Friday 16 May 1941

"Children waving at a Valentine tank of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on the move against the 'invaders' during a mock invasion exercise in Perthshire. Polish troops played the role of the defenders, while Scottish troops (probably the 51st Highland Division) took the part of the invaders." Captain W.T. Lockeyear, © IWM (H 9786).

Anglo/Iraq War: Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck) on 16 May 1941 has assembled a squadron (Fliegerführer Irak) in Mosul composed of 12 Messerschmitt Bf 110s, 5 Heinkel He 111s, a communications flight equipped with light aircraft, a section of anti-aircraft guns, and 3 Junkers Ju 52s. The RAF No. 203 Squadron opens hostilities in the early morning hours by raiding Sonderkommando Junck's airfield at Mosul. They destroy a Heinkel bomber and 2 Bf 110s. Already, Sonderkommando Junck is being whittled down.

The Germans respond by sending three Heinkel He 111 bombers and six Bf 110s against the main British airfield at Habbaniya. The Germans kill numerous British ground personnel and destroy a Hawker Audax fighter-bomber and shoot down a Gloster Gladiator fighter, both obsolete biplanes but still useful in the theater. Debris from the exploding Gladiator disables one of the Heinkels' engines, causing it to crash-land on the way back to Mosul.

Oberst Werner Junck, leader of the German forces (Fliegerführer Irak), flies to Baghdad from Mosul in place of the deceased Major Axel von Blomberg, recently shot in his transport while approaching Baghdad. He meets with Rashid Ali, German representative Dr. Grobba, and other top Iraqi leaders. The group decides to interdict Kingcol, the British relief column currently at Fort Rutbah, and prevent it from relieving RAF Habbaniya. Sonderkommando Junck also is to assist Iraqi ground forces in taking Habbaniya.

Several German ships anchored at Bandari Shahpur are ordered to scuttle themselves in the Shatt al-Arab. The hope is that they will block the entrance to the refinery there.

The Soviet Union recognizes the Rashid Ali government in Iraq via an exchange of diplomatic notes in Ankara, Turkey.

An early Consolidated B-24 Liberator that arrives in the UK on 16 May 1941. This plane is slotted to be used for crew training in RAF No. 120 Squadron Coastal Command.

European Air Operations: There are two separate commonly discussed periods of war activity between the Reich and Great Britain that overlap: the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. It is easy to confuse them and think of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain as one period of time, but they are separate actions that involve different characteristics. While the Battle of Britain is said to have ended at the end of October 1940, the Blitz continues until 16 May 1941. It finally ends today - or, at least the first and most destructive part of the Blitz.

The Luftwaffe sends 111 aircraft to raid RAF airfields in Birmingham and the West Midlands. The Germans lose three planes. While not apparent at the moment, this is the final Luftwaffe night bomber raid on England during the May Blitz. The Luftwaffe is shifting massive forces east in preparation for Operation Barbarossa.

The Luftwaffe sends fighter-bombers (Jabo) to raid southeast England. While Jabos carry a small payload, they are more accurate than level bombers and incur fewer losses. They also engage in strafing missions and can battle defending RAF fighters on an equal basis.

RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne with 93 planes after dark, causing fires on both sides of the Rhine. The Atlantik rubber plant at Bramsfeld (in the Ruhr Valley) also is attacked, with some success. Diversionary attacks in France and Holland also are effective, and overall the RAF loses two planes.

Manchester Guardian, 16 May 1941.

East African Campaign: Following a renewed attack on his defenses at Amba Alagi, the Duke of Aosta has had enough. His troops are giving ground and his supplies are running out, a situation exacerbated by an artillery hit on an oil tank that contains the Italians' only supply of fresh water. In addition, British promises of self-determination for Eritrea have induced the Italians' Eritrean troops to desert and motivated partisans (Arbegnoch), who are said to be committing atrocities against Italians. The Duke sues for peace and institutes a ceasefire.

British freighter Rodney Star, sunk 16 May 1941 off Freetown by U-105.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe), on its lengthy second patrol out of Lorient, extends its string of successes around 420 miles off of Freetown. Schewe spots independent (unescorted) 11,803-ton refrigerated transport Rodney Star (master Samuel John Clement) during the early morning hours, and at 05:48 fires two torpedoes. One hits in the stern, disabling the Rodney Star. Schewe then fires another torpedo at 06:20, and a third at 07:46, but larger ships tend to be hard to sink, so Schewe finally surfaces and uses its deck gun. After pumping 91 high explosive shells and 22 incendiary rounds into the crippled freighter, the Rodney Star finally sinks by the stern.

The 83-man crew of the Rodney Star (everyone survives) spends six days in lifeboats before being rescued by HMS Batna and Boreas and taken to Takoradi. According to some accounts, U-105's deck gun blew up during a training exercise on 6 May, while other accounts state that it blew up while firing on the Rodney Star, injuring six crew.

British 2448-ton freighter Archangel is badly damaged by the Luftwaffe. The ship, 10 miles north of Aberdeen, is attacked by three Heinkel He 111 bombers around midnight on the 16th and badly damaged. The ship later sinks while under tow to Aberdeen (some accounts say it was beached and broke up onshore). There are 41 deaths and 42 wounded, all enlisted men out of 475 men on board (figures vary). The wounded suffer from burns.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 5673-ton British freighter Ethel Radcliffe at Great Yarmouth. The Ethel Radcliffe had been damaged by German S boats on 17 April.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages 715-ton British freighter Joffre Rose off St. David's Head. The ship's master manages to beach the ship in Dale Bay, and, and further attacks by the Luftwaffe, the ship ultimately is refloated and repaired.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 811-ton British freighter Obsidian in St. George's Channel.

U-107 (Kptlt. Günter Hessler), also operating off Freetown, spots 8029-ton Dutch tanker Marisa in the distance and begins pursuit.

U-109 (Kptlt. Hans-Georg Fischer), on its first patrol out of Kiel, spots a large formation of US ships that includes battleships and several destroyers. Fischer, following orders, avoids contact.

Issues to the port-side crane of battleship Bismarck are resolved to Captain Lindemann's satisfaction. Admiral Lütjens reports the ship ready for action. Admiral Doenitz authorizes Operation Rheinübung, the planned sortie to the North Atlantic by Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen, to begin on the evening of 19 May.

Royal Navy minelayers HMS Teviotbank and Plover lay minefield BS-56 in the English Channel.

Convoys HX 127 and BHX 127 depart from Halifax and Bermuda, respectively.

Royal Navy corvettes Jasmine (Lt.Cdr. (retired) Cecil Dick Bluett Coventry) and Lavender (Lt.Cdr. Jackson Whayman, RNR) are commissioned, frigate Exe is laid down at Paisley.

Canadian corvette HMCS Levis (Lt. Charles W. Gilding) is commissioned, and corvette Shawinigan is launched at Lauzon, Quebec.

U-385 and U-386 are laid down.

RAF ace Noël le Chevalier Agazarian, KIA 16 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Brevity lives up to its codename as the British attack on Axis forces on the Egyptian/Libyan border, begun on the 15th and aimed at Sollum, stalls out. Berlin orders General Rommel - back in undisputed command of Afrika Korps following the departure of his General Staff "minder" General Friedrich Paulus on 8 May - to leave his Italian forces to guard Tobruk and block the British advance further south with his panzers of the 5th Panzer Regiment and 8th Panzer Regiment.

Lt. Colonel Hans Cramer, in command of the panzers, launches an aggressive attack against the British which succeeds. At the front, the British 22nd Guards Infantry Brigade withdraws from Fort Capuzzo and Sollum to Halfaya Pass, while the British 7th Armored Brigade withdraws from Sidi Aziz. The British Army forms a new line running from Sidi Omar to Sidi Suleiman to Sollum. This gives up all of the British gains from Operation Brevity aside from Halfaya Pass itself. The British are forced to retire because they have sustained heavy tank losses following the rapid Wehrmacht response to the attack.

Overhead, the RAF and Luftwaffe battle it out during Operation Brevity. RAF ace (seven victories) Noël le Chevalier Agazarian of 274 Squadron perishes when Fw. Franz Elles in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of 2./JG 27 shoots his Hawker Hurricane near Gambut.

Separately from the German attacks, Italian troops launch an unexpected attack on Tobruk. Sappers clear barbed wire and clear mines. The Italian infantry then moves forward and takes some bunkers.

Clearly worried about the staunch Axis defense on the Libyan frontier, Winston Churchill cables Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and asks if it would be okay to repeat the recent Tiger Convoy, which sent hundreds of tanks directly through the Mediterranean to Alexandria. Churchill notes, "in view of the heavy loss of I tanks on 15th May, victory may depend upon the last hundred."

In a message to South African leader Jan Smuts, Churchill notes that "President Roosevelt is pushing United States supplies towards Suez to the utmost." Churchill also states "I have good hopes that we shall win the campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean this summer."

The British use Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire to reinforce Tobruk during the night.

Light cruisers HMS Fiji and Gloucester land troops at Heraklion, Crete and then join the Royal Navy forces operating in large numbers near Crete. The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on the British base at Suda Bay, damaging 5993-ton freighter Logician and 6397-ton Greek freighter Nicolaou Ourania (beached and repaired by the Germans) and sinking 1070-ton Greek freighter Kythera. The RAF loses two Hurricanes of No. 33 Squadron based at Maleme.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unbeaten fires at Axis transports off Tripoli but misses.

Winston Churchill sends Malta Governor Dobbie a message saying that he is sending Donald Parker Stevenson, DSO, to be his new air commander because "He embodies the offensive spirit." The Luftwaffe raids continue against the island, and today they damage destroyer HMS Encounter and sink freighter Araybank.

A minesweeper, HMS Gloxinia, is damaged by a mine near Malta, and minesweeper Widnes is damaged by a bombing near-miss in the eastern Mediterranean, adding to the numerous minesweepers in the Mediterranean that have been put out of action. The island's government releases figures today providing data on the effects of the air attacks to date:

• 2087 houses destroyed
• 11,679 homeless

The damage extends throughout the island, with areas populated by refugees also suffering along with Valetta. Wing Commander J. Warfield is named commanding officer of RAF Station Takali in Malta.

USS Monssen (DD-436) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 16 May 1941 (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.).

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill sends President Roosevelt a lengthy cable. This message summarizes what has been learned from Rudolf Hess. The gist of the cable is that the Hess flight has brought valuable intelligence, but otherwise cannot be taken seriously.

Churchill writes that Hess has made "proposals for settlement." Churchill continues:

Hess said that the Fuehrer had never entertained any designs against the British Empire, which would be left intact save for the return of former German colonies, in exchange for a free hand for him in Europe. But condition was attached that Hitler would not negotiate with present Government in England.

Churchill notes that Hess has denied that Germany is making plans to attack Russia, but that the Reich does have plans in Asia. These include the removal of British forces from Iraq. Hess also makes "rather disparaging remarks" about the United States and its "aircraft types and production."

Churchill concludes that if Hess "is honest and if he is sane this is an encouraging sign of ineptitude of German Intelligence service" for thinking that there is a strong peace faction in Great Britain which he hoped to stimulate. Regarding that last point, Churchill later notes that "Hess seems in good health and not excited and no ordinary signs of insanity can be detected."

US/Chinese Relations: President Roosevelt states that the US has a vital interest in the defense of China.

Wake Island, May 1941(U.S. National Archives Photo 80-G-451195 from the U.S. National Park Service website A MAGNIFICENT FIGHT: Marines in the Battle for Wake Island).

Spy Stuff: German envoys in Stockholm overhear the Russian envoy claiming that at no time in Russian history have more powerful troop contingents been massed in the west. This jibes with other warnings being received in Berlin from Antonescu in Romania that Soviet troops are massing around Kyiv. In fact, the Soviets are indeed moving two armies to the area around Kyiv pursuant to the Zhukov Plan of 15 May.

Winston Churchill, in his message today to Jan Smuts, notes that "It looks as if Hitler is massing against Russia." He continues regarding Operation Barbarossa, still a full month away:

A ceaseless movement of troops, armoured forces and aircraft northwards from the Balkans and eastward from France and Germany is in progress. I should myself suppose his [Hitler's] best chance was to attack the Ukraine and Caucasus thus making sure of corn and oil.

Whatever his sources, most likely Ultra decrypts, Churchill is deadly accurate in this summary to Smuts. His strategic analysis also jibes closely with Hitler's own views, which are opposed by many generals and the OKW, who favor focusing on Moscow.

Churchill authorizes the movement of Rudolf Hess, still in a Glasgow military hospital, to the Tower of London "by tonight pending his place of confinement being prepared at Aldershot." Once again, Churchill emphasizes that "he must be kept in the strictest seclusion."

US Military: First delivers are made to the US Army Air Corps of the P-43 Lancer fighter. Separately, General Walter Krueger takes command of the US Third Army.

British Government: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a memo to Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, arguing that the survivors of soldiers killed while on leave should receive the same compensation as those actually killed in action. Heretofore, survivors have been given much smaller amounts. He writes that soldiers:

have a right to be considered when on leave as enjoying the same privileges in regard to pensions for their widows etc. as when they are with their Units.

Wood has resisted making the change because of cost, so Churchill asks for the figures.

German Government: The Gestapo arrests Karl Haushofer, a friend (former employer) of Rudolf Hess. Haushofer is one of many German philosophers who have argued that Germany should expand. As a former major general from World War I, he enjoys some status within the Reich and respect by Hitler. Haushofer's wife is Jewish, or rather a "half-Jew" according to Reich racial laws, and to date, Hess has protected her - but that protection now is gone. While paternity of the word "Lebensraum" and its significance within the Third Reich generally is assigned to Hitler in "Mein Kampf," some attribute the concept as used by the Reich as belonging to Haushofer.

Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 aircraft of the 178 IAP-PVO based south of Moscow, 16 May 1941 (TASS). This is a still taken from a Soviet propaganda film entitled "The Soviet Red Army Air Force Guards the Frontiers of the Motherland." These are show planes - normal military planes are not this shiny.

Soviet Government: Vsevolod Merkulov, Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD and head of the NKGB (a unit of the NKVD), updates Joseph Stalin on plans to deport influential natives (politicians, military leaders) from the Baltic States. Merkulov urges that the people be rounded up be given 8-year sentences in labor camps, with exile for their families to Siberia.

Martinique: Churchill inquires to General Ismay about the status of Martinique and says that "I have it in mind that the United States might take over Martinique to safeguard it from being used as a base for U-boats in view of Vichy collaboration." Great Britain, of course, has no control over either Vichy France or the United States, so Churchill cannot compel anything to happen regarding the government of the island, but, of course, Churchill has an opinion on everything and a lot of influence with President Roosevelt.

Iceland: The Althing (Icelandic Parliament) adopts four constitutional amendments intended to complete de facto independence from Denmark, which is effectively occupied by the Reich even if its government has been allowed to remain in place and theoretically retains freedom of decision. However, the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union remains in place for the time being (until February 1944). The Danish ambassador in Washington, D.C., who is not encumbered by coercion by the Reich, has been making decisions and representations on behalf of Iceland favorable to the Allies whose legality is questionable, and this action by the Althing does nothing to resolve that. Iceland itself is occupied by British troops, which the Icelandic government has protested against without result.

It is fair to say that the status of Iceland remains a giant unfinished puzzle, though its territory without question is greatly aiding the Allies. In any event, Iceland is going its own way regardless of legalities.

Malaya: General Percival, who has recently arrived by plane from Great Britain, assumes his post as General Officer Commanding, Malaya.

China: Japanese bombers raid Nationalist capital Chungking.

The 1st Armored Division M2A4 light tanks and medium tank parade for a Congressional Committee visiting Ft. Knox, KY, 16 May 1941.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Friday 13 September 1940

A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighter.

Overview: The British know that today, 13 September 1940, is the decisive period of the Battle of Britain; a glance at the calendar can tell them that, as Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in his speech to the nation on the 11th. Tide conditions also are favorable to a landing. Accordingly, the Royal Navy begins final preparations to counter an invasion, including transferring battleships HMS Nelson and from Scapa Flow to Rosyth and HMS Revenge to Plymouth. HMS Hood also is detailed to Rosyth.

Meanwhile, Hitler is in the final stages of deciding whether to authorize an invasion. He requires Luftwaffe air superiority, and there is no sign of that. In addition, the barges assembled for the invasion require low winds and calm seas, and the weather has not been cooperating. The Wehrmacht wants to invade, the Kriegsmarine wants to do other things, and the Luftwaffe basically wants the issue to just go away.

Hitler has lunch with his senior Luftwaffe commanders (Hermann Goering, Milch, Kesselring etc.) and Wehrmacht operations staff where he makes equivocal statements about Operation Sea Lion. He seems much more interested in the bombing of London than in actually invading England. However, he reserves his decision until the morrow.

F/O Francis N "Fanny" Brinsden undertakes a cockpit check of Spitfire Mk I QV-B prior to takeoff from RAF Fowlmere on 21 September 1940. The aircraft was received by No 19 Squadron RAF on 13 September 1940.

Battle of Britain: The weather remains unsettled, with rain and clouds. The Luftwaffe concentrates on "pirate raids," lone bombers taking advantage of cloud cover to bomb selected targets. These daylight raids are light and sporadic, but they also can hit targets further to the West than usual.

Among these targets are the Air Ministry offices at Harrowgate, a railway junction outside of Reading, and an aluminum factory in Oxfordshire. A Junkers Ju 200 Condor even attacks shipping off of Northern Ireland, a rarity during daylight hours, but it misses.

A small raid just before noontime by Heinkel He 111s splits up to hit various targets, including Wiltshire, but to little purpose. Many bombers abort their missions when intercepted by the RAF. Some bombers hit RAF Tangmere. A couple of bombers penetrate to central London and bomb Whitehall, Downing Street, Chelsea Hospital and Buckingham Palace grounds again. The raid on Buckingham Palace is the third one so far, and the King is in residence when the bombs miss. A few bombs hit the buildings and cause damage, but no royal lives are lost.

After dark, things pick up a bit, with London the primary target. Various areas in the vicinity are hit, including Westminster, Battersea, Mitcham, Clapham Junction, Wembley, and Hammersmith. The raids slack off after midnight but then resume about an hour later with hits on the London docks and areas nearby. The raids continue almost until daylight.

Overall, the day is pretty much a wash. The RAF loses a few planes and the Luftwaffe about 10 planes. The Luftwaffe, though, loses over a dozen aircrew.


European Air Operations: In line with the general strategy of frustrating an invasion, the RAF steps up its attacks on German shipping along the coast. It makes a daylight raid on a convoy of tankers off Zeebrugge; the plane crews report sinking one, that it is unclear if that actually happened. Bomber Command shifts its priority from strategy targets in Germany to the likely invasion ports.

The King and Queen inspecting bomb damage to Buckingham Palace, 13 September 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Mines take a huge toll on shipping today, and for once the British are not on the receiving end. While the British have developed countermeasures to the feared German magnetic mines, they are costly and bulky. The only silver lining for the British is that the much scarcer Axis shipping is equally vulnerable to them, as shown by today's events.

A Vichy French convoy of 11 troopships in the Mediterranean near the island of San Pietro, off Sardinia, blunders into a minefield laid by the Italians, the "San Pietro minefield." The day turns into a series of explosions as one ship after another is struck.

The first to hit a mine is the Cap Tourane at 09:10. It is badly damaged but is able to proceed to Ajaccio. Along the way, it hits another mine, a rare instance of a non-military ship hitting two mines and surviving.

Next is 1544 ton ship Cassidaigne. It comes to the Cap Tourane's assistance and, at 09:22, also hits a mine. It sinks in five minutes. Everybody aboard survives.

The third ship in the convoy to hit a mine is the 1610 ton Ginette Le Borgne at 09:28. It explodes, breaks apart into two pieces, and sinks within two minutes.

Minefield troubles also occur elsewhere.

Kriegsmarine auxiliary minesweeper M-1306 "Hermann Krone" hits a mine and sinks off Hanstholm, Denmark in the Skagerak.

Soviet minesweeper T-104 hits a mine and sinks in the Gulf of Finland.

Other incidents also take a toll on shipping. The oddest thing about the day is that none of the day's many shipping incidents involve direct attacks, they are all passive.

Kriegsmarine trawler UJ-173 Hinrich Wesselhöft runs aground at Harandgerfjord, Norway and is badly damaged. It is floated off, but the damage is too significant and it sinks on the 14th while in tow.

The British, preparing for an invasion, is sinking blockships at the entrances to vulnerable harbors. While towing the British 9577 ton cargo ship Protesilaus to Scapa Flow to sink as a blockship, the Protesilaus - previously very badly damaged on 21 January 1940 by a mine - springs a leak. The ships are scuttled to no purpose off Skerryvore.

The British remain in pursuit of Vichy French Force Y, three cruisers which the British permitted to escape through the Straits of Gibraltar en route to Dakar. British Force H from Gibraltar combines with Force M coming up from Freetown, but there is no sign of the French cruisers.

British Convoy OB 213 departs Liverpool with passenger ship City of Benares. The Benares is transporting British schoolchildren being evacuated to Canada.

USS destroyer USS Kearny (DD 432, Commander Anthony L. Danis) is commissioned.

The Italian Army's plan, September 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After several days trudging through the hot desert sand, the Italian invasion force (Operation E) of 200,000 men from Libya finally reaches the Egyptian frontier in force. Two divisions of the 10th Army's XIII Corps (five divisions) advance along the coast road. A southern prong of the Italian advance, led by the Maletti Group (armored), has been canceled due to difficulties navigating in the desert, so the advance along the vulnerable coast road constitutes the entire invasion, though it has been split into closely separated prongs.

In the northern prong, the 1st Blackshirt Division (23rd Marzo, in honor of the date of the founding of the Fascist party in 1919) retakes Fort Capuzzo at just west of Sollum, which the British had taken at the start of the war. This is still on the Libyan side of the border. The Italians bombard Musaid, which is a British base just across the border. The Italians also open fire on Sollum airfield, which the British have not used. An Italian attack takes the barracks near the airfield, so the Italians "take Sollum," though the British still hold the port.

Meanwhile, slightly inland on the southern prong, the Italians send two divisions and the Maletti Group toward Halfaya Pass. This creates a converging attack, as these troops will be met at the other end of the pass by the two divisions advancing past Sollum.

Opposing the Italians are two divisions of the British Western Desert Force under General O'Connor, the 7th Armoured and the 4th Indian. The British have orders to hold their positions. The Italians cut the barbed wire along the frontier but do not yet advance very far across it.

The British Long Range Patrol Unit (the "Desert Rats") reaches Siwa near the Libyan border, where they stock up on supplies.

In Ethiopia, the Italians also are on the move, but on a much smaller scale. Light forces penetrate 20 miles north into Kenya.

One apparent side effect of the Italian operations in North Africa is a period of quiet at Malta, which experiences no air raids again. Four Short Sunderland flying boats arrive for three days of operations, otherwise, it is a quiet day. Governor Dobbie informs the War Office that compulsory evacuation of British civilians would harm island morale, though voluntary evacuations at the person's own risk would be acceptable.

The Luftwaffe filming for the newsreels, 13 September 1940 (Jaeger, Federal Archive, Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2007-0200).

German/Japanese Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop has his aide Heinrich Stahmer meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. They reach a tentative agreement for an alliance, which of course must be negotiated further, written up and approved by both governments.

US Military: The USAAC drops the P-44 program, an attempt to upgrade a high-altitude Republic P-43 Lancer fighter with a Pratt & Whitney R-2180-1 Twin Hornet engine rated at 1,400 hp (1,000 kW). This is due to combat reports from Europe suggesting that the basic P-43 design already is obsolete. Incidentally, although the designation for the P-44 is "Rocket," it was never intended to use an actual rocket engine - a fact which confuses a lot of people.

China: Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters have been operational for months now, with pilots qualifying on the planes which are a quantum leap ahead of previous Japanese fighters. The workup period, however, is now complete and they are ready for action.

To date, they have seen little action aside from routine escort duties. Today, however, 13 Zeros led by Lieutenant Saburo Shindo serve as an escort for a bombing raid on the Nationalist capital, Chungking, and all that changes. For once, the Nationalist air force sends up a large formation to challenge the bombers, which have been ravaging the city for months. They meet the Zeros in combat with nine I-16 (monoplane) and 25 Polikarpov I-15 (biplane) fighters.

The Zeros shoot down 27 of the Nationalist fighters. They only suffer damage to four of their own planes. It is perhaps the most one-sided encounter in military aviation history.

Now, admittedly the Nationalists only have old Soviet fighters, Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s. These are not up to the standards of the European combatants, though of course, they have machine guns that are fully capable of taking down a Zero. Thus, the victory is not quite as fantastic as it appears from the numbers alone. However, this incident begins to open the world's eyes to the new kid on the block, a Japanese fighter that quickly gains the reputation of being unbeatable. It also imbues the Imperial Japanese Air Force with extreme confidence, perhaps overconfidence, in its new fighter.

The 27 Japanese G3M bombers thus get through to the target.

German Homefront: The government bows to reality and completes a plan to help parents voluntarily evacuate their children from Berlin.

Future History:  Óscar Arias is born in Heredia, Costa Rica. becomes President of Costa Rica and a Nobel laureate.

Australian Imperial troops, 13 September 1940. They likely are headed to the Western Desert.

September 1940

September 1, 1940: RAF's Horrible Weekend
September 2, 1940: German Troopship Sunk
September 3, 1940: Destroyers for Bases
September 4, 1940: Enter Antonescu
September 5, 1940: Stukas Over Malta
September 6, 1940: The Luftwaffe Peaks
September 7, 1940: The Blitz Begins
September 8, 1940: Codeword Cromwell
September 9, 1940: Italians Attack Egypt
September 10, 1940: Hitler Postpones Sealion
September 11, 1940: British Confusion at Gibraltar
September 12, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Approved
September 13, 1940: Zeros Attack!
September 14, 1940: The Draft Is Back
September 15, 1940: Battle of Britain Day
September 16, 1940: italians Take Sidi Barrani
September 17, 1940: Sealion Kaputt
September 18, 1940: City of Benares Incident
September 19, 1940: Disperse the Barges
September 20, 1940: A Wolfpack Gathers
September 21, 1940: Wolfpack Strikes Convoy HX-72
September 22, 1940: Vietnam War Begins
September 23, 1940: Operation Menace Begins
September 24, 1940: Dakar Fights Back
September 25, 1940: Filton Raid
September 26, 1940: Axis Time
September 27, 1940: Graveney Marsh Battle
September 28, 1940: Radio Belgique Begins
September 29, 1940: Brocklesby Collision
September 30, 1940: Operation Lena

2020