Saturday 3 May 1941

SS Malakand, an ammunition ship that blew up during a Luftwaffe raid on Liverpool and sank six other ships.

Anglo-Iraq War: With the war in Iraq now a day old, the British on 3 May 1941 are having no difficulty maintaining their positions. The Iraqis attack the British supply port of Basra today, but are beaten off. At Habbaniyah, the RAF continues its air strikes against the Iraqis who are shelling the besieged airfield from a plateau to the south. Additional RAF air attacks are launched against Rashid Airfield (previously RAF Hinaidi). The RAF shoots down an Italian SM 79 Savoia bomber. The British are continuing their sortie with ground troops out of the airfield, with some success.

The RAF receives some reinforcements, four Blenheim bombers. The British today send reinforcements toward Iraq from Palestine and Transjordan, but they have a long march across the desert. Additional forces continue to trickle into Basra.

While the Anglo-Iraq War is usually overlooked by histories of World War II, the Axis takes it very seriously for one reason: oil. Iraqi oil supplies the Royal Navy and RAF with a large portion of their fuel. German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop radios the German ambassador in Baghdad today and orders him to request permission from the Vichy French government in Syria for Luftwaffe transit rights. The French quickly agree and even chip in by sending their own munitions and other supplies being stored in Syria to help the Iraqis. The Luftwaffe and Italians prepare to send planes to Iraq via Syria.

A single bomb caused this massive destruction in North Shields on 3 May 1941. There are 107 deaths in a shelter underneath Wilkinson's Lemonade Factory. Of the 107 deaths, 42 are under the age of 16.

European Air Operations: May 3, 1941, generally is considered the worst night of destruction ever in Liverpool, with over 400 deaths. The Luftwaffe has been launching nightly raids (the "May Blitz") against Liverpool, the critical northern port through which supplies flow. Tonight, they send about 300 aircraft and cause widespread damage to shipping and the port facilities.

The Luftwaffe is having great success at Liverpool. In fact, it may be the most successful series of Luftwaffe raids during the Battle of Britain. The pilots target port infrastructure and gradually are putting docks and deep-water berths out of commission. The total tonnage of cargo being landed is falling drastically. This is a relatively rare instance when the Axis pilots "get it right" and successfully attack the right targets with great efficiency.
However, the ships themselves are vital targets, too, and under the proper circumstances hitting them can contribute to the destruction of the port itself. The Germans get a lucky hit at Liverpool on ammunition ship Malakand, which is full of 1000 tons of shells bound for North Africa. Four people lose their lives in the massive explosion. The cause of the catastrophe is disputed, with some accounts saying it was hit by a bomb, others saying a barrage balloon fell on it and caught fire. The Malakand blows up in spectacular fashion at Huskisson Dock, and a nearby ammunition train also explodes (the heroic railway crew successfully pulls the train out to a siding while the cars behind them are bursting). The impact of the exploding Malakand - parts of which are found miles away - sinks half a dozen other nearby ships. This includes 10,224-ton Canadian passenger ship and freighter SS Europa, which later is raised for repair (and again hit by bombs while in dry-dock and destroyed for good). Other ships lost in the Malakand explosion:

• 6598-ton freighter Elstree Grange
• 1453-ton freighter Domino
• 7924-ton freighter Tacoma Star (later raised)
• 6770-ton freighter Silversandal
• barge Ellesport

Minelayer Adventure, under repair, also is damaged.

County Road in Walton following the bombing in May 1941.

• 138-ton sailing barge Barnacle
• 65-ton tug Bonita
• 58-ton motor barge Emily Burton
• 168-ton sailing barge Pike
• 164-ton sailing barge Ling
• 82-ton steam barge Walton
• 176-ton sailing barge Silverdale
• 79-ton ship Ivy P.
• 106-ton flat Grosvenvor Rover Brill
• 143-ton flat Dace
• 143-ton flat Luce
• 81-ton flat Mus
• 91-ton flat Ray
• 108-ton flat Roach
• 7-ton launch Surveyor
• 177-ton barge Longendale
• 55-ton barge Ellesport
• barges Orrell and Pike
• 3778-ton Norwegian freighter Bra-Kar.

Many ships are damaged during the raid, too. These include:

• 12,614-ton Australian liner Australian Star
• 3178-ton freighter Cantal (one death)
• 8663-ton freighter Baronese
• 6479-ton freighter Lobos
• 208-ton tug Wapiti
• 7921-ton freighter Mahout
• 13,031-ton tanker San Fabian
• 943-ton freighter Busiris
• 164-ton sailing barge Limpet
• 133-ton sailing barge Oyster
• 166-ton sailing barge Glitto
• 159-ton sailing barge Clam
• 3582-ton freighter Kadin (Greek)
• 6447-ton freighter Salland (Dutch)

Fortunately, casualties are light on the ships because the crews are ashore. A couple of crewmen from the ships, though, are among the casualties in the city.

La Scala Cinema, Lime Street, Liverpool, bomb damage, 3 May 1941.

Demonstrating its depth, the Luftwaffe also mounts other raids. One, on Portsmouth, damages light cruiser HMS Sirius, which is under construction. Other Luftwaffe raids sink 2722 ton British freighter Royston in the Humber, and sink 1347 ton Norwegian freighter Trajan and damage 1143 ton Norwegian freighter Sitona northeast of Blakeney. Bombs fall throughout the northeast, including at Newcastle, Tynemouth, Throckley, Catcleugh, Morpeth, Lynemouth, Gosforth, Clifton and Stannington in Northumberland, Sunderland, West Hartlepool, Gateshead, Tees Bridge Roundabout at Billingham, Lambton Park, Castletown, Ryhope and South Shields in Co Durham and York and Hull in Yorkshire.

RAF Bomber Command sends 21 Blenheims against shipping off the French coast. Two from 2 Group/101 Squadron are shot down near Boulogne. After dark, Bomber Command sends 101 aircraft against Cologne, with a diversionary attack by 33 bombers against shipping at Brest.

Damage in Liverpool during the May Blitz.

East African Campaign: The British under Major General Mosley Mayne are closing up on Amba Alagi, the last Italian stronghold in Abyssinia. Amba Alagi is an important north-south road junction and controls access to Italian positions in caves between Asmara and Addis Ababa.

Mayne is approaching from the north, and he plans to squeeze the Italian defenders via a pincer move on the east and west. The 5th Indian Division also is approaching from Eritrea and forcing its way through the Falaga Pass, while some South African troops also are on the way. The Italian troops are led by Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, who is noted for his gallantry - for instance, he has respected the property of (formerly) exiled Emperor Haile Selassie. Morale among the Italians (actually, mostly colonial troops) remains fairly good, but several hundred surrender during the day.

The Wray Castle, sunk on 3 May 1941 by U-103 off Freetown.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kptlt Viktor Schütze), on her fourth (and longest, at 103 days) patrol off the coast of West Africa, torpedoes and sinks 4253-ton British freighter Wray Castle off Freetown. There is one death.

U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber), also on its fourth patrol, torpedoes and sinks 4873-ton Norwegian freighter Taranger about 150 nautical miles (280 km, 170 miles) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland in the Atlantic. There are two deaths.

British 468 ton freighter Corbet hits a mine and sinks just off Herculaneum Dock in Liverpool. There are 8 deaths and one man survives.

176-ton coaster Sirius hits a mine and sinks at the Albert Dock in London.

Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Hilary captures 5595-ton Italian tanker Recco in the Atlantic. The crew of the Recco later manages to scuttle the ship.

The British Admiralty recalls battlecruiser HMS Hood from patrol off Iceland to Scapa Flow. Hood and its accompanying four destroyers call at Reykjavik to refuel.

Minelayer HMS Teviotbank lays minefield BS.55 in the English Channel.

The Kriegsmarine's overseas supply network remains intact. Today, tanker Nordmark has a rendezvous with U-105 and U-107 at sea. These supply arrangements greatly extend the U-boat range and mission duration, effectively amplifying the power of the fleet.

Royal Navy submarine HMS P-32 (Lt. David A. B. Abdy) is commissioned, minesweeping trawler Rosalind is launched.

U-205 (Kapitänleutnant Franz-Georg Reschke) and U-451 (Korvettenkapitän Eberhard Hoffmann) are commissioned, U-116 and U-654 are launched.

U-107 hooks up with the Nordmark in the Atlantic, 3 May 1941 (Jordan, Federal Archives).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Afrika Korps attack at Tobruk is at a standstill and on the evening of 3 May the Australian Brigade under General Morshead counterattacks. They send one battalion each in converging attacks, but the counterattack peters out during the night due to fierce resistance by Italian infantry and the Australians withdraw. General Paulus, in command during his "inspection tour" of North Africa, forbids further German attacks unless there is evidence that the Australians are evacuating the port.

The British at Tobruk have numerous assets with which to defend Tobruk, and one that they will return to again and again during the war on beachheads is naval shelling. Destroyers HMS Decoy and Defender shell the British positions in Tobruk during the night to support the Australian attack, then return to Alexandria.

The Luftwaffe raids Suda Bay, Crete, and damages 7258-ton freighter Araybank. The ship is bombed again later in the month and destroyed.

The RAF raids Italian shipping in Tripoli. The planes sink 5305-ton Italian freighter Birmania, which explodes and takes with it 3339-ton freighter Citta D'Bari. Italian torpedo boat Canopo also sinks.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Gloucester hits a mine early in the morning near Gibraltar. As Gloucester limps back to port, Italian bombers attack it and manage only a minor hit. The ship makes it back to port.

Italian 838-ton freighter hits a mine and sinks in Tripoli Harbour.

Submarine HMS Triumph surfaces and uses its deck gun to sink 425-ton Italian freighter Tugnin F. about a dozen miles northwest of Mersa Brega.

Submarine HMS Usk is reported overdue today, and it never turns up. Ultimately, it is presumed to have been lost around 1 May 1941 off Cape Bon.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe raids Floriana for the first time in a major attack by 30 bombers. There are 9 Royal Engineers and one local employee killed when an aerial mine lands on a barracks. There is extensive damage to the docks and St. Publius Church.

Anglo/Polish Relations: On the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish Constitution, Winston Churchill makes a radio broadcast directed, as he puts it, "to the Polish people all over the world." He calls the German occupiers of Poland "pitiless and venal" and "mechanized barbarians." He cautions that the war will be "long and hard," but "the end will reward all toil, all disappointments, all suffering."

The Rotunda Theatre on Stanley Road, Bootle, Liverpool collapses following the bombing on 3/4 May 1941.

British/Australian/US Relations:  Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies finally ends his extended visit to England when he boards a DC3 at Bristol bound for Lisbon. His eventual destination is Bermuda and then New York. His flight takes 6 1/2 hours, and it is a risky route patrolled occasionally by the Luftwaffe. Many in England are sad to see him go, as there is an undercurrent of sentiment which sees Menzies as a better alternative than Churchill to lead the British war effort. However, there have been rumblings of dissatisfaction against Menzies in Australia, and Churchill's grip on power remains strong, so it is time to go.

Anglo/US Relations: The Royal Navy has been using US ports for refits, and this pattern continues when light cruiser HMS Delhi arrives today in New York.

US Military: The Panama Canal Zone is assigned to the Panama Sector of the US Caribbean Defense Command.

Scientific Research: The University of California at Berkeley professor Glenn T. Seaborg and his team isolate plutonium as the best material for an atomic bomb.

South Africa: General Jan Smuts addresses the House of Assembly and reveals that South African troops are going to Egypt.

While the Germans hold a victory parade in Athens on 3 May 1941, British stragglers (in a lorry with shot-out windshields) continue to struggle to Nafplio for possible rescue. © IWM (E 2733).

Greece: The Germans mount a victory parade in Athens.

Yugoslavia: The Italians annex part of Slovenia and create the Province of Ljubljana.

Cambodia: Prince Norodom Sihanouk is crowned king of Cambodia.

China: The Japanese raid Chungking.

American Homefront: Frank Capra film "Meet John Doe," starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, opens to generally favorable, but mixed, reviews. The Warner Bros. film will go on to be listed on the 2006 American Film Institute "100 Years... 100 Cheers" list at No. 49.

Whirlaway wins the Kentucky Derby in the record time of 2:01 2/5.

4th Annual Field Day at Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center, Overton, Texas, May 3, 1941.

May 1941

Friday 21 March 1941

Plymouth, 21 March 1941. Original caption: "Long-distance view taken when St Andrew's Church (in the background) caught fire. The fire can be seen lighting up the church." Naturally, this is night-time and there is a total blackout, so everything would be black but for the fires. Plymouth Libraries, Local Studies Library.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece on the Bulgarian border, continues at full speed. The 1st Armoured Brigade is setting up outposts that are designed simply to delay, not stop, the expected Wehrmacht onslaught.

Mussolini essentially gives up on the stuttering Primavera Offensive. Even as his troops continue to attack, Mussolini leaves Tirana and flies back to Rome. The Italians continue battering against the Greek troops, supported by preceding artillery barrages, without success.

A picture of four crews from RAF No. 300 Squadron, based at RAF Swinderby, 21 March 1941. These crews were known as the first to bomb Berlin. No. 300 Polish Squadron Photo Gallery.

East African Campaign: Having taken Jijiga, Nigerian troops of the 11th African Division moves west into the Marda Pass. At around noontime, they attack, but the Italians hold firm. The Italians withdraw after sundown, handing the easily defensible location to the British.

At Keren, Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell makes a rare appearance to observe the proceedings. He sees the 3 Royal Garhwal Rifles move into Happy Valley. The move is purely defensive and diversionary, with the troops put there simply to protect other units and create the impression in the watching Italians that they are about to attack the Acqua Gap.

"Bluejackets filling in a crater made by a large bomb." Plymouth, 21 March 1941. © IWM (A 3550).

European Air Operations: The pattern of the Luftwaffe bombing the same targets on successive nights has become common knowledge. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies arrives in Plymouth, which was heavily bombed on the 20th, and writes in his diary:

At dinner we are warned that the Hun arrives two nights running. Sure enough, just as the port arrives we are hurried into the cellars.... A frightful bombing breaks out.

He notes that the "all clear" sounds after midnight. Menzies then vividly records a trip downtown to view the damage:

A frightful scene. Street after street afire; furniture litters the footpaths; poor old people shocked & dazed are led along to shelter. The Guild Hall is a beacon of fire. Buildings blaze and throw out sparks like a bush fire. There are few fire appliances and firemen.... Every now and then a delayed action bomb explodes (two were so close as to make me duck) or a building collapses.... I am all for peace when it comes, but it will be a tragedy for humanity if it comes before those beasts have had their own cities ravaged.

At Clydeside in Scotland, the inhabitants are digging themselves out from the raids of a week ago - literally. Two men buried in a tenement basement finally are rescued.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, sends 66 bombers against the U-boat pens at Lorient. The RAF also attacks German shipping off the Heligoland Bight and in the Heligoland Bight.

"Bluejackets filling in a crater made by a large bomb. Plymouth, 21 March 1941." © IWM (A 3551).

Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Lütjens brings his Operation Berlin cruisers toward Brest in a heavy fog. It clears at 16:30, permitting three Heinkel He-115s to depart to provide air cover. At 19:00, torpedo boats Iltis and Jaguar meet Gneisenau and Scharnhorst to escort them in. While this may all seem mundane, it gives a preview of what Lutjens would reasonably expect to happen while aboard the Bismarck in May. A Fairey Fulmar from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which has left Gibraltar to search for Lutjens' ship, spots them but experiences a radio malfunction and cannot report in time for any interception to be made today.

The Ark Royal loses an aircraft of RAF No. 818 Squadron when it crashes on takeoff, with the crew killed. It is even worse than that: the plane is carrying a depth charge which explodes under the Ark Royal, damaging it.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a former First Lord of the Admiralty, continues to meddle in the Royal Navy's priorities. He memos the First Sea Lord that "No effort to destroy the Focke-Wulfs [Fw 200 Condors] should be spared." He even suggests placing a radar station on Rockall, an uninhabited rocky outcropping in the Northwest Approaches.

During the Luftwaffe raid on Plymouth, the Germans hit 303-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Asama. The captain beaches the Asama, but it is a total loss.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the Bristol Channel. It sinks:

• 1260-ton British freighter London II in the Bristol Channel. The crew quickly abandons the blazing ship. There are four deaths
• 617-ton British freighter Millisle. There are ten deaths.

U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe) is operating off the Cape Verde Islands. It has been stalking Convoy SL-68 and already has sunk two of its ships, the Medjerda and the Mandalika. Today, it adds three more victims from the convoy.

U-105 torpedoes and sinks:

• 5920-ton British freighter Benwyvis (34 deaths)
• 5802-ton British freighter Clan Ogilvy (61 deaths)
• 4038-ton British freighter Jhelum (8 deaths, the rest make it to Senegal and are interned).

Like a wolf feeding on a herd, U-105 makes its first attack at 00:46, sinking the Benwyvis and Clan Ogilvy. After shadowing the convoy throughout the day, U-105 returns at 22:00 to sink the Jhelum.

British 2365-ton freighter Halo hits a mine off Beckton Pier in the Thames. The ship sinks but is later refloated and used for storage. There are four deaths.

Armed merchant cruiser HMS Derbyshire departs from the Clyde carrying troops bound for Reykjavik, Iceland.

Convoy HX 116 departs from Halifax.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Dahlia (Lt. Commander Magnus S. Work) and minesweeping trawler HMS Fluellen (Lt. Denys P. Richardson) are commissioned.

U-562 is commissioned, U-205, U-569, and U-570 are launched, and U-258 is laid down.

"The Norwegian sailors who helped in the clearing up of "blitzed" Plymouth, receiving well-deserved refreshment." 21 March 1941. © IWM (A 3545).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The 15-week Australian/British siege - well, not much of a siege, more like simply watching them - of the Italian fort at Jarabub (Giarabub), Southern Libya finally comes to a successful conclusion. The Italians decide to abandon the position rather than risk damage to religious artifacts of importance to the Muslim Senussi sect. The Australian 2/9th Battalion troops move in and also leave the religious items intact. Led by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a strong faction of the Arab world has pro-Axis sympathies, and everyone treats these types of situations with extreme sensitivity.

The Italian Brescia Division relieves the German 5th Light Division at its forward positions during the night.

The Allied convoys from Alexandria to Greece have been passing largely unmolested for weeks. Today, Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bombers of III,/KG 30 operating southeast of Crete (off Gavdo Island) spot Convoy AS-21 returning to Alexandria. They sink 3798 ton Greek transport Embiricos Nicolaos and damage 8070-ton Norwegian tanker Solheim, killing two men on the former and one on the latter. The tanker stays afloat until early on 24 March. Another convoy departs today from Piraeus, Convoy ASF-21.

Panzer Mk IIs and Mk IIIs pass beneath the marble arch at Sirte, Libya, 21 March 1941. These remain the main Wehrmacht battle tanks at this stage of the conflict. (German Federal Archive: Bild 101I-782-0009-01A)

The Luftwaffe also attacks Convoy AN-21 near Crete. The two Junkers Ju 88s bomb and damage Danish tanker Marie Maersk. After the crew abandons ship, Lieutenant C.G. Hill, RANR of HMAS Warehen boards the blazing ship with some men regain control of the tanker. They manage to sail it to Suda Bay. Lt. Hill is awarded the OBE for this.

Italian torpedo boats attack the British port at Suda Bay, Crete. One puts a torpedo into the side of cruiser HMS York which causes the ship, at a dock, to settle into the mud. This begins a chain reaction of events which ultimately results in the ship's destruction.

At Malta, a single Junkers Ju 88 bomber escorted by seven Italian Macchi fighters and two German Bf 109s attack shipping off Dellmara Point. The bomber brackets destroyer HMS Defender, damaging it and wounding six sailors. HMS Defender makes it back to port but is full of holes above the waterline.

General Italo Gariboldi officially replaces Rodolfo Graziani as Governor-General of Libya and Commander in Chief of Italian forces in North Africa. Gariboldi has been the de facto commander there since Graziani flew back to Italy in disgrace on 8 February.

An Afrika Korps half-track towing a 3.7 cm Pak antitank gun. Tripolitania, 21 March 1941 (Moosmuller, Federal Archive).

Japanese/German Relations: Japanese freighter Tatsuta Maru, which arrived in San Francisco yesterday, departs again for Japan. It carries Werner Thiel, a long-time resident of the United States who is heading back to Germany to attend a school for saboteurs (see Operation Pastorius).

German/Hungarian Relations: Hungarian Foreign Minister László Bárdossy meets with Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop in Munich.

US Military: Navy Secretary Frank Knox writes to President Roosevelt - who is fishing off the Florida coast - with recommendations for aiding the British. These are both based upon requests previously made by Winston Churchill:

• Seize interned German/Italian ships and use them in convoys to England;
• Begin convoy operations using US Navy ships.

Knox is working on Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to agree to the use of US Navy ships in convoys.

Separately, Captain George Murray takes command of USS Enterprise (CV-6).

"Bluejackets filling in a crater made by a large bomb." Bluejackets are enlisted sailors. Plymouth, 21 March 1941. © IWM (A 3549).

Yugoslavian Government: The uproar within the government over regent Prince Paul's decision to sign the Tripartite Pact continues. Four ministers either resign or threaten to resign.

China: A lull in the Battle of Shanggao continues today, with the Japanese 11th Army capturing Shangchichia. Both sides are bringing up reinforcements. The Japanese also are stocking up with poison gas.

British Homefront: Churchill remonstrates with Minister of Food Lord Woolton - but this time it is not about the appeal of the recently introduced Woolton Pies. Instead, Churchill is concerned about the name Woolton has given to new government-sponsored eateries: "Communal Feeding Centres." Calling this name "suggestive of Communism and the workhouse," Churchill proposes that they be named "British Restaurants" instead. This is because "Restaurants" connotes a "good meal," and since they will be serving Woolton Pies, "they may as well have the name if they cannot get anything else."

American Homefront: The Liberty Badge Campaign begins around this date to raise funds to help Greece.

The NYC bus strike is settled after an 11-day walkout.

Warner Bros. releases "The Sea Wolf," starring Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, and Ida Lupino. Directed by Michael Curtiz, "The Sea Wolf" follows a cruel German sea captain and is adapted from a Jack London novel.

Joe Louis knocks out Abe Simon in the thirteenth round in Philadelphia. Louis remains the world heavyweight champion.

"A sailor eats his dinner on the edge of a huge crater which he has been helping to fill up." Plymouth, 21 March 1941. © IWM (A 3547).

March 1941

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

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