Showing posts with label Panzer Group Guderian. Show all posts

Monday, December 24, 2018

September 30, 1941: Operation Typhoon Begins

Tuesday 30 September 1941

Hiroshi Hamaya 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Original caption: “Hiroshi Hamaya photographing the tank corps in Chiba, September 30, 1941. ” Hamaya was a Japanese photographer, perhaps the most famous one of World War II. He passed away in 1999.

Eastern Front: On 30 September 1941, the Wehrmacht begins its great drive on Moscow. With the codename Operation Typhoon (Unternehmen Taifun), this attack is viewed by many in the German Army as the rightful focus of Operation Barbarossa. After much hesitation, and only when it appeared that the other two main objectives of the invasion, Leningrad and Kyiv, were in hand, Hitler finally agreed. Reinforced by strong units from both Army Group North and Army Group South, Army Group Center under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock now has to race against the changing seasons to accomplish the key objective of the campaign during 1941.

German machine gun squad member 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

A member of a German machine gun squad sometime during the opening stages of Operation Typhoon ca. 30 September 1941.

Field Marshal von Bock disposes of 70 divisions for Operation Typhoon and it begins two days earlier than previously scheduled. General Heinz Guderian's Panzer Group 2 has finished the conquest of Kyiv earlier than some had expected, and now it has reoriented itself to attack in the opposite direction - to the northeast - in a matter of days. While recent reports suggest that Guderian's panzer forces are only at 20% of pre-war effectiveness, they face a Red Army that just lost almost a million troops in the fighting at Kyiv. There isn't an army in the world that can just shrug off the loss of a million men along with their leaders and equipment and the economic resources of a major city... or is there.

Piqua (Ohio) Daily Call 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Somewhat ironically on a day that the Germans launch their "final" offensive on Moscow, the outside world is being reassured that the Red Army holds the initiative. Of course, note the much smaller headline, "Report Reds are Set Back in The Ukraine," which is a classic understatement considering the recent loss of Kiev. This is the Piqua (Ohio) Daily Call of 30 September 1941.

While the Red Army has been greatly weakened, there are several factors that count in its favor. For one, while the weather remains good for campaigning, that won't be the case for much longer. The German troops have no experience with the Russian Rasputitsa or rainy season, but it is just around the corner. While the Germans find the ubiquitous peasant carts, or Panjes, somewhat odd-looking with their giant wheels and watertight construction like boats, they are built like that to survive the twice-yearly Rasputitsa. The German trucks are not built for those conditions, which should begin to appear within about a month or even less.

A 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun covers a road as troops pass by in coaches during Exercise 'Bumper', 30 September 1941.

Another Soviet advantage is that master spy Richard Sorge in Tokyo has assured Joseph Stalin that the Japanese are not interested in attacking the Soviet Union. This allows him to pull seven fresh Siberian Divisions west to the defense of Moscow. It will take time to get them through four or five time zones to Moscow, but they are experts at winter warfare and accomplished skiers. The lengthening German supply lines over deteriorating railroads and dirt roads, their worn equipment from three months of constant battle, and heavy losses also blunt the Wehrmacht's effort.

Japanese munitions workers 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Japanese munitions workers inspecting empty shells in a factory in Japan on September 30, 1941.

Still, despite all the issues, it is not too late in the season to get started. General Guderian's panzers head east at 06:35. They achieve surprise, as the Soviets expect them to take longer to digest Kyiv (this may be in part because the attack starts earlier than OKH planned, and the Soviets may know this from intelligence sources). Two panzer corps lead the attack, followed by infantry and motorized divisions. Panzer Group 2 heads back to the northeast and heads toward Moscow without regard to its flanks. The panzers smash through five Soviet divisions of Major General’s Arkadii Ermakov’s operational group (three infantry, two cavalry, and two tank brigades) at Glukhov, then open a wedge into Soviet 13th Army under front commander Lieutenant General Yeremenko (Eremenko).

A victim of the Babi Yar massacre, Velvele Valentin Pinkert, 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

A victim of the Babi Yar massacre, Velvele Valentin Pinkert, which concludes today with over 30,000 people dead (Yad Vashem Photo Archives 5027/461).

While all seems rosy for the Germans, they have some unpleasant surprises. The Soviets use their new Katyusha rockets against the 3rd Panzer Division with good effect, though they are perhaps most effective now for their surprise value. In addition, the Soviets have trained dogs laden with explosives to run under German tanks, where they explode.

Matilda Tank in England 30 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

"A Matilda tank, army lorries and troops pass through a town during Exercise 'Bumper', 30 September 1941." © IWM (H 14343).

Many panzers are stopped by virtually undetectable antitank mines in wooden cases. The Germans, however, make good ground on the first day of the offensive, covering over ten miles. Everything is going according to plan, and the Germans plan to encircle Yeremenko's forces by closing a pocket at Bryansk. It is to be another giant battle of annihilation, and the Germans are confident that they will soon be chasing the fleeing remnants of the Red Army back toward Moscow.

Pic magazine, 30 September 1941, has the headline, "What Lindbergh's Home Town Thinks of Him." Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh has spent the year giving speeches for the America First Committee which urge the United States to stay out of the "European war."

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

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

September 14, 1941: Germany's Growing Casualties

Sunday 14 September 1941

Bomb blast in Helsinki on 14 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Soviet bombers attacked the military port facility in Helsinki on September 14, 1941. The raid caused this explosion.

Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht began Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941 with a strength of over 3 million men. However, its units have taken significant casualties to go along with massive territorial gains. On 14 September 1941, OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder sets forth in his daily war diary the true state of the German Army (Heer) in the East.

Halder notes that the army has an "average actual strength" of 3.4 million men. Naturally, with an army that large, a large proportion of the army is devoted to logistical support and is not on the front lines.

Halder sets forth figures for the entire army:

11,125 officers and 328,713 others wounded
4,396 officers and 93,625 others killed
387 officers and 21,265 others missing.

The total for all war-related (and not medical) casualties is:

15,908 officers and 443,603 others
A total of 459,511 total casualties.

Halder calculates this as 13.5% of the Eastern Army that has been killed, wounded, or is missing.

Train caboose in Denver on 14 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

A Denver caboose train car, 14 September 1941 (Otto Perry, Denver Public Library).

Halder does not end there. He also gives figures for the tank strength of General Guderian's Panzer Group 2, which has led the way for Army Group Center and now has a critical mission to encircle Kyiv:

Third Armored Division 20% fit and 80% lost/under repair
Fourth Armored Division 29% fit and 71% lost/under repair
Seventeenth Armored Division 21% fit and 79% lost/under repair
Eighteenth Armored Division 31% fit and 69% lost/under repair

Halder does not comment on the figures. However, he puts them right after a highly optimistic comment that:

There are some indications that the enemy might be passing to the defensive on the entire front. His aggressive effort on the central front has markedly decreased, but we have no evidence that he is moving elements out of the line to shift them to the south.

The casualty figures are not alarming at first glance. Operation Barbarossa has been going on for almost three months, and one must expect losses in a hard-fought campaign. However, this was supposed to be an easy campaign, a "kick the rotten door in and take over" campaign as Hitler said. It is not turning out that way.

RCAF soldiers in Halifax on 14 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Several Royal Canadian Air Force Band members in Halifax, September 14, 1941 (Canadian Museum of Immigration).

However, from a larger perspective, the Heer's casualty figures are alarming. The war in the East was supposed to be easy, and by the most optimistic projections, it already was supposed to be over. However, none of the three German Army Groups has achieved its objective yet. While Leningrad is all but encircled, it shows no signs of yielding. Kyiv is close to being captured, but there are a million Soviet troops defending it and subduing them will take some time. Moscow remains far off the Army Group Center front and an entire campaign will be necessary just to approach it.

Looking at the details also shows some warning signs. It may accurately be said that the German panzer divisions are the greatest offensive weapon in the world. However, while the front-line forces of the Heer are broad, they are not deep. The Germans have their best forces at the front and maintain few reserves. A loss of efficiency of the panzer arm inevitably must slow the entire German offensive. General Guderian's have lost about 75% of their effective strength and their most important battles remain to be fought.

Civil Rights rally in Washington, D.C. on 14 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

A crowd gathers at 10th & U Street NW on Sunday, September 14, 1941. The crowd of about 2000 people is there to protest police brutality in Washington, D.C. Specifically, they are protesting the recent deaths of four African-Americans at the hands of police. The signs include slogans such as "Old Jim Crow Has Got To Go," "Protect Our Civil Rights," and "Police Brutality is a Disgrace to the Nation's Capital." (Source: D.C. Public Library).

Another unwelcome development from the German perspective is the sudden appearance of RAF Hurricanes flying from Vaenga in the Far North of Russia. There are two squadrons, Nos. 81 and 134, which arrived at Archangel on 7 September 1941. The Hurricane pilots attack the German Stuka dive bombers which heretofore have had little opposition. Stukas are no match for Hurricanes and this greatly inhibits their assistance to the army's attacks on Soviet defenses.

For what was supposed to be a quick and easy campaign, the Eastern Front is turning into an endless quagmire.

On 14 September 1941, Reich Minister Dr. Dorpmüller, Reich Minister Todt, and the Danish Minister of Public Works Gunnar Larsen attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new bridge over the Fehmarn Sound in Denmark. It is the "Vogelfluglinie." Due to the war and subsequent political divisions, the Vogelfluglinie will not be completed until 1963. (Federal Archive Figure 183-L20175).

September 1941

2020

Monday, December 10, 2018

September 10, 1941: Guderian Busts Loose

Wednesday 10 September 1941

German soldiers in Norway 10 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

German soldiers at Brårudåsen Fort in Horten, Norway (on the coast south of Oslo) on 10 September 1941. This is now a historical landmark. Notice how they put the biggest guy in the unit right behind the officers, he seems kind of amused by it. Norway is a backwater area suitable for training purposes by the Wehrmacht throughout World War II. However, there are some labor troubles there that require the imposition of martial law on 10 September 1941.

Eastern Front: General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 has been diverted from the road to Moscow in order to encircle Kyiv. However, as of 10 September 1941, for the past week or so the panzers have been stalled on the Desna River while beating off furious Soviet attacks on its eastern flank. This has led to a furious Hitler row and the Fuehrer's meddling in Guderian's troop dispositions, which Hitler believed too far to the east.

Today, Guderian's armor shakes off the Russian attacks and breaks loose to the southeast again. His forces take Konotop, cutting the main road from Kyiv to the east. Even further south, General Walter Model's 3rd Panzer Division of XXIV Army Corps (motorized) takes Romny. The grand plan is starting to come together

Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, 10 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

The Central Theater opens in Passaic, New Jersey on 10 September 1941. This becomes a favorite venue for top performers such as Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters, Jerry Lewis, the Three Stooges, and Sammy Kaye, among countless others. This was where Glenn Miller gave his farewell performances on 24-27 September 1942. Notice the pronounced art deco influence. The Central Theater was torn down in 1978 and replaced by a McDonald's, which still stands there.

OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder notes this sudden success with puzzlement in his war diary:

Curiously, there are no attacks against [Guderian's] east flank. Perhaps this has something to do with the extensive railroad demolitions by our air efforts. On the defensive front, the danger zones west of Bryansk and east of Smolensk stand out as never before, but temporarily at least there is a lull in the attacks Nevertheless, resumption of the attacks must be imminent in view of the railroad movements from Moscow or Tula to Bryansk, and of the very heavy motorized movement toward Smolensk.

Today is usually marked as the end of the battle of Smolensk. Operation Barbarossa was supposed to go like this all along, so Halder's skepticism is a sign of how different the reality has been.

This sudden fortuitous change in events seems to confirm Hitler's recent interference in Guderian's dispositions, which adds to his growing confidence in his own military judgment. These affirmations of Hitler's amateurish interference have long-term consequences.

Not only is Guderian suddenly breaking out, but there are good signs for the Wehrmacht elsewhere as well. A couple of hundred miles to the south, General Ewald von Kleist's Panzer Group 1 also breaks out from its bridgehead across the Dneipr at Kremenchuk. Soviet 38th Army counterattacks Kleist's panzers ineffectively.

A quick glance at the map shows the extreme peril of the massive Soviet troop concentration holding Kyiv that is led by Marshal Budyenny. Hard-pressed by German Sixth Army's frontal assault, the Soviets holding the city now face encirclement a hundred miles to the east. This area of Ukraine is an excellent tank area for tank movements, with flat plains and relatively few waterways. While Kleist's and Guderian's panzers are far apart on the map, they theoretically could meet within only a few days. The noose around Kyiv is tightening, and all of the military professionals on both sides can see it.

Junkers Ju-88 downed in the Suez Canal 10 September 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

"RAF officers inspect the wreckage of a Junkers Ju 88 lying in the waters of the Suez Canal after being shot down by an RAF night fighter near Kantara on the night of 9/10 September 1941." (© IWM (CM 1309)).

Soviet Colonel-General Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos, in command of the Southwestern Front at Kyiv, urges the Stavka to take precautions as diplomatically as he can. Instead of asking for himself, he simply "relays the concerns of others," a standard tactic when one knows the request is likely to be denied:

The enemy tank group has penetrated to Romny and Gaivoron. The 21st and 40th Armies are not able to liquidate this group. They request that forces be immediately transferred from the Kiev Fortified Region to the path of the enemy advance and a general withdrawal of front forces.

Kirponos has a good grasp of the situation and is a competent commander. Among other things, he took the prospects of a German invasion seriously on the eve of Operation Barbarossa and managed to keep his forces in better shape than other frontier commanders. However, in Moscow, Kirponos, despite his proven success, is seen as a bit of a weak figure, someone without the true offensive spirit. That Kirponos urges a tactical focus on the defensive again is seen as just another sign of his lack of intestinal fortitude. The Stavka ignores him.

Soviet soldiers in the Ukraine 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com

Soviet troops under artillery fire in western Ukraine, 1941.

In any event, overall Southwestern Direction Commander Marshal Budyenny already has requested permission to withdraw from Kyiv, and that request has been denied. Stalin has told Budyenny to keep his forces where they are no matter what happens. This defies tactical logic but at this point in the war, Stalin is simply playing for time. Stalin needs to prolong the situation in the south at all costs because, otherwise, the situation in the north will deteriorate faster. He is awaiting lend-lease shipments, and the weather won't stay nice forever. Stalin's forces have to continue to hold out for weeks for his delaying tactics to work, but the Germans will decide if that happens more than Stalin will.

Norway: The German occupation government declares martial law in Oslo today due to a labor strike by shipyard workers. The workers were upset that their milk rations were ended. This was the famous "Milk Strike." The authorities arrest five labor activists and shoot two of them, lawyer and Communist Viggo Hansteen and labor activist Rolf Wickstrom. There is a monumental joint tombstone and memorial to them in Oslo.

Dutch 3205-ton freighter SS Winterswijk was torpedoed and sunk off southern Greenland on 10 September 1941 by U 432 under the command of Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze. The Winterswijk had served briefly as USS Winterswijk for the US Navy in 1918.

September 1941

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain

Saturday 16 June 1940

16 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Char 2C French tank

A German officer in the French heavy tank Char 2C №90 'Poitou' (Poitou), destroyed on a railway platform near the village Meuse in Lorraine. This is a tank of the 1st company of the 51st battalion of heavy tanks. Battalion commander, Major Fournet. On June 16, 1940, the tank was blown up by its crew in the village Meuse because of the inability to disembark from the train platform without special lifting equipment.

French Government: French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud on 16 June 1940 loses his argument that the French nation should continue to resist. The final straw is an offer contained in two telegrams from London that are presented by British Ambassador Sir Ronald Campbell (Churchill apparently feeling relations are now too touchy to risk a visit of his own). The telegrams demand the retreat of the French fleet to UK harbors and a Franco-British Union - which would make the two countries into one.

Reynaud wants to agree to both proposals, but the rest of the Cabinet wishes for an Armistice, many because they think that the UK is finished, too. Reynaud loses the vote on the proposals and resigns, asking President Lebrun to form a new government.

Reynaud's replacement is Philippe Pétain, the recent ambassador to Spain and a Great War hero. Pétain is an odd choice unless you recognize that the government was tired of trying to resist the unstoppable Wehrmacht onslaught. Pétain is an 84-year-old defeatist, but he is a highly respected war hero and the perfect noble figure to get the public to accept an armistice. Basically, he is a figurehead. Commander-in-chief Weygand is vice president of the council.

Among those who wish to continue to resist is General de Gaulle, who is not included in the new cabinet. He flies to London during the day and begins to plot his next move.

Pétain reviews the situation throughout the day and decides that the situation is hopeless. At midnight, he instructs his Cabinet Secretary, Henry du Moulin de Labarthète, to request France's ambassador to Spain to seek terms from Hitler.

16 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com General Landgraf

Generalleutnant Franz Landgraf (16 July 1888 – 19 April 1944). Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 June 1940 as Oberst and commander of 4. Panzer-Brigade.

Western Front: While certain people in various headquarters have a clear picture of the situation, for the vast majority of troops and civilians, the entire situation is completely unknown. About all that anyone knows is that the Germans are in Paris. Other than that, they basically could be in the next town over for all anyone knows. This results in panic throughout the country.

Panzer Group Guderian reaches Besancon, near the Swiss border. He is in position to link up with troops advancing through the Maginot Line from the direction of Colmar and encircle the entire French fortress system. Guderian is astounded at the poor condition of the fleeing French forces, noting: "Exhausted French soldiers fall from their truck to be crushed by the next. The Middle Ages were more humane than this."

German troops cross the Seine near Melun and Fontainebleau. Other troops occupy Auxerre in the direction of Clamecy and Avallon.

German 4th Army approaches Alencon, while the 18th Army reaches Orleans. German 2nd Army and 9th Army reach Dijon. German 1st, 7th, and 16th Armies attack French 3rd Army Group.

General Erwin Rommel, fresh off his spectacular operation north of Le Havre, receives orders to head south and take the key embarkation port of Cherbourg. It is 150 miles to the south, but French resistance is collapsing.

Operation Ariel, the evacuation of the BEF from France, continues. While a smaller operation than Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk, tens of thousands of British and Canadian soldiers are taken off from the ports of Brest, St. Malo, Nantes and St. Nazaire. British ships Arandora Star, Strathaird and Otranto are active in the operation.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-boat UA (Kapitänleutnant Hans Cohausz) torpedoes and sinks British armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania northwest of the Faroe Islands. All 347 aboard survive when they are picked up by the Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur. The UA has been tracking the ship for three days.

U-101 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) torpedoes and sinks 13,212-ton British freighter Wellington Star 300 miles off Cape Finisterre, Spain at 16:45. All 69 aboard survive when they either are picked up by French freighter Pierre L.D. or reach shore in lifeboats after 8 days.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch sinks German boat Samland.

A French warship approaches German vessel Konigsberg, whose crew scuttles it.

Convoy HG 34 departs from Gibraltar.

Battle of the Mediterranean: French sloop La Curieuse depth charges Italian submarine Provano, forcing it to the surface 30 miles south of Cabo de Palos, Spain. The French ship rams the Italian submarine, sinking it.

Italian torpedo boats catch British submarine HMS Grampus with depth charges, sinking it 105 miles east of Sicily. All 59 crew perish.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Italian submarine Galilei sinks Norwegian tanker James Stove.

European Air Operations: The French air force raids Cagliari, Sardinia with six bombers. The Italians launch a raid on Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio, Corsica. The RAF sends 22 planes to attack Genoa and Milan.

16 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Italian Marchetti SM 75 Tobruk

Italian Savoia Marchetti SM 75 "Ala Littoria" - Tobruk - 16 June 1940.

North Africa: A British force including the 7th Hussars under the command of Lt. Colonel G. Fielden ambushes a column of Italian vehicles east of Bardia. It captures the Italian Tenth Army's Engineer-in-Chief, Lt. General Romolo Lastucci. Perhaps more importantly than his capture, the Italian has"up to date plans for the Bardia defenses."

The Regia Aeronautica attacks Sollum, Sidi Barrani, and Mersa Matruh, British outposts in Egypt. It also attacks Malta again. Italian bombers based in Sardinia attack Bizerte.

A tank battle takes place at Sollum in which the Italian light tanks come off worse.

The South African Air Force attacks Iavello and Mega, bases in Italian East Africa.

The RAF raids Tobruk, causing extensive damage.

Baltic States: The Soviet Union, having occupied Lithuania after an ultimatum, now issues similar ultimatums to Estonia and Latvia.

In occupied Lithuania, Prime minister Antanas Merkys deposes the absent Antanas Smetona from the post of president. Without constitutional authority, he assumes the presidency himself.

Applied Science: British ship SS Broompark leaves the Gironde (western France). It carries 26 containers of "heavy water." The heavy water was imported from the only source of that water, a plant in Norway that is now under German control, by atomic physicist Joliot-Curie.

German/Spanish Relations: Franco's personal envoy, General Vigon, chief of General Staff, meets with Hitler at Acoz Castle. They discuss possible Spanish entry into the war, which would be strategically devastating to the Allies due to Spain's ability to close the Mediterranean.

Iceland: Canadian Z Force arrives to supplement the British occupation force.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 5th War Area opens an offensive against the Japanese 11th Army near Ichang.

British Homefront: Local Defence Volunteers shift into high gear, as fears of a German invasion mount.

16 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com French tank Char 2C

Destroyed French superheavy (69 t) tank, the Char 2C "Alzac" Meuse in Lorraine train station, June 16, 1940.

June 1940

June 1, 1940: Devastation at Dunkirk
June 2, 1940: Hitler Visits France
June 3, 1940: Operation Paula
June 4, 1940: We Shall Fight
June 5, 1940: Fall Rot
June 6, 1940: Weygand Line Crumbling
June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik
June 8, 1940: Operation Juno
June 9, 1940: Norway Capitulates
June 10, 1940: Mussolini Throws Down
June 11, 1940: Paris an Open City
June 12, 1940: Rommel at St. Valery
June 13, 1940: France Goes Alone
June 14, 1940: Paris Falls
June 15, 1940: Soviets Scoop Up Lithuania
June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain
June 17, 1940: The Lancastria Sinks
June 18, 1940: A Day of Leaders
June 19, 1940: U-boats Run Wild
June 20, 1940: Pétain Wilts
June 21, 1940: Hitler's Happiest Day
June 22, 1940: France Is Done
June 23, 1940: Hitler in Paris
June 24, 1940: Six Million Jews
June 25, 1940: German Celebrations
June 26, 1940: USSR Being Belligerent
June 27, 1940: Malta in Peril
June 28, 1940: Channel Islands Bombed
June 29, 1940: Gandhi Insists on Independence
June 30, 1940: Channel Islands Occupied

2020

Sunday, June 19, 2016

June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik

Friday 7 June 1940

7 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Hipper Gneisenau Scharnhorst

As taken from Admiral Hipper on 7 June 1940, this picture shows the Gneisenau, with Scharnhorst to the right. Admiral Marschall is convening of a conference of his commanders.

Western Front: Hitler already is sensing an impending victory in France. On 7 June 1940, he moves to the Wolfsschlucht headquarters in Bruly-le-Peche in order to be seen as leading his troops to victory.

General Erwin Rommel of XVI Panzer Corps, 4th Army finds a seam in the Allied defenses and advances 30 miles to Forges-les-Eaux. This puts him within striking distance of both Rouen and Le Havre. He is accompanied on the thrust by 5th Panzer Division (which never gets any credit....) "Other troops," i.e. 5th Panzer Division, take Noyon and Fores-les-Eaux in the same general vicinity. An incidental effect of Rommel's leap forward is that the British 51st (Highland) Division is cut off along the coast.

Rommel is fully aware of the historic nature of his successes, noting: "We have broken past the Maginot line- it's like some beautiful dream!" The Germans have lived in fear of the French since 1918, and today marks a key turning point in that attitude.

The French 10th Army (General Robert Altmayer) has its front broken by the Rommel thrust and has to retreat to Rouen and behind the Seine River. Already, the French are looking at Paris over their shoulders. The Weygand Line is holding in places, but overall the hedgehog strategy is turning into a disaster.

Between Amiens and Peronne, the French line holds firm, with von Kleist's Panzer Group making minimal gains. The French artillery at Amiens is decisive in frustrating the Wehrmacht attack.

Further east, the tanks of Panzer Group Guderian seize bridgeheads across the Aisne. Guderian's goal is to advance south behind the Maginot Line by heading to the Swiss border, thereby enveloping the fortresses and making their actual capture academic.

A major problem for the French is that the Luftwaffe is establishing air supremacy. The French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) has reasonably good equipment, but it does not have enough of anything. More fundamentally it is completely lacking in organization and tactics. Whereas the fight over Dunkirk against the RAF was reasonably equal, the air battle over France is turning into no contest at all.

European Air Operations: After dark, the French make an unsuccessful attempt to retaliate for Operation Paula, the Luftwaffe's recent mildly successful raid on Paris. They convert Centre NC223 mail planes for an attack on Berlin, sending them on a circuitous route from Bordeaux over the Baltic. The crews miss Berlin entirely and drop their bombs on open countryside, so technically it is not the first raid on Berlin - it is the first attempted raid on Berlin.

The RAF sends 24 bombers to attack Hannover, Germany.

7 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Spitfire

The tailfin of Spitfire PR Mk I P9331. It was left behind at Reims after an abortive sortie by acting F/L Louis D "Tug" Wilson on 7 June 1940. Detached to No 212 Squadron RAF at Meaux in April, the 23-year-old Wilson had led a reconnaissance flight to Poitiers and La Rochelle, photographing enemy advances.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-48 (Korvettenkapitän Hans Rudolf Rösing) torpedoes and sinks 4,212-ton British freighter Frances Massey about 15 miles off Tory Island northwest of Ireland. Only one man of the 35-man crew survives when found by destroyer HMS Volunteer.

U-48 then torpedoes 5,888-ton British freighter Eros in the same location. All 62 crew survive when picked up by a trawler, but the freighter remains afloat.

Admiral Marschall, commanding the flotilla led by HMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, stops to refuel despite being informed by Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes of some nearby "supply ships" (which actually are troopships carrying RAF soldiers home from Norway) that would be easy targets. This keeps his flotilla from coming to British attention, a factor which will prove decisive for coming operations. Marschall is after bigger game.

Convoy OA 163GF departs from Southend.

Norway: HMS Glorious arrives off Narvik and takes aboard the 10 remaining Gloster Gladiators and 8 remaining Hawker Hurricanes previously ferried to Bardufoss. While Hurricanes have flown off carriers before, this is the first landing of the advanced land-based fighters on one. No. 46 and No. 263 squadrons are now entirely out of Norway.

The British continue evacuating troops from Narvik, 4600 leaving at Harstad. The Allies no longer have air cover in northern Norway. General Dietl has noticed the easing of pressure against his troops and is moving back towards Narvik. A Royal Navy convoy heads for Great Britain.

King Haakon VII and the rest of the Norwegian government board the Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire at Tromsø and depart at 20:00 for exile in the UK. They are accompanied to England by thirteen ships, five aircraft and 500 men of the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Ireland: The government declares a state of emergency due to the situation in France.

British Military: Captain B. A. W. Warburton-Lee of the First Battle of Narvik (10 April 1940) is posthumously awarded the first V.C. awarded during the way.

US Military: US Ambassador to the Court of St. James Joseph Kennedy informs President Roosevelt that defeat in France is only a matter of time: "They have nothing to fight with but courage."

President Roosevelt decides to send 50 US warplanes to France via Canada. Neutrality law states that they cannot be flown across the Canadian border - which technically is part of Great Britain; thus, the Army has to be clever. The USAAC instead flies the planes into Houlton Army Air Base, which is on the Canadian border with New Brunswick. Then, the Army has them towed from the Houlton, Maine base into Canada by local farmers, where they can take off - legally.

German Homefront: Pursuant to Hitler's edict, church bells are ringing throughout Germany. Unlike during World War I, however, there is not much public enthusiasm about the Wehrmacht's victories. US journalist in Berlin William Shirer reports that "Church bells ring and flags are out today to celebrate victory in Belgium, but no real elation here."

The government institutes a smoking ban for female students at German universities, noting: "Your cigarettes should go to the army; also, science has proven smoking bad for women."

American Homefront: Ted Williams gets a hit in his 23rd straight game in Chicago.

British Homefront: Hitler's successes begin to take hold in the popular imagination of the Allied countries. Pollsters report that people are fascinated with him as a sort of Crusading Dark Angel who always does what he threatens. The UK Ministry of Information endeavors to punch a hole in Hitler's image.

7 June 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Houlton Maine

Houlton, Maine farmer dragging a US warplane across the Canadian border, 7 June 1940.

World War Two Daily

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Monday, December 24, 2018

September 30, 1941: Operation Typhoon Begins

Tuesday 30 September 1941

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

September 14, 1941: Germany's Growing Casualties

Sunday 14 September 1941

Monday, December 10, 2018

September 10, 1941: Guderian Busts Loose

Wednesday 10 September 1941

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain

Saturday 16 June 1940

Sunday, June 19, 2016

June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik

Friday 7 June 1940