitting in Bardia, Libya near the front for some time. Tonight, it makes the hazardous journey north to Suda Bay, Crete without being spotted by the British.

Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga, participating in Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, departs from Alexandria for Famagusta.

An Axis convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli.

Battle of the Pacific: Operating a few hundred kilometers south of the Galapagos Islands, German raider Komet (KAdm Eyssen), disguised as Japanese freighter Ryoku Maru, sinks 5020-ton British freighter Australind. There are two deaths during the encounter and another crewman perishes later. The other crewmen are made prisoners.

Members of the 64th Reserve Police Battalion stand at the site of the 14 August 1941 Skela ambush, with reprisal victims nearby.

Partisans: In the Yugoslavian village of Skela, partisans of the Posavina Company, Kosmaj Partisan Detachment ambush a German police car. Four German officers are killed and the partisans throw their bodies in the Sava River. The Germans discover the car and shoot 15 suspected villagers on the spot and hang an additional 50 Communists. The Germans also burn the village to the ground.

Soviet/Polish Relations: Following up on the Sikorski-Mayski agreement of 30 July 1941, the two nations sign a military agreement. It sets forth a complicated arrangement in which freed Polish POWs in the Soviet Union operate as part of the Red Army but under the control of the Polish government-in-exile. As amply proven later, Stalin doesn't care for Polish control over anything, but the situation on the Eastern Front is so dire that he is willing to make concessions. The Poles in London, led by General Władysław Sikorski, appoint General Władysław Anders, just released from the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, as the commander. The Anders Army, as it becomes known, relies on "volunteers" recently released from the Soviet POW camps who are in poor health and often dressed in rags. There also is a very noticeable shortage of Polish officers which the Soviets cannot explain.

German Military: Adolf Hitler plans to invade the Soviet-held Baltic Islands. For this purpose, he places the army high command (OKH) in control of all Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine units to be used.

A train accident in central Queensland has a happy ending. Published in the Central Queensland Herald, 14 August 1941 (John Oxley Library).

Australian Military: Edmund Herring is promoted to Major-General and given command of the 6th Division in Egypt.

British Government: While Winston Churchill is returning to Britain from Newfoundland aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales, Clement Attlee makes sure that the terms of the Atlantic Charter (which is not yet called that, it is still referred to as the "Joint Declaration by the President and the Prime Minister"). Due to the fact that there is no "final document" of the charter, but is instead is a partially handwritten, partially verbal agreement, there is a slight difference between the US "version" that is broadcast over US radio and the British "version" that is broadcast over the BBC. This difference is quickly corrected. The Charter does not include any war objectives, just post-war plans.

Incidentally, most histories record 14 August 1941 as the date of the Atlantic Conference that results in the Atlantic Charter. However, in fact, the conference already is over by 14 August and both President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill are heading back to their respective capitals. The joint communique is issued today, so this is when it comes to the public's attention, but the actual agreement is finalized on 13 August 1941.

P-36 Hawks of the 18th Pursuit Squadron lined up at Elmendorf Field, Alaska, August 1941 (US Air Force, USGOV-PD).

US Government: President Roosevelt continues a leisurely return to Washington from the Atlantic Conference with Prime Minister Churchill at Placentia Bay in Newfoundland. Today, Roosevelt, aboard heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31), stops off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia to observe flight operations off of escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1). Long Island is the first "jeep" carrier and thus of particular interest to the President.

After watching the F2A Buffaloes and SOC Seagulls of Scouting Squadron 201 (VS-201), Roosevelt continues down to Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where he re-embarks presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25).

German Government: Over lunch, Hitler expounds on the subject of ... top hats. It turns out that he has very definite views on top hats, and they are not favorable. He views them as a sign of the control of the plutocracy over the worker:

I sometimes entertain myselfby rummaging through old back-numbers of the [weekly newsreels]. I have a collection of them. It's truly instructive to plunge one's nose in them. At the launching of a ship, nothing but top-hats, even after the revolution! The people were invited to such festivities only as stage extras. The Kaiser received a delegation of workers just once. He gave them a fine scolding, threatening simply to withdraw the Imperial favour from them!

These ramblings are illuminating on several scores. For one, they show one of the hidden sources of Hitler's appeal to the "masses" (as he likes to call them), and that is his dislike of the high-hat approaches (to borrow an apt phrase) of the past. In addition, he also critiques the German government's management of World War I, and not long after the Kaiser's passing in the Netherlands. This seems somewhat contrary to his constant public assertions of the "stab in the back" theory. Finally, while Hiler is deliberately gathering the operational reins of military command with both hands to the consternation of his generals, he is sitting around blithely talking about abstractions that reflect his true orientation and training - the political, and not the military.

China: The sustained Japanese bombing campaign against Chungking continues. The pilots seem to taunt the Americans in the embassy and the nearby gunboat USS Tutuila (PR-4), flying directly over them before dropping their loads elsewhere.

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe.

Holocaust: Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe is executed by lethal injection of carbolic acid at the Auschwitz concentration camp. In late July, Father Kolbe voluntarily took the place of another man with a family who had been chosen for death in reprisal for an escaped inmate. This execution follows two weeks of dehydration and starvation which did not kill Kolbe - the guards finally lost patience with Kolbe and wanted his space. Kolbe is recognized as a Servant of God on 12 May 1955, declared venerable on 30 January 1969, beatified as a Confessor of the Faith in 1971, and finally canonized as a saint by John Paul II on 10 October 1982. There is now a feast day (August 14) on the General Roman Calendar in Kolbe's honor and a statue of Kolbe above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London.

Residents of the Jewish community of Lesko, Poland, are transported to Zaslaw, Poland, and executed.

Lionello Alatri, the spokesman for the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, writes to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Luigi Maglione to beg the pope's help for Croatian Jews. The letter describes brutalities against Jews in Zagreb and other Croatian cities. Maglione does not respond.

The December 7, 1941 entry in Thomas Askins' diary - "I am plenty worried." (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History).

American Homefront: US Navy sailor Thomas Barwiss Hagstoz Askin Jr. begins a diary entitled "Memorys (sic) and Incidents of My Last 60 (?) Days in the United States Navy." Askin is serving aboard USS Memphis, which is at sea, and his scheduled discharge date is 13 October 1941. While Memphis is at sea on that date and cannot be discharged, when he gets back to shore on 6 December 1941 Askin is notified that he should proceed to New York to be discharged. However, greater events intervene, and all discharges are canceled. Askin winds up staying in the US Navy through 1958.

Future History: David Van Cortlandt Crosby is born in Los Angeles, California. He has difficulty in school and eventually drops out of Santa Barbara City College to pursue a musical career. After a brief stop in Chicago, he winds up in Greenwich Village, New York. He records his first solo session in 1963, then returns to Chicago, where he meets Jim McGuinn (later Roger McGuinn) and the two begin a band. Eventually, after adding more members, they form The Byrds, one of the top musical acts of the decade. Eventually, David Crosby leaves the band and hooks up with Stephen Stills. After Graham Nash joins them, they form Crosby, Stills & Nash, then, with the addition of Neil Young in 1969, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. After that, David Crosby pursues a solo career, sometimes working with his earlier bandmates and others. David Crosby also has done some acting and generally become a top US celebrity. He remains active as of this writing in 2018.

Constance June Smith is born in Elkhart, Indiana. She grows up to become one of the most respected singers in US country music. Over the course of her career, Connie Smith earns 11 Grammy award nominations, 20 top-ten Billboard country singles, and three no. 1 Billboard country albums. She is elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. She remains active as of 2018, though apparently semi-retired.

Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia on August 14, 1941. Playing tonight is "Parachute Battalion" starring Edmond O'Brien. This apparently is a special preview showing in honor of nearby Fort Benning (featured in the film), since "Parachute Battalion" is not released until September. Buddy Ebsen also has a prominent role. (Georgia State University Library).

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

Friday 21 February 1941

A Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter.

Italian/Greek Campaign: As has been the case often recently, poor winter weather curtails operations in Greece today, 21 February 1941. Both sides are looking to launch offensives soon, with the Italians steadily building up forces for a major offensive.

East African Campaign: HMS Formidable is stuck in the Red Sea waiting for the Suez Canal to be cleared before it can join the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. The crew occupies itself supporting army operations, bombing Massawa, but they accomplish little. The Luftwaffe mining of the Suez Canal has achieved a tremendous amount for the small investment involved.

The campaign along the Juba River continues as the British move toward the ultimate prize of Mogadishu. At dawn, the Transvaal Scottish South African troops embark in armored cars to Margherita. The Italians have artillery positioned, but the South African artillery stops it. South Africans take Margherita during the afternoon. The new commander is Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon le Roux. The next objective to the north is Jelib, and the 22nd East African Brigade is coming from the north to block the Italians' retreat from that city.

The Indian 7th Infantry Brigade attacks the Italian 112th Colonial Battalion at Cub Cub but makes little progress.

Damage during the Swansea Blitz, 19-21 February 1941.

European Air Operations: After dark, the Luftwaffe completes its three-day attack on Swansea, Wales. As on the other nights, the bombers appear over the city around 19:50 and continue the attack until after midnight. Known as The Three Nights' Blitz, the attacks result in 230 dead (of 167,000 residents), 409 injured and 7000 homeless. The entire city center of about 41 acres is completely destroyed by 1273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 incendiary bombs. It is the worst sustained bombardment in Wales.

If there is a silver lining for the British, it is that the fire watchers organized by the Swansea Council prevent the incendiaries from combining to create a firestorm. This shows that, with adequate intervention, incendiary bombs can be greatly reduced ineffectiveness. In addition, the vital dock facilities and oil installations are largely unscathed. The number of casualties also is relatively light due to the presence of numerous Anderson and domestic shelters, some built before the war. Swansea is a textbook study on how to suffer a devastating aerial assault while containing the consequences as much as possible due to good preparation.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, sends 34 bombers to raid Wilhelmshaven. It also sends 42 aircraft to lay mines off Brest.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe also raids Skálafjørður, also known as Kongshavn (King's harbor) in Eysturoy, Faroe Islands. The British have oil installations there, along with associated shipping. They sink 398-ton anti-submarine trawler HMS Lincoln City, while anti-submarine trawler HMS Leicester City shoots down one of the attacking German planes.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Clare collides with British freighter Petertown just outside the Bristol Channel. Clare makes port at Plymouth but spends until October in port being repaired.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its first mission (though Topp previously commanded U-57), is heading out for its station along the convoy routes when it is spotted on the surface by RAF aircraft. The submarine takes some minor damage and continues with its mission. This is an omen of things to come, for U-boats are vulnerable while in transit to their patrol stations because they must make the trips on the surface.

The Lockheed Hudson bomber, T-9449, which crashed near Musgrave Harbour, 20 February 1941, killing Dr. Frederick Banting. This is some time after the crash, as the engines have been removed. The plane wound up in a remote area and survived intact through the 1970s. Pieces of it no doubt still lie where they came to rest.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Longmore sends the Air Ministry in London a telegram criticizing air supply to the Middle East. It is well known that Longmore feels that sending planes to Greece is a waste of time, and he is rapidly rising on Churchill's list of officers to get rid of.

Operation MC 8, a supply convoy to Malta, concludes without a hitch today. Light cruisers HMS Orion, Gloucester, Ajax, and destroyers Mohawk, Nubian and Diamond arrive in the predawn darkness. They deliver 1300 troops in total (two battalions), and the Germans and Italians apparently never notice. The ships (except for Diamond) head back out at dusk.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Ursula (Lt.Cdr. G.C. Phillips) spots a convoy from Trapani in Sicily, bound for Tripoli. It torpedoes and damages Italian freighter Sabbia. Italian torpedo boat Montanari counterattacks, damaging Ursula. Sabbia eventually makes it to Tripoli, and Ursula gets away.

Colonel Leclerc's Free French force continues pounding away at the El Tag fortress in Kufra. The Italians in the fort can do nothing about the mortars and 75mm field gun firing from 1.5 and 3 km away, respectively.

The last photograph of Major Banting.

Battle of the Indian Ocean:  German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, having sunk two ships about 2000 km east of Madagascar on the 20th, today sinks a third. It is 7178-ton Canadian freighter Canadian Cruiser. The entire crew becomes POWs. The Canadian Cruiser notifies the Royal Navy of its plight, causing nearby patrolling cruiser HMS Glasgow to head toward the spot.

Battle of the Pacific: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) stands 10-15 miles off Oahu and lanches 31 USAAC Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters. Taking off in flights of three, the fighters will be based at Wheeler Field in the Wahiawa District near Pearl Harbor (next to Schofield Barracks). Wheeler lies just north of the naval base. This is the first time in US Navy history that a regular USAAC fighter is flown off a carrier's deck in a ferrying operation - something the British have been doing with some regularity in the Mediterranean. Looking ahead, some of these fighters will be present and get into action on 7 December 1941.

The P-36 fighter is approaching obsolescence. The USAAC already has a better fighter, the P-40, in service. However, at this time, the P-36 is considered the basic American fighter.

Spy Stuff: In a memo to Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Alexander Cadogan, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inquires about a digest of intercepted phone calls between different foreign embassies in London. The British are tapping the Thai Embassy phones, and the Thais have conversations with the Japanese and Nepalese embassies which involve top secret information about Japanese war plans. This appears to be a primary source of British information about Japanese plans.

Sir Frederick Grant Banting.

Applied Science: Major Sir Frederick Grant Banting, inventor of insulin and a top aviation medicine researcher, perishes from wounds and exposure suffered following a 20 February 1941 Lockheed Hudson crash in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland. The plane's engines fail, causing the bomber to come down in a remote forested area. Banting survives in the frigid weather for a day, into 21 February 1941, before succumbing. Banting, who had just re-enlisted despite being in his forties, was on his way from Gander to London to serve as a liaison between the medical services of Canada and Great Britain. It is a terrible way to go, a Nobel Laureate wasting away in the wilderness.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill complains in a note to Harry Hopkins about having to give up "all our direct investments" to the Americans. "Is this really necessary?" he writes. It really is necessary. Despite his plaints, the British government authorizes the transfer. This effectively places the financial future of Great Britain in American hands - where, to be honest, it has been throughout the conflict.

Japanese Military: The Japanese Consulate in Honolulu is a hotbed of spies. Today, Consul Ojiro (Otohiro) Okuda sends his first true spy message to Tokyo. He observes fleet movements in Pearl Harbor from a hill hear his office, then sends the information to the IJN. The message notes the recent comings and goings of warships in the harbor, and also provides a detailed list of the ships currently in the harbor (which must have taken some effort to compile), to wit:

Seven battleships (three of the New Mexico class, two of the Pennsylvania class, one each of the Oklahoma and California classes); four heavy cruisers, (two of the New Orleans class and two of the Portland class); ten light cruisers, (four of the Honolulu class; six of the Omaha class of which one is in drydock); thirty destroyers; three destroyer tenders; aircraft carriers, Yorktown and Enterprise; one troop transport; one submarine tender; (no submarines were visible).

It takes quite some military knowledge to distinguish between different classes of ships, including cruisers, so Okuda likely received extensive training in Japan before assuming his position in Hawaii. The military planners in Tokyo find Okuda's information useful but do not wish to compromise him, so they consider sending a military aide to make the observations.

"Western Union," featuring a very young Robert Young in a rare early technicolor film, opens today, 21 February 1941.

Soviet Government: The Kremlin reveals today that former Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov and two others have been removed from the Central Committee. Tellingly, Litvinov's place is filled by V. G. Dekanozov, ambassador to Germany and an architect of the 1939 Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact. Litvinov is Jewish and married to an Englishwoman. Violently opposed to fascism, his dismissal is an obvious gesture to Hitler and Germany.

Another dismissal is of Polina Semyonovna Zhemchuzhina Molotov, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov's wife. Apparently not intended as a slap at her husband, the dismissal likely is due to the fact that she is Jewish, and also because Stalin dislikes her for personal reasons. Polina also is suspected of being a spy, apparently stemming from knowing some (unidentified) foreign spies. The fact that Polina is an outspoken Zionist probably doesn't help her cause, considering that Stalin is trying to improve relations with Hitler.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies finally makes it to London, a month after he set out from Melbourne. He is staying in the same suite at the Dorchester previously occupied by Wendell Willkie. Menzies notes that "So far I have seen only a few bombed places" and "Day raids have for the time been practically discontinued, and the street traffic... seemed almost normal." He has lunch with several cabinet ministers, noting that Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin "would be a great hand with a fractious union, but I would think of limited mental powers." He also finds Lord Woolton "quiet and perhaps a little deaf," while Home Secretary Herbert Morrison "is rather arresting, smallish, humorous, broadminded."

Norway: Following the lead of other nations, Norway breaks diplomatic relations with Romania.

South Africa: Lord Harlech becomes the High Commissioner.

Dutch Homefront: The German Grüne Polizei, local Dutch police and assorted German paramilitary organizations such as the WA ("Weerbaarheidsafdeling") are incensed by Jewish self-defense groups on the Waterlooplein injuring their comrades on the 20th. The Germans begin the process of rounding up 425 hostages, all young Jewish men and send them to Kamp School. After spending time there, the men will be sent to various concentration camps in Germany. Two will survive the war.

Italian Homefront: The government cuts the ration various cooking ingredients, including olive oil and butter, by half.

American Homefront: Promising young stars Robert Young and Dean Jagger team with Randolph Scott in Fritz Lang's "Western Union," which opens today. It is a rare 20th Century Fox technicolor film (there remain very few color film cameras in Hollywood) and is filmed on location in House Rock Canyon, Arizona and Kanab and Zion National Park, Utah. Reviews of the time generally focus on how colorful and vivid the film is - the acting and story are distinctly secondary. Several Native Americans appear in the film, including Chief John Big Tree and Chief Thundercloud. The Academy Film Archive will preserve the "Western Union" in 2000. Lang, incidentally, left Germany in 1934 in disgust at the German regime's control over the film industry despite being offered the plum position of head of UFA by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

Buster Keaton stars in Columbia Pictures' "So You Won't Squawk," a two-reeler directed by Del Lord, a veteran director for Mack Sennett. It also opens today.

Buster Keaton in "So You Won't Squawk," released on 21 February 1941. This period generally is considered a lull in Buster's career, and he vows never again to "make another crummy two-reeler" once his ten-picture deal with Columbia is up.

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