Tuesday 18 November 1941

British Matilda tanks on a sortie outside the Tobruk perimeter on 18 November 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After several months of relative quiet on the North African front, the war erupts again into a hail of gunfire on 18 November 1944 when the British launch Operation Crusader. This is an attempt by the British Eighth Army, led by General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, to relieve the besieged garrison of Tobruk and, most optimistically, push the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel back across Cyrenaica.

A British Matilda tank being prepared for operations at Tobruk on 18 November 1941.

Operation Crusader is launched by the British 30 Corps under Lieutenant-General Willoughby Norrie and XIII Corps under Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen. Their forces will be augmented if they can free the Tobruk garrison, composed of 32nd Army Tank Brigade, and the Australian 9th Division which (in late 1941), was in the process of being replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Carpathian Brigade (commanded by Major-General Stanisław Kopański). British Major General Ronald Scobie commands at Tobruk, which has been supplied by nightly runs of fast destroyers and minelayers based at Alexandria.

"Matilda tanks on the move outside the perimeter of Tobruk, 18 November 1941." © IWM (E 6600).

Opposing the British is Panzergroup Afrika. Its main force is Afrika Korps under the command of Lieutenant General Ludwig Cruwell. Cruwell has at his disposal the 15th Panzer Division, 21st Panzer Division (total of 260 tanks ), the Division z.b.V Afrika which had been formed in Africa as a composite formation, and was renamed the 90th Light Africa Division in late November, and the Italian 55th Infantry Division Savona. While General Rommel is under the command of the Italian High Command and is subject to the orders of General Ettore Bastico, Rommel exercises a completely free hand in operations and treats Cruwell almost as his chief of staff. Everybody understands that this is a German show and that the Italian soldiers are of limited value, though they are necessary and useful when handled properly (i.e., given static tasks and "corsetted" by always keeping German units nearby).

"The crew of a 25-pounder gun in Tobruk, 18 November 1941. They are members of the Royal Horse Artillery." © IWM (E 6572).

The main limitation of Rommel's forces has been resupply issues. Panzer Group Africa depends almost entirely on convoys from Naples (via Palermo) to Benghazi and Tripoli. Supply also depends upon transport from the ports to the front, which very often is lacking. About 75% of convoys get through, though there are some instances when none of the ships arrive at all, such as the 9 November Duisburg Convoy. The main problem is the fuel for the panzers because as much as half of the gasoline that arrives in North Africa is used up by transporting the remainder to the front. Convoys that might be sent are often delayed or eliminated entirely by the sinkings in the Sicilian Strait. The land convoys to the front also are vulnerable to RAF attacks both from Malta and Egypt. The Luftwaffe is much weaker in North Africa late in 1941 than it was in the spring due to the demands of the Eastern Front, which has sucked up resources that otherwise could have supported Afrika Korps. Hitler appoints Air Field  Marshal Albert Kesselring as Luftwaffe Commander in Chief South as his effort to improve the convoy situation. Kesselring immediately transfers his Luftlotte 2 headquarters (but not its forces) from Russia to Rome.

"An RAF Lysander aircraft from Army Co-operation Command flies low over Valentine tanks during an exercise, 18 November 1941. The tanks are marked with crosses to indicate 'enemy' vehicles." © IWM (H 15604).

The British are in much better shape than the Germans in North Africa. General Cunningham has built up an armada of 770 tanks (including many of the new Crusader Cruiser tanks, after which the operation was named, and many new American M3 Stuart light tanks supplied by Lend Lease via Suez). The British forces include South African, New Zealand, Indian, Australian, and Polish troops in discrete units. The RAF has over 700 combat aircraft under the command of Air HQ Western Desert. The Royal Navy is a constant factor because much of the action takes place along coastal roads and in ports that are easily shelled during night-time sorties from Alexandria. While the Italian Navy on paper is superior to the ships of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Station, it is well known to prefer to stay in port as a "fleet in being" both through timidity induced by early war losses and fuel issues. While the Kriegsmarine does have a presence in the Mediterranean, it is a minimal one which is disguised by some flashy successes such as the sinking of Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal on 13-14 November 1941.

"The Command Post for the Royal Horse Artillery in Tobruk. The Troop Commander can be seen using binoculars to see where shots land and the gun position officer is using a loudspeaker to give the firing order, 18 November 1941." © IWM (E 6577).

The British Eighth Army attacks before dawn from its base at Mersa Matruh and crosses the border near Fort Maddalena. From there, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Sidi Omar, 7th Armored Division's 7th Armored Brigade heads northwest toward Tobruk with 22nd Armored Brigade screening its left (western) flank. This attack is made through "no man's land" and there is virtually no fighting on 18 November. However, due to rain late on the 17th, the RAF Desert Air Force was unable to launch raids on Luftwaffe fields and Wehrmacht troop concentrations, so General Rommel begins the battle with his forces basically intact. He immediately orders 21st Panzer Division to move south from Gambut. The panzers are supported by powerful 88 mm gun batteries which can be used as both ground artillery and anti-aircraft fire. The initial flashpoint will be Sidi Rezegh airfield, which both sides need to support ground operations around Tobruk.

Stukas flying ahead of ground troops in Russia. A standard Wehrmacht tactic is to use dive bombers to open a hole in the enemy line for ground troops to quickly fill and thereby undermine the defenses. This photo was in the 18 November 1941 Der Adler but undoubtedly was taken months earlier (other photos are from September 1941).

Japanese Military: The first Imperial Japanese Navy ships begin leaving Japan (some from Kwajalein, which is under Japanese administration pursuant to a League of Nations Mandate) directly for Pearl Harbor. These include five large Japanese carrier submarines, HIJMS I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24, which sail from Kure Naval Base. Each of these carries a midget sub lashed to its deck. Another nine ships leave Kwajalein. The main IJN carrier force of Kido Butai, the invasion operation, sails from Saeki Bay for Hittokappu (Tankan) Bay, awaiting the final order to sail east. The Japanese continue to negotiate in Washington for a peaceful settlement and do not tell even their German allies of their military plans. Security is very tight, and not even the American Magic decryption operation led by Joseph Roquefort has an inkling that the invasion fleet has sailed.

"HMCS Athabaskan leaving the slips after the launch by Lady Tweedsmuir." 18 November 1941, Newcastle. © IWM (A 9611).

November 1941
November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

2020

Monday 1 September 1941

"A yellow star of David marked with the German word for Jew (Jude) worn by Fritz Glueckstein. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Fritz Gluckstein."

1 September 1941 marks the two-year anniversary of the invasion of Poland that most people consider the start of World War II. It is not an anniversary that gets much notice, but at such milestones, it is good to briefly summarize events to date.

To this point, the German war effort has been remarkably successful. Against many predictions and their own fears, the Wehrmacht generals stormed across most of western Europe with remarkable ease. As of this date, the Germans and their allies even have made inroads into Africa and Asia with greatly varying degrees of success. The war at sea has been moderately successful for the Germans due to the expanding U-boat fleet, but the Kriegsmarine's weakness in surface ships has been confirmed by some embarrassing losses such as the battleship Bismarck in May 1941 and the cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in 1939. There is no doubt that the British and Americans control the seas, while the air war is a draw with only a very slight edge to the Luftwaffe so far despite its vastly superior numbers in the West. The recently restarted Finnish war effort has been outstanding in accomplishing Finnish war objectives, though those have not always been the same as overall Axis objectives.

There are some quibbles with this seemingly perfect picture. Great Britain has suffered privations, but its military remains completely intact. The British Army has defeated the Italians everywhere and is proving extremely troublesome for the Afrika Korps. The Luftwaffe offensive against Britain failed utterly due to the Royal Air Force, though it has caused tremendous misery. The advance into the Soviet Union continues to progress and many still expect the Germans to win, but the Soviets are fighting much harder than anyone expected. Several German generals, such as OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder, already have drawn the correct conclusions from this unexpected defense. However, there is nothing that the generals can do about it because Hitler's war aims are limitless and unyielding.

The collapse of the Italian war effort is probably the most significant drawback to the German war effort of the first two years of war. Other than at sea, the Italians have contributed at most some tangential support to the war effort and have had to be bailed out in Greece and North Africa. While not completely unexpected, the Italian military failures have forced the Wehrmacht to divide its focus when otherwise it might have been able to mount a more focused and successful attack on the U.S.S.R. The Germans have been forced to defend Italian possessions that serve no useful purpose, while the Italians contribute little beyond the defense of their own area.

Soviet soldier teaching civilians how to disarm an un-exploded German incendiary bomb, Sverdlov Square, Moscow, 1 Sep 1941 (Russian International News Agency).

Unknown to the Germans, the Italians already have made some tentative peace overtures through the Vatican, but they have gone nowhere. Hitler's own half-hearted peace overtures to the British have been completely ignored, and the situation in France remains tense. The French Resistance is just getting started, motivated by terrorist incidents in Paris. In the Balkans, the partisans have occupied large stretches of "conquered" territory, and the Italian occupying forces have proven completely ineffective against them. This has required more German effort to suppress the partisans, a necessity that shows no sign of easing.

The great political imponderables remain the United States and Japan. The US obviously is doing everything short of declaring war that it can to help its British allies, a fact that irks Adolf Hitler but about which he can do nothing. Japan is playing a double game, feigning blind adherence to the German cause and paying lip service to German objectives while secretly trying to resolve its issues with the Americans short of conflict. The Imperial Japanese war effort in China is struggling but is aided somewhat by internal Chinese conflicts between the nationalist and communist forces. There seems little prospect of Japan subduing China, suggesting an endless campaign that never threatens Japan but requires constant supplies and reinforcements.

In sum, the Axis is in control at the two-year mark, although with some serious disappointments. There is a real danger of its forces getting overstretched, and the likeliest sector where that could first become apparent is on the Eastern Front.

The status of the Eastern Front as of 1 September 1941.

Eastern Front: The top levels of the German military command increasingly are opposing each other over strategy as resources grow tight. The offensive continues, but it has become impossible to maintain forward momentum in all three army groups at the same time. Choices must be made, and there are tempting major objectives in front of all three fronts.

Regarding the Far North sector, General Halder notes in his war diary that:

[the] Finns have changed their minds and now will continue the drive beyond the national frontiers also on the Karelian Isthmus, but only with limited objectives conformable to their demands for frontier corrections.

Halder later comments on this a little more bluntly, adding that the Finns "do not want to carry the attack beyond their old frontier on the Karelian Isthmus." The Germans, of course, want the Finns to focus on a major objective, Leningrad. Relations with the Finns are still correct, but Marshal Mannerheim already has halted his troops more than once against German wishes.

Finnish troops heading south from Viipuri surround Soviet 43rd and 115th Divisions near Porlammi and Ylä-Somme. About 12,000 Soviet troops melt away through the forest, but the Finns take 9000 prisoners, 55 tanks, 306 artillery guns, and 246 mortars. There also are 7000 Red Army deaths.

In the Army Group North sector, Field Marshal von Leeb tonight proposes an "operational strategy' that OKH Chief of Staff General Halder calls "which is completely out of harmony with our strategy, both in planning and in the direction of the attack." It is easy to read between the lines and presume that von Leeb wants a massive effort north against Leningrad even as the high command is sending troops south to Kyiv. German grand strategy always has been divisive within the top generals, and von Leeb naturally wants the glory of taking Leningrad. However, Hitler views Kyiv as a higher priority.

On the ground, there are heavy rains. There are some local German gains, but, otherwise, it is a quiet day. Panzer Group 4 recaptures Mga, a major rail junction, and continues on toward Lake Ladoga. These gains come at a heavy cost in lives. The Germans come within the artillery range of Leningrad.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2, however, is stalled on its way south from Army Group Center toward Kyiv. Soviet General Timoshenko launches a major counterattack at Gomel which forces Guderian to adopt a defensive posture when he should be attacking south. Other Soviet offensives on the central sector, timed to begin together, also break out east of Smolensk and elsewhere. Soviet 24th Army makes some gains into the German 4th Army line at the lightning-rod position at Yelnya but takes heavy losses.

German 30 Corps crosses the Berislav. Shown is a 105mm M18 field howitzer, which was typical divisional artillery. The photo was taken on or about 1 September 1941. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

In the Army Group South sector, Eleventh Army expands its bridgehead over the Berislav River by pouring in five regiments, or about two divisions. In addition, the Germans take another bridge over the Dnepropetrovsk Ridge, a damaged railway bridge, and expand their bridgehead there. Sixth Army, however, reports "severe enemy pressure" on the approaches to Kyiv.

Protecting the crossings at the Dnepr, German fighter group JG 51 claims to have destroyed 77 Soviet bombers.

European Air Operations: The RAF attacks Cologne with 54 bombers (34 Wellingtons and 20 Hampdens) after dark, losing one Hampden. The Germans begin decoy fires which prove effective. The German authorities record damage to only one house, with no casualties.

The British also conduct Roadsted Operations over France, during which they severely damage vorpostenboot V 1512 Unitas 8 at Barfleur, Manche, France.

The RAF also sends four Hampdens to lay mines off Denmark. They return without incident.

A British Overseas Airways (BOAC) Consolidated Liberator Mk. I (serial number AM915) crashes into a hill outside Campbeltown, Argyll, England. All ten people on board perish.

The Luftwaffe sends 25 bombers against Newcastle. This causes extensive damage, destroying over a hundred houses and killing 49 people, with an additional 1000 or so made homeless in the Jesmond and Shildfield areas. Fires are started which blaze for days. A bomb that hits just outside an Anderson shelter kills a man and his two sons while injuring his wife.

The Luftwaffe makes numerous command changes, including installing Oberst Heinrich Conrady in command of KG 3 and Oblt. Georg Pasewald at KG 40.

USS Juneau under construction, 1 September 1941.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine SC-135 is commissioned.

Battle of the Atlantic: The US Atlantic Fleet under the command of Admiral Ernest J.  King forms a Denmark Strait Patrol. This is led by battleships USS Idaho, Mississippi, and New Mexico and two cruisers, Wichita and Tuscaloosa. The announced goal is to protect US shipping.  The US Navy permits its ships to escort convoys and escorts ships from Argentia, Newfoundland to Iceland, where the Royal Navy takes over.

Convoy ON-12 departs from Liverpool bound for Reykjavik. Convoy SC-2 departs from St. John, New Brunswick.

British troops manning a captured Italian 149mm gun relax at Tobruk.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Germans activate Panzer Group Afrika. General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel is in command while General Crüwell is appointed to replace Rommel at Afrika Korps. Afrika Korps includes 90th Light Division, 15th Panzer Division, and Italian Corps C and XX.

The fifth Vichy French convoy evacuating the Middle East (following the French defeat there) departs from Haifa carrying 5216 French troops. This is all done per the armistice agreement with the British.

An Axis convoy of five merchant ships (Andrea Gritti, Rialto, Vettor Pisani, Francesco Barbaro, and Sabastiano Venier) escorted by four Italian destroyers departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. The RAF based on Malta attacks and sinks 6338-ton Andrea Gritti and damages 6343-ton Francesco Barbaro. Francesco Barbaro returns to Messina, while the remainder of the convoy proceeds to Tripoli.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Otus departs from Malta bound for Alexandria carrying mail, supplies and 15 passengers. The submarine attacks an Italian armed merchant cruiser later in the day but misses.

Royal Navy battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth becomes the flag vessel of the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. The First Battle Squadron transfers its flag to the Barham.

Malta becomes the base for the Royal Navy's 10th Submarine Flotilla under the command of Commander George W G Simpson.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet cruisers Chervona Ukraina and Komintern of the Black Sea Fleet support ground operations by bombarding German and Romanian positions.

Soviet river monitor Zhytomyr runs aground in the Dnepr River at Cherni, remains stuck, and ultimately is lost to scuttling due to the German advance.

Dallas Morning News editorial writer William Ruggles (pictured above) “thought every American had a right to work." He used those words in an editorial on September 1, 1941. This is the origination of the phrase "right to work."

Special Operations: The German 61st Infantry Division plans Operation Beowulf, an amphibious invasion of Ösel (also called Saaremaa) and Dagö (also called Hiiumaa). The Soviet 3rd Rifle Brigade defends with 23,700 men. Today, Kriegsmarine cruiser Köln bombards the Soviet coastal batteries located at Cape Ristna, putting them out of action.

The major portion of British Operation Gauntlet begins winding down in Spitsbergen. The Canadians continue destroying coal mines, while troopship HMT Empress of Canada and its escorts arrive back from Arkhangelsk. The Empress carries with it 200 French troops who have escaped from Soviet POW camps. The men of Operation Gauntlet evacuate the island along with about 800 local inhabitants and 15 sled dogs. The Allies have taken no casualties.

Spy Stuff: German Abwehr agent Alphonse Louis Eugene Timmerman arrives in England aboard a ship from Spain. He is quickly arrested.

Partisans: Albanian communist partisans form a united front to oppose the Italian occupiers.

German Resistance: General Halder notes in his war diary a meeting with General Buhle and "Count Stauffenberg." Stauffenberg gives a "cheering" account of his visit to Army Group North. Stauffenberg reports that "the material situation" in the sector is "very good," but a shortage of men is developing. Buhle adds that twelve divisions will have to be disbanded during the winter to make up for losses. Stauffenberg recommends that the soldiers be pulled out of the front to recuperate and make them "in shape for new operations." Stauffenberg's report today has nothing to do with the resistance, but we'll be keeping an eye on him when he pops up at the top levels of the Wehrmacht because of his later resistance activities.

Applied Science: Werner Heisenberg, Germany's top nuclear physicist, discovers how to produce Uranium 94 via a chain reaction. Uranium 94, he theorizes, can be used to make an atomic bomb.

Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1941. "Roosevelt Pledges Full Aid." Note that the paper already has news of the Soviet offensive that began on 1 September 1941 in the central sector of the Eastern Front.

US/Chinese Relations: All of the top U.S. leaders in China - the American Consul-General at Shanghai, the commander of the Yangtze Patrol, and the commanding officer of the 4th Marine Regiment at Shanghai - recommend withdrawing all naval forces in China. This appears to be a result of recent damage sustained from the Japanese bombing.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: The Japanese demand a guarantee of safety for their ships and reparations after a fishing trawler hits a mine off Vladivostok. The Soviets respond to both requests with a firm "No" and tell the Japanese to stay away from their ports.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: The RAF flies Hawker Hurricane fighters of Nos. 81 and 134 Squadrons off of HMS Argus to Vaenga near Murmansk.

Soviet/Estonian Relations: The Soviets execute Estonian military leader Karl Parts. At this time, there is great enthusiasm within some quarters of Estonia at being "liberated" by the Germans.

A Wehrmacht ceremony of some kind at Ekserserhuset on Karljohansvern.

German/ Spanish Relations: Adolf Hitler meets with the commander of the Spanish Blue Division, General Agustín Muñoz Grandes. The division is on its way to the Army Group North sector of the Eastern Front and is marked by its high enthusiasm for the war.

Japanese Military: An attack on Pearl Harbor remains under fierce debate within the Japanese high command. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto shuts down opposition within his own command and gets his men working on the grand project despite their own doubts:

What you recommended was understandable but I have resolved to carry out the Pearl Harbor attack no matter what the cost. So please do your best to develop the plan from now on. I will place all the details of the project in your hands.

Kusaka proceeds to draw up the plans.

Mineichi Koga becomes commander of the China Area Fleet of the Japanese Navy, while Nobutake Kondo becomes commander of the 2nd Fleet.

Captain Chiaki Matsuda becomes the commanding officer of Settsu.

Soviet Military: The prototype of the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 was a Soviet short-range rocket-powered interceptor is readied for gliding tests at Khimki, Moscow Oblast, Russia. Boris N. Kudrin will conduct the flight tests. The aircraft suffers from a lack of rudder and horizontal stabilizer control. The engine being developed by Leonid Dushkin is not yet ready.

General Golikov becomes the commanding officer of the 10th Reserve Army on or about this date.

General Frank Andrews on the cover of Time magazine, 1 September 1941.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places its first production order for 150 Northrop P-61 ("Black Widow") night fighters. The plane has a much better nickname than its performance.

General Marshall makes Walter Bedell Smith the Secretary of the General Staff.

Philippine Army Field Marshal Douglas MacArthur mobilizes the Filipino military. These troops are inducted into US federal service under MacArthur's command. General Marshal resolves to reinforce the Philippines because Hawaii is sufficiently defended.

Australian Military: Major General J. Northcott becomes commander of the 1st Armored Division.

China: The Japanese begin the Second Battle of Changsha by launching attacks across Lake Tun-Ting.  Japanese 11th Army takes charge of the battle. Chinese planes attempt to interdict the offensive.

George Pardee, governor of California from 1903-1907, passes away on 1 September 1941.

Holocaust: German Police Battalion 322 (9th Company) executes about 900 Jews near Minsk. Operating near Vilnius, SS Einsatzgruppen leader Karl Jäger records that his troops executed:

1,404 Jewish children, 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses, 109 mentally sick people, one German woman who was married to a Jew, and one Russian woman.

Jäger records that local Lithuanians assisted with the executions.

Ther Germans order that beginning on 19 September 1941, all Jews above the age of 6 anywhere under their control must wear a yellow Star of David with the word "Jude" inscribed in black.

French Homefront: An Air France Bloch 220, registration number F-AQNL, has engine failure and crashes into a lake while taking off at Bollermont. There are two survivors and 15 deaths.

Ukrainian Ulas Samchuk, the editor of newspaper Vollnyn, writes in an editorial that Jews and Poles “must disappear completely from our cities.”

The German euthanasia program officially ends, a rare case of Adolf Hitler bowing to public pressure. However, it continues in the camps without much notice by the outside world or the German public.

Alfons Bentele, a veteran of the Dachau camp, takes command of the Majdanek concentration camp.

The first bi-monthly issue of CalShip Log, September 1, 1941.

American Homefront: Television station KYW-TV, located in Philadelphia, begins operation. It is the first television broadcasting station outside of New York City.

It is Labor Day in the United States, and President Franklin Roosevelt gives a radio address. He states in part:

American labor now bears a tremendous responsibility in the winning of this most brutal, most terrible of all wars. In our factories and shops and arsenals, we are building weapons on a scale great in its magnitude. To all the battle fronts of this world, these weapons are being dispatched, by day and by night, over the seas and through the air. And this Nation is now devising and developing new weapons of unprecedented power toward the maintenance of democracy ... Our vast effort, and the unity of purpose that inspires that effort are due solely to our recognition of the fact that our fundamental rights - including the rights of labor — are threatened by Hitler's violent attempt to rule the world.

It is quite a warlike speech for a nation supposedly at peace.

Life Magazine, September 1, 1941 - baseball player Ted Williams. Williams is flirting with hitting .400, an extremely rare feat in baseball.

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

September 1941

September 1, 1941: Two Years In
September 2, 1941: Germans Pushed Back at Yelnya
September 3, 1941: FDR Refuses to Meet with Japanese
September 4, 1941: Hitler Furious at Guderian
September 5, 1941: Germans Evacuate Yelnya
September 6, 1941: Japan Prepares for War
September 7, 1941: Hitler Orders Drive on Moscow
September 8, 1941: Leningrad Cut Off
September 9, 1941: Germans Attack Leningrad
September 10, 1941: Guderian Busts Loose
September 11, 1941: Convoy SC-42 Destruction
September 12, 1941: Starve Leningrad!
September 13, 1941: Zhukov at Leningrad
September 14, 1941: Germany's Growing Casualties
September 15, 1941: Sorge Warns Stalin Again
September 16, 1941: Soviets Encircled at Kiev
September 17, 1941: Iran Conquest Completed
September 18, 1941: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in Action
September 19, 1941: Germans Take Kiev
September 20, 1941: Death at Kiev
September 21, 1941: Raging Soviet Paranoia
September 22, 1941: Defense of Nickel Mines
September 23, 1941: Air Attacks on Leningrad
September 24, 1941: Japanese Spying Intensifies
September 25, 1941: Manstein at the Crimea
September 26, 1941: Kiev Pocket Eliminated
September 27, 1941: Massacre at Eišiškės
September 28, 1941: Ted Williams Hits .400
September 29, 1941: Babi Yar Massacre
September 30, 1941: Operation Typhoon Begins

2020