Monday 17 March 1941

The Marit Maersk arrives at Piræus, Greece, on 17 March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: There is a pause in operations on 17 March 1941, as the Italian high command regroups before resuming their failed Primavera Offensive. The Greeks use the time to bring forward reserves. They replace the battered 1st Division with the 17th. So far, Italian casualties have outpaced Greek losses by roughly 3-1 - but Greek losses have not been insignificant.

The British reinforcement of Greece, Operation Lustre, continues. The New Zealand 4th Infantry Brigade arrives at Athens today from Alexandria.

East African Campaign: The Italian counterattacks at Keren continue today. The British still occupy Fort Dologorodoc and the Pinnacle and Pimple formations to the right of the Dongolaas Gorge, but further advances are becoming difficult. The British 29th Brigade does capture Falestoh and Zeban near the fort, but bringing supplies over the exposed rock, with the Italians in the heights above raining fire down on everyone making the trip, proves too difficult. After dark today, the advanced British troops abandon Falestoh and Zeban. The Italians also launch rabid counterattacks against Fort Dologorodoc which the 5th Indian Division has difficulty fighting off.

On the left side of the gorge, things are even less satisfactory for the British. The 4th Indian Division has been attacking the Sanchil heights without progress. Finally, after dark tonight when the lack of light makes crossing the open areas less dangerous, the Indian troops retreat to their original jump-off positions. The Indian troops retain a few new areas, such as Hog's Back and Flat Top, but the Italian troops are counterattacking everywhere. The fighting is desperate and savage, often descending into hand-to-hand fighting with knives and whatever else is handy.

In central Abyssinia, Lt. General Cunningham's 23rd Nigerian Brigade of the British 1st African Division troops finally capture Jijiga after a long struggle. They only are able to do this because the strong Italian defensive forces in the town have abandoned it. The British troops now have advanced 1000 miles from Kenya, but Abyssinia still remains unsubdued. Jijiga is to become a British base until after the war.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe bombs Bristol again, continuing its pattern of hitting the same medium-sized city multiple times in a row. Tonight, 162 planes hit the Avonmouth district. RAF Bomber Command sends 58 bombers against Bremen and 21 against Wilhelmshaven, where they can waste their bombs against perpetual target Tirpitz.

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941).

Battle of the Atlantic: Talk about highs and lows. The Kriegsmarine has just had one of the best days it will have during the entire war. Heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst have devastated a convoy of shipping and escaped unscathed, while U-99 captain Otto Kretschmer has fired eight torpedoes and sunk five ships. It just doesn't get much better than that. However, now we get a lesson in how fickle the fortunes of war are, and how quickly victory can turn into a calamity.

Otto Kretschmer.

Kretschmer performed his stunning surface attack on Convoy HX 112 shortly before midnight on the 16th. Out of torpedoes, now the U-boat's only objective is to get out of town without being seen. Around midnight, though, his Watch Officer spots an escort destroyer (either HMS Vanoc or Walker) and orders a dive. This is contrary to standing orders, as once submerged, the U-boat can be detected on ASDIC. This in fact happens, and Kretschmer takes the U-boat deep to avoid the depth charges. However, one of the charges seriously damages the U-boat, forcing it to surface. On the surface, the two destroyers open fire with their guns, and Kretschmer, in a panic, signals:

CAPTAIN TO CAPTAIN. I AM SUNKING [sic] PLEASE RESCUE MY CREW.

Forty crew manage to escape and become POWs, including Kretschmer, while three crew (including the engineering officer who re-entered the sinking sub to scuttle it) perish. Captain Macintyre of the Walker takes credit for the sinking.

That is only the beginning of the Germans' bad night.

U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke) also has been drawn to Convoy by U-boat command (BdU). Captain Schepke approaches HX-112 from behind. Having to make up ground, he is on the surface by necessity, not a choice as in the case with Kretschmer. HMS Vanoc detects U-100 from about 1000 meters/yards with its Type 286 radar. This is the first such interception of a U-boat using radar - not a first that Schepke would want to be any part of. Vanoc hurries over as Schepke dives and manages to ram the U-boat before it can reach a safe depth. Schepke perishes along with 47 of his mates, while six men survive.

Schepke's and Kretschmer's losses to the U-boat fleet, along with Guenther Prien's loss ten days ago, are devastating to the U-boat fleet. The German military is based on stars and supporting players - there are "experten" and everyone else. In other words, the quality of the services depends upon a broad but very thin layer of aces who excel far beyond others. Prien, Schepke, and Kretschmer are impossible to replace, not because the U-boat doesn't have other good captains - it does - but all three have that "something special" that can't be taught. Kretschmer, in particular, has been like a quarterback on a good football team, directing other U-boats in attacks even when his boat is out of torpedoes and simply observing. Some put today as the end of the first U-boat "Happy Time," when the going is good and U-boat losses are low.

Dutch freighter Tapanoeli, sunk today by U-106.

While it is a bad night for the Kriegsmarine and the entire German war effort, there are some bright spots. Far to the south, about 350 km off the coast of West Africa, U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) is having what is turning into a splendid second patrol. It attacks Convoy SL 68 and sinks two ships:

• 3082 ton British freighter Andalusian (all rescued)
• 7034 ton Dutch freighter Tapanoeli (all rescued)

Oesten also attacks two other ships but misses.

Having just completed perhaps the most complete convoy destruction to date on 15-16 March, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst head away from the scene of devastation. Admiral Lütjens plans to rendezvous with supply ships Uckermark and Ermland, then head for port Brest in France. The Royal Navy has Force H out of Gibraltar at sea looking for them.

Having obtained its seaplanes and stocked up with supplies at Kiel, the German battleship Bismarck departs from Kiel and makes port at Gdynia (Gotenhafen) today.

German raider Kormoran and U-124 now have sailed far enough southwest (1150 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands) to find somewhat calmer waters and affect their supply transfer with cruiser Admiral Scheer. U-124 has brought radar parts for the German cruiser, but the seas remain too rough for Kormoran to transfer its eight torpedoes to the U-boat.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy 597-ton anti-submarine yacht HMY Mollusc a few kilometers from Blyth Port War Signal Station. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2848-ton British freighter Cormead off Southwold and 281-ton British pilot cutter Pioneer in the Thames Estuary.

Norwegian 1858-ton freighter Einar Jarl hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Wormiston, Scotland. There is one death.

The Royal Navy's 1st Minelaying Squadron sets out from Loch Alsh to lay minefield SN 69. Minelayer Teviotbank, back in service after being damaged by the Luftwaffe, lays minefield BS 51 off the English East Coast.

Convoy OG 56 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 115 departs from Halifax.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Dianthus (K 95, Lt. Commander Clement E. Bridgman) is commissioned, corvette HMCS Kamloops (K 176, Lt. James M. Gillison) is commissioned, and destroyer KNM Arendal (Hunt-class destroyer HMS Badsworth) and minesweeping trawler Orfsay are launched.

U-218 is laid down.

KNM Arendal (HMS Badsworth).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant General Rommel's Afrika Korps continues to receive additions to its troop strength. Rommel is feeling increasingly confident, and today he sends a message to an Italian garrison at Giarabub in southeastern Libya. He tells the Italians not to surrender to the Free French because he will soon send troops to their rescue.

The RAF (Swordfish of Squadron No. 815) torpedo and sink Italian torpedo boat Andromeda in the Adriatic off Valona (Vlorë), Albania.

The Regia Aeronautica attacks Benghazi.

Convoy AG 6A departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus, Convoy BN 20 departs from Aden bound for Suez.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin continues its replenishment operations in the Kerguelen Islands alongside supply ship Adjutant. The ship takes water from a waterfall to replenish its water tanks.

Convoy BM 5 departs from Bombay.

US/Australian Relations: With the visit to Australia by Rear Admiral John H. Newton, Commander Cruisers Scouting Force, approved for 20 March, the US sends a small detachment ahead to New Zealand. Captain Ellis S. Stone leads TG 9.2 to Auckland. They will remain there until Newton's main force makes the journey toward Sydney, at which point TG 9.2 will head to Tahiti.

German/Turkish Relations: Hitler meets with the Turkish ambassador. The Turks want nothing to do with this war, on either side, despite offers of all kinds of inducements.

A colorized photo of Grand Admiral Karl Donitz. The U-boat fleet was very close-knit, and losing two top commanders on one night in one action would have been deeply felt by Donitz and others in the service. There was nothing redeeming about the loss of Schepke and Kretschmer for anyone in the Kriegsmarine.

US Military: The US Navy Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics gives the go-ahead for research into jet propulsion. It creates a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) board that will evaluate research into jet propulsion. The NACA goals for jet propulsion are quite modest at this stage in the United States, with useful applications being seen primarily in Jet Assisted TakeOff (JATO) areas, not jet-powered planes themselves. NACA, of course, is the direct antecedent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

British Military: Air Vice-Marshal Richard Saul, Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group (the successor to Trafford Leigh-Mallory) is made Companion of the Order of the Bath.

Greenland: The United States South Greenland Survey Expedition leaves Boston, Massachusetts today aboard US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Cayuga. The objective is to map Greenland for sites for things like airstrips and meteorological stations. Having declared itself a self-governing territory in 1940, Greenland currently is under United States protection.

Channel Islands: The occupation of the Channel Islands by the Germans has been, for the most part, a smooth affair. However, the island is indeed occupied and the Germans are authorized to apply harsh punishments in the Channel Islands just like anywhere else. Today, Frenchman Francois Scornet, 22, of Brittany is executed in Jersey. Scornet is a French Army Cadet who fled to the Channel Islands upon the Fall of France. In fact, he had intended to reach England but got lost in a storm. Scornet, who the Germans describe as the "ringleader" of a group of 16 such refugees, is shot as a symbolic act, as a way to "send a message" to others thinking of fleeing German occupation. Scornet will be the only civilian executed by firing squad in Jersey during the war.

China: The Japanese attack the Chinese lines in the Battle of Shanggao in the direction of Haulintsai and Shangfutsun. The Chinese are well dug-in, though, and the Japanese take heavy casualties. The day ends with the lines little changed, but many dead and dying on both sides.

The military situation in Europe and the Mediterranean in early 1941, from Life magazine, March 17, 1941. Interestingly, the map includes the notation for North Africa, "German troops and tanks stiffen Italian resistance." Life notices this, but the British high command does not give this much importance.

British Homefront: The British already have rationed things like tea, and completely eliminated bananas. Now, they add some more quintessentially British foodstuffs to the ration list with jam and marmalade, which is limited to 8 oz. (225) per person per month. While that might seem perfectly adequate and even generous... the British love their marmalade and jam on scones.

Prime Minister Robert Menzies, in England for a few months, visits the Rolls Royce plant at Derby. He notes that there are "Many women employed on hard work. Music half an hour morning & afternoon. Everyone likes it 'except a few old fogies.'"

German Homefront: The German government maintains close tabs on trends in public sentiment as reflected in things like currently popular jokes and commodities. The reports now indicate that foreign-language prophecies are popular in churches that describe this as the time in Germany of a "dreadful warrior" who will be called the "Antichrist." As is often the case with these reports, the meaning of the jibe is open to interpretation - the fact that other nations call the German leader names may mean he is threatening them while helping Germany. On the other hand, taken literally, the suddenly popular prophecy may mean that people everywhere - and including Germany - are starting to view Hitler extremely negatively. Overall, it does not seem like a positive thing for the government that words like "Antichrist" are being thrown around about Germany's leader.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt dedicates the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Future History: Paul Lorin Kantner is born in San Francisco, California. As a teenager, Kantner becomes a protest folk singer. He drops out of school and begins performing full time. In 1965, he meets Marty Balin, and together they form a band called Jefferson Airplane. Kantner writes many of the band's songs as well as playing rhythm guitar and singing. Jefferson Airplane has many hits in the '60s and is the main attraction at festivals at Monterey, Altamont, and Woodstock. He begins collaborating in more ways than one with fellow bandmate Grace Slick, and together have daughter China Wing Kantner in 1971. The band continues into the 1980s, at which it has the first of many name changes, to Jefferson Starship. Kantner, the last founding member of Jefferson still left with the band, leaves in 1984, forcing the name change. Kantner and his Jefferson Airplane bandmates are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Paul Kantner passed away on 28 January 2016.

Henry Ford on the cover of Time Magazine, March 17, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 11. Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER. Ford will be a key player during the war, as his production plants will be the core of the United States as the "Arsenal of Democracy."

March 1941

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

2020

Sunday 16 March 1941

Chilean Reefer goes under. Chilean Reefer is the final victim of the Operation Berlin engagement of 15-16 March 1941 in the Atlantic by German cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. The photo was taken by the radioman on the Gneisenau (uboatphotos.net).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians suspend offensive operations on 16 March 1941. The main effect of the Italian attacks so far have been to force the Greeks to keep their troops in Albania rather than transfer them to the Bulgarian frontier, with no ground gained. However, the Italians have not given up their plans, and the silver lining is that the Primavera Offensive at least has stopped the erosion of the front in the center of the line. The Italian attacks at the Trebeshinë heights have made local gains but nothing of strategic value. The Italians regroup and prepare to launch additional attacks in the coming days. So far, Italian casualties are 11,800+, while Greek casualties are 1,243 dead and 4016 wounded, with 42 missing in action.

The Paris Opera House, March 1941 (Ang, Federal Archive).

East African Campaign: The British continue attacking the Italian defenses at Keren, but the Italian defenses are very strong. Having occupied key features to the right of the Dongolaas Gorge that determines access to the city (the Pinnacle and Pimple), the Indian troops there face a furious counterattack from Fort Dologorodoc. The Italian attack proceeds fairly well, but other British troops (the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment) move in behind them and occupy their fort at 06:30.

The rest of the day consists of furious Italian counterattacks to recover the fort that gets nowhere, while renewed British attacks to advance beyond the fort also achieve nothing. The valiant attacks by the Alpini, Bersaglieri, and Grenadiers battalions cost the Italians thousands of casualties that they cannot afford.

At Engiahat, two companies of 4/16 Punjab attack the Italian defenders at 13:00, supported by artillery fire. The attack fails when the Indian troops run out of ammunition. Nearby, the 1st Royal Sussex also fails to make any progress with an attack. Engiahat is very well defended with fortifications. The British now suspend operations on the mountain.

Two battalions of Indian troops leave Aden and land at Berbera in British Somaliland, brought by Royal Navy light cruisers HMS Glasgow and Caledon, destroyers Kandahar and Kingston, and armed boarding vessels Chakdina and Chantala. They capture the port from a 60-man Italian garrison of the 70th Colonial Brigade which is not interested in fighting. They take hundreds of prisoners of Italian support personnel. This is Operation Appearance.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe shifts its attention from Glasgow in the north to favored target Bristol in the south. It puts 162 bombers over the city, with the heaviest attacks hitting the center of town and Avonmouth docks. A bomb hits a shelter, causing extensive casualties, and there is great damage throughout the city. An estimated 257 perish and 391 are seriously wounded.

Clydeside is still assessing the damage from the recent Luftwaffe attacks. These tenements will have to be razed, but much rebuilding will wait until after the war. March 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) spots independent 6810-ton Dutch freighter Almkerk about 220 miles off French West Africa (Gambia) while chasing Convoy SL-68. Oesten pumps two torpedoes into the freighter, which sinks within 15 minutes. Everyone survives the sinking (after a perilous journey to Africa). The attack alerts the nearby convoy to its danger.

U-110 (Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp) is operating south of Iceland and has been shadowing Convoy HX-223. Lemp finally gets into position to attack and torpedoes 6207-ton British tanker Erodana. U-110's torpedo damages the Erodana, but tankers are difficult to sink and the ship gets away (the crew first abandons ship, but it then is towed to Edisvik near Reykjavik). There are 36 deaths.

The tanker's escape is aided by the convoy's escorts, which spot the U-boat on the surface and attack. Lemp escapes the depth charge attack and continues shadowing the convoy. Lemp radios its position to U-boat command (BdU), which vectors in other U-boats.

Meanwhile, Convoys OB 293 and HX 112, heading in opposite directions, are passing each other and essentially have merged for the time being.  One of the U-boats that responds to BdU's signal is U-99 (Otto Kretschmer). Arriving well after dark, Kretschmer initiates one of his classic surface attacks from the middle of the convoy at about 22:00. Firing all eight of his remaining torpedoes at the targets all around him, Kretschmer hits six ships and sinks five:

• 8136-ton Norwegian freighter Beduin (sunk, Convoy HX 112, four men perish)
• 6593-ton Norwegian tanker Ferm (sunk, convoy HX 112, everyone survives, the tanker breaks in two and the two halves are later sunk by gunfire)
• 7375-ton Canadian freighter J.B. White (sunk, two dead)
• 6673-ton Swedish freighter Korshamn (sunk, Convoy HX 112, 26 dead)
• 5278-ton British freighter Venetia (sunk, Convoy OB 293, everyone survives)
• 9314-ton British freighter Franche-Comté (damaged, Convoy HX 112, makes it to Rothesay Bay)

U-99's attack of 16 March 1941 is one of the classics of U-boat history, and also one of the most successful. However, as soon as he fires the last of his torpedos, Kretschmer is informed by his Watch Officer that an escort is nearby. The Watch Officer, contrary to standing orders, immediately orders the U-boat to dive. This enables the escorts to locate the U-boat using their ASDIC and close for an attack after midnight.

U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke) also answers BdU's call to close on the convoy. Schepke closes on the convoy on the surface from its rear and is almost in a position to attack as the day ends.

German cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst continue their attack on the undefended British convoy they have stumbled upon. At 01:00, the two tankers accompanying the cruisers, Ermland and Uckermark, signal that they have spotted another group of ships headed their way. All the Germans have to do is wait for them. The renewed slaughter begins at dawn:

• 4500-ton British passenger/cargo ship Rio Dorado
• 3648-ton British freighter Empire Industry
• 1577-ton Norwegian passenger/cargo ship Granli
• 4564-ton French passenger/cargo ship Myson
• 4364-ton British passenger/cargo ship Royal Crown
• 1831-ton Danish freighter Chilean Reefer

Scharnhorst adds to the total:

• 8298-ton Dutch freighter Mangkai (some survivors, become POWs)
• 4347-ton British freighter Silver Fir (one dead, others POWs)
• 5251-ton British freighter Demeterton (entire crew taken as POWs) 
• 3491-ton British passenger/cargo ship Sardinian Prince (crew becomes POWs).

Everything goes fairly routinely except for Gneisenau's destruction of the Chilean Reefer. The Danish ship wires the Admiralty its position and uses its deck gun against the vastly superior warship. Captain Fein on the Gneisenau, worried about why a tiny freighter would fight back, takes additional time to stand far off and sink the vessel at long range. This requires 73 rounds of 11-inch and other ammunition. As the freighter sinks, Royal Navy battleship HMS Rodney appears on the horizon. Gneisenau and Scharnhorst quickly leave the scene at high speed as Rodney stops to pick up survivors.

German 408-ton patrol boat (former trawler) V-1106 collides with and sinks 2228-ton Norwegian freighter Varangnes in the North Sea off Esbjerg, Denmark.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping 150 miles southwest of Bloody Foreland. The planes sin 581-ton Royal Navy anti-submarine trawler Lady Lilian and damage 531-ton anti-submarine trawler Angle.  The latter makes it to Belfast in tow.

Norwegian 1174-ton freighter Elna E. hits a mine and sinks about 30 km south of Lundy Island. There is one death.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Aubretta collides with 238-ton British trawler Goosander. The corvette is out of action until the end of the first week of April.

German liner Bremen catches fire at Bremerhaven. The ship is ruined and must be scrapped. The ultimate conclusion is that the fire was set by a cabin boy who had been disciplined.

Convoy OB 298 departs from Liverpool.

A memorial plaque at Tower Hill to some of the crew of the Chilean Reefer, sunk on 16 March 1941 by Gneisenau.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Regia Aeronautica is active about 30 miles (50 km) west of Crete. They claim hits on two capital ships. When the Germans hear of this, they ask the Italian fleet to sortie in that direction to take advantage of the Royal Navy weakness there. In fact, the Italian pilots missed the ships and did not hit anything.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Parthian (Lt. Commander Rimington) torpedoes and sinks 3141-ton Italian freighter Giovanni Boccaccio near Palmi, Italy.

An Axis convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. There are five troopships/freighters with a heavy escort.

Pte RF Russell Dorset Regt, 16 March 1941 (Copyright Airborne Forces Archive 2007 by Airborne Forces administrator).

Anglo/US Relations: In discussing how he would like to communicate with the US government, Churchill tells Ambassador to the US Lord Halifax that he feels it inappropriate to communicate with any of Roosevelt's underlings - that is for his ambassador. He refers to the Gallup polls showing that aid to Britain is boosting Roosevelt's popularity and notes that "although they may not all realize it, their lives are now in this business too."

Spy Stuff: Winston Churchill sends a memo to Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Sir Horace Wilson that Ministers should not be "conversing freely" with the Irish De Valera government. This is because "It must be remembered that the German Legation in Dublin is in close touch with several of the Southern Irish Ministers." In essence, Churchill is accusing the Irish government of being nothing but a nest of spies.

US Military: The US Navy begins escorting convoys bound for Great Britain. The convoys will be met at a midway location and then escorted by the Royal Navy.

German Government: Adolf Hitler gives a major Heldengedenktag (Memorial Day) address at the Zeughaus in Berlin. He asserts that the war was "forced on" Germany by the Allied powers and calls British Prime Minister Winston Churchill "guilty." He accurately states that Germany beat Britain to the invasion of Norway "with just a few hours to spare," and calls the troops that invaded France "defense forces." He concludes that "The German Army is now the strongest military instrument in our history," and that in 1941 it will "end what started the year before."

China: At the continuing Battle of Shanggao, the Chinese are busy building defensive lines. The Japanese 11th Army prepares to attack on the 17th.

Chinese air ace Wong Sun-Sui passes away in a hospital from injuries that he sustained during an aerial engagement two days prior to that above Sumatou District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.

Future History: Charles Herbert Woolery is born in Ashland, Kentucky. After a tour in the US Navy, Woolery joins a musical group called The Bordermen, and also a singing duo called The Avant-Garde. With the latter group, Woolery gets a Top 40 hit with "Naturally Stoned" in 1968. Later, Woolery goes solo, with no success. After an unsuccessful stint acting, Woolery goes back to singing in the country music genre and hits the charts in the late 1970s. Around this time, he begins hosting Wheel of Fortune at the behest of show creator Merv Griffin. After a salary dispute, Woolery effectively is fired and replaced by Pat Sajak. Woolery then hosts a series of other shows and has some personal tragedies. Chuck Woolery remains active in the entertainment industry, and, as of this writing, co-hosts a long-form podcast, "Blunt Force Truth," with Mark Young.

Graziella Granata is born in Rome, Lazio, Italy. In the late 1950s, she becomes an actress in Italian films and Spaghetti Westerns. She is most famous for appearing as the vampire's victim in "Slaughter of the Vampires" (1962). She currently is retired from acting.

Italian actress Graziella Granata, October 1968 (Italian magazine Radiocorriere).

March 1941

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

2020

Saturday 21 December 1940

Damage to Waterloo Dock, Liverpool after the bombing of 20/21 December 1940.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks on 21 December 1940 continue pressing on through the snow and winds toward the secondary Italian port of Himarë (Himara). The 3/40 Evzone Regiment under Colonel Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos mounts a bayonet charge up the sides of Mount Pilur, capturing an Italian battery. They complete the capture of this mountain as well as the Kuç saddle, which opens up the valley of Shushicë.

I Corps, now comprising 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions, continues pressing up the heights that surround the town. The Greeks capture the heights of Tsipista northwest of the town, completing their removal of the Italian artillery. This forces the Italians, who have lost six artillery pieces, a mortar company, and other important equipment, to abandon the town during the night.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Liverpool and the Merseyside region again, badly damaging the docks and nearby warehouses. The manufacturing area of the city also receives extensive damage. The railway system is largely paralyzed by the attack. The Luftwaffe loses a Heinkel He 111 of 7,/KG 55 when it crashes upon returning to base in France.

The Italian Corpo Aereo Italiano chips in with its standard attack against Harwich.

RAF Bomber Command sends a small-scale raid against Berlin. The RAF also raids Porto Marghera, near Venice, hitting the docks and oil facilities.

The Leeds-Liverpool canal bank after the raids of 20/21 December 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-65 (K.Kapt. Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), having crossed the Equator on the 11th, spots unescorted 8982-ton Panamanian tanker Charles Pratt and sinks it at 16:05. Stockhausen attacks despite neutral flags painted clearly on the sides of the tanker, reasoning that it was "clearly" heading for an enemy port. The survivors spend a few days in lifeboats before being picked up by British freighters Gascony and Langleegorse. There are two deaths and 40 survivors.

Italian submarine Mocenigo attacks Convoy OG 47 in the Atlantic about 250 miles west of Freetown. There is only one escort, HMS Leith. The Mocenigo crew claims to have sunk three ships in the convoy, but the only known loss is 1253-ton Swedish freighter Mangen, which is hit at 21:17 with the second of two torpedoes (the other passes underneath the ship). Once hit, the Mocenigo goes under in three minutes and eight men perish. The Mocenigo later also shells 2473-ton British freighter Sarastone, a straggler from Convoy OG 47, which receives minor damage. The incident is odd because, despite the lack of other known ships lost in the convoy, two more explosions are heard in the dark - presumably other torpedoes that explode after they complete their runs. The survivors are lucky, as the convoy goes into emergency evasions immediately, but the rear ship on the port wing column, the Garm, luckily spots the lifeboats in the dark and picks them up.

The Luftwaffe raids on Liverpool continue to wreak havoc on shipping there. Two vessels are destroyed or sunk: HMS Maplin is set on fire, and 1293 ton British freighter Silvio sinks at the Alexandra Dock (one death). The damaged ships include 1777-ton British freighter Alpera, 5318-ton freighter City of Corinth, 5251-ton British freighter Demeterton, and 6256-ton Dutch tanker Onoba. Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia has a near-miss in dry-dock. Fortunately, when in harbor, most crewmen seek land shelters, though there are the occasional crews or crewmen that refuse to leave the ship - and pay the price.

In the River Mersey, 3071-ton British ferry Innisfallen hits a mine and sinks at the entrance to Canada Dock at Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire. There are four deaths, 216 survivors.

British 118 ton barge TIC.12 hits a mine and sinks. Everybody aboard survives.

Two tugs come to grief in the Thames Estuary. British 88 ton tug River Thames hits a mine and blows up. All the crew but one - the skipper - perish. British 196 ton tug Sun IX hits a mine and sinks between 1 and 2 Buoys, Yantlet Channel. There are three deaths.

German tug Anvers winds up on the rocks in the Chausey islands while ferrying across a barge from the mainland to the Jersey Channel Islands.

The Kriegsmarine lays a minefield, SWa, in the western part of the North Sea.

Convoy OB 262 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 364 departs from Southend, Convoys FS 366 and 367 depart from Methil.

Royal Navy anti-submarine warfare trawler HMS Cotillion is launched, and destroyer HMS Hursley is laid down.

U-651 launched, and U-173 and U-255 laid down.

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke receives the Oak Leaves (only the 7th granted) to the Iron Cross, backdated to 1 December 1940. Nobody knows it, but Schepke already has sunk his last ship.

Battle of the Pacific: German raiders Orion and Komet have been lurking in the vicinity of Nauru, a key source of phosphate, since 8 December. They don't want the phosphate - which is important for agricultural purposes - but rather to destroy the facilities there so that nobody else can. So far, they have sunk a few ships in the vicinity, but with no success actually attacking the facilities due mainly to poor weather.

Today, the two raiders journey to nearby Emirau and release prisoners from some of the ships they have seized. They disembark 343 Europeans and 171 Chinese and South Pacific natives. Emirau is inhabited by two European families, but they do not have a radio. Instead, they send a canoe to Kavieng in New Ireland so that the Australian government can take their new guests off their hands. The Orion keeps 150 prisoners because its captain reasons that the British need the sailors as badly as ships.

After depositing their prisoners on the island, Orion sails to Lamutrik and then Maug in the Mariana Islands for an engine overhaul. Supply ship Kulmerland, which has been tagging along to house some of the prisoners, heads off to re-supply at Japan. Komet remains in the vicinity, continuing to plot ways to disrupt Nauru's phosphate trade, which is virtually the only worthwhile Allied target for it in the Pacific Ocean region aside from shipping.

Cartoon character "Blabbermouse" in "Shop, Look and Listen," his second and final appearance for Warner Bros. in the Merrie Melodies series (Warner Bros).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The 6th Australian Division moves forward toward Bardia, where it will lead the upcoming assault. The Italians are surrounded on the landward side, but they show no signs of surrendering - as they have everywhere else.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, in Operation MC 2, sends nine Swordfish of RAF No. 815 and 819 Squadrons against an Italian convoy east of the Kerkennah Islands. They sink 1926-ton Peucenta and 6511-ton freighter Norge. The Luigi Rizzo also is hit but makes it to port. The Italian escort shoots down one of the Swordfish, killing the three crew.

Convoy MG 1 departs Malta bound for Malta, escorted by battleship HMS Malaya and eight destroyers. Several empty merchant ships that have been waiting there for the opportunity finally get away from Malta in this convoy.

German/US Relations: In a quote picked up by press agencies around the world, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman at the Wilhelmstrasse calls President Roosevelt's Lend-Lease idea, first floated by him only days before at a press conference, part of a policy of "pinpricks, challenges, insults, and moral aggression." Such a policy, he adds, is "insupportable," but everyone knows there is nothing to deter the United States from doing everything it wants to do to support England, short of an outright German declaration of war.

Gadsden, Alabama, 21 December 1940. People are getting in their last Christmas shopping (John Vachon, Library of Congress).

Norwegian/German Relations: The Justices of the Supreme Court of Norway resign. This is in response to a letter from Reichskommissar for Norway Josef Terboven dismissing the concerns of the Justices. The Justices had written him in November disputing the government's right to hire and fire judges at will - in Norway, judges are elected. Terboven shot back a letter telling the Justices that it "was recommended" for them to mind their own business and that the German government was not subject to any legal restrictions.

Terboven simply makes clear in his letter that Norway is no longer an independent country and is under military rule. This really does not surprise anyone, but it gives the Norwegian Justices the impetus to make a big decision. The Justices send Terboven a resignation letter which states:

[T]he courts have, under Norwegian constitutional law, a duty to review the validity of laws and regulations.... We cannot conform to the view of judicial power expressed in the Reichskommisar's letter without violating our duties.

(Former) Norwegian Chief Justice Paul Berg becomes a leading figure in the resistance movement after resigning.

US/Vichy France Relations: U.S. chargés d'affaires to the Vichy French government Robert D. Murphy and French General Maxime Weygand, Delegate-General to the North African colonies, meet in Dakar, Senegal. The Americans believe that Weygand is a good political alternative to both Marshal Henri Petain and Charles de Gaulle, neither of whom is looked upon with much favor in Washington. This is the beginning of extensive American meddling in murky Gallic politics during the war.

US/Chinese Relations: Claire Chennault, an air advisor to the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, and T.V. Soong meet with Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau. They brainstorm how to form fund an American Volunteer Group in China to help fight the Japanese - with whom the US is not at war. This meeting will lead eventually to the famous Flying Tigers.

Swiss/Soviet Relations: The Swiss government severs diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union.

US Military: Captain Richmond Kelly Turner, director of war plans for the US Navy, completes WPL-44 (Navy Rainbow Three). This plan for the first time institutes a "Germany first" policy within the US military, relegating the Pacific theater to a defensive posture should the US find itself at war with both Germany and Japan. Essentially, US naval forces would adopt a defensive posture in case of aggression by the Japanese and shift resources to the Atlantic.

The army hates this plan, partly because this was purely a naval staff planning exercise and they were not consulted - and never, ever discount the importance of inter-service rivalries. However, the army generals do have some grounds for objecting. Recall that the US Army still controls the air force (the US Army Air Corps), so it does have ways (in theory) of taking the war to Japan immediately from bases in the Philippines and Guam. However, Naval Secretary Knox approves the plan - and it is difficult to believe that Rainbow 3 was not at least in concept all or partly his idea in the first place. Some feel in 1940 and afterward that the US would be quite capable of offensive action against Japan upon the outbreak of war. This theory will be put to the test in almost exactly one year as if it were a laboratory experiment. A definitive answer will result.

Rainbow 3 is an interim plan, and planners from both the army and navy immediately begin working together on a new plan that will become Rainbow 5 in the spring of 1941. Somewhat ironically, it is the US Navy that later will raise Winston Churchill's ire by prioritizing the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Separately, the US Marine Corps 7th Defense Battalion completes its move to Pago Pago, Tutuila, American Samoa.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill travels to Shell Mex House in The Strand to meet with Sir Andrew Duncan of the Ministry of Supply. Among other things, they review Britain's supplies of mustard gas, the offensive chemical used during World War I with great lethal effect but subsequently banned. Britain, he learns, has 1485 tons of mustard gas, and 650 additional tons is being produced.

F. Scott Fitzgerald passes away on 21 December 1940.

American Homefront: Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald passes away at his home in Hollywood, California from a heart attack at age 44. Fitzgerald wrote some of the classics of American literature, such as "The Great Gatsby" and "The Love of the Last Tycoon."

"Frenesí" (Spanish for frenzy), recorded on 3 March 1940 by Artie Shaw and his orchestra with an arrangement by William Grant Still, hits No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. The song remains there for 13 weeks and on the charts for 23 weeks altogether. It is the second most popular song of 1940 and also one of the most remembered songs of the war years by American servicemen.

Warner Bros. releases "Shop, Look and Listen" (a variation on the well-known railroad expression "Stop, look, and listen"). This is the second and last cartoon to feature the character Blabbermouse. Voiced by Mel Blanc, Blabbermouse never catches on with audiences.

Future History: Frank Vincent Zappa is born in Baltimore, Maryland. Frank starts out in the school band as a drummer, then develops a somewhat unique fascination with the music of classical composer Edgard Varèse. While at Antelope High School, Frank meets Don Vliet (born on 15 January 1941), and they become close friends. Frank begins composing rock music while still in school, and after graduation writes and produces songs for other local artists. Joining a local band known as the Soul Giants, Zappa catches on as co-lead singer, and the band changes its name first to Mothers, and then to Mothers of Invention. After the band disbands, Frank becomes a successful solo musician, reforms the band, and becomes one of the top musicians of the era, along with Don Vliet, who adopts the name "Captain Beefheart." Frank Zappa passes away in 1993.

Baked Alaska in a shelter - The New Yorker, 21 December 1940.

December 1940

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

2020

Wednesday 18 December 1940

The Curtiss XSB2C Helldiver prototype in flight, December 1940.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues on 18 December 1940 Fuhrer Directive No. 21, "Case Barbarossa." Among all of Hitler's orders to the Wehrmacht, this one stands out as the most fateful. The Directive outlines the structure of a proposed invasion of "Soviet Russia in a rapid campaign ("Case Barbarossa")." Hitler personally chose the word Barbarossa for its historical connotations of a crusading Emperor fighting for the preservation of a Christian Europe.

Preparations are to be "concluded by 15th May 1941." The intent is to destroy the "bulk of the Russian Army stationed in Western Russia... by daring operations led by deeply penetrating armored spearheads." A barrier will be erected "against Asiatic Russia on the general line Volga-Archangel." This line evidently would run roughly from Astrakhan north along the Volga via Stalingrad.
Hitler orders that the main theater of operations is to be north of the Pripet Marshes, with two army groups in that portion of the front. One, the Northern Army Group, is to head in the "general direction" of Leningrad. "Only after the fulfillment of this first essential task," namely the destruction of Soviet forces operating in the Baltic area, "will the attack be continued with the intention of occupying Moscow, an important center of communications and of the armaments industry." The southernmost army group, that below the Pripet Marshes, is given short very shrift in the order - it is to operate from Lublin toward Kyiv and "destroy all forces west of the Dnieper (river) in Ukraine." Only general tasks are to be handled by the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. This is to be primarily an army operation, with other services providing support and/or occupied elsewhere.

One of the dozen copies of Hitler's Directive No. 21, showing numerous security clearances and acknowledgments.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The tempo of British operations begins to fall quickly today. Having gained extensive territory and huge numbers of prisoners, the British forces begin some consolidation in southeast Libya in the Sollum/Fort region. Advanced mechanized units are firing on Bardia, but it will take some time to assemble troops for a proper assault.
Australian troops are being brought forward, including the 16th and 19th Australian brigades, to lead assaults on Bardia and the strategically important port and fortress of Tobruk. These troop movements will take roughly two weeks to complete. The British troops are aided by the fact that the Italian strong points, such as Fort Capuzzo, are in excellent shape due to the minimal amount of fighting there.

In Malta, it is the coldest winter in 17 years. Snow even falls on the higher elevations, an unusual occurrence. Two workers at the Malta Dockyard, B J Lewis, Chargeman of Fitters, and Frank Mallia, Chargeman of Labourers, are awarded the George cross for protecting an anti-aircraft gun hit by bomb splinters during an air raid on 24 September. There also is an air raid today by one bomber which causes some damage in the dockyard. The RAF shoots down the bomber.

Convoy MW 5B, the fast part of the MW 5 convoy, departs from Alexandria for Malta. Many of the British air and naval operations over the coming week will be intended as distractions from this convoy.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek 3rd Infantry Division continues struggling forward from Porto Palermo toward Himara on the Adriatic coast. The weather is terrible, but the Greeks are making progress toward capturing the tactically important Giami high ground. The Greeks are readying a coordinated assault on the port on the morrow. The RAF bombs the port of Valona, while the Italians use their fleet to bombard the Greeks along the coast. The Royal Navy also is active along the Albanian coast, with battleships HMS Valiant and Warspite joining in with the RAF's attack on Valona.

European Air Operations: The RAF returns to Mannheim during the night with 17 aircraft in a classic follow-up raid to the recent terror raid. The RAF also attacks the submarine pens at Lorient. The Luftwaffe is very quiet today.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British Admiralty knows there are strong German forces operating in the Atlantic, and, despite allocating significant forces to track them down, so far has been unable to find them either in the South Atlantic or near the Azores/Canary Islands. Today, it tries again, sending aircraft carrier HMS Formidable and heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk as Force K to search the South Atlantic once again. They join aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and light cruiser HMS Dragon and armed merchant cruiser HMS Pretoria Castle on the search in the South Atlantic, and also cruisers HMS Cumberland, Newcastle, Enterprise, Dorsetshire and Neptune searching a little further north. Admiral Scheer is actually about 800 miles south of the Cape Verde Islands, and it's a big ocean.

Separately, battleship HMS Nelson and battlecruiser HMS Repulse depart from Scapa Flow for tactical exercises west of the Orkneys. Admiral Scheer's crew, meanwhile, is feasting off the massive bounty of fresh eggs and meat taken with the 8651-ton British refrigerated ship Duquesna, just captured off the Brazilian coast.

U-96 (Kplt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) torpedoes and damages 10,746-ton Dutch tanker Pendrecht in Convoy OB 259 along the Western Approaches. The Pendrecht, like other tankers, is difficult to sink. The crew abandons ship, but then re-boards it and makes it to Rothesay under escort. U-96 later spots battleship HMS Repulse but is unable to attack.

U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke) torpedoes and sinks 10,116-ton British passenger ship Napier Star. There are 71 deaths (including 12 passengers), with the 15 survivors (including three women) rescued by Swedish freighter Vaalaren (some sources say there were 84 deaths). This is the last victory for Schepke and U-100, a very successful submarine, and its penultimate patrol.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna, operating off the Gironde in the Bay of Biscay, sinks 172-ton French tug Chassiron. Earlier, it attacked but missed Italian submarine Brin, which was returning to its base at Bordeaux.

The Luftwaffe (Focke Wulf Fw 200 of I,/ KG 40) attacks and sinks 1010-ton British tanker RFA Osage off County Wicklow, Ireland. The Luftwaffe also damaged 2697 ton British freighter Tweed. Everybody survives these attacks.

Royal Navy 258-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Refundo hits a mine and sinks (after being taken under tow) off Harwich. There are two deaths.

German 6322-ton freighter Birkenfels hits a mine and sinks off the Scheide.

German vorpostenboot (flak ship) V-403 hits a mine and sinks in the Westerscheide (Western Scheldt).

British coaster Ability hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary near Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

Italian submarine Veniero torpedoes and sinks 2883 ton Greek freighter Anastassia. The Anastassia had been in Convoy SC 15, which dispersed. There are 18 deaths, and ten crew are made prisoners of war. The Anastassia actually drifts for some time is and sighted by another ship two days later, but it is a total loss and only a hazard to navigation after this.
Convoy WS51 ("Winston Special") departs from the Clyde and Liverpool. Faster units of the convoy will wait and depart later. The Winston Special convoys are destined for the Middle East and carry troops, tanks, and other supplies and equipment.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triton is declared lost after failing to return to Malta on the 17th. There are 54 deaths and no survivors.

Convoy HX 97 departs from Halifax, Convoy BN 11 departs from Aden.

Canadian corvette HMCS Chambly (K 116, Lt. Commander Frank C. Smith) is commissioned.

The SS Napier Star, Joachim Schepke's final victory.

Anglo/US Relations: Having just arrived in London, Colonel "Wild Bill" Donovan meets with Winston Churchill. Churchill briefs Donovan on the situation in Spain, Turkey, and the Balkans, Donovan's destinations.

German/Vichy French Relations: Fernand de Brinon becomes the Vichy French ambassador to the Germans occupying Paris. De Brinon is seen as quite sympathetic to the Germans and has had five private talks with Hitler during the 1930s. He also is friendly with German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop.

German Military: German 2nd SS Division "Das Reich" is in the process of transferring from the Netherlands to northern France. ith it goes Otto Skorzeny, who has gained some prestige within the Wehrmacht for designing a clever ramp for loading tanks on barges.

Soviet Military: General Andrey Eremenko (Yeryomenko) becomes Commander in Chief of the North Caucasus Military District. Eremenko is a tank expert, as shown during the conquest of eastern Poland in 1939, and has acquired the nickname "the Russian Guderian" - which is both a compliment to him and to General Heinz Guderian.

British Military: In a decision made long before, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park of No. 11 Group, the most prestigious Air Group and the one that defends London, is replaced by his long-time nemesis Leigh-Mallory of No. 12 Group. He and Air Marshal Dowding have been essentially cashiered due to political infighting within the RAF, though both have done sterling work. Once Dowding was removed from his position atop Fighter Command and replaced by Sholto Douglas, Park's removal was a given, as Park and Dowding continually supported each other during the Battle of Britain. Coincidentally, Dowding departs for the United States today aboard liner Leopoldville as part of his duties for his sinecure position within the aircraft production area. For his part, Park is going to some training duties.

US Military: The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver makes its maiden flight. The plane is reputed to have issues with its small vertical tail, but the flight is without incident.

Heavy cruiser USS Louisville makes port at Bahia, Brazil as part of its "Show the Flag" mission in Latin America.

Boston College Eagles players on their way to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. About 5000 fans, including Boston's Mayor, see them off at the station on 18 December 1940 for the game to be held on 1 January 1941. (Don't tell them - they win).

British Homefront: Winston Churchill visits Harrow School, his alma mater, for the first rendition Harrow songs (he makes these visits annually). After commenting that Hitler had described the war as being between those who had been through the German schools and those who had been at Eton, Churchill comments, "Hitler has forgotten Harrow." Meanwhile, the Queen makes a tour of ambulance services and ARP depots. Her daughter, the future queen, will work in a motor pool herself, and the Queen may be thinking ahead.
German Homefront: Strangely enough, Hitler also gives a speech to students today, at the annual rally of young officer cadets at the Berlin Sportpalast. In it, he compares the populations of nearby nations to that of Germany and finds injustice in the amount of land that Germany occupies relative to its population - quite an interesting rationale for war:

There are approximately 85 million Germans in Germany. I do not even include in this figure our Low German Volksgenossen. England, the British Empire, has barely 46 million Englishmen at home. The French Empire has barely 37 million Frenchmen at home. Even the American Union, minus Negroes and Jews and Latinos and Germans, has barely 60 million true Anglo- Saxons. Russia has barely 60 million Great Russians. 

And even today the unified racial core in Germany remains the largest by far; not only in value, in itself highly significant, but also in numbers, it is the greatest. By contrast, if we compare the percentage of Lebensraum occupied by the German Volk to that of the earth as such, then we must remark that our Volk is one of the most disadvantaged peoples of the world. Barely 600,000 square kilometers, in fact about 140 persons per square kilometer. 46 million Englishmen rule, control, and organize about 40 million square kilometers. Barely 60 million Great Russians rule an area of about 19 million square kilometers. About 60 million Anglo-Saxons within the American Union determine life within an area which encompasses about nine and a half million square kilometers. 37 million Frenchmen rule over life in an area of nearly ten million square kilometers. 

In other words: the German Volk, in terms of the space it occupies, is by far the most modest there is on this earth.

Hitler also justifies his actions - which, of course, are top secret, but the day's Directive obviously is what he is commenting upon here - from a candidly Darwinian perspective:

Truly, this earth is a trophy cup for the industrious man. And this rightly so, in the service of natural selection. He who does not possess the force to secure his 'Lebensraum' in this world, and, if necessary, to enlarge it, does not deserve to possess the necessities of life. He must step aside and allow stronger peoples to pass him by.

This jibes nicely with Fuhrer Directive No. 21 issued to the Wehrmacht today. It is quite possible that he intended this address to serve as a companion piece to the Directive for historians.

Cine illustrato, 18 December 1940.

December 1940

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

2020