Saturday 5 April 1941

The weather is warm, so a couple takes a walk at the Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin on April 5, 1941 (Library of Congress). If the weather is warming up during wartime, that means that the military campaigning season can't be far behind.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Adolf Hitler by 5 April 1941 has prepared the Wehrmacht for Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia. Field Marshal Wilhelm List has his Twelfth Army in position in Bulgaria to invade both Greece and Yugoslavia. Generaloberst Maximilian von Weichs, meanwhile, is assembling the Second Army in Austria for a second blow after List stages the actual invasion. Mussolini also intends to take part, sending General Vittorio Ambrosio down along the coast from the Fiume region toward Ljubjana, Zadar, Split, and Kotor after List's men force Yugoslav forces to abandon those places in order to meet the new threat. Originally, General Halder's plan was to use merely a reinforced corps to invade Greece - now three entire armies of approximately 85 divisions are waiting to attack, including five Hungarian ones.

The Wehrmacht makes final preparations for what is expected to be a very straightforward operation. German commandos occupy the docks along the Danube to facilitate landings. Adolf Hitler tells Romanian leader Ion Antonescu that the invasion will take place on the 6th.

Yugoslavia's policy, as set for in Plan R-41, is to defend the entire frontier - unlike, say, Holland, which from the start in May 1940 intended only to preserve "Fortress Holland," a roughly rectangular region bordered by Amsterdam and Rotterdam. This also is what Greece would like to do. However, the Yugoslav Army is too small to defend everywhere, and as the famous dictum goes, he who defends everything defends nothing.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS General John Dill were supposed to return to England in March, but have remained in the region due to the growing crisis. Today, they fly from Athens to Cairo.

General Henry Maitland Wilson, fresh of Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell's staff in Cairo, takes command of British forces in Greece. He receives Ultra decrypts stating that the Germans will invade in the morning. While often such information is of inestimable value, for that to be the case, one must have the means to take advantage of it. There is nothing further that Wilson can do to meet the invasion.

The British line is stretched along the Aliakmon River in northeast Greece, and Wilson has his headquarters at the base of Mount Olympus in central Greece. This spot is handy for communications both with his own troops and the Greeks defending against the Italians in Albania. With the main Greek troop concentration in the west near the Adriatic coast, they have few troops to spare in the east. Thus, the British forces, hurriedly brought over pursuant to Operation Lustre over the past couple of months, play a critical role in defending the heart of the country - and the rear of the Greek army in Albania.

While General Wilson is in overall command of British operations in Greece as commander of "W" force, General Thomas Blamey takes command of newly formed 1st Australian Corps. This incorporates British, Australian and New Zealand units. General Carton de Wiart, a legendary military figure who led operations in northern Norway early in 1940, becomes head of the British military mission in Yugoslavia. De Wiart has had his residence in Poland and is considered a specialist about the region.

British Operation Lustre continues bringing troops into Athens. Convoy AN 25 (one Greek and five British ships) departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus. In addition, some British garrisons are landed on Aegean islands - today, the 1st Battalion of the British Bedfordshire lands on Lemnos.

East African Campaign:  Riding in armored cars, the 11th (African) Division (Major-General H. E. de R. Wetherall) crosses the Awash River and arrives at the outskirts of Addis Ababa, the capital of Italian East Africa. The Italians do not put up a fight, and in fact, they have abandoned the city, but the South Africans wait until negotiations conclude before entering. The Italian commander, the Duke of Aosta, has taken his remaining forces out of the capital for continued resistance. From his positions in mountain fortresses in Gondar, Amba Alagi, Dessie and Gemma, the Duke of Aosta intends to form a "redoubt" which will continue the resistance. Aosta orders the Italian leader in the city, Agenore Frangipani, to surrender the city rather than cause harm to its Italian residents. The South African air force raids the airfield.

At Massawa, the situation is not much better for the Italians. The 10 Infantry Brigade of the 5th Indian Infantry Division has reached the outskirts of the well-defended port, where it has hooked up with Briggs Force, which has come from a completely different direction. Things look dire for the Italians. Italian Rear Admiral Mario Bonetti asks for surrender terms at 13:30, but then an order arrives from Rome to "fight to the last man." British General Cunningham, meanwhile, warns that if Bonetti does not surrender, Cunningham will not instruct the British to protect Italian civilians from native tribesmen. At Addis Ababa, the Polizia dell'Africa Italiana (Police of Italian Africa) have remained in the city to maintain order, which is probably best for both the Italians and the British.

Me 109E 5/JG 27 Uffz. Hans Niederrhofer in Bitola (Bitolj), Macedonia,  April 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues shifting units east. These include units of JG 54 and SKG 77.

Operation Savanna, a Special Operations Executive (SOE) mission, ends in complete failure. This was the operation begun on 15 March 1941 in which an RAF Whitley inserted an assassination squad near Vannes to kill Luftwaffe pilots of the pathfinder group. British intelligence was faulty, and the pilots did not travel on one bus to their airport as believed. Without a target, the Special Operations Executive men accomplished nothing and headed for the coast for extraction. Out of five paratroopers involved in the operation, one goes missing, another fails to reach the rendezvous spot, and three make it to the Sables d'Olonne beach on schedule for a submarine pickup. In the event, the kayaks used for the extraction are damaged on the submarine, so only two of the three men can be taken off in a dinghy paddled ashore by Geoffrey Appleyard of the SOE's Small Scale Raiding Force. The third SOE man, Joël Letac, remains behind and proceeds to join partisans in Paris.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British note the approach of good campaigning weather, stoking their invasion jitters. After all, the chatter out of Berlin during the fall was that the invasion of England, Operation Sea Lion, would simply be postponed until the spring. Four Royal Navy minelayers (Agamemnon, Menestheus, Port Quebec and Southern Prince) depart from Scapa Flow to lay minefield SN 8. These operations may seem mundane, but they are taken extremely seriously by the British, and they withdraw heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk from the patrols on the Denmark Strait to provide cover, along with cruiser Suffolk. Separately, minelayer Teviotbank lays minefield BS 53.

The Kriegsmarine sends half a dozen destroyers through the Straits of Dover just after dark to reinforce their forces in the Bay of Biscay. The RAF observes these movements and sends some of its own destroyers out to investigate, but there is no contact. The Admiralty assumes that this presages some kind of cruiser sortie such as Operation Berlin - but, in fact, it is a simple ship transfer unrelated to larger operations.

U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe) is operating off the coast of South America - such extended operations are made possible by the German supply ship network - when it spots a freighter. Schewe torpedoes and sinks 5200-ton British freighter Ena de Larrinaga. It is the first U-boat success off the coast of South America, extending the conflict into a completely new sector. There are 5 deaths on the Ena de Larrinaga, while 38 survivors are left adrift at sea for 13 days before being found.

U-76 (Kptlt. Friedrich von Hippel), on its first patrol, is part of the wolfpack attacking Convoy SC-26 about 250 miles south of Iceland. The convoy already has taken massive losses. The repeated attacks have put the British are on high alert. When Hippel fires a torpedo shortly before dawn that damages and ultimately sink 5351-ton British freighter Athenic, the Royal Navy escorts swarm to attack the submarine. HMS Scarborough and Wolverine force U-76 to the surface, enabling the crew to escape before it sinks. There are one death and 42 survivors, including von Hippel. On the Athenic, all 40 people are rescued by HMS Arbutus.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 450-ton British freighter St. Clement just off Aberdeen. There is one death.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 496-ton British freighter Rattray Head in the same area as the St. Clement off Aberdeen. There are three deaths.

Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine collides with 789-ton British freighter Lairdswood in the Irish Sea. The destroyer proceeds to Greenock for repairs which take well over a month.

The Regia Aeronautica bombs and sinks 2290 ton Greek freighter Sifnos off the island of Milos, north of Crete.

U-431 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Dommes) is commissioned.

A caboose of the Dowling & Camp sawmill in Slater, Florida. 5 April 941 (Photographer George Pettengill via Donald R. Hensley, Jr.).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Afrika Korps continues rolling eastward, moving out from Benghazi to take Barce. As with all operations in North Africa, the distances are astounding for those used to the tiny advances made in a typical European conflict. To date, the Afrika Korps has covered about 200 miles from El Agheila and faced barely any resistance from the British. The British 2nd Armoured Division has followed orders to retreat and avoid combat, but nobody on the British side expected this kind of massive retrograde movement. General Wavell has sent the former commander of XIII Corps during Operation Compass, Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor, forward to investigate and offer counsel to the current commanders there. O'Connor dutifully is driving west from Cairo, a difficult drive made dangerous by the fact that nobody really knows where General Erwin Rommel's panzers are at any given moment.

The British are scampering southeast on the Via Balbia toward Gazala. The Luftwaffe gets Bf 110s in the air to harass the retreating British around Derna and Junkers Ju 87 Stukas at Msus.

The Luftwaffe notes that the Royal Navy has brought in to Tobruk a cruiser and 13 transport ships for evacuations - though the road remains open to Egypt. In fact, the Germans are mistaken, the cruiser is almost certainly a wrecked Italian one (the San Giorgio). The British actually are using their transports to bring troops in, not take them out. This incident just illustrates the difficulties of relying on aerial reconnaissance.

On the ground, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel orders the Ariete Division toward the fortress at Mechili and the 5th Panzer Regiment, incorporating the Ariete Division's tanks, toward Msus. Rommel also orders Fliegerfuehrer Afrika to transport elements of the 5th Light Division to At Tmimi in the evening to block the British retreat on the Via Balbia coastal road.

The troops in the lead are those of Graf Schwerin. At this time, he is moving his forces to the northeast. They arrive at Tengeder around 21:00. Schwerin needs air supply for further maneuvers, however. A pincer movement directed at Msus is developing, though how many British troops will remain to be captured is an open question. The Italian Brescia Division also is on the move, reaching Regima and Driana at 22:00.

Today is one of General Rommel's classics. He flies to the front in his Fieseler Storch observation plane and takes personal of the Ariete Division troops approaching Mechili. It is this kind initiative that the British, relying on Ultra decrypts and spy reports to allocate their forces, cannot foresee. It is one of the few times of the war when the British are operating blind, on an even footing with the Germans who of course don't have anything like Ultra reports - which helps to explain the otherwise inexplicably chaotic British retreat. It also is a high point for German arms, with their troops in Libya sending the British packing and final preparations for Operation Marita on the other side of the Mediterranean.

In Malta, major shortages are developing in several basic areas. Water supplies to the troop are shut off for 18 hours a day to conserve water. In addition, civilians have taken to hoarding kerosene, so rationing is instituted. Each purchase is limited to half a gallon, and the police are instructed to watch supplies carefully.

In Seattle, Washington, Czech skating star Věra Helena Hrubá flashes her visa to enter the United States. 5 April 1941. She left Czechoslovakia on the "last plane out" during the German occupation. Hruba intends to pursue US citizenship. Hruba is famous for telling Hitler after the 1936 Olympic Games that she would rather skate on the Swastika rather than for it. Her brother Rudy is a Hollywood film producer, and she has aspirations to become an actress. Under the stage name Vera Ralston, she will attain success as a "poor man's" Sonja Henie.

Battle of the Pacific: Australian trading schooner Gerard is commissioned as an auxiliary patrol vessel.

Soviet/Yugoslavian Relations: The two countries announce a treaty of friendship and nonaggression in Moscow. There are no economic responsibilities nor military guarantees, as there are with the Tripartite Pact - it is more a symbolic statement. The most important aspect is that, with this agreement, the Soviet Union gives public de jure recognition of the new Yugoslav government, something that actually had been given on 3 April in private between Andrey Y. Vyshinsky, the Soviet Vice-Deputy of Foreign Affairs, and Milan Gavrilovic, the Yugoslav Ambassador to the USSR and a Cabinet member in the Simovic government.

In hindsight, some view this agreement as more of a slap at Germany by the Soviets than signifying anything of consequence regarding Yugoslavia. However... this seems to be more a case of reading meanings into actions based on later events that may not really have been there originally. The Soviets simply don't want to be involved in a Balkan war at this time which might embroil them in a larger war with Germany.

Yugoslav Ambassador to the Soviet Union Milan Gavrilovic, left, in Moscow with British Ambassador to the USSR Stafford Cripps, right, at the time of the Friendship Pact with the Soviet Union.

Italian/Yugoslav Relations: Italy closes its land border with Yugoslavia at Fiume. Not only that, the Italians mine the bridge. The Yugoslavs at the Fiume consulate decide not to get trapped on the wrong side of the bridge and return to Yugoslavia.

Spy Stuff: Reports continue to flow into Moscow about a German invasion of the Soviet Union. A spy ring centered in Prague (the mysterious "Lucy" ring) reports around this date that the invasion will begin on 15 May - which in fact was Hitler's original intention as set forth in his 18 December 1940 Fuhrer Directive, but the situation has changed and Operation Marita must come first. Presumably, the spy - whoever it was - got a peek at that document and felt it was worth reporting.

Somewhat paradoxically, one of the problems with the Soviet military intelligence about Operation Barbarossa is that there simply is too much - everyone is claiming that an invasion is coming like a chorus singing out of tune. Not only do the different sources give different dates and other particulars, but sometimes the same sources change their basic particulars such as the date. The Germans themselves do not know when the invasion will occur - and there remains an exceedingly slim possibility that it may not occur at all. Hitler, meanwhile, is sending Stalin reassuring messages to not believe all these false rumors. Stalin views the entire issue as one of "English provocation," as he writes on one of the reports.

The Soviets do, however, have one unquestionably reliable source that is beginning to raise some concern - but not in Moscow. Trade between the two countries is proceeding according to agreements reached in 1939 and 1940 which provide, in general terms, for shipment to Germany of raw materials such as grain and shipment to the USSR of German finished goods. The German embassy in Moscow notes without elaboration that the Soviet exports to Germany increased during March 1941, while shipments in the other direction fell precipitously. Hitler, of course, would rather not ship equipment to the Soviets that they can later use against them. The Soviets, however, do not seem to read much meaning into this trend, and in fact, adhere to their trade obligations with extreme diligence so that the Germans cannot claim a breach of the agreements.

Bette Davis cuts her 100 lb 33rd birthday cake in Littleton, New Hampshire. Davis and the rest of the cast are there for the world premiere of her Warner Bros. film, "The Great Lie." 5 April 1941.

German Military: At Rechlin airbase north of Berlin, Ernst Heinkel demonstrates his prototype Heinkel He 280 V1 jet fighter to skeptical Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) big shots such as the head of development Ernst Udet. While the viewers are impressed by the fact that the jet burns kerosene, which is much easier to obtain than high-octane airplane fuel, overall the presentation falls flat. Udet does not approve of the project. Heinkel has been developing the plane, designed by his chief designer Robert Lusser, on his own dime because he feels very deeply that it is a major step past current piston-engine fighters. While Heinkel badly wants the RLM to approve the project and fund it, he is prepared to continue developing it on his own - for patriotic reasons as much as financial ones.

As with all the early Luftwaffe jets, the main factor delaying the prototype's refinement is the engine. The HeS 8 engine is coming along slowly, and another engine, the HeS 30, is also proceeding along at about the same pace and may even be a better choice. What Heinkel does not know is that the RLM has other jet projects that it feels have more potential than the He 280. They don't feel the need to pursue two of these iffy projects at this stage - especially with the war going so well.

Soviet Military: Some sources claim that the Soviets make the maiden flight of the MiG-3, designed by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, today. However, the I-200, as it is designated at this stage, flew on 5 April 1940. In fact, over 20 MiG-3 fighters already have been delivered to the Red Air Force by this time.

Polish Military: Major General Franciszek Kleeberg, one of the few heroes of the Polish campaign for the Poles for his solid performance between the Bug and Vistula rivers in early October, perishes in a hospital near Dresden. Kleeburg has been imprisoned in Oflag IV-B Koenigstein, where he experienced severe health problems and became an invalid. He is buried in Dresden. After the war, his remains are brought back to Poland and reburied amongst those of his fallen comrades in Operation Group Polesie on the site of his last battle.

US Military: Congress appropriates $14.5 million in the "Fifth Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act, 1941." Among other things, it allocates $14.575 million to establish a Marine Corps training ground on the east coast.

The New Yorker - Saturday, April 5, 1941 - Issue # 842 - Vol. 17 - N° 8 - Cover by Roger Duvoisin.

Yugoslavian Government: The government only now is beginning to return to some semblance of normalcy following the abrupt 27 March 1941 coup against the government of regent Prince Paul. The cabinet of new Prime Minister General Dušan Simović meets for the first time. Like the country as a whole, the new cabinet is deeply divided about whether to resist German demands for cooperation or work with the Axis. In fact, the cabinet is about equally divided in three parts between those who want to collaborate, those who prefer to resist, and those who don't know what to do.

Japanese Homefront: Rubber stocks are running low in Japan due to the trade sanctions imposed by President Roosevelt. The Japanese take diplomatic steps to secure all rubber exports from Thailand, Indochina and the Dutch East Indies.

British Homefront: Sir Nigel Gresley passes away at age 64. He is the designer of the Mallard Pacific locomotive, which set speed records, and the Flying Scotsman Express.

American Homefront: Warner Bros. drama "The Great Lie" premieres in Littleton, New Hampshire. This is a week before its wide release and is done at star Bette Davis' request to benefit a local hospital there. The story involves a typical 1940s "difficult marital situation," wherein a married man has a baby with another woman, and then abruptly perishes - leaving everyone to figure how to, um, split the baby. While the film is quickly forgotten after the war, during the war years "The Great Lie" is quite popular. It leads to a radio adaptation featuring stars Davis and Mary Astor, and Astor wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Future History: Michael Moriarty is born in Detroit, Michigan. Michael studies acting in London in the mid-1960s, then gains fame as a baseball player in "Bang The Drum Slowly" (1973), a film about a dying player on the New York Yankees. The role was somewhat appropriate because Moriarty's grandfather was a long-time Major League Baseball player, coach, and umpire. Moriarty goes on to star in "Law & Order" on television from 1990-1994. He has appeared in many successful films such as "The Last Detail" and has espoused various political causes. He currently lives in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada and continues to perform music, write and act.

An ordinary traffic incident between two Chevy sedans at 23rd and Harrison in San Francisco, 5 April 1941 (San Francisco Public Library, via Flickr).

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 3 April 1941

Hitler and Count Teleki - both would commit suicide, Teleki today.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Hitler has made up his mind by 3 April 1941 to attack both Yugoslavia and Greece, and soon, despite many other alternative pathways that might be better in the long run (such as taking up Yugoslavia's apparent willingness to adhere to the Tripartite Pact terms after all). Fuhrer Directive No. 26, issued barely a week after the previous one, is entitled "Cooperation With Out Allies In The Balkans." It sets forth how the newly conquered territories in the Balkans - well, those about to be conquered - will be divvied up amongst Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and, of course, Germany. The directive is not very sexy, focusing on such mundane matters as chains of command and the like. So sure of victory is Hitler that he concludes the directive with a dismissive nod to "the occupation duties of the various countries," as if the campaign itself is but a trifle, a mere bag of shells.

German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop also is busy preparing for the post-invasion world in the Balkans. He sends Edmund Veesenmayer of the shadowy Dienststelle Ribbentrop - sort of a private Foreign Ministry which Ribbentrop used as a back-door channel during times of turmoil -  to Zagreb. Veesenmayer is there to meet with General Slavko Kvaternik of the Ustaša to sort out who will be doing what after the pesky matter of the Yugoslavian military is brushed aside. The plan is to have Ante Pavelić and the Ustaša rule Croatia after things settle down. Veesenmayer himself is focused on the Balkans and becomes instrumental in persecuting Croatian and Serbian Jewry.

Throughout the Balkans, it is every man for himself. Nobody has a coherent plan, and the overwhelming sentiment is that the German wave is about to come crashing down on everyone. Croatian pilot Captain Vladimir Kren of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force defects to the Germans, telling all he knows so that the Luftwaffe will know how to best coordinate its opening strikes.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. Convoy ANF-24 from is in the Antikythera Straits when the Luftwaffe spots it. They bomb and sink 10,917-ton munitions ship HMS Northern Prince. Everyone survives, but the cargo is badly needed in Greece. Australian 19th Infantry Brigade arrives at Piraeus.

Yugoslavian General Jankovic meets with Greek General Papagos and British General Wilson in Athens to coordinate strategy.

East African Campaign: Italian Admiral Bonetti at Massawa plans to use his remaining destroyers to bombard Port Sudan in a virtual suicide mission. However, it does not go so well. En route, destroyer Cesare Battisti breaks down. The accompanying Italian destroyers scuttle it. As the Italian ships approach the port, the RAF sends up Swordfish of RAF No. 813 and 824 Squadrons from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, which happens to be in the harbor. The Swordfish sink destroyers Daniele Manin and Nazario Sauro, while destroyers Tigre and Pantera are disabled by the air attacks and later sunk by HMS Kingston. The incident is notable in another way because, during the night, sloop HMAS Parramatta passes the Italian destroyers (before they are sunk) at close range, but nobody on either side sees the other. That's the reality of war, weird things happen.

On land, the British tighten their grip on Asmara as advanced troops continue down the road toward Massawa.

Italian freighter Urania attempts to escape in the Red Sea from advancing British troops. However, RAF planes disable it, and the crew scuttles the ship off Dahlak Kebir, Eritrea to avoid capture. After the war, the ship is raised for scrap. The RAF also damages Italian patrol boat Acerbi in the Massawa harbor.

Italian authorities in Addis Ababa see the end approaching. The Duke of Aosta opens negotiations.

"All the Brothers Were Valiant." If it seems as if you see the name "Cunningham" a lot in histories of World War II, you are: the brothers Cunningham led the war at sea and on land in Africa during 1941 (by Strube, 'The Daily Express', April 3, 1941).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe, perhaps to emphasize that it is still not there and not completely flown off to Bulgaria, attacks Bristol in its first big raid in many days. It sends 94 bombers, of which 76 (some accounts say 86) arrive to make bombing runs. The bombers are from KG 1, KG 26, KG 76, KG 27, KG 54 and KGr 806. The bombers are led to the target by fourteen Heinkel He 111s which are specially equipped with X-Verfahren guided radar. Another group of nine Luftwaffe bombers hit Hull. In both cities, the priorities are docks and factories, and while much damage is done, it is contained and does not cause as many casualties as some raids earlier in the Blitz.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, attacks Brest, where German cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst are in dry dock. The bombers miss the two ships but hit the Continental Hotel - where many sailors are quartered. Many are killed by the "lucky hit." The RAF also does some minelaying in the Bay of Biscay during the night with 15 planes.

Swedish freighter Daphne was en route from Newport News to Petsamo carrying coal when U-76 torpedoed and sank it on 3 April 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: A wolfpack has gathered around Convoy SC 26 in the mid-Atlantic south of Iceland. The U-boats go to work. This is one of those classics of the Battle of the Atlantic, with ships burning left and right, men in the water, U-boats everywhere, and everyone fighting for their lives.

U-73 (Kptlt. Helmut Rosenbaum) torpedoes and sinks three ships:

• 4313-ton British freighter Alderpool (after being damaged by U-46)
• 6875-ton British tanker British Viscount
• 5724-ton British freighter Westpool (35 dead and 8 survivors, sinks quickly because it is carrying scrap iron)
• 5409-ton Belgian tanker Indier (some claim U-74 sank this, 42 dead).

U-74 (Kptlt. Eitel-Fredrich Kentrat), on its first patrol, sinks two ships and damages a third nearby:

• 4274 ton Greek freighter Leonidas Z. Cambanis (sunk, 2 dead)
• 11,402 ton Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Worcestshire (damaged, 28 dead)

The Worcestershire only gets away due to luck - Kptlt. Kentrat runs out of torpedoes.

U-76 (Kptlt. Friedrich von Hippel), in the same vicinity, torpedoes and sinks 1939 ton Finnish collier Daphne, though it apparently is not part of Convoy SC-26 - it just crossed paths with the convoy at the wrong time. During the night, U-76 also sinks 5414-ton British freighter Harbledown (three dead) which most definitely is part of SC-26.

U-98 (Kptlt. Robert Gysae), on its first patrol, torpedoes and sinks:

• 2467-ton Norwegian freighter Helle (all survive)
• 5122-ton British freighter Wellcombe (15 dead)

The action surrounding the Convoy SC-26 is confused. Some ships are hit multiple times by different U-boats, and exactly when some sinks and by whom is a matter of guesswork, as few in the water struggling for their lives kept a close eye on their watches. In other words, it is a typical Wolfpack attack.

Combined with other attacks in the surrounding days, such as by U-46 on the 2nd, Convoy SC-26 is devastated. The convoy scatters, then reforms later in the day. But the U-boats continue to prowl.

Belgian tanker Indier, sunk with other ships of Convoy SC-26 on 3 April 1941.

The Royal Navy does get one back. British submarine HMS Tigris torpedoes and sinks 5436-ton German tanker Thorn about 100 miles southwest of St. Nazaire in the Bay of Biscay. Thorn has been part of the German supply network in the Atlantic, which so far has operated with little interference. The Royal Navy knows that the German ships and U-boats traverse the Bay of Biscay and lie in wait. Far to the south, German raider Kormoran meets up with another supply ship, the Rudolf Albrecht. The German network of supply ships is the key to successful Kriegsmarine surface operations at sea but also is their Achilles Heel.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 250-ton British freighter Cairnie southwest of Tod Head. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 6903-ton British freighter Geddington Court off St. Andrews.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Fortuna in the Irish Sea.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 499-ton British freighter Assuan off Montrose, Scotland. The captain manages to beach the Assuan near Scurdy Ness. The ship later is refloated and taken to Montrose.

British 748-ton coaster Greenawn sinks from unknown causes in the North Sea off Montrose, Scotland. There are Luftwaffe attacks in the area during the day, but also many mines laid by both sides.

Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Bahram sinks when it hits a Luftwaffe IX Air Corps mine in the Humber Estuary. There are 8 deaths and only one survivor.

Royal Navy mine destructor vessel HMS Bushwood gets involved in a collision in the Bristol Channel. Taken to Cardiff, it is back in service by 7 May 1941.

Convoy OB 306 departs from Liverpool.

U-boats U-564 (Kptlt. Reinhard 'Teddy' Suhren) and U-652 (Oberleutnant zur See Georg-Werner Fraatz) are commissioned. U-564 will be the subject of a well-known film showing how U-boats can be resupplied with torpedoes while at sea - it isn't that easy.

El Rancho Vegas, the first hotel resort on what would become the Las Vegas Strip, is completed on 3 April 1941. At this time, Las Vegas is just a stop on the Union Pacific Railroad (visible in the distance). You are looking at some mighty pricey real estate - in about 50 years. And, no, Bugsy Siegel did not build it. The hotel will burn to the ground in 1960. Most of this property remains a dirt lot today, with a portion taken up by the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. This is the future corner of Las Vegas Blvd, aka “The Strip,” and Sahara Ave.

Battle of the Mediterranean: With the British 2nd Armored Division reeling due to its orders to avoid pitched battles, British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell "goes to the well" again. At the behest of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Wavell sends newly decorated Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor, the hero of Operation Compass to the headquarters of General Officer Commanding & Military Governor of Cyrenaica Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame. O'Connor, who is still recovering from earlier experiences in a Cairo hotel, is there to advise Neame, but not take over. He finds a chaotic situation where nobody knows where the Afrika Korps is at any point in time and his own armored forces are in a full retreat.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel in command of the Afrika Korps and flying about from point to point in his handy Fieseler Storch, can't believe his good fortune. The Luftwaffe, scouting ahead, reports that the Via Balbia is desolate for 60 km past Agedabia, with a few British tanks here and there in the desert after they broke down or ran out of fuel. With the British in astonishing flight to the north and northeast, Rommel orders an attack on the British southern flank. He orders the 5th Light Division to move out of Marada and join the advance, sending Italian forces to garrison it.

The Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 87s mount a successful attack on a retreating British column around Antelat/Solluch, losing a Stuka and an escorting Bf 110. Rommel orders Lt. Colonel Gerhard von Schwerin, commanding Special Purposes Regiment No. 200, to lead a spearhead to Ben Gania, and he sets off in the evening. There is enthusiasm and dash in the Afrika Korps that for some reason is sadly lacking at this time on the other side.

Late in the day, Rommel drives to the front and orders reconnaissance troops to make a lightning occupation of Benghazi. Informal intelligence - an Italian priest - is that the British have fled Benghazi. Rommel has every vehicle that isn't actively fighting drive to a supply depot in the rear to get the necessary fuel.

Italian General Gariboldi, supposedly in charge of all Axis forces in North Africa, is nonplussed. He stumbles into the Afrika Korps headquarters at 21:00 demanding to be told what is going on. He remonstrates until midnight with Rommel, demanding to be allowed to give the orders to attack or not. Rommel counters that supplies are in good order and the situation is too fluid to go up the chain of command for every decision. OKW (the German military command) gets wind of the situation and quickly sends Rommel a message authorizing the offensive. While technically the OKW itself doesn't have the authority to do this, the message effectively takes the heavy burden of command off Gariboldi's shoulders. From this point forward, Rommel basically does what he wants and tells Gariboldi about it whenever he gets the chance. Since Gariboldi can now, unlike almost all of his peers, go to Mussolini with victories, it is a happy arrangement for everyone.

Malta is relieved when a dozen Hurricanes are successfully flown off of aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Argus and make it to the island as part of Operation Winch. However, one Hurricane crashes on landing and is lightly damaged. Off Malta, the Luftwaffe catches Royal Navy minesweeper/high-speed launch HMS Abingdon, which has been sent to loiter 40 miles off the coast in case planes have to ditch (as happened on some previous convoys). They hit the Abingdon, but the ship makes it back to port, along with its fellow minesweeper Jade.

Convoy HG 58 departs from Gibraltar, bound for Freetown.

Count Teleki's suicide note.

Anglo/German/Hungarian Relations: Following the suicide of pro-English Hungarian Prime Minister Count Pál János Ede Teleki de Szék during the night and his replacement with the pro-German László Bárdossy, Great Britain severs diplomatic relations. Count Teleki's suicide note says in part:

We broke our word, – out of cowardice [...] The nation feels it, and we have thrown away its honor. We have allied ourselves to scoundrels [...] We will become body-snatchers! A nation of trash. I did not hold you back. I am guilty.

The breaking point for Count Teleki apparently was learning that others in the government had secretly permitted German troops to enter the country. There was little that Count Teleki could do, unlike Yugoslavia, the government and military in Hungary are solidly pro-German. Bárdossy, meanwhile, now combines his job of the foreign minister with that of prime minister.

There is wild speculation in the British media that Teleki was murdered for opposing Hitler. There is no evidence of that, and the suicide note would seem to contradict that conspiracy theory.

Meanwhile, Wehrmacht troops are pouring across the Hungarian border to take up positions for a move south.

German/Yugoslav Relations: Despite definite indications from the new Yugoslavian government that it is willing to deal with Hitler, the German legation, for the most part, leaves Belgrade under orders from Foreign Minister Ribbentrop.

Anglo/Soviet Relations: Sir Stafford Cripps, an avowed Socialist who is viewed as a specialist in dealings with the USSR, warns Joseph Stalin (at the behest of Churchill) about Wehrmacht troop movements in Poland that appear oriented toward the Soviet Union.

Ford Motor Company's security forces at the River Rouge plant beating up a striking employee on April 3, 1941. The strike protests the firings of other employees for union organizing. This is how you win a Pulitzer, Detroit News photographer Milton Brooks did (the first Pulitzer Prize for photography). Ford finally will have to recognize the UAW after this strike.

US Military: Rear Admiral John H. Newton departs from Suva, Fiji with his cruiser force and heads for Pearl Harbor. It has been a fantastically successful "show the flag" operation put together at the very last minute, cementing relations with Australia at just the right moment in history and providing a jolt of confidence to a country that feels increasingly threatened and isolated.

In Washington, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Stark pens and sends out a memorandum to his three fleets (Pacific, Asiatic and Atlantic) expressing confidence in keeping the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. He feels its presence there has a calming effect on Asia.

Iraq: Rashid Ali continues tightening his hold on the government. He has assurances from pro-German Vichy French officials in Syria that they will permit passage of Luftwaffe aircraft to Iraq to support him. These aircraft also could bomb British positions in Iran. However, there remains a large British garrison and RAF contingent at Habbaniyah Field just outside Baghdad that remains to be subdued.

Future History: Hans-Jörg Gudegast is born in Bredenbek, Germany. He emigrates to the USA "with only the money in my pocket" and attends the University of Montana at Missoula. Under the stage name of Eric Braeden, Gudegast enters the acting field and plays a variety of roles, usually as a Wehrmacht soldier (as in television series "Combat!") or ominous secret agent (as in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."). However, Braeden is perhaps best remembered for playing the fictional German Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Dietrich on the TV series "The Rat Patrol" (1966–1968) - a character that would have been active in the desert on the day that he was born. Eric Braeden appears to be semi-retired from acting as of this writing, but he remains active; Braeden published his autobiography, "I'll Be Damned," with Harper Collins in 2017.

El Rancho Vegas, the first resort hotel (complete with gambling) on what will become the Las Vegas Strip, opens today. After it burns down in 1960, Howard Hughes will buy the property but do nothing with it. While it is the site of the first hotel on the Strip, and you would think somewhat important and remarkable in Las Vegas history, it now somewhat incongruously stands almost completely vacant, as if nothing at all important ever sat there at all.
And now, a little swing music from Berlin on 3 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 9 December 1940

Cameron Highlanders march past the Pyramids, 9 December 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Mussolini's military problems expand exponentially on 9 December 1940, as the British launch Operation Compass. This is an offensive by two divisions (more or less) of the British Army Western Desert Force against ten divisions of the Italian 10th Army. Anyone familiar with the respective capabilities of the two armed forces knows that a 1:5 British disadvantage in an assault against entrenched Italian positions is a complete mismatch... in favor of the British.

The British advanced troops, after assembling in their jump-off points at 01:00, commence a diversionary artillery barrage from the east against the southernmost Nibeiwa encampment at 05:00. This plays into Italian preconceptions of where an attack must arise - the East - and their defenses all point in that direction. At 07:15, the main artillery barrage commences. Shortly afterward, the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade jumps off against Nibeiwa from the northwest and swarms the Italians from the rear. The British occupy the camp by 08:30, killing 818 Italians (including commander General Pietro Maletti of the Maletti Group), wounding 1338 and taking 2,000 prisoners. Maletti personally mans a machine gun against a British tank, which cuts him down.

At 13:50, the British attack another encampment just to the north known as Tummar West. This camp holds out until 16:00, but the result is basically as same as in the morning attack: 1351 Italians killed, 840 wounded, and numerous prisoners. The surviving Italians either surrender or engage in wild flight north to the coast.

The Selby Force (1800 men under Brigadier A. R. Selby) moves forward to surround the remaining Italians at Maktila, but, in the best news of the day for Mussolini, the defenders there manage to escape. They don't get very far, however. By nightfall, the fleeing Italians are backed against the sea near Sidi Barrani with nowhere else to run. The Royal Navy controls the seas, so the Italians have no escape, though they hold out through the night. Basically, their position becomes an armed prison camp.

The RAF and Royal Navy support Operation Compass without much interference from the Italians. The RAAF chips in with dive-bomber attacks by Gloster Gauntlets (open-cockpit biplanes are perfectly satisfactory weapons against minimal opposition), and the Hurricanes of RAF No. 274 Squadron clear the way by shooting down four biplane Fiat CR 42s.

It is fair to say that, while individual Italians fight with great bravery and distinction (there are reports of piles of bodies everywhere), overall today's battle is perhaps the most cataclysmic example in history of well-supplied, numerically superior, elite troops either being unable or unwilling to resist. Leaders are on sides are dumbfounded at the ease of British success. General O'Connor's British Army troops suffer only 56 deaths during the day.

The RAF also raids the Italian airfield at Benina in East Africa, and Gallabat and Gherile in Somaliland.

The British attack on 9 December 1940. The Italians have built elaborate fortifications facing East, so the British march around them and attack from the southwest. Incredibly, the British are able to march 30,000 men and hundreds of tanks 70 miles across the open desert without the Italians noticing.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks London throughout the night of 8/9 November in one of the heaviest sustained assaults of the entire campaign. Radio Berlin makes a point of claiming that this is in retaliation for the RAF bombing of German cities. After dark, the Luftwaffe again takes a night off, and there are few flights during the day, either. The London raid thus acquires the air of a one-off stunt rather than a prolongation of the Battle of Britain.

The RAF bombs the ports of Bremen, Lorient, and Boulogne.

While the Germans are loudly proclaiming that they are retaliating against the British, the air war remains far from even. Estimates are that the Luftwaffe drops 7,455 tons of bombs on Great Britain during the month of  November, while the RAF drops 475 tons on German. Of course, the British are dropping the majority of their loads on the occupied countries nearby, but in terms of damage to the combatant nations, there is no question that Great British is suffering many times worse than Germany.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Air Force bombs the island of Levkas (Santa Maura) and Arta Bay. The Greek army continues to grind forward in horrendous weather.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kplt. Viktor Schütze) spots 5186-ton British freighter Empire Jaguar (Master Hywel Tudor Thomas) about 300 miles due west of Ireland. At 01:32, he torpedoes and sinks it. The Empire Jaguar is alone, a straggler of Convoy OB 252, and the odds of surviving a quick sinking in the middle of the night with nobody around to rescue you are slight. All 37 aboard perish.

British 1527-ton troopship Royal Scot (formerly Royal Sovereign - it was renamed when requisitioned) hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel near Barry. One crewman perishes. The Royal Scot had an active history during the first year of the war, including evacuations of children from Dagenham and Gravesend to Great Yarmouth, troop evacuations from Cherbourg, and nine trips to Dunkirk to rescue 16,000 troops.

The RAF bombs and damages German barge Usaramo at Bordeaux, causing the crew to run it on the beach and abandon it.

Armed merchant Cruiser Dunnottar Castle and auxiliary minelayer Manchester City collide, but the damage is slight.

Battleship Bismarck reaches its new anchorage at Hamburg.

A small Vichy French flotilla (a sloop and four submarines) departs from Toulon in southern France with the intention of exiting the Mediterranean to make port at Dakar. The British have been very uncertain in their treatment of Vichy French warships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, so all such passages are rife with tension. At this stage of the war, the British have not yet closed off the Strait.

Convoy FN 355 departs from Southend, Convoy OG 47 departs from Liverpool and Bristol, Convoy HG 48 (nineteen ships) departs from Gibraltar.

U-75 and U-76 are commissioned.

U-461 is laid down, while U-83 is launched.

This Bellanca Aircruiser (NC-2111, CF-BLT) in Canadian service is destroyed today, 9 December 1940, by a hangar fire in Whitehorse, Canada.

US/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke downplays the likelihood of an armed conflict between his country and the United States, stating:

. . if both of us attend to our own business I cannot think there will be any serious clash. . . . We have no difference that cannot be surmounted if we keep our heads cool and mind our business. . . . We do not pass judgment on what the United States does in the West, and we try to confine ourselves to this part of the world.

Yosuke, however, knows that neither side is "minding its business" at this point. There is rampant Japanese aggression in China, while effective US sanctions are helping to cause the Japanese to look longingly at the Dutch/Indonesian oilfields to the south.

Italian Military: Admiral Angelo Iachino, the former Italian Naval attaché in London, becomes the new Commander-in-chief of the Italian Navy (Regia Marina), replacing Inigo Campioni.

British Military: Major General Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel, a veteran of the abortive counterattack against Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer Division at Arras, becomes the Commander of the Royal Armoured Corps. Perhaps due to his lengthy name, Martel is known simply as "Q." He is one of the leading British tank strategists, having written a prescient paper in November 1916 in which he envisaged entire tank armies - before a single tank had yet to see combat.

On December 9, 1940, the boys on Sewall St. in Somerville, Massachusetts have a big sled race. (Boston Globe Archive).

Indochina: The Vichy French government, still engaged in a border war with Thailand, forms the French Groupe Occasionnel squadron. It has a light cruiser and four patrol boats (avisos). The battle in southern Indochina is as much a naval war as it is a ground campaign, as the area is dominated by the Mekong Delta and its tributaries.

British Homefront: The government announces official statistics showing that 705,279 workers are unemployed in Britain. This is down substantially from the start of the war. Ordinarily, a lower unemployment rate would be considered a positive for the country, but factories producing war goods and shipyards finishing warships are running flat-out. Men are being sucked out of the factories into the Army, Navy, and RAF. The specter of a labor shortage looms - or a military one.

American Homefront: John Philip Sousa Bridge opens in Washington, D.C. before a crowd of more than 12,000. Sousa's two daughters, Jane and Helen, and his sister Catherine are present. Naturally, the US Marine Band provides musical entertainment. The Sousa bridge replaces earlier bridges in the same spot, one of which the retreating US forces (from the British) burned down during the War of 1812 in 1814. It's an interesting juxtaposition to the current world situation.

Life Magazine, 9 December 1940. The cover girl, Ginger Rogers, is up for an Academy Award for her performance in "Kitty Foyle" (don't tell her - she wins).

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Tuesday 3 December 1940

Italian M.13/40 tank of the Centauro Division during the Italian/Greek war. The Greeks standing nearby probably contrived to get it in that position.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek advance continues on 3 December 1940, though the pace has slowed just a bit in a few areas due to stiffening Italian resistance. In the mountains, control of the passes means everything, and they are easy to defend - given the will to defend them by the local troops. The Italian troops often are lacking in that regard. The Greek 2nd Division is engaged in a heavy battle to capture the Suhë Pass, and the 8th Division is attacking near Kakavia Pass. Should the Greeks get through the passes, the defense would become much harder.

Along the coast, the Greeks advance 15 miles (25 km) and take Saranda (Italian Santiquaranta). Saranda is a reasonably important supply port and puts more pressure on the Italians to hold the other, absolutely vital ports further north. The loss of Saranda is a particularly jarring one to Mussolini because the port has acquired the honorific "Porto Edda" in honor of his eldest daughter.

Greek II Corps advances on Përmetin in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. A fierce battle erupts for control of that town (which changes hands regularly throughout the first half of the 20th Century between the Greeks, Turks, Albanians, and Italians). The Greeks are taking more casualties in these battles than they have in previous actions, but the Italians continue to give ground. The Greeks also are taking a lot of prisoners, hundreds at a time as the Italians are bereft of supplies and the means to escape in isolated mountain towns.

The battle of Argyrokastro continues, with the Greeks dominating the heights above the town. The Greeks also advance past Pogradets and capture some high ground there.

Mussolini is still in a panic about the Italian reversals in Albania. However, Fascist Party secretary Roberto Farinacci is a hardliner and helps to steady his nerve. A change in military leadership is looking increasingly necessary to Mussolini because the troops do not display the will to win.

The Italians, meanwhile, have caught on to the British presence at Suda Bay, Crete. The Regia Aeronautica launches a raid at 15:40 that hits light cruiser HMS Glasgow with two torpedoes. The torpedoes both hit on the starboard side and rip two huge holes, causing structural damage, flooding, and putting two propeller shafts and the X turret out of action. There are three deaths and three serious injuries. The Glasgow can return under its own power to Alexandria for repairs.

Convoy AS 6 departs from Piraeus for Port Said with several Greek freighters.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe bombs Birmingham again, sending over 50 bombers to attack it. They drop over 55 tons of high explosives and 448 incendiaries. Birmingham, loaded with factories was devastated by successive raids in early November, and this adds to the city's misery. London also receives some incendiaries, along with scattered other locations in the Home Counties.

Poor weather restricts flight operations by RAF Bomber Command. They make some small attacks on Ludwigshafen, Mannheim, Essen, and Dunkirk.

Italian troops posing with their tank, Libya, December 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: German freighters Idarwald (5033 tons) and Rhein (6031 tons) attempt once more - for at least the third time in recent months - to evade the American Neutrality Patrol and sail from their port of Tampico, Mexico for Occupied France. US destroyer USS Broome spots Idarwald and shadows it, while USS Simpson shadows Rhein. Both US ships make sure that the Royal Navy knows what is happening. This is the beginning of a week-long incident that Adolf Hitler will single out in his 11 December 1941 declaration of war against the United States.

The attacks on Convoy HX 90 conclude during the early morning hours today, but we talk about that attack on the entry for 2 December. After today's final sinkings, including freighter W. Hendrik by Luftwaffe Fw 200 Condors, there are 30 of the convoy's original 41 ships remaining, which sail on to port. The sinking of the W. Hendrik is tragic because the captain mistakenly believes that the ship has been torpedoed due to near misses, making it easy prey for an actual torpedo. Some of the sources make light of this convoy battle, emphasizing that 30 ships did survive, but 25% of losses (to no loss for the enemy) are unsustainable in the long run no matter what repetitive task you are doing.

Two Royal Navy cruisers and four destroyers embark on a standard sweep of the southwest Norwegian coast in Operation DN. They do not spot anything.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Campbeltown (one of the US Navy destroyers received in the destroyers-for-bases deal) collides with 8132-ton British tanker Conus. The Campbeltown is badly damaged and will require almost four months for repair.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Castleton also is damaged in a collision during a patrol in the Western Approaches. She is taken to Portsmouth for repairs.

The Luftwaffe is active against shipping. It damaged 222-ton British trawler Slebech, 275-ton trawler William Downes, and 4745-ton British freighter Quebec City, all in the Western Approaches.

British 292-ton freighter Robrix hits a mine and is damaged about 3 km off Spurn Light House, East Riding of Yorkshire,

German raider Kormoran departs from its homeport of Gotenhafen (Gdynia) for a mission in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific. The has 320 mines for use near Australia.

German destroyers Greif, Kondor, Falke, and Seeadler lay minefield Marieanne off Dover (Hellfire Corner).

Convoy FN 349 departs from Southend, Convoy FN 349 and FN 351 depart from Methil, Convoy HX 93 departs from Halifax.

U-76 (Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich von Hippel) is commissioned.

Royal Navy minesweeping trawler Ophelia is commissioned.

US Navy light cruiser USS Montpelier is laid down.

Ups and Downs Magazine, December 1940. These magazines were published quarterly in order to provide information about schoolboys who had been sent from England to live in Canada. They were published by Dr. Barnardo Homes in Toronto, Ontario, usually quarterly between 1895 and 1949. The original immigrants to Canada generally became indentured servants - the 1940s issues, though, dealt with youngsters sent to avoid the war. All the kids grew up with foster Canadian families, and many stayed in Canada permanently. By this time, the British government had halted overseas placements due to U-boat dangers.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British are gearing up for Operation Compass, the planned assault on the advanced Italian forces in Egypt. The Chief of the General Staff (CIGS) John Dill instructs the Commander in Chief Mediterranean (General Archibald Wavell) to set aside landing craft for possible hooks around the advanced Italian positions. Wavell and his fellow officers on the scene don't  much care for the idea, but the strategy is favored by Winston Churchill - himself, of course, a former First Sea Lord who always appreciates naval involvement.

Wavell, meanwhile, meets with Lieutenant General William Platt, General Officer Commanding Sudan Defence Force, and Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham, (brother of the naval C-in-C) General Officer Commanding 51st Division, from Kenya. Entirely apart from Operation Compass, they decide to allocate an infantry division - and maybe more forces to recapture Kassala in East Africa (as if to emphasize the point, the RAF attacks Kassala today). Everything depends upon the outcome of Operation Compass - if the offensive there succeeds, then the British can "roll-up" the remaining Italian positions to the south. Thus, Operation Compass is of great import to the entire course of the war south of the Mediterranean.

A report of the British First Sea Lord Sir Dudley Pound to the War Cabinet states that the Royal Navy is gaining control of the Mediterranean. The recent engagement at Cape Spartivento, Admiral of the Fleet Pound concludes, was merely a "chance encounter" in which an Italian claim that the "British units... had run away" was "unfounded." Malta is now "reasonably secure" given the success of Operation Collar in delivering reinforcements to the island. Admiral James Somerville, meanwhile, is currently facing an official Court of Inquiry at Gibraltar due to the "chance encounter."

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Havock collides with battleship HMS Valiant in Alexandria Harbour. It requires two months of repairs at Malta.

The Italians have four destroyers and a submarine operating in the Red Sea looking for convoys.

Anglo/US Relations: The UK announces that it has placed orders for 60 merchantmen in US shipyards.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler meets with the Bulgarian ambassador. He needs Bulgaria as a launching pad for the invasion of Greece.

US Government: President Roosevelt and crony Harry Hopkins arrive in Miami and embark on the heavy cruiser HMS Tuscaloosa. They are going to inspect some of the bases acquired from the British in the September destroyers-for-bases agreement. The Greenslade Board already has inspected them, but Roosevelt wants to see them for himself. At some point during this trip, Roosevelt and Hopkins come up with the "Lend-Lease" idea.

Luftwaffe Major General Wolff von Stutterheim.

German Military: The Kriegsmarine is upset at Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering's abrupt decision to remove all naval control from torpedo bombers, and - a rarity for this stage of the war - complains.  Konteradmiral (rear admiral) Kurt Fricke, Chief of Naval Operations, requests the return of Naval bomber squadrons, and further requests that they come equipped with the Heinkel He 111H-5 version adapted to carry two torpedoes (one Italian Whitehead Fiume 850 kg (1,870 lb) torpedo and a German F5 50 kg (110 lb) light torpedo). Fricke has little chance of winning any kind of dispute with Goering about aircraft, given that the Reichsmarschall considers all airplane activity within the Reich as his personal turf (along with many other things). However, he has good grounds for pursuing the matter, because the planes under naval control have done sterling work against British shipping.

Generalmajor Wolff von Stutterheim, former commander of KG 77, passes in a Berlin hospital. Von Stutterheim is a Pour le Mérite holder from the First World War (and Ritterkreuz recipient) who lost 11 relatives in that earlier conflict. He has been in a Berlin hospital suffering from wounds incurred during the very early stages of the Battle of Britain in June 1940. Stutterheim is buried in a place of honor next to Ernst Udet and Werner Mölders in the Invalidenfriedhof Berlin.

US Military: Heavy cruiser USS Louisville departs from Rio Grande du Sol, Brazil as part of its "Show the Flag" mission in Latin America. Its next stop is Rio de Janeiro.

American Homefront: "The Son of Monte Cristo" starring Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett has its premiere at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.

Eastern Airlines DC-3 followed by a row of DC-2s at Atlanta's Municipal Airport terminal, 1940 (Georgia State University Digital Collections).

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020