Friday 23 May 1941

HMS Hood steaming toward the Denmark Strait, on or about 23 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: Adolf Hitler issues Führer Directive No. 30 on 23 May 1941. Reflecting his complete disinterest in ongoing Operation Mercury in the Mediterranean, Directive 30 deals solely with the war in Iraq. Stating the obvious, it states "I have therefore decided to hasten developments in the Middle East by supporting Iraq" and deals mainly with organizational issues. However, it is significant because already Hitler begins hedging his bets against the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union:

Whether, and if so how, it may be possible, in conjunction with an offensive against the Suez Canal, finally to break the British position between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf is a question which will be decided only after Barbarossa.

In fact, the situation in Iraq will completely resolve before Operation Barbarossa begins. The only statement in Directive 30 of lasting importance is the opening sentence: "The Arab Freedom Movement is our natural ally against England in the Middle East."

The Luftwaffe already has a presence in Iraq, though it has been worn down already through combat losses. The Italians send eleven Fiat CR-42 fighters of No. 155 Squadron to Iraq from Italy. They arrive in Rhodes today, which is occupied by Italy.

The Luftwaffe based at Mosul strafes British troops advancing from Fallujah toward Baghdad. However, the Iraqi ground troops are rapidly losing ground there. The RAF loses a Gloster Gladiator, but the crew reaches British lines.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 20 planes on anti-shipping missions. After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids Cologne with 51 planes.

During the early morning hours, Lt Frederick Ronald Bertram Fortt, RNVR, and Lt Denis James Patrick O'Hagan RCNVR disarm a "G" type of Luftwaffe parachute mine at Nuneaton. The mines have a photoelectric boobytrap that explodes when exposed to sunlight, so work has to be done at night. After a lot of digging (the bomb is at 22 feet), the two men remove the primer, magnetic primer and finally the fuse.

Just to show the danger of this type of work, two Royal Navy Bomb & Mine Disposal officers are killed today doing similar work on Malta.

"A spectacle that no Hollywood producer could hope to better. At the head of seven hundred men of his army of many thousands, Dejazmatch Gerressu Duki (called Ras Gerresu by his followers) rides across the Omo river on his white horse, in his green captured Italian uniform." © IWM (K 1982).

East African Campaign: Allied colonial forces cross the Omo River.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe) is on its ninth patrol and shadowing Convoy OB-318 off Freetown, Sierra Leone when it attacks. At 19:51, Liebe sends one torpedo into the port side of the engine room of 6622-ton Dutch motor freighter Berhala. At 20:20, Liebe uses a second torpedo, and the ship sinks within eight minutes. There are three deaths, and the 59 survivors are picked up quickly by an escort.

In Unternehmen Rheinübung, the German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen enter the Denmark Strait in order to break out into the Atlantic. The channel is only 30-40 miles (48-64 km) wide due to pack ice, and the Royal Navy maintains patrols because it is one of only two possible passages for German warship breakouts.

In the early evening, Royal Navy cruisers HMS Norfolk and Suffolk spot the German ships, and the Germans realize they have been spotted. Admiral Lütjens gives Prinz Eugen discretion to open fire, but the captain of the Prinz Eugen decides the range is too great. At 20:30, Bismarck opens fire but scores no hits. The incident reveals a flaw in Bismarck's design, as the force of the ship's own gun blasts knocks its forward FuMO 23 radar set out of action. Admiral Lütjens thus orders Prinz Eugen into the lead. All four ships are traveling at roughly 27 knots. Thereafter, the British avoid the German ships and fall in behind them.

At 22:00, Bismarck doubles back in order to confront the shadowing British cruisers, who are 14 miles behind. However, Suffolk detects the maneuver on its radar and hides in a fog bank. The ships thereafter maintain course along the coast of Greenland.

HMS Ark Royal, Renown and Sheffield, accompanied by HMS Faulknor, Foresight, Forester, Fortune, Foxhound and Fury, are dispatched to the Atlantic to search for Bismarck. Battlecruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales, escorted by destroyers Electra, Anthony, Echo, Icarus, Achates, and Antelope, already are closing on the scene.

The British suggest that Canada and Newfoundland use St. John's, Newfoundland for joint escort services. Newfoundland Command and Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF) is established, although St. John's has no naval facilities at this time and will take time to prepare for full use. Destroyer HMCS Saguenay departs from Greenock and corvettes Aggasiz, Alberni, Chambly, Cobalt, Collingwood, Orillia, and Wetaskiwin depart Halifax immediately for St John's to join NEF. Within weeks, NEF will begin providing continuous close escort all the way across the Atlantic.

Royal Canadian Navy corvette HMCS Quesnel (Lt. John A. Gow) is commissioned, HMCS Woodstock is laid down in Collingwood, Ontario.

USS Grampus (Lt. Commander Edward S. Hutchinson) is commissioned.

Spitfire MkVb, RAF 92 Squadron, Flight Officer Alan Wright, RAF Biggin Hill, May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The battle on and around Crete continues to go catastrophically for the British. In effect, they lose any chance of holding Crete today.

Operation Mercury, the German invasion of Crete, has developed into a classic confrontation between an air force opposing a navy, and the navy is taking a vicious beating. Royal Navy Mediterranean Commander Admiral Andrew Cunningham admits:

The operations of the last four days have been nothing short of a test of strength between the Mediterranean Fleet and the German Air Force. I am afraid that, in the coastal area, we have to admit defeat and accept the fact that losses are too great to justify us in trying to prevent seaborne attacks on Crete. This is a melancholy conclusion, but it must be faced.

In the evening, Cunningham signals the Admiralty that daylight operations are too hazardous, but their response is to accept the risk.

The Maleme airfield becomes usable for operation by the Luftwaffe as the Allies are pushed back, so the Germans bring in fighters to operate there. The end of the airfield is a tangled mess of dozens of transports that have wrecked immediately upon landing under fire, but the field is no longer under Allied fire.

The Germans also hold a coastal perimeter east of Heraklion. The Luftwaffe sends Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers against New Zealand troops trying to hold a line without any air cover of their own, and this opens a hole in the Allied lines. Luftwaffe General Ramcke exploits this by having his forces break through to Galatas, where the German 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Regiment under Oberst Heidrich forces that attacked Candea Airfield are trapped.

The Germans already have attempted seaborne landings, but they have all been blocked aside from less than a handful of small ships. The Wehrmacht's only means of supplying supplies and reinforcements to Crete is Junkers Ju 52 transport planes, and they are landing in a chaotic fashion at Maleme airfield. They bring in the men of the 100th Mountain Regiment, adding to the few who managed to cross over on the 22nd in the few ships that got to Crete.

HMS Kelly, sunk on 23 May 1941.

Late in the day, the Royal Navy begins pulling ships from their exposed position north of Crete despite the wishes of the Admiralty. Lord Louis Mountbatten, commanding a destroyer flotilla composed of HMS Kashmir, Kelly and Kipling is ordered to round the western coast of Crete and proceed to Alexandria. It is too late, however: the Luftwaffe (24 Junkers Ju 87 Stukas) catches them and bombs and sinks destroyers HMS Kashmir and Kelly. The Kipling dodges 83 bombs and rescues 279 men from the Kashmir and Kelly (on which Mountbatten flew his flag). Mountbatten, on the bridge when the ship flips over immediately after being hit by a bomb amidships, manages to swim out from underneath the wreck and swim to shore. There are 128 survivors of Kelly and about 153 from Kashmir.

As the Kashmir sinks (broke in two), New Zealand-born ordinary seaman Ian Rhodes mans an Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun and shoots down an attacking plane. Rhodes receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his bravery.

During its rescue mission, Kipling gets too close to the capsized Kelly. The submerged bow of Kelly punctures Kipling's fuel tanks. This slows Kipling's speed, and it departs immediately for Suez with the survivors.

Forces A-1 and C depart from the waters off Crete as well. They are very low on ammunition and fuel. They spend the night sailing to Alexandria.

Air attacks by Luftwaffe fighter-bombers (Jabos) continue on Crete, and at the key naval port of Suda Bay, they sink five Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) (MTB.67, MTB.213 (Lt G. L. Cotton RNVR), MTB.214, MTB.216 (Lt C. L. Coles RNVR), and MTB.217) there. There are no casualties. The Royal Navy scuttles HMT Kos XXIII at Suda Bay, and the Germans later raise it and return it to service as UJ-2104.

Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen makes a nightly run to Tobruk with supplies.

The Axis powers also are active at sea, but primarily at search and rescue missions. Luftwaffe floatplanes and Italian MTBs continue searching the sea for troops whose ships sank on the night of the 21st/22nd and pick up another 262 survivors off Cape Spathia.

Winston Churchill reads a despatch from General Sir John Dill, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, during a visit to Luton, England, on 23 May 1941.

In London, the government has a completely incorrect picture of the battle on Crete. The War Cabinet, Defence Committee minutes note that:

The situation appeared to be in hand except for the Maleme area where the Germans had formed a lodgement and airborne landings were taking place. It was unfortunate that the defenders had not been able to stamp out the parachutists in this area and it was essential that the German lodgment west of Canea should be obliterated by vigorous counter-attacks as soon as possible. The Fleet could not protect the island indefinitely from seaborne landings and if the situation could be fully restored while the power of the Fleet lasted, then the enemy would be faced with the prospect of beginning all over again.

The Defence Committee minutes are a masterpiece of admitting, but minimizing, the dire condition of the situation on and around Crete. In fact, the situation is not "in hand" at all, but is deteriorating hourly.

The Defence Committee minutes also reflect Winston Churchill's continued slights of Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell. The evening's minutes note:

The Prime Minister... was somewhat surprised to see that General Wavell referred to Crete as a "commitment," when the island was, in reality, part of this outpost position in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Wavell is correct, defending Crete is a commitment to the Greek people in addition to housing British bases. This is another in a string of incidents in which Churchill interprets things in the worst possible light for Wavell's reputation.

Separately, Churchill cables Wavell and tells him, in part, "Crete battle must be won." He adds, "Hope you will reinforce Crete every night to the fullest extent." He adds a personal message for Wavell to pass on to Crete commander General Freyberg: "The whole world is watching your splendid battle, on which great events turn."

"Prime Minister Winston Churchill talks by wireless telephone from the turret of a Churchill I during a demonstration of the tank at Vauxhall's at Luton, England, on 23 May 1941. He wears a beret of the Royal Tank Regiment." © IWM (H 11842).

Privately, Churchill already is blaming Wavell for the loss of Crete. Churchill's private secretary John Colville notes in his diary that, following a tank inspection, Churchill, he writes:

laments very strongly that the tanks which he asked Wavell to send to Crete were not sent. They might have made the whole difference to the battle.

Wavell is now faced with three separate fronts: in Crete, on the Libyan border, and now in Syria. So far, the tanks brought by the Tiger Convoy have not been allocated to any of those sectors.

French gunboat Meuliere wrecks off Ajaccio, Corsica.

The Luftwaffe lays mines in the Suez Canal.

Greek King George II arrives safely in Alexandria along with his government.

War Crimes: Survivors of the sinkings of the Kelly and Kashmir in the waters off Crete later report that Luftwaffe planes intentionally machine-gunned survivors in the water. These reports always must be taken with a grain of salt, because it is usually impossible to prove that killing survivors is the intent of such fire - but that is the testimony of witnesses who were fired upon.

Propaganda Wars: Gustav Siegfried Eins (GS1), a British "black propaganda" station which purports to be run by extremist German diehards, begins broadcasting. It uses colorful language, calling Winston Churchill "a flat-footed bastard of a drunken old Jew," part of its strategy to offend ordinary Germans and collaborators with its over-the-top militaristic and hateful rhetoric.

"Winston Churchill in the turret of a Churchill I tank during a demonstration of the new vehicle at Vauxhall's at Luton, 23 May 1941." © IWM (H 9922).

Special Operations: The Italian Navy sends submarine Scirè past Gibraltar into the Atlantic. It heads straight for Cadiz, where there is an interned Italian tanker (6504-ton Fulgor). The plan is to take the interned crew off the Fulgor and bring them to safety. Scire also carries midgets submarines for later attacks on Royal Navy ships anchored at Gibraltar.

The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) sends a female agent, Chilean citizen Gillian Gerson, into the unoccupied zone of Vichy France.

Anglo/Vichy French Relations: Winston Churchill sends General Ismay a memo in which he states that any "arrangements" with the French Admiral at Alexandria are "suspended" due to the use by the Luftwaffe of airfields in Syria. Thus, he orders:

We should now seize the French ships by complete surprise, killing without hesitation all who withstand us. It should be possible to cut off a good man of the crews while on shore.

The French ships have been interned in Alexandria without any incidents since the fall of France.

Valentine Infantry Tank Mk. III, under construction in Montreal, 23 May 1941.  (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 31925884).

Anglo/Spanish Relations: Churchill's secretary, Alexander Cadogan, notes in his diary that he overhead the Defence Committee deciding that it was "wasn't worth the risk" to bomb a German freighter heading north within Spanish territorial waters.

German/Finnish Relations: The Finns send a military delegation led by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Erik Heinrichs to Germany. This is to coordinate activities related to Operation Barbarossa, still scheduled for 22 June 1941. It is fair to say that, at this point, German/Finnish relations are roughly comparable to Anglo/US relations in terms of military coordination.

German Government: The Economic Staff, East, Agricultural Group, part of Hermann Goering's economic apparatus, renders a top-secret report in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. It contains a set of policy directives for the economic exploitation of Soviet agriculture. The gist of the directives is to turn agricultural regions of the (conquered) Soviet Union into industry-free zones so that food production for the benefit of the Reich is maximized. The death of uncounted Soviet citizens from starvation due to diversion of food to the Reich is accepted as inevitable.

USS Trippe (DD-403) at the Boston Navy Yard, 23 May 1941.

Vichy French Homefront: Vice Premier Admiral Francois Darlan makes a radio broadcast in which he states in part that, in order to achieve:

ameliorations of the consequences of defeat and of the conditions of the armistice. . . . It is necessary for her to choose between life and death. The Marshal [Petain] and the Government have chosen life.

This continues the slow drift of the Vichy French government toward outright collaboration with the occupying Germans.

Norwegian Homefront: The Norway Theater Strike continues after a vote of directors and actors in Oslo. This is despite the German threats of reprisals.

British Homefront: Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin passes away at age 74. Known familiarly as Sir Herbert Austin, he is a former MP and, more significantly, he was one of the most famous automobile pioneers. Austin Car Works in Longbridge is one of the greatest car plants of the 1930s and 1940s, and during World War II makes aircraft; Horsa glider fuselages; specialist army vehicles; hydraulic motors for gun turrets; ammunition boxes, magazines for machine guns, Tommy guns, Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns; marine engines for ships lifeboats; and pressings for jerrycans. During the late 1930s, Austin coordinated a plan by the Air Ministry to treble aircraft production by converting motor vehicle manufacturers to aircraft producers via grants and loans (a similar program takes root in the United States). Among other things, the Northfield bypass is called "Sir Herbert Austin Way" after him.

American Homefront: World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retains his title with a win over Buddy Baer by disqualification in the seventh round at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The referee makes the disqualification due to stalling by Baer's manager. This is the last of Louis' "Bum of the Month Club" string of title defenses against low-ranked opponents. Baer is the brother of former heavyweight champion Max Baer.

"Too Many Blondes" starring Rudy Vallee, Helen Parrish, Lon Chaney Jr, Jerome Cowan, Shemp Howard, Iris Adrian, and Eddie Quillan premieres.

"Two ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) trainee motorcycle despatch riders and a Royal Army Service Corps instructor at York, 23 May 1941." © IWM (H 9941).

May 1941

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

2020

Sunday 30 March 1941

Bristol Blenheim TR-A of RAF No. 59 Squadron at RAF Hawkinge following the attack on shipping off Calais on 30 March 1941 (Photo by crew member Sgt. Len Hunt - from the book "Bristol Blenheim - Theo Boiten"').

Italian/Greek Campaign: The action at the Albanian front is desultory on 30 March 1941, with artillery exchanges but very little movement on the ground. As has been the case for several days, the main action is of the diplomatic variety. This activity necessarily concerns the fate of Yugoslavia, as nobody expects the Allies to be able to defend the long border stretching from Bulgaria to Albania. Thus, if the Wehrmacht invades Yugoslavia as well as Greece, the fate of both Yugoslavia and Greece depends upon the ability of the Yugoslav military as much as anything else.

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Momčilo Ninčić summons German ambassador Viktor von Heeren. Ninčić has a statement indicating that Yugoslavia will honor its international agreements, including the Tripartite Pact. Von Heeren prepares to send the diplomatic note on to Berlin when he receives instructions from Berlin to avoid any contact with Yugoslavian officials and to return to Berlin. It is unclear if von Heeren ever delivers the message, and Ribbentrop certainly never replies to it.

The Yugoslav Army begins deploying troops to the frontiers.

Deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I) Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus arrives in Budapest for discussions with the Hungarian chief of staff. The chief of staff agrees to attack Yugoslavia. There is some confusion at the highest levels of the government, as Admiral Horthy approves of the attack, but Prime Minister Teleki is out of the loop entirely.

East African Campaign: General Lewis Heath's 5th Indian Infantry Division continues to pursue the fleeing Italian troops toward the port of Massawa. The 4th Indian Infantry Division has been redirected to Port Sudan for shipment to Port Sudan - showing the amount of confidence that Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell has in a single division's ability to subdue the port's garrison.

The Italians in Massawa realize the fate awaiting them. Italian 7565 ton freighter Piave makes a run for it and heads for Assab.

In Addis Ababa, the Italian commander, the Duke of Aosta, also realizes what is happening. He messages Rome that he will resist for as long as he can.

Pilot Officer L.W. Stevens in his Hawker Hurricane during the Battle of Britain. While flying with RAF No. 145 Squadron, Stevens is KIA 30 March 1941. Photo from: "The Battle of Britain" Author: T.C.G.James.

European Air Operations: The British have learned that German heavy cruisers are in Brest following their very successful Operation Berlin. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 109 bombers to pay them a visit. They are both in dry dock, and neither is hit. Another force of 3 bombers based at Thorney Island raids shipping off Calais at 16:30.

The RAF loses at least one bomber during the Calais raid, TR-A of RAF No. 59 Squadron, which makes it back to RAF Hawkinge and crash-lands after losing hydraulics and throttle control. The crew survives, though two are wounded, one very seriously. The RAF also loses at least one Hawker Hurricane.

The Luftwaffe continues with its recent pattern of scattered raids by single planes. A Spitfire of RAF No. 41 Squadron shoots down a Junkers Ju 88 which lands at Wilton Moor, Eston, Yorkshire during the afternoon. All three Luftwaffe crew perish.

USS Gar, USS Grampus in the background, 30 March 1941. Photo courtesy of The US Navy Submarine Force Museum.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler), on its second patrol out of Lorient, is southwest of Iceland when it spots and sinks 3759-ton British freighter Coultarn. There are three deaths.

U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz), on her fourth patrol and in the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands, torpedoes and sinks 3767-ton British freighter/passenger ship Umona. There are 100 deaths, including 15 passengers. The Umona was carrying, among other things, jam, maize and similar goods that are in short supply in England.

British 210 ton trawler Nisus disappears near the Faroe Islands. There are many British minefields in the area, and it is a favored hunting ground for the Luftwaffe.

Dutch coaster Celebes disappears during a trip from Liverpool to Falmouth.

Royal Navy anti-aircraft ship Alynbank is back in action after repairs to its collision damage from 23 December 1940.

Convoy OB 304 departs Liverpool, Convoy SC 27 departs from Halifax.

USS Gar, with USS Grampus in the background, 30 March 1941. Photo courtesy of The US Navy Submarine Force Museum.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Rommel is ready to get moving. Since he does not have orders from OKH to attack, he gives his directives verbally. He tells the 5th Light Division to attack Mersa Brega in the morning. The 5th Light has had patrols out and reports that it captured an armored car. The British 2nd Armoured Division defends Mersa Brega. Rommel is encouraged by recent skirmishes, including the capture of El Agheila, and also wants to advance to the Jebel Achdar (Green Mountain) south of Benghazi because it is a rare source of potable water in the desert.

The RAF raids Tripoli in the early morning hours, causing only slight damage. The Luftwaffe also is in action, claiming to have destroyed an armored car, self-propelled gun, and tanker.

The damaged freighter Ruhr, carrying men and vehicles for the Afrika Corps, is towed back to Sicily. Troop casualties on it are reportedly 30 men. The rest of the ships of 15th Naval Transport Squadron accompanying it are in Tripoli at 09:00.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual (Lt. Commander Dewhurst) torpedoes and sinks 3645-ton German freighter Laura Corrado about 40 miles (70 km) north of Trapani, Sicily.

The Vichy French send a convoy of six freighters, escorted by destroyer Simoun, from Casablanca back into the Mediterranean. This, of course, requires passage through the Straits of Gibraltar. The Royal Navy has had conflicting views on how to handle such transits in the past, leading to at least one court-martial. This time, the Royal Navy sends out a large force led by light cruiser HMS Sheffield to intercept the French. This is Operation Ration by Force H.

The French ships pass under the guns of their forces at Nemours, and the British are unable to intercept the convoy when the French open fire. On their way back, the Royal Navy ships are attacked by French aircraft. Sheffield is damaged by a near miss and destroyer HMS Forester is hit and requires four weeks of repairs.

Italian submarine Dagabur attacks cruiser HMS Bonaventure escorting Convoy GA-8 south of Crete but misses.

The victorious Royal Navy fleet, led by battleships HMS Barham, Valiant and Warship and aircraft carrier Formidable, arrives back at Alexandria around sunset.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe sends four Junkers Ju 88 bombers which bomb Ta Qali airfield. One Hurricane on the ground is slightly damaged, but overall it is an unsuccessful mission. Neither side loses any planes.

Camp Hulen, Palacios, Texas. View of the 300,000 elevated water tank. 30 March 1941 at 14:00. Camp Hulen is named after Major General John A. Hulen, who suggested the spot in the 1920s due to the availability of water.

US/Anglo Relations: In keeping with the expressed desires of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the US Navy seizes 63 ships (26 Italian, 35 Danish and 2 German) interned in US ports. Over 900 Axis sailors (850 Italian, 63 German) are taken into custody. Some of the ships carry valuable cargo. A final decision has yet to be made whether to use them in North Atlantic convoy runs to Great Britain. The decision to seize the ships is a consequence of the recent ABC-1 Conference between US and British military leaders in Washington, D.C.

As part of Operation Fish, the heavy cruiser USS Vincennes (CA-44) departs Simonstown (Cape Town) carrying gold bullion being used by Great Britain to pay for war supplies. Its destination is New York.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies note that Churchill, elated by recent victories, has been communicating with President Roosevelt. Menzies, never one to mince words in his private diary, writes:

Great news of naval victory in Mediterranean at which Winston sends off cables to Roosevelt.... What a genius the man has. He has maintained by cable and letter the most easy and informal correspondence with Roosevelt; always treating him as a friend and ally, and also U.S.A - 'Don't you think we could do so and so.' Result, F.D.R. has passed into the position of an ally without perhaps realising how some of the steps have come about.

While this entry is highly flattering of Churchill, it is not so high-minded about President Roosevelt.

Spy Stuff: Churchill learns through "sources" that the Wehrmacht has redirected three panzer divisions from Romania, thence to Southern Poland, and then further south. There, they will participate in the invasion of Yugoslavia. This crystallizes the belief in Churchill's mind that a German invasion of the Soviet Union is next on Hitler's list - after he takes care of Greece and Yugoslavia. The source of Churchill's knowledge is poor practices by a German Lorenz cipher machine operator, who sends the same 4000-character message twice.

USS Barnett (AP-11) McCawley-class attack transport off the Norfolk Navy Yard on 30 March 1941 (Photo No. 19-N-23945, U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

German Military: Adolf Hitler holds a private meeting in the Cabinet Room of the Chancellery in Berlin with about 250 top leaders of the Wehrmacht, including Colonel General Franz Halder, Field Marshal von Bock, and General Hermann Hoth, all of whom take fairly thorough notes or immediately write down their recollections. It is a fairly remarkable meeting, with issues discussed that will dramatically influence the Operation Barbarossa campaign.

Hitler directs that Army Group Center's mission was to head due east to the Dneiper River, and only then head north. Moscow, he casually mentions, is "absolutely irrelevant." This directly contradicts a very strong body of opinion among the men to whom he is speaking. They feel that Moscow is of the utmost importance as the entrance of the land bridge to Asia and the center of Soviet life (including the focus of the entire railway and road system). Nobody challenges Hitler on this strategy, but some in the room will make their own contrary views known eventually - and act on those views.

Hitler does not think the campaign will be much trouble. He thinks it will all be over by fall, declaring:

We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.

Moving from the specific to the general, Hitler remarks on the ultimate objective of the campaign. It is not just the conquest of the Soviet Union, but the "eradication" of Communism itself "for all time." To do this, he authorizes "liquidation of the Bolshevik commissars and the Communist intelligentsia." As recorded by Halder, Hitler says:

The war against Russia cannot be considered in a knightly fashion; the struggle is one of ideological and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness.... The commissars are the bearers of ideologies directly opposed to National Socialism. Therefore the commissars will be liquidated. German soldiers guilty of breaking international law... will be excused.

John Keegan, The Second World War (Hutchinson, 1989), page 186. The liquidations would be carried out by SS Einsatzgruppen following behind the fighting troops.

After being translated into an official OKW order, this directive becomes known as the "Commissar Order." As Hitler indicates himself (according to the notes), it is illegal under the terms of the Geneva Convention of 1929. Some will argue the Convention does not apply to the Soviet Union because the USSR never ratified the Convention (though the previous Russian government had). Article 82 of the Geneva Convention, however, states:

In case, in time of war, one of the belligerents is not a party to the Convention, its provisions shall nevertheless remain in force as between the belligerents who are parties thereto.

Thus, even if the USSR was not a party to the Geneva Convention, Germany, as a signatory at least arguably was bound to follow it (though, again, some will argue that it need be followed only in cases where both opposing governments, and not just one, have ratified it). The Geneva Convention, of course, forbids exterminating entire classes of captives. The OKW will begin working up its drafts of this order quickly.

Luftwaffe jet prototype Heinkel He-280 makes its maiden flight under its own power under the command of test pilot Fritz Schäfer. It features tricycle landing gear and a compressed-air ejection seat. The Luftwaffe has expressed little interest in the plane, preferring to focus on other designs, so Ernst Heinkel has been continuing with the plane's development on his own initiative. The main holdup is the engine, the HeS 8, which has been behind schedule. On the bright side, the engines burn inexpensive kerosene. The Luftwaffe, specifically RLM development chief Ernst Udet, remains uninterested. Heinkel views the Luftwaffe's failure to pursue this design as one of its biggest mistakes.

The Heinkel He 280.

US Military: Eight B-18 Bolo bombers of the USAAC 73rd Bombardment Squadron arrive at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska. This is part of a slow but steady buildup of a US military presence in Alaska (not yet a US State); they are the first bombers to be based in Alaska.

The first flight of the Vultee A-31 Vengeance prototype V-72 dive bomber. It takes place at Vultee's factory at Downey, California. The British Purchasing Commission, in need of a dive bomber, already has placed orders for 300 of them. The plane is well behind schedule, as delivers originally were scheduled to begin in October 1940.

Yugoslavia: With Belgrade in an uproar after the recent bloodless coup, Italian and German nationals have left.

Future History: Graeme Charles Edge is born today in Rochester, Staffordshire, England. He becomes a founding member of rock group Moody Blues alongside Denny Laine, Clint Warwick, Mike Pinder, and Ray Thomas. As of this writing, Edge is the only remaining original member of The Moody Blues still performing in the band.

The Heinkel He-280.

March 1941

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

2020

Wednesday 26 March 1941

HMS York after the attack of 26 March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The campaign in Albania has hit a lull on 26 March 1941. Both sides are recuperating from the recent Italian Primavera Offensive. While the attacks accomplished no changes in territory, they did leave a lot of dead bodies, many of which remain to be buried.

East African Campaign: With British troops controlling the rim of the Dongolaas Gorge which controls access to Keren, British sappers spend all day clearing the gorge of obstructions placed there by the Italians. By midnight on the 26th, the road is clear and the British start pushing armored vehicles through it. From here on out, the Italian position becomes increasingly untenable.

Elsewhere, the Italians at Harrar, Abyssinia surrender to Major Orde Wingate's Nigerian 23rd Infantry Brigade.

European Air Operations: On Hitler's orders, the Luftwaffe begins transferring hundreds of planes east to stock General Alois Löhr’s Luftflotte IV airfields in Rumania and Bulgaria. These will be used in the upcoming Operation Marita. This will impinge air operations all across the Axis periphery, including North Africa. Some top fighter squadrons make the trip, including JG 27 and JG 51. Even units left behind have to consolidate their operations to take over some that had been handled by other units previously, so the pace of Luftwaffe operations all across the Western Front slows drastically.

The Luftwaffe sends a few scattered raiders over southern and western England during the day, but nothing major after dark. The RAF focuses on shipping off the Dutch coast.

USS Grampus, running trials off Groton, Connecticut, 26 March 1941. The Electric Boat Company of Groton built many of the US Navy's submarines, and they still do, though it is now known as General Dynamics Electric Boat. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Battle of the Atlantic: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies attends a "Battle of the Atlantic" conference. He notes that Winston Churchill looks "pale, unpleasant and strained." His conclusion:

The battle of the Atlantic looks lousy, & privately I wish I had more real faith in the navy (emphasis in original).

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer has managed to slip past the British patrols and convoys as it heads back to Germany. It makes it through the Denmark Strait after dark and heads to Norway.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damaged 6809-ton British freighter Somali off Blyth. There is one death. Efforts are made to save the ship, but it eventually sinks off Snoop Head, Sutherland.

The Luftwaffe bombs 6381-ton British freighter Empire Mermaid in the Northwest Approaches. The ship eventually sinks. There are 22 deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1151 ton Norwegian freighter Noll west of Lundy Island. The captain manages to beach the ship before it sinks. It later is refloated and makes it to Swansea.

The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages 3645-ton Finnish freighter Carolina Thorden at the entrance to Tórshavn Bay in the Faroes. The captain beaches the ship, and it is later towed to Kirkwall and thence to the Tyne for repairs. However, it never returns to service and instead eventually will be used as a blockship. There is one death, a passenger.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 85-ton Faroes fishing boat Beinisvor east of the Faroes. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 331-ton British freighter The Lady Belle south of Grassholm Island (off the southwestern Pembrokeshire coast in Wales).

British 503-ton freighter Brier Rose sinks in the Irish Sea, perhaps due to a mine.

Canadian armed yacht HMCY Otter catches fire off Halifax Lighthouse. There are 19 deaths, while 4 men are picked up by a passing submarine (HMS Talisman) and 18 others are found alive by Polish freighter Wisla.

The Royal Navy's 1st Minelaying Squadron departs from Loch Alsh to lay minefield SN 4. The Luftwaffe spots the force and bombs minelayer HMS Menestheus, requiring it to return to the Clyde for repairs.

Former luxury yacht HMCY Otter is lost to fire off Halifax Lighthouse on 26 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Six Italian one-man explosive speedboats (Barchini esplosivi) were deposited by destroyers Crispi and Sella about 10 miles off the coast of Crete late on the 25th. These are nothing special, basically, just tourist speedboats modified to hold torpedoes in the bows, but they are quite effective when handled properly. In the early morning hours, three manage to make their way into the harbor and make attacks. Suda Bay is full of British ships and supposedly is one of the most well-defended spots in the world.

The Italian motorboats have no difficulty entering the harbor around 05:00, and the boat pilots head straight for prime targets. After aiming the boats at their targets, the men jump off about 100 yards (meters) away. They seriously damage Royal Navy cruiser HMS York (two dead) and badly damages Norwegian tanker Pericles (it later sinks on its way to Alexandria). The York's captain runs it toward shore, but it actually sinks before he makes it. Fortunately for the British, the water in the bay is very shallow and so the effect is essentially the same. The damage to York is particularly bad because the main damage is to her engine room area. There are simply no facilities or equipment at this bare-bones outpost to undertake the major operation required to restore the ship sufficiently to get it to a dry dock somewhere safe.

The Royal Navy makes the best of the situation, stiff upper lip and all that. On the bright side, many of the ship's guns are still usable and can be worked with the assistance of power lines strung from submarine HMS Rover. What cannot be avoided is the ship's vulnerability, stuck in the mud in an exposed position, making it a beacon for aerial attacks. This attack begins a chain of events that leads to its total destruction and abandonment, though that won't happen for a while. The six Italian pilots are picked up by the British in the harbor and made POWs.

Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino screws up his courage amidst German pressure to do something with his big ships and takes the Italian fleet in the general direction of Greece. The objective is to attack supposedly vulnerable British convoys from Alexandria and Suda Bay bound for Piraeus. Iachino is aboard battleship Vittorio Veneto, which is protected by heavy cruisers Bolzano, Fiume, Pola, Trento, Trieste, and Zara. In addition, there is light cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi and 17 destroyers of the 9th, 13th, and 16th Destroyer Divisions. This is the opening stage of the Battle of Cape Matapan.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual has been busy laying mines along the convoy routes from Palermo to Tripoli, and today they pay dividends.

In London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill takes time out from his obsession with Greece to notice that the British have lost El Agheila to General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. He writes:

We are naturally concerned at rapid German advances to Agheila. It is their habit to push on whenever they are not resisted. I presume you are only waiting for the tortoise to stick his head out far enough before chopping it off. It seems extremely important to give them an early taste of our quality.

Of course, "our quality" in the vicinity has been drastically undercut by Churchill's decision to take out his best troops and sent them on a futile quest in Greece. The message rather clearly conveys Churchill's lingering dislike of Wavell and hints that he is "not resisting" sufficiently - not something that military men like to be told. Wavell knows that he is better off staying in a defensive crouch, though, given all the dotty transfers north to Athens.

General Rommel, meanwhile, has the initiative, though no orders to advance. The OKH (army high command) notes in a situation report that its intelligence arm has been monitoring British radio traffic, giving a fairly clear picture of British dispositions around Agedabia, Slouch, and Magrum. A Junkers Ju 87 Stuka unit is withdrawn to Sicily, making a reconnaissance of Free French forces to the south sketchy. Greece is attracting forces from both sides like a magnet.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual, finished laying its mines, torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Ticino north of Trapani.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 1006-ton British freighter Adige off Malta. The captain beaches it at Malzara Creek, and it is later repaired.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 6992-ton British freighter Baluchistan in the eastern Mediterranean.

Italian coaster Helena hits a mine and sinks off Palermo. This is one of the mines laid recently by HMS Rorqual.

Italian freighter Verde hits a mine and sinks west of Sicily. This mine also was laid by HMS Rorqual.

The opening stages of Operation Pedestal take place with departures of oiler HMS Cairndale from Gibraltar.

It is a fairly quiet day on Malta, with some Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights but no attacks. This is due at least in part to the transfer of Luftwaffe units east to support the invasion of Greece.

Convoy AG 9, with six ships, departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin and consort Adjutant are heading north for a rendezvous with German ships in the vicinity of Seychelles.

US sailors being fêted in Brisbane, 26 March 1941. Rear Admiral John Newton's visit to Australia is going very well. Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 2982.

Battle of the Pacific: British 287 ton fishing trawler  Millimumul (Captain Rixon) hits a mine and sinks near Newcastle, New South Wales. There are seven deaths. The mine had been laid months ago by German raider Pinguin.

Minelayer Kung Wo lays mines off Singapore.

German/ Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka is in Berlin, but he is not getting much done. Adolf Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop are busy with plans a little bit closer to Germany in the East than Japan.

The Millimumul is lost off Sydney on 26 March 1941. Unfortunately, elaborate camouflage doesn't protect you against mines.

British Military: The British Army is planned to increase to 59 "equivalent divisions. " This excludes colonial forces. There will be 12 armored divisions and 9 army tank brigades. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies notes in his diary that the plan is to increase the army by about 60,000 more men, which he calls a "stiff proposition." Germany, of course, already has many more panzer divisions and is rapidly increasing this number, and each panzer division is of overpowering force - when fully equipped.

Reflecting on the tight state of Great Britain's manpower reserves, Parliament is working on a bill that will give drafted men a chance to state a preference for the armed forces or civil defense. Of course, there are no guarantees such preferences would be honored. Conscientious Objectors will be subject to compulsory civil defense.

Greek troops, March 1941.

Holocaust: The OKH authorizes the establishment by the Reich Main Security Office (German: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) of Einsatzgruppen. These will be special squads that operate largely (but not always) independently of ordinary army (Heer) troops. The Einsatzgruppen are known to history as death squads that follow the German troops west and exterminate "undesirables" such as Jewish Russians.

Yugoslavian Homefront: Large demonstrations break out in Yugoslavia, especially Belgrade. However, they are largely confined to Serbia, whose population is partial to the Allies. The minority Croats, on the other hand, sympathize with Germany. The Yugoslav military is largely Serbian and pro-England. The military also does not like the proposed demobilization of the army. All of this bodes ill for the future of the Dragiša Cvetković government. Two Serbian generals, Bora Mirkovic and Dusan Simovic are planning a coup with British assistance.

Syria: There are food riots in Damascus and Aleppo. Twelve people perish. The Vichy French authorities impose martial law.

American Homefront: The New York Times prints an exposé on graft at the construction (rebuilding) of Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. Total cost overruns are estimated at over $4 million ($23 million costs billed versus an original estimate of $18.9 million). Much of the money goes for overtime.

"Wild Bill" Donovan, recently returned from his extensive tour of Europe and the Middle East, delivers a national radio broadcast. He states that, in East Africa, "The British have done a superb job, a better job than they have let the world discover."

Future History: Maria Grazia Lombardi is born in Frugarolo, Piedmont, Italy. She develops an early knack for driving while operating a delivery van for the family butcher shop. In 1965, Maria - who know is known by nickname "Lella" - buys a car and drives professionally. She goes on to drive in Formula Monza, then Italian Formula Three, and then the Italian Formula 850 series. In 1974, Lella Lombardi debuted in Formula One with a privately entered Brabham. After failing to qualify, in 1975 she joins Vittorio Brambilla and Hans-Joachim Stuck and races the full schedule. She finishes 7th at the German Grand Prix, her best finish. In 1977, Lella competes briefly in NASCAR in the US, finishing 31st at the Firecracker 400. She later races sports cars and retires from racing in 1988. Lella Lombardi passes away from cancer in 1992 at the age of 50.

A. Ivanov acquaints Dmitri Shostakovich with the Emiriton electronic keyboard. Leningrad. 26 March 1941.

March 1941

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

2020

Friday 3 January 1941

"Hurricane Mk I of Squadron Leader Robert Stanford Tuck, commanding No 257 Squadron, refuelling at Coltishall, early January 1941." © IWM (CH 1931).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians on 3 January 1941 commit two fresh divisions in the area of the Klisura Pass, which is on the road to the key port of Valona. They also begin a small counteroffensive north and west of Korcë. Neither offensive accomplishes much, but casualties mount on both sides. The counterattacks are pretty much over by the end of the day.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe switches back to one of its favorite targets tonight. It sends 178 bombers that hit the Bristol port area hard. The granary warehouse on Princes Wharf is obliterated, taking with it 8000 tons of grain. The raid lasts for 12 hours and is considered the longest sustained attack on Bristol. There are 149 deaths and 351 other casualties. A 4000 lb aerial mine comes to rest without exploding - the citizens quickly nickname it "Satan" and, after it is disarmed, it becomes an emblem of the hardships the city has faced.

RAF Bomber Command raids Bremen for the second night in a row, this time with 71 aircraft.

The Italian Corpo Aereo Italiano (CAI) withdraws from the Channel coast after having accomplished virtually nothing there except incurring heavy losses.

The Luftwaffe night fighting force continues to gain experience, with Lt. Gerhard Böhme of 3./NJG 2 downing a Whitley bomber southeast of Flamborough Head.

Baltimore News-Post, 3 January 1941: The RAF raid on Bremen is big news, the brewing Australian victory at Bardia gets barely a mention.

Battle of the Atlantic: The RAF bombs a bridge in the Kiel Canal, and it falls on 2803 ton Finnish freighter Yrsa, sinking it and blocking the canal. However, the canal is shallow, and in any event, the ship must be removed so that it does not prove to be a hazard to navigation. So, the ship is raised and returned to service, with the canal being reopened.

The RAF attack on Bremen over the night claims 1460 ton Finnish freighter Liisa. However, it sinks in shallow water near the docks and can be salvaged.

British 2466 ton freighter Pinewood hits a mine and sinks south of Southend. There are six deaths, 18 survivors.

Royal Navy 70 ton drifter New Spray founders in a storm off Sheerness in the Thames Estuary.

Convoy OB 269 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 374 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 378 departs from Methil, Convoy BS 12 departs from Suez.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Hydrangea (K 39, Lt. Joseph E. Woolfenden.) is commissioned.

U-335 is laid down.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Compass resumes. At 06:00, Australian Major General Iven Mackay sends his 6th Australian Division against the Italian defenses at Bardia. The Australians attack from the west, and they are assisted by Royal Navy barrages (led by battleships HMS Warspite, Barham and Valiant) between 08:10 and 08:55, and RAF bombing. Monitor HMS Terror, gunboats HMS Ladybird and Aphis, and destroyers HMS Dainty and HMAS Voyager assist in the bombardment. The Italian air force attacks the ships offshore and score a near miss on gunboat Aphis that causes some damage, kills two and wounds three others.

In the initial stage, sappers blow holes in the barbed wire using Bangalore torpedoes, then engineers rush in and fill the tank ditches using picks and shovels. Once that is done, 23 Matilda II tanks rush through the opening and quickly reach the second main defense line (the "Switch Line"). The Australians advance two miles and capture 8000 prisoners by 08:30. While the attack is a huge success and the Italian position hopeless, the Italians hold out through the night in Bardia itself.

The weather throughout the Mediterranean is characterized by strong force 8 gales and heavy seas. At Malta, four Sunderland flying boats are damaged in waves up to 15 feet.

Luftwaffe units continue transferring to Italy.

Australian troops on exercise in the desert near Bardia, 3 January 1941 (AP Photo).

Anglo/US Relations: Prime Minister Winston Churchill replies to President Franklin Roosevelt's request of 31 December 1940 that the US be allowed to provide humanitarian relief to Vichy France and Spain. This requires Churchill's permission due to the Royal Navy blockade of continental Europe. Churchill assents, but requires that Vichy France acknowledge Great Britain's largesse in allowing relief supplies through the cordon:

[W]e would like it stated that the relief goods are available only by the good will of His Majesty's Government.

There is an argument made by some that Churchill is reluctant to admit anything through the blockade because his goal is to "starve Europe" as a means of hurting the German war effort. However, this particular aid specifically is aimed at unoccupied sections of Europe, so there is little reason for Churchill to block it even if that argument were true. Roosevelt somewhat obliquely hints that providing aid may instead cause disaffection from the Germans in Europe and thus help the Allied war effort. Both men's positions are unprovable and may stem from deeper motivations than just the effect on military operations.

The issue of humanitarian aid to Europe is very complex, with many nuances, and remains a contentious issue between Great Britain and the United States until 1945. Drawing it perhaps over-simplistically, the available evidence does show that Roosevelt attempts to expand the amount of aid to the peoples of Europe throughout the war, while Church is prone to limiting it.

Irish/German Relations: The Luftwaffe hits Dublin again, injuring 20 people at Donore Terrace near South Circle Road. Following several nights of Luftwaffe bombing, Éamon de Valera protests officially to the German government.

Swedish/German Relations: Sweden completes its deliveries of Junkers Ju 86K bombers (built by Saab under license) to the Luftwaffe. While overall an outdated design, the K variant with 905 hp Bristol Mercury XIX radial engines proves quite handy. The Ju 86 was used throughout the first few years of the war by both sides, particularly by South Africa's SAAF. Some of the Luftwaffe Ju 86K's will be converted to Ju 86P high-altitude bombers and photo-reconnaissance versions that can approach altitudes of 50,000 feet, making them for a long time invulnerable to interception.

US Military: The issue of hemispheric defense is at the top of the War Department's agenda. Discussions with Brazilian representatives have been gradually building a case for defending the bulge of Brazil from aggressors. Rainbow 4, the US defense plan in the case of aggression from both east and west, envisions movement of a reinforced triangular division to Brazil. Today, Chief of Staff General George C. Marshal holds meetings with and gains the approval of Admiral Stark and Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles for the movement of five companies of American soldiers to different Brazilian airfields upon the outbreak of hostilities. This must meet with Brazilian approval, which has not yet been sought. The issue of the defense of Brazil continues to simmer throughout 1941.

Soviet Military: The first series of war games continue. Georgy Zhukov commands the invading forces, while General DG Pavlov commands the defending forces. These games, which began on 2 January, will continue through 6 January.

"Men of the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (AMPC) search buildings demolished by bombing in Fore Street in the City of London, 3 January 1941." © IWM (H 6379).

US Government: At a press conference apparently timed to coincide with the opening of the 77th United States Congress, President Roosevelt announces a "between $300 million and $350 million" shipbuilding program:

[B]ecause it is perfectly obvious that so much tonnage in the way of ships has been going to the bottom for a year and a half, probably at the end of the war, sooner or later, there will be a shortage—a world shortage—of tonnage. Therefore, we have begun taking the first steps toward a program of building about 200 merchant ships—a program which will cost somewhere around $300 million, between $300 million and $350 million, in a number of new plants.

Roosevelt is somewhat dismissive about the quality of the ships he is planning to build. "Nobody that loves ships can be very proud of them," he says, but "by building this dreadful looking object you save six or eight months" from building "a ship that is really a ship." He adds that the ships will be "roughly, about 7500 tons each." Obviously, the details - including where the ships will be built, and who will build them - remain to be worked out. Roosevelt says that he has $36 million available to build the shipyards from "the President's Special Contract Authorization Fund." The questions at the news conference somewhat predictably focus on where all this money is going to be spent.

These ships at this point have no name, though they will quickly acquire various belittling appellations ("dreadful looking objects" is one such term, another is dreamt up by Time Magazine: "ugly ducklings"). However, we know these ships by another name coined later in 1941 that has stuck: Liberty Ships.

At his press conference, President Roosevelt also announces that he is sending crony Harry Hopkins to London as his "personal representative" until an ambassador is appointed. Joseph Kennedy withdrew from the slot in November as a result of British anger at some of his controversial statements and attitudes. However, Kennedy's resignation still has not taken effect, so technically the position is not open yet.

Separately, USS Tuscaloosa departs from Lisbon for Norfolk, Virginia, having delivered the new Ambassador to France Admiral William D. Leahy to Europe.

USS Gar (SS 206) on 3 January 1941. Visible on the right is USS Mackerel (SS 204) (US Navy Submarine Force Museum).

Vichy French Government: Marshal Petain reorganizes his cabinet. Among other changes, he appoints Admiral Darlan to head the ministries of Justice and the Interior, Pierre Etienne Flandin in charge of economic affairs, and General Huntziger becomes defense minister. This is a period of great turmoil and change in the Vichy government, with people changing jobs routinely. Flandin, incidentally, will later reveal that, at this time, he is noticing episodes of memory loss by Petain. The old marshal, for instance, always seems to adopt the position of the last person who had talked to him - because he could not remember earlier arguments.

Finnish Government: The new Prime Minister of Finland, Johan Rangell, takes office and appoints his cabinet.

German Homefront: Martin Bormann issues a decree (Normalschrifterlass) banning gothic typefaces and instituting roman/Antiqua type as the new standard. The gothic typeface is very difficult to read, particularly by those in occupied Europe who are not used to it. The gothic typeface can still be seen in various out-of-the-way places in Germany, and the Berlin subways retained it long after the war (and yes, it is very difficult to read even in giant-sized letters, I had a very difficult time deciphering some of the letters). Making the typeface more readable apparently is Adolf Hitler's idea.

American Homefront: A Gallup poll taken after President Roosevelt's "Arsenal of Democracy" speech of 29 December 1940 shows overwhelming support for his position. In response to the question "Do you think our country's future safety depends on England winning this war?", the results are:

Yes 68%
No 26%
No Opinion 6%

This reflects an ongoing shift in opinion within the United States in favor of supporting Great Britain and opposing Germany. Earlier in the war, opinion surveys reflected a much more ambivalent attitude by the public at large, with about half the country as opposed to any intervention in Europe.

USS Gar (SS 206), 3 January 1941. Visible on the right is USS Grampus (SS 207) (US Navy Submarine Force Museum).

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020