Tuesday 25 March 1941

Adolf Hitler and Prince Paul of Yugoslavia.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Things have quieted down on land in Albania on 25 March 1941. The Italians finally have given up on their Primavera Offensive, which accomplished nothing but rack up casualties. Overall, Italian casualties for the Primavera Offensive number 11,800 dead and wounded, while the Greeks suffer 1243 dead, 4016 wounded and 42 missing.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of mainland Greece, continues. Convoy AG 8 departs Alexandria bound for Piraeus carrying troops and supplies, while Convoy AS 22 departs Piraeus bound for Alexandria. Norwegian 5062 ton freighter Hav departs from Piraeus bound for Alexandria.

"Goodwill visit to Brisbane by the American fleet in March 1941. This was the first visit to Brisbane during World War Two of an American Naval Squadron. At this time, the United States of America had not entered the war. Entry was a few months away after Pearl Harbour in December 1941." 25 March 1941. State Library of Queensland.

East African Campaign: The latest British 5th Indian Infantry Division attack on Keren continues today. Started late on the 24th, the attack quickly yields tactical successes. One objective of British General Heath is to capture the areas overlooking the Dongolaas Gorge that control access to Keren. Another is to neutralize Italian positions at the head of the gorge from which Italian troops can fire down on British sappers trying to clear the gorge of the obstacles placed there by Italian engineers.

As the day beings, the West Yorkshire and 3/5th Mahrattas advancing down the hill from Fort Dologorodoc to the right of the gorge seize some lower hills overlooking the gorge. The Italians resist fiercely, but the British occupy the entire southeastern side of the gorge by 07:30.

At 03:00, another attack is launched by the 2nd Highland Light Infantry and the 4/10th Baluch Regiment. They emerge from a railway tunnel that is to the left of the gorge in order to attack Italian troops at the head of the gorge. The British maintain heavy artillery fire on the Italian positions from the area around the Sanchil heights. Other troops (3/2nd Punjab Regiment) then enter the gorge itself to clear it. By 05:30, the entire gorge is cleared of Italian troops and the Italians can no longer fire down directly into it.

The Italians counterattack in the afternoon. Italian troops continue to hold out on Mount Sanchil on the left side of the gorge. The Indian troops use artillery to break up the Italian attempts to counterattack.

British engineers quickly begin clearing the Dongolaas Gorge of the obstacles placed there to prevent British vehicular traffic. On the surrounding rim, the Italians and British continue struggling for dominance. The British take 500 prisoners in the early morning hours.

European Air Operations: The RAF switches strategic targets. Rather than attack factories in and around cities, for the time being, RAF Bomber Command will attack Axis convoys. These include the iron ore shipments flowing down the Norwegian coast from Narvik to Hamburg, convoys from Hamburg to occupation forces along the North Sea and Channel coast, and oil shipments coming up from Spain. Initiating this strategy, the British bombers attack shipping off of Ameland in the north of Holland.

The Luftwaffe sends small raids against towns on the south coast. A fighter sweep over southern England with fighter-bombers (Jabos) produces few results.

Cable ship C.S. Faraday is lost on 25 March 1941 to Luftwaffe attack.

Battle of the Atlantic: While German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have made port at Brest, there remain many German raiders at sea. Today, they make their mark.

German raider Kormoran captures 11,309-ton Canadian tanker Canadolite midway between Africa and Brazil. The Germans put a prize crew on board and sent it to Brest.

German raider Thor remains a thorn in the Admiralty's side. Today, it torpedoes and sinks 8799-ton British liner Britannia in the mid-Atlantic about 750 miles west of Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa. The Thor's captain hears British radio transmissions and assumes they mean that the Royal Navy is nearby. He departs the scene after rescuing only one man from the 203 crew and 281 passengers on board. The Britannia is carrying a large number of Royal Navy officers heading to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

While almost everyone on board the Britannia survives the initial sinking, many perish after the Thor leaves. The weather may be warming up a bit, but the seas remain cold. A Spanish freighter, the Bachi, rescues 51 men, another, the Cabo De Hornos, rescues 77, and British freighter Raranga rescues 67 men. Another 33 men reach Brazil in their lifeboat, but it takes them 23 days. Two men on the Britannia, Lieutenant I. S. McIntosh and Frank L. West RNVR (who writes a book about the incident) receive MBEs for their service on the ship, while four others receive commendations. The Thor's captain, Otto Kähler, acts correctly in terms of his legal wartime obligations; however, this is not the best moment of the Kriegsmarine.

Thor later comes across 5047-ton Swedish freighter Trolleholm. This time, Thor takes all 31 men on board prisoner after scuttling the ship.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 627-ton British freighter Rossmore about a dozen miles from Godrevy Island in Bristol Channel. There are six deaths.

The Luftwaffe at 19:45 bombs and damages 5533-ton cable ship CS Faraday in the Bristol Channel. The Heinkel He 111 bombs and strafes the Faraday, causing a fire that forces the crew to abandon ship - after it shoots down the Heinkel. There are 8 deaths and 25 wounded. The blazing Faraday later grounds at St. Anne's Head, and the cable on board is mostly recovered. However, the remains of the ship, such as they are, remain there and in fact have become a favored diving location in shallow water at Hooper's Point, Pembrokeshire.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condors) bombs and sinks 9956-ton British tanker Beaverbrae in the Northwest Approaches. All 86 men on board survive. One of the destroyers picking up the men, HMS Gurkha, collides with a small wooden ship while returning to Pentland Firth outside Scapa Flow, but everyone is fine and the destroyer makes it back to base. However, the drifter sinks and nobody on it survives. The Gurkha has to go to Roslyn for repairs to its bow.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 347-ton Dutch freighter Escaut southwest of Hartland Point. After the crew abandons it, the ship drifts ashore near Bude but is later refloated and repaired at Appledore.

British 21-ton fishing boat Alaskan hits a mine and sinks northeast of Hartlepool. All five on board survive.

US 8013-ton tanker Cities Service Denver is under tow off the coast of North Carolina when an unexplained explosion occurs beneath the crew quarters. There are 19 deaths.

The Admiralty sends a troopship, HMS Circassia, from the Clyde to Iceland. It carries more personnel for the growing British presence there.

Convoy HG 57 departs from Gibraltar.

Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Hermione (Captain Geoffrey N. Oliver) is commissioned.

British liner Britannia, sunk on 25 March 1941 by German raider Thor.

Battle of the Mediterranean: It is fair to say that, at this stage of the war, the Italian military has not covered itself with glory. They have been forced back in Albania, East Africa, and North Africa, while the Italian fleet largely has stayed in port. However, there is one area of the military at which the Italians are ahead of everyone: small-scale attacks at sea which can produce big results. However, so far these operations have been canceled for various technical reasons.

That changes today. Italian destroyers Crispi and Sella each carry three 2-ton motor assault boats from Leros in the Dodecanese Islands. They head for the vicinity of the major British naval base at Suda Bay, Crete. The destroyers release the boats from about 10 miles (18 km) offshore at 23:30. The small boats proceed toward the large Royal Navy ships at anchor in the bay for an attack on the 26th. The prime target is heavy cruiser HMS York.

On land, the German Afrika Korps continues consolidating its recent acquisition of El Agheila. The British have withdrawn to Mersa Brega, which occupies a narrow point between the coast and the rocky interior where larger operations are impossible. The Germans also note that the British have abandoned Maaten Bescer, too, with British patrols in the area west of Mersa Brega vastly reduced.

Having completed their mission in Athens and Cairo, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill begin their journey back to London. Today, they lay over at Malta around midnight on the 24th from Athens. The original plan was for them to continue on to Lisbon immediately, but the weather forces a layover, so they spend the day playing billiards and visiting various highly placed individuals on the island. It is a memorable day for Malta, which does not get many highly placed visitors who stick around for any length of time.

British submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines off Palermo west of Sicily.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin completes its refit at the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands and departs, along with supply ship Adjutant, for further operations. The crew has disguised Pinguin as Norwegian freighter Tamerlane.

British 11,092 ton transport Waimarama runs aground after departing Port Said bound for Alexandria. The ship is pulled off by two tugs, but the ship requires 2-3 months of repairs.

The Admiralty transfers aircraft carrier HMS Eagle's two squadrons of Swordfish bombers to Port Sudan.

Spy Stuff: The British learn through their decoding operations and spy network, along with "hard" intelligence such as observed Luftwaffe reconnaissance missions, that the Italians are planning a major operation at sea.

U.S. Navy cruiser Chicago makes port at Brisbane, Australia, 25 March 1941. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 77816.

German/Yugoslavian Relations: Despite fierce opposition even within his own cabinet, regent Prince Paul authorizes signing of the Tripartite Pact. In Vienna's Belvedere Palace, Yugoslavia Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković signs the Pact, adding his name to those from Japan, Romania, Italy, and other nations. Hitler and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop are in attendance, signifying the importance they place on this event.

By joining the Axis, Yugoslavia allows German troops to cross its territory but does not have to fight - at least according to the secret terms promised by Hitler. There is immediate disagreement with Prince Paul's decision throughout the country, but particularly within certain sections of the military. There also is a division along ethnic lines that foreshadow events decades later, with Serbs favoring the British and Croats favoring the Germans.

The Germans are ecstatic about Yugoslavia signing the agreement. The Propaganda Ministry orders its outlets to describe this as another step toward a New World Order.

German/Soviet Relations: One of the remaining sticking points between Germany and the USSR is removed today. Ethnic Germans from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia complete their resettlement to Germany, while ethnic Lithuanians, Russians, and White Russians are resettled in the USSR. That many of these people, such as the White Russians, may not particularly want to make the move is irrelevant. These mass dislocations of people (an estimated 60,000 people head west while 20,000 head east) is a common and continuing feature of World War II. Of course, the people heading east will see the Germans again before too long, but nobody outside of the top German government and military circles is supposed to know that. The people brought in from the east are housed for the most part in camps to await properties the Germans plan on seizing or otherwise acquiring soon from others.

German/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka is visiting Berlin and says:

The Japanese nation is with you in joy or sorrow...to arrange the world on the basis of the new order.

Matsuoka is visiting both Berlin and Moscow, and his trip will have repercussions that reverberate for years. He is a proponent of Japan attacking the USSR in concert with Germany, but that view is not shared within the higher levels of the Japanese government and military.

German/Greenland Relations: Greenland long ago declared its independence from mother country Denmark due to German domination there. However, Greenland never declared war on Germany. Today, Germany declares that it will observe only a three-mile territorial limit around Greenland.

Australians greet visiting American sailors, Brisbane, Queensland, 25 March 1941. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 104176.

US/Australian Relations: Rear Admiral John Newton takes his cruiser squadron (USS Chicago and Portland, along with five destroyers) to Brisbane for a three-day visit. This follows an extremely successful visit to Sydney.

In the same vein, Captain Ellis S. Stone brings his light cruiser squadron (USS Brooklyn and Savannah, along with three destroyers) to Tahiti.

Italian Military: Following the disaster of the British Operation Compass, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani is formally replaced by General Italo Gariboldi as Commander-in-chief of Italian North Africa and as Governor-General of Libya. Despite his lack of success on the battlefield, Graziani remains good friends with Benito Mussolini, traveling with him and acting as a military confidante. This is not the end of his military career, either, but Graziani will remain inactive for the time being.

Japanese Military: Captain Kiichi Hasegawa takes command of aircraft carrier Akagi.

Romanian Military: Petre Dumitrescu takes command of the Romanian Third Army. This formation is oriented toward northern Bukovina, which the Soviets occupied in June 1940.

British Government: The Admiralty holds a conference on shipping and shipbuilding. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies, who has been visiting ports around the country, shares his thoughts. He decries the control being exercised by the Admiralty over shipyards. In Menzies' view, private industry would be much more efficient. Somewhat unusually, since he views many in the Churchill government as "Yes men," Menzies notes with satisfaction in his diary that he gains support from others at the meeting.

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is in the United States inspecting aircraft factories. He has made some public statements with which British Ambassador Lord Halifax disagrees. Halifax requests Dowding's recall.

China: At the Battle of Shonggao, the Japanese 11th Army has given the Chinese 19th Army Group of the Chinese 9th War Area its best shot - and come up short. Having used all of its resources to try to punch through the Chinese lines, the army gives up the fight as pointless given the high cost. The lines remain where they are for the time being, but the Japanese launch no more attacks. The city of Shangkao, though, is destroyed. This has been a very important Chinese defensive victory. The Chinese try to take advantage of this victory by moving to encircle the advanced Japanese positions, but the Japanese begin edging back toward their base.

Author Ernest Hemingway is in the Far East on a "tourist" visit which may be a little more than that. Today, he and his wife Martha Gellhorn depart from the British base in Hong Kong for China.

British Homefront: Lord Woolton cuts the jam and marmalade ration, as previously announced. Everyone gets 8 ounces per month. He also cuts the meat ration to 6 ounces per month.

Occupation currency issued on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, dated 25 March 1941.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Becomes Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Wednesday 19 March 1941

King George and Queen Elizabeth visit Swansea on 19 March 1941 (WalesOnline).

Italian/Greek Campaign: Following a three-day pause, the Italian Primavera Offensive resumes on 19 March 1941. The Italian Sienna Division attack Height 731 for the eighteenth time. As in the preceding 17 times, nothing comes of it except more dead soldiers on both sides. Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. The Australian 16th Infantry Brigade and General Blamey arrive at Piraeus.

East African Campaign: Major-General Lewis Heath, in command of the Indian 5th Infantry Division, is planning a thrust straight up the Dongolaas Gorge that controls access to Keren. The Italians rather unhelpfully have dumped rocks and other debris into the gorge to make travel through it impossible except by hikers. The Italians are sitting at the head of the gorge with clear fields of fire against anyone attempting to advance through it. Heath's plan is to neutralize those Italian positions via diversionary flank attacks which draw their fire elsewhere, giving the Royal Engineers time to clear a path through the gorge. This will require taking positions overlooking the gorge. Heath begins assembling his entire division, which will take some time. Thus, the Battle for Keren once again goes into abeyance for a few days while the British build up their troop strength and logistics.

The Italian attacks on Fort Dologorodoc continue. At 04:00, the 10th Alpini Battalion attacks and gets to within 70 yards of the fort. However, the British defenders beat them back, pursuing them with bayonets and grenades. The British reshuffle their forces, with Indian 3/5 Mahratta occupying the fort and the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment taking up positions outside the walls.

The British forces at Jijiga begin advancing further. They now are about eight miles beyond the town. Indian troops continue advancing from Berbera and are about 100 miles past it.

HMS Helvellyn, sunk during the Luftwaffe attacks on London on 19 March 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe has been ramping up its raids this month after essentially a two-month lull. Most of the attacks have been against secondary city targets such as Bristol and Glasgow. Tonight, the Luftwaffe returns to its primary target, London, in a major way. About 370-479 bombers drop 122,292 incendiaries. The weekly Home Security Situation report states:

On the 19th/20th March : Bombing was concentrated on East London and the London Docks, where there were more major fires than on any date since the 29th December, causing considerable damage.

The fires and other damage kill about 750 people. In addition, many ships in the harbor are damaged or sunk, including:
4962-ton British freighter Nailsea Meadow (damaged at Victoria's Dock, two deaths)

• 5780-ton British freighter Telesfora De Larringa (one death)
• 5248-ton British freighter Lindenhall (sunk and refloated)
• Royal Navy auxiliary anti-aircraft ship HMS Helvellyn (sunk).

RAF Bombing Command attacks Cologne (36 bombers) and Rotterdam oil installations and the Lorient U-boat pens.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies is in the north visiting manufacturing plants. He is in Sheffield and notes:

Sheffield has suffered gravely. 60,000 out of 180,000 houses affected - But Industries going magnificently. Spirits superb. No surrender. No compromise (emphasis and punctuation in original).

The factories in Sheffield, Menzies notes, are manufacturing 14" plates and 14" gun barrels.

Glasgow Herald, 19 March 1941. This headline about U-boats heading toward the US coast is a bit premature - but the Battle of the Atlantic indeed is creeping ever closer to North America.

Battle of the Atlantic: Following orders, Admiral Lütjens sets a course toward Brest for Brest, France for his Operation Berlin cruisers, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Steaming at 23 knots, he has timed it so that the ships will make the final approach during the early morning hours and reach Brest - and Luftwaffe and destroyer protection - at dawn on the 22nd. The Royal Navy is completely unaware of Lütjens' location or destination.

The Luftwaffe (KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors) attacks Convoy OB 298 in the Northwest Approaches and sinks 5193-ton British freighter Benvorlich. There are 5-20 deaths (accounts vary), the rest of the crew is picked up by another convoy freighter, the Zamalek.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1367-ton Norwegian freighter Leo northwest of the Butt of Lewis. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 8245-ton Dutch tanker Mamura in the mid-Atlantic. Tankers are tough to sink, and Mamura is able to make it to Halifax.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 642-ton British freighter Juno at the Surrey Commercial Dock. The Juno is written off.

U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe), on its second patrol out of Lorient, continues his attacks on Convoy SL-68. Just after midnight, at about 00:25, he fires a spread of torpedoes at the ships. Only 7750-ton transport Mandalika is hit and sunk. There are three deaths and 62 survivors, picked up by HMS Marguerite. Some sources claim that U-106 makes this attack.

Convoy SL-68 is experiencing all sorts of strains due to the German attacks, and this kind of unrelenting stress can lead to mistakes and disaster by itself. British 6114-ton freighter Clan MacNab collides with Norwegian freighter Strix and sinks near the Cape Verde Islands.

British 4762-ton freighter Tottenham hits a mine and is damaged at the Southend Anchorage. It is towed to Gravesend.

Norwegian coaster Nyegg runs aground at Egersund, Norway.

German tanker Nordmark meets German raider Kormoran for resupply midway between Africa and Brazil.

Convoy OB 299 departs from Liverpool.

The Benvorlich, sunk by the Luftwaffe today.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel is in Berlin to meet with Adolf Hitler, Army Commander-in-Chief Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch, and OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder. The German high command has other fish to fry right now, but promise Rommel the 15th Panzer Division in May. Rommel is itching to get started with his offensive, but this is not yet the time. During this visit, Hitler makes Rommel the 10th recipient of the Oak Leaves to the Iron Cross for his service in command of the 7th Panzer Division.

British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell now is receiving Ultra decrypts. He learns from them that Luftwaffe leaves have been canceled and the Germans are planning an offensive.

Another Malta resupply convoy operation, MC 9, departs. Three ships, with escorts, departs from Haifa, and another leaves Alexandria to join the others. The convoy is MW 6/Force C.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant attacks an Italian barge at Buerat El-Hsun, Libya, but misses.

The Admiralty makes the difficult decision to pull the remaining Sunderland flying boats from their base at Kalafrana and send them to Alexandria. The Luftwaffe has destroyed or damaged several of them recently, and they are too vulnerable lying at anchorage when the Luftwaffe has a dominance of the skies. Weather is poor today, and there are no bombs dropped on the island though there are some close approaches to the island.

An Italian convoy carrying troops and supplies for the Afrika Korps departs from Naples bound for Tripoli.

Battle of the Pacific: US destroyers USS Aylwin and Farragut collide during night tactical exercises off Hawaii. There is one death aboard the Aylwin.

Lonsdale Avenue, East Ham bomb damage. 19 March 1941.

Anglo/US Relations: Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks President Roosevelt, who is about to go fishing off the Florida coast, to extend the US Navy's patrols to cover more of the Atlantic. It is common knowledge that the US Navy is helping the Royal Navy by quickly alerting the British when they spot any German ships. Churchill wants the US Navy's eyes everywhere that the Royal Navy's eyes are not, though they don't have to do anything other than locate German ships:

It would be a very great help if some American warships and aircraft could cruise about in this area as they have a perfect right to do.

Churchill, of course, would like a great deal more than this, but feels this is both helpful and fairly benign in terms of US neutrality. In addition to this, Churchill wants the US Navy to seize interned Axis ships and use them as Allied shipping, and also to begin convoys of their own. Roosevelt and his team, such as Navy Secretary Frank Knox, are very sympathetic and looking into some other ways to help, too, including having US Navy aviators fly British search aircraft. However, it will take a little time before everyone in the US government has meetings about this and actual steps are taken.

German/Yugoslav Relations: Adolf Hitler is running up against some hard deadlines. Spring is approaching and with it the campaigning season. The Wehrmacht needs to know what role Yugoslavia and its military will play in the events that are about to unfold in the Balkans. Accordingly, Hitler tells the Yugoslav Regent, Prince Paul, that he wants Yugoslavia to sign the Tripartite Pact by the beginning of next week, five days hence.

German/Japanese Relations: Following up on discussions he has had with Hitler, Admiral Raeder floats the idea of attacking Singapore with the Japanese ambassador.

Jackson Daily News, 19 March 1941.

Japanese/Australian Relations: A reception is held for the first Japanese minister to Australia, Tatsuo Kawai, in Canberra. The Australian parliament adjourns so that members can make their way to Sydney to welcome US Admiral Newton's cruiser squadron at 08:00.

German Dissidents: German refugees in London form the Union of German Socialists, a group that opposes Hitler and his form of government.

US Military: The 99th Pursuit Squadron is activated. This formation, based at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois, trains hundreds of enlisted men for ground support duties for formations such as the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

British Government: Churchill's "Battle of the Atlantic" committee has its first meeting.

US Government: "Wild Bill" Donovan has just returned from his extended fact-finding mission in Europe. He meets with President Roosevelt to discuss his findings.

China: At the Battle of Shanggao, the Japanese now are in possession of the first line of Chinese defenses. Both sides call in reinforcements, the Japanese from their bases, the Chinese from the third line of their defenses. Basically, this is the beginning of a short lull in the battle.

British Homefront: Woolton Pies - mass-produced vegetable casseroles - go on sale for 8 pence per pound. They are composed primarily of potatoes, onions and other foods in plentiful supply. Cheese rationing is to begin next week.

Arthur Fellig aka Weegee is a tabloid news photographer in New York City who has a permit to monitor the police bands and arrives at the scenes of crimes and fires with the authorities. He has an elaborate set-up in the trunk of his 1938 Chevy with where he types his copy for quick submission to his clients. Here is one of his photos of a fire rescue on 19 March 1941.  (Weegee / International Center of Photography).

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Wednesday 12 March 1941

"Infantry and Bren gun carriers of the 5th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment pass through a village during 3rd Division exercises near Christchurch in Dorset, 12 March 1941." © IWM (H 7971).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues on 12 March 1941. However, the Italian 11th Army gains no new ground. The Greek defenses hold firm, while the Italians incur heavy casualties while attacking the Greek 1st Division in the center of the line. Mussolini demands that the offensive be continued.

The Italian Regia Aeronautica flies numerous sorties and loses many planes. The RAF, meanwhile, bombs Valona airfield and Sazan (Saseno) Island off Valona (Vlorë).

East African Campaign: Lieutenant-General William Platt continues preparing his troops for another assault on Keren. He is planning a set-piece attack for the middle of the month. The Italians also are reinforcing the area, particularly on Dologorodoc east of the Dongolaas Gorge which serves as a choke point. Fort Dologorodoc dominates Happy Valley and is the critical feature of the entire defensive position. Further south, British troops are about 600 miles north of Mogadishu.

The Focke Wulf factory at Bremen sustains major damage on 12 March 1941. This picture taken by RAF reconnaissance on 15 March 1941 shows a hole in the roof of a large factory building ("10") and numerous bomb craters. One other thing this photograph reveals is that it takes a lot of bombing in 1941 to actually put large factory installations out of business completely.

European Air Operations: The weather over northwestern Europe improves dramatically today, and RAF Bomber Command takes advantage. It sends large raids against Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg. A total of 244 RAF bombers fly over the Reich, including Stirling and Manchester bombers. Even some of the new Handley Page Halifax four-engined heavy bombers participate despite only having seen their first combat ever a couple of nights ago over Le Havre. This is the first major raid on Berlin during 1941, and there will be nine more.

The Berlin attack by 72 bombers includes ten 1,900 lb. bombs and seven 1,000 lb. bombs. Bombing accuracy is good for the time period, perhaps due to the clear weather. At Bremen, 86 bombers of No. 2 Group attack a Focke Wulf airframe factory. One of the 1,000 lb. bombs destroys a factory building. Damage is spread throughout the factory district. The third city hit is Hamburg and it also suffers heavily from 88 RAF bombers. The Blohm & Voss shipbuilding/seaplane area suffers the most damage, with bombs also dropping in the surrounding areas.

The Hamburg and Bremen attacks appear to have been targeted to implement British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's "Battle of the Atlantic" priority scheme. The Focke Wulf factory in Bremen manufactures Fw 200 Condors which have been operating with devastating effects against British shipping in the Northwest Approaches and St. George's Channel. Blohm & Voss, meanwhile, is a major shipbuilder that has branched out into manufacturing flying boats and seaplanes.

About another dozen RAF bombers attack airfields in northwest Europe such as Schiphol airfield at Amsterdam, and also invasion ports such as Boulogne.

The Luftwaffe (KG 55) uses the clear night to attack the Liverpool area. The dock areas of Birkenhead and Wallasey in Wirral in the Merseyside area (174 dead) suffer heavy damage. The effect on shipping is particularly devastating with 8 small ships sunk and a floating crane destroyed. The Germans lose two bombers to night fighters. These continuing raids on Liverpool are killing hundreds of civilians and wounding hundreds more.

Battle of the Atlantic: German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst complete their refueling from tankers Uckermark and Ermland and resume patrolling the sea lanes near the Cape Verde Islands. Admiral Lütjens now is under orders to continue his attacks until the 18th, and then proceed to Brest, France to conclude Operation Berlin.

U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its eleventh and final patrol, is operating south of Iceland. It uses its deck gun to sink 91-ton Icelandic trawler Pétursey. There are no survivors. This is U-37's final victim, and in a way, it is fitting: the ship is attacked by mistake, and once Clausen sees the Icelandic flag on its side, he ceases fire. However, it is too late, and the mistaken victim sinks. The absence of survivors is a puzzle because Clausen gives them plenty of time to abandon ship, which they do - but the waters in the North Atlantic are cold and treacherous.

The Luftwaffe bombs 7005-ton British freighter Empire Frost at the mouth of the Bristol Channel off Milford Haven. There are six deaths, and the freighter is taken in tow.

The Luftwaffe bombs 6625-ton British freighter Essex Lance in the Strait of Dover. Badly damaged, the Essex Lance is towed to Cromer and beached nearby. The ship later is repaired and refloated.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1189 ton Swedish freighter Stella at Manchester, which is loading steel billets bound for Newport. Sunk at its berth, the badly damaged Stella later is refloated and renamed River Swift.

At Liverpool, numerous ships are damaged or sunk during the night attack:

• 5646-Swedish freighter Buenos Aires (sunk, later raised and used as a stationary supply ship)
• 1542-British floating crane Mammoth (sunk, later raised)
• 122-ton British coaster Excelsior (sunk)
• 5218-ton British freighter Catrine (damaged)
• 12,427-ton British transport Imperial Star (damaged)
• 7403-ton British freighter Elax (damaged)
• 8092-ton British tanker El Mirlo (damaged)
• 8120-ton British tanker Delphinula (damaged).

German motor torpedo boat S-28 attacks Convoy SF 32 off Orfordness, Suffolk. It sinks 5257-ton British freighter Trevethoe. There is one death.

British 324-ton freighter Camroux I hits a mine a few miles off Blyth. It is towed to that port.

Convoy OB 297 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Exmoor, corvette Vervain and anti-submarine warfare trawler Valse are launched.

U-167, U-605, U-606 and U-661 are laid down.

Italian medium M13/40 tanks on parade in Tripoli on 12 March 1941. Picture from Wikipedia’s Bundesarchiv project (Sturm, Federal Archive: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B16002).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The entire 5th Light Division now is active in Tripolitania. General Rommel returns from Berlin, where he was engaged in planning the first offensive of the Afrika Korps. A parade, apparently in Rommel's honor, is staged at 17:00 in front of the Castle in Tripoli by the German 5th Panzer Regiment and the tank battalion of the Ariete Division. The German panzers head out toward Sirte directly after the parade.

In Malta, the Luftwaffe is switching to night raids, just as it has on the Channel front in northwest Europe. Many of the night-time raids are nuisance raids, lone planes designed simply to strain the nerves of the island's residents. However, the residents of Sliema have had their homes destroyed in the previous night's raid, and the defending RAF fighters have been greatly reduced in number by recent attacks on Luqa and Hal Far airfields.

Convoy AG 5 departs Alexandria bound for Piraeus, Convoy US 9/2 departs from Bombay.

An Italian troop convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. It has three troop transport ships and a heavy escort.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin rendezvouses with fellow raider Komet 120 miles east of the Kerguelen Islands. They proceed to the islands and anchor at Port Couvreux. Accompanying Pinguin is captured whaler Pol IX, which is converted to an auxiliary minelayer and renamed Adjutant.

Marika Rökk on the cover of Filmwoche Magazine, 12 March 1941.

Anglo/US Relations: At a press conference regarding the new Lend-Lease Act, Prime Minister Churchill goes into rhetorical overdrive. He calls the law "A new Magna Carta... an inspiring act of faith." Considering that many in the US simply want the British soldiers to fight Hitler and die rather than US boys, it's a little murky how much "faith" has to do with it. But, quibbles aside, it indeed is a war-winning law that directly addresses Churchill's perpetual paranoia about supplies getting through. There is no question that this is a decisive moment in the war and that Churchill appropriately celebrates it.

Churchill telegrams President Roosevelt (via Lord Halifax, who actually delivers it on the 13th). It concerns their simmering disagreement over humanitarian aid to areas occupied by the Germans and their various satellites and enablers:

Admiral Darlan’s declaration and threat make me wonder whether it would not be best for you to intervene as a friend of both sides and try to bring about a working agreement. We do not wish to push things to extremes, and we naturally should be most reluctant in a thing like this to act against your judgment after you have weighed all the pros and cons.

Darlan has recently stated that he views it as his responsibility to feed 40 million people, and he will use force to do so if necessary. The only thing standing between US humanitarian aid and Vichy French possessions in North Africa is the comprehensive British blockade. In this telegram, Churchill states that "Dealing with Darlan is dealing with Germany," which is quite inaccurate.

Churchill suggests that perhaps slipping a ship or two through would appease everyone and perhaps aid the British war effort in the bargain:

Would you therefore consider coming forward on the basis of how shocked you were at the idea of fighting breaking out between France and Great Britain, which would only help the common foe. Then you might be able to procure Vichy assent to a scheme allowing a ration of wheat to go through, month by month to unoccupied France and something for French Africa as long as other things were satisfactory. These other things might form the subject of a secret arrangement of which the Germans will not know, by which German infiltration into Morocco and French African ports would be limited to the bare armistice terms, and by which an increasing number of French warships would gradually be moving from Toulon to Casablanca or Dakar.

It is difficult to see how the Germans "would not know" of food shipments to Vichy French areas. Churchill also bemoans the possibility "any large number of ships which are needed for our life and war effort were used up in food carrying."

In Liverpool, damage to the Overhead Railway line at Sandon dock resulting from the Luftwaffe raid of 12/13 March 1941.

Thai/Soviet Relations: Thailand and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations.

US Military: CINCPAC (Admiral Husband E. Kimmel) sends a message to Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations in which he appears to take security at Pearl Harbor lightly:

[T]he Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, recommends that until a light efficient net, that can be laid temporarily and quickly is developed, no A/T [aerial torpedo] nets be supplied this area.

The Japanese at this time are working on their attack plans against Pearl Harbor which would be compromised by such nets. This will be an exhibit for the Hart Inquiry in 1942.

The Corpus Christi Naval Air School opens. It is a pet project of Representative Lyndon B. Johnson, President Roosevelt's primary Texas supporter during the 1940 election, and Roosevelt directly intervenes with the War Department by asking it to listen to Johnson. One could consider Naval Air Station a "political payoff" to Johnson for his support. Industrialist Henry Kaiser, another big Roosevelt supporter, helps to build the base. That's just how things get done. NAS Corpus Christi's first commander is Captain Alva Berhard. The school ramps up quite quickly and soon is training hundreds of students.

China: With the Japanese Western Hupei Operations terminated, the Chinese River Defense Force pursues the withdrawing enemy. The Japanese leave behind a scene of burnt-out villages and many dead civilians.

British Homefront: There are many who continue to keep an eye on how all this will affect business in the post-world. Australian Prime Minister Menzies, who is visiting London, dines with famous economist John Maynard Keynes. Menzies writes in his diary:

Keynes advocates a partnership in disposal of primary products, e.g. wool, and on the importance of blending war effort with an eye on post war world - e.g., aeroplanes & motor cars in Australia.

The way that Australia currently is "blending the war effort and the post-war world" is by sending its men to defend Greece from the Wehrmacht.

American Homefront: "Meet John Doe" premieres in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, "Meet John Doe" is a prestige production from Warner Bros. continuing Hollywood's cynical take on politics and the media (such as in Jimmy Stewart's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"). It also is an early "populist political phenomenon" film which arguably reaches its peak with Warren Beatty's 1998 "Bulworth."

A shop in Orange NSW, Australia. E A Young, owner. 12 March 1941.

And now for some relaxing swing from occupied Europe.

Tuesday 11 March 1941

President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill, one of the most consequential laws of the 20th Century (Library of Congress).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues on 11 March 1941. However, what little impetus the attack managed on its first two days is now gone. The center of the offensive, at Monastery Hill, is proving an immovable barrier to the Italians. The Italian Puglie Division attempts to flank Monastery Hill, but this fails and the division is withdrawn and replaced with the Bari Division.

East African Campaign: The British at Keren continue to build their forces for another attempt to take the town. Much further south, British forces continue to move further through the barren country toward Addis Ababa.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe bombs Birmingham, Manchester, and Salford after dark. Manchester United's Old Trafford football stadium is very nearly demolished in an attack by 135 bombers that drop 830 incendiaries. The attack on Manchester's port damaged a number of British ships:

• 6004-ton Contractor
• 6133-ton Novelist
• 7917-ton Markhor
• 1189 ton Stella (Swedish, sunk but refloated and repaired) 

The Luftwaffe also bombs Portsmouth during the night of 10/11 March. The German bombs kill ten Royal Navy officers and damages destroyer HMS Witherington at its jetty. The Witherington has to be beached on a mudflat and is later repaired. Destroyer HMS Tynedale also is damaged by near misses, but the repairs are effected in just nine days. Destroyer HMS Sherwood also is damaged. Minesweeping trawler HMT Revello is sunk (one death), but later refloated and repaired. Four other minesweeping trawlers and monitor Marshall Soult also are damaged.

During the day, the Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the North Sea and damages destroyer HMS Cattistock. The German aircraft also damage 7900-ton British ship Royal Star at Stonehaven and sink 163-ton British trawler Aberdeen in Cardigan Bay (8 men killed).

RAF Bomber Command raids Kiel during the night with 27 bombers.

Winston Churchill and US Ambassador, John G. Winant sign the Lend-Lease Agreement, London, 11 March 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Berlin, the Atlantic cruise of German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, continues. While not sinking a lot of ships, the cruisers' mere presence in the Atlantic is scrambling Royal Navy deployments. Far out in the Atlantic, the cruisers rendezvous with tankers Ermland and Uckermark. The operation's commander, Admiral Lütjens, holds a conference on his flagship, the Gneisenau, with the captains of all of the ships.

Lütjens then receives a message from Berlin: proceed to Brest, France. The reason for this (which means crossing the convoy routes again) is to provide a diversion for a contemplated break out into the Atlantic of heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper. In addition, the Operation Berlin cruisers can prepare in port for the expected breakout later in the spring of battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen. Once all of the German heavy ships are together in the Atlantic, they will constitute an overpowering force - at least, that is the plan.

U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) is operating 370 km west of Cape Blanco, French West Africa when it spots 7506-ton British ore freighter Menmon. At 15:46, Oesten pumps a torpedo into the ship's starboard side. The 62-man crew immediately abandons ship, which sinks quickly as is typical with ships with heavy cargo. Oesten pumps a second torpedo into Memnon, which sinks after fifteen minutes. There are four deaths (five if counting a man lost on the journey to shore), and many of the survivors in two lifeboats make a heroic journey to Dakar and Sierra Leone. Four survivors eventually are picked up by Gneisenau. This is the start of an extraordinarily successful second patrol by U-106.

U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen) spots an Icelandic trawler, 97-ton Frodi, about 200 miles (300 km) southeast of Reykjavik. Clausen opts not to waste a torpedo on the small fishing trawler and surfaces to give his crew some practice with the deck gun. The gun does a lot of damage, killing five crew, but the Frodi escapes and makes it back to Reykjavik.

German torpedo boats remain active in the waters off Great Yarmouth. S-28 attacks local Convoy FS 32 and sinks 5257-ton British freighter Trevethoe. There is one death.

Convoy HX 114 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 114 departs from Bermuda.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Offa is launched and corvette HMS Pennywort is laid down.

Damage to Old Trafford due to the bombing of 11 March 1941. The stadium will not be repaired and reopened until 1949.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, flies back to Germany for a meeting with Hitler at the Fuhrer Headquarters. He learns that his 5th Light Division, now largely in place in Tripoli (its Panzer regiment unloads in Tripoli today), soon will be joined by the 15th Panzer Division. Once both divisions are fully assembled, Rommel is to advance eastward and recover Benghazi. Already, the Germans have 150 tanks in Tripolitania. Pursuant to Hitler's 18 February 1941 decision, the tanks have been up-gunned to carry 50-75 mm guns. The antiaircraft forces have 88 mm guns which can double as land artillery or even, in exceptional emergency cases, anti-tank weapons.

The RAF raids Tripoli and its harbor area. Other planes attack Italian/German installations throughout Tripolitania. The RAF also attacks the Italian bases at Rhodes.

Greek destroyer Psara claims the sinking of an Italian submarine off Falconera. However, it is unclear what, if any, ship it sank.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe launches a heavy raid against Sliema, a residential district on the west coast that has received little attention in the war so far. There are 21 deaths and 16 badly wounded.

Convoy AS 18 departs from Piraeus, Convoy AN 19 departs from Alexandria, Convoy BS 18A departs from Port Sudan, Convoy BS 19 departs from Suez.

Anglo/US Relations: With the Lend-Lease Bill finally having made it through Congress after lengthy debate, President Roosevelt signs Public Law 11 of the 77th Congress into law at 15:50 in the afternoon. The law in its initial form grants the President the power to authorize $7 billion in shipments of war goods without payment by the recipients or anyone else - at least not until the recipients are able to pay. This is a dramatic reversal of the Neutrality Act of 1939 when munitions shipments were banned.

Long expecting passage, the US Army and Navy immediately begin shipping items to Great Britain. While the British are the prime recipients of aid under the bill, it is not limited to Great Britain. China, Greece and other opponents of Hitler present and future (such as the Soviet Union) also are eligible for aid under the terms of the law (once they actually are opposing Hitler, which the USSR is not as of yet). Roosevelt wastes no time: he almost immediately sends Congress an order for the full $7 billion in war material.

Averell Harriman is President Roosevelt's latest personal envoy to Great Britain. He leaves by air for London.

Terrorism: Great Britain's former Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bulgaria, George William Rendel, is in Istanbul following the severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries (Rendel is ultimately heading to a similar post in Yugoslavia). He is just settling into his room in the Pera Palace Hotel, with his luggage still in the baggage room, when there is a tremendous explosion. Rendel's daughter Ann is slightly injured and four others are killed due to a bomb planted in Rendel's luggage.

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky during the war.

Soviet Military: The Stavka (Soviet High Command) continues to plan for an offensive west into German territory upon the outbreak of war (which is assumed to be initiated by the Germans). In the latest Strategic Deployment Plan, Deputy Commander of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff Aleksandr Vasilevsky proposes to put the main Soviet weight in the direction of southern Poland. Somewhat prophetically, the plan envisages hostilities beginning on 12 June 1941. The Germans, meanwhile, are arming their north and south prongs heaviest, while leaving the center - the area Vasilevskiy proposes to attack the hardest - relatively weak. Timoshenko, Zhukov, and Molotov meet with Stalin to discuss how to orient the troops.

Belgium: Jews are required to register for forced labor.

Yugoslavia: Reflecting the unsettled nature of politics in the country, there are anti-German demonstrations in Belgrade.

Indochina: Today is the official signing of the Frontier Agreement between the Vichy French and the Thai government. Symbolically, the agreement is completed aboard a Japanese warship in the Gulf of Siam. While the Thais get all the territory in Laos and Cambodia on the right side of the Mekong River that they originally sought, the Japanese are the real winners: they get basing rights for their planes at Saigon, a monopoly on Indochinese rice production, and a chance to show the world who really dominates the Far East.

China: The Western Hupei Operation basically ends as a great success for the Japanese. The 13th Division has chased the Chinese back toward Chunking and devastated a large area to the south and west of the Yangtze River. Many civilians perish during such terror raids, which the Japanese specialize in.

British Homefront: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, searches for eloquence in his diary about the conditions in England:

London is drab and grey. There is a tough and determined spirit, but the colour and gaiety have gone. In squares like Berkeley Square, houses ruined, windows boarded up. The shops everywhere with windows reduced to peep holes.... One feels the hurry and pressure of events. Sandbags in the doorways, ground floor windows bricked up; death around the corner. No more leisurely strolling about the Charing Cross Road book shops or sauntering in Piccadilly. But enough!

Menzie is extremely popular in London as a sort of possible alternative to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Not everybody is enamored with Churchill's single-minded obsession with orienting the entire country in a deathmatch with Hitler. Menzies drops a hint today in his diary that some are almost desperate for an alternative: he writes down that newspaperman Ronald Cross pleads with him, "We must not let you leave this country!" In fact, Menzies will remain in London for months, but he has no real power there and recognizes the authority of Churchill.

American Homefront: Football star Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, also a championship wrestler, regains his National Wrestling Association world title from Ray Steele.

Ray Steele, wearing the National Wrestling Association title belt that he has just won from Bronko Nagurski in March 1940. This is the belt that he loses back to Nagurski today, 11 March 1941. The other gentlemen in the photo are subject to some debate, but apparently, the fellow on the right is Col. Harry J. Landry, the first president of the NWA.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

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