Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

"The Long Swing," Joe Dimaggio.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14, 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2020

Sunday 22 June 1941

German troops of Army Group South cross the Bug River on 22 June 1941.

Eastern Front: As Adolf Hitler has planned since July 1940, the Reich invades the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The attack is made without a declaration of war and proceeds along a 2000-mile (2900 km) front. It is one of the greatest miscalculations in history.

The Wehrmacht has sent sappers and saboteurs across the border after dark on the 21st, and they work through the night securing bridges across key waterways and neutralizing border fortifications. These advance groups secure every single bridge across the 500-mile length of the Bug River that divides the two sides.

At about 01:00, the Soviet Stavka notifies Soviet military districts along the border to "bring all forces to combat readiness" but to "avoid any provocative actions" (NKO Directive No. 1). Very few units even receive the directive before hostilities begin, much less implement it. The directive suggests that Stalin, at last, has begun to believe the massive amount of intelligence suggesting that Germany has been preparing an invasion - but much too late.

The Luftwaffe has planes in the air as the day begins, and at around 03:15 they begin bombing Soviet-occupied cities in Poland and further north and east. The targets include the naval base at Kronstadt, Sevastopol, and Ismail in Bessarabia.

As dawn breaks on 22 June 1941, German troops are heading east (Federal Archive).

At roughly 03:15, the Wehrmacht sets into motion roughly three million men organized into 140 division. A fierce artillery barrage breaks out to pave the way for the advance. The advance before dawn on a front that stretches from northern Finland to Romania. They are highly organized and mechanized (17 panzer divisions and 12 motorized divisions), with 3200 tanks and full artillery and air support. They face a roughly equal number of Soviet soldiers and armor in the border region, but they are disorganized, lack artillery and aerial support, and are undermined by German infiltration units.

General Zhukov telephones Premier Joseph Stalin at 03:25 to inform him of the invasion. Stalin is dismissive and refuses a request to strike back immediately, which is the standard planned response to an invasion.

The main battles of the day are the Defense of Brest Fortress, Battle of Hanko and Battle of Białystok–Minsk.

The Soviets have about 230 divisions in the border area. However, Soviet divisions are only roughly half the size of German division (depending upon how degraded the German divisions are from combat), so numbers alone do not tell the whole story.

The German general plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941. The main weight is to the north of the front, though Adolf Hitler feels the most important acquisitions are to be made in the south.

There are four main lines of advance:

1. The Far North, attacking from Petsamo, Finland toward Murmansk.
2. Army Group North, pointing toward Leningrad
3. Army Group Center, pointing toward Moscow
4. Army Group South, pointing toward Kiev

Soviet Chief of Staff Georgy Zhukov travels to the headquarters of General Kirponos' Southwest Front to coordinate a defense. Zhukov quickly sees that pre-war plans for an immediate counteroffensive into German-occupied Poland and occupation of German territory are impossible.

German headquarters troops head east, 22 June 1941.

German soldiers advancing past the Soviet state border marker, 22 June 1941.

During the night, Vichy French destroyer Guépard sorties from Beirut Harbor. It engages two Royal Navy cruisers and six destroyers off the Syrian coast. With the odds stacked against it, the French ship quickly retreats to Beirut after taking one 6-inch shell from HMS Leander. The RAF raids Beirut Harbor during the day and damages Vichy French destroyer Vauquelin.

The Vichy French forces that evacuated Damascus on the 21st make their way west to Beirut. Habforce continues advancing and takes the Vichy French airfield at Palmyra. However, the French counterattack and retake the airfield, forcing Habforce back into Iraq.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 17 aircraft on anti-shipping missions. It also sends a Circus mission on the rail-yards at Hazebrouck. Blenheim IV bombers from 2 (B) Group are escorted by 16 fighter squadrons. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 70 aircraft to attack Bremen and 27 aircraft to attack Wilhelmshaven.

German troops rush across a captured bridge, 22 June 1941.

Battle of the Baltic: Heretofore a quiet German lake, the Baltic Sea becomes a contested battle zone as the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe join in the attacks on the Soviet Union.

German S-28 torpedoes and sinks Estonian freighter Estonia.

German S-59 and S-60 combine to torpedo and sinks Lithuanian freighter Gaisma.

German S-31 uses its deck guns to sink Estonian freighter Litsa.

German S-31 torpedoes and sinks Soviet freighter Shuka off Liepāja.

German S-44 torpedoes and sinks Soviet patrol boat MO-238 off Hanko.

Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of 806 Küstenfliegergruppe bombs and sinks Soviet freighter Luga off Kronstadt.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet tugboat Perkunas.

Estonian freighter Ruhno hits a mine and sinks off Kronstadt.

German troops advancing, 22 June 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-77 (Oblt.z.S. Heinrich Schonder), on its first patrol out of Kiel, torpedoes and sinks (2379-ton British weather ship Arakaka about 450 nautical miles (520 miles, 830 km) east of St. John's. There are 45 deaths.

U-141 (Oblt.z.S. Philip Schüler), on its second patrol about 100 nautical miles (190 km, 120 miles) torpedoes and sinks 1277-ton Swedish freighter Calabria. There are three deaths and 21 survivors.

German raider Atlantis, disguised as Dutch freighter Brastagi, stops and sinks 5372-ton British freighter Balzac hundreds of miles east of Salvador, Brazil and west of Africa. There are three deaths, and the Atlantis takes 45 crew prisoner.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy transport HMT Beech at Scrabster, Caithness. There is one death.

U-48 completes its patrol career, returning to Kiel.

U-467 is laid down.

A reconnaissance Ju 88 D bomber of the 3/F, 22, June 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Union torpedoes and sinks 1004-ton Italian freighter Pietro Querini south of Pantelleria.

The Royal Navy mounts some supply missions to Tobruk, sending 758-ton British tanker Pass of Balmaha and 951-ton Greek store ship Antiliklia, both with a heavy escort. However, the Luftwaffe is dominating the skies and forces the Antiklia to take refuge in Mersa Matruh.

At Malta, a Bristol Blenheim bomber making an attack on an Axis convoy suffers severe damage. The pilot is badly wounded, so the observer, Sergeant JS Sargent, takes control and manages to get the plane back to Malta despite having no flying training.

Soviet searchlights illuminate the sky over Moscow, 22 June 1941. However, there are no Luftwaffe attacks - yet.

German/Soviet Relations: German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop calls Soviet Ambassador Dekanozov to the Foreign Ministry at the Wilhelmstrasse. Once Dekanozov is there, Ribbentrop reads him a long-winded tirade accusing the Soviets of numerous offenses, and then sums up with a terse declaration of war. Ribbentrop then dismisses the Soviet ambassador.

In the morning, Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels announces the invasion. He later quotes Hitler as saying:

At this moment a march is taking place that, for its extent, compares with the greatest the world has ever seen. I have decided today to place the fate and future of the Reich and our people in the hands of our soldiers. May God aid us, especially in this fight!

On the Soviet side, Stalin does not make any appearances either in person or over the radio on the 22nd. Instead, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov makes a radio broadcast around noontime:

Without a declaration of war, German forces fell on our country, attacked our frontiers in many places ... The Red Army and the whole nation will wage a victorious Patriotic War for our beloved country, for honor, for liberty ... Our cause is just. The enemy will be beaten. Victory will be ours!

After having gotten a few hours of sleep after staying up much of the night following the advance of the invasion, Hitler addresses the Reichstag. Giving a characteristically distorted account of the events leading up to the invasion ("For weeks constant [Soviet] violations of this frontier have taken place"), Hitler casts the battle as one for the preservation of Europe:

German and Rumanian soldiers are united under Chief of State Antonescu from the banks of the Pruth along the lower reaches of the Danube to the shores of the Black Sea. The task of this front, therefore, no longer is the protection of single countries, but the safeguarding of Europe and thereby the salvation of all.

Italy and Romania also declare war, while Hungary and Slovakia break relations with the USSR. Hungary's leader Admiral Horthy prefers to wait until the invasion proves itself before declaring war.  So, he and his staff leave word that they have "gone fishing" (nobody is actually going fishing on such an eventful day). Finland does not declare war despite the fact that Wehrmacht troops are operating from its soil against the Soviet Union, the first of many lukewarm Finnish contributions to the invasion.

The Soviet NKVD orders all German embassy personnel, including Ambassador Schulenberg, to assemble in the embassy chancellery. This is standard practice in such situations, as much for the safety of embassy personnel as anything else, but it has an element of foreboding. Nobody is harmed. Schulenberg already has taken the precaution of sending his dog back home to Germany.

Smoke rising over Kovno from German shelling, June 22-25, 1941. Credit: George Kadish, photographer, Beit Hatefutsoth, Israel.

German/Spanish Relations: Spanish Foreign Minister Serrano Suner telephones to inform Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that Spain would be happy to contribute a volunteer division - the "Blue" Division - for operations against the Soviet Union.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a radio broadcast in which he pledges all aid to the Soviet Union that Great Britain can provide:

Any man or State who fights against [Hitler] will have our aid. ... It follows, therefore, that we shall give whatever help we can to Russia and to the Russian people.

He also calls Hitler "this bloodthirsty guttersnipe" and, countering Hitler's pose as a defender of Europe from communism, states that Hitler's regime "is indistinguishable from the worst features of communism."

British Ambassador Sir Stafford Cripps is in Moscow and is able to coordinate the early stages of an alliance. Soviet Ambassador Maisky meets with Foreign Secretary Eden in London.

Soviet Military: The Stavka issues a general mobilization and proclaims martial law.

New York Times, 22 June 1941.

German Military: The Wehrmacht issues a communique. Somewhat surprisingly, it focuses mainly on the western front, most likely because it does not want to give any useful information about Operation Barbarossa to the enemy.

Since the early morning hours of today, we have been engaged in hostilities along the Soviet Russian border. An attempt by enemy aircraft to fly into East Prussia, has been repelled with heavy losses. German fighter planes shot down large number of Red bombers. In the struggle against the British Isles, powerful German aerial formations bombed the harbour installations of Southampton last night. Extensive fires broke out in the docks, warehouses and food manufacturing works. Further air attacks were aimed at airfields in northern Scotland and the Midlands. A large British freight vessel was severely damaged by bombs north of Sunderland. Yesterday afternoon a small number of British bombers with powerful fighter cover flew against the French Channel coast. German fighter planes shot down 26 British aircraft in violent dogfights. German flak and naval artillery brought down two more enemy aircraft. [German ace] Lt. Col. Galland won three air victories in these struggles.

As usual, the Wehrmacht's figures are exaggerated, though the three victories cited for ace Adolf Galland are accurate. As if anybody needed a reminder, though, this emphasizes that the Reich is now in a two-front war.

A captured Red Army officer in Przemysl, on or about 22 June 1941.

Finish Military: Finland has mobilized its entire military and is busy stationing units along the Soviet border. It is planning attacks toward Leningrad and the Svir River. Finnish ships continue laying mines in the Gulf of Finland. An infantry regiment and a light artillery battalion occupy the demilitarized Ahvenanmaa (Aland) islands in the Baltic Sea.

Finnish commandos, wearing civilian clothing, fly across the border in Luftwaffe Heinkel He 115s to see if they can cut off the Stalin canal. However, it is too heavily guarded, and the men return on foot back toward Finland. On the way, they cut (temporarily) the Murmansk railway. While the railway is a top objective throughout the war, this is the only time the Finns manage to seriously disrupt it for any length of time. In a sense, this is the high point of the war for the Finns in their repeated attempts to block this vital artery.

US Military: US Marines embark on ships bound for Iceland. They will take over occupation duties there from the 25,000 British troops.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy William F. "Frank" Knox personally conducts a memorial ceremony, held onboard submarine USS Triton (SS 201), over the last known location of the lost submarine USS O-9.

Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, in the Bundesrat Hall of the Foreign Office in Berlin, read to the press on 22 June 1941 at 5 o'clock in the morning a note intended to justify the attack on the Soviet Union. Note the prominent picture of Hitler in the background.

German Government: After finishing his business in Berlin, Hitler boards his command train Amerika. He sets out for his new military headquarters in the pine forests of East Prussia near the town of Rastenburg - the Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze). Hitler chooses that name on the train because it was his own code name during the 1920s. While he would be perfectly capable of running operations from Berlin, Hitler prefers to be seen as commanding the war effort "from the front."

Soviet Government: After he comes to accept that Germany has launched a full-scale invasion, Stalin loses his nerve. He appears (according to those present) as if he cannot make decisions. Stalin spends more time talking with his internal security chief, Lavrentiy Beria, and Foreign Minister Molotov than he does with his generals. This suggests that he is more concerned for the moment about protecting his own position as leader of the Soviet Union (or whatever will be left of it after the invasion) than figuring out how to stop the Germans. This begins a lengthy period in which Stalin retreats, makes no public appearances or speeches, but retains control of the government with an iron hand using the state security apparatus.

Lithuania: In conjunction with Operation Barbarossa, a popular rebellion breaks out called the June Uprising. The rebels seek a restoration of Lithuanian independence. There are hopes that German troops will help ensure this. The Lithuanian Activist Front seizes key installations in Kaunas, including the Presidential Palace, post office, telephone and telegraph, radio station and radiophone.

Holocaust: Romanian Jews from the Dorohoi district are transported in cattle cars to concentration camps in Tirgu and Craiova.

British Homefront: Taking advantage of the dramatic news about Operation Barbarossa, the British government releases casualty figures for the war to date. It states that the British armed forces have lost 18,627 killed, with civilian casualties totaling 35,756 dead. The RAF has lost 6,326 dead, 1338 wounded, 1879 missing and 408 taken as prisoners.

American Homefront: New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets two hits in five at-bats against the Detroit Tigers in New York. One of his hits is a home run. This extends his hitting streak to a club-record 35 games.

Moscow citizens listening to the announcement of the German attack on the Soviet Union, 22 June 1941.

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020

Sunday 4 May 1941

Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House, 4 May 1941. Visible behind him is Hermann Goering, who technically is the leader of the Reichstag.

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 4 May 1941 continue their successful defense of Habbaniyah Airfield, Basra and their other fortified positions in Iraq. The RAF has complete control of the air. British reinforcements, called "Iraqforce," are now on the march to Iraq from Palestine and Transjordan (Habforce and Kingcol), while men are trickling into Basra from India. The motley group of British ground forces in Habbaniyah already are having some success forcing the Iraqis back toward Baghdad, suggesting they will be able to hold out until the relief arrives.

The RAF raids the Iraqi forces, including Baghdad (where it drops leaflets) and other enemy areas. The Luftwaffe has a small presence at Mosul Airfield for receiving supplies via Vichy Syria, which the RAF also attacks.

There still is Iraqi resistance at Basra, where Iraqi gunboats and merchantmen remain outside of British control. Australian sloop HMAS Yarra arrives there today to help deal with the Iraqi shipping.

A Messerschmitt Bf 110D3 Zerstorer IAF 4.ZG76 in Iraqi markings, Mosul Iraq May 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues bombing Liverpool. The May Blitz is notable for its ferocity and accuracy. The Germans have refined their techniques and finally are targeting port infrastructure and vulnerable shipping in the harbor with great success. The aftereffects of the devastating explosion of 7649-ton ammunition ship Malakand on the 3rd continue to be felt there, and 295-ton ship Pneumatic Elevator No. 11 sinks due to the blast effects, adding to the numerous ships sunk or damaged. Other ships damaged today by the Luftwaffe include:

• 274-ton tug Bison
• 10,254-ton liner Talthybius
• 7005-ton freighter Baron Inchcape
• 201-ton tug Hornby
• 99-ton tug Enid Blanche
• 719-ton hopper barge No. 33
• 209-ton barge Aid
• 67-ton flat John
• 46-ton sailing barge Bongo
• 7801-ton freighter Roxburgh Castle.

Some of the ships are repaired, but others are hit in subsequent raids and destroyed. The port is devastated and in chaos, with many ships on fire, others slowly sinking, and new ships still being docked and unloaded. There are separate attacks by 55 bombers targets Barrow-in-Furness, and 17 bombers on Hartlepool, with a small force hitting Middlesbrough. The Germans lose a couple of Junkers Ju 88s, one to engine failure, another to a night fighter.

Joseph Goebbels and Joachim Ribbentrop give the Hitler Salute at the 4  May 1941 speech by Adolf Hitler at the Kroll Opera House (Federal Archives).

East African Campaign: The 5th Indian Division, which has been advancing from the south, attacks the Italian positions at Amba Alagi. The Italians, though somewhat distracted by a separate attack coming up the Falaga Pass, are dug in and give little ground. The Gold Coast 24th Infantry Brigade attacks Italian positions at Wadara in Galla-Sidamo, while the Indian troops at Amba Alagi do capture a few foothills (Pyramid, Whale Back, and Elephant ). From here the going becomes steeper and more open to Italian fire.

Another British force is heading south toward the city, with a third force, the South Africans, also approaching. The Italians, meanwhile, are hiding out in caves which are very defensible, but also have no access to resupply and scant stores of even the most basic necessities such as food and water.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe), operating out of Lorient on her 9th and most successful patrol, is off of Freetown in the Atlantic when it fires three torpedoes and uses its deck gun to sink 5230-ton Swedish freighter Japan. The entire 55-man crew (and four passengers) makes land and survives, but is captured and interned by the Vichy French. The ship is part of Convoy OB-310. The U-38's deck gun explodes, injuring the gun crew.

The Luftwaffe hits 234-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Ben Gairn with a parachute mine at Waveney Dock, Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no casualties, but the ship is destroyed.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 222-ton British freighter Tregor off Trevose Head. The six-man crew survives.

The Luftwaffe also damages 545-ton Belgian freighter Marie Flore off Trevose Head. Marie Flore tries to make it to port but cannot get there and is beached at Padstow.

The Luftwaffe also damages destroyer HMS Southdown in the North Sea by a near miss. The ship is leaking and temporarily loses steering but makes it to port.

The Luftwaffe damages minesweeper Selkirk and patrol yacht HMY Franc Tireur in the Thames Estuary. Both ships make it back for repairs.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Latona (Captain Stuart L. Bateson) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: German General Paulus, temporarily in command of the Afrika Korps, seen enough of the abortive attack on Tobruk. He orders that no more attacks be made by Rommel's forces unless there are signs of Allied retreat. Paulus already is looking toward his rear and orders that a new defensive line must be built in Gazala. In this sense, he is basically in agreement with the failed Italian strategy which began the campaign, believing in the value of fixed defensive positions in the defensive rather than Rommel's faith in mobile operations. Rommel dutifully begins constructing defensive outposts facing the Tobruk perimeter. From this point forward for the next couple of months, the Germans and Australians will engage in only local actions, with the Germans holding their small three-mile wide incursion into Tobruk's defenses.

The campaign evolves into competing supply buildups between Germany and Great Britain, with both sides holding unique advances in that struggle (the Royal Navy largely controls the sea and can be supplied from India, Australia, and New Zealand in addition to England, while the Axis has a short, though dangerous, supply route from Italy).

Churchill cables his Middle East commander General Archibald Wavell in Cairo. He states that is is "most important not to allow fighting around Tobruk to die down" due to the Germans' over-extension following his "premature audacious advance." He encourages counterattacks "at the earliest possible moment" to prevent the Afrika Korps from being able to "gather supplies and strength for a forward move." Churchill and Paulus, thus, see the North Africa campaign developing the same way, and this is not a coincidence, as the British are reading the German codes via the Ultra decryption program.

Churchill also notes in his cable the "success of Demon." This is a reference to Operation Demon, a daring gamble of running disguised freighters directly through the Mediterranean to Egypt. In fact, one Demon ship already has been sunk, though two have made it through.

New Zealand Major-General Bernard Freyberg, the British leader in Crete, is feeling a bit exposed now that the Germans have had some time to digest the Greek mainland. He asks Wavell for permission to evacuate about 10,000 men who are refugees from the mainland and, by and large, unarmed. He notes that they have "little or no employment other than getting into trouble with the civil population."

The Germans occupy the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios.

Italian torpedo boat Giuseppe La Farina hits a mine and sinks off Kerkennah. The Italians are busy supplying the Afrika Korps in Tripoli and today send a convoy of seven troopships from Naples. The Italians provide a heavy escort three light cruisers and 8 destroyers, with some smaller torpedo boats also involved.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe remains active. Minesweeper HMS Fermoy, which was damaged earlier in the month and under repair, sinks from its damage.

Santa Fe Excursion train, 4 May 1941.

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe damages 7117-ton hospital ship Karapara in Tobruk Harbour. While accidents happen, hospital ships are clearly marked and there have been many incidents involving them. The Karapara makes it to Port Said for repairs. While there may seem little to gain by attacking hospital ships, driving them off or destroying them isolates the Australians holding out in Tobruk.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill cables President Roosevelt and suggests that the Royal Navy is seriously considering occupying the Canary Islands (which he never actually names) and other Portuguese islands in the Atlantic in order to forestall a Wehrmacht occupation there. The US, he proposes, would serve as the "guarantor" that those islands would be returned to Portugal after the war. He also notes that "We are determined to fight to the last inch and ounce for Egypt, including its outposts of Tobruk and Crete."

Anglo/Portuguese Relations: Perhaps coincidental to Churchill's cable to President Roosevelt (but perhaps not), Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, on his way to New York, calls on Portuguese Prime Minister Dr. Salazar in Lisbon. Salazar, Menzies writes in his diary, is "very sincere and earnest" and tells Menzies that "The Portuguese won't fight." Of course, the Portuguese are in no danger so long as Spain remains neutral, though Hitler still dreams of drawing Franco into his collection of satellites and then occupying Portugal and its Atlantic islands.

German Military: While Adolf Hitler already has set the date for Operation Barbarossa as 22 June 1941, not everyone agrees with the decision. In fact, there is little enthusiasm for it within the uppermost reaches of the German government and military, including by Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering. Admiral Raeder continues to press for his "peripheral strategy," which focuses on cutting off Great Britain's overseas possessions in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. That strategy to date has had great success, but the British remain entrenched in Egypt and at Gibraltar. The vast mass of the Wehrmacht, however, already is positioned in the East, and Hitler sticks with his plan to invade the Soviet Union.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt attends the dedication ceremony for the Home of Woodrow Wilson. Staunton, VA, May 4, 1941. FDR gives a speech on "The Power of Spiritual Force" (Margaret Suckley, FDR Presidential Library and Museum).

US Military: Brig. Gen. Henry B. Clagett, with his chief of staff Col. Harold Huston George, arrive at Manila in the Philippines to command the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. They arrive on a Boeing 314 Clipper (Pan-American Air Lines). Their mission is to expand the air defenses in the Philippines.

Soviet Government: The Politburo replaces Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov with Joseph Stalin as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. This makes Stalin the de jure head of the Soviet government These appointments in the USSR are mere formalities, though, as there is no question that Stalin runs the government and always is the de facto national leader.

Hitler and Goering on 4 May 1941.

German Government: Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag in the Kroll Opera House (the Reichstag building itself has been unusable since the infamous fire several years ago). As often happens during his wartime speeches, Hitler sums up past events rather than giving a specific preview of coming events. In essence, it is a victory speech and covers events from the beginning of the war to date.

Hitler digs deep, delivering a polemic on why Germany is at war that is based on equal parts paranoia, self-delusion, and outright fabrications. He propounds some of his standard themes - that Germany was forced into the war based on decisions taken by others "as early as 1936," that the plot against Germany was formed by "great international Jewish financial interests," and that "this criminal" Winston Churchill (he also terms him a "fool" and a "drunkard") was personally responsible for the blockade and aerial campaign against the Reich.

Hitler also puts forth an economic argument for German policy in the Balkans - which obviously involves a lot of Wehrmacht military activity. He argues that reliance on money, or "worthless democratic money paper" as he puts it, is inherently unfair, and only mutual trade agreements such as those between the Reich and the Balkan states is fair. The wars that Germany has just won were the product of "filthy British politics" which had duped Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece and had forced a defensive campaign by the Wehrmacht to protect its southeast flank.

Hitler summarizes the Greek Campaign (Operation Marita) by claiming that Churchill had committed "one of the greatest strategic blunders of this war" by trying to garrison and defend it. He credits the order to attack Yugoslavia to the coup there. He notes that "the Greek soldiers have fought with the greatest bravery and contempt of death," and that the British force in Greece was there to attack the Reich and thus had to be removed. He gives figures of 57 officers and 1042 noncommissioned officers and men killed, 181 officers and 3571 noncommissioned officers and men wounded, and 13 officers and 372 noncommissioned officers and men wounded. Regarding future operations, he merely states that he views them with "perfect tranquillity and great confidence."

Needless to say, the speech is pure propaganda. Churchill's belated and inadequate military aid to Greece turned out to do nothing but offer Hitler a convenient excuse for why he attacked. No mention is made in the speech, of course, of Hitler's intense preparations for invading Greece long before the first British boot set foot there.

Singapore: Winston Churchill asks General Ismay for a "report on the efficiency of the gunners and personnel" manning air defenses in Singapore.

Romania: Madeleine Cantacuzino (soon to be Madeleine Lipatti) and Dinu Lipatti gave the first Romanian performance of Lipatti’s Symphonie concertante for two pianos and strings.

American Homeland: There is a concert held for the Deutsches Kriegshilfswerk [German war workers] at the California Hall in San Francisco, California. There is a strong German presence in San Francisco, where the Germans maintain a consulate.

Future History: Nickolas Ashford is born in Fairfield, South Carolina. He will become half of the famous singing group Ashford & Simpson. He will pass away in 2011.

Baseball in San Bruno Park, California on May 4, 1941 (Fred Beltramo, San Bruno Public Library).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020