Saturday 19 July 1941

Exercise Brock, 19 July 1941. This is an exercise carried out with snowflake and Type 26E flares to demonstrate the effects of illuminants at sea. © IWM (A 4633).

Eastern Front: Adolf Hitler, who by and large allowed his generals to run matter during the victorious campaigns in western Europe, is taking an increasing interest in daily troop operations on 19 July 1941. This process is still just beginning, but already commanders such as OKH operations boss General Franz Halder are growing weary of orders that they consider to be amateurish. However, at this stage, many of Hitler's orders contribute to successful operations.

In the Far North sector, Finnish Group F (part of 3rd Division) completes a successful 64 km (40 miles) advance over rugged terrain by wiping out several Soviet units on the Vyonitsa River. It now can continue advancing toward its objective of Ukhta (aka Kalevala, on Yeldanka Lake aka Ozero Verkhnyaya Yeldanka). General Dietl's Army of Norway (AOK Norwegen) now decides to shift troops (units of SS Nord Division) south from the stalled offensive near Salla and have them support the Finnish advance. The Soviets also decide to send reinforcements to the area.

In the Army Group North sector, the panzers of Panzer Group 4 continue blasting through Soviet lines towards Leningrad. The Luftwaffe attacks rail lines in an attempt to isolate Leningrad from Moscow.

In the Army Group Center sector, Hitler orders General Guderian's Panzer Group 2 south. Hitler wants to ensure the brewing victory at Kiev, where hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops appear vulnerable to being surrounded, and open the way forward to Field Marshal Rundstedt's army group. General Guderian, reflecting a broad consensus within the upper levels of the Wehrmacht, protests that it makes more sense to continue east towards Moscow. OKW confirms Hitler's order and Guderian grudgingly heads south. Hitler also orders General Hoth's Panzer Group 3 to head north to help with the attack on Leningrad (it captures Velikiye Luki during the day). This leaves Field Marshal von Bock's Army Group Center without its spearhead. Hitler never has considered Moscow to be a priority target and this decision conclusively proves that.

In the Army Group South sector, Soviet General Eremenko takes over at Soviet Western Front.

Luftwaffe Lieutenant Walter Nowotny of III./JG 54 shoots down his first enemy planes, three Polikarpov I-153 biplanes. His own aircraft is damaged and he bails out over the Gulf of Riga.

Luftwaffe losses are mounting. Total planes lost now stand at 1284.

"FLIGHT LIEUTENANT E S LOCK, DSO, DFC, AND BAR: 41 SQUADRON, RAF," 19 July 1941 (Orde, Cuthbert Julian, © IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 2363).

European Air Operations: In continuing Operation Channel Stop, RAF Bomber Command sends 21 Blenheims of RAF No. 105 Squadron attack shipping off the Dutch coast. The Germans, however, have parked six Flak ships to guard the shipping, and while the bombers damage four ships, two of the planes fail to return.

In another RAF Circus raid, three Stirling bombers attack the Lille power station. One of the bombers fails to return.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 49 bombers (20 Whitleys, 17 Wellingtons, 12 Hampdens) to attack the main railway station in Hannover. The RAF loses a Wellington and a Whitley. Another 35 Hampdens go on a minelaying operation at the mouth of the Elbe and Weser Rivers.

Oberst Werner Mölders of JG 51, the top ace in the war and of all-time at this point, is appointed to the newly created position of General der Jägdflieger (General of Fighters). Oblt. Friedrich Beckh replaces him in charge of JG 51.

HMS Malvernian (F 102), a tough ship that finally sinks, after being bombed on 1 July, on 19 July 1941.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet destroyers Serdity and Steregushchi attempt to intercept a German convoy off Daugavgrīva (German: Dünamünde; Polish: Dynemunt; Russian: Усть-Двинск or Ust`-Dvinsk). They fail to make contact, but the Luftwaffe spots them and attacks. The German planes badly damage Serdity, which its crew scuttles on the 22nd.

Soviet submarine L-3 torpedoes and sinks Finnish vessel Cisil.

U-553 returns to St. Nazaire from a successful patrol on 19 July 1941. Note the damaged periscope and victory pennants.

Battle of the Atlantic: During the night, Royal Navy 266-ton anti-submarine trawler Peter Hendriks accidentally rams Royal Navy submarine HMS Umpire, sinking it. There are 16 survivors and 22 deaths, with two of the survivors managing to get out of the flooded submarine after it sinks via the conning tower.

U-66 (Kptlt. Richard Zapp), on its second patrol, torpedoes and sinks 3433-ton British freighter Holmside northeast of the Cape Verde Islands. Holmside is a straggler from Convoy OG-67, making it an independent. There are 21 deaths and 16 survivors, picked up by Portuguese freighter Sete Citades. This is U-66's last sinking on this patrol.

The RAF (No. 42 Squadron) torpedoes and sinks German escort vessel NK-08 Kanonier off Sirevåg, Norway. There are 13 deaths and 16 survivors.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Beverly, escorting Convoy HG-68, intercepts Vichy French freighter Isac west of Gibraltar. The Isac is taken to Gibraltar for detention.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna makes an attack on German ships off the Gironde in the Bay of Biscay but misses despite claiming hits.

After a lengthy journey, Norwegian tanker Ole Jacob, which was captured by German raider Atlantis on 10 November 1940, arrives at Bordeaux, France. The tanker brings aviation fuel and the crews captured on the Ole Jacob and the Teddy.

Attacked and badly damaged by the Luftwaffe on 1 July 1941 off the coast of Spain, Royal Navy armed boarding vessel HMS Malvernian is finally sunk by the Royal Navy as a hazard to navigation. Its crew, however, is still at sea - one lifeboat with 32 aboard only makes it to Corunna on 21 July, and another with 25 aboard to Vigo on 22 July. 107 other survivors have been taken POW.

US destroyer USS Baldwin and minesweeper Swallow are laid down.

U-153 (Korvettenkapitän Wilfried Reichmann) and U-375 (Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Könenkamp) are commissioned.

"An American M3 Stuart tank being hoisted from a ship onto the quayside at Alexandria, 19 July 1941." © IWM (E 4310).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Substance, a supply convoy to Malta, effectively begins when Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder departs Malta. The ships of Convoy WS 9C (Winston Special), which left the British Isles on 13 July, are still at sea approaching Gibraltar. The Royal Navy begins feigning an operation in the eastern Mediterranean by engaging in heavy radio traffic in that area. The Royal Navy intends to deploy eight submarines off Italian naval bases to attack any Italian ships that leave port to intercept the convoy, one of which is Upholder. The Substance operation is bringing everything from ammunition and vehicles to mail and food, and its success is critical to Malta's ability to hold out.

During the night, the Luftwaffe raids Alexandria and Malta while the RAF raids Tripoli and Benghazi.

Minelaying cruiser Abdiel and destroyer Abdiel make the increasingly hazardous nightly run to Tobruk from Alexandria without incident.

Battle of the Pacific: A group of 37 New Zealand coastwatchers departs from Fiji aboard ship Viti for assignments in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Their job is to watch for German raiders which have been seen in the area.

Natalia Bessmertnova, born on 19 July 1941 in Moscow.

Spy Stuff: A supposed German plot to overthrow the Bolivian government is exposed and suppressed. On 18 July 1941, Douglas Jenkins, the U.S. minister in La Paz, gave Bolivian Ostria Gutierrez a photocopy of a letter from the Bolivian military attache in Berlin, Major Elias Belmonte, to the German Minister in La Paz, Ernst Wendler. The letter states in part:

the time is approaching to carry out our coup to liberate my poor country from a weak government of completely capitalist inclinations.

The letter is damning, proposing that a pro-German coup take place in mid-July. Today, after taking a day to review the letter, the government of General Penaranda declares a state of siege and decides to expel Wendler from the country. Within a week, the army dismisses Belmonte for "treason." The Bolivian government also uses the letter as a pretext to jail the leaders of, and to otherwise suppress the opposition Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) party.

There is some scholarly debate about the Belmonte/Wendler letter. There is a very good likelihood that the letter was a complete fabrication by British military intelligence at Station M, a clever instance of Black Ops using the clueless U.S. government as the middleman. This is similar to the supposed letters from Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler that some historians propose are clever British forgeries (though there is no proof of that). There is no other evidence, aside from the letter, that the Germans had any intentions to launch a coup in Bolivia.

In London, Winston Churchill decides to share his Bletchley Park Ultra decrypts with the Soviets - something that he doesn't even do with the Americans. However, the source of the information will be described as Berlin spies rather than intelligence intercepts.

In Afghanistan, two German Abwehr agents are identified as attempting to enter India. Afghan police arrest one and kill the other.

Partisans: The uprising in Montenegro that began on 13 July continues. The partisans remain on the offensive and are planning to take over several more Montenegran towns.

Winston Churchill flashes the "V for Victory" sign.

Propaganda: A "Colonel Britton" broadcasts at midnight to the peoples of Occupied Europe. This broadcast begins the "V for Victory" propaganda campaign that is one of the most successful propaganda efforts ever:

Events are taking place that are of great significance in this war. The importance of these events will probably not be realized for a long time, and, in fact, the events themselves are not likely to be noticed. But it's in connection with them that I asked you a week ago to start a "V" campaign - V's in sight and sound - which would work up to a climax tomorrow, July 20. Now I want to tell you what should be your contribution to making July 20 one of the milestones in the war. 

July 20 is the date of Europe's mobilization against the Germans. Tomorrow the V Army - Europe's invisible army of many millions - will come into being. You're listening to me now in your home. Thousands and thousands of others are listening too. 

The mobilization will begin at midnight 24 hours from now, and it will continue throughout the day. You are eligible to join the V Army, and I ask you to join.

He concludes that "In a few minutes there will be millions of new ‘Vs’ on walls and doors and pavements all over Europe."

Colonel Britton is the pseudonym of Douglas Ritchie, a 36-year-old Assistant News Editor at the BBC. The BBC has foreshadowed this campaign by prefacing its programs with the Morse Code for "V" (...- - -) for some time. To give proper credit, the instigator for the "V" campaign was a Belgian refugee named Victor de Laveleye, who made short-wave broadcasts from London to his native Belgium in early 1941 asking Belgians to chalk the letter V (for victoire) in public places as a sign of confidence in eventual Allied victory. Ritchie's broadcasts expand the idea to all of Occupied Europe.

Five Royal Canadian Air Force Cessna Cranes overfly a sixth on the opening day of No. 12 Service Flying Training School on July 19, 1941, at Brandon, Manitoba. PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-5747.

German/Swiss  Relations: The two countries sign a new trade agreement. Trade relations with neutral countries such as Switzerland and Turkey are a key way that the Reich attempts to circumvent the Allied blockade.

German/Swedish Relations: In Sweden, which has pursued a policy of neutrality through two World Wars, has a significant faction that believes the country should help Germany defeat the Soviet Union. General Olof Thörnell, commander of Swedish forces, proposes that Sweden contribute some troops to the effort like Spain and its Blue Division. This proposal is not acted upon.

Japanese/US Relations: The Japanese have been considering what to do about American Presbyterian missionaries in Korea. Up to this date, the Japanese have demanded that the missionaries leave Korea, who are accused of distributing dangerous literature. Having now concluded from discussions with the church representatives that they are not going to leave Korea, Ambassador Nomura recommends that a conference be held with the missionaries and otherwise dropped as a gesture of goodwill.

Japanese/Vichy French Relations: The Japanese demand more access to bases in southern Indochina.

US/Chinese Relations: Owen Lattimore arrives in Chungking as a military advisor.

Sportsmen in Amsterdam give the NSB greeting in competitions organized by the WA.

Soviet Military: Semyon Timoshenko officially relinquishes his position as People's Commissar of Defense and becomes Stalin's Deputy in the hierarchy.

US Military: USS Wasp (CV 7) flies a cargo of P-40 fighters to Iceland.

Task Force 1 is formed within the Atlantic Fleet for protection of US forces in Iceland and convoys heading there.

The first 13 pilots join the segregated Civilian Pilot Training Program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. These are the initial Tuskegee Airmen.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes some appointments: Brendan Bracken, Minister of Information; R. A. Butler, President of Board of Education; Lord Hankey, Paymaster-General; Duncan Sandys, Financial Secretary to War Office.

Clay Hotel, Washington Ave., Miami Beach. July 1941. ORIGINAL CAPTION: "Washington Boulevard, a shopping district in Miami Beach, Florida." (Library of Congress).

Holocaust: The Germans complete mass executions at Ponar, outside Vilnius. In total, about 5000 people have been shot, hundreds daily for the past couple of weeks.

Einsatzcommando 3 of Einsatzgruppe A execute 27 people at Kaunas Seventh Fort: 17 Jewish men, 2 Jewish women, and 7 non-Jews.

American Homefront: United States Senator from North Dakota Gerald P. Nye gives a speech over the NBC Red Network in which he expresses his isolationist sentiments. Nye says that there is no reason to "go hunting" for a war. He begins his speech:

It may seem ages ago that America was quite unanimous, and vociferous, in its cry of "Never Again," meaning there would be no toleration of effort to move our country into another European.  But it was really only two years ago when memories of our last experience in Europe were still sufficiently clear to let us see what folly it would be to let ourselves be taken again into the wringer across the Atlantic.

He warns against allowing the military and President Roosevelt to "ignore the restrictions written by Congress as to where our boys shall and shall not be sent, without a declaration of war by Congress."

"Arizona Bound" is released. Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Buck Jones and Tim McCoy, it follows the adventures of a retired Federal Marshal who takes a job driving a stagecoach full of gold and is accused of stealing it after it is robbed.

Future History: Florencia Bisenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona is born in El Paso, Texas. In the early 1960s, she adopts the stage name "Vicki Carr." As Carr, she signs with Liberty Records in 1962 and has a minor hit single with "He's A Rebel." She goes on to a very successful run during the 1960s that includes ten singles and 13 albums on the pop charts. In the 1980s onward, Carr focuses more on recording Latin music. Carr continues to record as of 2018.

Natalia Bessmertnova is born in Moscow. In 1963, Bessmertnova joins the Bolshoi Ballet. She becomes the Soviet prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet for three decades and a People's Artist of the USSR. She later becomes famous across the world in 1995 for leading a strike of the Ballet that leads to the cancellation of scheduled performances following the firing of Yury Grigorovich. Natalia passes away in 2008.

Presentation of a trophy at a sports competition of the WA in Amsterdam, perhaps the Olympiaplein. The recipient is a member of the boxing/football team of Amsterdam. WA Heerban leader Feenstra and acting WA commander Van 't Hof make the presentation. 19 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

2020

Thursday 12 September 1940

Lascaux cave paintings from 17,000 years ago are discovered on 12 September 1940.

Overview: The Luftwaffe campaign against London and other major population centers now, as of 12 September 1940, is in full swing. The devastation is enormous. Already, though, two favorite 1930s theories of terror bombing are being disproven:

1. That properly targeted terror bombing will inflame class divisions between rich ("plutocrats") and poor; and
2. That terror bombing will destroy civilian morale and force negotiations.

The attacks on Warsaw, Rotterdam and other major European cities during the lightning campaign of May/June 1940 had left these as open questions, with some people pointing to the quick defeats of those countries as evidence that terror bombing works. However, after about a week of the attacks on London, not only is British morale still high, but the bombing has created a sense of shared sacrifice. Wealthy residences such as Buckingham Palace take damage along with poorer areas, for which the royals are eternally grateful.

From a military perspective, the German change in strategy from bombing RAF infrastructure to cities already is known to be ineffective. Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park of No. 11 Group writes in a memo that:

confidence is felt in our ability to hold the enemy by day and to prevent his attaining superiority in the air over our territory, unless he greatly increases the scale or intensity of his attacks.

Fighter Command statistics as of 0900 hours 12 September 1940 show the following operational status:

• Blenheim - 50
• Spitfire - 208
• Hurricane - 392
• Defiant - 21
• Gladiator - 8
• Total – 679

This is very near the normal strength of around 700 fighters. This shows that, while the RAF has not quite recovered from its devastation suffered through 6 September, it is getting there. It also shows a healthy proportion of the more modern Spitfires to the other planes than at earlier times in the battle. The Defiants and the Gladiators, though, are largely out of the battle, and the Blenheims are used only in special situations, so the 679 total number is a bit deceptive in terms of actual front-line strength.

This is not to downplay the deaths, the suffering, and the damage to buildings old and new alike. Historic buildings made of wood tend to be dry and easy to burn. However, the RAF is recovering, rebuilding its shattered airfields, repairing its radar installations, replacing aircraft, and restoring aircraft production.

S/L Ernest A "Ernie" McNab of RAF No. 111 Squadron, pictured with his Spitfire at RAF Northolt on 12 September.

Battle of Britain: The weather is cloudy but good enough for operations. The morning, as usual recently, is quiet except for reconnaissance and "pirate raids" - lone intruders hiding in the clouds by special crews.

Around mid-day, a few small raiders attack the Fairlight radar station, without result. Another raid damages Harrogate, in particular, the Majestic Hotel, apparently targeting the nearby Ministry of Aircraft Production building and causing 15 casualties. Tunbridge Wells also takes damage, while RAF Hornchurch is bombed, with many bombs falling errantly on nearby houses (not a good place to live near at that time).

Hastings is bombed around 14:40, and the Luftwaffe planes strafe the area as rescue operations are in progress. Hampshire and Wiltshire also receive some hits. Rail service is interrupted near Reading due to a random strike on the rail line.

At dusk, III,/KG 51 and I,/KG 54 send about 50 bombers across to bomb London, while a few bombers from III,/KG 27 bomb Liverpool. After dark, there are further raids, but it is nothing like previous nights. Two Luftwaffe bombers are brought down, one by the Balloon Barrage at Monmouthshire and another by London flak (which quickly is becoming concentrated as nowhere else in Europe).

Lieutenant Robert Davies and sapper George Cameron Wyle of the British Royal Engineers disarm an unexploded one-ton bomb buried deep beneath the pavement at the southwestern corner of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Davies drives it to the countryside to detonate it. The two men receive the George Cross medal, which is unusual because it is intended for civilians.

Overall, losses are minimal, at least compared to previous days, with losses by the RAF in the single digits and those by the Luftwaffe not much higher. The fighter pilots on both sides basically get the day off.

An "abandon ship" drill on HMS Kelvin, 12 September 1940. © IWM (A 685).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks the ports of Emden and Flushing, where invasion barges have been gathering, and the seaplane base at Norderney in the East Frisian Islands. The RAF claims to have sunk 80 barges.

Other targets are the industrial centers/marshaling yards of Osnabruck, Hamm, Schwerte, Ehrang, and Brussels. Hamm is hit for the 6th time. Individually, the raids do not cause much damage and bombing accuracy is poor, but in some locations, the damage is starting to accumulate.

The Kriegsmarine admits in a report that the British attacks are hurting its efforts to assemble an invasion fleet. To date, the Germans have assembled about 1000 barges in the ports, and they provide tempting targets. However, despite the losses, the number of barges for Operation Sealion continues to grow.

Battle of the Atlantic: British 2444 ton tanker Gothic hits a mine 7500 yards southeast of Spurn Head, Yorkshire, and sinks. Half of her 24-man crew perishes.

Royal Navy Tug 1164 ton Salvage King runs aground off Duncansby Head, Scotland and is a total loss.

Force Y of the Vichy French Navy, which passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on the 11th without British interference and stopped for the night in Casablanca, leaves port at 04:00. Eluding a shadowing British force led by battleship HMS Renown, the three fast cruisers and accompanying destroyers speed down to Dakar in French West Africa. The British continue their bumbling pursuit, not even realizing that the cruisers have left until the Renown's floatplane can't find them in the Casablanca harbor and instead spots them far to the to south. The Admiralty dispatches the aircraft carrier Ark Royal from Freetown, accompanied by three cruisers, to intercept the French from the south - the British not knowing for certain that Dakar is Force Y's ultimate destination. Of course, the British are planning Operation Menace for Dakar, so that is the last place they want the cruisers to go.

The Liverpool raids the Liverpool harbor and damages freighter Tintern Abbey, Royal Navy storeship Glenroy and troopship HMT Highland Princess.

Convoys OA 213 and MT 167 depart from Methil, Convoy FS 279 departs from the Tyne, Convoy LG 1 departs from Liverpool, Convoy BS 48 departs from Suez.

Corvette HMS Heliotrope (K 03, Lt. Commander John Jackson) is commissioned.

U-153 and U-407 are laid down.

12 September 1940: German airmen, who parachuted from a Heinkel HE-111 bomber that was shot down in the Battle of Britain, are marched off by the Home Guard in Goodwood, Sussex. Notice how confident and self-possessed the German POWs are at this time of the war. Fox Photos/Getty Images.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin is patrolling 330 miles east of Madagascar when it intercepts the 5872-ton British freighter Benavon. The Benavos tries to fire its deck gun at the Pinguin, but the crew is untrained and its shells - well-aimed by the gunner - fail to explode. The Pinguin's own guns sink the freighter, and 24 crew perish. The Pinguin takes the 25 survivors as prisoners.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italian 10th Army continues marching toward the Egyptian border, harassed by the RAF. It is a slow advance, held up more by the pace of Italian foot soldiers more than anything the British are doing.

On Malta, the military prepares for heightened military activity due to the overall war situation. The War Office instructs Governor Dobbie to raise more men from the local population to man the anti-aircraft guns.

Applied Science: The Tizard Mission team members have all crossed the Atlantic with their equipment, and today it holds a meeting in Washington D.C. with its American counterparts.

War Crimes: Wing Commander J.S.Dewar, D.S.O., D.F.C. of RAF No. 213 Squadron makes a personal flight from RAF Exeter to Tangmere during the quiet morning period. He disappears, and his body eventually washes up at Kingston Gorse, Sussex on 30 September 1940. There is a rumor/belief that enemy aircraft shot down his Hurricane and machine-gunned him in his parachute. This incident is not offered as an actual war crime, because there is no proof of this, however, this is the sort of atmosphere in which pilots on both sides are operating. The air war, an area of unusual gallantry in both world wars, has a potential sharp edge that pilots of both sides recognize.

German/Finnish Relations: The two countries sign their agreement granting the Germans transit rights within the country.

US/Japanese Relations: A Japanese trade delegation arrives to negotiate increased deliveries of raw materials to Japan from the Netherlands East Indies. US Ambassador to Tokyo Joseph Grew and Secretary of State Cordell Hull confer about the implications of US oil sanctions on Japanese aggressiveness. Grew sees the likelihood of Japanese adventurism if the sanctions are too severe. There is no agreement reached during the meetings.

US Military: The Greenslade Board departs Norfolk, Virginia for St. John's, Newfoundland to inspect the new US base there (obtained in the destroyers-for-bases swap).

Hungary: The Hungarian army completes the occupation of the territories in northern Transylvania Maramures and part of Crisana given to it in the Second Vienna Award.

Romania: The Germans establish a military mission in Bucharest with the stated purpose of training the Romanian military. The real German interest is in the Romanian oil fields, which fuels the Wehrmacht and which Adolf Hitler obsesses over. New leader Ion Antonescu, meanwhile, is busy reaching an agreement with Iron Guard leader Horia Sima.

Canada: Order in Council 4751 makes foreign sailors on foreign ships in Canadian ports subject to imprisonment.

Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto for Jews, the wall already constructed, is formally approved by Gauleiter Hans Frank in occupied Kraków. This is conceived as a somewhat temporary solution, with the more permanent solution (at this point) foreseen as forced resettlement of Jews to the French-administered island of Madagascar in the southern Indian Ocean (originally, and perhaps ironically, an idea of the Polish government itself in the late 1930s). The Poles, however, determined that the island could not support more than a few thousand such refugees, and there are about half a million Jews in occupied Poland.

Robot the Dog, the true discoverer of the Lascaux cave.

French Homefront: In an amazing archaeological find that gets lost in the war news, 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat from near Dordogne finds the entrance to the Lascaux Cave. As the story goes, he follows his dog down a hole. He returns with three friends, and they enter via a long shaft. They discover remarkable detailed 17,000-year-old Paleolithic cave paintings of animals. They announce their discovery, and eventually the caves open to tourists. This innocent find, of worldwide cultural importance, begins a long process of deterioration of the ancient artwork from the mold.

American Homefront: There is a suspicious explosion at the Hercules Powder Co. in Kenvil, New Jersey. There are 49 deaths and 200 other casualties.

In a typical Hollywood quickie marriage, Lana Turner and Artie Shaw, married on February 13, 1940, are divorced today after only seven months of marriage.

Future History: Mickey Lolich is born in Portland, Oregon. He becomes a top pitcher (3x All-Star) with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s and then stars for other teams. In his biggest game, he wins Game 7 of the 1968 World Series against Bob Gibson. Lolich later runs a doughnut shop in Lake Orion, Michigan., which comports with his "everyman" attitude toward life.

Linda Gray is born in Santa Monica, California. She becomes a model in the 1960s, becomes a frequent television guest star in the 1970s, and then achieves Hollywood immortality ast Sue Ellen Ewing on CBS drama "Dallas." One of her lesser-known claims to immortality is that her legs are the ones featured on the posters for classic Dustin Hoffman film "The Graduate" in 1968. She remains active in the industry as of this writing, appearing, for instance, in British Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks" as Tabitha Maxwell-Brown in late 2016.

The Beaufort News, September 12, 1940, North Carolina Newspapers. Not too much going on in that far-off European war, the big news is the back-to-school day.

September 1940

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

2020