Gneisenau and Scharnhorst during the Channel Dash of 12 February 1942.
Battle of the Atlantic: Having left Brest late on Wednesday, the ships of Operation Cerberus, better known as the Channel Dash, reach Barfleur, France, by dawn on 12 February 1942. This means that Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen are due south of the Isle of Wight, some 300 miles (500 km) up the English Channel. The British remain blissfully unaware that the German operation is in progress, due to chance, clever German planning, and foul winter weather. Finally, an RAF patrol plane flies directly over the flotilla, but its pilot is under strict orders to not break radio silence. So, he waits until he returns to base to report his observation. By this point, the German ships are passing by Beachy Head in Sussex.
Scharnhorst during the Channel Dash, 12 February 1942 (Schlemmer, Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-3695-21).
As the ships pass Dover, the British Army's long-range artillery attempts to engage them. However, the cloudy weather forces the gunners to guess the ships' location, and the shells all fall short. Royal Navy torpedo boats then approach, but the MTBs are kept at bay by the half-dozen destroyers accompanying the three capital ships. They launch their torpedoes, but the two-mile range is too great and they score no hits. Then, the Royal Navy sends half a dozen Swordfish planes to launch torpedoes, escorted by 10 Spitfires. Adolf Galland's Luftwaffe fighter cover (Unternehmen Donnerkeil) shoots all of the slow Swordfish down. Overall, the RAF loses 20 bombers and 16 fighters while the Luftwaffe loses 18 fighters.
Scharnhorst during the Channel Dash, 12 February 1942 (Schlemmer, Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-3695-21).
Sporadic British attacks continue throughout the day, without effect. The RAF sends 242 bomber sorties in all, but only 39 of them can even drop their bombs due to the fighter defenses and poor visibility. They score no hits. When the Royal Navy sends destroyers based at Harwich to intercept the flotilla, they are attacked by RAF planes who have not been informed of their presence. When the five remaining destroyers approach, the German ships open fire and damage HMS Worcester. They score no hits. However, the German ships do not escape unscathed, as Scharnhorst hits a mine at 19:55 and Gneisenau hits one off Terschelling a bit later, but they continue sailing. Scharnhorst hits a second mine on the port side at 21:34, and this one causes the engines to stop. At 22:23, though, the Scharnhorst's crew gets the starboard engine operating again. Under the cover of darkness, the ships continue on their way, Prinz Eugen and Gneisenau about three hours ahead of Scharnhorst.
Scharnhorst during the Channel Dash, 12 February 1942 (Schlemmer, Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-3695-21).
Battle of the Pacific: With the counterattack in central Singapore by Tomforce having failed on 11 February, the British on 12 February 1942 begin establishing a last-ditch perimeter around Singapore City in the eastern end of the island. This requires withdrawals of forces at Changi and from along the north shore. The defeated Australian 22nd Brigade temporarily holds its position west of the Holland Road, but after dark, it pulls back to Holland Village.
In the Philippines, I Corps continues to make progress against the Japanese pocket behind the Main Line of Resistance (MLR). It recovers a trail jungle in the jungle as the Japanese pull back. Further south, the Japanese break out of their pocket near Silaiim Point and flee northward. However, the Allies are right behind them and divert them toward the western coast.
The USAAF Fifth Air Force continues its anti-shipping sweeps in the Makassar Strait. They damage a freighter and Japanese navy transport.
Eastern Front: Pursuant to Stavka orders, the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies of the Kalinin Front launch a renewed offensive south of Lake Ilmen. The Soviet aim is to further isolate the large German forces trapped in the Demyansk Pocket and then turn on them. With Soviet 34th Army pressing in from the east and these new forces coming from the west, the Red Army hopes to eliminate the pocket completely. However, the Wehrmacht has large forces in the pocket which are being sustained with a Luftwaffe airlift. The Soviets also hope to eliminate a much smaller pocket at Kholm, but it is further west and in a strategically better position than the men at Demyansk. The new Soviet attack is directed into large open spaces and lightly defended areas and is hampered more by the terrain and weather than the enemy. The Germans are happy to divert the Red Army effort into non-vital areas and otherwise let them march around aimlessly through the countryside.
European Air Operations: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 12 Hampden and 9 Manchester bombers to lay mines near the Frisian Islands. The weather is so poor that only 8 aircraft are able to drop their mines. There is one loss when a Hampden crashes in England. For most of the day, the RAF's main focus is the Channel Dash.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe attacks Malta Grand Harbor and sinks destroyer HMS Maori (F24). The destroyer sinks at its moorings. There is only one death because the crew is sleeping ashore. The wreck is later raised and moved to a convenient spot off Fort Saint Elmo, where the Maori is scuttled. Left only a few hundred meters offshore and with her bow in only 14 meters (46 feet) of water, the Maori becomes a popular dive site. This sinking is sometimes dated 11 February 1942.
Spanish/Portuguese Relations: Spanish leader Francisco Franco meets with his Portuguese counterpart, Dr. Salazare, at Seville.
Tadeusz Balcerowski's intake picture at Auschwitz on 12 February 1942. Balcerowski is a locksmith born in Miłosna on 28 September 1916. He becomes Auschwitz No. 21350. Balcerowski perishes in Auschwitz on 11 March 1943 (Auschwitz Museum).
US Military: The US Navy refloats battleship USS Nevada, which was beached at Hospital Point after being hit with a torpedo and several bombs. The repairs are only temporary and Nevada must sail to Puget Sound, Washington, for permanent repairs and a return to service.
The USAAF activates the 10th Air Force at Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio. The 10th is destined for the China-Burma-India sector to operate over "the Hump" and bring supplies to China.
The USAAF, in desperate need of night fighters, places an order for 410 Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighters. These are intended for the European Theater. However, the prototype XP-61 still has not been built, and Northrop is having a great deal of trouble with the design. At some point this month, subcontractor Curtiss informs Northrop that it will not be able to supply the intended C5424-A10 four-bladed, automatic, full-feathering propeller any time soon. So, Northrop must build the prototype with Hamilton Standard propellers until the preferred ones become available. This is just the first of many SNAFUs with this project.
Bronisław Galiński's intake picture at Auschwitz, 12 February 1942. Galinski is a mason born in Warsaw. He becomes No. 21359. Bronisław Galiński perishes at Auschwitz on 13 April 1942 (Auschwitz Museum).
Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, begins plans to send 16 heavy bomber groups, three pursuit groups, and eight photographic reconnaissance squadrons to the United Kingdom before the year is out. Other USAAF air forces also request reinforcement, so Arnold must prioritize his resources.
USAAF Fifth Air Force completes the transfer of the air echelon of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) and 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) from Hickam Field to Nandi Airport, Fiji. This force has a heavy complement of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.
Zygmunt Kondracki's intake picture at Auschwitz, 12 February 1942. A cooper born in Warsaw, Kondracki becomes No. 21400. Kondracki perishes at Auschwitz on 17 July 1942 (Auschwitz Museum).
Australian/New Zealand Military: The United States, Australia, and New Zealand combine naval forces by forming the Anzac Squadron at Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji. This includes heavy cruisers HMAS Australia and USS Chicago, the light cruisers HMNZS Achilles and HMNZS Leander, and the destroyers USS Lamson and USS Perkins.
German Government: Adolf Hitler speaks at the state funeral for Fritz Todt in Berlin. He creates a new award, the German Order, and confers it on Todt posthumously.
Holocaust: Sixty Poles, twelve of whom are Jewish, are deported from the Pawiak Prison in Warsaw to Auschwitz. Only 8 of them survive the war.
Walter Lippmann's column of 12 February 1942, as it appeared that day in the Washington Post.
American Homefront: Influential newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann pens a column, "Today and Tomorrow: The Fifth Column on the Coast," in which he advocates the internment of Japanese-Americans and enemy alien citizens from Japan, Germany, and Italy from the West Coast because they represent a national security threat. This column is in newspapers across the country. The US Army basically is in agreement with Lippmann's reasoning but worries about the impact this will have on supplying the troops.
Future History: Ehud Barak is born in Mandatory Palestine. He becomes the tenth Prime Minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. He resigns after losing an election to Likud leader Ariel Sharon. In June 2019, he forms new political party Israel Democratic Party.
Aleksander Gutarowski's intake picture at Auschwitz, 12 February 1942. Gutarowski is a shoemaker born in Warsaw, Poland. He is received as No. 21363. Aleksander Gutarowski perishes at Auschwitz on 19 April 1942 (Auschwitz Museum).
Russian POWs loaded onto trucks to be taken to their final destination. Zhytomyr Lager, Ukraine, 24 July 1941.
Eastern Front: Marshal Mannerheim on 24 July 1941 reaches his conclusion regarding the advance of Finnish VI Corps to the old Finnish-Soviet border on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga: halt. Finnish troops there are refusing to cross the border, as nobody wants to provoke the Soviet Union. Instead of ordering the troops to continue heading southeast, Mannerheim orders them to form a line along the Tuulema River. The Germans are dismayed, as they want the advance to continue, but there is nothing that they can do.
On the other side of Lake Ladoga, Finnish VII Corps continues forcing its way forward against heavy Soviet resistance. It approaches the town of Sortavala on the road that runs along the fringes of Lake Ladoga. The Finns capture Vidlitsa and Rajakonru northeast of Lake Ladoga. Further north, Finnish 14th Infantry Division (Colonel Erkki Raappana) takes Omelia, wiping out Soviet 337th Rifle Regiment.
In the Army Group North sector, the Wehrmacht consolidates its position as it prepares for the final advance on Leningrad.
In the Army Group Center sector, Soviet troops attack the exposed Panzer Group 2 bridgehead at Yelnya. At Velikiye Luki, Soviet counterattacks cut German lines of communication and the Wehrmacht retreats in the area. The Germans are under heavy pressure in this sector and have to throw service troops into the line.
In the Army Group South sector, Romanian Third and Fourth Armies in conjunction with the German 11th Army complete the occupation of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and Hertsa. These are territories ceded by Romania to the Soviet Union in 1940. This completes Operation München. Romania intends to reincorporate the region into the Romanian State.
The Luftwaffe, after a night off, again attacks Moscow. Tonight, the number of bombers is reduced to 100. Red Army night fighter pilot Kapitan Konstantin Titenkov claims a bomber for his third success in three nights.
The wrecked Bf 109E7 "Yellow One" of Staffelführer 3./JG 2 Lt. Julius Meimberg at Saint-Renan near Brélès, France, 24 July 1941. Meimberg is lying on the ground with someone holding an umbrella to shield him from the sun. Meimberg is out on medical leave until the spring of 1942.
European Air Operations: The RAF sends more raids against the German warships parked along the French coast, and today they succeed in damaging two of them. During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 100 planes over Brest in Operation Sunrise. It is a complicated plan that works well, with Operation Sunrise I being the main raid and Operation Sunrise II a diversionary raid. An initial force of 3 Fortresses and 18 Hampdens accompanied by a Spitfire escort draw up the Luftwaffe defenses by bombing at 30,000 feet. Immediately after this, 79 Wellingtons fly over and make the real attack. Neither of the two heavy cruisers in port, Gneisenau (in drydock) and Prinz Eugen, take any hits. The British lose 10 Wellingtons and 2 Hampdens. Luftwaffe ace Julius Meimberg claims three bombers shot down, but he also is shot down and seriously injured.
RAF Bomber Command also sends a diversionary raid of 36 Blenheims against Cherbourg. The raid causes some damage to the docks but does not attract any defending fighters away from Brest as desired. So far so good for the Germans - but there is more to come.
A third raid targets La Pallice, where heavy cruiser Scharnhorst arrived on the 23rd. This is an additional 200 miles further south, so there are no escorting RAF fighters. The attack by 15 Halifaxes of RAF No. 35 and 76 Squadrons are pressed home with great courage against heavy Luftwaffe opposition and score five hits. Three bombs pass straight through the ship, and two other bombs explode and cause only light damage. However, the Germans are forced to concede that the move to La Pallice was a mistake, so, despite the ship taking on water, they send Scharnhorst back to Brest after dark. Scharnhorst is out of action until November, at a cost to the RAF of five Halifax bombers and damage to the rest.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 34 Wellingtons (one lost) and 30 Hampdens (one lost) against Kiel. As has been the case often recently, accuracy is poor, and the only deaths are five people in the nearby village of Wellsee, Germany, which is near Kiel. Another raid by 31 Whitleys and 16 Wellingtons against Emden results in the loss of two Wellingtons. The RAF also sends 4 Wellingtons over Rotterdam and six on minelaying missions in the Frisian Islands, both without loss.
During the raid on La Pallice, the German defenders accidentally down a returning Focke-Wulf FW-200 returning from an Atlantic reconnaissance flight.
RAF Pilot/Officer Joseph Francis Patrick John McKenna, KIA 24 July 1941 at Nantes, France. He is buried at the War Cemetery in Loire-Atlantique, about fifty kilometers from Nantes in France.
The RAF flies a Circus mission to Hazebrouck. RAF ace James Lacey files claims for two Luftwaffe Bf 109 fighters after observing them collide nearby during a dogfight.
Major Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn, Kommodore of JG 53 and a 42-victory ace, is awarded the Eichenlaub.
The weekly RAF operations report shows that for the week ending 23 July:
The report notes that attacks on Axis shipping were "highly successful in spite of intense A.A. [anti-aircraft] fire from Flak ships."
Australian troops with captured Morane-Saulnier MS.406C1 fighters of Groupe de Chasse I/7, Aleppo-Nerab, Syria, 24 July 1941. (Australian War Memorial 008990).
Battle of the Atlantic: Operation EF, a large raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo, continues northward toward Seidis Fjord, Iceland, and remains undetected.
The RAF (No. 42 Squadron) sinks 370-ton Norwegian freighter Vestkyst I off Skadberg, Norway.
German destroyer Hermann Schoemann, operating off of Kharlov Islands, uses gunfire to sink 540-ton Soviet whaler Meridian.
U-652, operating off the Russian Kildin inlet in the far north, attacks Russian patrol boat SKR-23 "Musson" but misses.
German scouts spot Allied convoys OG-69 and SL-80 at sea and U-boat Command (BdU) direct U-boats toward them.
US Aircraft carrier USS Wasp loads 30 P-40s and three Stearman PT-13 Kaydet trainers at Norfolk for transport to Iceland.
Convoy OS-1 departs from Liverpool bound for Freetown, Convoy SL-82 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool. Convoys SL-79 and HG-67 both arrive in Liverpool.
U-454 and U-580 are commissioned.
MV Sydney Star which was damaged on 24 July 1941.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Substance, a Royal Navy supply convoy from Gibraltar to Malta, continues. Most of the ships of Convoy GM-1 reach Malta safely despite continued Italian air and motor torpedo boat attacks. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Nestor (Cmdr. A. S. Rosenthal, DSO, RAN) unloads 487 troops at Malta. Royal Navy submarines Perseus and Regent engage in fake radio traffic designed to create the impression to the Italians that the main Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet based at Alexandria is at sea, when in fact it is in port.
Italian torpedo boat MAS-533 torpedoes and damages 11,219-ton freighter Sydney Star. Destroyer Nestor tows the Sydney Star to Malta, where the freighter is put in drydock for repairs.
Italian bombers based in Sardinia damage 9351-ton British tanker Hoegh Hood, part of Convoy MG-1 returning to Gibraltar from Malta. The Hoegh Hood, which is empty, is able to continue to Gibraltar.
An Italian CANT Z.506 reconnaissance seaplane, escorted by 42 Macchi C.200 fighters, spots the Operation Substance ships arriving in Malta. The RAF launches 22 Hawker Hurricanes to attack the Italian formation, and the British shoot down three of the Italian fighters without loss to themselves. Overall, the Italians lose about a dozen aircraft during their operations surrounding Operation Substance.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and damages 4964-ton Italian freighter Dandolo off the west coast of Sicily.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Upright, operating off Cape dell Armi, uses its deck gun to attack floating dock G022. The Italians immediately send ships out to launch depth charge attacks, but Upright gets away.
Italian submarine Squalo claims to damage a British tanker northeast of Tobruk, but there is no confirmation or identification of what ship it is.
Operation Guillotine, the reinforcement of Cyprus, continues. Royal Navy transport Gujarat, escorted by Australian sloop HMAS Parramatta, travels from Port Said to Famagusta without incident.
Italian soldier executing civilians in Sinj, Croatia, 24 July 1941.
Partisans: The partisan revolt in the Balkans continues. Italian troops, attempting to regain control, engage in repressive measures. This includes executing civilians in the Croatian town of Sinj.
POWs: A group of Dutch troops, 68 officers, arrives at Colditz Castle, an Oflag IV-C camp. They are the first Dutch prisoners.
German/Italian Relations: Mussolini offers to add another Italian army corps to the one already allocated to the eastern front.
US/German/Italian Relations: US troopship USS West Point (AP-23) arrives in Lisbon. It carries German and Italian consular personnel and their families who have been ordered to return to Europe by the United States government.
Two USAAF B-18 bombers in the Philippines, 24 July 1941.
US/Japanese Relations: President Roosevelt meets with Japanese Ambassador Nomura in the Oval Office. Roosevelt defends his policy in the Pacific, noting that he has permitted oil to be shipped to Japan. However, he notes that the Japanese occupation of French Indochina is a problem for relations. Nomura says that he personally disagrees with the aggressive Japanese policies in the Pacific and is a good friend of new Foreign Minister Toyoda. Both Roosevelt and Nomura agree that Germany's goal is world conquest and is pressuring Japan. Nomura promises to ask his government not to occupy French Indochina, and Roosevelt promises to guarantee that the Allies would leave it alone if Japan does as well. Nomura responds that it may be too late because Japan would lose face if it pulled out of Indochina now.
After the meeting, Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a statement regarding the Japanese/Vichy French agreement regarding Japanese use of French Indochina. It notes in part:
By the course which it has followed and is following in regard to Indochina, the Japanese Government is giving clear indication that it is determined to pursue an objective of expansion by force or threat of force.
The statement does not, however, indicate that the United States will take any direct action as a result of the Japanese establishment of military bases in the territory.
Anglo/Free French Relations: Charles de Gaulle remains extremely upset about having Free French forces not included in the treaty ending the conflict in the Levant. At his demand, Free French forces revert to his command from British control at noon.
Japanese troops enter Saigon by bicycle, 24 July 1941. (Japanese army photo).
French Indochina: Japanese marines land at Cam Ranh Bay to secure port facilities, pursuant to the recent Japanese agreement with the Vichy French. Army troops are following along behind. German Military: General der Panzertruppe Walther Kurt Josef Nehring is awarded the Knight's Cross. He is Generalmajor and commander of the 18th Panzer-Division. US Military: The US Marine Corps establishes a detachment of the 1st Defense Battalion at Johnston Island southwest of Hawaii in the Pacific.
Fw 200 C-2 W.Nr. 0026 "F8+CH", 1./KG 40, Bordeaux, before 24 July 1941, the date when it was shot down with all its crew near Ireland.
German Government: During his evening talks with cronies, Adolf Hitler opines:
The German army is technically the most perfect in the world; and the German soldier, in a moment of crisis, is safer and sounder than any other soldier. I'm truly happy that it has been granted to me to see, in my lifetime, the German soldier rewarded by Providence. For an elite force, like our SS, it's great luck to have suffered comparatively heavy losses. In this way, it's assured of the necessary prestige to intervene, if need be, on the home front — which, of course, won't be necessary. But it's good to know that one disposes of a force that could show itself capable of doing so, on occasion.
Ordinary soldiers may not agree that their losses are worth it for the prestige granted their formations. There is no question, however, that the SS is loaded with fanatical troops who might, in fact, agree with Hitler.
One of two checkpoints at the Kishinev Ghetto circa 1941.
Holocaust: The Romanian governor of the Kishinev (Chișinău) district of Bessarabia (Moldova) and the local German commander of the Einsatzkommando order a Ghetto established for Jews who have survived previous executions. Some 11,000 people squeeze into the confined space.
A local SS commander reports to headquarters that 4435 Jews have been exterminated at Lachowicz.
German SS troops execute Jewish citizens of Grodz, Lithuania.
Canadian Homefront: About 700 workers in Arvida, Quebec begin an illegal strike against their employer, the Alcan aluminum company. Alcan is considered essential to the war effort, and thus the strike is illegal.
American Homefront: The New York Times publishes a quote from Senator Harry Truman of Missouri regarding the German invasion of the Soviet Union: "If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and in that way let them kill as many as possible."
Motor launch for hospital ship MS Oranje, Cockatoo Island, 24 July 1941.
Eastern Front: Far behind the front on 23 July 1941, at the Brest Fortress (which, contrary to legend, fell to the Wehrmacht in June 1941 and not July), there is a sudden commotion. The Germans are startled because the battle to subdue the fortress ended in June and all of the army divisions have long since moved east. However, it turns out that not everybody got carted away to the POW camps. Soviet Major Pyotr Gavrilov, later decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union, hid out past the surrender along with some comrades. They have written some inscriptions on the fortress walls, such as:
I'm dying but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland. 20.VII.41 [20 July 1941].
The details aren't precise - some say there was a shoot-out today and that Gavrilov won't be captured until the 24th - but it's clear that he and/or others managed to elude the occupying Germans until now. By some accounts, the last Soviet soldier isn't eliminated until 8 August, when Adolf Hitler himself visits the castle. The incident is part of the Soviet lore of World War II, accurate or not.
In the Far North sector, Finnish troops of VI Corps reach the 1939 border south of Salmi on the east shore of Lake Ladoga - and stop. Everybody knows where the old border was, and the troops wait for Marshal Mannerheim to make a decision whether to cross it. Some of the troops themselves don't want to cross the border and actually invade Russia proper, because the Continuation Was has been touted as a way to regain historically Finnish lands, not as one of conquest. About 2000 troops mutiny and say they won't cross it without a direct order from Mannerheim.
On the Finnish island of Bengtskär, the initial small detachment of Finnish troops sent to keep an eye on the nearby Soviet-occupied port of Hanko and the mouth of the Gulf of Finland receive some reinforcements. They are joined by a 2 mm Madsen cannon manned by a crew of three. While not much, it is more than anyone else has in the area.
In the Army Group North sector, General Hoepner's Panzer Group 4 attacks the Luga Line southwest of Leningrad. The Soviets, who have just executed General Pavlov on the 22nd, relieve General Pyadyshev from command of the Luga Operational Group.
In the Army Group Center sector, Soviet 20th Army (Lt. General Pavel Kurochkin) counterattacks at Smolensk. A new Soviet unit, Central Front, is organized under Colonel-General F. I. Kuznetsov. The Central Front incorporates 21st and 13th Armies. This takes away some of General Timoshenko's forces at Western Front.
Ukraine, near Lviv - A soldier of the propaganda company on a motorcycle with sidecar meets Soviet women (Gehrmann, Friedrich, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-187-0203-23).
In the Army Group South sector, the Romanian 17th Marine Infantry Battalion occupies Tatarbunary north of the Danube Delta (about 100 km southwest of Odessa and near the Sasyk Lagoon). Shore artillery sinks Soviet river gunboat Narova. The Soviets counterattack at Monastyrishche.
In Moscow, two nights of heavy Luftwaffe attacks (no attack tonight) have led to some hard decisions by the leadership. The families of VIPs - which means Communist Party bosses and top military figures - are evacuated to the east, the first of many to head to Samarkand and similar safe spots. The Red Army general staff headquarters is transferred to the Byelorosskaya subway station because, as General S.M. Shtemenko recalls, bombs have dropped nearby during both raids. Work is begun on adapting the Kirovskaya subway station as a more permanent military headquarters.
European Air Operations: Around noontime, RAF reconnaissance reports eagerly desired news. Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Scharnhorst, which is known to have left Brest despite German attempts to conceal its departure by substituting in its spot a tanker with camouflage netting, has been located. The ship is in La Pallice. The RAF has been planning a major raid on Brest for today, but this information scrambles its plans. The attack on Brest for the evening is scrapped, and a new target is laid in: La Pallice. Instead of the massive raid contemplated for Brest, though, this is a minor affair with only six Stirling bombers sent to attack the port in the evening. One bomber fails to return, and no hits are made.
The RAF flies Circus missions to Mazingarbe and Bois d'Esperlecques. Another 17 bombers engage in a coastal sweep.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 51 bombers to raid Mannheim (none lost) and 33 bombers to attack Frankfurt (1 lost). Visibility is poor, causing poor accuracy and little damage. Bombs are strewn across fields outside Mannheim. The only casualties are three people killed by errant bombs dropped far from Mannheim. There also is a mission of 8 Wellingtons to Le Havre and Ostend.
A Hampden bomber of RAF No. 44 Squadron engages in a minelaying operation to the Frisian Islands. On its way back to RAF Waddington, it crashes into Lincoln Girls High School on Lindum Hill, Lincoln. The crash causes a tremendous blaze complete with exploding ammunition. The crew and the school's headmistress perish.
New Luftwaffe pilot Wilhelm-Ferdinand "Wutz" Galland, brother of Adolf Galland, gets his first victory. RAF ace Douglas Bader downs a Bf 109, though he only claims a "damaged" victim because he doesn't see it crash (other RAF pilots do).
Battle of the Baltic: German 462-ton submarine chaser UJ-113 (formerly fishing ship Nordmark) hits a mine and sinks in the Irbe Strait (between Estonia and Latvia). The mine apparently was laid by Soviet minesweeper T-204.
German 262-ton fishing trawler Lena Rehder is stranded at Fage Bucht, Denmark.
A Focke-Wulf 200 Condor shot down by an RAF Hudson while attempting to attack a convoy (seen in the distance). The Condor's crew can be seen.
Battle of the Atlantic: Operation EF, a raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo, begins today when two carriers (HMS Furious and Victorious), two cruisers (Devonshire (flagship of Rear Admiral Wake-Walker) and Suffolk), and six destroyers (Escapade, Active, Anthony, Achates, Antelope and Intrepid) leave Scapa Flow for Seidis Fjord in Iceland. The raid is supposed to be a surprise attack, but somebody apparently forgot that during the summer months, it is daylight around the clock in the far north and a fleet of ships is easy to spot.
Italian submarine Bagnolini (Cdr. Chialamberto) claims to have attacked Convoy OG-68 and sunk a freighter and damaged another. However, the ships are not identified.
The Luftwaffe attacks Royal Navy destroyer HMS Garth in the North Sea and scores a near miss. The destroyer suffers minor damage but remains in action.
Royal Navy motor torpedo boats cross the Channel to the vicinity of Boulogne and sink 354-ton German auxiliary boat VP-1508 (formerly whaler Rau III) southwest of the port.
Several ships are hit by aerial mines (Luftwaffe IX Air Corp) at Alexandria Dock:
British 130-ton barge Omfleet (sinks)
British 70-ton sailing ship Adamant (sinks, but salvaged)
British 80-ton sailing ship Soavita (sinks, but salvaged)
Soviet minelayer Sokrushitelny lays a minefield across the entrance to the White Sea, likely in response to recent patrols by Kriegsmarine destroyers nearby.
A Luftwaffe FW-200C Kondor of KG 40 spots Convoy OB-346 west of Ireland. However, it cannot attack because an RAF Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance plane arrives and shoots it down.
Free French corvette FS Aconit is commissioned.
Australian minesweeper HMAS Mildura (Lt. George E. V. Owen) is commissioned.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Substance, a major Royal Navy supply convoy (GM-1) passing through the western Mediterranean to Malta, reaches its climax. Italian submarine Diaspro attacks, but misses Australian destroyer HMAS Nestor.
Italian airplanes based on Sardinia (283 and 280 Sqd AS (SM79 torpedo bombers), 32 Stormo BT (SM79 level bombers) and 51 Gruppo BT (Cant Z1007)) begin attacking the Substance convoy at 09:42 and continue throughout the day. The planes score some hits:
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Fearless (disabled, later scuttled with a torpedo by destroyer Forester, 35 deaths)
Royal Navy cruiser HMS Manchester (damaged by planes of 283 Squadron, turns back to Gibraltar)
Royal Navy destroyer Firedrake (damaged by a near miss, returns to Gibraltar while in tow)
British 11,000-ton freighter Sidney Star (damaged during the night, towed to Malta).
The Italians lose two bombers and five torpedo bombers to RAF Fulmar fighters flying off of HMS Ark Royal. The RAF loses three Fulmars. However, the Italian surface fleet stays in port, which is probably a good thing for the Italians because the British have posted 8 submarines outside the major Italian naval ports to await a sortie. The ships of Royal Navy Convoy MG-1, part of the Substance operation and composed of seven empty ships, depart from Malta.
Italian Regia Marina ships conduct a depth-charge attack on Royal Navy submarine P-33. However, the attack fails and P-33 gets away.
German 7970-ton freighter Tirpitz hits a mine and sinks off Capo dell'Arma, Liguria, Italy.
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable exits Alexandria to transit the Suez Canal, escorted by minelayer Latona and destroyers Jaguar, Jervis, and Kandahar. It is headed to Norfolk, Virginia for repairs. It is under repair until 12 December.
Battle of the Black Sea: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 4727-ton Soviet transport Adzhariya off Odesa in the Odesa Gulf.
Propaganda: The Germans continue to crow about the Moscow raid on the 22nd. The German News Bureau reports:
The initial reports about the air assault on Moscow reveal that the German aircrews who reached Moscow in the second assault wave, could see the sea of flame in the Russian capital while they were still almost 85 miles from Moscow. One of the pilots reports that the conflagrations were as huge and wide-reaching as those he had already viewed in Manchester or Sheffield. He spoke of the strong air defense and said that the incessant muzzle flashes from the anti-aircraft artillery could be observed amidst the houses even after they had begun to burn.
While cast as an epic in that familiar German Propaganda Ministry style, the air raids on Moscow have accomplished little. the information about the Soviet anti-aircraft fire, though, is accurate, as it has been very effective in disrupting the Luftwaffe formations.
Anglo/Free French Relations: Free French leader Charles de Gaulle remains highly put out about not being included in the treaty that ended the conflict in the Levant. The British already have made concessions to mollify him, but de Gaulle wants more. To placate him some more, the British agree to change the terms of the Armistice so that the Free French are permitted to recruit amongst the captured Vichy French before they are taken back to France. This results in about 6000 Vichy French soldiers deciding to join de Gaulle's forces. The Free French also get to use all captured Vichy French military equipment, which generally is of high quality.
Japanese/Vichy French Relations: Pursuant to the recent agreement permitting the Japanese to establish bases in French Indochina, 9000-ton IJN repair ship Akashi arrives at southern Indochina. Admiral Decoux makes the best of a bad situation and is conciliatory to Japanese demands. Heavy cruiser Ashigara also is on its way.
US/Japanese Relations: The United States is upset about the Japanese occupation of French Indochina. Acting Secretary of State Summer Welles tells Japanese Ambassador Nomura that the US may discontinue any further talks aimed at resolving issues between the two nations.
New Japanese Foreign Minister Toyoda cables Ambassador Nomura admitting that he has "not as yet determined upon a definite policy [toward the United States] because of the fact that I have not been in office very long." He notes that "our occupation of French Indo-China was unavoidable" and that the decision was made before he took office.
Japanese Military: Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo issues Army Department Order No. 517. This provides that local commanders in China and Formosa should shift air units between each other in order to best manage mission requirements. This results in air units shuttling between Manchuria and China in an efficient manner.
US Military: The War Department releases its Basic Field Manual and Soldier's Handbook.
German Military: OKW Chief General Keitel signs an order which provides that legal punishments are inadequate in the Soviet Union. Thus, troops must use terror tactics to gain control over the population. This order will support the counts against Keitel during the Nuremberg trials.
A cover letter, initialed "July 23, 1941" by President Roosevelt.
US Government: President Roosevelt approves Secret plan JB 355. This is a proposal to establish a force of 500 Lockheed Hudson bombers in China to be organized as "The Second American Volunteer Group" under Clare Chennault's command. The planes would be manned by US crews and strike industrial targets in Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagasaki. The aim is "destruction of Japanese factories in order to cripple munitions and essential articles for the maintenance of economic structure in Japan." As with Chennault's "First" American Volunteer Group, the unit would be funded through a dummy corporation and the Americans involved given fake papers.
Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall is not a fan of the plan, warning that it inevitably would lead to war with Japan and would not fool anybody about who was behind the bombings anyway. Secretary of War Henry Stimson also opposes the plan. White House adviser Lauchlin Bernard Currie, however, strongly supports the plan.
Secret Plan JB 355 never takes place despite its approval because the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor before it can be implemented.
Merle Oberon, movie star, and Alfred G. Vanderbilt raise a din by beating pans at an aluminum-collection breakfast at the stork club in New York, July 23, 1941. The price of admission was a piece of aluminum ware. (AP Photo)
Canadian Homefront: The Canadian Army officially takes possession of the Verdun Auditorium in the Montreal borough of Verdun. The Army uses it throughout the war for things like fundraising drives.
Irish Homefront: There is an air-raid alert at 02:00 in Belfast which sends an estimated 30,000 people fleeing out of the city in a mad panic. There is no raid.
Soviet Homefront: Soviet Commissar Nikolai Moskvin writes in his diary, "What am I to say to the boys? We keep retreating." Moskvin is no shrinking violet - he already has shot the first deserters from his unit.
American Homefront: Former Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie makes another in a series of speeches advocating unlimited aid to Great Britain.
Future History: Richard Ernest Evans is born in Westernville, New York. In the 1970s, Ritchie Evans becomes a top NASCAR driver, winning eight NASCAR National Modified Championships in a row from 1978-1985. Evans passes away on 24 October 1985 in a crash during practice for the Winn-Dixie 500 Modified Feature at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
A Finnish soldier wounded by grenade shrapnel at Kaalamo in Sortavala district, just north of Lake Ladoga, 22 July 1941.
Eastern Front: It is now, on 22 July 1941, exactly one month since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, and the advance is going exactly according to German plans. That is to say, it is proceeding according to Hitler's plans, but the German generals have different plans than the Fuhrer. Specifically, the German generals see a clear path forward to Moscow and wish to capture the Soviet capital as soon as possible. Hitler, however, is more interested in destroying Soviet armies in the field and taking the objectives on the wings of the advance - Leningrad, and Kyiv. The Wehrmacht is strong, but not strong enough to take all three at once. Adding to the tension, the army high command (OKH) increasingly feels that Hitler is intruding into operational decisions that are best left to military professionals like Generals Halder and Brauchitsch. Thus, while on the surface everything looks ideal for the German advance, just below the surface major issues are about to burst into the open.
Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, who would lead the advance on Moscow as commander of Army Group Center, notes in his war diary (Tagebuchnotizen Osten I) the following:
Brauchitsch (Wehrmacht commander) called and said the Fuhrer has ordered that all further advance of the armor to the east is no longer a matter of discussion.
One might think that this would settle the issue of an advance on Moscow once and for all. But, it does not, as German generals exhibit a surprising degree of independence (some might call it subversion) against the wishes of the Fuhrer. Note that many histories claim that the Germans had to stop for supply reasons or so forth - but they didn't. This was a Hitler order.
All that said, this may be the high point of the German advance into the Soviet Union in terms of matching reality to the objectives. The Wehrmacht has occupied some 700,000 square miles of Soviet territory and has large Soviet formations close to collapse at Kyiv. The German panzer spearheads are intact (if worn down), but the Soviets always seem to have more troops to feed into the grinder. A critical phase of the offensive is at hand because it is vital for the Germans to destroy the Red Army before the weather turns, and the pace of the advance must be sustained to accomplish that.
In the Far North sector, Finnish VI Corps advances 23 km southeast past Salmi along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga to take the tiny village of Manssila. The Soviet defense is hampered by the troops' unfamiliarity with the area, its remoteness, and extreme German pressure on the main front. The Finns now are approaching the 1939 border, and Marshal Mannerheim, the Finnish commander, has a decision to make as to whether to invade pre-war Russia or settle for his purported war aims of simply recovering territory on which Finland has a historical claim. Nobody knows what Mannerheim's decision will be, but he only has another day or two to make it. Meanwhile, Finnish VII Corps on the western shore of Lake Ladoga finally has cleared a pocket of Soviet troops along the Jänisjoki River and can continue toward Leningrad. Further north, at Salla and on the Litsa River, the German/Finnish advances are completely stalled.
In the Army Group North sector, German Panzer Group 4 reaches Lake Ilmen to the south of Leningrad. The panzers stop here to do maintenance and wait for the infantry to close up with their advanced position.
In the Army Group Center sector, the Germans continue to subdue the Mogilev and Smolensk pockets. General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 recovers its units that have been assisting with the encirclement and prepares for further action to the east. The panzer spearhead at Yelnya consolidated its bridgehead.
In the Army Group South sector, Field Marshal Rundstedt's armies continue making progress toward encircling the large Soviet forces at Uman.
German medics assist a gravely wounded Red Army soldier. This photo was taken in July 1941, early on in the war with Russia, when Soviet prisoners are still treated.
In the evening, the Luftwaffe mounts another raid against Moscow with 115 bombers to follow-up the successful raid of the 21st. The Germans report losing 2-5 bombers, which jibes with normal loss totals during night attacks on London, while the Soviets claim to shoot down 15. Damage again is light-moderate - from experience in London, the Luftwaffe now should know that single air raids on large metropolitan areas have barely any minor noticeable impact.
In a sign of a situation that is becoming a problem for the Wehrmacht, Major General W. Nehring's 18th Panzer Division receives 30 new Panzer Mark III's and IV's. Despite this reinforcement, the division now is only at 20 percent of its authorized strength. This is becoming the norm for German panzer divisions.
Reinhard Heydrich, who apparently does not have enough to do as the chief of the Reich Main Security Office and boss of the Gestapo, likes to dabble in flying Luftwaffe combat missions - perhaps to justify on the battlefield his Iron Cross First Class and Frontflugspange (Front Pilot Badge) in silver. Heydrich is not a particularly good pilot (he began the war as an occasional turret gunner and, after training as a pilot, crashed on take-off on 31 May 1940, injuring himself). However, Heydrich has the clout to fly with front-line squadrons such as JG 27 anyway. Today, over Yamil, his Bf 109 is hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire. Heydrich manages to barely make it back to German lines, evading a Soviet patrol, but this is his last such mission. Hitler forbids Heydrich from flying in combat any more because his capture would be a devastating security breach and propaganda victory for the Allies - and likely very bad for Heydrich's health. It is not known how many combat missions Heydrich has flown altogether, but according to Ballantine Books' Illustrated History of the Violent Century (1973), Heydrich flew 97 missions in a Bf-110 twin-engine fighter. He likely flew many more missions, but how many is unknown.
European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends six Blenheim bombers on a sweep of the French coast, including the Le Trait shipyards. All of the planes return safely.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 63 bombers (34 Hampdens, 16 Whitleys, and 13 Wellingtons) against Frankfurt. All planes return safely.
RAF Bomber Command also sends 29 Wellingtons to Mannheim without loss. Smaller raids are made by 19 Wellingtons and Whitleys to Dunkirk, and 5 Hampdens to do minelaying off Brest. There are no losses with these missions, either.
According to Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano's diary, Italian leader Benito Mussolini has ordered the Regia Aeronautica to conduct mock air raids on Rome, one for every real raid on Naples, to "keep people sharp" and remind them that there's a war on. One takes place today, and the public reaction to such "practice" - which includes live anti-aircraft fire against Italian planes - is decidedly negative.
Having had a wild adventure in occupied Europe since the fall of France, including crossing occupied Europe and being arrested by the Spanish, then escaping, Dutch fighter pilot Colonel Remy Van Lierde arrives in England. He is interrogated by MI5 at the London Reception Centre and cleared for duty with the RAF.
Italian vehicle captured by NZ Infantry, 22 July 1941 (Ardboe Heritage).
Battle of the Baltic: The German 3rd S-Boat Flotilla (Kptlt. Kemnade) attacks a coastal convoy off Arensburg, Osel. They sink Soviet torpedo boat TKA-71 (sunk by S-29) and icebreaking tugboat Lachplesis (which sinks after being towed to Saaremaa).
The Soviet crew of destroyer Serdity, bombed by Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of KGr 806 on the 18th, finally gives up efforts to save the ship. They scuttle the ship in Moon Sound.
U-140 (Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel), a training boat attempting to follow up on its unexpected sinking of Soviet submarine M-94 on the 21st, attacks Soviet submarine M-98 at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. However, the attack fails, and M-98 picks up three survivors of M-94.
USS Chew (DD-106) and USS Ward (DD-139) at Hilo Sugar Docks, Territory of Hawaii, 22 July 1941. Courtesy of Mr. Jesse Pond (VP-1) via Mr. Robert Varrill. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. The future has something in store for the Ward.
Battle of the Atlantic: In the morning, the Kriegsmarine transfers battlecruiser Scharnhorst (just returned to duty from repairs) from Brest to La Pallice. The ship is in good shape and steams across the Bay of Biscay at a swift 30 knots, arriving on the 23rd. With Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen all in Brest harbor, they simply present too tempting a target to ignore - the RAF pilots refer to them collectively as the "Brest Bomb Target Flotilla." The Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, however, remain in dry dock due to bomb damage, so they must stay put. The RAF, in fact, is planning a major air raid on Brest for the 23rd to destroy the ships, so this unexpected move throws a spanner in the works - but the British quickly learn what is going on and alter their plans accordingly.
The Royal Navy also responds to the German redeployment of Scharnhorst, and its response just after noontime shows how hair-trigger sensitive Whitehall is to the Kriegsmarine's capital ships. The Admiralty brings battleship HMS King George V, aircraft carrier Victorious, heavy cruisers Devonshire, Shropshire, and Suffolk, light cruisers Aurora and Nigeria, and destroyers Achates, Active, Antelope, Anthony, Escapade, Icarus, Intrepid, Punjabi and Tartar to one hour's readiness. All this is done for a routine passage of one German ship between ports. The majority of the ships remain on high alert for 24 hours, until the Scharnhorst is spotted by the RAF at La Pallice at 12:26 on the 23rd.
In the far North, four German destroyers (Friedrich Eckholdt, Hermann Schoemann, Karl Galster, and Richard Beitzen) conduct a patrol east of Murmansk along the Kola coast. They sink Soviet survey ship Meridian between Iokanga and Teriberka in Murmansk Oblast. This is a route used by ships heading to Archangel (Arkhangelsk). The Red Air Force attacks the German ships, but they make it back to port.
The last lifeboat from Royal Navy armed boarding vessel HMS Malvernian, bombed on 2 July, makes it to Vigo carrying 32 survivors, including the captain.
Royal Navy minelayer HMS Teviotbank, escorted by survey ship Scott, lays minefield SN-21B in the North Sea.
The German 4th S-Boat Flotilla (Kptlt. Batge) lays 18 mines southeast of Isle of Wight.
Convoy HX-140 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool, Convoy SC-38 departs from Sydney, Nova Scotia bound for Liverpool, Convoy WN-56 departs from Pentland Firth bound for Scapa Flow.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cowdray, corvette Fritillary, and minesweeper Ardrossan are launched.
Canadian corvette HMCS Brandon (Lt. John C. Littler) is commissioned.
US destroyer USS Harding (DD-625), not named after the former President but rather a Revolutionary War naval officer, Seth Harding, is laid down.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian scouts report Operation Substance, a British relief convoy to Malta. However, the Italian naval staff decides that this is just another routine Royal Navy aircraft ferrying mission to Malta that will be gone before surface ships can arrive. So, while the Italian Navy's (Regia Marina) surface fleet remains in port, Italian submarine Diaspro fires four torpedoes at aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and accompanying destroyer HMAS Nestor - and misses. The Regia Aeronautica sends 15 SM-79 and Cant-Z1007 bombers and 8 SM-79 torpedo bombers from Sardinia against the convoy, but the planes cannot find it. The Italians prepare to resume attacks on the 23rd.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch uses its deck gun to bombard the port of Karlovassi on the Greek island of Samos. The submarine claims to damage a number of caiques in the harbor, which are used by the Germans for communications between islands.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Urge attacks a small convoy off Palermo but makes no hits.
Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 830 (based on Malta) Squadron sink 8230-ton German transport Preussen about 30 miles southeast of the Italian fortified island of Pantelleria. There are 190 deaths. The Preussen is part of a Naples/Tripoli convoy.
British Blenheim bombers (or Swordfish of RAF No. 830 Squadron, the sources differ) bomb and damage 6996-ton Italian tanker Brarena about 80 miles south of Pantelleria. The ship is set ablaze and attempts to tow the Brarena fail. It ultimately sinks.
Greek submarine Glaukos, operating just off Castelorizzo (Kastellorizo) just off the coast of Turkey, sinks a caique carrying artillery.
The Luftwaffe attacks Tobruk harbor after dark and damages Royal Navy destroyer HMS Hero. She makes it to Mersa Matruh for repairs.
The Luftwaffe also attacks the Suez Canal during the night.
At Malta, the RAF Inspector General, Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, and staff complete their stopover and proceed to the Middle East.
Crew members of HMS Leander playing deck hockey while the ship is berthed in Alexandria, Egypt, 22 July 1941.
Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Dunedin captures 5383-ton Vichy French freighter Ville De Rouen off the South African province of Natal. The ship is taken to East London, South Africa.
Royal Navy troop convoy WS-9AX (Winston Special) arrives in Bombay en route to Colombo and Singapore.
Battle of the Pacific: The last of eight Japanese cargo ships that have been transiting the Panama Canal, one per day since 16 July, makes the trip. The Japanese have been fearful that the US might search and/or seize the ships, but in fact, the danger was different than they expected. The ship makes it through just in time - the US authorities temporarily close the canal for "maintenance work" after it is safely in the Pacific.
German propaganda, Luftpost No. 10, 22 July 1941.
Propaganda: The German News Bureau reports:
On Sunday night through to Monday morning, the German Luftwaffe launched its first grand assault on the Soviet capital. A responsible authority in Berlin confirms that large numbers of bombers wings mounted an extremely vigorous attack. The raids continued for several hours without let-up, we believe from sunset until dawn. The German aerial attack on Moscow confirms that the German Luftwaffe has now been successful in setting up takeoff bases inside the conquered Russian territories. These bases are well situated for its bomber missions so that the bombers are now only a few hundred miles from Moscow and can make intensified attacks on the Soviet capital.
The News Bureau statement is factually correct as far as it goes. However, as with the raids on London from September 1940 to May 1941, the actual impact of such raids is highly questionable. While it may be true that the raid was "extremely vigorous," in fact it did not cause much damage of importance to the war effort and was largely frustrated by fierce Soviet anti-aircraft fire.
The German military high command (OKW) issues a triumphant communique:
The breakthrough operations of the German Wehrmacht and its allies have broken the Soviet defensive front into disconnected groups. Despite tenacious local resistance and dogged counter-attacks, any unified conduct by the enemy is no longer discernible. Operations to smash and annihilate the individual Soviet armed forces groups are continuing without let-up along the entire Eastern Front. Last night the Luftwaffe attacked Moscow for the first time in retaliation for the Bolshevik air raids on the open capital cities of our allies, Bucharest and Helsinki. Strong German bomber formations with good ground visibility made relay bombing raids on military installations in the Soviet Russian communications and munitions center in Moscow. Direct bomb hits started countless conflagrations and wide-spreading fires in the Kremlin district and around the Moskva river bend. High ranking Soviet headquarters buildings and government offices have been destroyed or badly hit, as have supply factories.
As usual with Berlin announcements, the reality is somewhat less dramatic than the OKW communique would suggest. The Soviet forces have been retreating, but now in some areas have reached defensible lines. The Red Army remains intact despite its savage beating in the first month of the campaign, and there is plenty of evidence of "unified conduct." As for the Nietzschean rhetoric about the effects of the Moscow air raid, the Soviet government buildings were barely touched - perhaps because they were not the targets in the first place. Instead, railways, airfields, and major factories were the targets, and those did receive moderate damage.
The Soviet Information Bureau has a somewhat different take on the matter:
Yesterday evening Moscow experienced its first air attack of the war. The sirens sounded at 10:00 P.M. after lookout men had reported more than 200 German bombers flying toward Moscow. Soviet night interceptor planes and antiaircraft batteries went into action and succeeded in forcing the bulk of the attackers to turn back before reaching the capital. Only isolated German-Fascist aircraft succeeded in breaking through and released a number of bombs that destroyed dwellings or set them on fire, but no military targets were hit. There were several dead and injured. Night interceptors and anti-aircraft guns destroyed 17 German aircraft.
While the Soviet news communique is somewhat closer to the truth than the German news bulletins, it also distorts the raid's reality. There were far fewer than 200 Luftwaffe planes (apparently 127), and virtually all of them did attack Moscow. Soviet night fighters barely had any effect, and the Luftwaffe records reported only losing four planes. So, each side is engaging in hyperbole to make the situation look better than it is - as one would expect.
German propaganda, Luftpost No. 10, 22 July 1941.
German/Japanese Relations: New Japanese Foreign Minister Teijiro Toyoda reaffirms the standing Axis pact with the Reich. Toyoda is considered more moderate than his predecessor and also is working with the United States to see if some accommodation can be reached.
German/Italian Relations: Hitler sends Mussolini an armored train equipped with the latest anti-aircraft guns as a birthday present.
German/Arab Relations: Deposed Iraqi leader Rashid Ali arrives in Germany after a roundabout escape via Afghanistan.
Japanese/Mexican Relations: The Japanese Foreign Ministry puts a stop to secret attempts to negotiate trade deals with Mexico that evade the US/Mexican prohibition against trade with Japan. Thus, they decide to terminate a deal already negotiated which would have sent 7000 boxes of rayon to Mexico in exchange for Mexican goods. The reason apparently is that the Japanese are fearful that they will wind up shipping the rayon, but not get anything in return, and they would have no legal recourse since it is an illegal transaction.
Slovakian soldiers ponder a staff car destroyed by artillery fire from the Soviet 44th Mountain Rifle Division outside Lipovec, Ukraine (east of Vinnytsia), 22 July 1941.
Soviet Military: General of the Army Dmitry Pavlov has his property confiscated, is deprived of all rank and is shot at the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow by the NKVD. He is convicted of "failure to perform his duties" and blamed for losing the early battles on Western Front along the frontier, up to the battle of Minsk. Pavlov (along with other Soviet generals) is rehabilitated in 1956 for "lack of evidence." Pavlov's deputy, Lt. General Ivan Boldin, is much luckier - he has been wandering behind enemy lines and, once he makes it back to the Soviet Union, will be acclaimed a hero.
The commander of the 4th Army, Major General A. A. Korobkov also is shot today. Many other Western Front generals are shot in the days to come, including the Chief of Staff, Major General B. E. Klimovskikh; the chief of the communications corps, Major General AT Grigoriev; the Chief of Artillery, Lieutenant General of Artillery A. Klich; and Air Force Deputy Chief of the Western Front (who, after the suicide of Major General Aviation I. I. Kopets, was, nominally at least, Chief of the Air Force of the Western Front), and Major General Aviation A. I. Tayursky. The commander of the 14th Mechanized Corps, Major General Stepan Oborin, is under arrest and will be shot on 16 October 1941.
Stalin does not tolerate failure. Is he a hero or a monster? Well, that all depends... did he win or lose in the end?
From left to right: Colonel-General armored forces, Hero of Soviet Union D.G. Pavlov; M.A. Purkayev; third – Army General, Hero of the Soviet Union, K.A. Meretskov; People’s Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko. This photo is from Summer/Fall 1940.
Finnish Military: Colonel Ruben Lagus, the commander of the 5th Division, is nominated as the first recipient of the new decoration, the Mannerheim Cross (2nd class) for operations in Karelia.
Dutch Military: While Holland is occupied by the Germans, the Dutch East Indies remain undisturbed. The military remains strong there. Today, it begins conscription throughout the territory.
Marga Himmler, a Gruppenführer der Waffen-SS, and Frieda Hofmann at Dachau, 22 July 1941 (Federal Archive, N 1126 Bild-16-001).
German Government: Hitler is touring the front. During the night, when he likes to expound on random topics with his closest cronies, he says:
The Englishman is superior to the German in one respect - that of pride. Only the man who knows how to give orders has pride.
To Hitler, this is a high compliment. Later, he goes a bit further about his attitude toward the British:
For the English, the ideal existence was represented in the society of the Victorian age. At that time England had at her Service the countless millions of her colonial Empire, together with her own thirty-five million inhabitants. On top of that, a million bourgeois — and, to crown the lot, thousands of gentlefolk who, without trouble to themselves, reaped the fruit of other
people's toil. For this ruling caste, Germany's appearance on the scene was a disaster. As soon as we started our economic ascent, England's doom was sealed. It is quite certain that in future England's Empire won't be able to exist without the support of Germany.
I believe that the end of this war will mark the beginning of a durable friendship with England. But first, we must give her the K.O. [knockout] — for only so can we live at peace with her, and the Englishman can only respect someone who has first knocked him out.
Unfiltered statements such as this appear to confirm that Hitler has very mixed feelings about the British, which may inform some of his military/diplomatic decisions. Hitler adds further that he's "met a lot of Englishmen and Englishwomen whom I respect." He does not, however, like those with whom he has had "deceptive dealings."
Back in the Reich, Alfred Rosenberg, five days after being appointed as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, Alfred Rosenberg films an address for the weekly propaganda newsreel (Wochenschau). He states that he sees the purpose of his appointment as being to secure "the welfare and public order for the peoples of the East coming under German administration." It is debatable whether Rosenberg at this time knows his true role in the East - to ruthlessly exploit the people and resources there to the sole benefit of the Reich. However, with that statement, Rosenberg is simply parroting the exact language of the 17 July 1941 decree appointing him.
An army truck serving as an altar during a church parade in the Western Desert, 22 July 1941.
India: Viceroy Lord Linlithgow made a proposal on 8 August 1940 called the "August Offer" which sought the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indian citizens. This was initially rejected by the opposition groups, but Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru of the Liberal Party finally has decided to accept the offer. Today, Lord Linlithgow announces a reconstituted Executive Council with more Indians than Britons.
Included in the reform is a new 30-member National Defence Council that will coordinate defense efforts throughout India - efforts which heretofore have been hampered by several different layers of government, including vestigial princely states. However, the internal politicking continues, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League, is upset that the composition, though primarily Indian, is not 50% Muslim as he has demanded. He also is upset that he has not been the one to choose the Muslim members. Accordingly, he orders all of his AIML followers to boycott the Viceroy's Executive Council and National Defence Council.
Heinrich Himmler's family (wife Margarete, daughter Gudrun) during a visit to Dachau Concentration Camp, 22 July 1941. They are in the herb garden there. Gudrun, age 11 and apparently pictured on the left noted in her diary that "Today we drove to Dachau. It was beautiful." Also shown in the picture are playwright Hanns Johst, Johst's daughter, Lydia Boden, Hanne Johst, Frieda Hoffmann, and some unidentified people. (Photo: Piper Verlag) (Federal Archive, Bild N 1126 Bild-16-002). Incidentally, Gudrun Himmler, later Gudrun Burwitz, became active with the Stille Hilfe, an organization that aids former SS members, and passed away in June 2018. It was revealed at that time that she was a secret agent for the West German government from 1960-63.
Holocaust: Vichy France requires all Jews to register their businesses and authorizes the confiscation of unlawful businesses (this is called "Aryanization of Jewish assets"). The purpose of this is to exclude Jews from commerce. One way around this is for Jews to find a Gentile to serve as a "front" - if they can find one. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, and when it does the "fronts" sometimes take advantage of the situation. In practice, this new law makes a lot of successful French Jews have their businesses expropriated and become unemployed.
Anne Frank is captured on film for the only time incidental to the wedding of the girl next door.
Heinrich Himmler brings his family to Dachau for the day. His wife Margarete and daughter Gudrun spend the day walking through the gardens and enjoying a guided tour. Gudrun notes in her diary:
Today, we went to Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvelous. And afterward, we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.
Pictures show them in their "Sunday best" walking in areas bereft of prisoners.
Japanese Homefront: After two weeks of heavy rain, 12,000 homes in Tokyo are flooded.
Two unidentified young ladies drop a time capsule into the Kingsley Dam, 22 July 1941.
A crowd at the dedication of the Kingsley Dam, 22 July 1941.
American Homefront: New Deal project Kingsley Dam is dedicated. Located on the east side of Lake McConaughy in central Keith County, Nebraska, it remains in use. The Kingsley Dam uses water stored in Lake McConaughy. It began to fill quickly and irrigation water was delivered later in 1941. The project as a whole was officially completed in 1943. As of 2018, Kingsley Dam is still the second largest hydraulic fill dam in the world.
Future History: George Edward Clinton is born in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He develops an unusual form of funk music in the 1970s with his two groups Parliament and Funkadelic that leads to a solo career in 1981. He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 along with members of his groups. As of this writing, George Clinton continues to perform with his group "Parliament Funkadelic."
Vaughn Bodē is born in Utica, New York. He becomes a top underground cartoonist and illustrator perhaps best known as the creator of the character Cheech Wizard. His first self-published book, in 1963 at age 21, is "Das Kämpf." Vaughn Bodē passes away on 18 July 1975.
Ronald Joseph Morel Turcotte is born in Drummond, New Brunswick Canada. He goes on to become a top jockey. Turcotte is best known for riding Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973. In 2015, a statue of Secretariat and Turcotte crossing the finish line at the Belmont Stakes is unveiled in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, the hometown of Turcotte. As of this writing in 2018, Ron Turcotte is still active as an advocate for the disabled.
Susie Maxwell is born in Pasadena, California. Mostly under her married name of Susie Berning she goes on to become a top professional golfer, winning four major championships and eleven LPGA Tour victories in all. Since retiring from tour play in 1996, Berning has become a well-respected teaching professional spending time at the Nicholas-Flick Golf Academy. She divides her time between The Reserve Club in Palm Springs, California and Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colorado.
July 22, 1941 night photograph from Norfolk Public Library's Sargeant Memorial Collection featuring The NorVA on Granby Street in Norfolk, VA. Other businesses identified include Loew's State Theatre, Bamboo Inn Restaurant, and Wilson Shoes.
