Saturday 21 June 1941

Members of the Free French forces entering Damascus after Vichy forces surrendered the town on 21 June 1941 (Australian War Memorial AWM 009747).

It is the last day of the old world, with multiple power centers. Adolf Hitler has managed the unthinkable, to amass over three million men on the Soviet border without having his plans discovered by Soviet leadership. After this day, the course is set for a world of very few superpowers who keep the peace by having complete control within their own domains.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: During the early morning hours of 21 June 1941, the Australian troops to the south and west of Damascus take possession of several stone forts atop hills that overlook key roads leading to Damascus. The battle rages back-and-forth through the night, with the defending Vichy French launching counterattacks that temporarily succeed in dislodging the Australians in places. Ultimately, the Australians consolidate their control over the forts that control the approaches to Damascus. Australian troops also take the Barada Gorge on the road running west to Beirut and hold it against furious French counterattacks. This completes the isolation of Damascus, which the Vichy French now can neither supply nor reinforce.

The battle outside of Damascus having been decided by daylight, the Vichy French in the city surrender to Gentforce around 11:00. The remaining Vichy French forces in the vicinity retreat west toward Beirut. This completes the first phase of Operation Exporter.

Free French 1st Infantry Brigade (General Dentz) and 2nd Infantry Brigade enter Damascus. While Free French troops are present at the surrender of Damascus and usually given credit for the victory, there is little question that Australian and Indian troops (hundreds dead in Mezzeh just west of Damascus) have done much of the fighting that made the capture possible.

Habforce arrives in Syria, having returned from Baghdad. They approach Palmyra, which is the site of a major Vichy French airbase.

A Vichy French destroyer, the Vauquelin, evades the Royal Navy ships off the coast of Lebanon and makes it to Beirut with a much-needed cargo of ammunition. The Royal Navy does capture a French hospital ship, 9684-ton Canada, and takes it to Haifa for "inspection" until the 22nd.

A German Panzer IV tanks preparing for the start of Operation Barbarossa, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0861).

European Air Operations: After dark, the Luftwaffe bombs Southampton, England. The bombers drop naval mines in surrounding waters. The bombing causes a leak in the King George V Dry Dock, and demolishes the down-line platform of the Southern Railway Central Station, blocking rail traffic.

The Luftwaffe, having transferred the bulk of its units east, now has only two fighter units remaining on the "Kanal Front." These are JG 2 and JG 26. These units total about 140 Bf 109 E and F fighters, the Reich's only front-line fighter at this time. Henceforth, the Luftwaffe, for the most part, will be fighting a defensive battle against the RAF in northwest Europe.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne with 68 aircraft, Boulogne with 18 planes, and Dusseldorf with 55 planes. During the day, it sends 23 planes on anti-shipping missions.

The RAF conducts a Circus attack on JG 26's airfield at St. Omer around noontime. It results in wild melees in the sky, with the RAF losing six fighters and one Blenheim to the Luftwaffe's six planes (with four pilots killed and two taken as prisoners, including ace Franz Luders of JG 26). Among the deaths is ace Carl-Hans Röders, with eight victories.

It is a day of legendary accomplishments by legendary figures of the air war. Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore  Adolf Galland of JG 26 destroys two Blenheims in quick succession during the Circus attack. These are his 68th and 69th victories. After that, an RAF plane damages his fighter and Galland has to force-land at Calais-Marck airfield. After driving back to his base, Galland takes off again alone at 16:00 to defend against another attack. This time, Galland shoots down a Spitfire northeast of Boulogne, his 70th claim. However, then Galland is shot down at low altitude and badly injured. His parachute only opens at the last second before he hits the ground, and he survives only with the aid of French civilians who take him to an aid station.

The unit commander, Oberst Theo Osterkamp, drives over to the hospital and lets Galland know that he is to be awarded the newly created Schwerten Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). Galland is the first Luftwaffe pilot to be so honored with his "1st Swords."

During the same action, RAF Ace Douglas Bader shoots down a German Bf 109E aircraft off Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France. This, however, is not Galland's aircraft.

Lt. Josef ‘Pips’ Priller of 1./JG 26 also downs a Spitfire from RAF No 603 Squadron during these actions. This is his 24th victory.

A first look at the Soviet Union from occupied Poland on the morning of 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0867).

East African Campaign: East African 22nd Infantry Brigade captures Jimma in Galla-Sidamo, Abyssinia. Italian commander General Pietro Gazzera escapes unobserved, but 15,000 men surrender.

Battle of the Atlantic: The confused state of relations between Great Britain and Vichy France explodes in the Atlantic. French warships Air France IV and Edith Germaine intercept Royal Navy prize ship 4564-ton SS Criton (captured on 9 May) on its way to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Criton is part of Convoy SL-78 from Freetown on its way to Belfast, but has developed engine trouble and is on its way back to Freetown for repairs. Thus, it is traveling alone.

The French ships order the Criton to stop, but it radios a distress call. Air France IV then opens fire from close range (about 50 yards/meters). The crew of Criton launches its lifeboats on the side opposite the firing. Shortly after the crew abandons ship, the Criton sinks off Conakry, French Guinea. Two crew perish and the remaining crew survives the sinking, though Captain Gerald Dobeson (King's Commendation for Brave Conduct) of the Criton is injured when he falls into his lifeboat. The French take the crew prisoner, but four will perish during their extended captivity (which lasts until December 1942).

Royal Navy cruiser HMS London intercepts 4422-ton German supply ship Babitonga near St. Paul Rocks. The Babitonga's crew scuttles the ship rather than allow it to be captured. This continues the Royal Navy's successful destruction of the Kriegsmarine's Atlantic supply network for U-boats and surface raiders.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 3176-ton British freighter Dorine off Sheringham. The ship makes it to Hartlepool for repairs.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1304-ton Norwegian freighter Skum near No. 57 Buoy in the Thames Estuary. The ship is towed to Great Yarmouth, then London for repairs.

British 3001-ton freighter Gasfire hits a mine and sinks about ten miles east of Southwold, Suffolk. There are no casualties, with all 26 aboard surviving.

British 1546-ton freighter Kenneth Hawksfield also hits a mine and sinks a few miles off Southwold. There is one death.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Arrow hits a mine off Flamborough Head and is badly damaged. The ship makes it to Middlesborough for repairs, which last until 28 November.

Minesweeper HMS Plover lays minefield BS.60 in the North Sea.

Troop Convoy TC-11 departs from Halifax bound for the Clyde.

Convoy OB-338 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 35 departs Sydney, Nova Scotia for the Clyde.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Heythrop (Lt. Commander Robert S. Stafford) and ASW trawler Minuet (Lt. Alexander M. Sullivan) are commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville is launched at Port Arthur, Ontario.

Soviet submarine M-120 is launched.

U-374 (Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fischel) and U-434 (Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Heyda) are commissioned, U-87, U-158, U-436, U-455 and U-456 are launched, U-264 is laid down.

Refueling trucks from barrels in the Baltic States (probably Lithuania), 21 June 1941 (Zoll, Federal Archive Bild 101I-208-0002-14A).

Battle of the Mediterranean: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill informs Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell that he is being sacked. This is due both to the failure of Operation Battleaxe and also to the fierce fighting that has developed in Syria and Lebanon during Operation Battleaxe. Wavell's replacement is General Claude Auchinleck, who has held command in a backwater (India) with only minor operational experience during the Norwegian campaign.

Wavell is to replace Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief, India and a member of the Governor General's Executive Council. Wavell's new command also encompasses Iraq, which is highly desired by all sides due to its oil supplies. He also has responsibility extending to the Southern Pacific, which also is a brewing hot zone.

Wavell's dismissal appears a bit abrupt to some but has been brewing for quite some time. Churchill long has felt that the Middle East command has required too many British resources, particularly for the minor advantages it has conferred to the British war effort. Viewed dispassionately and without Churchill's exaggerated expectations and personal animosity toward Wavell, however, most (including Auchinleck) agree that Wavell has done an outstanding job by eliminating the Italian presence in Africa, holding the Afrika Korps to a stalemate in the Western desert, and invading Syria and Iraq. The durable British presence in the eastern Mediterranean has greatly affected the course of the war, including diverting Wehrmacht troops to Yugoslavia and Greece and remains a stable launching pad for further operations against the "soft underbelly" (Italy) of the Axis.

The Luftwaffe bombs Alexandria with about 25 planes.

At Malta, there is an air raid that destroys the Della Grazia searchlight. When Hurricane fighters try to intercept the attackers, they are unable to because.... there is no searchlight.

Working on tracks for a vehicle in Lithuania, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 146-1987-024-09A).

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese seize Portuguese vessel Guia in the neutral territory near Macau. This is the beginning of a campaign of intimidation by the Japanese against the Portuguese colony. Macau becomes a favorite haunt of local Japanese officers looking for a little fun at the gambling tables and restaurants.

Spy Stuff: Although it now is too late to affect matters, warnings of an upcoming German attack on the Soviet Union continue to flow into the Kremlin. Soviet military attaché to France Major General Ivan Sousloparov sends one such warning. Soviet sleeper agent Richard Sorge in Tokyo, who is friends there with the German ambassador, radios in another message today that he drafted on the 20th. Sir Stafford Cripps, the British ambassador to Moscow, warns Ambassador Maisky that Germany will invade the Soviet Union "this weekend." Soviet military attaché to Germany Mikhail Vorontsov sends a more definitive warning at 19:05.

Premier Joseph Stalin and Soviet State Security Lavrentiy Beria review the warnings along with Chief of Staff General Georgy Zhukov. They are meeting to plan the attack Stalin has been talking about recently against Germany (the reason for this meeting is controversial and not accepted by everyone, but it is accepted that they meet today). At first, Stalin and Beria disregard the warnings as they have all the others. Zhukov, however, is not so sure. The message from Vorontsov finally catches everyone's attention. Stalin immediately convenes the Politburo, which authorizes two new wartime fronts.

Tokyo requests information today from its consulate in Manila on comings and goings of the US Navy in Manila Bay. Specifically, they inquire about the departure of eleven US pilots who they have heard have departed for Chungking to join the Flying Tigers. The Japanese have a trained espionage agent on their staff as Vice-Consul, and he continues supplying Tokyo with detailed reports on US warships and other matters such as this. The Japanese Consulate conveniently is situated on a hill overlooking the bay.

In Panama, the Japanese Consul, Minoru Izawa, wires Tokyo that his staff there is inadequate for its duties. These "duties" include recently securing a detailed map of the Panama Canal Zone which shows US military defenses and which the Japanese military command in Tokyo wishes to see. However, Izawa is having difficulty smuggling the large maps out because airline personnel are searching through everyone's luggage.

General of Infantry Fritz Erich von Manstein (right center) and Generalmajor Erich Brandenberger in East Prussia as they plan their advance to the bridges over the Dubissa River at Ariogola, Lithuania, 21 June 1941 (Kriegsberichter Koch, 694th Propaganda Unit).

Applied Science: Soviet aircraft engineer A. M. Isayev comes up with a plan to use compressed air rather than a pump to force propellant into the rocket engine that he is developing for a new fighter design.

British/Yugoslavian Relations: King Peter, 17, and the Yugoslav Prime Minister, General Simovic, arrive in London to form a shadow government. Peter ruled Yugoslavia for less than a month, and now he will lead one of many governments-in-exile in London. He will never return - alive - to his country.

German/Soviet Relations: Having seen messages flooding in today from Soviet spies around the world that Germany is about to invade the Soviet Union, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov meets with German Ambassador Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg and asks him if Germany is planning to invade. Count von der Schulenburg, who officially has not been informed of the invasion (though he has his suspicions based upon his own observations in the Reich), denies that an invasion is planned.

A wrecked Junkers Ju 52 transport at Maleme airport, Crete, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archive).

US/Italian Relations: Following up on its recent closure of German consulates, the United States orders Italy to close its consulates by 15 July. Italy already has ordered the closure of US consulates on its soil on 19 June. From this point, the US will retain its embassies in each country, and Italy and Germany will retain their embassies in the US, but that is it.

While this all may seem to be "just for show" and petty tit-for-tat, consulates offer valuable listening posts that can provide useful information. On balance, the "war of the consulates" tends to benefit the Axis more than the Allies, because the Americans gathered useful intelligence "behind enemy lines" on Germany and Italy for the British.

German/Finnish Relations: By noon on 21 June 1941, German liaison officer Infantry General Waldemar Erfurth shows the Chief of the Finnish General Staff a message he has just received from his superiors in Berlin. It informs the Finns about the onset of hostilities on 22 June 1941. This, officially, is the first notification by Germany to the Finns about Operation Barbarossa. Finnish troops are deployed in defensive positions all along the front as part of "maneuvers."

After dark, German Navy and Finnish Navy submarines lay mines along the coast of occupied Estonia. This is to deter any Soviet "aggression."
German/Italian Relations: Hitler wires Benito Mussolini about Operation Barbarossa:

I waited until this moment, Duce, to send you this information, it is because the final decision itself will not be made until 7 o'clock tonight. I earnestly beg you, therefore, to refrain, above all, from making any explanation to your Ambassador at Moscow, for there is no absolute guarantee that our coded reports cannot be decoded. I, too, shall wait until the last moment to have my own Ambassador informed of the decisions reached.

The cable appears to answer the question of whether Hitler already has informed Mussolini about the invasion. However, the part about "waiting until 7 o'clock" to decide whether to invade appears to be a pure prevarication, as Hitler long ago ordained 22 June as the invasion date.

Hitler's worry about "our coded reports" being "decoded" is justified, because the British have been reading German diplomatic messages for the past year. However, it apparently never occurs to Hitler that the British and others might also be reading the Wehrmacht's coded messages - which the British also have been doing.

A Wehrmacht column parked and ready to go at Memel, 21 June 1941.

German/US Relations: Having thought overnight about the USS Texas incident of the 20th, in which a U-boat tried to attack the US battleship, Hitler reaches a decision. He sends instructions to Admiral Raeder (head of the Kriegsmarine) and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (head of the Luftwaffe):

Fuhrer orders avoidance any incident with USA during next few weeks. Orders will be rigidly obeyed in all circumstances. In addition, attacks till further orders will be restricted to cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers and then only when identified beyond doubt as hostile. Fact that warship is sailing without lights will not be regarded as proof of enemy identity.

Raeder disagrees with this decision and immediately comes to see Hitler, protesting that such incidents "warn off" the United States. However, Hitler is adamant: no attacks on the United States until Russia is defeated.

Soviet Military: Red Air Force fighter pilots intercept a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight, but are ordered not to attack.

Soviet border guards are put on alert, but ordered to do nothing that might be "provocative."

The Red Air Force is under orders to camouflage its forward airfields, but this barely has begun.

General Semyon Timoshenko, one of the heroes of the campaign in Finland, orders troops to occupy fortifications in the Molotov Line in Soviet-occupied Poland. The local commanders, however, take their time assembling their men, and many put the task off until the 22nd.

Shortly before midnight, the Soviet Navy issues Grade 1 Alert to fleet commanders, upgrading from the previous Grade 2 Alert.

General Boris Shaposhnikov is appointed the chief of staff to the Western Special Military District. Kirill Meretskov is appointed the High Command representative in Leningrad.

Free French troops entering Damascus, 21 June 1941.

German Military: General "Fast" Heinz Guderian, commander of Panzergruppe 2, completes an inspection of the forward units of his command. He is satisfied that the Soviets are unaware of "Operation Barbarossa," scheduled to begin in the early morning hours of 22 June. Guderian notes with satisfaction that the Soviet troops across the border are busy engaging in peacetime activities such as parade formations. Soviet strongpoints along the River Bug, the dividing line in this sector, are unoccupied. After some deliberation, Guderian decides not to cancel a planned one-hour artillery barrage just in case the Soviets have some kind of surprise in store.

The Luftwaffe moves Stab, II and III./JG 77 from airfields around Bucharest to new fields at Bacau and Roman. These forward airfields will provide good opportunities to attack Soviet airfields on the morning of the 22nd.

German commandos and saboteurs (German Brandenburg special mission units and the Polish White Guard ) set out after dark to infiltrate Soviet positions.

The Luftwaffe sends pathfinder bombers across the border very late in the day. German ships lay mines in the Baltic.

Field Marshal Bock moves his headquarters of German Army Group Center to Rembertow near Warsaw.

Finnish Military: The Finnish military lays mines in the Baltic.

US Military: US commercial aircraft under contract to USAAF depart Miami to pioneer the Trinidad - Brazil - Ascension Island - Africa southern air route across the Atlantic.

Inside the Warsaw Ghetto, 21 June 1941 (Albert Cusian, Federal Archive Bild 101I-134-0778-38).

German Government: Throughout the day, Hitler remains firm about the start of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June. Unlike earlier invasions, there are no postponements. However, similar to those previous invasions, there is no warning given to his victim or declaration of war prior to the invasion.

Soviet Ambassador Dekanozov asks to see Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop. With the invasion of the Soviet Union about to start, the stakes are high. Ribbentrop "disappears" and tells his staff to have Dekanozov see a junior official whenever he arrives. In fact, Ribbentrop is in the Chancellery with Hitler, who is doing routine paperwork such as drafting correspondence to other dictators and official proclamations to the German public about Operation Barbarossa.

Ribbentrop is not idle, however. He instructs Ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg in Moscow to burn his codebook, destroy his radio equipment, and request an appointment with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov to issue a declaration of war - after it has begun.

Meanwhile, Dekanozov arrives at the Foreign Ministry at 21:30 and, as on the 19th, only wishes to complain about Luftwaffe violations of Soviet airspace - which have been quite frequent recently. Molotov complains in a similar fashion to Schulenburg in Moscow, writing "A series of symptoms gives us the impression that the German government is dissatisfied with the Soviet government." Hitler and his cronies at the Chancellery have a good laugh about how he will respond to these complaints in very short order.

Hitler stays up through the night with a small staff, awaiting reports from the Eastern Front.

A scene from the liberation of Damascus, 21 June 1941.

Holocaust: New laws in Vichy France restrict Jewish students to only 3% of university spots.

American Homefront: New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio gets a hit in today's game against the Detroit Tigers, a single against pitcher Dizzy Trout. This extends DiMaggio's club-record hitting streak to 34 games.

Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra (using the name "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye") take over the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart with "Daddy." This becomes the first of eight weeks that "Daddy" spends atop the charts.

Future History: Sammy Kaye's "Daddy" is written by Bobby Troup, a college student at the University of Pennsylvania. Troup enlists in the US Marine Corps after graduating from college around the time of the song's success, but he does not receive his orders until January 1942. Troup becomes an officer supervising Montford Point, a recruit depot for the first Black Marines. After the war, Troup continues his musical career during the 1950s and 1960s but due to only middling success, he branches out into acting. He reaches his greatest success in the 1970s as the star of the television series "Emergency!" (and also in a memorable cameo in the Robert Altman film "M*A*S*H"). Bobby Troup passes away in February 1999.

Joe Flaherty is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He becomes famous in the 1970s as a star of Canadian sketch comedy show "SCTV" and on "Freaks and Geeks."

Looking across the Soviet border from occupied Poland, 21 June 1941 (Federal Archives Bild 183-L25085).

June 1941

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

2020

Saturday 10 May 1941

Rudolph Hess prepares to fly to England, 10 May 1941.

May 10, 1941, is one of the most bizarre days during World War II. The idea of a leading member of one nation willingly placing himself, without conditions, under the power of his country's opponent is virtually unprecedented in world history. What makes the day even curiouser is that the motivations and purpose behind this strange decision also are murky and subject to interpretation.

Anglo/Iraq War: The Germans begin setting in motion Operation Iraq, their planned intervention in Iraq. The objective is to fly troop transports to Mosul in Junkers Ju 52s. Today, the first planes set out, escorted by Bf 110s of the 4th group of the 76th Zerstorergeschwader 76 (Destroyer Wing) under Lt. Col. Holbein, from Greece to Rhodes. The elongated route goes mainland Greece-Rhodes-Aleppo-Damascus-Mosul, and each stage will require a day's flight. The entire project under Luftwaffe General Felmy is a rushed job, and the pilots do not have maps and the planes have not been modified for desert conditions.

At Fort Rutbah in Iraq, the advance elements of Arab Legion which have been shadowing the fortress while the RAF bombs it receive some ground reinforcements. The No. 2 Armoured Car Company RAF has arrived, and Squadron Leader Michael Casano, in command, attacks the defending Iraqis. The action is inconclusive, but the 40 Iraqi armoured cars which had arrived recently withdraw as RAF Blenheim bombers continue bombing the fort. After dark, the entire Iraqi Fort Rutbah garrison withdraws.

Damage in London from the 10 May 1941 raid.

European Air Operations: The RAF announces that a Dutch bomber squadron operated using RAF planes for the first time during the night of 9/10 May. They attacked a Luftwaffe base at Kristiansund in southern Norway.

Tonight marks the culmination of the London Blitz. A massive force of 570 Luftwaffe planes pounds the docklands area of London and the City of London. The Luftwaffe likes to time its London raids to natural phenomena such as moonless nights for maximum effect, and this raid occurs during an ebb tide which hampers firefighting efforts. The bombers drop 700 metric tons of high explosives and 2393 incendiary bombs. Despite upgraded fire prevention measures instituted following the great incendiary raids of late 1940, the bombs cause over 2000 fires of varying sizes.

Among the downtown areas hit is the House of Commons, the roof of Westminster Hall and the top of Victoria Tower. In the City of London, the Tower of London and the Mint are set afire. In the port, the bombs sink small (4 ton) Safari and Miss England,  (5 ton) Royal Navy auxiliary vessels Altais, Comet I, and Faislane, and (6-ton) Igloo, Jake II and Nomad III. Damaged during the raid are 4241-ton British freighter Tower Field and 1438 ton sludge vessel Henry Ward.

Overall, there are 3000+ casualties from the raid (around 1500 deaths), and some consider this the worst Luftwaffe raid against England during the entire war. It also, fortunately for the British, is the last mass raid against London of the war, though smaller raids continue for the next several years.

While the raid is an undoubted success in the sense that it causes a lot of damage, there also is a very bad omen for the Luftwaffe. It loses 21-27 planes (accounts vary) during the night, a massive and unsustainable number that reflects vastly improved British night fighter and anti-aircraft fire. This equals the number of planes the Luftwaffe lost during the great day raids of the fall of 1940 which caused its turn toward night raids. Raids in London are becoming too costly in general when easier pickings will soon be available in the East.

RAF Bomber Command attacks coastal targets (18 aircraft) during the day and Hamburg (119 aircraft) and Berlin (23 aircraft) during the night.

Damage to the Houses of Parliament following the raid of 10 May 1941.

East African Campaign: Having completed their capture of the Falagi Pass, Indian troops advance toward 11,400 foot Mount Gumsa. This is garrisoned by Italian troops and supposedly guards the key point of Amba Alagi from the east. However, the Italians immediately withdraw from the mountain after sunset and join the main force in Amba Alagi.

The 1st South African Brigade arrives at Amba Alagi after a long march. The Italian stronghold now is encircled, and the British plan a set-piece attack.

In the Gold Coast, the 24th Infantry Brigade captures Italian positions at Wadara in Galla-Sidamo.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Primrose, the capture of U-110, ends today with the sinking of the U-boat while under tow during a storm. It is unclear if this is intentional, but subsequent histories often will claim that it was in order to hide the fact that the submarine was captured and the extremely important Enigma Code Machine and codebooks retrieved.

It is a very good day for U-556 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth), on its first patrol out of Kiel and part of Wolf Pack West. It is stalking Convoy OB-318 before dawn when it attacks 4986-ton British freighter Aelybryn. The Aelybryn is disabled but ultimately makes it to port under tow with only one death.

A few hours later, U-556 torpedoes and sinks 4861-ton freighter Empire Caribou. There are 11 survivors and 34 deaths.

In the evening, U-556 then torpedoes and sinks 5086-ton Belgian freighter Gand. There are 43 survivors, with one man killed and another wounded.

Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Hilary captures 5719-ton Italian tanker Gianna M. north of the Azores. The Hilary escorts the captured ship to join convoy HG 61, which is bound for Belfast. The Gianna M. will be renamed Empire Control and used by the British.

Convoy HX 126 departs from Halifax, Convoy SL 74 departs from Freetown bound for Liverpool.

Minesweeper HMAS Bendigo (Lt. Commander James A. R. Patrick) is commissioned.

U-86 and U-374 are launched.

Damage on Carlisle Street W1 following the 10 May 1941 Luftwaffe raid. The damage here included the complete destruction of Carlisle House, the headquarters of the British Board of Film Censors.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Winston Churchill remains upset about the "bottleneck" at Takoradi airfield, the key transit hub on the 3700-mile route across Africa to supply Cairo with planes. He tells Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Porter that "A regular flying-boat service should be established to bring back pilots which are accumulating in Egypt." He emphasizes that "Speed is essential, as from every side one gets information of the efforts the enemy is making." One of those "sides," of course, is Churchill's top-secret Ultra decryption service.

Churchill is upset about the entire Middle East Command. His dissatisfaction with Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell is well known, and he is prone to venting his feelings both to Wavell directly and to the War Cabinet. Anthony Eden recalls in his subsequently published diary "The Reckoning" that today Churchill "was in favor [at the War Cabinet meeting] of changing [Indian Commander] Auchinleck and Wavell about." However, Eden notes there is a rare moment of disagreement about this within Churchill's cabinet of "yes men" (Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies' scathing term for them). Eden writes that "I have no doubt that Archie [Wavell] has a better mind, but one does not know how he is bearing the strain." For the moment, the War Cabinet dissuades Churchill from making a change, which would seriously disrupt British strategy in the region at a critical juncture.

Churchill's prime grievance against Wavell is that he is not using his forces efficiently and basically has accumulated an army of slackers who lack aggressive spirit. In Wavell's defense, he has shown great tactical and strategic judgment, such as being skeptical of Churchill's obsession with trying to defend Greece against the advice of Menzies and others. The garrisoning of Greece, and then the evacuation in Operation Demon, was accomplished with great skill and few unnecessary losses. Considering that Great Britain's lifeline to India and control of East Africa and the eastern Mediterranean hinges upon control of Egypt, being conservative with the stretched British forces there could also be deemed quite prudent.

Operation Tiger continues to steam east through the Mediterranean. The Luftwaffe or Regia Aeronautica bomb and damage destroyer HMS Fortune. A large force of Royal Navy destroyers from the force bombard Benghazi at sunset. Royal Navy gunboat Ladybird bombards Gazala during the night.

The Luftwaffe sinks a motor launch, ML 1011, which is crossing from Suda Bay to Sphakia Bay.

At Benghazi, Royal Navy submarine Triumph torpedoes and sinks Italian banana boat Ramb III. The Italians will raise the Ramb III and return her to Trieste for repairs.

Following discussions with Benito Mussolini, General Friedrich Paulus departs from Rome to Berlin. He will not return to the southern theater of operations, which his wife believes is not the place for him to make his reputation. Upon his arrival in Berlin, he reiterates his previous assessments that General Rommel is reckless and must be watched closely.

At Malta, Governor Dobbie praises the people of Malta for their support of the war effort and suggests that the government in London should issue a statement of thanks. He also requests 4000 rifles for the defense of the island; the rifle shortage has become an issue throughout the Middle East Command. The RAF loses a Beaufighter (two deaths) which was sent up to intercept a flight of Ju-52 transports flying from Sicily to North Africa.

Damage to the Westminster Abbey high altar (the roof has collapsed) following the attack of 10 May 1941.

POWs: British Lieutenant Anthony "Peter" Allan, held at the Oflag IV-C "officer's" prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle, escapes. He hides in a straw mattress being removed from the camp by French laborers who know he is in it but do not give him away. Allan was sent to Sonderlager (high-security prison camp) Colditz because he already had escaped from another POW camp but then had been recaptured. Allan originally was captured at St. Valery in June 1940 by General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division. Allan intends to head to Poland but instead is given a lift to Vienna by a friendly (and clueless) SS officer. He ultimately will be recaptured and returned to Colditz to spend the next three months in solitary confinement.

Anglo/German Relations: Around 2:30 p.m., German Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, second in succession to Adolf Hitler, leaves a personal letter for Adolf Hitler and says goodbye to his wife Ilse. He then has his driver take him and his adjutant from his villa in the Munich suburb of Harlaching to the Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Augsburg. After making flight preparations for his personal Bf 110, Hess at 5:45 p.m. takes off and takes a northwesterly course to Bonn, where he then tracks the Rhine River all the way to the coast. Crossing the West Frisian islands, he veers north, then to the northwest again.

Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, is alerted to the flight and orders Adolf Galland, head of JG 26, to intercept him. However, Galland's fighters are based too far to the south and are unable to find Hess. Berlin Radio broadcasts a cryptic alert at 8 p.m. that  "Party member Hess had left on Saturday for a light form which he had not yet returned." That the Luftwaffe knows about Hess' flight on the 10th makes Adolf Hitler's surprised reaction to the flight on the morning of the 11th suspect.

Once he reaches the right latitude, Hess turns the craft due west past the final piece of land and heads toward the Northumbrian coast. Hess, concerned about being intercepted, descends to wavetop level and proceeds with skill. At RAF Fighter Command, the commanding officer responds to word that an unidentified fighter has been spotted and fighters vectored toward it by shouting, "For God's sake, tell them not to shoot him down!" Hess has taken care of that by descending, however, thereby evading the three RAF Spitfires far above.

The RAF pilots never see him, so Hess continues flying west, remaining at the treetop level and heads toward his destination: Dungavel. However, he overflies his destination in the blacked-out north, reaches the Firth of Clyde, and then turns back in confusion. At around 10:25 p.m., his fuel tanks empty, Rudolf Hess bails out and operates his parachute, watching his Messerschmitt glide on and then crash and burst into flames not far away.

Proving himself a fairly adept navigator as well as pilot, Hess lands in Eaglesham, only a dozen miles from his destination, in a Scottish field. Hess is, as he recalls later, elated and triumphant that he has made, despite his regret at not meeting the Military Intelligence officers and Service Agents waiting for him at his destination nearby.

Scottish Lanarkshire farmer David McLean, meanwhile, has seen many warplanes overflying his farm during the war, so the notion of a pilot bailing out nearby is hardly unexpected. Hearing the plane and then observing the descending parachute, McLean grabs a pitchfork and approaches the figure laying nearby on the ground. Unable to make out even whose side the man is on, McLean asks, "Are ye a Nazi enemy, or are ye one o' ours?" Hess replies, "Not Nazi enemy; British friend."

McLean takes Hess into his farmhouse, which Hess accomplishes with difficulty because he has wrenched his ankle during his landing in the dark. In the kitchen, McLean's mother makes tea (which Hess refuses), and Hess tells McLean that he is Alfred Horn and that he was flying to meet with the Duke of Hamilton, the owner of the great Dungavel estate. Soon some local Home Guardsmen (Jack Paterson and Robert Gibson), and Hess tells them that he is Alfred Horn, just come from Germany and trying to land at the Duke's private airfield. "Please tell the Duke of Hamilton that I have arrived."

The two Guardsmen take Hess to their local headquarters. Soon, a crowd gathers. A dozen Home Guardsmen soon arrive to stand watch, and when the Military Intelligence and Secret Service agents arrive to pick Hess up, they are skeptical. Only when a regular army unit arrives as a backup for the Military Intelligence and Secret Service men do the locals release "Alfred Horn" to their custody. They drive Hess to the Maryhill Barracks near Glasgow.

The timing of the flight, supposedly chosen by Hess' astrologer, serendipitously (apparently) occurs during the Luftwaffe's biggest raid of the war against London. This could be counted upon to draw RAF air defenses to the south while Hess sneaks in from the north. Naturally, there are many unanswered questions about this incident, not least how the British knew to expect Hess. The flight comes to be known as a "peace mission," though why such would be attempted in this fashion is unfathomable. However improbable, this begins one of the strangest tales of World War II, one that will have reverberate not just in the days and weeks and years, but even decades, to come.

Pieces of the Rudolf Hess plane gathered together in Scotland following his 10 May 1941 flight.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Churchill sends Alfred Duff Cooper a memo stating that "Eire has repudiated the status of a Dominion... It may well be that force will have to be used." His concern is Royal Navy access to Irish ports, a burgeoning issue due to the recent Luftwaffe success in bombing the northern British ports such as Liverpool and Hull.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill cables President Roosevelt to thank him for allowing RAF pilots to train in the United States. "We have made active preparations and the first 550 of our young men are now ready to leave." General Henry "Hap" Arnold, the head of the US Army Air Corps, originally made the offer, which Churchill calls "unexpected and very welcome." Naturally, training a warring country's soldiers is hardly commensurate with true neutrality, but such distinctions long ago were discarded by the United States.

Bulgarian/Japanese Relations: Bulgaria becomes one of the few countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Damage in London from the 10 May 1941 Luftwaffe raid.

British Military: The 200th Beaufighter is completed just as its predecessors complete their biggest victory of the war to date over London.

German Military: An experimental rocket - not jet - engine with the designation RII-203 is tested on a ground stand. Calculations show that it would reach a speed of 623 mph. The engine uses hydrogen peroxide, which the Germans call T-Stoff, oxidized by a potassium permanganate solution they call Z-Stoff. These mix in a combustion chamber and fuel a steam generator. The engine etches a distinctive purple exhaust flame behind it. Now that the engine has been shown to work, the Luftwaffe designers work on creating an airframe around it. This project ultimately, after many delays and setbacks, will result in the Me 163, but that is far in the future.

Italian Military: The Italian Navy at La Spezia takes delivery of midget submarines CB-3, CB-4, CB-5, and CB-6 from Caproni.

Japanese Military: Vice Admiral Toshio Shimazaki become chief of staff at the port of Makio on the Pescadores Islands, Taiwan.

British Government: Churchill urges Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Kingsley Wood to remove restrictions on pensions that give widows full pension rights only to those soldiers killed while on duty, whereas those whose husbands are killed while on leave - even by enemy action - get nothing. Removing this distinction, he writes, "would remove what seems to me to be a well-founded grievance."

Philippines: Ernest Hemingway, visiting Manila on his way back to the US from his China trip, gives the officers an informal briefing about events in Asia. He displays (in hindsight) an extremely accurate perception of coming events in the region, including his conclusion that Japan was on the verge of war with the US and that the Nationalist Chinese and Chinese Communists were on the verge of fighting each other as much as they were allegedly fighting the Japanese together. The US officers on the base are all recently arrived from the States, so have little idea of the realities of the theater. Robbie Robertson, recently the head of the 3d Pursuit Squadron and waiting for a return to the US aboard the USAT Washington, makes an appointment for Hemingway to brief the Philippines Department's intelligence service and air officer on the 12th.

Palestine: Winston Churchill sends Viscount Cranborne a note saying that "I have always been most strongly in favor of making sure that the Jews have proper means of self-defense for their Colonies in Palestine." He instructs Cranborne to help them.

China: The Japanese North China Front Army remains on the offensive, while the Imperial Air Force raids Chungking again.

The Salvation Army building collapses in Queen Victoria Street, City of London, as a result of the Luftwaffe raid of 10 May 1941.

Belgian Homefront: "The Strike of 100,000" takes place in Belgium. Led by Julien Lahaut, head of the Belgian Communist Party, the workers seek a wage increase. The strike originates at the Cockerill Steel Works in Seraing, eastern Belgium. This is the first anniversary of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), the German invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands. While popularly known as a strike by 100,000, it is estimated that 70,000 workers participate. It is a brief strike that obviously has some nationalistic implications, and the Germans agree to 8% wage gains. The Germans display very strained tolerance for communists during this period due to the alliance with the Soviet Union.

American Homefront: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, recently arrived in Washington from England via Canada, discusses the situation in the United States at length with Walter Lippman, the respected columnist at the NY Times. Menzies concludes that:

General American sentiment is on our side, but the moral arguments of cowardice and short-range self-interest are being directed by [Herbert] Hoover, [Senator Burton] Wheeler, [Charles] Lindbergh & Co. to the mothers and possible draftees.

Menzies worries that the American public is not being properly told that the war is about their future as much as that of the actual combatants. He calls President Roosevelt's failure to properly shape public opinion in this regard "disturbing."

Menzies meets with Roosevelt for an hour and calls him "older and more tired" than he recalls, but their conversation "most vigorous." Menzies also says that Roosevelt is "jealous" of Churchill's "place in the center of the picture" and that Roosevelt is "not [emphasis in original] an organizer - very like Winston - and co-ordination of effort is not conspicuous." Reflecting on his meeting with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Menzies concludes that Hull and the rest of the Cabinet is "for war" [emphasis in original], but Roosevelt "trained under Woodrow Wilson in the last war," is awaiting a provocation. Menzies calls FDR's campaign promises to keep the US out of the war "foolish."

In San Francisco, soldiers hold a musical benefit show to raise funds for recreational purposes. This is a symptom of very low funding of the military during this period.

At the Preakness, Whirlaway is the winner.

Carefree times on Goat Island, Australia, 10 May 1941 (Adelie Hurley).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020