Thursday 21 August 1941

Jews being processed after arrest in Paris. "After the occupation of France by the fascist German Wehrmacht, the German racial laws are also introduced in France." August 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 183-B10922).

Eastern Front: The newly formed defense council of Leningrad, or aktiv, issues an Appeal to the People of Leningrad on 21 August 1941. It is posted on city walls throughout the city. Signed by Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, local defense leader and governor Andrei Zhdanov, and chairman of the Leningrad Soviet Pyotr Popkov, the statement concluded:

Let us, like one man, rise to the defense of our city, of our homes and families, our freedom and honor. Let us do our sacred duty as Soviet patriots in our relentless struggle against a hated and ruthless enemy, let us be vigilant and merciless in dealing with cowards, panic-mongers, and deserters, let us establish the strictest revolutionary discipline in our city. Armed with such iron discipline and Bolshevik organization, let us meet the enemy and throw him back.

Among other things, the Appeal is notable for its references to "Soviet patriotism" - a concept that the Soviets will quickly replace with calls to protect "Mother Russia," a much more compelling concept. Soviet citizens see phrases like "iron discipline" and shudder.

In the evening, Stalin calls Zhdanov and Voroshilov and berates them. He asks why they had set up the aktiv without first asking his permission, and why Zhdanov and Voroshilov themselves were not actually members of it (presumably so that they could control it). They replied lamely that the council would help with the defense of the city, which did not mollify Stalin at all.

Stalin immediately orders a "review" of the Council for the Defense of Leningrad and that its membership should be "revised" to include Voroshilov and Zhdanov. He also officially rebukes the two men for forming worker "battalions" with inadequate weapons and orders that new leaders of these battalions - selected by the Kremlin - be installed.

Stalin's reaction seems excessive until you remember that the previous Russian revolution - the one that installed him as its dictator - began in Leningrad. Having the city cut off by the Germans means it cannot be supplied and thus is at risk, but it also means that Stalin himself has no direct control over it. This raises all sorts of unpleasant possibilities for the Kremlin in general and Stalin in particular. Stalin's chief of police, Lavrentiy Beria, has his ear at this time and is feeding Stalin's innate paranoia about disloyalty and insurrections that stem from Stalin's own rise to power.

"A Valentine Mark III tank (T 1290288) of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on exercise in Scotland, 21 August 1941. Photograph taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command." (© IWM (H 12987)).

At the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia, Adolf Hitler also is unhappy, but because of an old and lingering problem. He resents the continued efforts by his generals, particularly those in Army Group Center, to direct the Operation Barbarossa offensive toward Moscow. He orders:

The proposal by the army for the continuation of the operations in the east, dated 18.8, do not meet with my approval. I order the following: The principal objective that must be achieved before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow, but rather in the south the occupation of the Crimea and the industrial and coal region of the Donets, together with the isolation of the Russian oil regions in the Caucasus. In the north, the encirclement of Leningrad and the union with the Finns.

General Franz Halder, who also sees Moscow as the best objective, writes in his diary, "It [this Hitler directive] is decisive for the outcome of the campaign." General Alfred Jodl, chief of operations at OKW, quickly instructions Commander of the Army Field Marshal von Brauchitsch to focus on seizing the Crimea and the materials-rich areas in the south. The only important objective in the north is Leningrad, and Moscow is a secondary objective.

In the Far North sector, the Finnish General Headquarters orders IV Corps (Lt. Gen. Lennart Oesch) to begin pursuing the retreating Soviets toward Viipuri. This is a day earlier than planned, and the change is due to the Finns noticing that the Soviets have left. The overall intent is to take Viipuri and all of western Karelian Isthmus.

The defending Soviet troops of 43rd, 115th, and 123rd Rifle Divisions by now have escaped from their exposed positions further north and have fallen back on the city. This has improved the overall Soviet chances of holding a line north of Leningrad at the narrow part of the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish II Corps and 18th Division, assisted by other units, continue consolidating their bridgehead over the Vuoksi River. The Soviets plan to swing the 115th and 123rd Rifle Divisions over to counterattack them in order to establish a solid line on the Vuoksi. The Finns take Kexholm (Käkisalmi, Priozersk) on the northeast shore of Lake Ladoga.

"Valentine Mark III tanks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) on exercise in Scotland. Photograph was taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (H 12994)).

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans capture Chudovo. This solidifies the Germans' control over the approaches to Leningrad by expanding control over the railway line from Moscow which they cut on the 20th. There is still one remaining railway link from Leningrad to the east at Mga, but it is not a direct connection to the main Soviet railway net centered on Moscow. Further west, the Wehrmacht also is pushing north towards the Gulf of Finland. The effect of these advances is that the Soviet defenders of the Luga Line are being outflanked on either side, forming a perilous Soviet salient extending 130 miles south from Leningrad, but only thirteen miles wide. German troops take Gatchina, 25 miles from Leningrad.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviets retreat from Gomel after a fierce defense and several unsuccessful counterattacks. German Panzer Group 2 (General Guderian) continues advancing south between Bryansk and Gomel toward Kyiv. Soviet 24th Army continues attacking the German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya throughout the day, but Red Army General Rakutin finally receives Stavka permission to stop his attacks until he gets reinforcements and replacements.

F-32 Armed KV-1 Model 1940 knocked out in Korkino in the Tosnensky District, Leningrad Oblast in August 1941. Note the AP penetration possibly from an 88mm shell at the top of the turret, with the mark from what was presumably another hit from a high explosive shell beside it. Generally, only an 88mm Flak gun could penetrate KV-1 armor. Their vulnerability was that they were very slow.

In the Army Group South sector, the Romanians continue pressing in around Odessa. However, they are encountering fierce resistance and making little progress. The Stavka has ordered no evacuation - the men are to stay and fight regardless of the outcome. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet, led by cruiser Krasny Krym, bombards Romanian positions at Sverdlovka and Chebanka near Odesa.

German 1.SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot.) Leibstandarte der SS Adolf Hitler (Obergruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich) captures Kherson (Cherson). Sixth Army continues pursuing the retreating Soviet 5th Army, and LI Corps establishes a crossing of the Dneipr at Okuminovo, north of Kyiv.

General Hoth completes a refit of Panzer Group 3. He notes the following strengths:

• Panzer Division 7: 45%
• Panzer Division 12: 45%
• Panzer Division 19: 60%
• Panzer Division 20: 49%

By current standards in the Wehrmacht, this is about average. By later standards, this is very well equipped. The war is taking a serious toll on men and their equipment.

"Airacobra Mark I, AH577, of No. 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, in flight. This aircraft was coded UF-M and was for a time the personal aircraft of the Squadron's Commanding Officer." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3711)).

European Air Operations: It is another fairly quiet day on the Channel front. RAF Bomber Command sends 24 Blenheim bombers on Circus and Roadstead operations against the Ijmuiden steel factories and Chocques chemical factory. The Ijmuiden target is bombed, but the bombers turn back before reaching Chocques. Another three Flying Fortresses sent to Dusseldorf also turn back. There are no losses.

An RAF Hurricane Mk. IIB on a delivery flight, S/n Z5070, crash-lands at Athboy, County Meath. The Irish Army Air Corps repairs the damaged plane and puts it into service as the Corps' sixth fighter (the others are three Gloster Gladiator Mk. Is, another Hurricane Mk. IIB, and a Hurricane Mk. X).

"Airacobra Mark I, AH576 ‘UF’, of No. 601 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft was detached to Reid & Sigrist Ltd for trials on 7 September, following which it was to have been returned to the Squadron (hence the proprietary application of the unit code letters and squadron badge on the fin), but was written off on 5 October 1941." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3723)).

Battle of the Baltic: Stalin rejects a proposal by Admiral Vladimir Tributs, in charge of the evacuation of Tallinn and technically in charge of the overall defense of Leningrad, to organize a naval offensive from Tallinn toward Narva to blunt the German advance. This would use the fleet marines, the 25,000 men of 10th Corps defending Tallinn, and the garrisons of the Baltic Islands in a desperate bid to restore land communications with Leningrad.

Admiral Tributs' plan is based on aerial reconnaissance showing that the Germans have all of their troops in the front lines and none in reserve. He believes that any quick thrust to the east into the rear of their lines approaching Leningrad might catch them off guard. The plan is imaginative and daring and is better than anything else being considered. However, Stalin apparently is worried about a new, growing power block centered around Leningrad that is outside of his control due to the intervening presence of the Wehrmacht. The official reason given for turning it down is that it would be too difficult to assemble sufficient forces.

Soviet planes attack the German 3rd Ferry Battalion which is ferrying troops in Riga Bay in company with two Soviet destroyers. Some small Soviet ships, including freighter Leeni, hit mines and sink in German Minefield Juminda between Hogland Island (Suursaari) to Reval, Estonia.

Soviet destroyers Artem and Surovyi hit and damage German gunboat SAT-1 Ost in the Baltic. The gunboat's skipper manages to beach the boat, and it is later salvaged. There is one death.

"Six Hurricane Mk IIBs of 'B' Flight, No. 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, flying in starboard echelon formation near Thaxted, Essex." 21 August 1941 (© IWM (CH 3517)).

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Dervish, the first Allied convoy to northern Russia which left Liverpool on 12 August, continues. The convoy leaves Reykjavik. It includes six freighters and an oiler escorted by three destroyers, three minesweepers, and three minesweeper trawlers. They are covered by the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, heavy cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk, and destroyers Eclipse, Escapade, and Inglefield. The ships will stop first at Spitzbergen to refuel.

In a companion operation to Operation Dervish, today at 22:00 Force K leaves Hvalfjord bound for operations against coal fields in Bergensburg, Norway, with part of the force proceeding on to Archangel. The voyage to Archangel is planned to take ten days.

The Royal Navy is conducting submarine patrols along the Arctic sea route. Submarine HMS Trident launches an attack on a Norwegian tanker and an accompanying Kriegsmarine artillery training ship off the northern coast of Norway but misses.

The Soviets also are active along the northern sea routes. Soviet submarine M-172 (Lt Cdr Israel Fisanovich) makes a daring entrance into the Liinakhamari fjord but misses when it attacks German freighter Monsun docked at the Pechenga pier (some accounts state that he sinks a ship).

While laying a minefield about 50 km off Jæderens Point/Egerö, southeastern Norway, Free French submarine Rubis (Lt Cdr Rousselot) attacks two freighters but misses. It does sink 4360-ton Finnish freighter Hogland with one of the mines that it lays. Rubis itself is damaged when two torpedoes misfire and explode just after leaving the submarine. Rubis eventually makes it to Dundee for repairs. The Germans order the 11th Minesweeping Flotilla to the area to clear the minefield.

During a Luftwaffe attack on Southampton, the Germans bomb and sink French drifter Gloria in Excelsis Deo. The drifter later is raised and repaired.

A Luftwaffe Focke-Wulfe Fw-200 Condor spots Convoy OG-71 and radios its position.

Convoy HX-146 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Laforey (G-99, Captain Reginald M. J. Hutton) is commissioned.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Grandmere is launched at Montreal.

US submarine USS Gato is launched.

U-376 (Oblt. Friedrich-Karl Marks), U-435 (Kptlt. Hans-Henrich Giessler), and U-584 (Kptlt. Joachim Deecke) are commissioned, U-174 is launched.

HMS Taku at Malta ca. August 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Mincemeat, an attack on Sardinia, begins when Force H leaves Gibraltar. It is led by battleship HMS Nelson and aircraft carrier Ark Royal. The Italians quickly receive word of its departure and prepare a response.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 311-ton Egyptian freighter El Fath at Famagusta. There are four deaths.

British 10,893-ton freighter Durham, which arrived at Malta during Operation Substance, departs from Malta toward Gibraltar without an escort. A fast ship, it perhaps is counting on the distraction caused by Force H. Durham hits a mine west of Pantelleria Island, but eventually makes it to Gibraltar for repairs.

Operation Treacle, the replacement of the Australian 18th Infantry Brigade at Tobruk with troops of the Polish Carpathian Brigade, continues. Destroyers Griffin, Jackal, and Kandahar carry the troops.

Early in the morning, around 06:30, the Luftwaffe (Junkers Ju-88 aircraft of III/LG.1) hits and damages destroyer Nizam returning from an Operation Treacle run. Nizam, which is hit north of Bardia, is taken under tow until it regains engine operation. Nizam makes it back to Alexandria under its own power.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku arrives at Malta with supplies from Alexandria.

Ten Wellington bombers based on Malta damage buildings and port infrastructure at Tripoli Harbor.

Three Italian aircraft make low-flying attacks on Hal Far and the Safi dispersal area. A dogfight with Hurricanes ensues. A Bofors crew guarding the area claims to make some hits on one of the attackers.

"Valentine Mark III tanks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (1st Polish Corps) lined up during exercise in Scotland. Photograph was taken during General Alan Brooke's visit to the Scottish Command, 21 August 1941. A number of the tank in the foreground is T 1290295." (© IWM (H 13003))

Battle of the Black Sea: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet freighter Briansk off Odesa.

Battle of the Pacific: German 5098-ton freighter Odenwald leaves Yokohama, Japan for Bordeaux, France. Japanese 5019-ton freighter Teisen Maru, formerly German Ursula Rickmers, arrives at Tokyo successfully after her first charter trip carrying coal and lumber from Kushiro, Hokkaido to Nagoya, Japan.

A warning notice posted by German occupation authorities in Paris after the shooting death of Alfons Moser. It begins, "On the morning of 21 August a member of the German Army was assassinated in Paris." It warns that there will be strict new occupation rules implemented beginning on 23 August, and anyone arrested for any will be taken as a hostage, with hostages shot if there are any more terrorist acts.

Partisans: Pierre Georges, a Paris Communist Party leader at this time going by the name of Frédo, and his accomplice Gilbert Brustlein and two other communists, shoot a German naval cadet, Alfons Moser, at the Barbès – Rochechouart metro station in Paris at eight in the morning. This is in revenge for the execution of Samuel Tyszelman on 19 August for taking part in an anti-German demonstration.

German/Spanish Relations: The Spanish Blue Division (250th Infantry Division) begins moving to the Eastern Front south of Leningrad.

US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura sends a message to Tokyo indicating that President Roosevelt is seriously interested in the resumption of negotiations. Nomura even provides a sample response to Tokyo for its consideration.

Demonstration of a New Zealand Mobile Surgical Unit’s portable X-ray machine. Taken in Egypt, 21 August 1941, by an official war photographer.

German Military: Oberst Herman Bernhard Ramcke and Dr. Heinrich Neumann, heroes of Operation Mercury, both receive the Knight's Cross.

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 5350-ton cargo ship Saigon Maru for use as an auxiliary cruiser and also requisitions 2681-ton freighter Senko Maru.

Arming a Bell Aircobra Mk I of 601 Squadron RAF based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire on 21 August 1941. This was the only RAF squadron equipped with the fighter, which the RAF did not find suitable, from August 1941 until March 1942 (colorized).

Soviet Government: Around this time, Stalin orders an increase in the powers of the Commissariat of Internal Affairs to maintain "social order." This greatly enhances the power of Lavrentiy Beria, head of the secret police. Using his new authority, Beria begins culling out civilian and military leaders by accusing them of "anti-Soviet activity" and "counterrevolutionary thoughts." In the Soviet Union, of course, thoughts alone can be a crime.

US Government: President Roosevelt gives Congress a "copy" of the Atlantic Charter agreement recently reached with Winston Churchill in Canada. As Roosevelt later notes:

There isn't any copy of the Atlantic Charter, so far as I know. I haven’t got one. The British haven’t got one. The nearest thing you will get is the [message of the] radio operator on Augusta and Prince of Wales. That's the nearest thing you will come to it. ... There was no formal document.

Roosevelt briefs Congress on the agreement, summarizing its points, stating in part:

Finally, the declaration of principles at this time presents a goal which is worth while for our type of civilization to seek. It is so clear cut that it is difficult to oppose in any major particular without automatically admitting a willingness to accept compromise with Germans; or to agree to a world peace which would give to Reich domination over large numbers of conquered nations. Inevitably such a peace would be a gift to Hitlerism to take breath--armed breath--for a second war to extend the control over Europe and Asia to the American Hemisphere itself.

The statement concludes:

It is also unnecessary for me to point out that the declaration of principles includes of necessity the world need for freedom of religion and freedom of information. No society of the world organized under the announced principles could survive without these freedoms which are a part of the whole freedom for which we strive.

"After the occupation of France by the fascist German Wehrmacht, the German racial laws are also enforced here. The arrest of Jews in Paris in August 1941." (Federal Archive, Bild 183-B10923).

Holocaust: Arrests by French police at the instigation of the Gestapo that began on the evening of the 20th continue today. Those arrested are sent to the new internment camp at Drancy in the suburbs. Conditions at Drancy are horrendous and there is a high death rate. Eventually, the victims will be put on cattle wagons for transport to concentration camps in the East. At this time, the arrests concentrate on "foreign" Jews who are in France only because they fled previous German invasions in Czechoslovakia, Poland and elsewhere.

After direct orders from Sixth Army Commanding General Walther von Reichenau, German 295th Division participates to some extent in the killing of about 90 Jewish children who have been abandoned and locked in a school at Bila Tserkva. The incident is notable for many reasons, including a direct protest to the army by two Wehrmacht chaplains about the killings which delayed it by a day. Oberst (Lieutenant-Colonel Helmuth Groscurth) has put his own career in jeopardy by forwarding the protest of the chaplains to the army headquarters. Technically, SS units are under army control, so the army has the final say on who is killed and who is not. Catholic Father Ernst Tewes, one of the two chaplains (the other being Lutheran Pastor Gerhard Wilczek), later comments:

All those we wanted to save were shot. Because of our initiative it just happened a few days later than planned.

Reichenau is put out by the entire affair. He writes in response to the request:

The conclusion of the report in question contains the following sentence: "In the case in question, measures against women and children were undertaken which in no way differ from atrocities carried out by the enemy about which the troops are continually being informed." I have to describe this assessment as incorrect, inappropriate and impertinent in the extreme. Moreover, this comment was written in an open communication which passes through many hands. It would have been far better if the report had not been written at all.

There is no question that the regular army participated to some extent in the killings aside from Reichenau's order. A witness, an SS soldier, recalled later that the regular army dug the trench into which the children fell after being shot. Exactly who shot the children is unclear. Ukrainians unhappily watch the executions.

A concentration camp at Jasenovac, Croatia becomes operational.

Repair ship USS Vulcan (Commander Leon S. Fiske, AR-5) near the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 21 August 1941 (Photo No. 19-N-25376 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-LCM).

American Homefront: "Sun Valley Serenade" starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, Glenn Miller, and Lynn Bari is released. This film screens constantly at the Sun Valley Lodge and Inn in Idaho to this day. "Sun Valley Serenade" receives three Academy Award Nominations, including for Best Music, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, and Best Music, Original Song (Chattanooga Choo Choo) by Harry Warren (music) and Mack Gordon (lyrics).

Paramount Pictures film "World Premiere" is released. It stars John Barrymore, Frances Farmer, Ricardo Cortez, and Sig Ruman. It is a comedy about the machinations behind releasing an anti-Hitler film.

A German sentry in France with his BMW R75 motorcycle (colorized).

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Thursday 9 January 1941

"Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspects the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard on Horse Guards Parade, London, on 9 January 1941." © IWM (H 6547).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek offensive to capture the key Klisura Pass continues on 9 January 1941. The Klisura Pass is considered the gateway to the strategic Italian port of Valona. Greek II Corps is attacking, with 1st Division on the left and 15th Division on the right. Defending is the Italian Julia Division.

The Italians frantically deploy the Lupi di Toscana division immediately after a 24-hour forced march in a blizzard. The Toscana has no maps, has not reconnoitered the terrain, and is not in communication with the Julia Division. The Greek 11th Division joins the 15th Division in its attacks on the right flank and makes good progress, surrounding part of the Toscana. The Julia Division begins pulling back from the pass. It is another absolute fiasco for the Italian military.

Four Italian destroyers (Ascari, Carabiniere, Folgore and Fulmine) shell Greek bases at Porto Palermo, Albania.

Despite the continuing Greek success against the hapless Italian military, everyone is looking over their shoulders toward the German forces assembling in Romania and Bulgaria - for "training."

European Air Operations: The Malta-based Wellingtons raid Messina. Damage is done to oil facilities, but they miss the ships in the harbor.

RAF Bomber Command hits scattered targets in northwest Europe, including another attack on the oil facilities at Gelsenkirchen, Dusseldorf, Duisburg-Ruhrort, and various invasion ports such as Rotterdam, Flushing, Dunkirk, and Calais. Coastal Command chips in with attacks on Brest, where the Admiral Hipper continues to linger. The Luftwaffe night fighter forces continue gaining experience, as Oblt. Reinhold Eckhardt of 6./NJG 1 destroys a British Whitley bomber over Nijmegen.

The Luftwaffe continues its period of primarily sporadic daylight raids by lone raiders, with small raids against London (67 aircraft) and Liverpool during the night. The major raid is against Manchester with about 143 bombers total.

Italian bombers in Albania/Greece, 9 January 1941 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe), operating out of Kiel, gets its first kill. It torpedoes and sinks 4843-ton British iron/grain freighter Bassano in the mid-Atlantic due south of Iceland. There are one death and 55 survivors.

Italian submarine Glauco claims that it shells a large freighter just south of where U-105 is operating and makes some hits. However, it is unknown what ship this may be.

Royal Navy 40 ton drifter Dusky Queen runs aground and is wrecked in the Dover Straits.

British 646 ton freighter Dorset Coast hits a mine and is damaged south of Cardiff in the Bristol Channel. The ship makes it to Penarth Dock.

The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth dockyard and slightly damages minesweeper Saltburn with a near miss.

The Royal Navy intercepts French trawler Urania in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar. The Urania is seized and sent to Gibraltar. The Urania has been en route from Saint Pierre et Miquelon off Canada to Casablanca.

Convoy FS 384 departs from Methil.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Pimpernel (K 71) and destroyer RNoN Bath (I-17) are commissioned.

U-410 is laid down.

"Pilots of No. 601 (County of London) Squadron run to their waiting Hurricane aircraft at RAF Northolt, 9 January 1941. Squadron scramble staged for General 'Hap' Arnold, USAAF." © IWM (HU 2408).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Today is known as the first Luftwaffe raid on Malta. There actually were scattered Stuka appearances over the island in 1940, but this is the beginning of the sustained German appearance in the Mediterranean and the first real Luftwaffe attacks on strategic targets by Fliegerkorps X. The Stukas appear just before sunset and attack the port of Marsaxlokk, without scoring any hits on shipping.

Australian 6th Infantry Division and British 7th Armoured Division have Tobruk encircled on the landward side. The 25,000 Italian defenders place great faith in fortifications remarkably similar to those that failed earlier in the month at Bardia.

Operation Excess, a typical 1940-41 supply operation to Malta, continues. Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal despatches five Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 821X Squadron to reinforce the RAF presence on the island. The Italians attempt an air raid on the Royal Navy ships, but it is beaten off with the loss of two SM 79 bombers to a Fulmar of 808 Squadron (Lt. Tillard). The Italians also lose two modern Macchi MC 200 Saetta (Arrow or Lightning) fighters during the day over Malta (island sources claim that four are shot down by Hurricanes and one by anti-aircraft fire, so it may be five planes altogether, but accounts differ).

As with all of these complex supply missions, there are diversions that sometimes take center stage. Swordfish raid Cagliari, losing one of their number (the crew is saved).

Force H turns back to Gibraltar once cruisers HMS Gloucester and Southampton return to the vicinity after unloading troops in Grand Harbor on the 8th.

Vichy French ocean liner Lamoricière (Commandant Milliaseau) gets caught in a storm about 10 km northeast of Cap Favaritx, Minorca, Spain. It has aboard 122 crew and 272 passengers. Despite sending out distress calls that bring several ships to her assistance, the Lamoricière capsizes during the night. There are 292 deaths, including the captain.

The Lamoricière was responding to a distress call herself, from 1708 ton freighter Jumièges. The Jumièges also vanishes on or around this date, taking with her 20 crewmen.

Italian 636 ton coastal freighter Giovanni Mari hits a mine and sinks a dozen miles off Bardia.

Royal Navy and Greek submarines are quite active today as part of the protective screen for Operation Excess. The Royal Navy subs are operating in the general vicinity of Sardinia and Corsica, positioned in case the Italian fleet chooses to seek battle as during the previous convoy runs. The Greek submarines are at the mouth of the Adriatic. The day is notable for the number of unsuccessful attacks.

Submarine HMS Pandora, operating off Cape Carbonara, Sardinia, torpedoes and sinks 2715 ton Italian freighter Palma and 5400-ton freighter Valdivagna.

Submarine HMS Parthian torpedoes 4208-ton Italian freighter Carlo Martinolinch off Calabria.

Submarine HMS Rover makes a surface attack on an unidentified Italian freighter, but the ship gets away.

Greek submarine Nereus attacks an Italian freighter off Brindisi, but it gets away.

Greek submarine Triton attacks an Italian submarine off Otranto, but it also gets away.

Italian submarine Beilul spots a convoy just northeast of the eastern tip of Crete and fires a couple of torpedoes. Both miss and the convoy gets away.

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) continues driving toward Murzuk, the Italian administration center in southwestern Libya which its soldiers plan to attack. They cross a main Italian road, then spend a tense time brushing away traces of their vehicle crossing marks. It is a tense time, as if an Italian convoy happened along at this time, the entire surprise attack endeavor might be ruined. However, they are not spotted.

The Indian 5th Infantry Brigade continues transferring from Egypt to Sudan for future operations there.

In Ethiopia, the RAF bombs the Italian fort of Gubba with three planes. While the attack is not of any value, it signals a new phase of the campaign where the skies are not solely under Italian control.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's crony, Harry Hopkins, arrives in London to schmooze with Churchill. Hopkins is a member of Roosevelt's kitchen cabinet who literally lives upstairs at the White House. He is on hand to assess the British will to win and is escorted all across the country personally by Winston Churchill. This is the first of Hopkins' unofficial visits to a key ally which will go a long way to smoothing relations within the sometimes fractious coalition-to-be.

Anglo/Free French Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill apologizes personally to Charles de Gaulle over the Muselier incident, which now has been closed. The Vice-Admiral is reinstated - to cause more trouble later.

US/Vichy French Relations: New US Ambassador to France Admiral William D. Leahy meets with Marshal Petain.

Separately, Secretary of State Cordell Hull gives French Ambassador Gaston Henry-Haye a diplomatic note of this date, entitled, "Refugee Problem in France." In the note, Hull notes numerous procedural obstacles to the US accepting German Jewish refugees currently living in Vichy France, as requested by the French. The biggest problem apparently is that:

forced migration in which people in great numbers are intended to be driven anarchically upon the receiving states [will create] unhappy consequences to the economic and social equilibrium of all.

Hull concludes by flatly denying this French request and even any further attempts to discuss it at all:

Accordingly, while this Government holds the view that the time will come when such conditions of order and peace will prevail in the world as will warrant a humane and orderly approach to the migration problem by the Governments collaborating in mutual confidence and mutual respect, it does not believe that any useful purpose can be served by discussing migration problems bilaterally with the French Government or multilaterally with the several Governments at this time.

US/Dutch Relations: The Dutch remain a major military presence in the Dutch East Indies. US Rear Admiral Purnell, Admiral Hart's chief of staff, visits Java for consultations.

The Avro Lancaster prototype BT308 right after its first flight, 9 January 1941.

British Military: The Avro Mk III Manchester (serial number BT308) makes its first flight at Manchester. This version has extensive modifications, including longer wings with four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. The name is changed to "Lancaster" immediately after the flight. Basically, the re-design - aside from everything else - is a success simply due to the substitution of the Merlins for the original Vulture engines, which have proven to be a disaster in terms of power and reliability. This plane, the Lancaster, has a longer range and heavier bomb load than any other British bomber - in fact, it is the very bomber that Hitler and Goering need very badly.

The British Chiefs of Staff and Defence Committee continue reviewing and weighing the conflicting priorities of the North African and Greek theaters. Today, the Chiefs of Staff wire Air Officer Commanding in the Middle East Air Marshal Arthur Murray Longmore that:

for political reasons, priority must now be given to Greece.... Absence of British help might put Greece out of the war, keep Turkey out and cause most serious political consequences both here and in America.

The units to transfer will be forwarded on the 10th. Longmore is not a fan of this decision, feeling that the battle in North Africa is far from over despite the huge recent successes in Operation Compass.

German Military: Adolf Hitler concludes a two-day conference at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden with his military chiefs. The main topic is the coming attacks the east, particularly in Greece and then Russia. Hitler, as usual at this stage of the war, is painting in broad strategic strokes. He figures that, by attacking the Soviet Union, the Japanese will be induced to launch their own campaign in the Far East, which will draw off US attention and forces. He basically shelves Operation Felix for the time being - but it remains on the back burner. His focus has turned to what the Italians should have been able to do by themselves, drive the British out of the Mediterranean.

Hitler does not seem to attach any significance to the economic might of the United States (and the Soviet Union) and how that might translate into the Allies being able to fight two major wars simultaneously, one in the Pacific and another in North Africa/Europe. To be fair, the US Navy also doubts this US ability at this time, as reflected in its most recent Rainbow plans. These plans envisage a holding operation in the Pacific while resources are devoted to the Atlantic - another possibility that Hitler does not seem to consider likely. Essentially, he just figures that Japan takes care of the US and keeps it occupied - a huge assumption. Everybody is about to learn quite a few basic lessons about how economic might translates into military power.

Soviet Military: The second set of Soviet war games proceeds. General Zhukov, in command of the "Red" or Soviet forces, is doing well against the "Blue" or German forces led by General Kulik. This series is tilted somewhat in favor of the Red forces, as the Red Army is given the initiative from the start from the original border - a scenario unlikely to happen in a real war, at least at the beginning of a conflict.

US Military: Construction crews begin building the new naval air station on Wake Island.

Members of the Chantiers de Jeunesse clearing a hillside above a roadway (A. D. Allier, 69 J 93, Crépin Leblond collection). Source: A. D. Allier.

Vichy France: The Chantiers de Jeunesse [Youth Workshops], voluntary until now, are slated to become mandatory for all men of age 20. Their duration also is extended to eight months. The entire organization is of a paramilitary character, with the men wearing uniforms, marching, and engaging in work designed to be of an educational character. The "educational" part is broadly defined, as the objective is to teach the young men to work together toward some common purpose, such as gathering firewood or building paths or creating ironwork. There are 52 camps with between 1500-2200 young men at each camp, and the daily routine very much resembles a Scout or summer camp - but with extreme discipline and often backbreaking work in harsh conditions.

China: The Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) 3rd War Area begins reducing encircled communist troops of the New 4th Army near Maolin on the Yangtze River.

American Homefront: CBS, under the auspices of Dr. Peter Goldmark, demonstrates field-sequential live color television ("Columbia Broadcasting Exhibits Color Television", Wall Street Journal, Jan. 10, 1941, p. 4. "CBS Makes Live Pick-up in Color Television", Radio & Television, April 1941). The Germans had demonstrated color television as early as August 1939, but the war interrupted further development - though the German television service is still very much in development.

Future History: Joan Chandos Baez is born in Staten Island, New York. She begins performing music in the late 1950s in various clubs near her father's job at MIT. Joan gets noticed, and records her eponymous first album in 1960 for Vanguard Records; it includes a pre-Animals recording of "House of the Rising Sun," one of many artists (including Roy Acuff, Andy Griffith, Woody Guthrie and Glenn Yarbrough) to record this classic folk song before it becomes a huge hit. Joan follows that with many other releases during the 1960s. Her singles begin making the charts in the mid-60s, with the most successful by far being the classic version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" in 1971. She becomes friends with many in the burgeoning "folk singer" music scene, including all the household names, and a household name herself.

Joan also becomes known for political activism, and this makes her a controversial figure. She begins with involvement in the '60s civil rights struggles and protests against the Vietnam War, among many other causes. Some of her personal experiences during a wartime visit to Hanoi, however, turn her off to the communist regime there, which she learns has its own human rights issues. Joan Baez continues in the 21st Century to perform at various venues and still releases live albums with some regularity. However, she has scaled back her political activism considerably in recent years after some more disillusionment with the political process.

Winston Churchill during his inspection of the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard at Horse Guards Parade in London, 9 January 1941. Mrs. Churchill is fashionably attired aside from her sensible shoes. Lieutenant-General Sir Bertram N. Sergison-Brooke (GOC London Area) is on the right.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020