Thursday 31 July 1941

A Finnish gunner inside the dorsal turret of a Bristol Blenheim bomber, July 31, 1941 (SA-Kuva).

Eastern Front: The Germans on 31 July 1941 capture and interrogate an unnamed Soviet General Staff officer who gives tantalizing hints that the Soviets may be in the process of abandoning Leningrad. He says that the Stavka is shifting troops from the Leningrad perimeter to south of Lake Ilmen to defend the approaches to Moscow. The Germans also notice heavy rail traffic between Moscow and Leningrad. General Halder hopefully notes in the OKH war diary a single word: "evacuation?"

Halder also notes something more troubling in the war diary. He writes that Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, the head of the German Army (ObdH), is simply transcribing Hitler's most recent Fuhrer directive directly into operational orders. Halder writes plaintively:

Unfortunately I cannot induce ObdH to inject into this order the slightest overtone expressive of a will of his own. Its wording is dictated by an anxiety to avoid anything that could be suspected as opposition to his superior.

This continues a constant refrain in Halder's diary, that Hitler is tightening his grip on military operations and squeezing out all sense of direction aside from his own.

Finnish soldiers stand in lake Paanajärvi over the dead body of a Soviet soldier killed near Rukajärvi, Karelia, Finland (now Rugozero, Republic of Karelia, Russia). 31 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).

In the Far North sector, Finnish II Corps (Maj. Gen. Laatikainen) begins an offensive north of the Karelian Isthmus toward Lake Ladoga. One goal is to cut off the Soviet divisions that are northwest of the lake from their shortest withdrawal routes. The geographical target is the city of Viipuri (Vyborg), which Finland considers naturally its own possession and not Russian for historical reasons. The overall goal is the reconquest of the entire Karelian Isthmus. The defending Soviet 115th and 142nd Divisions have strong defensive positions and blunt the Finnish offensive.

In the Army Group North sector, German forces of the 16th Army secure the southwestern shore of Lake Ilmen. The Soviets counterattack from the direction of Toropets. General von Manstein's troops continue in the direction of Luga. The Soviets are putting up a strong defense at Kholm, which is preventing the Germans from transferring troops further south.

In the Army Group Center sector, there are only local Soviet counterattacks. The Soviets are building fortifications all along their positions and evidently they intend to make a stand where they are. The Soviets continue attacking the German "lightning rod" position at Yelnya from all directions. The Germans, meanwhile, continue reducing the Smolensk pocket while the trapped Soviet forces such as Group Kachalov attempt to break out.

In the Army Group South sector, the German Sixth Army continues to sidestep the large Soviet troop concentration at Kyiv to the south. Panzer Group 1 (General von Kleist) is operating west of Pervomaisk and attempting to envelop Soviet forces of the 12th Army. Soviet attacks against the 11th Army begin to increase in intensity during the day. Progress is slow for the Germans all across this sector.

Captain Eric S. Lock of the RAF in the cockpit of his Spitfire Mk.V with his dog, 31 July 1941.

European Air Operations: It is a quiet day on the air front in northwest Europe following several days of unsettled weather. The RAF sends four Blenheim bombers on a Roadstead sweep over St. Valery en Caux, and they return undamaged.

The Air Ministry reports that civilian air raid casualties during July 1941 were 900 killed and 908 injured.

Battle of the Baltic: U-140 (Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel) torpedoes and sinks 206-ton Soviet submarine M-94 (Lt Dyakov) at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. Some sources place this on 21 or 22 July. There are three survivors. U-140 also attacks M-98 but misses.

Soviet minesweeper No. 46 sinks from unknown causes off Tallinn, Estonia.

The Luftwaffe (KG4) drops 38 mines at the mouth of the Triigi River, Saaremaa, Estonia.

HMCS Battleford, commissioned on 31 July 1941, off the East Coast of the United States, 5 October 1943.

Battle of the Atlantic: In Operation FB, the Royal Navy arrives at Advent Fjord, Spitsbergen. There are no Germans there, but about 700 Norwegians. Other ships arrive at Gronfjord, where there are 1800 Russians.

The Luftwaffe attacks 209-ton British freighter Onward about 20 miles east of Nolso, France.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vansittart intercepts 792-ton Vichy French freighter Oued Grou several hundred miles south of Dakar. The British take the ship to Freetown.

The Germans at Arcachon, France requisition 329-ton Italian trawler Sardella.

German 3172-ton blockade runner Natal arrives at Gironde, France.

Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny meets British minelayer HMS Adventure near the Gorodetski lighthouse at the entrance to the White Sea in northern Russia. Adventure has been detached from Operation EF, the raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes.

Convoy ON-3 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL-82 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool. Ships intended for Convoy WS-10 (Winston Special) depart from Liverpool to join other ships arriving from other ports at sea.

Royal Navy corvettes HMS Monkshood (Lt. Commander James E. R. Wilford) and Pentstemon (Lt. Commander John Byron) are commissioned, escort carrier Pursuer is laid down.

Canadian corvette HMCS Battleford is commissioned in Montreal, Quebec (named after Battleford, Saskatchewan).

US destroyers USS Duncan, Lansdowne, and Pringle are laid down.

U-581 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer) is commissioned, U-172 is launched, U-711 is laid down. The Kriegsmarine decommission U-B, which is the former Royal Navy submarine HMS Seal, at Kiel.

Allied shipping losses drop sharply in July 1941, from 389,316 tons in June to 109,276 tons in July. This undoubtedly is due to the diversion of German resources toward the Soviet Union. Allied losses are down sharply in every category, such as losses by U-boat down from 310,143 tons in June to 94,209 tons in July.

The silver lining for the Kriegsmarine is that they do not lose any U-boats during July after losing four in June. For its part, the Axis loses 12 ships of 47,055 tons in the Mediterranean. Admiral Doenitz has a fleet of 65 U-boats in operation during the month of July 1941.

Scots Dragoons of the "Royal Scotts Greys" Regiment fall in on horseback near Nablus, Palestine on July 31, 1941. The photo was taken after the regiment returned from fighting in Syria and Lebanon.

Battle of the Mediterranean: As part of Operation Style, a British Force S convoy run from Gibraltar to Malta, the Royal Navy Force H detaches destroyers HMS Cossack and Maori to bombard Italian positions at Alghero, Sardinia. They also fire star shells to guide in RAF planes from aircraft carrier Ark Royal. This attack is intended to distract the Italians away from the convoy ships heading to Malta.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent (Lt. Knox) surfaces and uses its deck guns to sink 160-ton Italian sailing ship Igea about seven miles northeast of Benghazi (or a similar distance from Carcura, Libya).

The Luftwaffe bombs Tobruk before dawn and are met with heavy anti-aircraft fire.

The Italians attack St Angelo, Malta with three BR-20 bombers. They cause some damage to military facilities there and injure three people. Three other BR-20 bombers attack the Grand Harbour area.

Braunschweig, Ruhfäutchenplatz. On the left is the New Town Hall, at the center of the picture is tram line 3, at the right is Dankwarderode Castle (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archive, Bild 212-267).

US/Soviet Relations: President Roosevelt's personal emissary Harry Hopkins meets with Joseph Stalin in Moscow to discuss the terms of the United State's lend-lease aid to the USSR.

US/Japanese Relations: Japan lavishly apologizes for the bombing of USS Tutuila during a bombing raid of Chungking on the 30th. They call it "an accident, pure and simple."

Effective today, US exports of aviation motor fuels and lubricants and No. 1 heavy melting iron and steel scrap to Japan are put on the restricted list pursuant to the Export Control Act signed on 2 July 1940.

German/Swedish Relations: Having successfully transferred the 163rd Infantry Division in its entirety from Narvik, Norway to Finland on the railway line that runs across Swedish territory, the Germans ask for Swedish permission to transfer another division. The Swedes, who have been conflicted about the earlier decision, refuse.

German/Spanish Relations: Troops of the Spanish Blue Division are formally designated the Wehrmacht's 250th Infantry Division. They assemble prior to their departure to the front and swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler. They are destined for the Army Group North sector.

German Relations: Romanian leader Ion Antonescu acquiesces to Hitler's recent request to have Romanian troops conquer and occupy Ukrainian territory between the Bug and Dniester Rivers.

"Lord Derby is seen talking with Mrs. T A Hussey." The opening of the new extension of the Flotilla Club, 31 July 1941. © IWM (A 4698).

Ecuadorian/Peruvian Relations: After several days of discussion during which military operations continued, the two sides agree to a ceasefire in their border war. As a last military movement in the war, Peruvian troops arrive at Puerto Bolivar by ship and continue to operate against Ecuadorian troops in the Amazonian jungle.

German Military: General Ludwig Crüwell becomes commander of Afrika Corps while Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel is promoted to command of the new Panzerarmee Afrika. Panzer Army Africa is more the size of a corps than an army because it has only one infantry and two panzer divisions. While there are large Italian forces in North Africa, they remain under nominal Italian command. Crüwell is ill and does not take up his position until 15 September.

A Lockheed Ventura of RAF No. 21 Squadron ca. 1941.

US Military: The Lockheed Ventura, a twin-engine medium bomber, makes its first flight. It is developed from the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar transport. The British Purchasing Commission ordered 188 Venturas in February 1940 while the plane was still in the early stages of development.

US heavy cruiser USS Astoria arrives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands.

Soviet Military: Soviet 43rd Army (Lieutenant General Ivan Zakharkin) becomes operational as part of General Georgy Zhukov's new Reserve Front pursuant to a Stavka order dated 30 July 1941. Its mission is to defend the Desna River south of Yelnya on the line of Kholmets and Bogdanovo.

A translation of the 31 July 1941 letter from Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering to Reinhard Heydrich regarding the "Final Solution" (Truman Library).

Bulgarian Government: The Bulgarian government annexes its portion of the former Yugoslavia.

Holocaust: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering sends RSHA (Reichssicherheitshaupamt) Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich an order to make:

all the necessary preparations with regard to organizational, practical and financial aspects for an overall solution (Gesamtlosung) of the "Jewish question" in the German sphere of influence in Europe.

Heydrich already has verbally instructed the SS to exterminate entire groups of people, including Jews, and even put it in writing. However, some later assume that Heydrich specifically asks Goering for this after-the-fact authorization letter. In colloquial terms, it is a "cover your butt" letter for Heydrich's benefit.

As it works out, the letter is meaningless to Heydrich (who is assassinated in 1942) but provides a "smoking gun" against Goering at the Nuremberg Trials (who futilely claims that the letter is mistranslated and only refers to a "desired solution," not a "final solution"). While things may have progressed as they did without this order, it provides legal cover for Heydrich to do whatever he wants to do - and Heydrich wants to do a lot where the Jews are concerned.

At Kishinev, Bessarabia (Moldova), the SS has killed about 10,000 Jews by the end of the month. At Zhytomyr, an additional 2500 are dead.

Einsatzcommando 3 reports executing 235 Jewish men, 16 Jewish women, and 5 non-Jews in the "Jäger Report."

Norwegian Homefront: Reich Commissar Josef Terboven issues a regulation that authorizes him to declare a civilian state of emergency. He does not do so at this time, however.

American Homefront: The New York Yankees lead the American League by 12.0 games over the second-place Cleveland Indians, while the St. Louis Cardinals leads the National League by 2.0 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The original and infamous "final solution" letter from Hermann Goering to Reinhard Heydrich, 31 July 1941

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

August 1941

August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Tuesday 22 July 1941

A Finnish soldier wounded by grenade shrapnel at Kaalamo in Sortavala district, just north of Lake Ladoga, 22 July 1941.

Eastern Front: It is now, on 22 July 1941, exactly one month since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, and the advance is going exactly according to German plans. That is to say, it is proceeding according to Hitler's plans, but the German generals have different plans than the Fuhrer. Specifically, the German generals see a clear path forward to Moscow and wish to capture the Soviet capital as soon as possible. Hitler, however, is more interested in destroying Soviet armies in the field and taking the objectives on the wings of the advance - Leningrad, and Kyiv. The Wehrmacht is strong, but not strong enough to take all three at once. Adding to the tension, the army high command (OKH) increasingly feels that Hitler is intruding into operational decisions that are best left to military professionals like Generals Halder and Brauchitsch. Thus, while on the surface everything looks ideal for the German advance, just below the surface major issues are about to burst into the open.

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, who would lead the advance on Moscow as commander of Army Group Center, notes in his war diary (Tagebuchnotizen Osten I) the following:

Brauchitsch (Wehrmacht commander) called and said the Fuhrer has ordered that all further advance of the armor to the east is no longer a matter of discussion.

One might think that this would settle the issue of an advance on Moscow once and for all. But, it does not, as German generals exhibit a surprising degree of independence (some might call it subversion) against the wishes of the Fuhrer. Note that many histories claim that the Germans had to stop for supply reasons or so forth - but they didn't. This was a Hitler order.

All that said, this may be the high point of the German advance into the Soviet Union in terms of matching reality to the objectives. The Wehrmacht has occupied some 700,000 square miles of Soviet territory and has large Soviet formations close to collapse at Kyiv. The German panzer spearheads are intact (if worn down), but the Soviets always seem to have more troops to feed into the grinder. A critical phase of the offensive is at hand because it is vital for the Germans to destroy the Red Army before the weather turns, and the pace of the advance must be sustained to accomplish that.

In the Far North sector, Finnish VI Corps advances 23 km southeast past Salmi along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga to take the tiny village of Manssila. The Soviet defense is hampered by the troops' unfamiliarity with the area, its remoteness, and extreme German pressure on the main front. The Finns now are approaching the 1939 border, and Marshal Mannerheim, the Finnish commander, has a decision to make as to whether to invade pre-war Russia or settle for his purported war aims of simply recovering territory on which Finland has a historical claim. Nobody knows what Mannerheim's decision will be, but he only has another day or two to make it. Meanwhile, Finnish VII Corps on the western shore of Lake Ladoga finally has cleared a pocket of Soviet troops along the Jänisjoki River and can continue toward Leningrad. Further north, at Salla and on the Litsa River, the German/Finnish advances are completely stalled.

In the Army Group North sector, German Panzer Group 4 reaches Lake Ilmen to the south of Leningrad. The panzers stop here to do maintenance and wait for the infantry to close up with their advanced position.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Germans continue to subdue the Mogilev and Smolensk pockets. General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 recovers its units that have been assisting with the encirclement and prepares for further action to the east. The panzer spearhead at Yelnya consolidated its bridgehead.

In the Army Group South sector, Field Marshal Rundstedt's armies continue making progress toward encircling the large Soviet forces at Uman.

German medics assist a gravely wounded Red Army soldier. This photo was taken in July 1941, early on in the war with Russia, when Soviet prisoners are still treated.

In the evening, the Luftwaffe mounts another raid against Moscow with 115 bombers to follow-up the successful raid of the 21st. The Germans report losing 2-5 bombers, which jibes with normal loss totals during night attacks on London, while the Soviets claim to shoot down 15. Damage again is light-moderate - from experience in London, the Luftwaffe now should know that single air raids on large metropolitan areas have barely any minor noticeable impact.

In a sign of a situation that is becoming a problem for the Wehrmacht, Major General W. Nehring's 18th Panzer Division receives 30 new Panzer Mark III's and IV's. Despite this reinforcement, the division now is only at 20 percent of its authorized strength. This is becoming the norm for German panzer divisions.

Reinhard Heydrich, who apparently does not have enough to do as the chief of the Reich Main Security Office and boss of the Gestapo, likes to dabble in flying Luftwaffe combat missions - perhaps to justify on the battlefield his Iron Cross First Class and Frontflugspange (Front Pilot Badge) in silver. Heydrich is not a particularly good pilot (he began the war as an occasional turret gunner and, after training as a pilot, crashed on take-off on 31 May 1940, injuring himself). However, Heydrich has the clout to fly with front-line squadrons such as JG 27 anyway. Today, over Yamil, his Bf 109 is hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire. Heydrich manages to barely make it back to German lines, evading a Soviet patrol, but this is his last such mission. Hitler forbids Heydrich from flying in combat any more because his capture would be a devastating security breach and propaganda victory for the Allies - and likely very bad for Heydrich's health. It is not known how many combat missions Heydrich has flown altogether, but according to Ballantine Books' Illustrated History of the Violent Century (1973), Heydrich flew 97 missions in a Bf-110 twin-engine fighter. He likely flew many more missions, but how many is unknown.

Universal carriers and motorcycles of 4th Battalion, The Welch Regiment, on maneuvers at Keady in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 22 July 1941 (© IWM (H 11968)).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends six Blenheim bombers on a sweep of the French coast, including the Le Trait shipyards. All of the planes return safely.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 63 bombers (34 Hampdens, 16 Whitleys, and 13 Wellingtons) against Frankfurt. All planes return safely.

RAF Bomber Command also sends 29 Wellingtons to Mannheim without loss. Smaller raids are made by 19 Wellingtons and Whitleys to Dunkirk, and 5 Hampdens to do minelaying off Brest. There are no losses with these missions, either.

According to Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano's diary, Italian leader Benito Mussolini has ordered the Regia Aeronautica to conduct mock air raids on Rome, one for every real raid on Naples, to "keep people sharp" and remind them that there's a war on. One takes place today, and the public reaction to such "practice" - which includes live anti-aircraft fire against Italian planes - is decidedly negative.

Having had a wild adventure in occupied Europe since the fall of France, including crossing occupied Europe and being arrested by the Spanish, then escaping, Dutch fighter pilot Colonel Remy Van Lierde arrives in England. He is interrogated by MI5 at the London Reception Centre and cleared for duty with the RAF.

Italian vehicle captured by NZ Infantry, 22 July 1941 (Ardboe Heritage).

Battle of the Baltic: The German 3rd S-Boat Flotilla (Kptlt. Kemnade) attacks a coastal convoy off Arensburg, Osel. They sink Soviet torpedo boat TKA-71 (sunk by S-29) and icebreaking tugboat Lachplesis (which sinks after being towed to Saaremaa).

The Soviet crew of destroyer Serdity, bombed by Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of KGr 806 on the 18th, finally gives up efforts to save the ship. They scuttle the ship in Moon Sound.

U-140 (Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel), a training boat attempting to follow up on its unexpected sinking of Soviet submarine M-94 on the 21st, attacks Soviet submarine M-98 at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. However, the attack fails, and M-98 picks up three survivors of M-94.

USS Chew (DD-106) and USS Ward (DD-139) at Hilo Sugar Docks, Territory of Hawaii, 22 July 1941. Courtesy of Mr. Jesse Pond (VP-1) via Mr. Robert Varrill. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. The future has something in store for the Ward.

Battle of the Atlantic: In the morning, the Kriegsmarine transfers battlecruiser Scharnhorst (just returned to duty from repairs) from Brest to La Pallice. The ship is in good shape and steams across the Bay of Biscay at a swift 30 knots, arriving on the 23rd. With Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen all in Brest harbor, they simply present too tempting a target to ignore - the RAF pilots refer to them collectively as the "Brest Bomb Target Flotilla." The Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, however, remain in dry dock due to bomb damage, so they must stay put. The RAF, in fact, is planning a major air raid on Brest for the 23rd to destroy the ships, so this unexpected move throws a spanner in the works - but the British quickly learn what is going on and alter their plans accordingly.

The Royal Navy also responds to the German redeployment of Scharnhorst, and its response just after noontime shows how hair-trigger sensitive Whitehall is to the Kriegsmarine's capital ships. The Admiralty brings battleship HMS King George V, aircraft carrier Victorious, heavy cruisers Devonshire, Shropshire, and Suffolk, light cruisers Aurora and Nigeria, and destroyers Achates, Active, Antelope, Anthony, Escapade, Icarus, Intrepid, Punjabi and Tartar to one hour's readiness. All this is done for a routine passage of one German ship between ports. The majority of the ships remain on high alert for 24 hours, until the Scharnhorst is spotted by the RAF at La Pallice at 12:26 on the 23rd.

In the far North, four German destroyers (Friedrich Eckholdt, Hermann Schoemann, Karl Galster, and Richard Beitzen) conduct a patrol east of Murmansk along the Kola coast. They sink Soviet survey ship Meridian between Iokanga and Teriberka in Murmansk Oblast. This is a route used by ships heading to Archangel (Arkhangelsk). The Red Air Force attacks the German ships, but they make it back to port.

The last lifeboat from Royal Navy armed boarding vessel HMS Malvernian, bombed on 2 July, makes it to Vigo carrying 32 survivors, including the captain.

Royal Navy minelayer HMS Teviotbank, escorted by survey ship Scott, lays minefield SN-21B in the North Sea.

The German 4th S-Boat Flotilla (Kptlt. Batge) lays 18 mines southeast of Isle of Wight.

Convoy HX-140 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool, Convoy SC-38 departs from Sydney, Nova Scotia bound for Liverpool, Convoy WN-56 departs from Pentland Firth bound for Scapa Flow.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cowdray, corvette Fritillary, and minesweeper Ardrossan are launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Brandon (Lt. John C. Littler) is commissioned.

US destroyer USS Harding  (DD-625), not named after the former President but rather a Revolutionary War naval officer, Seth Harding, is laid down.

U-117 and U-171 are launched, U-450 is laid down.

"Marmon-Herrington armoured cars in the streets of Aleppo, 22 July 1941." © IWM (E 4409).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian scouts report Operation Substance, a British relief convoy to Malta. However, the Italian naval staff decides that this is just another routine Royal Navy aircraft ferrying mission to Malta that will be gone before surface ships can arrive. So, while the Italian Navy's (Regia Marina) surface fleet remains in port, Italian submarine Diaspro fires four torpedoes at aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and accompanying destroyer HMAS Nestor - and misses. The Regia Aeronautica sends 15 SM-79 and Cant-Z1007 bombers and 8 SM-79 torpedo bombers from Sardinia against the convoy, but the planes cannot find it. The Italians prepare to resume attacks on the 23rd.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch uses its deck gun to bombard the port of Karlovassi on the Greek island of Samos. The submarine claims to damage a number of caiques in the harbor, which are used by the Germans for communications between islands.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Urge attacks a small convoy off Palermo but makes no hits.

Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 830 (based on Malta) Squadron sink 8230-ton German transport Preussen about 30 miles southeast of the Italian fortified island of Pantelleria. There are 190 deaths. The Preussen is part of a Naples/Tripoli convoy.

British Blenheim bombers (or Swordfish of RAF No. 830 Squadron, the sources differ) bomb and damage 6996-ton Italian tanker Brarena about 80 miles south of Pantelleria. The ship is set ablaze and attempts to tow the Brarena fail. It ultimately sinks.

Greek submarine Glaukos, operating just off Castelorizzo (Kastellorizo) just off the coast of Turkey, sinks a caique carrying artillery.

The Luftwaffe attacks Tobruk harbor after dark and damages Royal Navy destroyer HMS Hero. She makes it to Mersa Matruh for repairs.

The Luftwaffe also attacks the Suez Canal during the night.

At Malta, the RAF Inspector General, Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, and staff complete their stopover and proceed to the Middle East.

Crew members of HMS Leander playing deck hockey while the ship is berthed in Alexandria, Egypt, 22 July 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Dunedin captures 5383-ton Vichy French freighter Ville De Rouen off the South African province of Natal. The ship is taken to East London, South Africa.

Royal Navy troop convoy WS-9AX (Winston Special) arrives in Bombay en route to Colombo and Singapore.

Battle of the Pacific: The last of eight Japanese cargo ships that have been transiting the Panama Canal, one per day since 16 July, makes the trip. The Japanese have been fearful that the US might search and/or seize the ships, but in fact, the danger was different than they expected. The ship makes it through just in time - the US authorities temporarily close the canal for "maintenance work" after it is safely in the Pacific.

German propaganda, Luftpost No. 10, 22 July 1941.

Propaganda: The German News Bureau reports:

On Sunday night through to Monday morning, the German Luftwaffe launched its first grand assault on the Soviet capital. A responsible authority in Berlin confirms that large numbers of bombers wings mounted an extremely vigorous attack. The raids continued for several hours without let-up, we believe from sunset until dawn. The German aerial attack on Moscow confirms that the German Luftwaffe has now been successful in setting up takeoff bases inside the conquered Russian territories. These bases are well situated for its bomber missions so that the bombers are now only a few hundred miles from Moscow and can make intensified attacks on the Soviet capital.

The News Bureau statement is factually correct as far as it goes. However, as with the raids on London from September 1940 to May 1941, the actual impact of such raids is highly questionable. While it may be true that the raid was "extremely vigorous," in fact it did not cause much damage of importance to the war effort and was largely frustrated by fierce Soviet anti-aircraft fire.

The German military high command (OKW) issues a triumphant communique:

The breakthrough operations of the German Wehrmacht and its allies have broken the Soviet defensive front into disconnected groups. Despite tenacious local resistance and dogged counter-attacks, any unified conduct by the enemy is no longer discernible. Operations to smash and annihilate the individual Soviet armed forces groups are continuing without let-up along the entire Eastern Front. Last night the Luftwaffe attacked Moscow for the first time in retaliation for the Bolshevik air raids on the open capital cities of our allies, Bucharest and Helsinki. Strong German bomber formations with good ground visibility made relay bombing raids on military installations in the Soviet Russian communications and munitions center in Moscow. Direct bomb hits started countless conflagrations and wide-spreading fires in the Kremlin district and around the Moskva river bend. High ranking Soviet headquarters buildings and government offices have been destroyed or badly hit, as have supply factories.

As usual with Berlin announcements, the reality is somewhat less dramatic than the OKW communique would suggest. The Soviet forces have been retreating, but now in some areas have reached defensible lines. The Red Army remains intact despite its savage beating in the first month of the campaign, and there is plenty of evidence of "unified conduct." As for the Nietzschean rhetoric about the effects of the Moscow air raid, the Soviet government buildings were barely touched - perhaps because they were not the targets in the first place. Instead, railways, airfields, and major factories were the targets, and those did receive moderate damage.

The Soviet Information Bureau has a somewhat different take on the matter:

Yesterday evening Moscow experienced its first air attack of the war. The sirens sounded at 10:00 P.M. after lookout men had reported more than 200 German bombers flying toward Moscow. Soviet night interceptor planes and antiaircraft batteries went into action and succeeded in forcing the bulk of the attackers to turn back before reaching the capital. Only isolated German-Fascist aircraft succeeded in breaking through and released a number of bombs that destroyed dwellings or set them on fire, but no military targets were hit. There were several dead and injured. Night interceptors and anti-aircraft guns destroyed 17 German aircraft.

While the Soviet news communique is somewhat closer to the truth than the German news bulletins, it also distorts the raid's reality. There were far fewer than 200 Luftwaffe planes (apparently 127), and virtually all of them did attack Moscow. Soviet night fighters barely had any effect, and the Luftwaffe records reported only losing four planes. So, each side is engaging in hyperbole to make the situation look better than it is - as one would expect.

German propaganda, Luftpost No. 10, 22 July 1941.

German/Japanese Relations: New Japanese Foreign Minister Teijiro Toyoda reaffirms the standing Axis pact with the Reich. Toyoda is considered more moderate than his predecessor and also is working with the United States to see if some accommodation can be reached.

German/Italian Relations: Hitler sends Mussolini an armored train equipped with the latest anti-aircraft guns as a birthday present.

German/Arab Relations: Deposed Iraqi leader Rashid Ali arrives in Germany after a roundabout escape via Afghanistan.

Japanese/Mexican Relations: The Japanese Foreign Ministry puts a stop to secret attempts to negotiate trade deals with Mexico that evade the US/Mexican prohibition against trade with Japan. Thus, they decide to terminate a deal already negotiated which would have sent 7000 boxes of rayon to Mexico in exchange for Mexican goods. The reason apparently is that the Japanese are fearful that they will wind up shipping the rayon, but not get anything in return, and they would have no legal recourse since it is an illegal transaction.

Slovakian soldiers ponder a staff car destroyed by artillery fire from the Soviet 44th Mountain Rifle Division outside Lipovec, Ukraine (east of Vinnytsia), 22 July 1941.

Soviet Military: General of the Army Dmitry Pavlov has his property confiscated, is deprived of all rank and is shot at the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow by the NKVD. He is convicted of "failure to perform his duties" and blamed for losing the early battles on Western Front along the frontier, up to the battle of Minsk. Pavlov (along with other Soviet generals) is rehabilitated in 1956 for "lack of evidence." Pavlov's deputy, Lt. General Ivan Boldin, is much luckier - he has been wandering behind enemy lines and, once he makes it back to the Soviet Union, will be acclaimed a hero.

The commander of the 4th Army, Major General A. A. Korobkov also is shot today. Many other Western Front generals are shot in the days to come, including the Chief of Staff, Major General B. E. Klimovskikh; the chief of the communications corps, Major General AT Grigoriev; the Chief of Artillery, Lieutenant General of Artillery A. Klich; and Air Force Deputy Chief of the Western Front (who, after the suicide of Major General Aviation I. I. Kopets, was, nominally at least, Chief of the Air Force of the Western Front), and Major General Aviation A. I. Tayursky. The commander of the 14th Mechanized Corps, Major General Stepan Oborin, is under arrest and will be shot on 16 October 1941.

Stalin does not tolerate failure. Is he a hero or a monster? Well, that all depends... did he win or lose in the end?

From left to right: Colonel-General armored forces, Hero of Soviet Union D.G. Pavlov; M.A. Purkayev; third – Army General, Hero of the Soviet Union, K.A. Meretskov; People’s Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko. This photo is from Summer/Fall 1940.

Finnish Military: Colonel Ruben Lagus, the commander of the 5th Division, is nominated as the first recipient of the new decoration, the Mannerheim Cross (2nd class) for operations in Karelia.

Dutch Military: While Holland is occupied by the Germans, the Dutch East Indies remain undisturbed. The military remains strong there. Today, it begins conscription throughout the territory.

Marga Himmler, a Gruppenführer der Waffen-SS, and Frieda Hofmann at Dachau, 22 July 1941 (Federal Archive, N 1126 Bild-16-001).

German Government: Hitler is touring the front. During the night, when he likes to expound on random topics with his closest cronies, he says:

The Englishman is superior to the German in one respect - that of pride. Only the man who knows how to give orders has pride.

To Hitler, this is a high compliment. Later, he goes a bit further about his attitude toward the British:

For the English, the ideal existence was represented in the society of the Victorian age. At that time England had at her Service the countless millions of her colonial Empire, together with her own thirty-five million inhabitants. On top of that, a million bourgeois — and, to crown the lot, thousands of gentlefolk who, without trouble to themselves, reaped the fruit of other
people's toil. For this ruling caste, Germany's appearance on the scene was a disaster. As soon as we started our economic ascent, England's doom was sealed. It is quite certain that in future England's Empire won't be able to exist without the support of Germany.

I believe that the end of this war will mark the beginning of a durable friendship with England. But first, we must give her the K.O. [knockout] — for only so can we live at peace with her, and the Englishman can only respect someone who has first knocked him out.

Unfiltered statements such as this appear to confirm that Hitler has very mixed feelings about the British, which may inform some of his military/diplomatic decisions. Hitler adds further that he's "met a lot of Englishmen and Englishwomen whom I respect." He does not, however, like those with whom he has had "deceptive dealings."

Back in the Reich, Alfred Rosenberg, five days after being appointed as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, Alfred Rosenberg films an address for the weekly propaganda newsreel (Wochenschau). He states that he sees the purpose of his appointment as being to secure "the welfare and public order for the peoples of the East coming under German administration." It is debatable whether Rosenberg at this time knows his true role in the East - to ruthlessly exploit the people and resources there to the sole benefit of the Reich. However, with that statement, Rosenberg is simply parroting the exact language of the 17 July 1941 decree appointing him.

An army truck serving as an altar during a church parade in the Western Desert, 22 July 1941.

India: Viceroy Lord Linlithgow made a proposal on 8 August 1940 called the "August Offer" which sought the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indian citizens. This was initially rejected by the opposition groups, but Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru of the Liberal Party finally has decided to accept the offer. Today, Lord Linlithgow announces a reconstituted Executive Council with more Indians than Britons.

Included in the reform is a new 30-member National Defence Council that will coordinate defense efforts throughout India - efforts which heretofore have been hampered by several different layers of government, including vestigial princely states. However, the internal politicking continues, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League, is upset that the composition, though primarily Indian, is not 50% Muslim as he has demanded. He also is upset that he has not been the one to choose the Muslim members. Accordingly, he orders all of his AIML followers to boycott the Viceroy's Executive Council and National Defence Council.

Heinrich Himmler's family (wife Margarete, daughter Gudrun) during a visit to Dachau Concentration Camp, 22 July 1941. They are in the herb garden there. Gudrun, age 11 and apparently pictured on the left noted in her diary that "Today we drove to Dachau. It was beautiful." Also shown in the picture are playwright Hanns Johst, Johst's daughter, Lydia Boden, Hanne Johst, Frieda Hoffmann, and some unidentified people. (Photo: Piper Verlag) (Federal Archive, Bild N 1126 Bild-16-002). Incidentally, Gudrun Himmler, later Gudrun Burwitz, became active with the Stille Hilfe, an organization that aids former SS members, and passed away in June 2018. It was revealed at that time that she was a secret agent for the West German government from 1960-63.

Holocaust: Vichy France requires all Jews to register their businesses and authorizes the confiscation of unlawful businesses (this is called "Aryanization of Jewish assets"). The purpose of this is to exclude Jews from commerce. One way around this is for Jews to find a Gentile to serve as a "front" - if they can find one. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, and when it does the "fronts" sometimes take advantage of the situation. In practice, this new law makes a lot of successful French Jews have their businesses expropriated and become unemployed.

Anne Frank is captured on film for the only time incidental to the wedding of the girl next door.

Heinrich Himmler brings his family to Dachau for the day. His wife Margarete and daughter Gudrun spend the day walking through the gardens and enjoying a guided tour. Gudrun notes in her diary:

Today, we went to Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvelous. And afterward, we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.

Pictures show them in their "Sunday best" walking in areas bereft of prisoners.

Japanese Homefront: After two weeks of heavy rain, 12,000 homes in Tokyo are flooded.

Chief Engineer George E. Johnson is shown above speaking at the dedication ceremony of the Kingsley Dam, 22 July 1941 (Courtesy Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District).

Two unidentified young ladies drop a time capsule into the Kingsley Dam, 22 July 1941.

A crowd at the dedication of the Kingsley Dam, 22 July 1941.

American Homefront: New Deal project Kingsley Dam is dedicated. Located on the east side of Lake McConaughy in central Keith County, Nebraska, it remains in use. The Kingsley Dam uses water stored in Lake McConaughy. It began to fill quickly and irrigation water was delivered later in 1941. The project as a whole was officially completed in 1943. As of 2018, Kingsley Dam is still the second largest hydraulic fill dam in the world.

Future History: George Edward Clinton is born in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He develops an unusual form of funk music in the 1970s with his two groups Parliament and Funkadelic that leads to a solo career in 1981. He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 along with members of his groups. As of this writing, George Clinton continues to perform with his group "Parliament Funkadelic."

Vaughn Bodē is born in Utica, New York. He becomes a top underground cartoonist and illustrator perhaps best known as the creator of the character Cheech Wizard. His first self-published book, in 1963 at age 21, is "Das Kämpf." Vaughn Bodē passes away on 18 July 1975.

Ronald Joseph Morel Turcotte is born in Drummond, New Brunswick Canada. He goes on to become a top jockey. Turcotte is best known for riding Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973. In 2015, a statue of Secretariat and Turcotte crossing the finish line at the Belmont Stakes is unveiled in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, the hometown of Turcotte. As of this writing in 2018, Ron Turcotte is still active as an advocate for the disabled.

Susie Maxwell is born in Pasadena, California. Mostly under her married name of Susie Berning she goes on to become a top professional golfer, winning four major championships and eleven LPGA Tour victories in all. Since retiring from tour play in 1996, Berning has become a well-respected teaching professional spending time at the Nicholas-Flick Golf Academy. She divides her time between The Reserve Club in Palm Springs, California and Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colorado.

July 22, 1941 night photograph from Norfolk Public Library's Sargeant Memorial Collection featuring The NorVA on Granby Street in Norfolk, VA. Other businesses identified include Loew's State Theatre, Bamboo Inn Restaurant, and Wilson Shoes.

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Monday 21 July 1941

A German Sd.Kfz-250 half-track in front of panzer units as they prepare for an attack, 21 July 1941.

Eastern Front: Hitler, apparently bored at the Wolfschanze in East Prussia, decides to visit the headquarters of Army Group North on 21 July 1941. After completing some diplomatic tasks, he boards his transport and flies to a small airport at Malnava in eastern Latvia. He then drives in his open Mercedes car to visit with Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, whose headquarters is in the manor house Malnava.

Hitler expresses his complete disinterest in capturing Moscow. As recorded in the OKW war diary:

In this regard it could then happen that 2. Panzergruppe turns to the south so that for the thrust on Moscow only infantry armies of Heeresgruppe Mitte remain. This eventuality does not worry the Führer because Moscow is for him only a geographical term.

Needless to say, an infantry advance on Moscow without the customary panzer spearhead would at best be extremely slow and at worst be impossible.

To mark the one-month anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Luftwaffe begins a "Moscow Blitz." After dark, Heinkel He 111 pathfinders of KGr.100 and KGr.26 take off from an airfield near Smolensk to form the vanguard of a 127-plane force that drops 104 metric tons of bombs. The bombers come in successive waves that last a total of six hours. Anti-aircraft fire is heavy under the control of Soviet commander of Moscow air defense Major General M.S. Gromadin, so the bombs are scattered across the city. Some incendiaries land on the roof of the British Embassy but are put out quickly by embassy staff and the Moscow fire brigade. The Soviets apparently have been forewarned about the raid and thus are well-prepared. However, the Red Air Force barely makes an appearance, revealing the weakness of Soviet night-fighter defenses. Six Luftwaffe bombers fail to return.

In the Far North sector, Finnish VI Corps captures Salmi on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga from Soviet 452nd Motorized Infantry Regiment. While not a particularly large town, it is an important landmark in the endless Karelian forests. The 1939 border is just beyond Salmi, and the Finns continue advancing forward toward the Svir River far to the southeast - but nobody knows what Mannerheim will do once the Finns reach the old border.

In the Army Group North sector, Hitler visits the army group headquarters and prepares to tour the front.

In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 has trapped a large force of Soviet soldiers at Mogilev. The 4th Panzer Division (Major General W. von Langermann) takes about 2,000 prisoners, but he doesn't have enough infantry to capture the remaining 8-10,000 men, who escape.

In the Army Group South sector, the Germans take Vinnitsa (Vinnytsia) as several armies near forming a pocket around a huge Soviet troop concentration near Uman. Some 17,000 of the original Jewish population of Vinnitsa of 34,000 remain and persecutions begin virtually immediately. General von Kleist's panzers bear in on Uman and Tarashche. XLVIII Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe Werner Kempf) takes Monastyrishche.

Soviet soldiers defending Moscow are preparing anti-aircraft guns in Gorky Culture Park, July 1941.

European Air Operations: During the day, 13 Blenheim bombers engage in coastal sweeps and short incursions into France.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 37 Wellington and 23 Hampden bombers on the first large raid against Frankfurt. The bombers apparently get lost, with most of the damage occurring in Darmstadt, which is about 15 miles from the target city. In the latter city, there are 16 deaths and 15 buildings destroyed or damaged. All of the planes return.

RAF Bomber Command also raids Mannheim. The 36 Wellington and 8 Halifax bombers cause only light damage in the target city and nearby Ludwigshafen. One Wellington is lost.

The RAF also sends 6 Wellingtons to bomb Cherbourg and two Hampdens to lay mines in the Frisian Islands off the Dutch coast.

Oblt. Johannes Seifert of 3./JG 26 shoots down a Spitfire fighter southwest of Ypres and a Stirling bomber of RAF No. 15 Squadron over the English Channel.

Hitler with Field Marshal von Leeb at Malnava, Latvia, 21 July 1941.

Battle of the Baltic: U-140 (Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel), a training boat, suddenly finds itself within sight of 206-ton Soviet submarine M-94. Off Ristna Lighthouse at Dago Island, U-140 sinks the submarine. There are 8 deaths and 11 survivors, who are picked up by Soviet submarine M-98. The incident is not purely by accident, as the U-boat command has ordered the U-boat far out into the Baltic in order to use the training mission as a quasi-patrol. This is U-140's final victory of the war; it has sunk three ships totaling 13,204 tons and one submarine of 206 tons. It now returns to its training duties.

Finnish ships conduct minelaying operations.

Crowds saluting Hitler as he arrives in his open Mercedes at Malnava, Latvia, 21 July 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: Italian submarine Torelli torpedoes and sinks 8913-ton Norwegian tanker Ida Knudsen a few hundred miles west of Rabat. There are five deaths and 33 survivors, 15 of whom are picked up by 341-ton Portuguese trawler Altair.

U-109 (Kptlt. Heinrich Bleichrodt), on its second patrol, refuels from German supply ship "Thalia," which is "interned" in the Spanish port of Cadiz. The Kriegsmarine actually has such tankers at three Spanish ports, which extend the range of U-boat missions and thus effectively increase the number of boats that can be kept on patrol.

The RAF bombs and sinks German transport Wandsbeck at Narvik, Norway.

German 1599-ton freighter Hans Christopherson hits a mine and sinks off Terschelling.

British freighters Bangalore and Richmond Castle collide in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil. The Bangalore is badly damaged and ultimately is sunk by the Royal Navy for being a hazard to navigation.

Canadian troop convoy TC-12 departs from Halifax. It includes transports 20,021-ton Duchess of York, 21,517-ton Empress of Canada, 23,371-ton Orion, 23,428-ton Strathmore, and 22,283-ton Strathnaver. Among its escorts is battleship HMS Malaya, recently repaired in New York.

German raider Orion rounds Cape Horn into the Atlantic Ocean.

Convoy OB-349 departs from Liverpool. There will be no more OB convoys, from now on they will be designated ON.

Royal Navy destroyer Ashanti is recommissioned on the Tyne after extensive repairs.

Royal Navy minesweepers HMS Cadmus and Circe are laid down.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Guysborough is launched at North Vancouver, British Columbia.

US destroyer USS Evans and John D. Henley, minesweepers Token, Tumult, and Velocity, and submarine Gunnel are laid down.

Original caption: "Ingrian Paavo Susi, who escaped to the Finnish side. He was shot in the arm by a politruk, while escaping. Kaalamo, 1941.07.21." A politruk was a commissar responsible for the political education of Soviet troops - it means "political leader." Axis soldiers considered them among the most fanatical of Soviet troops, almost equivalent to slavemasters - they were known to beat Soviet soldiers to get them to fight.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Substance, a well-defended convoy (Convoy GM-1), gets in high gear when a seven-ship convoy escorted by Force H and a large force borrowed from the British Home Fleet proceeds past Gibraltar directly towards Malta. The ships in the convoy do not know their (extremely dangerous) destination until destroyers shoot lines onto them bearing messages to their masters. The convoy gets off to a rocky start when troopship HMT Leinster runs aground while departing Gibraltar and must be left behind.

The Italian navy learns of Royal Navy activity in the western Mediterranean. However, the Regia Marina concludes that this is nothing but another case of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier launching planes to Malta and decides to keep its ships in port.

Greek submarine Glaukos (Lt. Commander Zepos) uses its deck gun to sink 21-ton Italian freighter San Nicola four miles northwest of Rhodes.

The men of Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku engage in some derring-do by landing a small party in Benghazi Harbor. The commandos attach timed explosive charges to a ship and then escape safely.

Operation Guillotine, a British troop movement from Egypt to Cyprus, continues. Royal Navy corvette HMS Peony departs Port Said with 1712-ton Dutch freighter Trajanus heading for Famagusta. Royal Navy sloop Flamingo departs Alexandria for Port Said in order to escort another transport, HMT Kevinbank, from there to Famagusta.

An Axis convoy departs Naples bound for Tripoli. It includes 5479-ton freighter Maddalena Odero, 6003-ton freighter Nicolo Odero, 6476-ton freighter Caffaro, and 8203-ton freighter Preussen. Royal Navy submarine Olympus spots the ships and attacks but misses.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ilex, having undergone emergency repairs, departs from Port Said through the Suez Canal in order to make final repairs at Durban.

At Malta, the Inspector General of the Royal Air Force, Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, visit the base at Kalafrana.

Battle of the Pacific: Australian troops (Robin Force) arrive at New Caledonia with 3rd Independent Company and two six-inch guns.

A Finnish soldier on a captured Soviet BT-7 tank, 21 July 1941. The tank is being used to fell trees, perhaps to build a road (SA-Kuva).

Partisans: To take advantage of the new "V for Victory" campaign launched over the BBC on the 19th, British Minister for Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton proposes instigating widespread revolts on the Continent. It is time, he writes, to "set in motion... schemes for full-scale revolution in Europe." Dalton proposes using the Special Operations Executive for the task.

In fact, one area of occupied Europe already is in revolt. In Montenegro, partisan rebels have occupied a wide swathe of territory. General Cavallero, the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army Group in Albania, has ordered General Alessandro Pirzio Biroli to suppress the uprising "at whatever cost."

Japanese/Vichy French Relations: Vice-Premier Darlan accepts the Japanese request for basing rights in French Indochina. He comments that France has no choice in the matter, and plaintively asks the Japanese to recognize French sovereignty and to not molest French troops or evict them from their posts.

This confirms Japanese military dominance in Southeast Asia, with only the British bases in Singapore and Hong Kong, the Dutch in the East Indies, and the Americans in the Philippines and Guam to dispute it. The tentative protocol as drafted by the French provides that the use of facilities by the Japanese could not, under any circumstances, have the character of military occupation. Japanese forces are not to exceed 25,000 men.

Harlu, 21 July 1941. Someone has very skillfully thrown an ax into Stalin's head (SA-Kuva).

Anglo/Free French Relations: Free French leader Charles de Gaulle travels from his headquarters in western Africa to Cairo in order to meet with British Secretary of State for the Middle East Oliver Lyttelton. De Gaulle is completely out of sorts, sleep-deprived and furious at what he considers to be calculated slights against him personally and the Free French war effort. He hands Lyttelton a peremptory note:

Free France, that is to say France, is no longer willing to entrust to the British military command the duty of exercising command over the French troops in the Middle East. General de Gaulle and the French Empire Defence Council are resuming full and entire disposal of all the French forces of the Levant as from 24 July 1941, at midday.

Lyttelton rightly objects that this demand is an ultimatum that breaks the Anglo/Free French alliance. De Gaulle responds that the British can take it any way that they like. However, at dinner, after he has gotten some rest, de Gaulle settles for various concessions that salve his injured pride. These include recognition of France's historic position within the Levant, use of Vichy French equipment (much of which is quite good), and the right to recruit Vichy French soldiers. General Dentz, who retains control over his Vichy troops, however, is not fond of de Gaulle and keeps defections to de Gaulle down to 6,000 men.

21 July 1941, Harlu. Two Finnish soldiers pose next to a decapitated statue of Lenin and Stalin.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's reply to his request for an immediate western front in Northwest Europe. Churchill promises to do "Anything sensible and effective that we can do to help." However, he says that Great Britain is unable to invade at this time. Churchill says the RAF is "studying" sending some fighter squadrons to Murmansk.

German/Croatian Relations: Hitler meets with Slavko Kvaternik, Ustasha co-founder and leader of the NDH military, at the Wolfshanze Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia. Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop and OKW head Wilhelm Keitel also attend the meeting. The Propaganda Ministry films the welcoming ceremony for the newsreels.

German/Ukranian Relations: The Germans imprison Ukrainian nationalist leader Stefan Bandera.

Joseph Stalin, July 1941.

Soviet Military: The Stavka appoints Shaposhnikov as chief of staff of Western Front, under Semyon Timoshenko.

Australian Military: The Royal Australian Navy establishes the Naval Auxiliary Patrol. It uses peacetime pleasure cruisers that become known as "nappies."

US Military: The Selective Service Act which drafts young men into the military is about to expire, so President Roosevelt asks Congress to declare a full or limited national emergency in order to extend it. Drafted soldiers now serve for only a year, and Roosevelt wishes to retain them for an additional 30 months.

German Government: As he often does, Hitler sits at his dinner table with his cronies late into the night expounding on his various theories and philosophies. He says of Benito Mussolini:

I must say, I always enjoy meeting the Duce. He's a great personality... The march on Rome, in 1922, was one of the turning-points of history... If Mussolini had been outdistanced by Marxism, I don't know whether we could have succeeded in holding out. At that period National Socialism was a very fragile growth.

After further rambling about the glories of Italian architecture, he concludes, "My dearest wish would be to be able to wander about in Italy as an unknown painter."

Three key commanders of the failed Crete campaign confer at Helwan, Egypt, on 21 July 1941. Left to right: Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew, 22nd Battalion; Brigadier Hargest, 5th (NZ) Brigade; Major-General Freyberg, 2nd New Zealand Division and Creforce (New Zealand History).

Holocaust: Majdanek Concentration Camp becomes operational.

Romanian soldiers force all of the Jews in Ozarintsy into the town synagogue. After a few hours, they take 43 Jewish men into the Polish cemetery and execute them.

At the village of Felitsianovka near Vinnytsia, the Germans execute 21 Jews.

The Germans take 12 Jews in Chernevtsy near Vinnytsia to the machine and tractor station and execute them.

An SS unit enters Sudilkov and takes all of the town's Jews from their homes to the ghetto of Shepetovka. From there, the Germans take some to the forest on the road to Klementovichi and execute them.

At Minsk, the Germans order 45 Jews to dig a pit and then get in it. They then order Russian prisoners to bury them alive. After the 30 Russians refuse, they are forced into the pit also and everyone in the pit is shot, then buried.

A jury including Cab Calloway, Canada Lee, Bill Robinson, Joe Bostic, and Erskine Hawkins selects "Miss New York City" at the Sonia Ballroom, July 21, 1941. Lillian O'Donnell wins and eventually becomes 3rd Runner-up at the Miss America competition. The pageant is a key stepping-stone to fame and fortune for some ladies - for instance, in 1945, Bess Myerson wins and uses it to eventually become Miss America and begin a long career in show business.

American Homefront: The United States begins a national aluminum salvage drive.

Eleanore Roosevelt writes in her "My Day" column about National Youth Administration leader Aubrey Wills Williams and the dedication of a new National Youth Administration training center that she attended a few days ago. Williams champions civil rights for African-Americans and uses his NYA position to provide vocational training and educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

After beginning the year slowly, the New York Yankees now lead second-place Cleveland by seven games and Boston by 14 in the American League. In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers lead St. Louis by only one game.

A 21 July 1941 photograph of Singapore showing Rimau Offices and Accommodation (View Road Hospital) in the early stages of construction. This later becomes the Naval Base Police Asian Quarters (National Archives UK via National Archives of Singapore online).

July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020