Monday 18 August 1941

"A Bristol Blenheim Mark IV of No. 226 Squadron demonstrates the effectiveness of its camouflage as it flies over the English countryside, 18 August 1941." © IWM (CH 8605).

Eastern Front: In the Far North sector on 18 August 1941, German XX Mountain Corps launches a renewed offensive toward Murmansk. It makes no progress against fierce Soviet resistance.

Finnish 18th Division consolidates its newly won bridgehead across the Vuoksi River. The Finns remain on the move in the Karelian Isthmus but are blocked everywhere else. The Finnish troops are getting worn out, too, because, aside from the Soviet resistance, the terrain of forests and swamps and few towns make supply difficult and rest impossible. The Finns are building roads to carry artillery. The Germans are completing the transfer today of 169th Division in a 110-mile march in order to replace the Finnish 6th Division. The march is so long because it involves marching in a roundabout fashion to confuse any Soviet spies.

Colonel-General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, commander of Army of Norway, (Armeeoberkommando Norwegen, or AOK Norwegen), is not the most tactful of generals. He visits 36 Corps headquarters today and gets into an argument with General Hans Feige, implying that Feige's request for additional troops to continue the offensive is unnecessary. Due to Falkenhorst's pressure, the 6th Division is planning an offensive on the 19th in the Salla sector toward Lehtokangas and Nurmi Mountain. Feige points out that while his forces may have rough parity with the defending Soviet troops, they are receiving reinforcements while his troops are not - a fairly common situation across the entire Eastern Front.

KV-1 no. 864 at Krasnogvardeysk, a stop on the road from Kingisepp to Leningrad, 18 August 1941. Tank commander Kolobanov (Order of Lenin) and gunner Usov (Order of the Red Banner) park the KV-1 in a camouflaged position and await the German 8th Panzer Division coming from Kingisepp. They successfully ambush the German column on the 19th and knock out several tanks and other vehicles.

In the Army Group North sector, Kingisepp (Yamburg) on the Luga falls to the Germans. The Germans consolidate their hold on Narva. The Germans rebuff with difficulty Soviet attacks on Staraya Russa and Novgorod, the "bookends" on Lake Ilmen. Field Marshal von Leeb calls General Halder at OKH and, according to Halder's war diary, paints a "Very gloomy picture of the situation in X Corps" in the Staraya Russa area where "The last man has been thrown into the fighting" and "troops are exhausted."

In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviets have infiltrated small forces behind the army group's right flank in the Pripet Marshes. While not a serious threat, these small groups (roughly battalion size) disrupt rear areas that should be quiet and disrupt supplies. There are heavy Soviet attacks north of the main road to Moscow against the 161st Division.

In the Army Group South sector, SS officer Kurt "Panzer" Meyer turns a reconnaissance-in-force of the approaches to the town of Cherson (Kherson) into an all-out assault. He leads his small force down from the heights above the busy town and attempts a "coup de main." His small force takes the Soviet defenders by surprise by sneaking into town along a small road along the Dneipr rather than from the road from Nikolayev (i.e., from the west). The reconnaissance turns into an all-out battle for control of the heart of the city, with Soviet artillery from the east bank of the river forcing Meyer's men to dismount as infantry.

Troops of Romanian 2nd Frontier Guard Regiment on the march to Odessa, 18 August 1941.

The Romanian 4th Army continues attacking across the Odessa perimeter. Both sides are taking heavy casualties, and progress is slow. The Soviets have nowhere to run and know they will likely be shot if they somehow do make it back through German lines, so they stand and fight.

German Panzer Group 1 (von Kleist) establishes a bridgehead across the Dneiper at Zaporozhye (Zaporizhzhia). The Soviets dynamite the Dneipr Hydroelectric Station to swell the river, causing widespread death and destruction, but the Germans get across anyway. German 50th Division reaches the Black Sea Coast at Ochakov.

Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 shoots down two Russian I-16s over Leningrad.

The Red Air Force raids Berlin with five bombers. Today is the last of a series of small-scale Red Air Force raids against the Ploesti, Romania oil fields.

"Quadruple Lewis gun on an anti-aircraft mounting, 18 August 1941." © IWM (H 12971).

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends 39 Blenheim bombers on a series of coastal sweeps over Holland and a Circus mission over Lille and Marquise. The pilots claim to sink two trawlers and to bomb Lille, for a cost of one Blenheim.

By prior arrangement between the RAF and Luftwaffe, the RAF successfully drops a spare prosthetic leg for captured RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader while flying over St. Omer airfield. The Germans are somewhat nonplussed when the charitable gesture is followed by the RAF planes attacking the airfield.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Cologne and Duisburg. These cities both have been bombed recently so these can be considered follow-up raids.

The RAF puts 62 bombers (42 Hampdens, 17 Whitleys, and 3 Wellingtons) over Cologne. The RAF loses 5 Whitleys and a Wellington. The attack achieves little, with no casualties and only one casualty.

The RAF puts 41 Wellingtons over Duisburg, losing two planes. The weather is clear, so the attack on railway yards is a success.

There is a minor raid by 11 Whitleys and 7 Wellingtons to Dunkirk, and one training sortie over Europe, both without loss.

The Luftwaffe sends a few bombers across to raid the Tyneside and Teesside areas. These are pinprick raids that occasionally hit a populated building, tonight West Hartlepool suffers a tragedy when an ambulance depot is hit with 23 people killed and 45 injured. In addition, about 100 people are made homeless. In Norton, bombs hit a house on Benson Street, killing three people, while next door three others are killed.

David Bensusan-Butt, a civil servant in the War Cabinet Secretariat and an assistant of Lord Cherwell, chief scientific advisor to the Cabinet, submits his "Butt Report" on the accuracy of RAF bombing. The results are startling because they conclude that bombing accuracy is horrendous. Among the more prominent conclusions of the report:

• Only one aircraft of three that claims to have attacked a target actually got within 5 miles (8 km).
• Over Germany, the ratio is even worse, with only one in four bombers getting within five miles and one in ten over the industrial Ruhr river valley
• Accuracy depends upon the amount of moonlight available, with accuracy rising to two in five when there is a full moon and falling to one in fifteen during a new moon.

The "Butt Report" does not even go far enough, as post-war studies show that 49% of RAF bombs fall in the open countryside. Butt's report also excludes all bombers that never reached the target due to mechanical reasons, weather, or enemy action.

Fortunately for the British, they have navigational aids such as GEE, Oboe, H2S, and other navigational aids in various stages of development. In fact, today RAF Bomber Command orders GEE (the codename for a long-range navigational aid) into production at Dynatron and Cossor.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet destroyer Statnyi hits a mine and sinks in Moon Sound off Saaremaa (Oesel).

The Luftwaffe attacks Leningrad harbor and sinks 2170-ton Soviet freighter Axel Carl.

Freighter Longtaker under her former name Sessa (photo courtesy of Danish Maritime Museum, Elsinore, and Uboat .net).

Battle of the Atlantic: At 02:50, U-38 (KKpt. Heinrich Schuch), on its 11th patrol out of Lorient and operating with wolfpack Grönland, torpedoes and sinks 1700-ton Panamanian-flagged (but actually controlled by the United States) freighter Longtaker (previously Danish ship Sessa) midway between the southern tips of Greenland and Iceland (300 nautical miles or 560 km southwest of Iceland). The ship goes down in only one minute and most of the crew, 24 men, perish. After nineteen days at sea, US destroyer USS Lansdale picks up three surviving crew (the Danish first officer, a Swede, and a Portuguese crewman - two Portuguese and a Canadian perish while they await rescue) on 5 September. The ship's cargo holds supplies for the US garrison on Iceland. The Danish officer, Hendrik Bjerregaard, maintains a log that receives widespread publicity in the American media.

This is U-38's final victory of the war, though it does go on one more patrol for an even dozen. During its time in service, U-38 sinks 35 commercial ships of 188,967 tons and damages one ship of 3,670 tons.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Quorn its a mine between Chatham and Harwich. Quorn makes it to Chatham for repairs completed on 13 September.

Convoy HG-71 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool. A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-88 spots convoy OG-71 shortly after it leaves port and radios in its position.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Badsworth (Lt. Commander Michael S. Townsend) is commissioned and destroyer Mahratta is laid down.

Canadian minesweepers HMCS Fort William, Kenora, and Milltown are laid down in Port Arthur, Ontario.

Free Netherlands destroyer depot ship HNLMS Columbia (Commander Cornelis Hellingman) is commissioned.

Destroyer USS Badsworth is commissioned.

U-188 is laid down.

An Italian CANT Z506 flying boat shot down by RAF fighters off Tripoli. The photo is dated 18 August 1941. Note the crewman in the water near the wing. This appears to be damaged from an RAF attack made against the flying boat base in Syracuse Harbor on the 17th, with this a reconnaissance photo taken on the 18th - but that is only a guess.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Royal Navy loses two submarines in one action today. It is a black day for the submarine force, and only two men from two submarines survive.

Royal Navy submarine HMS P-33 (Lt R. D. Whiteway-Wilkinson DSC), operating off Tripoli and with 32 crewmen, disappears on or around 18 August while attacking an Italian convoy. This is one of the unsolved disappearances of submarines that are common during World War II. An Italian Cant Z501 is flying overhead and sends a ship to look for survivors that the plane's crew see in the water, but it is unclear if it sees survivors of P-33 or another ship. It is assumed by some that P-33 is destroyed by a depth charge attack by an Italian torpedo boat either today or on 23 August, but there is no confirmation of that. Nobody survives.

Royal Navy submarine P-32 (Lt. D. A. B. Abdy)is operating near P-33 and surfaces while an Italian depth charge attack is underway nearby. It is very close to the entrance to Tripoli Harbor. Lieutenant Abdy attempts to run under a known minefield to get into a better firing position but surfaces too soon and P-32 hits a mine. This sends P-32 to the seafloor at a depth of 210 feet with the entire area forward of the control room flooded, killing 8 crew. Abdy manages to escape through the conning tower hatch along with Coxswain E. Kirk, but the rest of the crew in the engine room proves unable to use their escape hatch for some reason. This is likely because an iron bar may have been welded over the rear hatch (though this is not proven). The commander of the Italian ship that picks up Abdy and his mate agrees to stick around to await more survivors, but nobody else gets out. It one of the most dramatic escapes from a submarine during the entire war, as a depth of over 150 feet is considered fatal. A total of 30 men perish.

There are still thousands of Commonwealth troops hiding out on Crete. Royal Navy submarine Torbay (Lt. Comdr. Miers) enters Messara Bay and picks up 28 British and 12 Greek soldiers. Torbay stays in the area submerged on the seafloor and enters the bay again on the 19th, picking up an additional 92 men and returning them to Alexandria.

Royal Navy submarine Tetrarch fires torpedoes into Benghazi Harbor, damaging the port boom defense.

The RAF based on Malta bombs Tripoli with five Wellington bombers.

Royal Navy destroyers Jackal and Kingston make the nightly supply run from Alexandria to Tobruk and back without incident. The relief of Australian troops is in progress, with replacement Polish soldiers landed.

In order to slow down the Germans, the Red Army blows up the Dniproges Dam. There is a 120m x 10m hole in the Dnieper hydroelectric dam (Dniproges) at 16:00 on 18 August 1941, producing a monstrous wave that sweeps from Zaporizhia to Nikopol, killing local residents as well as soldiers from both sides.

Battle of the Black Sea: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Soviet submarine depot ship Boug at Cherson (Kherson).

The retreating Soviets scuttle freighter Volochaevka at Cherson.

Soviet auxiliary minesweeper T-503 is lost on this from unknown causes.

Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels calls President Roosevelt the "agent of international Jewry."

Finnish Ambassador Hjalmar Procope.

US/Finnish Relations: The Soviet Union uses US Secretary of State Sumner Welles as an intermediary to discuss peace terms with Finland. The Soviet proposal is to modify the Peace of Moscow of 1940, which ended the Winter War, to grant Finland some concessions. Finnish Ambassador Hjalmar Procope replies to Welles that the future of Finland depends upon what happens to the Soviet Union after the war, and requests a guarantee to Finland from the Western powers that they will protect Finland if Germany loses the war (which nobody expects at this point). Welles refuses to even consider such a guarantee. The peace feelers go no further.

US/Japanese Relations: At 16:00, Ambassador Grew meets with Foreign Minister Toyoda in Tokyo. Toyoda speaks for two and a half hours straight. He defends Japanese actions in the Pacific and denies that Japan is acting in concert with Germany and says its only objective is the settling of issues in China. For these reasons, a summit meeting between the leaders of the two powers should occur. Grew responds that the Japanese position has not responded adequately to President Roosevelt's concerns, but he will forward the Japanese request for a summit meeting to the US government with his personal support (which he does).

German/Finnish Relations: The Germans confer the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) on Marshal Mannerheim.

An Italian Cant Z501, of the type that organized the rescue of the two survivors of P-32.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's White House issues a statement announcing that the US will institute an air transport service from the United States to Africa via Brazil, thence to Egypt. A new aerial "ferry service" is to link up with this in order to deliver military planes to Egypt for the British. The statement reads in part:

The ferry system and the transport service provide direct and speedy delivery of aircraft from the ‘arsenal of democracy’ to a critical point in the front against aggression. The importance of this direct line of communications between our country and strategic outposts in Africa cannot be overestimated.

Pan American Airways, Inc. quietly on 24 July has formed three subsidiaries to conduct the operations:

• Pan American Air Ferries, Inc.
• Pan American Airways Co.
• Pan American Airways-Africa, Ltd.

The ferry service is to take the military planes across the Atlantic to Africa, while the transport service is to return the pilots to the United States, with the third company handling administrative details. Pan Am and the US government already have signed agreements on 12 August to start the service. The British also sign agreements with Pan American Airways-Africa and Pan American Air Ferries - the transport company, the one that returns the pilots to the United States, is not their concern.

The ferry service supposedly derives from a request by Winston Churchill at the Atlantic Charter conference and a subsequent meeting between Roosevelt and Pan Am chairman Juan Trippe on or about 18 August 1941. However, as indicated by the earlier formation of the Pan Am corporations, the idea actually has been under consideration for some time and the conference itself is just a formality to finalize it.

"Sergeant Wacław Giermer of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron in conversation with a nurse while recovering in a hospital, 18 August 1941." Giermer was injured during a raid on Lille on 8 July 1941. (© IWM (HU 128141)).

US Military: The War Department asks the Coast Guard to help with national security by patrolling the sea lanes in Alaskan waters and keeping them open.

The US Marine Corps 1st Defense battalion arrives at Wake Island aboard US freighter Regulus (AK-14).

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitions 10,020-ton tanker Shinkoku Maru and puts it under the control of the Kure Naval District.

US Government: President Roosevelt signs into a law a modification of the 1940 Selective Service Act that extends the term of service of inductees from 12 to 30 months. The bill passed the House of Representatives by only one vote because there is widespread opposition throughout the country to any peacetime draft.

Congressman John Dingell of Michigan sends President Roosevelt a letter in which he proposes to take 10,000 Japanese-Americans in Hawaii as hostages for Japan's "good behavior." This is the earliest suggestion of incarcerating Japanese-Americans.

"The ship's company of HMS PRINCE OF WALES poses for a photograph with Winston Churchill and his staff at Scapa Flow after the Atlantic Meeting with President Roosevelt, 18 August 1941." © IWM (A 5004).

British Government: Following the Atlantic Conference in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and a brief stop in Iceland, Prime Minister Churchill returns to Scapa Flow, Scotland aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales.

Burma: The Japanese have heard about the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers") assembling at Kyedaw, Burma, so they send a reconnaissance plane overhead.
Holocaust: Following a widely discussed series of sermons in German churches condemning euthanasia, Hitler orders a halt - or, more accurately, a pause - in the program. About 50,000 mentally challenged and elderly people have been put to death under the program, including a relation of Hitler himself.

British Homefront: The newly organized National Fire Service - which combines numerous previously independent local fire departments into one seamless organization - comes into being under Sir Aylmer Firebrace, a former London fire chief. The 118,000 men in 1400 local fire brigades, with 180,000 auxiliaries and 60,000 women, are combined into 200 "divisions" and 37 "fire forces." This became necessary because some local fire departments were refusing to come to the aid of local municipalities out of fear that their own towns might be hit. In addition, there were stories of extortion by some fire departments in exchange for providing fire services.

American Homefront: Chesty Manly, the Washington, D.C. correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, publishes a story claiming that a "leak" has informed him that President Roosevelt has plans to send an American expeditionary force to Europe.  The story creates an uproar in the capital, and a vigorous debate breaks out in the press about the truthfulness of the story. It is one of several stories run by the isolationist Manly that is of questionable veracity.

The Reverend John A. O'Brien makes a radio address that urges the world to "choose the road to peace." He rhetorically asks what the warring powers have accomplished by two years of war and deplores war's futility. He concludes with a plea to President Roosevelt to put his power "into the Christ-like work of halting the brutal European strife."

Judy Garland on the cover of Animatografo, Issue no. 41, 18 August 1941.

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

2020

Sunday 8 June 1941

U-123 and U-201 at Lorient, 8 June 1941 (Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-4260-37)

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: After some initial covert operations late on the 7th, Operation Exporter, the British invasion of Syria and Lebanon, begins in earnest at 02:00 on 8 June 1941. The British, directed by General Henry Maitland Wilson in Jerusalem, believe that French morale in Syria is collapsing based on reports from defectors, so they plan on a very short campaign with little resistance. In fact, the British are so confident that they have scheduled an offensive on the Libyan frontier which now is scheduled to begin on 15 June. In a grand strategic sense, the British campaign is defensive in nature, designed to protect their flank in the eastern Mediterranean and prevent future Axis adventurism further east in oil-rich Iraq.

While the British are confident, in fact, the Vichy French under General Dentz greatly outnumber the attacking British (all figures here are given differently in different sources, but everyone agrees that the Vichy French have more men). Dentz commands 45,000 men organized in 18 regular battalions that have 120 guns, 90 tanks, and about 100 aircraft. The British force comprises about 35,000 troops (18,000 Australians, 2000 Indian troops, 9,000 British troops, and around 6,000 French). The RAF has a large collection of aircraft available in Cairo, but allocate only about 70 to Operation Exporter. Both sides have modern fighters, the RAF P-40 Kittyhawks and Hawker Hurricanes, the French Dewoitine D.520 fighters, but both sides also have a motley assortment of planes from earlier eras.

The RAF (Hurricanes of No. 80 Squadron) raids the French airbase at Rayak, with the goal of the destruction of recently arrived Martin Maryland 167F bombers of French 39 Squadron, 1st Bomber Group. Australian 3rd Fighter Wing also raids Rayak with their P-40s, which confuses the French defenses because they are unfamiliar with US fighters.

Things in the air do not particularly well for the British in the air. The cutting edge French D520 fighters shoot down three Fulmar fighters of No. 803 Squadron, while the RAF claims one Potez 63 fighter. French ace Sous-Lt Pierre Le Gloan claims a Hurricane of RAF No. 208 Squadron, his 12th wartime victory and first in Syria.

The main British advantage lies in their control of the Mediterranean and the ability to blockade the Levant. The British also have a very handy jump-off point in Palestine and a massive infrastructure built up just behind the front in Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria. The recent British occupation of Iraq allows them to attack from the east as well, though that does not happen right away.

Three British columns and a Free French General Paul Legentilhomme) commands 6000 men) columns set out. Things begin to go wrong early when 420 men of the Scottish No. 11 Commando unit from Cyprus is unable to land due to rough seas at the mouth of the Litani River to capture key bridges and block reinforcements. The troopship, HMT Glengyle, returns to Port Said along with its escorts, with orders to try again on the 9th.

The Royal Navy assembles light cruisers HMS Ajax and Phoebe, and destroyers Jackal, Janus, Kandahar, and Kimberley, off the Syrian coast. Kandahar is assigned to bombard a French shore battery. Late in the day, Vichy French destroyers Guépard and Valmy sail from Beirut to bombard the Australians advancing along the coast on the 9th.

However, the war on land is unaffected by the weather. There are four lines of advance. The 5th Indian Brigade (Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd) has the most success on the first day, advancing on the eastern front toward Quneitra and Deraa.

A British truck pulls an anti-aircraft gun across a duty track into Syria, June 1941.

On the vital coast road, which offers the greatest potential tactical profit and the shortest and quickest way to isolate the French, the 7th Australian Division under Major-General John Lavarack advances from Palestine from Haifa toward Beirut. The division notices how little notice the world is taking of its fighting and takes to calling itself the "silent seventh."

In the center of the front, the Australian 25th Brigade attacks toward the large Vichy French airbase at Rayak.

The fourth axis of advance is planned from the east, comprised of British forces in Iraq (Iraq Command). The 10th Indian Infantry Division is to advance northwest along the Euphrates River from Haditha in Iraq toward Deir ez Zor. The plan is for it to advance toward the French airfield at Aleppo and also Raqqa. This would open the road to Beirut. Habforce, which recently advanced east from Palestine to occupy Baghdad, is to advance toward Palmyra and secure the oil pipeline from Haditha to Tripoli.

Moshe Dayan, who led his company of the Palmach of the Haganah across the border late on the 7th, is looking through his binoculars early in the morning when they are hit by a bullet. He suffers an injury to his left eye. Dayan loses his eye and almost his life, and for the rest of his life must wear an eye patch that becomes his trademark.

The Free French under Charles De Gaulle attempt to turn the people of Syria and Lebanon against the Vichy colonial government by promising full independence.

Ack-Ack girls in London working on a predictor, 8 June 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 360 planes to attack targets in Germany during the day. After dark, it sends 37 bombers against Dortmund. This is the largest British bomber effort of the war to date and a bad omen for the Reich.

East African Campaign: The British at Aden are preparing for a landing at Assab, the last Italian-held port on the Red Sea. This will be Operation Chronometer. It is scheduled for 10 June.

At 04.42 hours on 8 June 1941, the Adda (Master John Tate Marshall), the ship of the convoy commodore from the dispersed convoy OB-323, was hit aft by a G7a torpedo from U-107 and sank slowly 82 miles west-southwest of Freetown. The commodore (W.H. Kelly, CBE DSO RNR RD), seven crew members and two passengers were lost. The master, 141 crew members, four gunners, five naval staff members, and 264 passengers were picked up by HMS Cyclamen.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-107 (Kptlt. Günther Hessler), on its lengthy second patrol and operating about 82 nautical miles west of Freetown, is shadowing Convoy OB-323. It torpedoes and sinks 7816-ton British liner Adda. There are 10 deaths. The 415 survivors are picked up by corvette HMS Cyclamen.

U-108 (Kptlt. Klaus Scholtz), on its third patrol out of Lorient, is operating about 600 nautical miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland as part of Wolfpack West. It torpedoes and sinks:

• 7628-ton British freighter Baron Nairn
• 4240-ton Greek freighter Dirphys

There is one death on Baron Nairn (18 survivors) and six deaths on the Dirphys (19 survivors).

U-103 (Viktor Schütze), on its extended 4th patrol and operating in the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands, torpedoes and sinks 4853-ton British freighter Elmdene. All 36 onboard survive, picked up by US freighter Carlton.

U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass), operating with Wolfpack West in the mid-Atlantic, fires two torpedoes at 6207-ton British tanker Ensis, which is traveling as an independent. Both hit, but one fails to explode, merely denting the hull. The Ensis turns and rams U-46, damaging its conning tower and periscope. This causes Endrass to abort its patrol and head back to port. Ensis, due to its compartmentalized construction, remains afloat and under power. It proceeds slowly to St. John's, arriving on 15 June, and then proceeds to Halifax for permanent repairs.

Tanker Ensis, damaged on 8 June 1941 by U-46 (Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart).

U-46 also torpedoes and sinks 5270-ton British freighter Trevarrack in the same engagement. There are no survivors.

U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze), operating in the mid-Atlantic with Wolfpack West on its 12th patrol, torpedoes and sinks 10,746-ton Dutch tanker Pendrecht. Everyone survives on the Pendrecht, which has been dispersed from Convoy OB-329.

U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lieb), on its extended 8th patrol out of Lorient and operating midway between Brazil and Africa just north of the Equator, torpedoes and sinks 7628-ton British freighter Kingston Hill. Some sources state this happens on the 7th. There are 14 deaths and 48 survivors.

U-69 (Kapitän-Leutnant Jost Metzler) arrives back at its base at St. Nazaire, successfully dodging an attacking RAF Short Sunderland. The U-boat has spent 65 days at sea, twice the normal patrol time, a feat entirely due to the Kriegsmarine's overseas supply network. The patrol is significant because it proves that a Type VIIC U-boat can operate at great distances (U-69 covered 7680 nautical miles) and engage in multiple missions (U-69 successfully laid mines along the African coast and sank at least seven vessels). Other U-boats on even lengthier patrols remain at sea.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 97-ton Royal Navy drifter Cor Jesu off Almouth. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 174-ton British trawler Remagio just north of Bamburgh. The master beaches the Remagio, and the crew abandons it. The Remagio later is refloated and repaired at Holy Island.

British 202-ton trawler Hopton hits a British mine and sinks off Iceland. There are 11 deaths. The incident apparently results from the port guide, the master of local trawler Hondo, mistakenly navigating through a prohibited area. He is suspended.

Convoy OB.331 departs from Liverpool, Convoy OB.332 also departs from Liverpool.

Baron Nairn (Master John Kerr), sunk by U-108 on 8 June 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Walter Neumann-Silkow is appointed commander of the 15th Panzer Division. He has primary responsibility for the Egyptian frontier, though General Erwin Rommel keeps a very close eye on things there.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Clyde fires on an Italian destroyer off Naples but misses. Later in the day, though, the Clyde surfaces and uses its deck gun to sink 1196 ton Italian freighter Sturla about five miles (8 km) off Policastro.

In a daring operation, Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku lands some men at Benghazi Harbor. They manage to damage a freighter in the harbor, then return safely for pickup.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Parthian enters Mitylene Harbor and sinks two schooners and a lighter, apparently with its deck gun.

Invasion fears continue on Malta. Governor Dobbie issues an alert to the island's inhabitants over the island's Rediffusion radio service, saying in part:

Malta is better able to resist attack than Crete.... circumstances justify quiet confidence.... [T]he Government and fighting services are doing their utmost to see that Malta gives a good account of itself.

British troops have been laying defensive mines on Malta, and today they claim two victims - both island locals. One (14 years old) is killed, and the other (56) is badly wounded in her legs.

Convoy SL-77 departs from Freetown, bound for Liverpool.

German  Military: OKW clarifies that its Commissar Order of 6 June means that Soviet political commissars are to be shot - which really is obvious from the text of the original order, but the High Command wants to be certain that everyone "gets the message."

The Wehrmacht sends troops to Finland for contemplated operations in the far North aimed at Murmansk.

Freighter Kingston Hill, sunk by U-38 on 8 June 1941.

US Military: Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Phil Silver, Chico Marx, Jane Withers, and others put on the very first Hollywood Camp Show for soldiers at the "Soldier Bowl" held at Camp Roberts in California.

A US Army Air Corps plane, a Douglas OA-46A observation plane, crashes in Panama on a training flight. Three US servicemen perish.

Egyptian Homefront: The government begins evacuating 40,000 civilians from Alexandria following a heavy Luftwaffe raid on the 7th.

American Homefront: Virginia Senator Harry Flood Byrd Sr. reports that there are currently 67 strikes in the defense industry. The most prominent is at North American in Los Angeles.

Joe DiMaggio hits safely in his 24th game in a row at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri. He plays a doubleheader and hits safely in both ends. He is 4-8 in the doubleheader (2-4 in each game), including a home run, raising his season average to .340.

In Chicago, meanwhile, Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams gets four walks in a doubleheader but fails to get any hits. This ends his own hitting streak at 23 games, which, it turns out, is the longest of his entire legendary career.

"The bows of HMS SUFFOLK cut a parallel path to the edge of the ice." June 1941 in the Denmark Strait (Lt. RGG Coote, © IWM (A 4191)).

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 7 June 1941

Firemen battle blazes in Chungking (Chongqing), China resulting from the devastating Japanese air raid of the previous night. 7 June 1941.

Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: Operation Exporter, the invasion of the Vichy French possessions of Syria and Lebanon from Palestine, unofficially begins when Australian troops infiltrate behind French positions beginning around 21:30. They are led by Jewish locals, including a young man named Moshe Dayan. The infiltrations are from the Hanita Kibbutz, and the sappers cut wires and clear mines.

In anticipation of the invasion, planned to begin in earnest on 8 June, Royal Navy units depart from Port Said (Force C of troopship Glengyle escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry and destroyers Hotspur, Ilex and ISIS) and Alexandria (Force B of light cruisers Ajax and Phoebe, with destroyers Janus, Jackal, Kandahar and Kimberley). The Glengyle carries men of No. 11 Commando to seize a bridge at the mouth of the Litani River in Lebanon.

The main invasion will not start until the early hours of 8 June. It is divided into three columns or prongs - west, center, and east. The three prongs are isolated and not mutually supporting.

The main prize is the coast road. It is the most direct route into Syria and can be easily protected by the Royal Navy and RAF. British commandos from ‘C’ Battalion British Special Service Brigade are assigned to land at key points just behind the border in order to disrupt the French response, but seas are heavy and look like they may interfere with that. The Australian 21st Brigade advances to capture a key bridge over the Litani River.

Further inland in the center, the Australian 25th Brigade is to take the French picket line along the border and then proceed inland. Poor French morale is expected to prevent a major response.

In the eastern sector, the Indian 5th Brigade has the objective of advancing to seize Deraa and reach Kuneitra.

None of these objectives are considered especially difficult to achieve by commanding General Henry Maitland Wilson. This is one of the least-known major operations of World War II, perhaps because it is an unprovoked act of aggression by Allied forces against a neutral power which tends to undermine their moral authority - though, let's be clear, the Allies have loads of surplus moral authority relative to the Axis.

European Air Operations: RAF Fighter Command conducts a sweep over France, and RAF Bomber Command sends 22 planes to lay mines. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 33 planes to attack Prinz Eugen, recently arrived at Brest. It is in dry-dock for engine repairs and an easy target, but the bombers score no hits.

Vera Bushfield, the wife of Governor Harlan Bushfield of South Dakota, christens the ship at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey (South Dakota State Historical Society Archives).

U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe), on its 9th patrol out of Lorient and operating off of the west coast of Africa, torpedoes and sinks 7628-ton British freighter Kingston Hill southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. There are 14 deaths. Some sources place this sinking on 8 June.

The Royal Navy shares the lingering concern about an invasion, and at 20:00 it receives erroneous reports of major German naval units at sea. The Home Fleet goes on one-hour notice, which is peak readiness one step short of actually going to sea, and remains on this alert through the night.

British 281-ton examination vessel No. 10 hits a mine and sinks at Milford Haven.

Newly commissioned destroyer HMCS Saguenay arrives at St. John's to join the new Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF).

Canadian corvettes HMCS Ville de Quebec (Quebec City) and HMCS Charlottetown (Kingston) are laid down, minesweeper Melville is launched at Levis, Quebec.

Battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57) is launched at Camden, New Jersey by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. It is the lead ship of its class, with three more to follow, and is designed to fit within the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty.

U-85, U-207 and U-332 are commissioned.

Soviet submarine Shchuka Class Serie X Bis Sub SHCH-405 is commissioned.

USS South Dakota is launched, 7 June 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: During the night, the Luftwaffe makes a major raid on the Royal Navy port of Alexandria, and also Suez. Flying from the Italian-held Rhodes, 31 Junkers Ju 88 bombers cause 230 deaths. Following the raid, the British authorities commence an evacuation from Alexandria that will include about 40,000 people. This aerial attack likely is a by-product of the massive shift of the Luftwaffe from west to east in contemplation of Operation Barbarossa. The Germans are accumulating about 2770 planes in Eastern Europe, and an occasional raid on British bases in the Mediterranean is good operational practice.

Italian bombers attack Tobruk.

The RAF, for its part, bombs Benghazi and Derna. RAF No. 830 Squadron, serving with the Fleet Air Arm on Malta, sends 7 Fulmar Swordfish against Tripoli Harbor to drop magnetic mines ("cucumbers").

An Italian convoy of three freighters escorted by destroyers Frescia, Strale, Marco Polo and Victoria depart from Naples bound for Tripoli. There also is distant support of two cruisers and three destroyers. While the Italian Navy has the resources to make an impact across the Mediterranean, it prefers to use its ships in these low-risk operations and retain its "fleet in being."

The ships of Operation Rocket - the ferry mission of Hawker Hurricanes to Malta - arrive back at Gibraltar without incident.

Operation Battleaxe, originally scheduled to begin today, has been pushed back to 15 June. The reason: delays in bringing tanks forward from Alexandria to General O'Moore Creagh's troops. The attack is to be a larger-scale version of Operation Brevity on 15 May.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Malta Governor Dobbie in reply to a pessimistic cable sent by the latter on the 5th:

I am entirely in agreement with your general outlook. It does not seem that an attack on Malta is likely within the next two or three weeks.  Meanwhile other events of importance will be decided, enabling or compelling a new view to be taken. You may be sure we regard Malta as one of the master-keys of the British Empire. We are sure you are the man to hold it and we will do everything in human power to give you the means.

The War Office also responds today to General Dobbie's request for more troops. It requests "further details" for defensive armaments. Dobbie responds immediately, listing a need for Bofors guns and anti-tank artillery.

There is an air raid on Malta during the early morning hours by Italian BR-20 bombers. The Italians bomb the Luqa, Manoel Island, Marsa, and Wardia areas, and in the process lose a bomber and perhaps two more at sea.

Students participating in a live national radio broadcast at the 1941 National High School Drama Conference of the National Thespian Dramatic Honor Society for High Schools. June 7, 1941. (Courtesy of the Educational Theatre Association).

Special Operations: Having arrived by parachute in France on the night of 11/12 May, the Commando team members of Operation Josephine B have spent most of the past month in Paris. There, they made contact with a Commando who had gone to ground there, Joël Letac, a member of the Commando team from failed Operation Savanna. Joining the team, Letac and the others have traveled to the site of their original objective: the transformer station at Pessac.

After dark, Sergeant J. Forman climbs the perimeter wall that had stymied their first attempt to blow up the station in May. He manages to get across without hitting any of the high voltage cables, then opens a door for his comrades. The team sets up plastic explosives within half an hour on each of the eight main transformers. Then, the team gets back on their bicycles and leaves. The mission turns from a failure into a success: six of the eight transformers blow up, and work on the Bordeaux submarine base is delayed by weeks. Electrified trains in the region have to be replaced with coal-burning locomotives. It will take an entire year to repair all the damage.

Damage at the Pessac Power station, 7 June 1941.

The team is well-funded - they have a quarter of a million francs for their mission, which converts to about a year's wages of £1,400 - and set out for Spain and thence Lisbon. They are in no hurry.

The Germans in the commune of Pessac take reprisals. They shoot twelve German guards, fine the commune one million francs, imprison 250 people, and impose a strict curfew (21:30 to 05:00).

For the British, it is a massive success and enhances the prestige of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) after some failures.

The US Asiatic Fleet in Manila Harbor, the 1930s. The Japanese began keeping close tabs on this fleet in early 1941.

Spy Stuff: Japanese Consul in the Philippine Islands Katsumi Nibro cables Tokyo that the US Navy has eight destroyers, fourteen submarines and two target towing ships in Manila Harbor.

Jockey Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway at the Belmont Stakes, 7 June 1941. Whirlaway becomes the fifth horse to win the Triple Crown. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Press, Arcaro took an early lead and then turned back and yelled, "Go to Hell! We're off to the races!"

Japanese/Italian Relations: Japan recognizes the Independent State of Croatia, now led nominally by the Duke of Savoy. In actual fact, the Duke takes virtually no part in governance and leaves it to local leaders.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler meets with King Boris of Bulgaria in Berlin.

German Military: In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, long columns of Wehrmacht troops are heading east in Poland. This is very noticeable to locals because the military vehicles clog the roads and all civilian vehicles are prohibited for hours at a time. Full vehicles are traveling east, empty ones back to the west. Of course, civilians see the military traffic on the roads, and it is fairly obvious to them what is in store. A local, Polish physician Zygmunt Klukowski, writes in his diary that it "is the same as during a war."

USS South Dakota at its Christening, 7 June 1941.

Soviet Military: The NKVD arrest General Boris Lvovich Vannikov for "failing to carry out his duties." Vannikov is the People's Commissar for Armament. It is unclear what he is really accused of, and it may, in fact, be nothing more than having unintentionally crossed Premier Joseph Stalin in some way (Stalin has a habit of arresting and torturing underlings, then at some point reinstating them). Vannikov will be released on 25 July 1941 and reinstated fully to essentially the same position in February 1942.

Despite increasing evidence of German troop buildups along the border, Stalin prohibits any "provocative" defensive precautions. Everything is to remain as is, with the Soviet Union continuing to fulfill its trade agreements with Germany and sending supply trains west across the border.

Former President Herbert Hoover, giving the Commencement address to the graduating class at Haverford College, 7 June 1941.

US Military: President Roosevelt reviews the two plans for the defense of the Pacific, ABC-1 and Rainbow 5, that have been worked up during the spring. The plans envisage cooperation with the British Commonwealth and the Dutch forces in the East Indies, with a heavy emphasis on defensive activities in the Pacific Theater while the main effort is against the Reich and Italy in Europe. Roosevelt neither approves nor disapproves of the plans, but familiarizes himself with them and suggests they be returned to him should war actually break out.

The US Maritime Commission is implementing the new ship-seizure law signed by President Roosevelt on 5 June. The inventory includes 39 Danish, 28 Italian and 2 German ships, along with random ships from Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and other nations. The fast (Blue-Riband holder) 83,423-ton French liner Normandie remains docked at its berth in midtown New York and also is subject to seizure, but there are no plans at this time to use it.

US Government: President Roosevelt departs the White House at 11:30 for Annapolis and embarks on a weekend cruise on the USS Potomac. He is accompanied by Crown Princess Martha of Norway, Princess Ragnhild, Harry L. Hopkins, Robert Hopkins, Diana Hopkins, Capt. John R. Beardall.

Joe DiMaggio at the plate in Sportsman Park, St Louis, MO, June 7, 1941. Also visible is Hall of Fame catcher Rick Ferrell and umpire Bill Grieve, with Yankee Charlie Keller on deck to the left.

Iraq: The reinstated Monarchist Iraqi government under Regent Abdul Ilah (Abdullah) sets up a Committee of Enquiry to investigate the Farhud riots of 1-2 June.

Holocaust: There is an outbreak of typhoid at Zamość Prison in southeastern Poland. Unfortunately, the local doctors are inmates in the prison, too.

Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King places a wreath during an event in Kingston, Ontario, on June 7, 1941. This is to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald (Queens University Archives).

American Homefront: Former President Herbert Hoover gives the Commencement address at Haverford College. The CBS radio network broadcasts it. Hoover notes:

We have been told with monotonous repetition by the collectivists and left-wingers that our frontiers are gone. They say our industrial plant is built. They claim there is no safety valve for human energies. They assure us that we have come to an age of humdrum problems of underconsumption, overproduction, and the division of the existing pot. They say that new opportunity for youth has shrunken. That is not so. There was never in history a more glorious frontier for youth than today. Adventure and opportunity beckon in every avenue of science. They beckon from the great profession of men trained to research. They beckon from its thousands of applications. From it spring tens of thousands of new services and industries. In them human courage, character, and ability have an outlet that never came even with the two-gun frontiers.

Meanwhile, 24,000 people pack Chicago Stadium to hear speeches against the America First movement. Abraham Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg calls Charles Lindbergh President Roosevelt's new "Copperhead," a Civil War term for Democrats in the North who choose to oppose the war and advocate a negotiated settlement with the South.

Whirlaway wins the Belmont Stakes by three lengths and completes the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. It is the fifth horse to accomplish that rare feat.

Golfer Craig Wood wins the U.S. Open.

Joe DiMaggio hits in his 22nd straight game in Sportsman Park, St. Louis, Missouri. He gets three singles in an 11-7 win over the Browns.

"My Sister and I" by Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra reach No. 1 on the new Billboard singles chart.

The UAW strike at the North American plant in Los Angeles that began on 5 June continues. President Roosevelt is considering exercising emergency powers by taking over the plant unless the strike ends.

The New Yorker - Saturday, June 7, 1941 - Issue # 851 - Vol. 17 - N° 17 - Cover by Ilonka Karasz.

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