Monday 14 April 1941

"The For'ard 14" guns of HMS KING GEORGE V firing during practice." April 1941. © IWM (A 3888).

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The German 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still only brigade-size during the battle for Greece) is through the Klidi and Kleisoura Passes by 14 April 1941. It now is pursuing the retreating British and Greek armies south. The German 9th Panzer Division comes up against the new Allied blocking position at Siatista Pass, but such is the disarray on the Allied side that only one battalion of the 82nd Regiment of the 12th Greek Division is in place to delay them.

The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani in northern Greece, which was the first main objective following the XL Panzer Corps' turn south. In addition, the Germans send some units across the Aliakmon River near Thessaloniki and take Katerini, which is only 6 km from the coastline. The British have pulled back slightly there, but remain in the vicinity to prevent further German advances.

The British strategy right now still is to stop the Germans, not to evacuate. They put forces into three main zones: the Olympus Pass, the Servia Pass, and the Platamon tunnel sector west of Olympus. In effect, the British have abandoned the Aliakmon Line even though they still have scattered units trying to hold it. The British organize "Savige Force" under Brigadier S. G. Savige with 1st Armored Brigade and 17th Australian Brigade to defend their left flank.

The Yugoslavian Zetska Division had been leading the advance to the west against the Italian positions in Albania, but the sudden appearance of German forces on its flank has compelled it to retreat. Today, it sits on the Pronisat River, watched carefully by the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Because of this withdrawal, the Greek forces in Albania are now completely cut off. However, the Italians in Albania are very quiet.

The RAF bombs the Italian port of Valona (Vlore) with Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Squadron. They sink 3329-ton Italian freighter Luciano and 1228 ton Italian freighter Stampalia. The British lose a Swordfish, with one man killed and two becoming prisoners.

King Peter arrives at a secret British airbase in northwest Greece at Paramythia. That is an Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparrowhawk. Peter is fourth from the left facing the camera, bare-headed and in a tweed jacket. (R.J. Dudman via Serbianna).

King Peter II abandons Yugoslavia and flees to Athens. He departs from Kopino Polje airport in Niksic, Montenegro, thence to Paramythia, the site of a top-secret RAF airfield (near the Yugoslav/Albanian border) previously used (in February) by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. Prime Minister (and Yugoslav Chief of Staff) Dusan Simovic and other top military and government leaders also flee separately. The Yugoslav gold reserves also are flown out. Peter flies from here to Athens, then to Alexandria, then to Jerusalem, then to Cairo.

The Yugoslav government is under no illusions. It is considering asking the Germans for a ceasefire. Some accounts state that they request one late today.

British Col. Oakley-Hill, an old Albanian hand, has been trying to organize the Albanian resistance. With the situation rapidly changing, he is recalled. Resistance efforts, however, will continue.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7264-ton transport Clan Cummin at sea, then it hits a mine and sinks in Eleusis Bay northwest of Athens. While 36 men are rescued by the Allies, 77 become German prisoners.

Time Magazine, 14 April 1941 - Adolf Hitler - "Spring is Here."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Dutch power stations with 14 bombers and coastal targets with another 14 bombers during the day. Then, after dark, the RAF sends 94 bombers to attack the French port of Brest, where German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock.

The RAF has a tragic accident when a Halifax bomber crashes at Tollerton, near RAF Linton on Ouse. The engineer apparently shuts off the engines accidentally. Two of the crew are injured.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its 8th and final patrol, torpedoes and sinks 6563-ton Belgian freighter Ville de Liège about 810 miles (1300 km) east of Cape Farewell, off southern Greenland. There are ten survivors. This is U-52's final victory, it will return to port after this and spend its remaining years as a training boat. During its eight patrols, it sank 13 Allied ships.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping at Falmouth and bombs and sinks Free French Naval Forces gunboat Conquérante. Also sunk is French gunboat Suippe, which is later refloated.

German guard ship H 453 Gretchen sinks of unknown causes.

USS Gar (Lieutenant D. McGregor) is commissioned at New London, Connecticut.

The Des Moines Register, 14 April 1941. The big news is yesterday's Russia/Japan nonaggression pact.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies is concerned, and he notes the situation tersely in his diary:

The position in Libya becomes worse, and Egypt is threatened. In Balkans, the Jugo-Slavs are going to collapse, and as the Greeks have not withdrawn their Albanian divisions, the Aliakhmon line will probably be turned and our Greek position rendered untenable.

At the War Cabinet meeting, Menzies disagrees with Churchill's strategy to hold Tobruk as a rallying point. Menzies views the War Cabinet as "deplorable" and Churchill as a "dictator" who cows his ministers into submission. Menzies, who has been planning to leave for several decides, decides to remain for a couple more weeks to participate in "grave decisions" that will be made about his homeland's troops.

Today is the first coordinated German attack on Tobruk, and it is a complete flop. It starts well enough when German sappers cut defensive wires and fill in the Italian-built anti-tank ditch at 02:30. Then, supported by heavy machine-gun fire, they advance. At 04:30/05:20, 38 Afrika Korps tanks break through the first line of fortifications and into the Tobruk perimeter. Supported by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, they make good progress at first. The Australian defenders, though, have been told to let the tanks pass so they can trap the accompanying infantry.

The British have artillery sited on the spot and knock out 17 of his 5th Panzer Regiment tanks of Group Olbrich (General Olbrich). The remaining panzers withdraw at 07:30 into the desert in disarray, but the 8th Machine Gun Battalion which follows them in is trapped. The 8th loses about 900 men to death or capture, leaving it with a strength of only about 300 men (casualty estimates for this action vary widely, but those figures are from the Germans themselves, though they may include some earlier casualties, too). General Rommel is furious at the failure to capitalize on the initial breakthrough and will sack General Streich, commander of the 5th Light Division, as a result.

The German prepare for a siege. They bring up the Italian Trento Division and put it under the command of the Brescia Division. They also put Detachment Schwerin in the line, along with most of the 5th Light Division. A second attack scheduled for 18:00 is canceled, an indication of the depth of the fiasco in the morning. The Afrika Korps also goes over to the defense of Bardia/Sollum/Sidi Oma. The RAF has complete air superiority, and forward Detachment Knabe is bombarded by Royal Navy gunboat HMS Gnat and its accompanying two destroyers in the Bay of Sollum. Royal Navy gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Bardia.

The Luftwaffe is doing what it can. It attacks the Gnat in the Bay of Sollum and badly damages it, killing one sailor. The Gnat makes it to port in Mersa Matruh, then proceeds to Port Said. Lieutenant General Rommel requests control over Luftwaffe operations in Libya by X Fliegerkorps.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2485-ton Turkish freighter Trabzon off Laurium/Lavrio/Lavrium (about 60 km southeast of Athens and north of Cape Sounio).

Royal Navy auxiliary tanker RFA Pericles, which had been damaged during the Luftwaffe bombing of Suda Bay, Crete, sinks (it breaks in half) while en route to Alexandria. Everyone aboard survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku is proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta, along with fellow submarines Torbay and Undaunted, when a torpedo - apparently launched by an Italian submarine - is spotted coming toward it. Taku takes evasive action and avoids the torpedo. Apparently, because of this incident, the Admiralty (CinC Mediterranean) orders Taku and Torbay back to Gibraltar for other missions.

Convoy AN 27 (four British and six Greek ships) departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete. The ships carry reinforcements and supplies for the troops in Greece.

Australian Corporal John Hurst Edmondson earns a posthumous VC when, while badly wounded during a bayonet charge in the morning darkness, he saves the life of his commanding officer.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: British ammunition ship Fort Stikine catches fire and in Bombay Harbor and explodes in a massive fireball. The blast wave destroys the docks, sinks four nearby ships, and damages 11 others. It explodes again half an hour later. A total of 231 men are killed in the explosion, with another 476 men injured, but the devastation is far worse: an estimated 1000 people simply vanish and 2000 are hospitalized. The Fort Stikine was carrying 124 gold bars, of which all but one remain unrecovered.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Marines garrison Palmyra Atoll (due south of the Hawaiian Islands) with the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion. Legally, this is the southernmost point in the United States because it is an incorporated territory. It operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Navy and is the center of the Palmyra Island Naval Defensive Sea Area established by President Roosevelt on 14 February 1941.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D22) towing the damaged hospital ship HMHS Vita 400 miles (650 km) to Tobruk following her bombing. Judge for yourself - do you think that the Vita appears different from other ships? Can you spot the huge red crosses on her side and funnel? Do you think that is sufficient marking for an attacking plane to know enough not to attack it?

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4691-ton British hospital ship HMHS Vita off Tobruk. Reports indicate that 8 German planes attack it and that a bomb deflects off her rear mast (with very high-resolution pictures you can see that it is bent backward slightly) and explodes just off her side, opening her plates and flooding her engine room (thus no damage is visible above water). The Vita, carrying 430 patients, makes it to Tobruk, where it sinks on 22 April 1941. While mistakes happen in war, committed by both sides, hospital ships are clearly marked and off-limits to all attacks. No, these are not especially famous incidents, but if you attack a hospital ship, that's a war crime whether it gets a lot of media attention or not.

German/Egyptian Relations: Today, Farouk sends Hitler a personal note through his ambassador in Tehran. Farouk states that ''he was filled with admiration for the Fuhrer'' and was ''certain that the Germans are coming as liberators" and would "soon liberate Egypt from the British yoke." But Egypt was not the only goal, important as it was. The Grand Mufti also met with Hitler around this time and wished "the elimination of the Jewish national home in Palestine."

Egypt is the cornerstone of the British position in the Mediterranean. It is more important than Gibraltar. The Suez Canal enables them to bring in troops from their dominions in India, Australia, New Zealand and their other holdings in Asia to counter the German and Italian positions in North Africa and the Balkans. It also is a potential British escape route for their massive forces in Greece and North Africa. In fact, seizing Egypt is the fundamental goal of German military policy in the Mediterranean, the heart of Adolf Hitler's "Peripheral Strategy."

Hitler has been cultivating his ties to the Arab world for years. For instance, he gave King Farouk of Egypt a Mercedes Benz 540k sports cabriolet for the king's wedding in 1938. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem also is on close personal ties with Hitler, while Rashid Ali in Iraq is eyeing the British at the Habbaniyah airbase near Baghdad and wishing them to be gone. King Farouk without question is the monarch in position to help further Hitler's war aims in the Mediterranean Basin.

The mere fact that Farouk feels confident enough to send this (top secret) sign of dissatisfaction with British hegemony over his country is telling. It suggests that the British hold on Egypt - and elsewhere in the Arab world - may be weakening.

Life Magazine, April 14, 1941 - New York Harbor.

US/Icelandic Relations: Fresh off its agreement to occupy Greenland, the US begins talking with the Icelandic government to see if a similar arrangement can be made there.

US/Chinese Relations: Author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Martha Gellhorn, ostensibly in Asia as tourists (there's a war on!), meet with Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

Australian/British Relations: Australian delegates to the ABDA Conference being held in Singapore later in the month embark on Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Attending will be representatives of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies.

German Military: Australian soldiers at Tobruk report seeing what almost certainly are German 88-mm antiaircraft ("8.8 cm Flak 41") guns (they call them "long-barrelled guns on strange carriages"). The guns are not used and are there to exploit the expected breakthrough into Tobruk (German 88's, as they are routinely called, also are used as ground artillery and even, in a dire emergency, as anti-tank weapons). General Rommel used the guns in an anti-tank role at Arras in May 1940, so he is well aware of their versatility. They are sort of a halfway ground between tanks and artillery, with many mounted on vehicles. Their chief drawback, however, is that they have no armor protection and are vulnerable not just to artillery and tanks, but even to rifle fire.

April 14, 1941, Old Gold Cigarettes ad.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places an order for 2000 Model 74 (BT-13A) Vultee (Stinson) L-1 Valiant observation planes. These planes will bear the designation O-49 and perform various auxiliary services such as towing, artillery spotting and espionage flights.

Holocaust: The Vichy French undertake a mass arrest of Jews in Paris.

Future History: Peter Edward Rose is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes one of the top baseball players in history, accumulating numerous records which still stand, including but not limited to:

• Most hits (4256)
• Most career winning games played (1972)
• Most career games played (3562)
• At bats (14,053)
• Singles (3215)
• Most Outs (10,328).

Rose stars for the Cincinnati Reds during the prime years of his career, playing from 1963 to 1986. He also manages the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1989, becomes a 17x All-Star, is a member of three World Series championship teams, and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is barred from the Major League Hall of Fame due to allegations that he bet on baseball games while a player-manager of the Reds. Many consider Pete Rose, if not the greatest baseball player of all time, certainly worthy of being on an all-star team composed of the greatest players of all time.

Pete Rose circa 1963.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Thursday 10 April 1941

USS Niblack (DD-424), which launches depth charges today, 10 April 1941.

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The Germans of the XL Panzer Corps continue to roll in Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941. By the morning, the Germans have regrouped and now are ready to advance south toward Kozani. Capturing Kozani would put the Wehrmacht troops in position to drive to the coast at Larissa or nearby, cutting off the British forces holding on the Aliakmon Line near Thessaloniki. However, there is a lot of rough terrains to cover, things are a little different now than in the drive west against light opposition.

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), under the command of Hitler's former chauffeur Josef "Sepp" Dietrich, captures Vevi in southern Macedonia and immediately turns to clear the enemy from the Kleisoura Pass southwest of Vevi. pass This leads to the town of Klidi in the south (it also is known as the Klidi Pass or Kirli Derven). The plan is to take Klidi and then drive downhill to Kastoria in northwest Greece.

SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt "Panzer" Meyer leads LSSAH's reinforced Aufklärungs-Abteilung (reconnaissance battalion) south into the pass, which is defended by scratch forces mixed Australian/New Zealand/Greek formation known as the "Mackay Force" under the Australian General Iven Mackay. Meyer's forces, backed by the 73rd Infantry Division, attack Glava Hill and Delinski Dol, but the Mackay Force is under orders from General Henry Maitland Wilson to "stop a blitzkrieg down the Florina Valley." Today, it does that, stopping the Germans cold.

In the north of Yugoslavia, the 14th Panzer Division of General von Kleist's 2nd Army takes Zagreb. Colonel Slavko Kvaternik of the Ustasa within the city declares an Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska - NDH). Croatian fascist strongman Ante Pavelic returns from his exile in Italy to join in the proclamation, illustrating its Fascist orientation. This declaration of independence triggers an unexpected result, causing Hungary to decide that the Tripartite Pace to which both it and Yugoslavia are signatories no longer bars it from invading the now-dismembered country. Hungary prepares to send its tanks across the border tomorrow, the 11th.

Adolf Hitler and Ante Pavelic' at the Berghof.

Meanwhile, local Communist Party Secretary-General Josep Broz "Tito" (Tito is one of his assumed names taken when the Communist Party in Yugoslavia is outlawed) forms a Military Committee.

To the southeast in Greece, the battle of the Metaxas Line is over. The Greek commander of the Eastern Macedonian Army Section, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Bakopoulos, has ordered the forces holding out behind German lines to surrender. As of yet, the Germans at Thessaloniki and the British on the other side of the Aliakmon River have not engaged in any battles aside from a minor encounter between a German patrol and defending New Zealanders. Both sides took minor casualties, relatively speaking, during the battle, the Germans about 500 men killed.

The German government grows sensitive about the image it is projecting by bombing Belgrade in Operation Punishment. It ends the bombings, and the Ministry of Propaganda warns the media to "omit" sensational comments such as "its streets are covered with corpses of women and children." In fact, Luftflotte IV stops bombing northern Yugoslavia altogether - it hasn't bombed any Croatian areas at all - and turns its attention solely to southern Yugoslavia and Greece.

The Royal Hellenic Navy loses patrol boat A-2 to unknown causes. Axis troops seize Yugoslavian minesweeper Kobac at Sebenico.

Convoy AG 12 departs from Alexandria bound for Phaleron Bay. Previous convoys have gone to nearby Piraeus, which is the ordinary modern port for Athens, but German bombing temporarily has put the port out of commission. Convoy AS 25 (five Greek ships) departs from Piraeus.

British 3791-ton troopship HMS Ulster Prince, part of Convoy AC 3 which departed from Alexandria bound for Tobruk on the 6th, returns to Alexandria and grounds in Great Pass as it enters. It suffers minor damage.

Hungary decides to join the invasion of Yugoslavia today, 10 April 1941, due to the declaration of independence by Croatia - until then, Hungarian leader Admiral Horthy felt bound by the fact that both it and Yugoslavia were signatories to the Tripartite Pact.

European Air Operations: Adolf Hitler is very upset at last night's bombing that gutted the Berlin Opera House. He confronts Luftwaffe boss Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering about antiaircraft defenses, then departs from his Fruhlingssturm headquarters south of Vienna to oversee Operation 25/Operation Marita. While he just as easily could review the operations from Berlin, Hitler likes to give the appearance of being at the front with his troops.

The Luftwaffe attacks Birmingham on the night of 10/11 April, with 206 bombers dropping 246 tons of high explosives and 1183 incendiaries. After dark, it attacks Coventry again. Overall, about 475 people are killed and 700 seriously wounded in the two Coventry raids of two nights earlier and tonight.

East African Campaign: The British now hold the key points in Italian Somaliland, Eritrea, and Abyssinia. However, many Italian strongholds remain in far-flung places. The British 11th African Division advances southwest from Addis Ababa to attack one of them, Jimma. They have to halt at Abaiti on the Omo River, where the Italians have blown the bridges.

At Assab, Eritrea, the Italians watch British troops approach and do what Italians in other ports have done in that situation: they start scuttling their ships:

• 6366-ton freighter India
• 7565-ton tanker Piave
• 9834-ton Sannio
• 57-ton coastal freighter Scillin
• 59-ton coastal freighter Circeo
• 80-ton coastal freighter Dante
• 64-ton coastal freighter Sicilia

The British later salvage India, Piave, and Sannio.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann) torpedoes 6563-ton Dutch freighter Saleier east of Greenland. The ship goes down extremely quickly, in a  matter of seconds, but all 63 men on board survive pickup by the destroyer USS Niblack - unusual for a ship sinking so fast and during the colder months so far north. Saleier had been dispersed from Convoy OB 306. The Niblack, which is on its way to Iceland and nearby strictly by chance - then unsuccessfully attacks an (apparently false) submarine contact by dropping three depth charges. This apparently is the first US naval combat involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic - though nobody on the German side is aware of it and nothing comes of it, and thus it passes virtually unnoticed by anyone. But it most definitely is the first US combat incident of World War II, and shows just how close the US is coming to open conflict.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the Tyne. A bomb strikes Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Naiad, already under repair, and damages it slightly some more.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4887-ton British freighter Thirlby about 140 miles northwest of the Butt of Lewis. It is brought in to Loch Ewe in tow.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 943-ton British freighter Busiris off Runnel Stone in Mount's Bay, Cornwall.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 397-ton Dutch freighter Virgo five miles northwest of Bar Light Vessel. It is towed to Liverpool.

The Admiralty, happy that the RAF damaged German heavy cruiser Gneisenau in Brest over the night with four bomb hits, transfers six of its submarines to the Mediterranean.

British Convoy DS 1 departs from Scapa Flow, the first of the DS convoys. It is composed of two troopships and two escorts, bound for Reykjavik. Return convoys are SD convoys.

Convoys T-10 and HX 120 depart from Halifax. Convoy TC-10 is a two-transport Canadian troop convoy that is escorted the entire way by battleship HMS Rodney and other ships as well.

U-401 (Kapitänleutnant Gero Zimmermann) and U-565 (Oberleutnant zur See Johann Jebsen) are commissioned.

Australian soldiers defend Tobruk, 10 April 1941. Just three months earlier, they captured the fortress, today they are defending it themselves. It is one of numerous such reversals during World War II.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel records his thoughts today:

I am convinced the enemy is retreating, we have to push after him with all forces. Target to be made clear to every man is the Suez canal. To prevent a breakout of the enemy from Tobruk, an encirclement has to be pursued by all means.

Forward Detachment Prittwitz (led by Major General von Prittwitz) advances south on the Via Balbia, which runs east of Tobruk and is the main road in the region. At noon, the detachment encounters British troops. Everything is extremely fluid with no clear battle lines, and, just as with British Generals Neame and O'Connor recently, the Germans lose one of theirs due to the confusion. Prittwitz perishes when he is fired upon by them - his driver had driven past the lead elements of his detachment without noticing. Lieutenant Colonel Graf Schwerin takes over the detachment.

Rommel orders the Italian Brescia Division forward from Mechili to take over for Schwerin's force. He also orders the Ariete Division forward toward El Adem. Due to all these troop movements, today is often cited as the start of the siege of Tobruk. The port city is defended by the 9th Australian Division, with overall command under General Morshead. The British strengthen their defenses at Halfaya Pass to the south by bringing up the 22nd Guards Brigade.

Moving his headquarters forward to Gazala airfield, Rommel's biggest problem is one of supply. Some detachments have run out of food and water.

The Royal Navy sends off four destroyers from Suda Bay to be based in Malta. The purpose is to interdict Axis supply convoys operating between Naples and Tripoli. Rommel's advances on land, the British believe, can be stopped - at sea.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Abingdon is damaged by mines at Malta. Repairs will take until June. It is the second ship damaged or sunk by mines there recently.

Royal Navy gunboats HMS Aphis and Gnat bombard German positions at Gazala and Bomba.

An Italian convoy of four ships (Bosforo, Ogaden, Persiano, and Superga) departs from Palermo, Sicily for the final leg of its trip from Naples to Tripoli. Another convoy arrives at Tripoli.

The War Office transfers Special Service troops from Malta back to Alexandria. They have been among the troops guarding Gozo Island pursuant to Operation Picnic.

The war is creeping closer. Notice that the news of the capture of British Generals O'Connor and Neame now is being made public. The El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post, 10 April 1941.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies is an advocate of less rigid English relations with Ireland. He has prepared a memo on the matter, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill finds it "very readable." Menzies continues in his diary:

Winston and Kingsley Wood exhibit the blank wall of conservatism. There is triangular prejudice on this matter. Winston is not a receptive or reasoning animal. But they will come to it! [Emphasis in original].

In this instance, Menzies' liberal instincts clash with Churchill's conservative ones. Throughout his diary, Menzies is alternately attracted and repelled by Churchill's very strong personality, and this is an instance of the latter. The bottom line is that Churchill has very definite ideas about how to handle the Irish question, and those ideas do not include being "soft" or "lenient."

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt authorizes the transfer of ten Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy. The British will work up the cutters in Long Island Sound through the end of May.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: President Inonu once again declines to join the Allies.

US/Polish Relations: Having met with President Roosevelt, General Sikorski concludes his brief visit to the United States and returns to England.

An IJN B5N in early 1941. The "VI-324" on the tail would change to AII-324 due to today's changes (Famous Airplanes of the World - B5N "Kate", number 32, page 44, January 1992, by Bunrin Do Company via Japanese Aviation.).

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy forms the First Air Fleet, composed of all seven of its aircraft carriers. Altogether, they can launch 474 aircraft. The carriers are arranged as follows:

• Kaga - Carrier Division 1
• Akagi - Carrier Division 1, also flagship of the First Air Fleet
• Soryu - Carrier Division 2
• Hiryu - Carrier Division 2
• Hosho - Carrier Division 3
• Ryuo - Carrier Division 4
• Shoho - Carrier Division 4 (when it joins the fleet)
• Shokaku - Carrier Division 5
• Zuikaku - Carrier Division 5

Admiral Chuichi Nagumo is the First Air Fleet's first commander. Of interest to modelers is that the IJN changes all carrier aircraft tail codes are changed to reflect this

US Military: Admiral John Newton brings his fleet back into Pearl Harbor, concluding its "goodwill" missions to Australia and Fiji.

Japanese Government: War hawks Musatsume Ogura, Admiral Teijiro Toyoda, and Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki join the cabinet. Admiral Osami Nagano becomes the new chief of the Naval Staff, replacing Prince Hiroyasu Fushimi, who has resigned (but technically remains in the cabinet). Seiichi Ito becomes the new chief of staff of the Imperial Combined Fleet.

Iraq: The British at Habbaniyah Airfield outside Baghdad are getting increasingly nervous about the new government of Rashid Ali. While there haven't been any attacks on the base yet, the Ali government is distinctly anti-British and pro-German. The British War Cabinet authorizes troop transfers from General Claude Auchinleck's command in India to Iraq.

In Berlin, meanwhile, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering has his eye on Iraq as well. The country fits into the, shall we say, larger war aims of the Third Reich. However, it is far away over air space largely controlled by the British, so even getting airplanes to it is a chore. Goering believes that supporting the Ali government with his Luftwaffe would increase his own prestige within the hierarchy - which of course he is almost at the top of already, but there is a lot of infighting that he worries about nonetheless - so he is thinking of sending some units there. The main problem is that there is no ground support for Luftwaffe planes in Iraq because it is all controlled by the British, so capturing the RAF facilities is somewhat of a prerequisite to Luftwaffe operations. However, the facilities likely can't be captured without the Luftwaffe's assistance.

American Homefront: The Anthony and William Esposito trial begins in New York City. They are accused of the 14 January 1941 killing of a police officer and a holdup victim. The case receives a lot of media attention because the incident happened near the Empire State Building and a visiting photographer was on the scene to snap some pictures right after it happened. The Esposito brothers enter an insanity plea and exhibit odd "insane" conduct in the courtroom.

Hooverville, in Seattle's Pioneer Square, burns down today. A Depression-era shantytown begun about 1931, its burning causes the Seattle Port Commission to condemn all shacks and other rudimentary habitations in the area.

Toronto Birch Cliff Public Schools teachers and students pose with an ambulance they have purchased for the Canadian Armed Forces. The school raised the money for the ambulance and an extra $200, both of which were presented today to the Department of National Defense, 10 April 1941.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Monday 10 February 1941

Romanian IAR-80 fighters.

Italian/Greek Campaign: While the action at the front remains quiet on 10 February 1941, the Allied capitals are buzzing with discussions about how to meet the expected German invasion of Greece via Bulgaria. According to today's Defence Committee minutes in London, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill remains determined to help the Greeks. He is less impressed with the Turks, who, according to the Defence Committee minutes, he feels is "shirking her responsibilities." However, a neutral Turkey on the right of the line would be useful, and a spirited defense in Greece might induce the Turks "and possibly the Yugoslavs" to fight the Germans as well. The meeting reaches a somewhat uncertain conclusion, with it being "generally expressed that it was essential for us to come to the assistance of the Greeks if they would have us."

East African Campaign: After a one-day pause, the British Indian troops at Keren resume their attacks. Today, they focus on the left side of the Dongolaas Gorge and don't attack the right side at all. The 3/1st Punjab Regiment attacks Brig's Peak and Sanchil Peak next to it. As on their previous attack, the Indian troops are vulnerable to artillery and small-arms fire both at the mountain and on the approaches from the Cameron Ridge. The fighting is fluid and seesaws throughout the day, with both sides claiming the peak at different times. The day ends with the Indian troops managing to maintain two platoons situated partway up the heights. The two battalions involved, the 3/1st Punjab and the 4/11 Sikhs, lose 123 and 100+ casualties, respectively.

In Italian Somaliland, British General Cunningham (brother of Admiral Cunningham) opens Operation Canvas. This is an assault across the Juba River. The RAF raids Afmadu in Italian Somaliland. In Eritrea, the Indian 7th Infantry Brigade captures Mersa Tadai (on the Red Sea Coast).

At Kismayo, Somalia, the Axis authorities can see the writing on the wall regarding the approaching British troops. Eight ships make a break for it after dark, trying to escape to more secure ports. The Royal Navy, however, is patrolling offshore with improvised Force T. Heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins captures:

• 3809-ton Italian freighter Adria
• 5490-ton Italian freighter Savoia
• 5644-ton Italian freighter Erminia Mazzella
• 5594-ton Italian freighter Manon
• 7515-ton Italian freighter Leonardo da Vinci

German 7201-ton freighter Uckermark is approached by the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle of Force T and its crew scuttle it.

2315-ton Italian freighter Duca Degli Abruzzi and 2699 ton Italian freighter Somalia are the only two of the eight ships that make good their escapes. They make it to Diego Suarez.

HMAS Sydney at Circular Quay, Sydney Harbor, 10 February 1941 (Sydney Morning Herald).

European Air Operations: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends about 200 planes of RAF No. 7 Squadron over Hanover. Hanover is the location of a major manufacturer of U-boats. This includes the first operations for Short Stirling bombers. Another flight of bombers attacks oil installations at Rotterdam.

There is a Circus Raid on Dunkirk and a Roadstead operation on shipping off Calais. Both are by six Blenheim bombers escorted by heavy fighter escorts.

There are reports of a Luftwaffe air raid on Iceland. The only slight activity takes place over England, with a few bombs dropped on East Anglia.

Werner Mölders claims his 56th victory.

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather remains rough. Ice in the North sea damages U-147, sending it back to Cuxhaven for repairs, while Royal Navy 109-ton drifter Boy Alan is involved in a collision and sinks in the Thames Estuary. The frigid weather makes surviving sinkings extremely unlikely unless conditions are just right, and two ships sink today with no survivors.

U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen) follows up its two sinkings east of the Azores on the 9th with another one today. Today, it torpedoes and sinks 1473 ton British freighter Brandenburg in Convoy HG 53. All 23 crew onboard perish, along with 30 survivors of the Courland which the Brandenburg had picked up on the 9th after U-37 sank it as well. Convoy escort sloop Deptford launches an attack on U-37, but the submarine gets away.

U-52 (Kptlt. Otto Salman) torpedoes and sinks 3364-ton British freighter Canford Chine about 306 km southwest of Rockall in the Northwest Approaches. There are no survivors from the 35-man crew.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 6869-ton British freighter Benmacdhui in the North Sea off Hembsy Beach. The ship manages to make it to Tees on her own.

German raider Kormoran concludes its three-day meeting with supply ship Nordmark in the mid-Atlantic off the Cape Verde Islands. Captain Detmers takes his ship south. On this journey, Detmers receives a signal from Berlin notifying him that the Kormoran has been awarded two First Class Iron Crosses and 50 Second Class Iron Crosses, to be awarded to whomsoever he chooses.

Convoy BS 15 departs from Suez, Convoy SL 65 and SLS 65 depart from Freetown.--

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Blackmore is laid down.

US submarine USS Growler is laid down.

Highway Post Office bus #1, Strasburg, Virginia, 10 February 1941. This is a new "mail on wheels" Highway Post Office bus route of the US Post Office (Postal Museum).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The mysterious British troops that landed on Malta on the 9th in six converted Whitley bombers, a complete mystery to the British forces there, fly off again as mysteriously as they arrived at 18:30. This is Operation Colossus, an operation by 38 paratroopers of No. 2 Commando, No. 11 Special Air Service Battalion who are designated as X Force. They head north, where they drop near the town of Calitri in southern Italy. The objective is an aqueduct crossing the Tragino River in Campania near Monte Vulture. This carries the water supply for the Italian naval base at Taranto at the southern tip of Italy.

The British troops of Operation Colossus arrive over the Italian drop zone at 21:42. The paratroopers from the first five planes land quite near or in the drop zone. However, the sixth plane for some reason misses the drop zone completely and ultimately drops its six paratroopers in a valley two miles from the aqueduct about two hours later. Ordinarily, this might not have been a problem, given planned redundancy; however, this final plane just happens to be carrying Royal Engineer sappers and their demolition equipment. The commander of the force, Major T.A.G. Pritchard, forms a hedgehog around the bridge, but at first determines that he has insufficient explosions to demolish the aqueduct (which is found to be constructed, not of brick, but of reinforced concrete). However, he picks a particularly vulnerable spot around the western pier and manages to blow up both the aqueduct and another nearby bridge over the Ginestra River.

At this point, the Commandos split up into three groups and head for pickup on the coast. A local farmer spots the Pritchard group, and local carabinieri (police) soon arrives and arrests them. Another commando group tries to bluff their way out by claiming to be Germans, but the carabinieri round them up, too. All of the groups wind up as POWs, and the Italian translator with them is given to the Blackshirts, tortured, and executed. To add to the mission's later reputation as a fiasco, the submarine sent to pick the commandos up, HMS Triumph, must rescue the crew of a crashed Whitley (conducting a diversionary raid at Foggia airport) and would have been unavailable for the pick-up anyway because of security concerns that its location had been identified.

The operation is a technical success and a strategic failure. The aqueduct is repaired quickly, and the Italian base is unaffected because it has other short-term water supplies. The best result of Operation Colossus for the British is that the military learns that more planning is necessary for the troops after they are on the ground, not just on how to get them to the target.

Having stopped at Palermo, Sicily, the convoy carrying the very first elements of what will become the Afrikakorps (DAK) departs for the final leg to Tripoli. This is by far the most hazardous portion of the convoy route, both due to the presence of the Royal Navy but also because of mines and RAF aerial surveillance. The transports carrying the 5th Light Division troops should dock in Tripolitania on the 11th.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, whose troops have been a key component in the victories achieved over the Italians in the recent Operation Compass, has lunch with British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell. He records the following conclusions in his private diary:

(a) Tripoli probably not worthwhile
(b) Aggregation principle for AIF good, but must not be too rigid - e.g., guarding Canal or tackling Dodecanese. Difficult to find a front which will occupy entire Corps.
(c) Victory at Keren and Massawa would end East African campaign
(d) Thinks we should consider forming a Second Corps Headquarters.

The mention of Tripoli is significant, because, if Wavell knew that the Germans were on the verge of landing there, he might not think it was "not worthwhile."

In Libya, General O'Connor's XIII Corps continues clearing the region from Benghazi to El Agheila. O'Connor is seeking permission to proceed further west and south to Tripolitania and has sent a liaison officer to Cairo to get permission from Wavell.

Royal Navy Force H, which successfully bombarded Genoa on the 9th, arrives back at Gibraltar.

The RAF raids Colato, Rhodes.

Today marks Malta's 300th air raid of the war. It is a minor raid by one bomber at 18:40, with the aircraft dropping bombs at Hal Far airfield and Kalafrana.

Jackson Daily News, 10 February 1941.

Anglo/Romanian Relations: British Ambassador Sir Reginald has a meeting with Conducător Ion Antonescu. He asks Antonescu why so many German troops are necessary for training purposes, the purported reason for their presence. Receiving unsatisfactory replies regarding the growing German military presence in the country at the half-hour meeting, the ambassador decides to return to England. This is seen as the moment when Great Britain severs diplomatic relations with Romania - a country which at one point during the 1930s was a close British ally. However, officially the breaking of relations happens tomorrow.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's personal envoy to London Harry Hopkins boards a plane to fly back to Washington.

Japanese/Thai Relations: The Japanese are "mediating" continuing negotiations between the Thais and the Vichy French to conclude their border war in Indochina. They send four cruisers ( IJN Suzuya, IJN Mikuma, IJN Mogami, and IJN Kumano) to Bangkok to "show the flag." This is Operation S, a not-very-subtle show of support for the Thais and an effort to pressure the French into a weak negotiating posture.

US Military: The 104th Automatic Weapons Battalion is activated at Birmingham, Alabama. Iowa National Guard unit 133rd Infantry Regiment is inducted into the US Army as the 34th Infantry Division.

Romanian Military: Deliveries of the first 20 home-grown IAR 80 fighters begin today to operational units of the 8th Fighter Group. The aircraft uses a licensed Gnome-Rhône 14K II Mistral Major engine (870 hp (650 kW) IAR K14-III C32 engine, switched to the 960 hp (716 kW) K14-IV C32 engine for the 21st through 50th versions).

Coincidentally, a Bf 109 arrives at Brasov today for purposes of testing a DB 601 1175hp engine on the IAR 80. Romanian pilots have complained that the engine in the plane is underpowered, and it also is in short supply. However, ultimately the DB 601 engine (removed from the Messerschmitt and transplanted into the IAR 80) is found to cause vibrations in flight and is not used.

US Government: While the US House of Representatives has passed the Lend-Lease bill, the Senate is still considering it. Merwin K. Hart, a founder of the New York State Economic Council, testifies. He states that the Lend-Lease bill likely would lead the country into war and create an authoritarian regime in the United States.
China: The Japanese 11th Army completes its return to its base at Hsinyang, watched by the Chinese 5th War Area. This ends the Battle of Southern Honen.

Dutch Homefront: In occupied Amsterdam, tensions are brewing. There are street clashes between SA street thugs and Jewish supporters. Daily resistance paper "Nieuwsbrief van Pieter’t Hoen," changes its name to "Het Parool."

Life Magazine, 10 February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Tuesday 4 February 1941

Italian/Greek Campaign: While the Greeks have possession of the Trebeshinë massif on 4 February 1941, the Italians in the vicinity are not giving up as quickly as other Italian troops have done. The battle for the heights continues.

East African Campaign: The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Division is on the outskirts of Keren, Eritrea. While an unprepossessing town, Keren is heavily fortified and offers excellent defensive advantages for the Italians and their colonial troops. Located on a plateau at high altitude, the Italians have positions on the mountains on either side which offer excellent fields of fire. In addition, the Italians have engaged in expert demolition work and mined the approaches. The British advance troops, though, are full of confidence from past Italian military ineptness. They spend the day reconnoitering the vicinity and prepare to attack on the 5th, without waiting for the rest of the division. Elsewhere, British troops continue forward in Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland.

"Troops of the 1st Polish Corps manning an armored train on a line at North Berwick in Scotland, 4 February 1941. The train is armed with a 6 pounder gun, two Boys anti-tank rifles, and six Bren machine guns." © IWM (H 7031).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids Düsseldorf, killing 35. After dark, the RAF sends 38 bombers against Brest and Le Havre, 31 bombers against Bordeaux and Calais, and 37 bombers to bomb airfields and other targets in northwest France (including Vannes, Ostend, and Dunkirk). Coastal Command raids Cherbourg twice during the day.

The Luftwaffe continues its winter hibernation. There are small raids against London and the rest of England after dark.

"Dr. Wallace H Cole (on the left) and Dr. Norman Egel (on the right) read a copy of the Daily Express newspaper outside the American Hospital in Britain on Tuesday 4 February 1941." © IWM (D 2067).

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather remains rough, and that causes some collisions and other difficulties. It also probably helps the German surface raiders avoid detection. The day's sinkings also illustrate the special perils faced by convoy stragglers, as three are sent to the bottom.

At dawn, German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst emerge from the Denmark Strait (between Iceland and Greenland) and enter the Atlantic. They have not been spotted by the Allies, and plan to meet up with a German tanker, Schlettstadt, before heading into the convoy lanes.

U-52 (Kptlt. Otto Salman) torpedoes and sinks 1298-ton Norwegian freighter Ringhorn in the shipping lanes west of Ireland. There are five survivors and 14 deaths. Ringhorn is a straggler of Convoy OB 280.

U-93 (Kptlt. Claus Korth) is operating in the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland when it spots 2660-ton British freighter Dione II straggling behind Convoy SC 20. It sinks the Dione II with gunfire. There is only one survivor in the rough seas.

U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle) torpedoes and sinks 5358-ton British refrigerated cargo ship Empire Engineer. Empire Engineer also had straggled behind Convoy SC 20, making it an easy target. All 39 men on board perish.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors) bombs and sinks 4443-ton Greek freighter Calatatis in the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland. There are 18 deaths and 13 survivors.

The RAF attacks Le Havre. It bombs and badly damages German 7908-ton tanker Forbach. Another RAF attack on Brest sinks 739-ton tanker John. A. Essberger.

Royal Navy 92-ton drifter HMS Imbat is sunk in a collision at Scapa Flow, while minesweepers HMS Kellett and Leda suffer damage from a collision at Aberdeen.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the Humber. One of its aerial parachute mines hits 1177-ton British freighter Gwynwood. There are 11 deaths.

U-43 (Wolfgang Luth) has some kind of issue with its ballast tanks and sinks at its moorings in Lorient. The submarine is raised but requires extensive repairs that last three months.

Norwegian tanker Passat, which had been used by German raider Pinguin to lay mines off Australia in late 1940, arrives in France with its prize crew and prisoners.

The Royal Navy's First Minelaying Squadron lays minefield SN 7A in the North Sea. One of the ships, minelayer HMS Menestheus, runs into a mine in minefield SN 3 and has to be towed back to port. Minelayer Teviotbank operates separately off the east coast and lays minefield BS 50.

Convoys FN 399 and FN 400 depart from Southend, Convoy

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Glaisdale is laid down, and corvette HMCS Alberni (K-103, Gerald O. Baugh) is commissioned.

"Troops of the 1st Polish Corps manning an armored train on a line at North Berwick in Scotland, 4 February 1941. The train was armed with a 6 pounder gun, two Boys anti-tank rifles, and six Bren machine guns." © IWM (H 7033).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant Colonel John Combe leads his "Combe Force" to the south of Green Mountain (Jebel Akhdar) west of Derna. He is in command of 11th Hussars, followed by the 7th Armoured Division (which departs from Mechili at dawn). The infantry is in wheeled vehicles and must cross 150 miles of desert. The terrain is difficult, but Combe Force makes good progress and reaches Msus around dark. The 7th Armoured Division arrives shortly afterward, and Colonel Combe plans to send his troops toward the main raid being used by the Italians in the morning.

The motorized force aims to cut the retreating Italian 10th Army off between Benghazi and Tripoli. While he only has about 2000 men, Combe can stop the Italian retreat cold if he can get to the coast road (Via Balbia) south of Benghazi and form a block. Then, he merely has to hold his position while the Australian 6th Infantry Division presses against them on the coast road from the east. The timing is going to be tight because the Italians have a head start and already have begun evacuating Benghazi. Arriving after the Italians have passed by would make the whole endeavor profitless, but getting there in time could bag an entire Italian army.

Fliegerkorps X drops aerial mines in Tobruk Harbour. This forces the Royal Navy, which has no minesweepers immediately available, to turn back two troopships to Alexandria. Four corvettes are fitted with minesweeping gear at Alexandria to sweep Tobruk Harbour.

The Luftwaffe's aerial mining of the Suez Canal pays more dividends today. Greek 3283 ton freighter Aghios Georgios hits a mine and sinks, temporarily blocking part of the channel. The ship later is hauled out to re-open the shipping lanes. There are three deaths.

At Malta, Fliegerkorps X attacks Hal Far and Luqa airfields with two formations of Junkers Ju 88 bombers at 17:50. It is a particularly effective raid, damaging all the hangars at Hal Far. RAF Gloster Gladiator Hope, one of the famous trio "Faith, Hope and Charity" that in legend saved Malta, is destroyed by a direct bomb hit. Another raid a little later sees bombs drop between Sans Souci and Marnisi.

German radio is quick to crow about the unusually effective raid on Malta. It states that the Wehrmacht will capture Malta "in a fortnight."

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant (Lt. Commander H.A.V. Haggard) launches torpedoes at Italian freighters Utilitas and Silvia Tripcovich off Benghazi. However, they all of the torpedoes miss.

The Jackson Daily News, 4 February 1941. Conversations between Wendell Willkie and Irish leader Eamon de Valera get the banner headline, while the status of the Lend-Lease Bill takes secondary billing.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Navy resumes its search for the unidentified underwater contact off Oahu made on the 3rd by USS Dale. A handful of destroyers patrol the waters near the island, but they find nothing and eventually call off the search.

Convoy US 9 departs from Sydney. It is composed of troopships Aquitania, Mauretania, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Queen Mary. Its first stop is Fremantle. US 9 carries the Australian 8th Infantry Division (General Gordon Bennett) to Malaya.

US Military: Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 7 starts. The Atlantic Fleet under the command of Admiral King practices landing the US Army's 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division at Vieques-Culebra, Puerto Rico. This is a well-equipped exercise, with the troops arriving in new transports.

The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) forms at the behest of President Roosevelt. This organization is designed to work in conjunction with the War Department to provide entertainment and recreational services to members of the military, particularly while they are on leave. The USO is created by The Salvation Army, the YMCA and YWCA, National Catholic Community Services, National Travelers Aid Association, and National Jewish Welfare Board.

The USO is a unique endeavor; congressionally chartered, the government builds the infrastructure while private organizations handle fundraising and entertainment services. Thomas Dewey is the first national campaign chairman. The USO is remembered by World War II veterans for its famous USO shows, for things like free dances (as opposed to the 10-cents-a-dance dives), and for its centers in cities where traveling servicemen could grab a cup of java or a boiled egg. The USO continues to the present day. Several Hollywood legends devote extensive amounts of time to the USO, including Edward G. Robinson, Ann Miller, and Bob Hope.

"Troops of the 1st Polish Corps manning an armored train on a line at North Berwick in Scotland, 4 February 1941. The train was armed with a 6 pounder gun, two Boys anti-tank rifles, and six Bren machine guns." © IWM (H 7034).

German Military: Admiral Erich Raeder confers with Hitler. The topic is Japan. While sometimes Raeder offers shrewd analysis (the invasion of Denmark and Norway was largely his idea), this is not one of those times. It is Raeder's opinion that baiting the United States into the war could draw Japan into the war as well, helping the Axis cause overall. This cataclysmic misreading of the respective military potential of the two countries reflects both Germany's overestimation of Japanese military power and the massive underestimation of potential US power.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill exhibits two of his prime wartime traits today: his tendency to delve into the minutiae of military matters, and his unceasing desire to censor the press.

He sends a memo to Secretary of State for War David Margesson protesting against a Times article detailing a supposed military requirement that all troops - including the most senior officers - are required to complete a 7-mile cross-country run. Churchill concludes that "In my experience, based on many years' observation, officers with high athletic qualifications are not usually successful in the higher ranks."

Churchill also sends a memo to Minister of Information Alfred Duff Cooper decrying that the newspapers publishing "facts about the war and our policy which should not be disclosed." He urges that Duff Cooper file complaints with the newspaper in question when this happens. As a matter of fact, Hitler routinely receives copies of foreign newspapers every morning, and they inform many of his decisions - though it is unlikely that Churchill knows this.

US Government: Both houses of Congress continue their deliberations regarding the Lend-Lease Bill. Historian Charles A. Beard testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in opposition to the bill, stating:

All provisions of law and the Constitution to the contrary, notwithstanding, an Act to place all the wealth and all the men and women in the United States at the free disposal of the President, to permit him to transfer or carry goods to any foreign government he may be pleased to designate, anywhere in the world, to authorize him to wage undeclared wars for anybody, anywhere in the world, until the affairs of the world are ordered to suit his policies, and for any other purpose he may have in mind now or at any time in the future, which may be remotely related to the contingencies contemplated in the title of this Act.

China: In the continuing Battle of Southern Honan, the Japanese 11th Army captures Nanyang. The Chinese 5th War Area tries to recover Hisinghokuan, but fails.

The new type of anti-gas helmet. The Ministry of Home Security begins distributing new anti-gas respirators to those unable to wear ordinary gas masks. February 4, 1941 (Credit: AP).

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020