Sunday 15 December 1940

"Flying Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron being decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross by Air Marshall Sholto Douglas, 15 December 1940. The first four Polish recipients of the DFC received their awards for their participation in the Battle of Britain during a presentation ceremony at RAF Leconfield. Mirosław Ferić was one of them." © IWM (CH 1838).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades continue their whirlwind advance across the desert into Italian Libya on 15 December 1940 as Operation Compass morphs from a planned five-day tank raid into a stunningly effective strategic offensive. The Italians, for their part, want no part of the Tommies and scoot further back along the coast road every day. Today, the British take Sollum and easily defensible Halfaya Pass on the fly, bypassing isolated Italian garrisons in the desert to the south (the actual date when the British take these points varies from source to source, but there is no question they are up for grabs by now). Next up for the British are Sidi Omar and nearby Fort Capuzzo, which the Italians show no sign of wanting to defend either. The unlikelihood of the Italians making a stand at Fort Capuzzo is underlined by the fact that they basically abandoned it earlier in the year when they weren't even under much pressure there.

The Italians, meanwhile, bet all their chips on their stronghold of Bardia, commanded by General Annibale Bergonzoli (known as "Electric Whiskers" due to his once-flaming red beard). The Tenth Army retreat there and reinforce Tobruk, which, aside from being a well-defended fortress, also constitutes a key port which would be much handier for the British than the much smaller one at Sollum. The Italians also bring up three divisions from the interior of Libya and station them on a line between El Mekili and Derna. Since the Italians now have ample warning of an attack and the British are outrunning their supplies, this line has a reasonable chance of holding - but it well inside Libya and 168 km northwest of Tobruk along the most direct route. The British already have Bardia surrounded, trapping the 40,000 Italians inside.

Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror continues giving the Italians headaches. While the British surround the port on land, it stands brazenly off Bardia and bombards the Italians there for the entire afternoon.

Not all goes well for the Royal Navy, however. Free French submarine Narval hits a mine off Sfax/Kerkenah, Tunisia and is lost. As is usually the case with such incidents involving submarines, the exact date of this loss is an educated guess because nobody lives to tell the tale in such incidents (54 lost). The loss is only realized when the submarine fails to return to its port of Malta on the 16th.

"The first four Polish recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron wearing their awards after a presentation ceremony by Air Marshal Sholto Douglas at RAF Leconfield, 15 December 1940. Left to right: Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz, Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg, Pilot Officer Jan "Donald Duck" Zumbach and Pilot Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić." © IWM (CH 1839).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids Berlin, Frankfurt, and Kiel with 72 aircraft. They also attack Naples. For Naples, it is the second night in a row. As if in a pointed statement to the Italians that "you can run, but you can't hide," the British damage another Italian cruiser in the port of Naples. The raids are notable because the British mistakenly bomb the Basel, Switzerland railway station in an epic navigational error.

The Luftwaffe, after a quiet day, revisits Sheffield, which it originally bombed on 12 December. This raid continues its recent practice of repeatedly bombing medium-sized British towns with full-scale attacks. While only a small group of 16 German Heinkel He 111 bombers arrives soon after darkness, they drop thousands of incendiaries that start massive fires. This creates a target visible to the main force, which arrives overhead a couple of hours later. The Luftwaffe pounds the eastern half of the city for three hours, but most of the bombs miss the city's important factories. The two aerial attacks together kill 750 people and destroy 3000 homes and small businesses. During the night, the Luftwaffe loses five aircraft.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe attacks Portsmouth, "sinking" destroyer HMS Cameron. The Cameron, in dry dock, is blasted onto its side and utterly destroyed in a rare case of a ship being lost for reasons other than actually sinking or grounding. One of the destroyers acquired from the US in the destroyers-for-bases deal, the destruction of the Cameron continues a pattern of hard luck for the newly acquired destroyers.

German E-boats are active along the Great Yarmouth coast, and the come across Convoy FS 360. Two of them, S 25 and S 58, sink 2301 ton British freighter NC Monberg. There are nine deaths.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Britomart collides with fellow minesweeper Seagull, sending the former to the repair yard at Aberdeen for almost a month.

Deep in the Atlantic, German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer transfers its prisoner to supply vessel Nordmark. The British continue fruitlessly to search for heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer around the Canary Islands.

Convoy EN 41 departs from Methil, Convoy SC 16 departs from Halifax, Convoy MW 58 departs from Port Said (Operation Hide), Convoy SL 59 departs from Freetown.

Destroyer HMS Ithuriel and submarine HMS P-32 are launched.

"The first four Polish recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron wearing their awards after a presentation ceremony by Air Marshal Sholto Douglas at RAF Leconfield, 15 December 1940. Left to right - Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz, Pilot Officer Jan "Donald Duck" Zumbach, Pilot Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić and Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg." © IWM (CH 1840).

Battle of the Italian Ocean: German raider Atlantis, in the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, remains stuck on a rock which has torn a chunk from its outer hull (but, fortunately for the German crew, not the more important inner hull).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek 3rd Infantry Division, which took Porto Palermo on the 13th, resumes its advance north toward the key port of Himara. The Italians have regrouped, though, and now are fighting hard. The weather now is the Italians' ally. The Regia Aeronautica also is active against the advancing Greek troops.

German/Vichy French Relations: Hitler, with his deep fascination regarding obscure European social history, realizes that very few things stir the French soul like repatriating Napoleon to France. The transfer of the dead Emperor's exhumed body from his place of exile on remote St. Helena back to Paris on 15 December 1840 was one of the great celebrations in 19th Century French history. So, realizing that bringing up memories of Bonaparte's royal line might also remind the French who sent him to St. Helena in the first place, and realizing that it is 100 years to the day later, Hitler craftily arranges to bring back another dead Napoleon: Napoleon II, also known as the Duke of Reichstadt and "The Eaglet." While never holding real power and still an infant upon his father's capture, Napoleon II did technically hold the title Emperor of France for a week before his own abdication. Napoleon II has been interred in deep obscurity in Vienna, Austria since even before the return of his father's remains.

However, things don't quite go as Hitler intends. For one thing, the whole affair elicits barely a yawn from the French public, for whom Napoleon II is just a name drawn from aged history books. Napoleon II never ruled France and was barely a blip along the Napoleonic line - which itself is rapidly fading from importance, particularly since Napoleon III proved such a monumental disaster - given his defeat by the Germans at Sedan, the memory of which is a lot fresher than that of Napoleon II. In fact, one thing that Hitler probably didn't consider is that bringing up the Napoleonic dynasty at this sensitive moment in French history might remind the French that, just as the Germans in 1870 broke through a vastly overrated French Army at Sedan, so too did such an army succumb in an eerily similar way at the same place in 1940. However, Hitler is never known for being particularly empathetic about what other nations might think about his obviously manipulative decisions.

More importantly from the perspective of present relations, however, French Premier Marshal Petain doesn't even bother attending the ceremony in Paris, which is under German occupation. While Petain has his own issues to deal with at the moment, including the situation with the recently dismissed Pierre Laval, his blasé attitude merely reflects the complete indifference within France by just about everyone. This puts the final verdict to this obvious attempt at emotional manipulation. Hitler, informed that Petain won't attend, does not attend the ceremony either, and professes outrage that his grand gesture would be dismissed when he "meant so well." Hitler probably did mean this as a kind gesture, but it does nothing at all to soften relations between the countries. This leaves Hitler's brief June visit to Paris as the only time that he ever visited Paris, his most significant conquest.

Parisians make light of the whole affair - while the Germans aren't looking - and the joke is that they would have preferred coal to ashes during a hard winter. The French government as a whole also takes a dim view of the entire affair for decades, and it is not until 1969 that it sets aside a small chamber opposite the entrance of the Dome des Invalides for the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte's only legitimate child. The whole affair also rankles Mussolini, who remains extremely jealous of Hitler's overtures to the French.

The remains of Napoleon II brought back to Paris, Note the absence of crowds along the streets. 15 December 1940.

German/Japanese Relations: It is widely noted among historians that the Japanese learned vital lessons from the British aerial attack on Taranto which sank three battleships in November 1940. They learn these lessons because two German officers, Baron von Gronau (former German air attaché at the embassy in Tokyo) and Colonel Johann Jebsen (a member of Admiral Canaris’s intelligence staff (Abwehr)), today proceed down to Taranto and write up a report about the attack which they send to Tokyo.

British Military: General Harold Alexander is appointed to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Southern Command (southwest England, a sensitive area of defense). His temporary rank of lieutenant-general, achieved as a result of his successful withdrawal of I Corps at Dunkirk, becomes permanent. Alexander achieved renown among the troops by being on the last destroyer leaving Dunkirk on 3 June 1940 - they appreciate little touches like that.

US Military: Headquarter, Eighth Naval District transfers from Charleston, South Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. It is under Acting Commandant Captain Thaddeus A. Thomson, Jr.

French Government: Relations between Germany and Vichy France, currently under great strain, are not helped when the German ambassador, Abetz, formally requests that Laval be released and reinstated. Petain indeed releases Pierre Laval from house confinement but does not restore him to his former positions. However, Laval accrues additional prestige due to being seen as the Germans' "man in France." Even though he now is out of office, he is by no means forgotten.

American Homefront: "Pride of the Bowery," starring "The East Side Kids," is released.

Future History: Ursula Ledersteger is born in Vienna, Austria. She becomes the "German Jayne Mansfield" and appears in several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder under the stage name Barbara Valentin. Among other things, Valentin is married to US actor John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop") during the peak years of that franchise's popularity, and also was close with Freddie Mercury. She perishes in 2002 and is buried at the Ostfriedhof in Munich.

PTT Telephone engineers go about their business in Amsterdam, 15 December 1940 (ANPFOTO/Anp).

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Thursday 24 October 1940

Hitler and Petain in Montoire. This was taken by Hitler's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, the only photographer authorized to take pictures of Hitler and who received royalties (along with Hitler) for use of the shots. Ribbentrop in the background. (Federal Archives).

Battle of Britain: Air Marshal Dowding, still in charge of Fighter Command on 24 October 1940 despite being targeted for removal, remonstrates with AVM Keith Park at No. 11 Group, telling him to cut AVM Leigh-Mallory some slack at No. 12 Group. Leigh-Mallory has been dilatory in responding to requests for assistance over London, standing firm in his commitment to the "Big Wing" strategy which takes longer periods of time to assemble. Relations between the leaders of the two groups continue to deteriorate, and Dowding is helpless to smooth over their differences.

The weather remains poor for flying, rainy and low-hanging clouds. However, this is an important day in the Battle of Britain because the Italians join in. They are based in Belgium, the zone of Luftflotte 2, and engage in operations with them against Harwich and Felixstowe after dark. The standard Italian fighter is a biplane long past its prime, and Italian bombers are 1930s tri-motor marvels that are, by late-1940 standards, lumbering and inadequately armed. Handled properly, though, they can be effective.

Italian General Corso Fougier has his Corpo Aereo Italiano (CAI, literally, "Italian Air Corps") HQ in Petite Espinette of Rhode-St-Genesis (between Brussels and Waterloo) and other operations are based at Evere airfield. The Italians operate under the command of II Fliegerkorps

Shown is the train bridge on Blackfriars Road between London Bridge and Waterloo Station, which, along with the trams beneath is, has sustained bomb damage. 24 October 1940). (London Fire Brigade).

The morning is extremely quiet. A Dornier Do 215 reconnaissance plane is shot down over St. Neots by a Hurricane of RAF No. 1 Squadron around 11:00. That is about the only activity until the afternoon.

Around 14:30, the Luftwaffe sends across a small formation of Dornier Do 17s. They attack Hayes and damage the Farley Aviation Company.

As has been happening quite a bit lately, the weather causes some casualties. Two Hurricanes collide in the clouds near Taunton. One pilot is killed, the other plane, which only suffered damage to its tail, makes it back to base. The third Hurricane of No. 43 Squadron crashes upon landing due to fierce cross-winds, killing pilot Sgt. D.R. Stoodley. Another Hurricane of No. 303 Squadron crashes during dog-fight exercises.

After dark, the primary targets are London, Liverpool, and Manchester. The raids begin around 19:00 and come from all along the Channel coast. In London, New Street Station is engulfed in flames. Bombing accuracy in the iffy weather is poor, and bombs drop at random. The RAF somewhat charitably figures that the Luftwaffe was aiming for water mains and the like, and indeed there are some lucky hits. The Luftwaffe also continues mining the Thames Estuary and all along the eastern coastline.

The Italians send twelve BR.20Ms of 13o Stormo and six from 43o Stormo against Felixstowe and Harwich. They get off to a bad start when one of the bombers crashes shortly after takeoff near the church at Houtem, Belgium. Ten of the bombers make it to the target and drop their bombs, but two get lost on the way back and the crews have to bail out. A third bomber lands at the wrong airfield (Lille-Epinoy), damaging the aircraft. Only 8 of the 12 bombers sent off manage to return to their original base.

Losses for the day are low - assuming that you do not include the Italian bomber losses - at about 8 for the Luftwaffe and 4 for the RAF.

"A group of pilots of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron walking towards the camera from a Hawker Hurricane (probably Hurricane Mk.I, RF-F, V6684) after returning from a fighter sortie at RAF Leconfield, 24 October 1940. Left to right, in the front row are - Pilot Officer Mirosław "Ox" Ferić; Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent "Kentowski" (the CO of 'A' Flight); Flying Officer Bogdan Grzeszczak; Pilot Officer Jerzy Radomski; Pilot Officer Witold "Tolo" Łokuciewski; Pilot Officer Bogusław Mierzwa (obscured by Łokuciewski); Flying Officer Zdzisław Henneberg; Sergeant Jan Rogowski; Sergeant Eugeniusz Szaposznikow. In the center, to the rear of this group, wearing helmet and goggles is Pilot Officer Jan "Donald Duck" Zumbach." © IWM (CH 1535).

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command attacks shipping off Zeebrugge, industrial targets around Calais, and the ports of Gravelines and Ostend.

After dark, the RAF launches the first attacks on Berlin which produce extensive civilian casualties. Other targets include oil installations at Hamburg, Hanover, and Gelsenkirchen; the ports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Rotterdam, Le Havre, and Lorient; and various airfields in northwest Europe.

Battle of the Atlantic: Things at sea continue to quiet down after the massive destruction recently visited upon Convoys SC 7, HX 79 and elsewhere. The U-boats are returning to port for re-stocking - but they will be back. It is this stage of the war - the "Happy Time - that the Kriegsmarine would most benefit from having more U-boats of ocean-going design.

In Operation DNU, Royal Navy destroyers HMS Matabele, HMS Punjabi and HMS Somali engage in a sweep off Norway. They are supported at a distance by the Home Fleet, represented by battlecruisers HMS Hood and Repulse and two cruisers. The destroyers sink German weather ship WBS 5 Adolf Vinnen (a 391-ton trawler) off Stadtlandet, Norway (north of Bergen) (some accounts state that accompanying submarine HMS Seawolf actually sank the weather ship). The destroyers attempt to intercept a group of 20 fishing vessels escorted by one ship nearby but make no contact. After this, the destroyers and supporting battlecruisers head back to Scapa Flow. It is an unproductive operation not worth the fuel and time; the Admiralty must have thought something more important was happening off Norway. Kriegsmarine battlecruiser Admiral Scheer is heading that way and may have been the real target, but it has not yet left German waters.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Mendip is sailing just off Barrel of Butter when it accidentally sets off one of its own depth charges. This blows the stern of the ship off and it must be towed to Scapa Flow. The repairs, made at the Tyne, will take until February 1941.

German 3664 ton freighter Helgoland departs from Puerto Columbia, Colombia in a risky bid to return to a French Atlantic port of St. Nazaire. Not only must it evade the Royal Navy, but also patrolling US destroyers who typically make sure that the Royal Navy is informed of their whereabouts. The journey will pass by St. Thomas on its way toward the Atlantic. The US destroyers are alerted to its departure and give chase.

Convoys OA 234 (last of this OA series) and Convoy FS 319 depart from Methil, Convoy OB 234 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 318 departs from Southend, Convoy HX 83 departs from Halifax, Convoy SC 9 departs from St John.

RAF ground crew preparing a bomb to be used against Italian positions in North Africa, 24 October 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF bombs Italian supply lines in both Libya/Egypt and East Africa. Also attacked are Benghazi, Berka, Gura, and Asmara. Swordfish flying out of Fuka lay mines in Tobruk Harbor.

In Malta, there is an air raid alert around noontime. As they often do, however, the Italian raiders stay far off the coast, circle for a while, then return to base. It is a curious routine, perhaps the pilots are not interested in actually attacking the island but want to make it look like they did to their superiors. The citizenry on the island shows increasing signs of anti-Italian sentiment, with many wishing to change street names and accusing neighbors of being secret Italian sympathizers. The sight of Italian POWs also sets off many residents.

German/French Relations: Following his unproductive meeting with Franco at the Spanish border, Hitler travels to Montoire-sur-le-Loir and meets with Marshal Philippe Pétain. This location is both convenient to the main railway line from Berlin-Paris-Hendaye but also has a tunnel nearby in case of an air attack. That railway tunnel, in fact, has steel doors affixed to it for this meeting that still remain in the 21st Century.

Hitler is on much more solid footing with Petain than with Franco, but things do not go particularly well in this meeting. Yes, Petain does state that he is willing "to collaborate," but those are just words that must be fleshed out with substance to have any real consequences. As in his meetings with Mussolini and other leaders, Hitler engages in long monologues while Petain says little. Petain says nothing that could be considered sympathetic to Germany. At the end of the meeting, Petain takes out a list of French demands for collaboration and sticks it in Hitler's pocket.

The most important thing that happens at the meeting is that Petain says "no" when Hitler asks him to join the war against England. This is usually what the French take away from this meeting, that Petain "said no to Hitler." However, to the Allies, collaborating alongside the Germans was almost as bad. French resources prove immensely valuable to the Reich's war effort from this point forward.

There is also a feeling among some that Petain "stared Hitler down." The story goes that Petain's advisor, Rene Gillouin, had told Hitler to stare at him unflinchingly. This very basic trick supposedly unnerves Hitler. It is fair to say that modern French opinion about Petain is overwhelmingly negative, but there is an undercurrent of pride in the way he handled this meeting.

An interesting outcome in this meeting is in the way that Petain describes it a week later in a radio broadcast. On 30 October, he refers to "the new European order," a phrase that resonates with one Ribbentrop has been using in secret communications with the Soviet Union (though there he uses "New World Order"). In that speech, Petain also states that he will "enter today the path of collaboration." While Montoire is not the start of a new war for France, it is the beginning of the long, dark collaborationist journey that blackens the name of the Vichy regime. In that sense, the meeting constitutes an overwhelming success for Hitler.

US/French Relations: The US State Department cautions the Vichy government not to permit the Germans to use French warships.

Arming one of the bombers heading to Berlin. 24 October 1940 (AP Photo).

German/Italian Relations: Mussolini is outraged that Germany has been dickering with Spain and France behind his back without offering him (and Italy... of course) any stroking at the same time. "Since this is how it is going to be," he has ordered his Foreign Ministry to start making noises about Italian demands for further cooperation - including cession by France of large stretches of the French coastline stretching clear to Marseilles.

The Italians hint darkly that Petain and de Gaulle are actually in cahoots to hoodwink Hitler and demand numerous territorial and economic demands to be imposed upon France, including her overseas colonies. Basically, Spain and Italy now both want to dismember France to their own benefit - or, put more accurately, they want Hitler to do it for them.

Having, at last, realized that Italy - or at least Mussolini - is acting like a spurned lover over the German wooing of Spain and France, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop (traveling with Hitler in his own separate train) springs into belated action. Ribbentrop calls his Italian counterpart, Count Ciano, during the evening. The call does not go well - Ciano conveys his "fears and suspicions" that Germany is about to sell out its staunch ally Italy in favor of the French and Spanish floozies. Ribbentrop immediately drafts a letter which summarizes the current situation:

• The talks with Spain had failed;
• France was willing to cooperate with Germany (how far he does not explain, and in fact that remains an open question);
• Hitler would soon send Mussolini a letter of his own summarizing matters and would like to set up another meeting with Mussolini ASAP in northern Italy.

Ribbentrop's sudden agitation about the Italian situation is underlined by the extreme speed with which he prepares this soothing letter (Ribbentrop is notorious for going through numerous drafts): he stays up all night and has the letter typed out on the large-lettered "Fuhrer typewriter" and approved by Hitler in the early morning hours (also a sign of how sensitive the matter is). The signed letter is at the Foreign Ministry for delivery before daylight. Sent by a fast courier plane, Ribbentrop's letter is in the hands of German ambassador Mackensen in Rome by 08:00 on the 25th, only about 12 hours from start to finish. He just could have, you know, called a florist and sent over some roses instead.

US Military: Heavy cruiser USS Louisville departs from Rio de Janeiro for Montevideo, Uruguay as part of its "Show the Flag" mission.

Lighter cruiser St. Louis arrives at Hamilton, Bermuda with the members of the Greenslade Board who are inspecting British bases acquired in the destroyers-for-bases deal.

Belgium: Taking a much different route than France, Belgium opens a government-in-exile in London. It is led by Hubert Pierlot and Paul-Henri-Spaak, who only recently escaped from detention in Francoist France, and Camille Gutt. The new government quickly declares war on Italy for operating air missions from Belgian airfields.

British Homefront: The recent call to outlying cities to supply buses to London produces its first results. The first provincial buses appear on London streets. Driving in London is increasingly dangerous due to the deteriorating streets and the continued need for the blackout. You never know when a recent bomb hit may have left some debris in the road, and that is tough to see in the dark. Ultimately, about 2000 buses will go into service to keep the capital functioning.

Unlike in 1939, the government decides to extend British Summer Time throughout the winter.

American Homefront: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938’s mandate of a 40-hour workweek with time-and-a-half overtime pay for hours of work beyond that takes effect. The same basic scheme has been in place ever since.

October 24, 1940. Publicity shot by Virgil Apger at MGM and used to promote the new "Judy Garland Doll" to be marketed at Christmas 1940. Not a particularly good likeness, but it's the thought that counts. (MGM serial number MG81797).

October 1940
October 2, 1940: Hitler's Polish Plans
October 3, 1940: British Cabinet Shakeup
October 4, 1940: Brenner Pass Meeting
October 5, 1940: Mussolini Alters Strategy
October 6, 1940: Iron Guard Marches
October 7, 1940: McCollum Memo
October 8, 1940: Germans in Romania
October 9, 1940: John Lennon Arrives
October 10, 1940: Führer-Sofortprogramm
October 11, 1940: E-Boats Attack!
October 12, 1940: Sealion Cancelled
October 13, 1940: New World Order
October 14, 1940: Balham Tragedy
October 15, 1940: Mussolini Targets Greece
October 16, 1940: Japanese Seek Oil
October 17, 1940: RAF Shakeup
October 18, 1940: Convoy SC-7 Catastrophe
October 19, 1940: Convoy HX-79 Catastrophe
October 20, 1940: Convoy OB-229 Disaster
October 21, 1940: This Evil Man Hitler
October 22, 1940: Aktion Wagner-Burckel
October 23, 1940: Hitler at Hendaye
October 24, 1940: Hitler and Petain
October 25, 1940: Petain Woos Churchill
October 26, 1940: Empress of Britain Attack
October 27, 1940: Greece Rejects Italian Demands
October 28, 1940: Oxi Day
October 29, 1940: US Draft Begins
October 30, 1940: RAF Area Bombing Authorized
October 31, 1940: End of Battle of Britain

2020

Friday 2 August 1940

Using a bomb trolley to load up a Handley Page Hampden, 2 August 1940.

Battle of Britain: The rainy summer of 1940 continues its wayward way on 2 August 1940, with low cloud cover and occasional light rain over southern England. The Luftwaffe sends over small attacks on Forth Bridge in Scotland, Halton and Christchurch in Hampshire, and mining operations along the east coast.

Both sides lose planes for a variety of causes. Several Luftwaffe bombers fail to return for unknown reasons. The RAF losses, on the other hand, are a sign of a strained air force. For instance, a Spitfire of RAF No. 504 Squadron flips over on take-off at Hornchurch, a Blenheim bomber of RAF No. 219 Squadron overshoots the runway at Leeming airfield, and a Spitfire crashes on take-off whilst on night patrol at Rochford Airfield, killing pilot Squadron leader Cecil Sawyer of No. 65 Squadron. Pilots are tired, training hours have been cut, there are insufficient lighting and support for night operations, and sorties must be conducted despite extreme conditions that would never be tolerated in peacetime.

The official tally from some sources is four lost RAF planes with two pilots lost, and about a dozen Luftwaffe planes lost with 19 pilots missing or dead. However, aircraft losses during the Battle of Britain are an extremely sensitive topic, and also can be imprecise for very innocent reasons. For instance: do you count losses during the RAF bomber raids on the Continent, "accidental" losses, planes which land but are greatly damaged? If so, the figures shift appreciably.

A group of Heinkel He 111s attack shipping off Yarmouth, but are shooed away by Spitfires of RAF No. 19 Squadron based at Duxford.

A formation of Heinkel He 115 seaplanes later attacks the freighter Highlander off Stonehaven. The planes make strafing runs when their bombs miss, and one of them accidentally hits the ship in an unintended Kamikaze-style incident, spinning onto its poop deck after striking a lifeboat davit. The Highlander is only lightly damaged and returns to port with a largely intact He 115 on its deck. The formation also loses another plane to anti-aircraft fire from escort sloop HMS Weston. It is unknown what happened to the crews.

At night, the Luftwaffe continues its pattern of sending an assortment of solo raiders. The raids focus on the west coast of England and Wales and the midlands. There is minelaying in the usual spots such as the Thames Estuary, Aberdeen and elsewhere along the northeast coast, and East Anglia.

While planes do not attack London, some do come into the central area there (known as the London Artillery Zone) apparently for reconnaissance purposes. Swansea gets hits, causing five casualties. The Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton, a favorite Luftwaffe target, is bombed.

There are some isolated German successes. The Luftwaffe sinks Royal Navy anti-submarine trawler HMS Cape Finisterre traveling in a convoy off Harwich. One crewman perishes.

The Luftwaffe badly damages 8006 British freighter City of Brisbane in the Thames Estuary. Run aground to keep it from sinking, the freighter blazes for days. There are 8 deaths.

RAF Bomber Command attacks the Channel Ports with Blenheim bombers, losing several planes. Victory claims are filed by pilots from 4,/JG54, 7,/JG54 and I,/JG2. Bomber Command also launches daylight raids on airfields and oil installations across northwest Europe.

RAF No. 303 (Polish "Kosciuszko") Squadron forms at Northolt from personnel of No. 111 and 112 Squadrons of the Pursuit Brigade. It is the second "Polish" Squadron (that is an informal, not RAF, designation). These "foreign" squadrons are not popular with the top RAF brass due to the unknown quality of their pilots, but they perform quite well. In fact, some consider the Polish Squadrons to be the most effective in the entire RAF. One of 303 Squadron's pilots, Sgt. Josef Frantisek officially joins the RAF and becomes a top ace.

Luftwaffe planes continue dropping copies of Adolf Hitler's 19 July 1940 "Last Appeal to Reason" speech. These at the time are becoming souvenirs and conversation pieces, and over time have become collector's items.

Sgt Eugeniusz Szaposznikow (far right) and others of No 303 (Polish) Squadron RAF at RAF Northolt at its formation on 2 August 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Hurry, the Royal Navy plan to ferry a dozen Hurricane fighters on carrier HMS Argus to Malta with Force H out of Gibraltar, is in motion under the command of Admiral Somerville. The overall operation is one of the most complex undertakings of the war, as the Admiralty is extremely cautious about entering into the Mediterranean with capital ships given Italian air and naval dominance (not to mention possible Vichy French attacks). A diversionary sortie by Admiral Andrew Cunningham's fleet in Alexandria also is at sea, with feints toward the Italian island of Kastellorizo and various points in the Aegean.

The large flotilla of ships in Force H (including battlecruiser HMS Hood, battleships HMS Valiant and Resolution, two cruisers and many destroyers) is at a vulnerable point south of Sardinia. At 02:30, the Argus launches the Hurricanes. As part of the diversionary strategy that includes Operation Spark off Minorca, the Ark Royal attempts to send nine torpedo bombers to attack shipping and airfields around Cagliari at the same time. However, the weather closes in and one plane is lost with its crew, scrubbing the mission until daylight. Several hours later, the attack proceeds, scoring hits on airfields and laying mines despite the intense anti-aircraft fire. They lose one more Swordfish.

The Hurricanes fly off and reach Hal Far airfield Malta around 08:30, greatly strengthening the island's defenses. One Hurricane crashes near the field with engine failure, and the airfield's commander personally drives at madcap speed to the scene and rescues the pilot, Pilot/Sergeant F N Robertson of 66 Squadron. An escorting Skua also crashes on landing but later returns to operation.

The Hurricanes from RAF No. 261 Squadron. Separately, the British submarines HMS Proteus and Pandora arrive in Malta with crews for anti-aircraft guns. There are no air raids during the day, the Regia Aeronautica perhaps distracted by the diversionary operations conducted by the Royal Navy throughout the Mediterranean.

Force H, its mission complete, scrambles back to Gibraltar, pursued fruitlessly by 8 Italian submarines. Some of its ships, including the battleships and HMS Hood, split off for further operations.

23-year-old P/O Witold "Tolo" Łokuciewski upon joining RAF No. 303 Squadron, 2 August 1940. He was among the "Four Musketeers," along with P/O Jan EL "Johnny" Zumbach, P/O Jan KM "Long Joe" Daszewski and P/O Mirosław "Ox" Ferić.

Battle of the Atlantic: Around this date, U-25 hits a mine and sinks off the coast of Norway. The Minefield had been laid by Royal Navy destroyers HMS Esk, Express, Icarus and Impulse. Called Barrage Field No. 7, it is expressly situated in the path of U-boats transiting from Bergen. U-25 is a small Type IA U-boat, not really up to current standards. All 49 men on board perish.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Thames is sunk around this date by a mine (exact dates for these types of incidents are uncertain).
The 94-ton British tug Embrace runs around off the western Scottish coast and is lost.

A Lockheed Hudson from RAF No. 220 Squadron spots U-37 and U-38 together on the surface in the North Sea at 15:08. It attacks without results. In addition, about an hour later after the U-boats split up, Royal Navy submarine O-21 spots one of them and fires two torpedoes at them from extremely long-range, missing.

Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer in U-99 stalks Convoy OB 191 in the Atlantic about 340 miles west of Ireland throughout the day. He has success, but heroic efforts by his victims' crews prevent him from gaining victories.

U-99 torpedoes Norwegian tanker Strinda amidships at 02:51. The crew abandons ship in the dark but reboards it four hours later after the morning light shows it still afloat. They manage to re-start the engines and bring the tanker to port. Tankers are difficult to sink due to their inherent design.

U-99 then torpedoes at 03:43 the tanker Lucerna. Kretschmer surfaces and shells the ship with gunfire when it doesn't sink quickly. However, the tanker manages to elude the U-boat and later makes port.

U-99 then tries again and torpedoes tanker Alexia. The same pattern asserts itself, with the tanker badly damaged but remaining afloat. Once again, Kretschmer surfaces to shell the ship, but it also remains afloat and proceeds on its way.

Convoy FN 240 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 128 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 239 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OG 40 departs from Liverpool, Convoys SL 42 and SLF 42 depart from Freetown.

The Royal Navy reorganizes its Home Fleet destroyers into four flotillas (Destroyer Flotillas 3, 4, 6 and 12) of about 7-8 destroyers each.

British corvette HMS Peony (K 40, Lt. Commander Martyn B. Sherwood) is commissioned.

Hurricanes of RAF No 32 Squadron fly into Biggin Hill,  August 1940.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Kriegsmarine raider Atlantis, disguised as Dutch freighter Tarifa, captures 6732-ton Norwegian freighter Talleyrand, uses it as a target ship, and eventually scuttles it. The 36-man crew becomes POWs.

The RAF bombs Italian positions at Zula, Eritrea and other locales in the vicinity.

US Government: President Roosevelt and his cabinet bruit about ways to transfer 50 or 60 destroyers to the British, which all agree is necessary and proper. It is all about finding some legal way to do it.

President Roosevelt says that the draft is necessary because there is a "real possibility the US will soon have to fight alone."

General Spaatz meets with "Wild Bill" Donovan in London about the status of the Battle of Britain.

Soviet/German Relations: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov confirms the alliance with Germany despite strains in the relationship over Soviet territory grabs in Romania and various issues over trade.

German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asks the German Ambassador to Moscow, Count von Schulenburg, to ask Molotov what it would be willing to give up in exchange for its desire (expressed on 13 July to the ambassador) to retain the strip of Lithuanian territory allocated to Germany under the secret protocols of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact of 23 August 1939.

German Government: Abwehr chief Admiral Canaris, back from his visit to Spain, discusses the prospects for invading Gibraltar with General Keitel (Operation Felix).

British Government: Canadian businessman William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook ("Lord Beaverbrook"), Minister of Supply for Aircraft Production, joins Prime Minister Winston Churchill's inner "War Cabinet."

"Photoflash" reconnaissance shows that RAF bombing accuracy is extremely poor. This is a subject that will occupy a lot of staff work and study during the war. The Luftwaffe's accuracy also is poor when the target is isolated factories and other industrial targets rather than large cities.

Vichy France: The trial against Free French General Charles de Gaulle concludes with a death sentence. They also seize his property.

Strict rationing imposed due to the British blockade.

Luxembourg: Germany appoints a civilian administrator over Luxembourg to replace the military governor.

USSR: The Moldavian SSR is formed from former Romanian territory in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.

Holocaust: The restrictions on German Jews continue growing. Jewish Germans are now banned from owning telephones and may shop during certain hours in the afternoon. Jewish hospitals are not allowed to paint a red cross on the roof to deter bombing. The ironic thing from the German point of view is that many non-Jewish German citizens suffer due to such petty and ridiculous laws.

French soldiers pose for a tourist snapshot in front of the Arc de Triomphe some time during August 1940.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

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