Thursday 10 July 1941

German infantrymen observing the enemy from their trenches shortly before attacking inside Soviet territory. July 10, 1941.

Eastern Front: Finnish Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland and leader of its military, issues an Order of the Day on 10 July 1941 in which he echoes a similar declaration he made in 1918. In the 1918 order, Mannerheim vowed that he would not put his sword in its scabbard "until Lenin's last soldier and hooligan is deported from Finland and White Karelia" ("... ennen kuin viimeinen Leninin soturi ja huligaani on karkoitettu niin hyvin Suomesta kuin Vienan Karjalastakin").

Well, it is 23 years later, and Mannerheim still controls the Finnish military. A lot has changed in the world, but one thing is the same: it is time to gear up again to right some perceived wrongs. In today's Order, Mannerheim states:

... [I]n 1918 during the War of Liberation I stated to the Finnish and Viena Karelians, that I would not set my sword to the scabbard before Finland and East Karelia would be free." (Finnish: Vapaussodassa vuonna 1918 lausuin Suomen ja Vienan karjalaisille, etten tulisi panemaan miekkaani tuppeen ennen kuin Suomi ja Itä-Karjala olisivat vapaat). 

This Order is intended to spur the Finnish offensive in Karelia that opens today.

Marshal Mannerheim - one of the very few Axis leaders to come out of World War II with his reputation intact.

In the Far North sector, Finland, under Marshal Mannerheim, begins a major offensive to reconquer Ladoga Karelia. General Paavo Talvela sends his VI Corps against Soviet 7th Army. The Soviets have prepared extensive field fortifications, particularly near Sortavala, Värtsilä, and Korpiselkä, and the Finns advance but do not score any quick breakthroughs.

Farther north, the Soviet defenses at Kayraly (on the route to the Murmansk railroad) and the Litsa River (Murmansk) firm as the Soviets take advantage of the terrain and send reinforcements. Finnish 3rd Division of III Corps, now on the Vyonitsa (Vonitsa) River south of Salla, also part of Operation Arctic Fox, is doing better than the German troops. It begins destroying Soviet troops using tactics developed during the Winter War.

In the Army Group North sector, there is heavy fighting around Pskov, which the Germans have captured. German 4th Panzer Group (Hoepner) holds the city as it awaits the infantry.

General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 moves toward Smolensk (note the Wanderer W-14 Headquarters car), on or about 10 July 1941.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian sends his Panzer Group 2, led by the 20th Panzer Division, across the Dneipr River to attack the Soviet 13th Army. The objective is Smolensk. The Red Army is caught off-guard and gives ground, but behind the scenes, the Stavka hastily tries to arrange a counterattack. German 7th Panzer Division (Major General H. von Funck), which is in Vitebsk, heads south to cut the Moscow/Smolensk road. General Walter Model's 3rd Panzer Division crosses the Dnepr at Starye Bykhov about 110 miles downriver of Smolensk, while General Hoth's 3rd Panzergroup moves east to the north of Smolensk in an attempt to bypass the city.

In the Army Group South sector, the German advance continues. German 13th Panzer Division reaches the Irpin River, only 10 miles from Kyiv.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Having pocketed Damour, the Australian 7th Division continues up the coast road toward Beirut. British artillery already is within artillery range of Beirut and have begun firing on it. In addition, the British 6th Infantry Division attacks the French defenses at Jebel Mazar on the Damascus/Beirut road. Vichy French commander General Henri Dentz is seeking an armistice with British forces closing in on Beirut from all sides.

The Vichy French Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l'Air de Vichy) is not yet defeated. A furious air battle develops in which five new French Dewoitine D.520 fighters attack an approaching bomber formation of RAF No. 45 Squadron. The French shoot down three Blenheim bombers, but the defending Australian P-40 Tomahawk fighters shoot down four (or more) French fighters.

Australian Private James Gordon earns the Victoria Cross for charging with his bayonet at a machine gun nest that was holding up his unit.

A StuG III Ausf B assault gun of Sturmgeschuetz-Abteilung 192 (note the skull on the logo). Army Group Center, July 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a mission to raid the docks at Cherbourg and Le Havre. In a rare case of disobedience of orders, the two groups of 12 bombers fly lower than the RAF guidelines require, and one of the bombers intentionally drops their bombs into a civilian railroad tunnel. Why they do this is unclear, but the RAF brings charges and the offending pilot is subjected to court-martial. There is one plane lost.

The RAF also sends three of the new Short Stirling bombers in a Circus operation attack Chocques power station. There is one loss.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 98 Wellingtons and 32 Hampdens to bomb Cologne. The weather is poor, and this leads to inaccurate aiming, with only 62 bombers even hitting Cologne or its suburbs. There are two planes lost and only very light damage done to the target.

After dark, the Luftwaffe bombs Hull.

Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Rolf Pingel, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 26 (22 victories), is forced to crash-land his Bf 109F-2 near Dover. The plane is little-damaged and gives the RAF a copy of the newest version of Messerschmidt's fighter. The RAF repairs the plane and restores it to flying condition, using it in mock dogfights.

RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader shoots down two Bf 109s, one over Bethune, Pas-de-Calais and another near Calais. Ace James Lacey also shoots down a Bf 109.

Battle of the Baltic: German minesweepers M-23 and M-205 hit mines in the Irben strait. The former is beached and the latter sinks in shallow water, so they are later raised, repaired and returned to service.

Soviet freighter Rasma hits a mine and is damaged and abandoned. Two German torpedo boats, S-26 and S-28, later come across the abandoned ship and sink it.

German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ-113 Nordmark sinks from unknown causes.

"Florin, California. This 23-year-old Nisei soldier volunteered for army service July 10, 1941, and is stationed at Camp Leonard Wood, Missouri. He obtained a furlough to assist his mother and family to prepare for evacuation. He is the youngest of six children, two of whom are volunteers in the Army of the United States." (National Archives and Records Administration 537848).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 196-ton British fishing trawler Isabella Fowlie about seven miles northeast of Longstone Lighthouse. There are three deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1174-ton Norwegian freighter Svint about seven miles northwest of Kellan Head, Trevose, North Cornwall. There is one death.

British 196-ton motorboat Celano (tender to minesweeper HMS Tedworth) hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary. The entire crew, six men, perishes.

The German crew of 7209-ton German blockade runner Hermes scuttles the ship when it is intercepted by Royal Navy AMC Canton about 300 hundred miles northwest of St. Paul.

The Kriegsmarine transfers its 6th Destroyer Flotilla (destroyers Friedrich Eckholdt, Hans Lody, Hermann Schoemann, Karl Galster, and Richard Beitzen) to Kirkenes, Norway. This is the first of many transfers to the far north of Norway by the Germans of surface ships. This accomplishes the dual goal of removing the ships from attack by the RAF and positioning them to attack Allied convoys to Murmansk.

A Short Sunderland flying boat, returning from a patrol, hits an uncharted reef while taxiing to its mooring and develops a leak. The skipper quickly beaches the plane to prevent it from sinking. The plane is later repaired in Reykjavik. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Umpire (Lt. Mervyn R. G. Wingfield) is commissioned.

U-503 and U-578 are commissioned.

A Czech-built Panzer 38(t), June/July 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay torpedoes and damages 5232-ton Italian tanker Strombo south of the Greek island of Kea. Two escorting Italian torpedo boats, Calatafimi and Climene, counterattack and damage the Torbay. However, the British submarine escapes. The Strombo is written off.

A five-vessel Axis convoy with an escort of three destroyers and three torpedo boats leaves Naples bound for Tripoli.

At Malta, the Italian Regia Aeronautica drops bombs on various points. They approach the island from the south and cross over to the north, enabling a quick escape back to Sicily to the north.

Fort Collins Municipal Railway #20 Trolley, Fort Collins, Colorado, July 10, 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Soviet submarine M-49 sinks in a friendly minefield off Vladivostok.

Spy Stuff: George Johnson Armstrong is executed by hanging at HM Prison Wandsworth by Thomas Pierrepoint. Armstrong is the first British citizen to be executed under the Treachery Act 1940. He was charged and convicted on 8 May 1941 of communicating with the German Consul in Boston, Massachusetts, to offer Germany assistance in the war against Great Britain.

In the Philippines, the Japanese spy at the Japanese embassy in Manila, Mr. Negishi, reports to Tokyo on the cargo being unloaded from an American tender (20+ light tanks, ten gun platforms and coastal guns). Negishi also reports the arrival of US Navy transport USS President Taft carrying 800-1000 soldiers.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives a message from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill agrees to a proposal that Stalin has made through British Ambassador Stafford Cripps for a firm alliance. The two bedrock conditions of this alliance are that mutual aid is to be given "without any precision as to quantity or quality," and that neither country would conclude a separate peace.

Soviet/Mongolian Relations: The Soviets try, convict, and execute the 7th Prime Minister of Mongolia, Anandyn Amar. The Soviets have deemed Amar too popular and nationalistic and thus a threat to their rule in Mongolia. He is accused of various types of treason. Amar is shot and buried at the firing ground "Kommunarka" (Russian: Расстре́льный полиго́н «Коммуна́рка») near Moscow.

German/Japanese Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asks the Japanese, as he has before, to attack the Soviet port of Vladivostok. The Japanese once again refuse to attack.

Blohm and Voss BV-222 "Wiking" flying boat.

German Military: The Luftwaffe's Blohm and Voss BV-222 "Wiking" flying boat makes its first operational transport flight, from its factory near Hamburg north to Kirkenes, Norway. The BV-222 is the largest flying boat to go on operations during the war. Incidentally, Revell has a popular model kit for this plane.

Italian Military: The Italians send 61,000 men in the Italian Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Spedizione Italiano in Russia or CSIR) to Russia. The CSIR includes a legion from the Independent State of Croatia (which is an Italian vassal state).

Soviet Military: Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy People's Commissar for Defense, is added to the Stavka. He has been a prime factor in the Red Army's rapid buildup between 1939 and 1941.

Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin removes Marshal Semyon Timoshenko from his position as Red Army commander-in-chief. Stalin has demoted him to command of the Western Front.

Lev Mekhlis becomes deputy commissar of the Soviet Peoples Commissar of Defense.

Chrysler Tank Arsenal in Detroit, Michigan, 10 July 1941 (Hedrich-Blessing).

US Military: The US Navy publicizes the fact that it has mined the entrance to the Port of San Francisco.

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Brigadier General Ross E. Rowell, USMC) is activated at San Diego, California. It controls Marine Air Group Two based at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii.

US Government: President Roosevelt sends a request to Congress for an additional defense appropriation of $4.77 million.

Holocaust: Locals and/or Germans at Jedwabne, Poland herd 300-400 local Jews into a barn and burn it down. This is a controversial incident because many believe the Germans committed the atrocity. However, there is an alternate view (Michael Gross, "Neighbors," 2000) which claims that the local Polish citizens are to blame. In 2001, a new monument is erected in accordance with Gross's view.

American Homefront: Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe aka Jelly Roll Morton passes away in Los Angeles, California at the age of 50. He is famous for claiming to "invent" jazz, though it is more accurate to say that he contributed to jazz development and wrote many enduring jazz standards such as "King Porter Stomp," "Wolverine Blues," "Black Bottom Stomp," and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say."

Canadian National Railways No. 1432 at Armstrong, July 10,1941 (Trainweb.org, Bud Laws Collection).

July 1941

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

2020

Tuesday 8 July 1941

Finnish tank crew with captured T-8, July 8, 1941 (Photo: SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: In the Far North sector, Operation Arctic Fox produces its first significant success when German XXXVI Corps takes Salla on 8 July 1941. The Soviet 122nd Rifle Division retreats and is closely followed by the Germans and Finnish 6th Division. The fighting is bitter, and the Soviets lose 50 tanks and most of their artillery. SS Division Nord pursues Soviet 122nd Rifle Division toward Lampela, while the German 169th Division advances toward Kayraly. Finnish 6th Division continues its left-hook maneuver and tries to get behind the Soviets retreating toward Kayraly and Lape Apa.

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans of General Reinhardt's 41st Panzer Korps, 4th Panzer Group (Colonel General Erich Hoeppner) reach Pskov. The city sustains extensive damages, including the medieval citadel. This is the first major penetration of the Stalin Line. A little to the north, General Dietl's Army of Norway is stopped after establishing a bridgehead over the Litsa River, well short of its objective of Murmansk.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, Colonel Walther von Hünsdorff (hidden), Colonel-General Hermann Hoth, Colonel-General Wolfram von Richthofen. (Moosdorf/Mossdorf, Federal Archives, Bild 101I-265-0048A-03).

In the Army Group Center sector, tank ace Otto Carius is in the lead tank of the 20th Panzer Division (General Hoth's Panzer Group 3) at Ulla on the Dvina River when his Czech-built 38(t) tank is hit. The Russian 47-mm antitank round penetrates the front armor, smashes Carius' teeth and amputates the left arm of the radio operator. After being patched up, Carius hitchhikes to the front, now on the outskirts of Vitebsk (from Carius' "Tigers in the Mud"), and rejoins his unit.

In the Army Group South sector, German Panzer Group 1 and Sixth Army meet a Soviet counterattack at Kishinev by Soviet 5th Army. The Germans simply reorient their advance slightly to the north.

Luftwaffe ace (7 victories) Walter Margstein of JG 53 is killed in action.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Australian 2/3rd Battalion and 2/5th Battalion of 7th Division cut the road from Damour north to Beirut. In addition, in the south, 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and units of 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment march north along the coast road.

Vichy General Henri Dentz, the commander of French forces in the Levant, has seen enough. Even though Damour itself still holds out, the Australian advance around Damour has made the defense of Beirut problematic. Dentz quietly seeks terms for peace.

"RAF aerial photograph of Wilhelmshaven." © IWM (HU 91200).

European Air Operations: The RAF has been accumulating and training on Boeing B-17C Flying Fortresses for months. Today, RAF Bomber Command sends the B-17s on their first operational mission, a daylight flight to Wilhelmshaven. Assigned to RAF Bomber Command's No. 90 Squadron based at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, the three B-17s fly individual sorties (one has to abort to a secondary target) rather than together as a formation.

The RAF is unhappy with the results and makes clear that future bombing runs are to be conducted as formations rather than individually. The crews complain of various shortcomings of the bombers, including difficulties using the Norden bombsight and inadequate defensive armament.

RAF Fighter Command sends Circus missions to attack the Lens power station (13 fighter squadrons, one bomber lost) and Lille (19 fighter squadrons, 7 losses). The RAF also sends a sweep over northern France.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Muenster (51 bombers) and Hamm (73), Biefeld (33), and Merseburg (14).

The Luftwaffe sends a night raid against Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Fortress B.I AN530, WP-F (U.S.A.A.F. B-17C 40-2066) in RAF service (Royal Air Force).

Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy submarine HMS Sealion sinks Vichy French trawlers Christus Regnat and St Pierre d'Alacantra off Ushant (Ouessant, Finistère).

German 460-ton converted minesweeping trawler M-1104 Jan Hubert collides with another vessel off southwest Norway and sinks.

Convoy HG-67 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

Canadian corvette HMCS Shediac (Lt. Commander Lt. John O. Every-Clayton) is commissioned.

U-86, U-161 and U-656 are commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay surfaces east of the island of Kithera (Kythera), Greece and uses its deck gun to sink German freighters LXIV and LI.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Cornwall hits a wharf in Durban and sustains damage to its stem.

At Malta, the Italian Regia Aeronautica sends bombing missions against various points. An RAF Hurricane shoots down an Italian BR-20 "Stork" medium bomber south of the island.

"Boeing Fortress Mk I of No. 90 Squadron RAF based at West Raynham, Norfolk, 20 June 1941." © IWM (CH 2873).

Axis Relations: The major European Axis powers officially carve up Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's neighbors receive "a little something:"

• Italy obtains: Dalmatian coast and some related islands, part of Slovenia, and rule over an expanded Croatia ("Great Croatia") as an "independent kingdom" via new king the Duke of Savoy
• Hungary: the Backa and Baranya triangle
• Germany: Serbian and Banat administration via puppet government, plus garrisons the remainder of Slovenia
• Bulgaria: part of Macedonia
• Albania: the remainder of Macedonia
• Montenegro: independence

The benefits of this carve-up to the recipients are few. However, they reflect long-held national desires for expansion into areas of "historic interest" and nationalism.

The Italian Embassy, Berlin. Note the blacked-out headlights and equipment for emergency lighting, in accordance with blackout regulations (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archives, Bild 212-061).

Anglo/Soviet Relations: A Soviet military mission arrives in London.

Winston Churchill's first personal message to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin arrives in Moscow. Churchill boasts about RAF Bomber Command's attacks on Germany and promises, "The longer the war lasts the more help we can give."

German/US Relations: The American Embassy in Berlin arranges the release of American journalist Richard C. Hottelet. Arrested on espionage charges on 15 March 1941, Hottelet is a member of the so-called Murrow Boys, U.S. war correspondents recruited by CBS on-air reporter Edward R. Murrow. Hottelet soon heads for Lisbon, where he can catch a flight to London.

US/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuko sends a diplomatic note to US Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew. It states that Japan desires peace and wishes to prevent the spread of war from Europe to the Pacific.

Hitler with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at the Wolfschanze in Rastenburg, East Prussia, 8 July 1941.

German Military: OKW operations chief Franz Halder briefs Hitler on the progress of the war in the Soviet Union. It is an encouraging briefing in which Halder claims that the Wehrmacht has pretty much destroyed 89 of 164 known Soviet rifle divisions (which is a vast overstatement). However, Halder insists that more power is needed on the eastern front, so Hitler releases 70 Mark IIIs, 15 Mark IVs, and the remaining Czech tanks from the OKW reserve. Management and use of reserves will be a huge topic of disagreement between the OKH (army command) and OKW (overall military command) throughout the war.

US Military: Patrol Wing 8 (Fleet Air Wing 8) is established at Naval Air Facility Breezy Point, Norfolk, Virginia. It later moves to Alameda, California.

While not technically a part of the US military, in substance it is an extension of the US Army Air Force. Today, pilots and staff of the American Volunteer Group (actually employed by a shell company) depart San Francisco for the Far East aboard Java Pacific liner "Jaegerfontein."

In Memphis, Tennessee, Army Major General Benjamin Lear, Commander of US Second Army, happens to observe some of his troops whistling at women passers-by while driving by. Lear makes all 350 men in the convoy walk the remaining 15 miles (24 km) to their destination. The troops' commander, Major General Ralph E. Truman (cousin of Harry), attempts to get Lear "retired" but fails. From this point forward, the rank and file call him "Yoo-hoo Lear."

Battleship USS Arizona arrives at Pearl Harbor.

British Military: Cadet David George Montagu Hay receives the Albert Medal for Lifesaving. Hay - who later becomes the 12th Marquess of Tweeddale - jumped out of a lifeboat after the sinking of freighter SS Eurylochus by German raider Kormoran on 29 January 1941 to rescue an officer without regard to his own safety.

Reykjavik, Iceland, 8 July 1941. US Marines landed on 7 July in order to relieve British troops and allow them to return to England.

China: There is a Japanese air raid on Chungking, the Nationalist capital. The British Embassy, already damaged in previous attacks, is destroyed during the raid.

Holocaust: Jews in the Baltic States are forced to wear the Yellow Star of David badge.

Soviet Homefront: The government institutes food rationing in major cities.

American Homefront: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. makes a speech to the Selective Service Parents and Neighbors Committee of the United Service Organizations that is broadcast over radio station WMGA in New York. He lists "the things that make life most worth living," which are all beliefs. These are:

• "the supreme worth of the individual"
• "Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation, every possession, a duty"
• "the law was made for man and not man for the law"
• "the dignity of labor"
• "thrift"
• "Truth and justice"
• "sacredness of a promise"
• "the rendering of useful service"
• "an all-wise and all-loving God"
• "love"

Rockefeller urges everyone to support the United Service Organizations to create a new world that recognizes "the brotherhood of man."
Major League Baseball holds its annual All-Star Game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. With the American League trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ted Williams hits a three-run home run to earn a 7-5 victory for the American League (Joe DiMaggio, on first base, actually scores the winning run). Williams later comments that the walk-off home run "remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life."

Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio at the All-Star Game held on July 8, 1941.

July 1941

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

2020

Wednesday 25 June 1941

German pilots in Malmi, Helsinki on 25 June 1941.

Eastern Front: The biggest news of 25 June 1941 includes Finland declaring war on the USSR and the Germans taking Dubno and Lutsk in Army Group South's sector and Baranovichi in the Army Group North sector.

Early in the morning, the Red Air Force bombs Helsinki, five other Finnish towns, and 19 airfields in Finland. The force includes 263 bombers and 224 fighter aircraft, bombing 15 cities, towns, and villages. Major targets include Helsinki, Kotka, Turku, Loviisa, Forsby, and Porvoo.

It is a massive Soviet effort that includes 460 planes. The Soviets lose 23-27 planes. In addition, the Soviets shell the Finnish positions on the island of Morgonland and other Baltic islands, some of which the Finns already have evacuated. The Soviets claim the airstrikes in Finland are aimed at German targets, as German forces are known to be operating from Finland.

There is another artillery duel between Finnish and Soviet forces at Hanko. These Soviet attacks are not accidents. Moscow radio broadcasts a threatening statement:

The Finnish militarists have flagrantly violated the Soviet-Finnish peace treaty. The rulers of Finland have begun military operations against our country . . . The Soviet Union has fulfilled the peace treaty conscientiously. But the rulers of Finland, under orders from Hitler, have plunged the long-suffering Finnish people into a war against the Soviet Union. Scoring the most elementary of international laws and the vital interests of their own people, the Finnish warmongers have again launched a campaign against the Soviet Union. . . . The ignoble rulers of Finland have not learned any lesson from the campaign of the winter of 1939 and 1940. They are asking for another, a final, lesson, and that lesson the Finnish perpetrators of fascism will get.

The Soviet statement is partly correct and partly false. While Finland has laid mines in the Baltic and allowed German troops to operate from its soil against the Soviet Union, Finland has not fired a shot against the Soviet Union since the Winter War. It has complied with the treaty that ended that war aside from the actions of its partner, Germany. So, both sides have an argument about who is in the wrong.

Most observers likely would agree, though, that allowing an enemy to freely use your territory to attack them (as Finland has done) is an act of war. So, the Soviets would have had the better case to declare war on Finland than vice versa - if they had done so, that is, and not simply attacked. Very few hands are completely clean on the Eastern Front.

Finnish Prime Minister Rangell had planned a speech to Parliament today regarding remaining neutral and taking only defensive measures. However, in light of the Red Air Force attacks, he quickly changes his speech to include a more bellicose tone:

Finland immediately declares war on the Soviet Union. This is done by the roundabout means of a simple unanimous vote of confidence in the present Finnish government. In fact, everyone "knows" that the Finns are German allies and preparing an attack of their own anyway. The Soviet air attacks, however, give the Finns a pretext for declaring war at once.

Finland has multiple military objectives, but the government fundamentally only has one goal: to recover territory lost during the Winter War. Finnish troops head toward Leningrad, the Svir River, and the Murmansk railway. This is known as the "Continuation War." While Finland is a "co-belligerent" of Germany, it is waging a completely separate campaign. While it coordinates operations with OKW, it does not take orders from Berlin and often disregards the German military's wishes.

The Finns do not attack at once upon the government's declaration of war, preferring to bide their time and pick a time and place that works with ally Germany. Instead, Finland's military continues mobilizing its forces and planning its axes of advance. The Soviets are too hard-pressed further south and actually withdraw forces from the border region with Finland around this time.

Operation Barbarossa continues moving eastward toward Leningrad, Moscow, and Kyiv. All of these operations are lumped together by the Russians as the "border defensive battles," which isn't particularly descriptive (understandable, since they don't go well for the Soviets). So, just for clarity and consistency, I use the names western sources have applied to events on the eastern front.

In the far North of Finland, the Soviets reinforce their defenses around Murmansk. With both England and the USA promising aid, the northern seaports have become vital elements of Soviet strategy and must be defended. The Germans are more interested in securing the nickel mines and plants along the border than attacking Murmansk at this time.

Panzer 38(t) tanks of Panzer Regiment 25, 7th Panzer Division, Vilnius, Eastern Front, June 1941.

Army Group North under Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb is led forward by General Eric Hoepner's 4th Panzer Group. Following behind it are 16th and 18th Armies. In total, Army Group North controls 20 infantry, three panzer, and three motorized infantry divisions. Overhead, support is provided by Luftflotte 1 (the First Air Fleet). Kaunas and Vilnius have fallen, and the Soviets are retreating everywhere.

At the Battle of Raseiniai, which began on 23 June, the Germans of the 6th Panzer Division first encountered Soviet KV heavy tanks. One slipped through the German lines and proved impervious to the German anti-tank weapons. It has remained in place behind the lines, withstanding a pounding by 50-mm anti-tank guns and panzers in the vicinity. Early today, after almost two days, the Germans finally knock the KV out by bringing an 88 mm Flak gun through nearby woods and blasting the KV multiple times from the rear. The crew, incredibly, survives all this and only is killed by a pioneer engineer who climbs on the tank and pushes grenades through the holes made by the Flak gun.

As the day ends, the Soviet 8th Army is falling back to the Jonava about 48 km (30 miles) northeast of Kaunas, while the Soviet 11th Army is retreating toward the Desna. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko of the Stavka orders Front Commander Colonel General Vasily Kuznetsov to form a defensive line along the Western Dvina. Timoshenko releases the 21st Mechanized Corps (Major-General Dmitry Lelyushenko) with 98 tanks and 129 guns, from the Moscow Military District to help form this line.

The bridges at Dvinsk, 25 June 1941.

After a successful surprise attack by elements of the 6th Panzer Division that captures two key bridges at Dvinsk during the early morning hours, the 8th Panzer Division captures Dvinsk. The bridges are wired for demolition, but the attack is so quick that the Soviets don't have time to blow them. The division then continues its northeastward advance toward Leningrad.

In Army Group Center, the Soviets launched a counterattack on the 24th toward Grodno. The attack, however, missed the leading German tanks of the 3rd Panzer Group, which already had driven further east to Vilnius. Today, the Soviet counterattack is crushed and the commander of Soviet 6th Cavalry Corps is taken captive. General Pavlov, in charge of Western Front, orders a general withdrawal to Slonim in order to block the way to Minsk. The Soviet 13th Army evacuates Maladzyechna, northwest of Minsk.

The Wehrmacht in the central sector has its eyes on a larger strategy than simply brushing off the Soviet counterattacks. General Hoth and General Guderian aim their panzer groups for a large-scale pincer move around the Soviet forces to the vicinity of Baranovichi.

In Army Group South, the Battle of Brody continues. This is a major tank battle, and along the front Soviet tanks outnumber the panzers 3229-728. However, in the most effective classes of tanks, the Germans have 355 with main guns of 50 mm or larger, while the Soviets only have 443 T-34s and KVs. So, while there is a great disparity in raw numbers, in fact, the destructive power of the respective forces is much more balanced from the raw numbers.

While it characterized as one continuous battle, the Battle of Brody actually is a series of disjointed Soviet tank charges against the advancing Wehrmacht. All these attacks do is grind down the Soviets' starting numerical advantage.
On the 24th, the Soviet 22nd Mechanized Corps attacks toward Voinitsa, Ukraine. It is making little progress and losing large numbers of tanks. The Soviets today move large numbers of tanks on a 500-km drive to the northwest of Brody, and, as the commander of the 8th Mechanized Corps, Ryabyshev, later writes, half of the tanks break down and the ones that make it are worn out. Some Soviet formations, such as the 15th Mechanized Corps, drive around following orders that are out of date and never even see the Germans.

German troops in Kaunas, 25 June 1941 (Barschdorff, Federal Archive, Bild 146-1984-102-25A).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The Australian 25th Brigade at Jezzine has no success in its attempts to advance north through the mountains. The Australian commander falls ill and is replaced by Brigadier Plant, who favors using artillery and air power to wear out the defending Vichy French defenders rather than continue futile ground attacks.

Royal Navy submarine  HMS Parthian at 12:12 torpedoes and sinks French submarine Souffleur off the Syrian coast.

German pioneer troops crossing a river in Russia, the morning of 25 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 146-1974-170-27).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends Circus missions over France. In the first, RAF Bomber Command sends a force of Blenheim bombers under heavy fighter escort to northern France to attack the Hazebrouck marshaling yards. They cause widespread damage as an ammunition train explodes which includes the destruction of a bridge.

The other mission is to St. Omer, where the Luftwaffe has an important airfield. The elite German JG 26 fighter squadron is based at St. Omer, and they do not take kindly to being attacked. The Germans shoot down five Spitfires during the raid on Hazebrouck and lose at least two during the St. Omer raid. RAF ace Douglas Bader files claims for the two Luftwaffe planes, while Oblt. "Pip" Priller of I,/JG 26 claims a Spitfire over Gravelines.

RAF Bomber Command also attacks Bremen (64 bombers) and Kiel (47 bombers).

During the day, three Luftwaffe bombers are lost during an attack on Newcastle. It is unknown what happened to them.

The Luftwaffe sends some bombers to attack Southampton and the surrounding area. The Germans drop many parachute mines, each of which can destroy a row of houses. For the week ending at dawn on the 25th, the government reports that there were 39 killed and 116 seriously wounded, with no casualties in London.

New York Times, 25 June 1941.

East African Campaign: General Wavell, still the Middle East Commander until Claude Auchinleck arrives from India, joins US observer Averell Harriman on an inspection tour of East Africa.

Battle of the Baltic: The Germans seize 1181-ton Estonian freighter Estonia in an Estonian port.

The Soviets sends cruiser Voroshilov from Sevastopol accompanied by destroyers to bombard Constanza.

A woman of the Finnish Lotta Svärd preparing for war, 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: The attacks on Convoy HX-133 continue south of Iceland. About ten U-boats are involved.

U-77 (Kptlt. Heinrich Schonder), on its first patrol out of Kiel and operating south of Cape Farewell, torpedoes and sinks 4603-ton Greek freighter Anna Bulgaris. Everyone perishes.

U-108 (Kptlt. Klaus Scholtz), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks two ships:

• 3059-ton Greek freighter Ellinico
• 4362-ton Greek freighter Nicholas Pateras

The entire crew of the Nicholas Pateras is lost (it is a straggler from Convoy OB-336), while everybody on Ellinico also perishes. That is the luck of the draw in the Battle of the Atlantic.

U-75 (Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann), on its second patrol out of Saint-Nazaire and south of Cape Farewell, torpedoes and sinks 1967-ton Dutch freighter Schie of Convoy OB-336. This sinking sometimes is listed as occurring on the 24th. Little is known about this incident, as there are no survivors (29 dead) and Ringelmaan cannot clearly identify the ship. It is simply assumed that U-75's victim is the Schie.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2154-ton British freighter Dashwood east of Cromer. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 176-ton British trawler Isle of Wight off Scarborough.

The Luftwaffe lightly damages Royal Navy destroyer Liddesdale in the North Sea. The ship remains in service.

Royal Navy minelayers Agamemnon and Menesheus lay minefield SN.70B off of Iceland. They have a heavy escort. It is a cloudy day, and destroyer Brighton runs into light cruiser Kenya on the starboard side. Both ships require repairs, and the Brighton loses its entire bow on the way under tow to the Clyde.

Minelayer Teviotbank lays minefield BS.65 in the North Sea.

The US Navy sends a squadron led by light cruisers Philadelphia and Savannah from Hampton Roads, Virginia on a neutrality patrol.

Canadian corvette HMCS Lethbridge (Lt. William Mahan) is commissioned, corvette Midland and minesweeper Medicine Hat are launched (in Midland, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec, respectively).

U-403 is commissioned.

Italian transport Neptunia.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF attacks Gazala and the Italian positions at Debra Tabor.

An Italian troopship convoy sets off from Naples bound for Tripoli. It is composed of transports Esperia, Marco Polo, Neptunia, and Oceania. Escorts include four destroyers (Aviere, Da Noli, Geniere, and Gioberti). British aircraft based on Malta attack the convoy. The British cause some light damage to transport Esperia but lose a Swordfish of RAF No. 830 when it crashes into the side of the Esperia.

During an air battle near Malta, Hurricane fighter pilots claim three Machhi 200 fighters shot down and an Italian bomber badly damaged. There are a couple of bombing raids on Malta that cause damage at Zeitun, Zabbar, and Safi.

German converted minelayer Adjutant.

Battle of the Pacific: Captured Norwegian whaler Adjutant, sailing with a German prize crew, lays mines five kilometers off Lyttelton and Wellington (10 mines each), New Zealand. Nobody learns about this for many years.

POWs: French Lieutenant E. Boulé tries to escape from Colditz Castle POW Camp by dressing as a German woman. However, he drops his watch as he is walking away from the castle, and a German guard who goes to return it to "her" recognizes him.

Missionaries leaving Salt Lake Missionary Home, 25 June 1941.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: The British send General Mason-MacFarlane by air for Moscow to head a military mission. This is a hazardous route that includes crossing occupied Norway and Finland. General Brian Horrocks replaces him in command of the 44th Infantry Division.

German/Soviet Relations: At some point during this week - details are very sketchy - Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin attempts to broker a peace deal with Hitler through a Bulgarian diplomat, Ivan Stamenov. Foreign Minister Molotov has Lavrentiy Beria arrange this by using one of Beria's subordinates, NKVD officer Pavel Sudoplatov, who has a "casual" lunch at a Moscow restaurant with the diplomat. Sudoplatov explains to Stamenov what to say to Hitler. Stalin is willing to offer huge concessions for peace, including Ukraine and all of the areas granted to him in the "secret protocol" to the 23 August 1939 Molotov/Ribbentrop Pact in the Baltic States. Stalin does, though, demand to know why Hitler invaded the USSR.

Hitler turns Stalin down flat and will not even consider the offer. This is one of Hitler's biggest mistakes. These revelations were hidden for many years but came to light during the period after Stalin died from natural causes in the 1950s. There are few other details of this little-known incident, but there is no reason to doubt that it happened. This peace offer was classified as treason and was one of the charges used to condemn Beria to death. The others involved - including the Bulgarian Stamenov diplomat used as the go-between - submitted affidavits confirming the incident. Sudoplatov confessed to it under interrogation and also was convicted of treason, serving 15 full years in prison (yes, there are many questions about the validity of such "proof," but there was a lot of corroboration). Molotov was never tried for treason despite his deep role in the incident, but gradually fell out of favor, lost his positions one by one, and by 1962 was a "non-person" in the Soviet bureaucracy.

German/Swedish Relations: With troops needed in Finland and no longer in Narvik, the Wehrmacht needs to move troops by train through neutral Sweden with the Swedish government's permission. This is the only quick route from northern Norway to the Baltic and a critical line - maintaining use of it is a top priority for the Wehrmacht in Scandinavia. The Swedish government (Riksdag) now permits the Wehrmacht to send one division at a time along the railway. The German 163rd Infantry Division (often called the Engelbrecht Division after its commander) begins to move its 15,000 troops, equipment, and supplies.

A Wehrmacht soldier allows two Finnish children to "ride" his motorcycle, June 1941.

Japanese/Vichy French Relations: The Japanese desire military bases in southern Indochina and decide to use force if necessary to get them. The high command also sets 10 August as the deadline for a decision to attack the Soviet Union in conjunction with Operation Barbarossa. There are no plans to attack the USSR and no forces have been allocated for that purpose, but the Japanese do have a large military presence in China and Manchukuo which could be sent on an invasion.

German Military: Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler and his adjutant, Joachim Peiper, embark on his headquarters train "Heinrich" for an inspection tour of the eastern front. Hitler's new headquarters in Rastenburg, the Wolf's Lair, conveniently is situated on a (closed) railway line, making visits to and from there by train very convenient for German leaders and foreign dignitaries.


US Government: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802. This prohibits racial discrimination in the national defense industry, stating:

I do hereby declare that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations... to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin.

Roosevelt also creates the Fair Employment Practice Committee to implement the Executive Order. Along with some previous defense-related bills, these are key steps in the Civil Rights movement.

25 June 1941, Members of the Lithuanian Militia Leading Jews to the Seventh Fort in Kovno, Lithuania (Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2725/17).

Holocaust: In Kaunas, political prisoners who have been released by the general uprising learn that Soviet security officers (some of whom reputedly are Jewish) are being held in the Lietukis car garage. They recognize some of their former captors. In a scene that will be repeated many times during World War II, the released prisoners kill the captive Soviets with blunt instruments.

More generally, local citizens engage in a rampage against Jews. This is known as the Kaunas pogrom. It is a sensitive topic, obviously, and there has been debate as to how much the recently arrived local German troops incite the locals to engage in anti-Semitic horror and how much is simply score-settling by locals (something that is quite common during World War II).

In any event, the pogrom lasts for five days. Jews are taken by locals to The Seventh Fort (or VII Fort, which is a defensive fortification built in Žaliakalnis district of Kaunas), one of many ad hoc prisons outside the city, and imprisoned before their eventual fates. It is estimated that 10,000 Jews are beaten and then shot there by the end of July.

Anti-semitic activities also take place elsewhere in Lithuania. The events in Kaunas, however, are etched deeply into the memory of Lithuania.

Dr. Seuss - Hitler Taxidermist, published by PM Magazine on June 25, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230.

American Homefront: New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets a home run against St. Louis Browns pitcher Denny Galehouse in New York. This extends DiMaggio's club-record hitting streak to 37 games.

Isolationist Senator Robert Taft of Ohio gives a radio speech in which he argues that the United States now is safer because of Germany's attack on Russia:

The Russian war certainly postpones for many months any attack which Hitler could possibly make; and makes even more certain a defense of the United States sufficient to discourage any military or naval attack.

Rather than declare war on anybody, Taft says that it would be wiser to avoid foreign wars and simply help England fight its war:

This country can be united on a policy of no intervention in Europe and aid to Britain. We can make that aid infinitely more effective if we abandon the role of world benefactor; if we leave Balkan politics alone; if we avoid a Communist alliance; if we adhere to the simple policy of aiding Britain.

He concludes, "The Russian war has weakened every argument for intervention." Roosevelt already, on the 24th, has promised aid to Russia to fight Germany.

President Roosevelt's "Fair Employment Practice in Defense Industries" Executive Order of 25 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

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