Monday 9 June 1941

Adolf Hitler greets Croatian strongman Ante Pavelić at the Berghof, 9 June 1941 (US Holocaust Memorial Museum).

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The British invasion of Syria, Operation Exporter, continues on 9 June 1941. The main battle is at the mouth of the Litani River. The 21st Australian Brigade heading for Beirut must cross the river to reach its goal of Beirut, but the British Commandos sent to seize the important Qasmiye bridge over the river can't land due to rough seas. The French thus have time to destroy the bridge.

The 420 Commandos (British No. 11 (Scottish) do land - but in daylight. This deprives them of the element of surprise, a key advantage of Commando forces. They arrive in three different places, and the French barely notice them because they are fighting the advancing Australians. Subsequently, the Commandos under Lieutenant Colonel R.L. Pedder (Highland Light Infantry) serve as infantry and take heavy casualties (including Pedder himself, who is replaced by Geoffrey Keyes). By dint of hard fighting, the Commandos and some Australian troops of the 2/16 Australian Brigade do land on the other side of the river by using canvas boats. Australian engineers immediately begin building a pontoon bridge, which they complete after midnight.

The French use armored cars to counterattack the bridgehead, but the Commonwealth troops hold their position. The war then becomes active out at sea. Vichy French destroyers Valmy and Guépard sortie to bombard the British troops in the bridgehead. It is one of the few times during the war when British troops face naval bombardment (which turns out to be quite inaccurate).

The Royal Navy quickly responds by sending destroyer HMS Janus, followed by New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Leander and. Destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kimberley are nearby bombarding the Khan Bridge, and they also sally against the Vichy French destroyers. The Australian shore-based artillery also fires at the attacking French ships.

Faced with overwhelming firepower, the French ships withdraw to Beirut, chased by destroyers Hotspur, Isis, and Jackal. However, before they go, the French ships damage two of the British ships, destroyers Janus and Jackal, the former badly. Janus must be towed to Haifa by Kimberley, taking two British ships out of the fray. Jackal, only slightly damaged by one shell strike, stays in service.

French submarine Caiman is operating off the Syrian coast. It attacks British light cruiser HMS Phoebe. However, the attack fails and the Phoebe is undamaged. The incident induces the British to withdraw their ships to Haifa.

Elsewhere, Australian troops capture Fort Khiam but are stopped there. Free French 1st Infantry Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade advance to Kissoue south of Damascus.

The Luftwaffe, as in Iraq, has a very minimal presence in Lebanon and Syria. The Vichy French, though, have a formidable array of new fighters, including the new Dewoitine D.520. The RAF sends Gloster Gladiators from Amman to support the advancing British trips on the road to Damascus.

The outcome of the day's fighting is that the advancing Commonwealth troops are slightly behind schedule but still crossed the river. The road to Tyre, and beyond to Beirut, is now accessible.

RAF Bomber Command sends 18 planes on a sweep of the French coast.

East African Campaign:  The 3/15th Punjab Regiment in Aden prepare to invade Assab, the last Italian port on the Red Sea, on 10 June. This is Operation Chronometer. Destroyer HMS Dido heads out during the night to bombard the port just before sunrise on the 10th.

Kapitänleutnant Herbert Kuppisch of U-94, St. Nazaire, France, 9 June 1941 (Buchheim, Lothar-Günther, Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-3495-04).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass), on its 12th patrol out of St. Nazaire and in the mid-Atlantic southwest of Ireland, torpedoes and sinks 5623-ton British freighter Phidias. There are 8 deaths and 43 survivors.

While U-46 has one more patrol to go, this is its last sinking. During its career, U-46 has sunk 20 merchant ships of 85,792 tons, two auxiliary warships of 35,284 tons, and damaged five other ships (one written off). After its next uneventful patrol, U-46 serves as a training boat with the 26th U-boat Flotilla.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient in the mid-Atlantic west of Ireland, torpedoes and sinks 1190 ton British freighter Trevarrack. All 45 men onboard perish despite Mengersen seeing three lifeboats launch.

The Luftwaffe (Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 40) bombs and sinks 942-ton British freighter Diana southeast of Iceland. There is one death, the survivors are taken aboard ASW trawler Cape Portland.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 844-ton British freighter Dagmar south of Bournemouth. There are three deaths.

The Luftwaffe (Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 40) bombs and sinks 1894-ton Finnish freighter Fenix west of the Faroe Islands and southeast of Iceland. There is one death.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages 174-ton British freighter Remagio off Bamburgh, Northumberland in the North Sea. The crew abandons the ship, and it drifts ashore. Efforts are made to salvage it, and eventually, it will be refloated and repaired. Some sources place this incident on 8 June.

Belgian 5382-ton freighter Persier, beached during a storm east of Vik in Myrdalur, Iceland in February, breaks her keel while being towed to the Kleppsvik Strand and is beached again.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Urge attacks an Italian freighter northwest of Lampedusa but misses.

The NEF continues expanding its support services at St. John's when auxiliary oiler HMS Clam arrives.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Zetland (L59) is launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Saskatoon ( Lt. Joseph S. Scott) is commissioned, minesweepers Canso (North Vancouver) and Granby (Quebec) are launched.

HMS Zetland (L59), launched at Glasgow, Scotland on 9 June 1941. It later became Norwegian destroyer KNM "Tromsø."

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British continue assembling their forces for Operation Battleaxe, another attack on the Libyan frontier south of Tobruk. Tanks finally arrive at the front in General O'Moore Creagh's units. Operation Battleaxe now is scheduled for 15 June. The 15th Panzer Division (General Walter Neumann-Silkow) is the main defender of the frontier.

Spanish 2421 ton freighter Sabina hits a mine and sinks 40 miles (74 km) off Genoa, Italy. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy landing barge SD15 "Leaving" makes it to Sidi Barrani from Crete. It is sailed by an English and Australian crew who stole the craft from the Germans. It is one of the last escape boats from Crete.

In Malta, there is an uproar because they find out there is an Axis informant on the island. Lord Haw-Haw, who makes propaganda broadcasts from Berlin, mentions that gas respirators on Malta feature yellow flaps. The flap is to differentiate British soldiers from enemy invaders who also are wearing gas masks. However, the islanders get some good news when two captured Italian aviators deny that an invasion force is being assembled in Sicily.

RAF fighters shoot down an Italian SM-79 bomber off Malta, and perhaps another, and two others are damaged. The RAF loses a Hurricane.

Chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains, Greene County, Georgia. The photograph was taken in June 1941 by Jack Delano (original color photo, Library of Congress LC-USF35-599).

Spy Stuff: Light cruiser HMS Neptune arrives in Gibraltar. It lands German prisoners and captured documents from German supply ship Gonzeneheim.

German Military: The Wehrmacht continues assembling along the Soviet border. The Luftwaffe now is transferring planes to forward airfields. Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, remains scheduled to begin on 22 June.

From Berchtesgaden, Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 31, "German Military Organisation in the Balkans." It intends to "establish a clear and unified system of command in the occupied areas of the Balkans." He appoints Field Marshal List, still in the region following his command of German forces during Operation Marita, as the first Commander Armed Forces Southeast. He lists other appointments in the region to be filled by others. The order seeks to ensure the "coordinated defense" of the region, both from external and internal (partisan) threats. He sets the organization and establishment of Crete as the "most urgent task confronting us in the southeast" due to its usefulness to the Luftwaffe. The Italians shall occupy the eastern portion of Crete, but be subordinate to the Wehrmacht. This Directive supersedes Fuhrer Directive No. 29 of 17 May "in so far as it is superseded by the above orders."

Hitler calls his top generals to the Berghof for the final planning of Operation Barbarossa. While the plan is finalized, there remains quite a bit of disagreement about the proper objectives of the advance - Hitler prefers to focus on the southern prong to secure the grain of the Ukraine and Soviet oilfields, while some generals feel that Moscow in the center is the proper objective.

Canadian Military: Leading Airman W. McCulloch of 31 SFTS Kingston, Ontario, is killed when his Battle crashes near Gananoque, Ontario during training.

US Military: The US military terminates plans to occupy the Azores in the event of a German invasion due to military intelligence indicating that Hitler has no plans to invade Spain and Portugal.

Funeral of Kaiser Wilhelm, 9 June 1941. Leading the dignitaries is Field Marshal August von Mackensen.

Dutch Homefront: The funeral of former Kaiser Wilhelm II takes place in Doorn. The family decides that it must respect the Kaiser's wishes for a funeral in Doorn due to his position that he would never return to Germany unless the monarchy were restored. The Wehrmacht sends an honor guard, and German Commissioner Arthur Seyss-Inquart attends. While Hitler, who desired a state funeral in Berlin, does not attend, he makes sure that Swastikas feature prominently at the funeral.

British Homefront: The UK establishes a national Fire Service Council. This results from issues arising during the Blitz from fire services in one town not wishing to help fight fires elsewhere - or only doing so for a price. The 1400 local fire brigades are merged into 32 regional brigades.

Original caption: "The Busiest Man is the Boss. Complete relaxation comes to Walt Disney every day at the noon hour when he strolls around the paths of his studio at Burbank, Calif. In the background are some of the staff who helped produce "The Reluctant Dragon," the latest Disney feature-length film." Dated 9 June 1941.

American Homefront: The former Governor of Ohio and Democratic candidate for US President in 1920 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt as his running mate), James Cox, gives the commencement address at the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta. In his speech, entitled "We are Now Nearing the Fateful Hour," Cox states in part:

I have never believed, nor do I now, that the need will come of sending our soldiers overseas. It is machines not men that we must supply.

This capsulizes the Isolationist view, that the US should not get entangled in overseas wars, but it is fine to give them the weapons with which to fight.
Future History: John Douglas Lord is born in Leicester, England. In 1968, Jon Lord co-founds rock group Deep Purple. Lord retires from the band in 2002 and passes away in 2012. John Lord is posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 8 April 2016 for his work with Deep Purple.

U-46, which gets its final victory today, becomes the subject of "Das Boot" (1981), directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Jürgen Prochnow, which is based on the novel by Lothar G. Buchheim.

Benito Mussolini on the cover of Time magazine, 9 June 1941.

June 1941

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

2020

Wednesday 4 June 1941

Babe Ruth attends the open casket funeral of Lou Gehrig. June 4, 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: The pro-British government in Iraq on 4 June 1941 is now firmly installed. Regent Prince Abdullah is in charge. The British continue mopping up, solidifying their control over Mosul and negotiating surrenders where necessary.

The Japanese Ambassador in Baghdad, Miyazaki, sends his counterpart in Ankara, Turkey a cable reporting the British takeover in Iraq. The Turkish ambassador, Kurihara, sends Tokyo a blunt message:

Unless some direct and summary measures are taken by Germany and Italy in following up this recent incident, it is feared that the whole Arabian movement will be severely hampered in its development. At this time, when it is thought that the Iraqi oil field pipeline and the railroad line connecting this city with Basra has been destroyed, British interests chiefly lie in the Habbaniya base which serves as a point in air and land transport from Trans-Jordan. Inasmuch as there are large oil reserves maintained in underground reservoirs and other subterranean facilities, please do your very utmost to have the German and Italian authorities bomb this base immediately.

The Germans and Italians, however, no longer have any airplanes with the ability to bomb targets in Iraq.

"On June 4, 1941, at No. 1 Air Navigation School in Rivers, Manitoba, a trio of Commonwealth airmen walk down a line of Avro Ansons to the aircraft that will carry them on a navigation training flight. From left to right are Sergeant J. A. Mahood, Royal Air Force, Sergeant E.M.D. Romilly, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Sergeant W.H. Betts, Royal Australian Air Force." PHOTO: PL-3738, DND Archives.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends planes from 2 Group, Nos. 18, 107 and 139 Squadrons to attack Dutch airfields. The RAF also sends 54 aircraft on anti-shipping missions.

Four Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111s of III./KG 27 bomb the Bristol area during the night, around 02:30 on the 4th. The targets are airfields and aircraft factories at Cheltenham and Bristol. The Germans bomb some buildings and destroy a Gloster plane on the ground. The Luftwaffe loses a Junkers Ju 88C in a separate intruder mission when it flies into a hill at Skelder Moor near Whitby just after midnight - all three crew perish.

After dark, the Luftwaffe attacks the Midlands and Medway areas. These attacks do not cause much damage, the bombs falling on the undeveloped ground.

RAF Fighter Command conducts Roadstead operations over occupied France.

There is fighter action over Folkestone. Feldwebel Janke and Fw. Helmut Jürgens of IV./JG 51 record claims.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Rühl of 1./JG 53 goes missing in Bf 109 F-2 "Black 3" (W.Nr. 6707) near Dover following aerial combat with Spitfire fighters (he apparently collides with a Spitfire). Rühl has five victories. This is Rühl's second time in the Channel, the first having been on 2 September 1940. In the earlier instance, Rühl was picked up by a Dornier Do-18 rescue plane, but this time he is not found.

The British record in the British Home Security Situation Report that for the week ending at 06:00 on 4 June 1941, there were about 178 deaths due to the Blitz, with 185 seriously injured.

New Castle News, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 4 June 1941.

Gideon Force is disbanded. Orde Wingate is reduced in rank to that of major. He leaves for Cairo, Egypt. The reduction in rank may be related to friction he has had with higher British authorities regarding decorations and back pay for his men. Wingate is very put out by his peremptory treatment - he is not even given leave to say goodbye to his comrade in the jungle, Emperor Haile Selassie - and he determines to write an angry report about his experiences and the British officers who have obstructed his efforts on behalf of Abyssinian freedom. At this time, Wingate already may be infected with malaria, though he does not yet show symptoms.

June 4, 1941: Lou Gehrig's funeral/members of the High School of Commerce bow their heads with their gloves and caps in hands and pay respect to their hero.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy continues seeking out the Kriegsmarine's supply vessels throughout the North and South Atlantic. Today, the British find and dispose of three such vessels:

1. 8923-ton tanker Gedania (captured by ocean boarding vessel Marsdale, renamed Empire Garden for British use);
2. 4104 ton supply ship Gonzenheim (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the battleship HMS Nelson);
3. 9849-ton tanker Esso Hamburg (scuttled by its crew when intercepted by the heavy cruiser HMS London)

There are 63 survivors from the Gorzenheim and 87 from the Esso Hamburg. Basically, nobody dies during these events, but the German ability to supply U-boats and surface craft in the Atlantic to extend their operations is severely damaged. These sinkings and seizures cut the remaining number of Kriegsmarine supply ships almost in half.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient and on patrol in the mid-Atlantic west of Brest, at 05:03 torpedoes and sinks 5271-ton British freighter Trecarrell. The encounter is a little unusual because U-101 rams Trecarrell at 06:40 in the bow to hasten its sinking. There are four deaths and 43 survivors. It is not a happy day on U-101, though, because it loses a crewman, Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl, overboard.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 36. It bombs and sinks 3911-ton British freighter Queensbury. There are 11 deaths, the entire crew.

British 2879-ton suction dredger Robert Hughes hits a mine and sinks at the mouth of the Lagos River. This was one of the mines laid by U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) recently. There are 14 deaths and 17 survivors.

Dutch minelayer Van Meerlant hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There are three deaths and one crewman is wounded.

Convoy OG-64 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar, Convoy HG-64 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.

On June 4, 1941, Philippines President Manuel L. Quezon signs into law Commonwealth Act No. 616, known as An Act to Punish Espionage and other offenses against National Security.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After dark, the Luftwaffe mounts a surprise raid on Alexandria. There are 170 killed and 200 injured.

Martin Maryland bombers of the RAF based on Malta bomb and sink Italian freighters Beatrice C and Montello off the coast of Tunisia. Some sources list this incident as having occurred on 3 June.

The Royal Navy sets off another supply mission to Malta. Operation Rocket features aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Furious being escorted by battleship Renown and many other vessels. The plan is to deliver 43 Hawker Hurricane Is to the beleaguered island.

Invasion jitters continue on Malta. Building on lessons learned on Crete, the British emphasize killing or capturing the German paratroopers (fallschirmjäger) upon descent or immediately thereafter, before they can defend themselves. British troops have occupied the island of Gozo, normally left unguarded. Otherwise, it is a quiet day on Malta, with just one Luftwaffe fighter sweep that results in no damage or bombs dropped.

"On June 4, 1941, RCAF Sergeant E. Romilly, the Royal Australian Air Force’s W. Betts, and the Royal Air Force’s J. Mahoud practice navigation techniques onboard an Anson aircraft at No. 1 Air Navigation School, RCAF Rivers, Manitoba." PHOTO: DND Archives.

Spy Stuff: Hitler having told Japanese Ambassador Ōshima his plans for Operation Barbarossa on the 3rd, the latter dutifully cables Tokyo with this information. British military intelligence intercepts the coded message. The Japanese codes have been broken, but British intelligence does not forward the coded translation to The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) for decoding until the 12th. In any event, it would just add to the pile of warnings from numerous sources that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin has been ignoring.

The Algonquin Regiment leaves Port Arthur, Canada on June 4, 1941 (Thunder Bay Public Library).

British Military: Lieutenant Commander R.C. Robison, RAN is awarded the DSC for "bravery and enterprise" while serving on destroyer HMAS Stuart during the battle of Cape Matapan (when the Italian Navy suffered a serious defeat).

US Military:  Chief of Staff of the United States Army George Marshall sends a memo to General Richardson regarding the development of a unit that comes to be composed by men called the Tuskegee Airmen. Marshall writes:

Dr. Patterson, head of Tuskegee Institute, has been doing a very fine thing in assisting the Air Corps in the development of a negro aviation unit. He has been under heavy attack from the Chicago and Harlem elements, and for a time it appeared that they would succeed in emasculating the Tuskegee Air program for national defense.

Marshall suggests crafting "a definite program of publicity" to support the program.

Image of Japanese female factory workers from Shashin Shūhō 171, June 4, 1941. Shashin Shūhō was a propaganda magazine established in 1938 by the Cabinet Information Office. Interestingly, it shows the factory workers engaging in exercises decades before this became popular elsewhere.

China: The Japanese follow through on past threats to interrupt British efforts to supply the Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking. The Imperial Japanese Navy sends bombers based at Hanoi in French Indochina to bomb bridges along the Burma Road.

Holocaust: The Republic of Croatia orders all Jews to wear a star with the letter Z. The Reich prohibits Jews from using beaches and swimming pools.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in exile in Doorn in the Netherlands, 1933 (German Federal Archives, Bild 136-C0804).

Dutch Homefront: Wilhelm II, the former Kaiser of the German Empire and King of Prussia passes away at his home in Doorn at the age of 82, The Netherlands. He has not set foot in Germany since 10 November 1918, vowing not to return until the restoration of the monarchy, and has lived at Doorn since 15 May 1920.

The Dutch government in the past has protected Wilhelm II from prosecution by the Allies by refusing to extradite him as required by Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles. While a lukewarm supporter of Hitler and his NSDAP party in the 1920s, Wilhelm II soured on them as the 1930s wore on due to their persecution of the Jews. As he stated in December 1938:

For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he [Hitler] has got rid of or even killed... He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters!

That said, Hitler has used Wilhelm for propaganda purposes at times, including publishing a brief, perfunctory telegram congratulating Hitler on his victory over The Netherlands in 1940. For his part, Hitler for many years has taken a dim view of Wilhelm II, calling him an "idiot" and other disparaging terms.

Hitler makes no plans to attend the funeral and is furious when he learns that the local Wehrmacht commander has provided an honor guard for the funeral procession. Wilhelm is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of his Doorn home.

American Homefront: The funeral of baseball legend Lou Gehrig takes place at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale. His remains are cremated and he is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

"Power Dive," directed by James P. Hogan and starring Richard Arlen, Don Castle and Jean Parker, premieres. A typically short 1940s film (67 minutes) from Pine-Thomas Productions (as Picture Corporation of America), the film features a revolutionary new airplane made of plastic. The film is in the public domain due to the failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright.


June 1941

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

2020

Monday 17 February 1941

Adolf Hitler and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima.

Italian/Greek Campaign: After a very long and difficult struggle, on 17 February 1941 the Greeks complete the recapture of the Trebeshina massif. Overall, it has been an almost Pyrrhic victory, though. The Cretan 5th Infantry Division suffers terribly during the struggle, with 5776 casualties, and is effectively destroyed. Naturally, the Italians lose many men as well, but they just have to hold their positions and wait for the Germans eventually to bail them out by invading Greece from another direction. For the Italians, the battle has become a matter of national pride, and they vow to recapture the mountains and surrounding territory in the Spring.

East African Campaign: The South African 5th Infantry Brigade continues attacking toward Mega, while the 1st Infantry Brigade manages to cross the Juba River at Yonte against fierce Italian opposition.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids London with 50 bombers, its largest raid in some time. RAF Bomber Command stays on the ground.

Empire Knoll, which runs aground and is lost today.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have quite a small fleet at work in the Atlantic. It involves numerous supply ships serving both heavy cruisers (currently three are on the loose: Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Admiral Scheer) and armed raiders. Today, German tanker Nordmark meets supply ship Alstertor to refuel it. The Nordmark has been towing captured British refrigerated ship Duquesa, which was taken full of meat and dairy products. However, all good things must come to an end, and today the Nordmark cuts loose the 8651-ton ship, not because it was out of food, but because there was no longer any fuel to power the refrigeration equipment - making it a stinky mess around the Equator. Some accounts state that Admiral Scheer sank the Duquesa upon encountering it on 18 December, but in fact, the refrigerated ship was taken as a prize and became legendary in the Kriegsmarine as the "floating delicatessen" which kept the crews of several ships well-fed for two months.

The weather is terrible. This causes all sorts of problems both for ships and for crews abandoning their sinking ships.
U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen) torpedoes and sinks 5237-ton British pig iron freighter Gairsoppa three hundred miles southwest of Galway. Gairsoppa is a straggler from convoy SL 64. Mengersen misses with several torpedoes (the weather is terrible), but one hits and sets the ship afire. The U-boat then leaves, and the ship sinks after the crew barely escape in the lifeboats. Almost everyone dies of exposure. There are 82 deaths and only one survivor (the second officer, who brought his lifeboat to shore). After this, U-101 heads back to Lorient.

U-103 (Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 10,455-ton tanker Edwy R. Brown. The tanker is a straggler behind Convoy HX 107 in the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) is on its first patrol operating out of Kiel southwest of the Faroe Islands when it spots a freighter. It is 8456-ton British freighter MV Siamese Prince, which becomes U-69's first victim. There are no survivors even though Metzler sees them take to the lifeboats - survival in the frigid ocean with storms and winter gales is problematic at best. Everybody (57 men) onboard perishes, and Admiralty searches by several destroyers find nothing and nobody.

British 307 ton collier Kyle Rona is sailing from Maryport for Portreath when it just disappears. None of the seven men on board, including Master Frederick Cook, survives. It may have hit a mine or broached deep and took water or...

British 156 ton freighter Ren Rein hits a mine off Falmouth, Cornwall in the English Channel and sinks. There are two deaths.

British 5817 ton freighter Casamance runs aground off Skinningrove, Yorkshire. The ship breaks in two and is written off. There are 38 survivors and 9 deaths.

British 2824 ton collier Empire Knoll comes aground due to the winter gales at Tynemouth in County Durham. The ship winds up on the old North Pier foundations there and is holed. It is a total loss.

Portuguese schooner Patriotismo sinks in the rough winter weather off Peniche. There are one death and seven deaths.

German raider Pinguin, in the south Atlantic, is joined by German supply ship Alstertor. Together, they sail for the Indian Ocean.

Admiral Sir Percy L.H. Noble becomes the new commander of the Royal Navy Western Approaches Command.

Convoys WS 6A and 6B (Winston Special) departs from various British ports. It includes numerous transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy TC 9 departs from Halifax with numerous troop transports. They don't know it, but German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst are lurking just north of the shipping lanes looking for good targets.

Convoy BN 16 departs from Aden.

Destroyer HMS Avon Vale (L 06, Lt. Commander Peter A. R. Withers) is commissioned.

Light cruiser USS Birmingham is laid down.

British guard duty west of Benghazi, 17 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British have been deliberating about sending troops to Greece for weeks, and now they finally are in a position to start telling some of their allies about their plans. They inform New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg that he will command the expeditionary force. Freyberg is a legendary officer, much admired by the British, who currently commands the New Zealand Division.

Colonel Leclerc in southwestern Libya is heading for their ultimate target of Kufra. Leclerc has about 350 men, but the Italians are aware they are coming. The Italian Saharan company of 70 men intercepts Leclerc's force with 20 mm guns in ten armored AS37 cars. After a vicious firefight, the French lost many of their trucks but are able to continue forward when the Italians at Kufra stay inside their fort and don't help the Sahariana. Leclerc's men surround the fort, El Tag, and place their only artillery piece, a 75 mm gun, about 3000 meters from the walls. The French also place several 81 mm mortars about 1500 meters from the fort. The Saharan company attacks again but is beaten off again. The French settle down to a siege.

Turkish/Bulgarian Relations: The two nations formally sign their nonaggression pact. While at first, this might seem favorable to the British, in fact, it is designed to allow Hitler to move troops through Bulgaria to invade Greece without Turkish interference. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has been trying to cajole the Turks (and their 38 divisions) into joining the British side, but this move effectively ends that attempt for the time being.

German/Japanese/British Relations: Japan makes an offer to mediate the European conflict, just as it has been mediating the border war in Indochina. Nobody takes Japan up on the offer.

General Oshima arrives as minister to Germany, his second appointment there. Oshima is viewed by the Germans as very sympathetic to their war aims.

German Military: Adolf Hitler is thinking big. He dreams of capturing India from the British, and in fact, has been sending presents (such as a motorcar) to some princes in the region. He orders his military staff to explore the feasibility of advancing through Afghanistan to India.

"Cunningham, Admiral of the Mediterranean." February 17, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 7 (Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER).

British Government: Winston Churchill has a busy day sending memos and pontificating to all and sundry about his pet concerns.

During the war council meeting today, Churchill cautions against worrying about "divisions" in the military (as opposed to brigades or corps and so forth). The gist of his oration on this point is that the term "division" can refer to vastly different forces.

Churchill also memos CIGS General Ismay and Cabinet Secretary Sir Edward Bridges cautioning them not to reveal the source of their information about Japanese decrypts, information which apparently was sent around the office. He wants all copies tracked down and the information suppressed, all the way down to identifying what copying machine was used and "who gave the orders for it to go in this form." Naturally, he doesn't want the Japanese to know the British have broken their codes.

Ireland also is on Churchill's mind. He memos General Ismay that the Germans might invade Ireland before they invade England, which would give the British the "immediate pretext" to invade Ireland - something that Churchill appears eager to do. He urges Ismay to use "every scheme of which military and naval ingenuity are capable to move more troops across the Irish Channel" whether the Irish want them there or not. In fact, the Irish have made plain that they do not want to be involved in the British war.

Churchill also memos Viscount Cranborne and Sir Kingsley Wood to implement economic sanctions against southern Ireland "to make Southern Ireland realized how great a wrong they were doing to the cause of freedom by their denial of the ports" to the Royal Navy. At this point, it seems as if Churchill is much more interested in invading Ireland than Hitler ever is.

Policeman helping children with their gas masks, Brighton, 17 February 1941.

Japanese Government: Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka gives a speech which echoes the similar language of Adolf Hitler regarding the Soviet Union and "Lebensraum":

This region [Oceania] has sufficient natural resources to support from 600,000,000 to 800,000,000 people. I believe we have a natural right to migrate there.

Times, Feb. 18, 1941, p. 1. Oceania, of course, includes Australia, the Dutch East Indies, and New Zealand. Thus, the Japanese basically are telling all Europeans that they are not wanted in the Pacific and that they feel entitled by "natural right" to occupy lands now claimed by others.

US Government: The US Senate begins debating the Lend-Lease bill.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies is continuing his epic, month-long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he stops over in Lagos, where he meets fellow Australian Sir Bernard Bourdillon, the Governor. Bourdillon blames the British fiasco at Dakar in September 1940, and a related incident in which French cruisers were allowed to cruise out of Mediterranean past Gibraltar to reinforce the Vichy French forces there, on unclear instructions from Winston Churchill. To be fair, Bourdillon has a point, as the British attitude toward Vichy France seems confused at best. Menzies seems quite impressed with Bourdillon and wonders if he and similar governors are "consulted enough." In fact, they are probably not consulted at all, as Churchill likes to run his own shop.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies viewing a burning tanker in Tobruk Harbor, February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Friday 14 February 1941

Royal Navy battleship HMS King George V firing its 14-inch guns, February 1941. © IWM (A 3237).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians on 14 February 1941 attack on the Skutara line near a height designated Height 504 in the coastal sector west of Klisura Pass. The Greek 6th Infantry Regiment, led by Colonel Ioannis Theodorou, fights savagely to maintain their position. The Greeks succeed but suffer 109 killed and wounded. The RAF chips in with attacks in the area.

East African Campaign: The British 22nd East African Brigade under General Alan Cunningham take the port of Kismayu. The real prize is Mogadishu to the north. Royal Navy Force T, led by heavy cruisers HMS Shropshire and Hawkins and aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, assists the ground forces with supporting fire. The British take possession of fifteen vessels in the port.

The Free French land at Port Sudan, Sudan. This is the 14th Demi-Brigade de Marche de la Légion Étrangère under the command of Colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey.

Things are quiet at Keren as the British regroup. Indian 7th Infantry Brigade takes Mersa Dersa on the Red Sea coast. Another action takes place near Cam Ceua.

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends Rhubarb sweeps over the German invasion ports. RAF Bomber Command sends 44 bombers against the Gelsenkirchen oil installations (a favored target) and a similar number to attack Homberg oil installations.

The Luftwaffe sends lone raiders across to bomb Northeast Scotland and Kent. It also mounts fighter sweeps over southern England. There is another raid on London after dark, but it causes little damage.

An event supposedly happens during the night which enters legend; whether it is true or not is uncertain (like the "wooden bombs" story). A disoriented Luftwaffe pilot lands by mistake at an English airfield and does not realize his mistake until he spots the control tower. He takes off quickly, then does the same thing elsewhere. Eventually, the pilot makes it back to France.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with Free French leader Charles de Gaulle, 14 February 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: Today is a rare day, as four German heavy cruisers at sea have news. It is unusual for the Kriegsmarine to maintain that many warships in the Atlantic, and if operating together they could be a formidable force. This, however, never happens.

German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper makes port at Brest (some sources place this on the 15th). It sank 8 ships during its 140-day cruise, a small return for the effort expended - but expanded by the effect it has had on the Royal Navy. Things have changed at Brest, and it is no longer as secure for warships as it had been in the past. Admiral Hipper draws a lot of RAF attention there.

German cruiser Admiral Scheer meets supply ship Tannenfels and raider Atlantis, which has with it a captured tanker, Ketty Brøvig. Scheer refuels from the tanker and the two ships exchange supplies.

German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst meet German tankers Schlettstadt and Esso Hamburg in the North Atlantic to refuel. The ships, south of Greenland, are biding their time before attacking the convoys passing just to the south.

German raider Thor, operating in the South Atlantic, meets up with supply ships Eurofeld and Alsterufer.

U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen) or U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle) torpedoes and sinks 5462-ton British freighter Holystone in the mid-Atlantic. Holystone had been in Convoy OB-284, which had been dispersed. All 40 men on board perish. Since there are no survivors, the cause of the sinking is debated. Among the candidates for this sinking are U-101, U-123 and Italian submarine Bianchi, all operating in the same area. If this is the ship attacked by U-123, then Kptlt. Moehle uses six torpedoes to sink the freighter. The first five torpedoes miss. The actual sinking is during the first minutes of the 15th. The ship explodes in a massive explosion caused by a detonation of ammunition or explosives carried within the ship.

Italian submarine Bianchi happens upon a straggler from Convoy SC 21 in the mid-Atlantic south of Iceland. It torpedoes and sinks 4517-ton British freighter Belcrest. All 36 men on board perish.

Royal Navy torpedo boat MTB 41 hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea. There are two deaths.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40) bombs and sinks 616-ton British freighter Elisabeth Marie in the Northwest Approaches. There is one death, the rest of the 25-man crew is picked up by destroyer HMCS Ottawa.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 420-ton British freighter Moorlands just off Sands End Bay near Banff. The ship makes it to Buckie Harbour.

The Luftwaffe attacks Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent in the Northwest Approaches. The destroyer is lightly damaged but remains in service.

The Luftwaffe also bombs minelayer HMS Teviotbank off Flamborough Head. The minelayer proceeds to the Humber for repairs lasting about a month.

Convoy SLG 1A departs from Gibraltar. It includes two troopships.

US destroyer USS Grayson (DD 435, Lt. Commander Thomas M. Stokes) is commissioned; and USS Woolsey is launched.

"Members of the Home Guard man a Vickers machine-gun on the shores of Loch Stack in the Highlands of Scotland, 14 February 1941."  © IWM (H 7325).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Now that the British have decided to terminate their offensive operations, they begin reorienting their forces. The 11th Hussars, who led the assault at Beda Fomm, enters the reserve while its position is taken over by the King's Dragoon Guards. The Luftwaffe attacks the Hussars as they are leaving, devastating their convoy with Junkers Ju 87 Stukas. This is the Luftwaffe's first attack on the 7th Armoured Division, a harbinger of future attacks.

General Erwin Rommel only has a small group of troops in Tripoli, but he sees opportunity in the British over-extension past Benghazi. He does not know it, but he is getting helped by the British decision to redirect their major effort toward Greece.

The Luftwaffe arrives to help Rommel, starting with a small assortment of various reconnaissance planes, Stukas and Bf 110s of III,/ZG 26. Rommel sends his available troops of the 5th Light Division to Sirte to form a defensive block - but this is unnecessary due to decisions being made on the other side. Many more troops are on the way. The Luftwaffe loses its first two planes in the desert.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rover torpedoes and damages 6161-ton Italian tanker Cesco off Calabria. Tankers are very tough to sink by torpedo due to their compartmentalized construction, so Cesco makes it back to port.

At Malta, Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88s drop the first land mines on the island. They damage homes in Valletta and Senglea, as well as other scattered locations such as St Elmo, Fort Leonardo, the Dockyard and Tigne areas, as well as in St Thomas’ Bay. These types of bombs, which cause devastation over wide areas, are common in England, but this is a first for the Mediterranean. There are five civilian deaths and twenty injuries. The parachute mines hit various structures, including a primary school, barracks, and other areas, and flatten wide areas. The Luftwaffe also drops anti-personnel mines on the beaches of Mellieha.

Convoy AN 15 departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Convoy AC 1 departs from Alexandria bound for Benghazi

"Hitler: Spring is here." Time Magazine, 14 February 1941.

German/Yugoslavian Relations: Hitler meets with Yugoslavian Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden. They talk for three hours. Hitler wants Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite Pact, which would obviate the need to invade it. He does not demand military support, but he does want transit rights so that he can send Wehrmacht forces south through Yugoslavia to invade Greece. However, Cvetković knows that there is immense opposition to joining the Axis, so he demurs.

US/Yugoslavian Relations: Making a rare foray into Balkan politics, President Roosevelt warns Prince Paul not to help Germany.

Ambassador Nomura presents his credentials to President Roosevelt at the White House on 14 February 1941.

US/Japanese Relations: New Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura presents his credentials to President Roosevelt at the White House. President Roosevelt comments, in a classic understatement, "there are developments in the relations between the United States and Japan which cause concern." He specifically mentions the "movements of Japan southward down to Indochina and the Spratly Islands and other localities in that area."

Nomura, unlike his masters in Tokyo, actually wants to find some way to avoid a war. He promises to do what he can. However, both sides expect the other to grant concessions, and nobody is interested in doing that.

US diplomat Eugene Dooman, the US embassy counselor in Tokyo, submits a message from President Roosevelt to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The message, more an ultimatum than anything else, warns the Japanese that the US is helping Great Britain and would not tolerate any interference with British Asian possessions. The bottom line, the message states, is:

it was quite possible to pass over the present critical period without war, but that one essential condition to this more or less happy issue out of our difficulties must be the realization on the part of the Japanese that they cannot substantially alter the status quo in Southeast Asia, particularly, without incurring the risk of creating a very serious situation.

British/Romanian Relations: The British Foreign Office officially breaks relations with Romania. It announces that Romania is "territory under enemy occupation" (which is not the case) and that Great Britain would deem Romania an "enemy destination for contraband purposes." This is a poignant moment because Romania during the 1930s relied greatly on British guarantees of protection.

Singapore/Australian Relations: British Commander-in-chief of the Far East Command Robert Brooke-Popham visits Australia (which is not part of his command). He meets with the Australian War Cabinet. Brooke-Popham gives an optimistic review of the state of British defenses in his realm, saying that Singapore is unlikely to be attacked from the landward side and that it could hold out for six to nine months if attacked.

Anglo/Polish Relations: The RAF drops supplies to the Polish underground for the first time during the war.

The Glenn L. Martin Company Fort Crook Plant. It was renamed Offut Air Base in 1946 in honor of Omaha's first World World I casualty, Lt. Jarvis Offutt. It became the headquarters of Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1948. Among many other planes, the Enola Gay and Bockscar, the only two planes in history to drop nuclear weapons intentionally, were built here.

US Military: USN/USMC Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 7 at Culebra/Vieques concludes.

The US Army contracts with the Glenn L. Martin Company for the construction and operation of the Fort Crook Plant, Sarpy County, Nebraska. This plant is intended to assemble the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. The construction order will be sent tomorrow. In all, there will be nine primary buildings, including a 600x900 foot two-story manufacturing and assembly building (some of the plane parts are prefabricated by other companies and simply assembled here). The location was chosen because it was over 200 miles from a coast, as required by the government, and near the city of Omaha.

British Military: General Percy Hobart is appointed commander of the 11th Armoured Division.

British Government: Winston Churchill continues his attention to the WS7 (Winston Special Convoy) now being assembled at Plymouth. As he states in a memo to Sir Andrew Duncan, he remains opposed to sending any but front-line troops on the convoy, preferring to send "a complete infantry division" even though that means "displacing others." He asks Duncan to find seven more transport ships for the convoy. Churchill is determined to improve the "tooth to tail" ratio in the Middle East Command and sees little need for service troops when there is fighting to be done.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies resumes his epic journey from Melbourne to London, today flying from Cairo to Khartoum.

Vichy France Government: Admiral Darlan adds Interior Minister to his other government posts.

American Homefront: RKO Radio Pictures releases the short film "The Little Whirlwind," starring Mickey Mouse and Minny Mouse. The film, produced by Walt Disney for Walt Disney Productions, is directed by Riley Thomson. It features the voices of Walt Disney and Thelma Boardman.

Future History: Paul Tsongas is born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He develops an early interest in politics and goes on to election to the US Congress in 1974 and to the US Senate in 1978. He later runs for the Democratic Party nomination for President in 1992 and wins seven states, but ultimately loses the nomination to Bill Clinton. Paul Tsongas passes away on 18 January 1997.


February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020