Monday 31 March 1941

Loading a Cookie bomb on a Wellington for the raid on Emden, 31 March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The front in Albania is quiet on 31 March 1941. The RAF raids Italian road convoys, while the Greeks claim some minor successes in the hills on the approaches to the port of Valona.

Germany and Yugoslavia sever diplomatic relations following the pro-British coup of 27 March.

British CIGS General John Dill is in Belgrade for discussions of joint defense with the Yugoslav government.

East African Campaign: The Italians and Germans know that the end is near for Massawa due to the collapse of the defenses at Keren. After dark, three (Leone, Pantera, and Tigre) of the last six destroyers there put to sea. Their intent is to raid the Gulf of Suez and then scuttle themselves. However, one of the destroyers, Leone, runs aground in the dark shortly after dark, canceling the operation. Since the destroyer cannot be recovered quickly, the other two destroyers sink the Leone, then return to Massawa.

The Indian 9th Infantry Brigade takes Teclesan. This is on the road to Asmara.

The Cookie bomb (upper left) falling on Emden, 31 March 1941.

European Air Operations: After dark, the RAF raids Emden. While Emden is a favorite RAF target, this is an unusual raid. It includes the first use of a 4000 lb (1800 kg) high capacity (meaning it is 75% amatol rather than 50%) bomb. A four-engine Wellington bomber carries the massive bomb. The common name for this bomb is "Cookie." The Cookie bombs are dropped in conjunction with incendiaries, the intention being to create debris conducive to the creation of a firestorm. The Luftwaffe also drops large bombs like this, so the RAF is simply catching up.

RAF Bomber Command also attacks shipping off Le Havre, continuing its focus on Axis shipping. Another group of RAF aircraft attack shipping off the Frisian Islands. Bremen also receives attention.

The Luftwaffe sends 47 bombers to attack Hull, dropping 39 tons of high explosives and 22,688 incendiaries. The docks are hit, along with the police station and an infirmary. Estimates are that the raid destroys 500 houses and damages 2000 more. There are 44 deaths and 72 badly wounded.

The early part of the month featured several sharp raids on England. There are 4259 civilian deaths and 5557 injured. Many children have returned to the cities after a quiet period earlier in the year, and 598 of them perish during March.

Dropping a Cookie bomb.

Battle of the Atlantic: Following Adolf Hitler's February order to form an air command to support the Kriegsmarine in the Atlantic, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) forms the Fliegerführer Atlantik. This comes under the overall jurisdiction of Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle at Luftflotte 3. Martin Harlinghausen is the unit's first commander. The Fliegerführer Atlantik is allocated KG 40 and some units at various ports along the coast. At this time, it has an establishment of 21 Fw 200s, 26 He 111s, 24 Heinkel He 115s, and a mixed force of Messerschmitt Bf 110s and Junkers Ju 88s, numbering 12 aircraft. While the Condors are effective, the command never has aircraft with the proper capabilities, or sufficient numbers of any aircraft, to fully accomplish its mission.

U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass) torpedoes and sinks 8714-ton Swedish tanker Castor southeast of Greenland. The Castor is a lejdtrafiken, or blockade runner. There are 15 deaths.

Swedish motor tanker Castor, sunk on 31 March 1941 in the North Atlantic.

The Luftwaffe attacks 208-ton British trawler Ontario southwest of the Faroe Islands. They sink it, but the entire crew survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 182-ton British trawler Rattray a couple of miles southeast of Hook Point, County Wexford, Ireland. The Rattray makes it to port.

Royal Navy 247-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Lord Selborne hits a mine and sinks a few miles off Spurn Head Port War Signal Station. There are 17 deaths.

British 76-ton steam drifter Helpmate sinks off Newlyn, Cornwall. There is no known cause.

The German prize crews aboard Norwegian whalers Star XIX and XXIV scuttle their ships rather than allow them to fall into the hands of approaching Royal Navy warships. They were captured by German raider Pinguin early in the year.

The Italian crew of 6072 ton Italian freighter Fella scuttles the ship at Punta Arenas, Costa Rica. Another ship at Punta Arenas, German freighter Eisenach, also is scuttled. The same fate befalls 5169-ton Italian tanker Jole Fassio and 6205-ton tanker Trottiera at Puerto Cabello.

Shipping losses for March are high, but so are U-boat losses:

• Atlantic: 136 Allied ships sunk, 517,551 tons 
• Elsewhere: 3 Allied ships sunk, 12,155 tons

Axis losses are:

• Mediterranean: 10 ships, 30,536 tons
• U-boats: 5 or 6

Sinkings by U-boat rise from 196k tons in February to 243k in March, while the Luftwaffe total also increases from 89k to 113k. The other categories also show large increases, with surface raider sinkings increasing from 89k tons to 139k, and mines accounting for 16k tons in February and 24k tons in March. Overall, Allied ship sinkings rise from 372k tons to 475k tons. Overall, the figures alone suggest that it is a great month for the German blockade.

However - and it is a huge "however" - the U-boat fleet losses in March 1941 are among the worst of the war so far. Three top U-boat commanders - Schepke, Prien and Kretschmer - leave the scene permanently. Because the "bench" of U-boat commanders is very thin, these are serious losses that greatly reduce the U-boats' effectiveness.

Another issue for the Germans is that their top surface raiders - heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - are now in port and likely not to return to action for some time. However, the Kriegsmarine is working up battleships Tirpitz and Bismarck, which the German hope will tilt the Battle of the Atlantic further in their favor later in 1941.

Three Royal Navy destroyers (Icarus, Impulsive and Intrepid) lay minefield GZ on the English Channel.

Convoy HX 118 departs from Halifax.

Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales is commissioned and HMS Howe is completed.

US submarine USS Mackerel (SS 204, Lt. John F. Davidson) is commissioned.

U-331 (Oberleutnant zur See Freiherr von Tiesenhausen) is commissioned.

Afrika Korps panzers and scout vehicles on the road to Mersa Brega, 31 March 1941. Nice, flat, unobstructed roads without many bridges and little air defense make these areas perfect for tank advances.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At 07:45, the Afrika Korps launches the next stage of its offensive, sending 50 tanks and taking part in the defenses at Mersa Brega. The Afrika Korps takes Ajdabiya. The British lose numerous armored cars and light tanks. This attack is into the "Mersa El Brega Gap," an area between the coast and desert where the flat ground makes it good tank country.

The British 2nd Armoured Division of XIII Corps is poorly sited in the area and its units are quickly overrun or sent packing. The attack features the 5th Light Division, the 5th Panzer Regiment, and two Italian divisions, Ariete and Brescia. Ariete Division sends its reinforced 12th Bersaglieri battalion into the heights north of Mersa Brega. The British counterattack but are beaten off, and the Italian air force attacks the British around Agedabia and Mersa Brega.

This attack is an unusual example of how British top-secret Ultra intelligence can work against them. The British have been decoding messages from Berlin which effectively have ordered Lieutenant General Rommel not to attack until he has all of his projected forces assembled. This is not supposed to be the case until May. However, Rommel has decided on his own initiative to attack, confounding the British, who expected him to wait.

Rommel has other good news: elements of the 15th Panzer Division begin to arrive in Tripoli.

Italian submarine Ambra attacks British convoy GA 8 south of Crete. It torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Bonaventure, but misses an Australian destroyer, HMAS Stuart. There are 310 survivors and about 139 deaths on the Bonaventure.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual (Lt. Commander Dewhurst) torpedoes and sinks Italian submarine HMS Pier Capponi south of Stromboli.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Upright (Lt. E. D. Norman) torpedoes and damages 1927 ton German freighter Galilea off Tripoli. Towed to port, the Galilea is beached and never repaired. the retreating Germans destroy the hulk on 20 January 1943 during the retreat from Tripoli.

The Italians seize 1397 ton Yugoslavian freighter Una when the ship makes port at Genoa.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Captain Rogge of German raider Atlantis puts a prize crew aboard captured British freighter Speybank, taken in late January, and sends it to France.

POWs: British Army Private Laurence Arthur Coe of the Army Dental Corps escapes from a German POW camp and arrives in Switzerland. He will be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, as announced in the Second Supplement to The London Gazette, 18 March 1941. Coe is the first escapee from a German POW camp (there already has been at least one German escapee from British captivity, Franz Xaver Baron von Werra).

Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Myōkō, 31 March 1941.

US Military: Maj. Gen. Frederick Martin and Rear Adm. Patrick Bellinger, the air defense officers of the Army and Navy, submit a report to Admiral Husband Kimmel (CINCPAC) and General Walter Short, the commanders of naval and ground forces in Hawaii. The report states that there is a likelihood of a Japanese air attack on US forces on Oahu, with the greatest likelihood that such an attack would take place on a Saturday or Sunday at dawn.

At around this time - the exact date is unknown, but is in the final week of March 1941 - Captain Ellis M. Zacharias calls upon Admiral Kimmel (this is according to Zacharias' later testimony). Zacharias is the District Intelligence Officer at the 11th Naval District in San Diego and has extremely good contacts within the Japanese military. Zacharias tells Kimmel that a Japanese attack:

would begin with an air attack on our fleet on a weekend and probably on a Sunday morning; [also] the attack would be for the purpose of disabling four battleships.

Zacharias predicts that the Japanese would use aircraft carriers operating north of Hawaii due to the direction of prevailing winds. He recommends a standing "daily patrol out to 500 miles." Kimmel demurs, saying that he does not have the aircraft (which is true), to which Zacharias responds:

Well, Admiral, you better get them because that is what is coming.

If anyone is to be trusted with this kind of warning, it is an intelligence officer such as Zacharia. However, Kimmel later testifies that he has no recollection of the meeting, and a third person at the meeting (Capt. W. W. "Poco" Smith) has a completely different recollection of what was discussed. Zacharias is known, however, to have issued similar warnings to others well before 7 December 1941. Zacharias is a controversial historical figure who elicits strong reactions.

Lt. Colonel William Lee becomes the commander of the Provisional Parachute Group at Fort Benning.

German Military: The OKH completes the first draft of the infamous Commissar Order discussed by Adolf Hitler on the 30th at the Reich Chancellery.

Hungarian Government: There is dissension within the Hungarian government. Admiral Horthy has told Hitler that Hungarian forces will contribute to the attack on Yugoslavia. However, Prime Minister Count Teleki disagrees.

Greenland: USCGC Cayuga (CGC-54) makes port at Godthaab, Greenland. It sailed on 17 March 1941 from Boston carrying the South Greenland Survey Expedition. The intent of the Expedition is to locate and recommend locations for various types of installations, including airfields, seaplane bases, weather stations, and radio facilities. Cayuga is projected to stay in Greenland until relieved.

Iraq: Crown Prince and Regent of Iraq 'Abd al-Ilah flees Baghdad amidst rumors of a coup d'état. He first takes shelter aboard Royal Navy gunboat Cockchafter, then goes to Amman, Jordan as a guest of Prime Minister Nuri as-Said. He is replaced as regent by  Sherif Sharaf. Sherif Sharaf.

American Homefront: The US Supreme Court decides Cox v. New Hampshire, 312 U.S. 569 (1941). The Court holds that a New Hampshire state statute prohibiting unlicensed parades does not violate the First Amendment rights of Jehovah's Witnesses who staged a march in town without a permit. This decision allows local governments to regulate competing uses of public forums using a reasonable permit scheme tailored to the public interest.

Destroyer Hagikaze, the seventeenth ship of the Kagero-class, 31 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

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

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