Saturday 21 September 1940

A Heinkel He111 tactical bomber of KG/54's commanding officer (Geschwaderkommodore) Oberstleutnant Ernst Exss strafes 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards Headquarters, late morning, September 21, 1940. ​

Battle of the Atlantic: With the Battle of Britain winding down on 21 September 1940, the real action shifts out to sea. It is a busy day for the U-boat fleet. In two separate areas, they cause the Royal Navy problems. The Royal Navy, for its part, also has plans in the works for a major operation.

The wolfpack assembled by Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien in U-47 and U-boat Control (BdU) shadows Convoy HX 72 throughout the night. The convoy, about 400 miles west of Ireland, has over 40 ships, temporarily, no escorts.

U-99 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) gets things rolling with a series of attacks between 03:12 and 04:47. It torpedoes and sinks 9154-ton British tanker Invershannon. There are 32 survivors and 16 perish.

U-99 then torpedoes and sinks 3668-ton British freighter Baron Blythswood. All 34 aboard perish.

U-99 then torpedoes and sinks 5156-ton British cargo ship Elmbank. There are 54 survivors and 2 men perish.

U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt) then torpedoes and sinks 4409-ton British timber freighter Blairangus at 06:14. There are 28 survivors and 6 men perish.

The five escorts from England for Convoy HX 72 - sloop Lowestoft, destroyer Shikari and 3 corvettes, Calendula, Heartsease, and La Malouine - arrive during the afternoon to find a convoy in ruins. However, the newly arrived escorts don't do much good. The wolfpack continues to shadow the convoy, waiting for darkness.

U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke) takes its turn later in the morning. At 23:10, it fires off several torpedoes in quick succession.

U-100 first torpedoes and sinks 8286-ton British refrigerated freighter Canonesa (Master Frederick Stephenson). There are 62 survivors and one man perishes.

U-100 then torpedoes and sinks 4608-ton British freighter Dalcairn (Master Edgar Brusby). All 42-48 (sources vary) on board survive.

U-100 also torpedoes and sinks 10,364-ton British tanker Torinia, which has a full load of fuel oil (13,815 tons). There are 50 survivors, five crewmen perish.

Shortly afterward, U-48 finds another target. At 23:38, it torpedoes and damages 5136-ton British freighter Broompark, carrying lumber and metal. One man perishes. Most of the crew abandon ship, but the master and mate shift ballast and bring it back to an even keel. This enables them to restart the engines and make port. Master Olaf Paulsen receives the OBE and Lloyds War Medal for Bravery at Sea.

U-138 (Oblt.z.S. Wolfgang Lüth), meanwhile, is still shadowing Convoy OB 216 further east. At 02:27, it torpedoes and badly damages 5145-ton British freighter Empire Adventure. The crew abandons ship, but the burning hulk remains afloat. It sinks on the 23rd after being taken in tow. There are 18 survivors and 21 men lost.

Elsewhere, Canadian sailing ship Imogen runs aground in rough weather on the east coast of Nova Scotia and is lost.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna (Captain "Ginger" Cavenagh-Mainwaring) torpedoes and sinks 7230 ton captured Norwegian freighter Tirranna near Bordeaux. The Tirranna had been captured by the German raider Atlantis in the Indian Ocean. It carries 274 crew from the British freighter Kemmendine and other ships sunk by the Atlantis. There are 86 deaths of the captured British crewmen (sources vary) and one death among the 19-man prize crew. News of the sinking of the Tirranna is picked up by the Atlantis a week later and seriously damages morale.

The Royal Navy sets its ships in motion in final preparations for Operation Menace, the attack on Dakar. Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleships HMS Barham and Resolution, and cruiser HMS Devonshire lead an armada of smaller ships out of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Included are French sloops Commandant Domine, Commandant Duboc and Savorgnan De Brazza. Already at sea patrolling off Dakar are cruisers HMS Cumberland and Dragon and HMAS Australia. The Cumberland returns to Freetown on a quick stop to refuel, and cruiser HMS Dorsetshire also is on the way to Freetown from Simonstown. All of the ship movements are intended to come together on the 22nd to form the greatest striking force of the Royal Navy in the war to date.

Convoy FN 287 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 288 departs from Methil, Convoy OB 217 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 75 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 75 departs from Bermuda, Convoy BM 1 departs from Bombay.

F/O Francis N "Fanny" Brinsden undertakes a cockpit check of Spitfire Mk I QV-B prior to takeoff from RAF Fowlmere. 21 September 1940.

Battle of Britain: The subject of the Polish pilots comes up over dinner conversation at 10 Downing Street. The No. 303 Polish Squadron has been leading the RAF in victories, and it is not a particularly close race. Everybody tries to quantify just how good they are. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ventures that one Polish pilot is worth three French pilots. Lord Gort, however, demurs, along with Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. The ratio is not 3:1, they opine, but more along the lines of 10 to 1. The Polish pilots are more "seat of the pants" flyers who do not rely on radio and radar, and they also are a little older and better trained.

Bowing to the inevitable, the British government officially recognizes the London Tubes as air-raid shelters. The subway trains shut down at night anyway, so the stations are quiet. The stations, which usually close during the night, already have been converted into makeshift aid stations, bunk beds, pantries and other accouterments of civilization. The government itself already is using the tunnel on the Aldwych branch to store antiquities from the British museum, such as the Elgin Marbles. The British also have constructed many massive underground bunkers in discreet locations to protect government officials in case of an invasion.

The weather is fine again, but the Luftwaffe, as has been its practice recently, gets a late start. The morning is occupied with reconnaissance flights and an occasional lone "pirate" raider, such as a single Junkers Ju 88 of LG 1 which attacks the Hawker Aircraft Factory and leaves some unexploded bombs. There are small raids on RAF Biggin Hill and RAF Kenley, but the defending fighters from those fields and RAF Croydon prevent any damage.

Around 18:00, a large force of about 200 aircraft attacks in the waning daylight. They focus on Fighter Command fields south of London. The Duxford "Big Wing" rises in response, along with the usual squadrons of AVM Keith Park's No. 11 Group.

London and Liverpool are hit during the night. The London East End and the docks, as usual, suffer the worst.

Handling unexploded bombs has turned into a major project for the British. At Ipswich, a 1000kg "land mine" has to be blown up where it lands, creating a crater 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep. It destroys an estimated 70 houses and damages 750 more, with a lot of broken glass. At the Hawker Aircraft Factory, Lt. John MacMillan Stevenson Patton of the Royal Canadian Engineers tows a bomb to a nearby bomb crater to detonate it. He receives the George Cross. Lt-Cdr Richard John Hammersley Ryan and CPO Reginald Vincent Ellingworth perish as they are trying to defuse a magnetic mine in a warehouse (both earn the George Cross posthumously). Another man, Leonard John Miles, also earns the George Cross when he perishes while warning others of a nearby unexploded bomb.

Overall, it is one of the quieter days of the battle. Losses on both sides are in the single digits. Adolf Galland of JG 26 downs a No. 92 Squadron Spitfire west of Ashford for his 37th victory. He is just behind Werner Mölders, who receives the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal for being the first fighter pilot to achieve 40 victories on the 20th

Parts of a Dornier Do 17 lie on a London rooftop near Victoria Station. 21 September 1940.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues attacking the Channel ports as the Germans disperse their barges. They have been quite successful in decimating the barges, sinking just over 10% of the total assembled. Coastal Command also attacks shipping near Boulogne and near Borkum and Ameland.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF bombs Sidi Barrani and makes reconnaissance flights across the desert. The South African Air Force chips in as well. The Italians, for their part, raid Alexandria and Haifa, with the latter a particularly productive raid.

At Malta, the police are instructed to investigate shops for hoarding. These spot checks are authorized by The Food and Commerce Control Officer (FCCO). Shortages, the FCCO reports, are appearing in common staples despite supplies of these items on hand that are known to be adequate. The theory is that the owners of stores that have large hoards figure they will be able to charge high black-market prices in the event of real shortages. Homeowners, too, are stockpiling staples.

Bulgarian/Romanian Relations: The Bulgarian 3rd Army takes possession of Southern Dobruja, incorporating it into Bulgaria per the agreement with Romania.

The New York World's Fair parking lot, 21 September 1940. It is in its final weeks and remains busy. The Fair is widely considered to be a creative success, drawing a total of 45 million visitors and generating $48 in revenue. Financially, however, the Fair is a failure, losing tens of millions of dollars, and the Fair Corporation declares bankruptcy. Many Pavilions of combatants such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union left the fair after the first season, and Germany did not participate at all. Many European staffers cannot return home at the Fair's end and seek employment in the United States. This results in the founding of several excellent restaurants.

Australia: General elections are held. The results announced in October reveal that Prime Minister Robert Menzies has increased vastly his own personal popularity, perhaps as a show of support for the war. Overall, the results are:

• United Australia Party, 24 seats; 
• Country Party (allied with UAP), 14 seats; 
• Labour, 32; 
• Non-Communist Labour, 4. 

One imagines that PM Winston Churchill in England draws some comfort from these results as a show of support for the war, although technically Labour is the largest party in both the House and the Senate.

In addition, the government announces that another division, the 9th Australian, will be raised.

American Military: The Greenslade Board, reviewing the new US bases obtained from the British in the destroyers-for-bases swap, departs from Boston for Argentina aboard the cruiser USS St. Louis.

American Homefront: The James Cagney flick "City for Conquest" opens. It also stars Ann Sheridan and Arthur Kennedy.

The Carolina Times, 21 September 1940.

September 1940

September 1, 1940: RAF's Horrible Weekend
September 2, 1940: German Troopship Sunk
September 3, 1940: Destroyers for Bases
September 4, 1940: Enter Antonescu
September 5, 1940: Stukas Over Malta
September 6, 1940: The Luftwaffe Peaks
September 7, 1940: The Blitz Begins
September 8, 1940: Codeword Cromwell
September 9, 1940: Italians Attack Egypt
September 10, 1940: Hitler Postpones Sealion
September 11, 1940: British Confusion at Gibraltar
September 12, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Approved
September 13, 1940: Zeros Attack!
September 14, 1940: The Draft Is Back
September 15, 1940: Battle of Britain Day
September 16, 1940: italians Take Sidi Barrani
September 17, 1940: Sealion Kaputt
September 18, 1940: City of Benares Incident
September 19, 1940: Disperse the Barges
September 20, 1940: A Wolfpack Gathers
September 21, 1940: Wolfpack Strikes Convoy HX-72
September 22, 1940: Vietnam War Begins
September 23, 1940: Operation Menace Begins
September 24, 1940: Dakar Fights Back
September 25, 1940: Filton Raid
September 26, 1940: Axis Time
September 27, 1940: Graveney Marsh Battle
September 28, 1940: Radio Belgique Begins
September 29, 1940: Brocklesby Collision
September 30, 1940: Operation Lena

2020

Saturday 7 September 1940

Fires on the docks light up ships. London dockyards, 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

Battle of Britain: While "The Blitz" is often used as a sort of generic synonym for the Battle of Britain. In fact, it is a separate, though related, affair. The Battle of Britain often is assigned the start date of 10 July 1940 and involves air and naval attacks on all parts of Great Britain. The Blitz, by which we mean focused Luftwaffe attacks on London, begins only on 7 September 1940 (though with preliminary attacks commencing as early as 22 August 1940). This is known as the start of "Phase III" of the Battle of Britain, a joint day/night offensive against London that lasts for several weeks.

The British government has issued the code word "Cromwell" to all of its commands. This means that an invasion is expected on short notice. All local British forces are placed on high alert. At the main base of Scapa Flow, the fleet is brought to 1-hour's notice, and the crews of the destroyers are kept at action stations throughout the night. HMS Repulse leads a patrol out of Scapa Flow headed for Iceland.

The Surrey Commercial Dock, London. 7 September 1940. (AP Photo/Staff/Worth).

The Blitz: After his big broadcast speech on the evening of the 6th announcing the Luftwaffe's change in strategy, listened to by many in England as well (those who understand German, anyway), Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering assembles his cronies at Cap Blanc Nez. From there, they can watch the armada of Luftwaffe planes heading for England. Perhaps to accommodate his schedule, the bombers get a late start. It isn't until almost noontime that any activity occurs, and this only by Bf 109s acting as fighter bombers. There's no hurry, the battle is won already anyway - according to the Reichsmarschall.

These first Messerschmitts drop their loads on RAF Hawkinge and Dover. The RAF sends up No. 66 Squadron, but it basically just monitors the attack and does little to intervene. It loses two planes to mechanical difficulties - a sign of the strain that the RAF has been under. They crash-land on the way back to base.

Early in the afternoon, the bombers finally get in the air and head across toward London. They are from Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 and Stumpf's Luftflotte 5 (KG 26 and 30 transferred south from Norway). The British radar stations pick them up at 15:40 and follow them across the Channel. It is a raid of about 1100 aircraft which includes almost 400 medium bombers, about 200 Bf 110s carrying bombs, and an escort of 650 Bf 109s.

The bombers cross the coastline and then break up into different formations, as usual. Typically in the past, this has meant attacks on separate airfields. Fighter Command reacts accordingly, getting fighters into the air over their own stations. However, this time they all head south toward London. Even now, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park at 11 Group assumes that the targets are airfields, and he plans his fighter defenses accordingly. Park gets 20 Squadrons into the air over the airfields and the Thames estuary. Leigh-Mallory at 12 Group has plenty of time to assemble his "Big Wing," but they still are assembling when the Luftwaffe appears over London.

The first bombs drop on the southern side of the Thames, around the entrance to London's dockland and the docks near Woolwich Arsenal. Bombing accuracy is good, as the weather is fine and the RAF fighters are elsewhere. The Harland & Wolff shipbuilding factory, a munitions factory at Woolwich, the Queen Victoria docks, the King George V docks, the Royal Albert Docks, the Millwall docks, the Wapping docks, the St. Katherine's Docks, and the entire surrounding area is hit with devastating effect. The Woolwich Arsenal blows up after its stored gunpowder ignites. Several ships in port are hit, with several sinking and almost two dozen damaged. The entire area is dry due to the late-summer heat, and soon everything is on fire. The fires rage close to London Bridge, but it is spared.

Dornier Do 17 bombers over London, 7 September 1940.

The East End then gets hit. This is a mixed residential/commercial area. Areas hit include Canning Town, East Ham, West Ham, Poplar, Silvertown, Stratford, Wapping, and Whitechapel. The Germans use incendiary bombs that work well on the dry wood of the buildings in the slums around these areas. The East End docks are hit over and over and soon are a massive blaze.

The RAF reacts, but as the first wave of bombers leaves, another arrives. This time, Leigh-Mallory's "Big Wing" is ready, but they get mixed up with the bombers that have already dropped their loads and are scurrying back to France. Thus, the fighter defense does little to prevent further raids on London.

The attacks continue after dark. At 20:22, another wave of about 250 bombers crosses the Kent coastline, this one from Sperrle's Luftflotte 3. Unescorted, they head straight for the burning docklands along the Thames, which serve as a beacon visible for miles. They drop a further 333 tons of bombs and 13,000 incendiaries.

A still from camera-gun film taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark I of No. 609 Squadron RAF, flown by Flying Officer T Nowierski. Ahead is a formation of Dornier Do 17Zs of KG3 south-west of London at approximately 5.45 pm on 7 September 1940. Tracer bullets from the intercepting Spitfires can be seen traveling towards the enemy aircraft which are heading back to their base after bombing East London and the docks.

Goering makes another broadcast to the German people in the evening. The day's losses in the air favor the RAF - about 40-50 Luftwaffe losses versus around 25-30 British fighters (figures vary wildly by source) - but the Blitz is now a reality. There are 430-448 civilian deaths, 1337 other serious casualties, serious damage to the industry, and countless people made homeless.

The RAF airfields and other installations, though, are largely untouched and get a chance to begin recovering from the against them in recent weeks. Deadly as the day has been, it is the beginning of the RAF's recovery, much like a cancer patient receiving his or her first chemotherapy. It also is the first day of the rot that begins eating away at the Luftwaffe's substance.

There are many acts of heroism during this first day of the Blitz. Albert Ernest Dolphin, a porter at the Emergency Hospital, South Eastern Hospital, New Cross, London saves the life of a nurse when a wall begins to fall on her, costing his own. He posthumously earns the George Cross, a civilian award equivalent to the Victoria Cross. He is listed on a memorial mural in Lewisham Shopping Centre, a true hero of the Battle of Britain.

The Luftwaffe once again loses a number of valuable pilots, including a number of aces. The German fighter pilots blame this on having to act as escorts to the bombers. The fighters are much slower than the bombers, and it takes continual effort to remain above them and to mimic their movements.

Kommodore Major Mölders of JG 51 downs a Spitfire over London for his 34th victory, the most in the Luftwaffe. Oblt. Helmut Wick of 6./JG 2 gains his 25th victory by shooting down a Spitfire. Major Hannes Trautloft of Stab./JG 54 gets his seventh victory, a Hurricane over Maidstone. Numerous other pilots get multiple victories during the day, as the Experten improve with a daily dose of practice.

Oblt. Gordon Gollob joins II,/JG 3 on the Kanalfront after a stint at Rechlin.

Oblt. Helmut Lent joins the night fighter unit at Deelen, Holland, 6,/NJG 1.

The mills at the Victories Docks (below at left) show damage wrought by the Luftwaffe attacks of 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command, no doubt reacting to the advisory about an invasion likely within three days that the government issued on 6 September, focuses most of its attention on the Channel ports. They are full of barges assembled for the cross-channel invasion. These raids are raised to heroic proportions in the later collection of stories in the book "Their Finest Hour." The crews get much satisfaction watching their bombs drop amongst the barges and watching pieces of them fly into the air. Other attacks are made on the Ruhr industrial valley, such as on the Krupps factory.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a bad day for the British at sea. The Germans try out new wolfpack tactics that pay quick dividends.

U-boat U-65 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen), having alerted U-47 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien) to the location of Convoy SC 2 about 80 miles west of Malin Head in the Outer Hebrides, gets to watch as Kplt Prien works his magic. Beginning in the early morning hours, he insinuates U-47 within the convoy on the surface and then has his pick of targets. This tactic, extremely bold, negates the advantage that the British escorts have with their ASDIC (sonar) equipment. Of course, it also leaves the submarine vulnerable to surface fire, but in the massive confusion caused by his attack, Prien is able to make a clean getaway.

First, U-47 targets 5155-ton British sugar freighter Neptunian. After missing with two torpedoes at 03:36 and 03:45, Prien scores a hit at 04:04. The ship capsizes seven minutes later. All 36 aboard perish.

The Neptunian sinks on 7 September 1940.

Rather than disperse, a planned maneuver at times of attack, the convoy resorts to zig-zagging. This makes Prien's job more difficult, but he keeps at it.

Next, Prien targets 5303-ton British freighter José de Larrinaga, which is carrying scrap metal and linseed oil. This ship has the same name as a ship sunk by U-boats in 1917, and it meets the same fate. Torpedoed at 05:15, it breaks in two after eleven minutes. All 40 crew perish.

U-47 then torpedoes and sinks 5155-ton Norwegian wheat freighter Gro at 05:33. This ship also has the same name as a ship sunk in 1917, and also meets the same fate. This ship also breaks in two and sinks within ten minutes. Eleven of the crew perish, 21 others escape in a lifeboat and are picked up by another freighter on the 10th

With daylight approaching, Prien then makes a clean getaway with over 15,000 tons more of shipping under his belt. However, the gathering wolfpack is not done with Convoy SC 2 just yet.

German S-boats S-33 and S-36 torpedo and sink 5799-ton Dutch freighter Stad Alkmaar just east of Lowestoft, Suffolk. The ship is traveling with Convoy FS 273. Some sources say that everybody survives, others that 14 crew perish.

The Luftwaffe attacks on the docks of London catch a number of ships there. While only a few are sunk (and later refloated), about 20 others are damaged.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British 6007-ton special purposes vessel HMS Inkosi at the Royal Albert Dock in London. The Inkosi is a converted refrigerated ship. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 5985-ton special purposes ship HMS Inanda at the Royal Albert Dock in London. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British tug Beckton at the Beckton Gas Works in London.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 7906-ton Dutch freighter Abbekerk in London. Sunk in shallow water, she can be salvaged and repaired. This is just one incident in an eventful war for the Abbekerk.

British trawler Salacon hits a mine and sinks about 6 miles southeast of Spurn Point, Yorkshire. Four men survive, while eight others perish.

British 687 ton armed yacht HMY Rhodora collides with 505-ton cargo ship Ngatira in the Bristol Channel near Cardiff and sinks.

Kriegsmarine patrol boat Niendorf hits a mine and sinks off the Pas de Calais.

British naval trawler HMT Abronia, in use as a minesweeper, sinks in the River Thames for unknown reasons. There are five deaths. Sinking in shallow water, she can be salvaged.

A crater at Elephant & Castle made on 7 September 1940. (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Malta, there is a large raid on Grand Harbour at 12:30 that is very accurate. It targets Vittoriosa and the dock area nearby. The raid is conducted by 11 SM 79 bombers escorted by 24 CR 42 biplane fighters. There are four civilian deaths, a mother and her three young children of ages 1-5. The Italians lose one or two bombers, with two defending Hurricanes damaged.

A bomb sinks the tug HMT Hellespont at Surgery Wharf, Sheer Bastion, but is salvageable. Other vessels also are badly damaged. Some civilian workers dig an unexploded bomb out of the Dockyard canteen at great risk to themselves and carry it away from the area, which it would have destroyed. Overall, it is one of the most effective Italian raids to date.

Romania: Former King Carol II makes good his escape from Romania as Iron Guard members take potshots at his train. He heads through Yugoslavia for his ultimate destination, Switzerland, where his fortune (the national treasury) is at his sole disposal.

Paraguay: After President Marshal Jose Felix Estigarribia perishes in a plane crash during a tour of the Paraguayan interior, he is succeeded by Colonel Higinio Morínigo.

Vichy France: The Petain government continues its arrests of former leaders during the Battle of France. Today, it takes into custody Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud and Maurice Gamelin. They are interned at Château de Chazeron for the time being.

Dornier Do 17 KG76 over West Ham, London, September 7, 1940.

September 1940

September 1, 1940: RAF's Horrible Weekend
September 2, 1940: German Troopship Sunk
September 3, 1940: Destroyers for Bases
September 4, 1940: Enter Antonescu
September 5, 1940: Stukas Over Malta
September 6, 1940: The Luftwaffe Peaks
September 7, 1940: The Blitz Begins
September 8, 1940: Codeword Cromwell
September 9, 1940: Italians Attack Egypt
September 10, 1940: Hitler Postpones Sealion
September 11, 1940: British Confusion at Gibraltar
September 12, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Approved
September 13, 1940: Zeros Attack!
September 14, 1940: The Draft Is Back
September 15, 1940: Battle of Britain Day
September 16, 1940: italians Take Sidi Barrani
September 17, 1940: Sealion Kaputt
September 18, 1940: City of Benares Incident
September 19, 1940: Disperse the Barges
September 20, 1940: A Wolfpack Gathers
September 21, 1940: Wolfpack Strikes Convoy HX-72
September 22, 1940: Vietnam War Begins
September 23, 1940: Operation Menace Begins
September 24, 1940: Dakar Fights Back
September 25, 1940: Filton Raid
September 26, 1940: Axis Time
September 27, 1940: Graveney Marsh Battle
September 28, 1940: Radio Belgique Begins
September 29, 1940: Brocklesby Collision
September 30, 1940: Operation Lena

2020

Wednesday 21 August 1940

Junkers Ju 88A-1 (B3+BM) of 4./KG 54. It crash-lands on Marsh Farm, Earnley, Sussex, on the evening of 21 August 1940. It was intercepted by RAF No. 17 Squadron Hurricanes during an attack on RAF Brize Norton.

Battle of Britain: It is another blessed day (for the RAF) of poor flying weather on 21 August 1940. This gives the ground people time to repair damaged planes, bulldozers a day to clear runways, and future pilots a quiet day in class. There are various small-scale Luftwaffe operations, but generally, it is just another wasted day from the Luftwaffe's perspective.

Just after noon, a Luftwaffe formation of Dornier Do 17s from KG 2 and KG 3 crosses the coast near Norfolk and splits up into two separate groups to attack toward Norwich and Hull.  RAF No. 242 Squadron intercepts effectively and disrupts the attack on Norwich, but the Hull formation continues onward. RAF No. 611 Squadron intercepts them near the coast at Skegness. Both sides take losses, and it turns out that the Dorniers were after a coastal convoy but the fighter interception prevents that. Heavy cloud cover provides a means of escape for many of the bombers.

The Luftwaffe also mounts small raids against airfields and oil installations in the southwest of England. RAF St. Eval, Binbrook, Watton and Stormy Down suffer minor damage. There is a sequence of confused bomber missions intercepted by RAF fighters from Nos. 56, 234, and 238 Squadrons which cause varying amounts of damage to both sides. RAF pilot Douglas Bader shoots down a Dornier Do 17 off Great Yarmouth.

The Luftwaffe sinks 178-ton British hulk (storage ship) Kendal and hopper barge James No. 70 at Woolston. It also bombs and sinks paddle steamer Kylemore in the North Sea off Harwich.

Coaster Letty sinks in Liverpool Bay, perhaps due to a Luftwaffe attack.

The Luftwaffe damages small British ships Alacrity and Wolseley in the English Channel not far from Falmouth.

After dark, the Luftwaffe sends lone raiders against such targets as Aberdeen, Harwich, the Firth of Forth, the Humber and a few other spots. It also drops some mines along the North Channel coast.

RAF Bomber Command makes daylight raids on Luftwaffe airfields throughout northwestern Europe. After dark, it raids oil installations at Magdeburg and Hanover (and the nearby airfield at Quakenbrück), airfields at Cam and Abbeville, the island of Texel off the north coast of Holland, and railway installations in the Ruhr industrial region and the Rhineland.

The day is pretty much a wash, with Luftwaffe losses around 15-20 planes and RAF losses 10-15. There is not much Luftwaffe fighter activity, which shows that the German bombers - contrary to legend - are quite capable of downing attacking fighters. It is worth pointing out that the poor weather is making bombing accuracy extremely difficult, and more and more bombs are dropping on civilian areas unintentionally (at this stage).

Johann Schalk, an Austrian Zerstörer ace, receives the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (Honor Goblet). The Honor Goblet goes to someone who already has the Iron Cross First Class and does something to deserve special recognition, but is not seen to merit the Ritterkreuz at this point. Schalk is the first airman to receive this award.

Pilots of No 242 Squadron RAF group around S/L Douglas RS "Dougie" Bader (front center) at RAF Duxford in 1940. Bader, of course, had lost both legs in December 1931 and been retired, but he returned to the service in 1940 and became an ace. His story was well-known and respected by pilots on both sides of the Channel.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-48 (K.Kapt. Hans-Rudolf Rösing) fires and misses at two different freighters in the Northwest Approaches.

British 339 ton freighter Letty hits a mine and sinks between Liverpool and Ireland, all hands are lost.

Danish cargo vessel Anø hits a mine and sinks in the Kattegat. Four of her 12 crew perish.

Italian submarine Dandolo torpedoes and damages Dutch tanker Hermes about 200 miles off of Lisbon. Large tankers are notoriously difficult to sink due to their construction.

Four minelayers leave Loch Aish to lay minefield SN.1 in the North Sea.

A long-range Junkers Ju 88A of 9,/KG 30 performs reconnaissance over Ireland as a form of training, but its engines fail and it crashes into the sea off Berwick. Two of the four crew survive.

Convoy OA 202 departs from Methil, Convoy FN 259 departs from Southend, Convoy RS.5 departs Durban for Aden.

U-141 (Oberleutnant zur See Heinz-Otto Schultze) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British submarine HMS Rorqual attacks a couple of freighters in a convoy just off Ras al Helal, Cyrenaica, Libya. It misses, then suffers an extended depth charge attack which it survives.

At Malta, there is an attempted air raid at 15:20 which results in no bombs dropped.

The SS Anglo Saxon.

War Crimes: German raider Widder has been operating between the coasts of Brazil and Africa. Today, it spots 5594-ton British tramp steamer Anglo Saxon roughly midway between the two continents and attacks. The Widder uses its machine guns on the survivors as they are evacuating the ship, with the intention of leaving no survivors in the open ocean (this is later confirmed by examining the wreckage). In addition, the Widder is alleged by a survivor (there are only two out of a crew of 41) to have fired on the lifeboats after being launched. Widder Captain Ruchteschell later lamely claims to have given an order to cease fire but further alleges that the crew could not hear it over the noise of battle. This is a clear war crime (so a court later finds). It is the only time a German raider commits a war crime that results in prosecution and conviction.

US Military: Destroyers USS Walker and USS Wainwright continue their "Show the flag" operation and arrive at Pará, Brazil.

Romanian/Bulgarian Relations: The Romanian government agrees to cede more territory to a neighbor, this time giving up Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. It does this under German pressure, and perhaps some off-the-record promises of what may happen in the future.

Soviet Government: Leon Trotsky passes away in Mexico from the injuries suffered by the ice pick attack, ordered by Stalin, by undercover NKVD agent Ramón Mercader on 20 August.

British Government: In a gesture of solidarity with its allies, the House of Commons votes to allow training in the UK of foreign government troops (Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc.) under their own flags.

Adolf Galland. Many consider him the greatest fighter pilot of all time.

German Government: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering continues the Luftwaffe purge that he began on 20 August. The changes include appointing Adolf Galland as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 in place of Gotthard Handrick and appointing Oblt. Gunther Lützow as Kommodore of JG 3 in place of Oblt. Karl Vieck. Galland is still at Carinhall to receive an award (where he has been lobbying against the new close escort doctrine to no avail). He is due to return to JG 26 tomorrow, 22 August, when the command change takes effect.

The general tenor of the command changes is to replace older Luftwaffe officers with younger, more aggressive pilots who have proven themselves in this war. Many of the rank and file pilots truly like their older commanders, though, and these changes usually do not help unit performance anyway because the older commanders don't fly much (and the changes often hurt morale). The changes are not arbitrary, and in many instances make extremely good sense (as in the promotion of Galland), but there is a large element of scapegoating, too.

Vichy France: Hitler Youth chop down the "tree of liberty" planted in Saverne, Alsace after the end of World War I.

Leon Trotsky late in life, apparently looking at a picture of himself in the newspaper. Trotsky remains a cult political figure in the 21st Century.

August 1940

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

2020

Friday 9 August 1940

Adolf Galland points out a target during a pre-sortie briefing (Einsatzbesprechung). The man second, from the right of the photo, is Oblt. Gerhard Schöpfel, Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 26. August 1940.

Battle of Britain: After a couple of fairly sunny days, the weather on 9 August 1940 turns nasty again, with clouds and heavy rain. Still, some operations continued. Operation Eagle (Adlerangriff) remains on standby alert for better weather.

A lone raider bombs the Sunderland shipyard at 11:40. RAF No.79 Squadron intercepts and shoots it down shortly thereafter. While lone bombing runs sound benign, they can be quite deadly: this one kills four people and injures 78. The bomber causes extensive damage not only to the shipyard but also to a railway bridge, a hotel, and several houses.

Another lone raider attacks Flamborough Head and also is shot down, this time by effective anti-aircraft fire.

A lone raider bombs Erdington, beginning the "Birmingham Blitz."

Liverpool districts Prenton and Wirral are bombed for the first time.

A pair of Bf 109s, apparently with bored pilots looking for a thrill, strafe Dover Harbour late in the afternoon. Nothing comes of it, and the fighters are shooed away by the RAF.

The RAF's recent spate of accidents and miscues, almost certainly due in large part to the strains of the conflict, continues. A Hurricane of RAF No. 605 Squadron has some sort of engine trouble and crashes off Dunbar, killing pilot Sgt. R. Ritchie. Later, a Blenheim bomber of RAF No. 600 Squadron is operating near the coast when British Flak units open up on it as well as a nearby Bf 109, sending it down. The two crew both survive, and 8,/JG 2 takes credit for the "kill."

During the night, the Luftwaffe (KG 26) attacks Northumberland port and railway facilities, causing 73 casualties. Another attack on Filton Airfield near Brighton around midnight involves some leaflet dropping as well as bombs.

The Luftwaffe has begun using Guernsey Island airfield in the Channel Islands, so RAF Bomber Command raids Guernsey airfield. It is the first raid on the Channel Islands since the Luftwaffe raid at the end of June, and it sets airfield buildings ablaze but does not interfere with operations. Friederich Schumacher becomes the new German administrator of the islands.

RAF raids take place on Poulmic (Brest), Flushing oil works, Ludwigshafen and Cologne.

Overall, it is a fairly uneventful day, which is probably quite welcome to both sides after the wild events of 8 August. Both sides lose 4 or 5 planes.

Adolf Galland's Bf 109 during August 1940. If you look closely, you can see 22 victory marks on the rudder.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-30 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) sinks 5779-ton Swedish freighter Canton around 70 miles west of Ireland at 20:32. Half of the 32-man crew perish. Canton is an "independent" without escort, and they are the easiest targets once spotted.

Convoys OA 196 and MT 135 depart from Methil, Convoy FN 247 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 247 departs from the Tyne.

British corvette HMS Erica (K 50, Lt. Commander William C. Riley) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: There are no air raid alerts on Malta during the day. Governor-General Dobbie reports that ammunition stocks are running low and that supply estimates must be raised by 50% from pre-war estimates. He needs ammunition, and fast.

The RAF raids Tobruk.

British Somaliland: Italian fighters raid Berbera. South African Air Force planes bomb Italian positions at Neghelli airfield in Abyssinia. Italian land forces are approaching the British positions around Berbera cautiously.

Romanian/Bulgarian Relations: Bowing to German pressure, Romania agrees to cede Southern Dobruja (Dobrogea de sud) to Bulgaria, with the 100,000 population to be re-located within Romania. The official agreement is not yet signed.

A Heinkel He 111 over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain.

Anglo/US Relations: Recent comments by Ambassador to Belgium/Luxembourg John Cudahy have irked both the US and British governments. Cudahy has been complaining about the food shortages developing amongst the civilian populations of the Low Countries due to the British blockade. German soldiers have been going to private residences and requisitioning food stocks, exacerbating the problems for the local population.

Cudahy has strongly hinted that humanitarian assistance should be allowed through the blockade. The British take special umbrage to this. No doubt due to British complaints, Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles reads a formal statement to a press event which states that Cudahy's comments "are not to be construed as representing the views of this government" and that the incident:

illustrates once again the importance which must be attributed by American representatives abroad to the Department's instructions to refrain at this critical time from making public statements other than those made in accordance with instructions of the Department of State.

Interestingly, the statement does not say that Cudahy is wrong or mistaken, just that he has spoken out of turn. What Cudahy has said in fact is true, but it not "politically correct."

German Military: The first directive for the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, now code-named "Otto," is issued. Colonel-General Alfred Jodl issues the Aufbau Ost ("Reconstruction East") directive which requires preliminary infrastructure improvements in the eastern section of Germany and occupied Poland to facilitate an invasion of the Soviet Union.

US Military: US heavy cruisers USS Wichita and Quincy make port at Pernambuco, Brazil during their "Show the Flag" mission to Latin America. Meanwhile, destroyers USS Wake and Wainwright depart Santos, Brazil for Rio de Janeiro, and gunboat USS Erie leaves the Panama Canal Zone for Ecuador on the same mission.

Bill Donovan briefs President Roosevelt and US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on his findings in Europe.

Holocaust: A special income tax surcharge of 15% is imposed on Polish citizens living in the Reich for the costs of the German occupation of Poland.

Free France: Charles de Gaulle announces that he has the support of French in New Hebrides.

Albania: There is a local rebellion in the north of Italian-occupied Albania. Troops are sent to "pacify" the region by burning down villages.

China: The British decide to pull back around Shanghai and Tientsin province to avoid further tensions with Japan. The troops are "needed elsewhere."

British Homefront: German radio, which is widely listened to in Great Britain (broadcasting in perfect English), continues to stoke fear and panic. They announce, for instance, that swarms of parachutists are standing by to drop in England wearing British uniforms.

German troops stage a victory parade on Jersey, 9 August 1940, watched by a British bobby. While this may appear ostentatious and dull, in fact, the Germans loved giving parades and marching band concerts to islanders who, banned from using the radio, had few entertainment outlets. The Germans found that such events helped islander morale, and they staged them throughout the war. The issue of collaboration remains a very sensitive topic to this day on the Channel Islands; it is fair to say that relations are correct, if not cordial.

August 1940

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

2020

Sunday 21 July 1940

A Bf 110C-4 reconnaissance-fighter formerly of 4.(F)/14 that was forced down at Goodwood, England on July 21, 1940. It was subsequently repaired with parts salvaged from another crashed example. Both sides maintained armories of working enemy equipment for testing, spy missions and (often, but not always) use in combat.

British Government: There are some historians who consider 21 July 1940 the day when all possibility of peace talks between Germany and Great Britain was completely eliminated. As such, it may be a seminal date in history that is completely unknown to the public at large, but worthy of knowing about for true students of the war because it reveals the state of play at this critical juncture.

Churchill is at his country estate at Chequers during the morning and is reading through his daily intercepts (courtesy of the Enigma program at Bletchley Park) when he spots a message to Berlin from the German ambassador in Washington. The ambassador is informing Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop that the British ambassador there, Lord Lothian, had discreetly enquired for Germany's terms for peace.

Churchill is shocked. He supposedly is in charge of the government, and he has authorized no such thing. In the politics of the era, even opening discussions about "terms" is seen as a sign of weakness. Churchill, during the May cabinet crisis along similar lines, had emphatically shown himself to be against all peace initiatives. The British ambassador in Washington is freelancing, and Churchill decides to put a stop to it.

Churchill springs into action. He tells Lord Halifax, in charge of the Foreign Office, that his ambassador to Washington is strictly forbidden to talk to the German ambassador at all. Churchill sends a telegram to Lord Lothian telling him the same thing, to stop all communication. Further investigation reveals that the communications between the two had been clandestine, through a US Quaker (pacifist) intermediary. Lord Lothian is popular and competent but is acting outside his portfolio.

There also is speculation among some historians that during a later meeting this day with Sir Charles Portal, the Commander-in-chief of RAF Bomber Command, Churchill - with the peace issue directly on his mind - orders Portal to provoke the Germans by bombing Berlin. The objective would be to have the Luftwaffe bomb London and other English towns in retaliation (which Hitler has been avoiding because, as stated in his 16 July 1940 Fuhrer Directive about Operation Sea Lion, he would rather get a peace deal). Bombing Berlin, according to the theory, would escalate matters such that no peace talks would ever be possible. However, there is no proof of this rather convoluted conspiracy theory.

A German propaganda leaflet dropped on London following Hitler's 19 July 1940 "Last Appeal to Reason" speech to the Reichstag.

Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping during a day of fine flying weather.

In the morning, there is an unsuccessful attack on convoy "Peewit" by bomber squadron KG3, escorted by KG27. The RAF intervenes and loses a fighter, with no shipping damage. There is another raid on the convoy in the afternoon, which again is dispersed by the RAF. During the melee, a Bf 109 of JG27 and a Hurricane of Squadron No. 43 collide and fall into the sea.

Dornier Do 17s attack shipping off of Scotland, with the loss of a bomber.

There are scattered raids on Great Britain itself. A raid over Goodwood produces no results except the loss by the Luftwaffe of a Bf 110 (repaired by the RAF). A Bf 109 shoots down a Hawker Hector biplane and in turn is shot down by RAF No. 238 Squadron.

There also are raids over the West Country, with attacks on Leeds, Church Fenton, Tyneside, and nearby areas.

Fighter Command re-positions its forces, sending No. 152 Squadron of Spitfires from Warmwell to Middle Wallop and No. 253 Squadron of Hurricanes to Turnhouse.

While the RAF fighters are holding their own, the losses at this point in the battle are difficult to replace. No. 603 Squadron is down to three Hurricanes, and No. 263 Squadron is down to four.

The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, also is shifting fighters around. The remainder of JG26, II and III groups, join the advance party at Calais. They are using old British World War I airfields. I,/JG52 moves to Bayreuth, further strengthening Luftflotte 2, the air fleet carrying the main attack on England.

Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering is confident. He tells the commanders of the three Luftflotten facing England that convoys remain the priority, small attacks over wider areas are preferred, and that he does not want critical British installations destroyed which might be of use after an invasion. Goering centralizes where and what to attack.

The strategy at this point is to lure the RAF fighters into the air, where they can be gradually eliminated through combat. The Luftwaffe needs to destroy Fighter Command for an invasion to be possible, and it can't do that if the fighters remain hidden on the ground. The Achilles Heel of the RAF, meanwhile, is not a lack of planes, but of pilots.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks oil installations at Rotterdam and Bremen, factories at Wismarj, Bremen, Rotenburg, Kassel, and airfields all along the Channel coast.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-30 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) stops 712-ton British timber freighter Ellaroy about 180 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Portugal at 16:00. After disembarking the crew, the U-boat sinks the freighter at 22:39. All 16 aboard survive after being picked up by passing Spanish trawler Felix Montenegro.

The Luftwaffe sinks 2318 ton British freighter Terlings 10 miles southwest of St. Catherine's Point. There are 18 survivors, 10 crew perish. The Luftwaffe also damages Norwegian tankers Kollskegg and Nina Borthen in the same general area.

British submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines off Cyrenaica en route to Alexandria. It also sinks Italian freighter Cello.

Troopship Gibraltar departs from Gibraltar carrying evacuees headed to Madeira.

Convoy OB 187 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 228 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 227 departs from the Tyne, Convoy HG 39 (18 ships) departs from Gibraltar.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Regia Aeronautica bombs and sinks 3600-ton Finnish freighter SS Whirl about 20 miles southwest of Malta. The 26 survivors (no casualties) reach the island and request asylum.

At Malta, there are air raid alerts in the morning, with the attackers driven off by anti-aircraft fire without any bombs being dropped. The Regia Aeronautica mounts many of these half-hearted attacks throughout the campaign. One Italian plane is damaged and presumed by the British to be lost. The RAF loses a Swordfish torpedo plane sent up to investigate the incident. A London flying boat sent later on the same mission spots the downed Italian bomber, but in turn, is attacked by CR 42 fighters. The flying boat shoots one of the fighters down and escapes.

Housing on Malta is growing short. Some residents return to their bombed-out homes near the harbor after finding nothing acceptable anywhere else.

A Fiat CR 42 Falco 156G379SA 379, based at Comiso, Sicily.

Romanian/Bulgarian Relations: Under pressure from Berlin, King Carol and the Romanian government cede Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. Tensions between Romania and its northern and southern neighbors are steadily brewing, but there is little that Romania can do about the situation - yet.

Soviet/Baltic States Relations: With puppet governments in place, Molotov has them vote for a union with the USSR, to become sister Republics. The Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics are established. Latvian President Ulmanis tries to flee to Switzerland but is apprehended by Soviet authorities and sent to Siberia.

British/Czech Relations: The British grant official recognition to a provision Czech government-in-exile, headed by Dr. Edvard Benes as President and Jan Sramek as Prime Minister.

Latin American Relations: Foreign Ministers of the 21 American Republics arrive in Havana, Cuba for the start of talks about regional political and economic cooperation.

German Government: Hitler again mentions during an army (OKH) conference that the Soviet Union is a potential target at some point in the future. With Hitler's prestige enormous after the victory over France, nobody challenges him. Army Commander-in-chief Walther von Brauchitsch begins to work up some preliminary ideas for further discussion. During the conference, he states that England's situation is "hopeless" and that victory over the USSR would be "easy, easier than France." This can be considered the true start of planning for Operation Barbarossa.

British Homefront: Evacuation of schoolchildren continues, today from Eastbourne. The children are being sent to what amount to boarding houses, with many children staying with the same families in the countryside. Parents visit as they can on weekends, but travel is difficult in wartime England.

Head of the Library of Congress Archibald MacLeish with British Ambassador Lord Lothian (right) posing in front of the Magna Carta, being maintained in Washington during hostilities in part due to the latter's negotiations.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020