Friday 7 March 1941

U-47 (Photo courtesy of Vladimir Tarnovski).

Italian/Greek Campaign: Limited Greek offensive operations continue on 7 March 1941 at the center of the line, west of Klisura Pass in the Senteli Mountains, by II Corps (1st, 5th, 11th, 15th, and 17th Divisions). The Italians are building up their forces for a major effort in the same effort, so the Greeks make little progress.

South African leader Jan Smuts is in Cairo consulting with British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. He okays the use of his country's troops wherever they are needed, which at the moment is Greece. Smuts sends a telegram to Whitehall expressing his agreement to the use of South African troops there.

The flow of British troops from Suda Bay, Crete and Alexandria to Piraeus (Athens) continues. Today, cruisers HMS Bonaventure, Gloucester and York arrive and disembark the troops they are carrying. Slower freighters also arrive carrying their equipment. These troops for Operation Lustre include parts of the British 1st Armoured Division.

New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg arrives in Athens. He is slated to command a major part of the British force.

March 7, 1941, Lynn, Massachusetts Daily Evening Item.

East African Campaign: The British continue advancing toward Mogadishu along the main road in Italian Somaliland. Supply difficulties are slowing them more than scattered Italian opposition.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its lone-raider operations during the day, dropping scattered bombs hither and thither. The British claim to down two bombers, one by convoy escort HMS Guillemot. RAF Coastal Command attacks Den Helder and shipping off the Dutch coast. RAF Bomber Command is inactive.

Günther Prien. Despite being a committed member of the NSDAP, his reputation survived the war largely intact due to his daring exploits.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is an extremely busy day in the Battle of the Atlantic. However, one event stands out above all the others.

Günther Prien is one of the top U-boat aces, having received news of his promotion to Korvettenkapitän as of 1 March 1941 (though technically he remains a Kapitänleutnant at this time, the promotion becoming effective posthumously). Prien has to date been mentioned in the official military communiques (Wehrmachtbericht) seven times (with another to come). Each mention on the nightly news is one of the highest honors of the Third Reich, equivalent to receiving a top medal.

Prien also became the 5th recipient of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-47 (on 20 October 1940). Throughout his career (including today), Prien has sunk 30 merchantmen of 162,769 tons, sunk a warship of 29,150 tons (Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow in 1939), and damaged eight other merchantmen of 62,751 tons along with a warship of 10,035 tons. Günther Prien is a commander of great daring and an asset to the U-boat command.

Today, Prien sights Convoy OB-293 and vectors in a Wolf Pack (the other U-boats involved are U-70, U-99, and U-A). Prien's U-47 damages 20,638-ton British whaling factory ship Terje Viken (reputedly the world's largest before the war, currently serving as a tanker). U-70 (Kptlt. Joachim Matz) also fires three torpedoes at it, but misses. Before U-70 can fire a fourth, U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) then torpedoes and disables the Terje Viken, turning it into a flaming wreck. The whaling ship's crew abandons ship and survives. The abandoned derelict remains afloat for a while, but finally is sunk by the Royal Navy escorts as a hazard to navigation.

Afterward, U-47 disappears. Since none of the 45 men on board ever is heard from again, it is unknown what happened to U-47. One theory is that U-47 is destroyed or seriously damaged by attacks from convoy escorts HMS Wolverine and Verity, two of four destroyers in the vicinity. In any event, the warships do see what is believed to be the U-boat rise almost to the surface, then explode in an orange fireball. However, recent scholarship has called the identity of this U-boat into question, and it may not have been U-47 at all that the British saw explode. In fact, some wild conspiracy theories posit that Prien survived the patrol, but was arrested for subversion upon his return to port - but that has been completely disproven (among other things, Prien was a solid member of the NSDAP, but there are many other reasons this theory is not widely believed).

Of all the U-boat commanders, it is fair to say that Prien's memory has been the most long-lasting within the German military. His name has been considered for several major weapons systems, and his life has been celebrated in various media forms such as film and books. His death also is the first of three top U-boat commanders in the next ten days which are extremely damaging to the fleet and show how thin the "bench" of ace commanders is. This lack of depth is an endemic problem within all branches of the German military, as top Luftwaffe aces and tank commanders also are extremely difficult to replace when lost.

The German authorities soon realize that U-47 is missing and presumed lost. However, the Propaganda Ministry decides to keep the news from the public. The British also realize that Prien is missing - they have excellent spies - and turn Prien's loss and the German decision to keep it hidden into a propaganda coup. The RAF will drop leaflets over Germany asking "Wo ist Prien?" (Where is Prien), stirring wild speculation about his fate throughout the Reich.

HMS Camellia (K-31). It is one of the escorts of OB 293 and claims credit, along with sister ship HMS Arbutus, for sinking U-70 (though that claim is much disputed).

The other U-boats in the Wolf Pack also make attacks and suffer as well. U-70, on its first patrol, has a big day, and not in a particularly good way. First, at 04:30, it torpedoes and sinks 6570-ton British tanker Athelbeach. Seven crew perish So far, so good for U-70 (Some sources assign this sinking to U-99, but the U-70 crew claimed credit as set forth in its interrogation report).

Then, at 04:50, U-70 torpedoes 6423-ton British freighter Delilian. The crew abandons ship, but later returns and manages to restart the engines and make port.

U-70 then, at 06:25, torpedoes 7493-ton Dutch tanker Mijdrecht. The Mijdrecht has made the "mistake" of stopping to pick up survivors of the Delilian, but the ship remains maneuverable. The captain of the Delilian spots the U-boat's periscope and reacts immediately. He turns the ship and rams U-70. This causes the U-boat to surface, and the Mijdrecht uses one of its guns to hit U-70's conning tower (the U-boat's crew denies this, but it is a minor point). U-70's crew then abandons ship, and U-70 sinks. Mijdrecht, meanwhile, manages to make port, a rare instance when a merchant ship sinks a U-boat and survives rather than the other way around.

U-A also is present, but it does not make a successful attack. During the aftermath, U-A is damaged by HMS Wolverine but survives.

Elsewhere, U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its final patrol out of Lorient (it is to become a training boat), is sailing south of Iceland. It spots the 3050-ton Greek freighter Mentor. There are seven deaths.

Far to the south, there also are dramatic developments in the Battle of the Atlantic. Commanding Operation Berlin with heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, Admiral Lütjens has been waiting for several days on the Cape Town-Gibraltar convoy route northwest of Cape Verde. Today at 09:20, his lookouts spot a convoy (SL-67). However, as in an earlier instance, among the escorts is a battleship, HMS Malaya. Lütjens is under strict orders to avoid combat with capital ships. However, in this area of the ocean, Lütjens now has another card to play. He radios U-boat command (BdU) in Lorient to vector in any U-boats nearby. Two U-boats arrive and attack the convoy during the night of 7-8 March (early on the 8th) and sink 28,488 tons of shipping.

Malaya, meanwhile, also spots the two German cruisers and steams toward them. The Malaya closes to within extreme firing range, about 24,000 meters, but Lütjens decides to obey his orders and heads west out into the Atlantic.

In the English channel, the German 1st MTB Flotilla sorties against Convoys FN 426 and FS 429 off Yarmouth. This is one of many short, sharp and largely forgotten actions by German E-boats against the local British convoys. In all, five British ships sink on the 7th, and two more just after midnight.

S-29 damages 1385-ton British freighter Dotterel. The captain beaches the ship, which is written off. There are eight deaths among the crew. In addition, three men of patrol boat HMS Sheldrake attempt to board the ship, but perish in the attempt, including the commander, Lt. Commander WC Checucci. There are 19 survivors.

S-31 sinks 1047-ton British freighter Kenton. There are four deaths.

S-28 sinks 2345-ton British freighter Corduff. There are seven deaths, two men become POWs, and 14 are rescued by the British.

S-61 sinks 4805-ton British freighter Boulderpool. Everyone survives.

S-27 sinks 1048-ton British freighter Rye. All 22 men on board perish.

Just after midnight, in the opening minutes of the 8th, two more ships go down.

S-102 sinks 1547-British freighter Togston. There are 8 deaths.

S-102 also sinks 957-ton British freighter Norman Queen. There are 14 deaths, one man survives as a POW.

The Luftwaffe also is active during the day. It attacks and sinks 934-ton British freighter Flashlight in the North Sea off Hull. Everyone survives.

Belgian 483-ton freighter Adolphe Urban disappears without a trace after passing Mumbles Light, off Glamorgan. A lifeboat eventually washes ashore at Kilrush, Ireland on 26 March.

Royal Navy motor torpedo boat MTB 28 has a fire and is lost at Portsmouth.

British battleship Bismarck enters the Kiel Canal on its journey east.

Convoy OG 55 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid is laid down.

U-412 is laid down.

Some victims of the Adolphe Urban, as memorialized at Tower Hill.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF attacks Tripoli, including its airfields and harbor. The Afrika Korps continues digging its defensive line west of El Agheila.

Convoy AN 18, a troop convoy, departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus, while Convoy GA 1 1/2 departs from Piraeus.

The Luftwaffe bombs Malta during the day and after dark, damaging the dockyard area and some ships. British 11,063 transport Essex is damaged (again), and destroyer HMS Imperial is hit by splinters. Fighters of 7,/JG 26 are achieving dominance over the island, and they strafe the harbor and damage a Sunderland flying boat. Island Governor Lt. General Dobbie cables the Chief of the Air Staff and warns that he needs RAF fighters if the island is to remain useful to the Royal Navy.

"Short Sunderland Mark I, L2164 'DQ-M', of No. 228 Squadron RAF, on fire in St Paul's Bay, Malta after being hit for a second time by Messerschmitt Bf 109s of 7/JG26. L2164, already damaged from the previous attack on 7 March 1941, ultimately sank after efforts to tow her ashore failed." © IWM (MH 8043).

US Military: USS Wasp (CV-7, Captain Reeves) is sailing in the notoriously stormy seas off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina when it comes across a sinking merchantman. It is a US lumber schooner, George E. Klinck. Reeves pulls off a rescue of great daring, saving the crew in this "graveyard of ships."

The Seventh Defense Battalion of the Fleet Marine Force arrives at Pago Pago, Samoa. They are aboard transport USS William P. Biddle. This is the US Marines' first deployment south of the Equator during the conflict.

British Government: Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin is given powers to classify any business as constituting essential war production. Once so classified, a business has special restrictions imposed on its employees: the workers cannot leave or be fired without authorization from the ministry. The rationale is to prevent turnover and keep skilled workers where they are. On the flip side, such "essential" workers are guaranteed a minimum wage and other protections. However, again on the flip side, workers who are not punctual or miss a lot of work can be punished.

Bevin immediately classifies aircraft, building, shipbuilding, engineering, railways, docks, and mines as "essential." This order appears unrelated to an ongoing strike at the John Brown shipbuilding firm at Clydeside, as Bevin has been concerned about labor developments in the shipyards throughout the war to date. This gives the British government - and Bevin in particular - massive power over labor conditions in major portions of the British economy. Many workers resent this and carry those feelings over to the 1945 elections.

China: The Japanese Western Hupei Operation continues making progress. The 13th Infantry Division of the 11th Army has a bridgehead on the southern/western bank of the Yangtze River. It breaks out and takes Wuchiapa, Hsiawulungkou, and Chienchiatai. The objective is to clear the river valley and push the defending Chinese (Kuomintang) forces back toward Chunking.

Holocaust: German Jews are pressed into forced labor.

American Homefront: It is spring training in the US baseball leagues. A recent issue in the sport has been the protection of batters' heads from pitches. Two Brooklyn Dodgers, Pee Wee Reese, and Joe Medwick try out batting helmets during a special exhibition game in Havana, Cuba against the Cleveland Indians. They have no issues using the helmets, which later become standard equipment.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London, taken 7 March 1941 (PA).

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 Become 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 8 January 1941

HMS Gloucester enters Grand Harbour, Malta on 8 January 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Greek Commander-in-chief Papagos on 8 January 1941 launches a major attack on the Italian Julia division defending Klisura Pass. The Greek II Corps leads the attack, with the 1st Division on the left and the 15th and 11th Divisions on the right. The Greeks make good progress in very hard fighting, putting themselves in a position to finally capture the pass.

The Klisura Pass is considered necessary for the Greeks to press on and take the critical Italian port of Valona and free troops for the defense of eastern Greece against an anticipated German invasion from Bulgaria. The Italian commander in Albania, Cavallero, immediately begins transferring troops from other sectors with which he intended to launch his own offensive.

European Air Operations: The RAF air command on Malta launches a night raid against Naples. The Italians have dispersed their fleet to Naples and other points, but the RAF is tracking them down. Battleship Giulio Cesare is damaged slightly by three near misses and must be moved to La Spezia for repairs. It is not as significant a blow as it might be, because the Italians are not using their capital ships anyway - though they have plenty of fuel to do so if they wished.

Another benefit of the mission for the British is that it induces the Italians to move their battleship Vittorio Veneto to La Spezia as well, to get it out of harm's way - a rather incongruous way to handle what should be your mightest offensive weapon. The Italian naval command at this point appears obsessed with keeping a "fleet in being," a strategy that in a calculated fashion uses the threat of warships to draw enemy airpower away from on-shore targets. There are pros and cons to this strategy, which certainly appears to fit with the overall Italian mindset during the conflict, but essentially removes these warships from active operations where they might actually be of strategic use (such as off North Africa or Albania).

RAF Bomber Command also sends seven Wellington bombers to raid Wilhelmshaven. The target is German battleship Tirpitz, still under construction but almost finished. The RAF does not score any hits, though some near misses scuff up the paint a bit. This is another example of Axis warships drawing fire away from other, arguably more productive, targets. It is the one area in which the Axis navies constantly excel.

For its part, the Luftwaffe sends a few scattered raiders across during the day but stays on the ground after dark.

The prototype Vultee XP-54, nicknamed the "Swoose Goose."

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe (Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors of I,/KG 40) bombs and sinks 6278-ton British freighter Clytoneus in the Western Approaches. Everybody survives. KG 40 has just been turned over to Admiral Doenitz's forces to assist with U-boat operations.

British 683 ton Trinity House tender Strathearn hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea. There are 15 deaths.

Royal Navy minelayers HMS Adventure and Teviotbank lay minefields ZME 12 and BS 48, respectively. These are in the St. Georges Channel and off the east coast.

Convoy OB 271 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 378 departs from Southend, Convoy FN 379 is postponed, Convoy HG 50 departs from Gibraltar.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Nizam (Lt. Commander Max J. Clark) commissioned.

U-559 launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Excess, the latest supply operation for Malta, continues with a complicated series of ship movements. Force A departs from Suda Bay, Crete and heads toward Malta. Force B warships arrive at Malta and disembark their troops, then quickly depart for escort duties of convoys still headed toward the island. Force D is reinforced by Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the destroyer HMAS Stuart. Force D then joins Force A southeast of Malta but then switches to escort Convoy ME 6. So far, Operation Excess is running as smoothly as previous convoys and virtually without incident.

The Australian 6th Division begins active patrols around the Tobruk perimeter, probing Italian defenses. They find a similar layout to the one at Bardia, two defensive lines with antitank ditches, barbed wire, and concrete pillboxes.

General Archibald Wavell, British Middle East Commander, replies diplomatically to Prime Minister Churchill's insinuations of the past couple of days that his army has become a haven for slackers:

I can assure you that I have always had question of rearward services constantly in mind and have been as anxious as anyone to cut down on non-fighting units. Except for anti-aircraft.... But the more I see of War, especially present-day War, the more I am impressed by the part that administration plays.

This dispute about the "Tooth-to-tail Ratio" will continue on both sides, though it really has not begun yet on the German side. As much as anything, such concerns are a sure sign of a military that is overstretched and unable to meet all of the threats that are popping up. Wavell, incidentally, is absolutely correct that modern wars are won not by valor in combat (alone), but by logistics and weaponry. This is a lesson that is and will be hammered home brutally to some participants during the course of the conflict.

At Malta, cruisers HMS Gloucester and Southampton dock just long enough to disembark their troops, then head back out to sea. These troops buttress the island's antiaircraft defenses.

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) approaches the Italian administration center of Murzuk, in the southwest corner of Libya and hundreds of miles distant from other British forces. They are aided by local French and tribesmen. Their intent is to attack the Italian airfield and headquarters at Murzuk both to disrupt Italian administration and to incite violence throughout Libya.

Convoy AS 10 departs from Piraeus for Suda Bay.

Battle of the Pacific: Contract workers arrive on Wake Island onboard the USS William Ward Burrows. They are to construct a naval air station (NAS) there.

USS Wasp (CV-7), in Norfolk Naval Shipyard for refitting, 8 January 1941.

Anglo/Free French Relations: The British release Vice Admiral Muselier, imprisoned since New Year's day on espionage and treason charges. The British MI5 intelligence branch concludes that Muselier has been set up with fake documents planted by two security people (Commandant Howard and Adjutant Colin) hired on their own recommendation. The reasons for the smear are murky, apparently, Muselier offended Howard in some way and he had Colin draw up the phony documents which, among other things, suggested that Muselier compromised Operation Menace (the failed attack on Dakar). Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden tenders a note of abject apology.

This decision avoids a very sharp rupture in Anglo/French relations. Charles de Gaulle views the entire affair as a plot by MI5 to discredit him personally, and had been on the brink of turning his back on the British - to the extent possible, as he essentially is a British client ruler - had the charges not been dropped.

This is a much better outcome politically than if Winston Churchill had followed his initial inclinations and had Muselier shot outright. However, de Gaulle forever after holds a grudge against the British intelligence service due to this incident. Muselier, for his part, returns to his duties in charge of Free French naval forces.

US/Vichy French Relations: Admiral William D. Leahy presents his credentials to the Petain government in Vichy. This comes one day after Roosevelt accepted former ambassador Bullitt's resignation.

Anglo/US Relations: Roosevelt observer "Wild Bill" Donovan arrives in Cairo for talks with British Middle East Commander General Wavell.

North Fort Lewis, Pierce County, Nebraska, home to the US 41st Infantry Division. President Roosevelt has inducted the 41st Division into federal service for a term of one year. January 8, 1941 (Courtesy Lewis Army Museum).

German Military: Adolf Hitler convenes a meeting of his senior military advisors at Berchtesgaden. He admits that Germany cannot invade England until it is "crippled" and the Luftwaffe "has complete air superiority." Neither of those things has happened or appears likely to happen any time soon (though the U-boat campaign is showing great promise in the former area). Hitler places his hopes on eliminating all opposition on the Continent, relying on the clear superiority of the Wehrmacht on land. Hitler plans to shore up the Italians both in Greece and North Africa, but he does not trust them and wants no communications to them which they can pass along to the British.

This meeting is the beginning of Hitler's acknowledgment that he has no real allies in Western Europe. He does not trust the Italians, and he knows now the Vichy French and Spanish will never help him conquer the British. Planning for Operation Attila, the occupation of Vichy France and seizure of the French fleet at Toulon continues.

Hitler evidently has been paying attention to events in Washington, too. President Roosevelt's veiled threats during his recent State of the Union speech obviously did not escape his attention. He tells his leaders that war with the United States may be approaching as well. Hitler and his cronies live under the delusion that the US cannot intervene on the Continent in any time frame that might affect the current wars in progress or others being contemplated. This is because of, among other reasons, the so-far successful U-boat campaign and the huge head start that Germany has in military preparations and achievements.

British Military: While Hitler is busy with his war conference at the Berghof, Winston Churchill is holding similar meetings at Whitehall. The Defence Committee is studying the Balkan situation. Anthony Eden, having a busy day, strongly advocates sending British troops to Greece immediately in order to induce Turkey to join the Allied side and form a "Balkan bloc." Churchill himself says that "there was no other course open to us but to make certain that we had spared no effort to help the Greeks who had shown themselves so worthy." Thus, the matter basically is decided, although it must be ascertained whether it is possible.

The Chiefs of Staff thus cable Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's Middle East Command Air Marshal Sir Arthur Murray Longmore and ask him if air units are available for immediate transfer to Greece. Longmore replies that he wants to keep his units supporting General Wavell's advance, but he does not have the final say. Discussions of the Defence Committee on this key strategic question continue into the 9th.

Japanese Military: Army Minister Tojo Hideki issues a military decree, "Instructions For the Battlefield," which essentially commands Japanese soldiers to fight to the death rather than be captured.

Soviet Military: The second round of war games begins. This time, General Zhukov commands the Soviet forces, and General Kulik commands the invading "Blue" forces.

US Military: The USAAC orders the first prototype of the Vultee XP-54.

Due to lingering disagreements about whether the US Pacific fleet should be based at Hawaii (among other things), President Roosevelt decides to replace Admiral James Richardson as Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet (CinCPac) and CinCUS (should the Pacific and Atlantic fleets ever merge). Admiral Husband E. Kimmel will replace him effective 1 February 1941. In addition, Admiral Ernest J. King, an advocate of a strong US naval presence in the Pacific, will become Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CinCLant). Richardson will hold no further active commands.

Baltimore News-Post, 8 January 1941.

US Government: Following President Roosevelt's militaristic State of the Union address, his administration releases a proposed budget of $17.5 billion for the Fiscal Year 1942 (beginning 1 July 1941). This budget includes a massive $10.8 billion war (defense) budget (it is still called the War Department, not the Department of Defense, at this point). With military expenditures exceeding 50% of all government spending, this is a record peacetime commitment, the highest in US history.

Canadian Government: Accepting the recommendation of its subcommittee, the Canadian war council excludes Japanese-Canadians from military service.

Indochina: The conflict between Thailand and the Vichy French continues to sizzle. The Royal Thai Air Force attacks the French at Siem Reap and Battambang.

German Homefront: It has taken the better part of a year, but the port facilities at Narvik, Norway have been repaired. It is the key port for the shipment of Swedish iron ore to German war factories. Today, the first freighter departs for Germany carrying ore.

British Homefront: Lord Baden-Powell, the inspiration for the Boy and Girl Scout movement, passes away at age 83. Baden-Powell is one of the very few prominent British people ever to have kind words for Hitler's "Mein Kampf," calling it "A wonderful book, with good ideas on education, health, propaganda, organization etc. - and ideals which Hitler does not practice himself." Having spent the last few decades of his life in Africa, he passes away in Kenya.

American Homefront: Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" is nearing completion. Newspaper critics have received an advance rough-cut screening (minus the score), and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (uninvited) watches and later writes that the film is a "vicious and irresponsible attack on a great man" - the great man being William Randolph Hearst. Hearst hears about this and remonstrates with his own gossip columnist, Louella Parsons, about why she hasn't told him that the film was calculated to attack him.

Parsons, on or about this date, then angrily demands a private screening of the film herself (apparently she did not crash the critics' screening like Hedda). She threatens a lawsuit (on Hearst's behalf" and hints darkly about other means of professional retaliation. Nobody messes with William Randolph Hearst, not only because of his money, power, and influence as the boss of a national chain of newspapers but also because of the dead guy once found on his private yacht. RKO Pictures studio head George J. Schaefer accedes to Parsons' demands and schedules a private screening for her (and Hearst's lawyers) on 10 January.

Future History: Graham Arthur Chapman is born in Stoneygate, Leicester. Chapman develops an interest in writing and teams up with John Cleese, another struggling comedian, whilst still in school. They write for various television comedy series, then team up with other young comedians (Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam) in the 1960s to form a sketch comedy group, Flying Circus. Together, they develop various classic comedy sketches, which lead to a television series of their own and a series of comedy films. Everyone within the group basically agrees that Chapman is the best actor in the troupe (at least at that time, though John Cleese also becomes a renowned comedy actor outside the group). Perhaps Chapman's high point with the group is playing the lead role in classic "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Chapman continues with Monty Python and branches out into his own successful career but passes away in 1989 from cancer at age 48.

Not everyone is enthusiastic about President Roosevelt's massive military preparations. "Thin Ice," published January 8, 1941, by S. J. Ray.

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

Tuesday 7 January 1941

Australian light horse troops manning a Bren gun carrier, 7 January 1941 (AP).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek forces at the Klisura Pass on 7 January 1941 prepare to launch a major attack against the Italian troops defending the pass. This is the gateway to the key Italian supply port of Valona, and Greek Commander-in-chief Papagos is intent on taking the port quickly so that he can shift troops to the east to defend against an anticipated German attack by way of Bulgaria.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe makes a very unexpected move and launches a heavy daylight raid on London. This is the first major daylight raid in months. The bombers are over the city for almost four hours, damaging parts of fifteen different districts. Other bombers attack scattered points up and down the coast, with a lone raider targeting Coventry as well.

Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy corvette HMS Anemone, in cooperation with Free French corvette La Malouine, sinks Italian submarine Giacomo Nani south of Iceland.

British 975 ton coaster H.H. Petersen hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea. Everybody aboard survives.

German naval trawler UJ 175 Mob FD-31 hits a mine and sinks off Feiestein, Bru Island, Rogaland County, Norway.

Royal Navy torpedo boats MTB 32 and 34 lay minefield PW 1 in Zuydcote Pass, while German torpedo boats Kondor and Wolf lay minefield Renate off Dover. Wolf hits one of the freshly laid mines in PW 1 off Dunkirk and sinks on its way back to base.

Convoys FS 381, FS 382 and FS 383 depart from Methil, Convoy OG 49 departs from Liverpool.

HMS Largs, 7 January 1941. This was the French armed merchant cruiser (AMC) Charles Plumer, captured by destroyer HMS Faulknor on 22 November 1940 off Gibraltar. It has been converted into an ocean boarding vessel. © IWM (A 6944)

Battle of the Mediterranean: Australian 6th Division, under the leadership of Major General Iven Mackay, has largely completed mopping up at Bardia. Its units now have moved on to Tobruk and captured Acroma, 10 miles to the west of the fortress. This point overlooks the coast road and puts the Australians in commanding position to interdict any Italian relief efforts (though none seem forthcoming). The British troops are outrunning their supplies and thus need to pause their operations for a spell, but Italian resistance is not one of their problems.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends another cable to Middle East Commander Archibald Wavell regarding what Churchill sees as wastefulness in the Middle East army. Churchill expands upon his earlier hints that the Middle East Command is becoming a haven for slackers, deriding the low "tooth-to-tail" ratio of fighting men to supply troops.:

You have well over 350,000 troops on your ration strength and the number of units which are fighting or capable of fighting appears to me disproportionately small.

In other words, Churchill is implying that the majority of soldiers under Wavell's command are unproductive shirkers. Churchill also comments:

Rations of heavy munitions workers are being cut down to levels of which British armies except in actual operations have never dreamed. Severe stringency in human rations and the slaughter of cattle through lack of feedstuffs lie before us. The voyage round the Cape imposes an almost prohibitive burden.

This, too, is cutting, implying that the soldiers under Wavell's command are living "high on the hog" whilst the workers back home are starving.

The enmity between Churchill and Wavell is well-known and enduring. Churchill is displaying a typical churlish reaction to victories by someone you inherently dislike: if you can't attack the results (which have been fabulous victories by Wavell), you attack the means or wastefulness by which those results were achieved (Hitler proves good at this, too).

Wavell adopts a philosophical posture in response to these peevish comments, implying that Churchill's understanding of warfare is simply out of date:

Winston's tactical ideas had to some extent crystallised in the South African war [of 1898-1900]. 

This is another instance of catty infighting within the British high command, exemplified by the recent ousting of Air Marshal Dowding and Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, victors of the Battle of Britain, from their commands in late 1940.

Operation Excess is proceeding. A typical 1940-41 supply convoy to Malta, it includes numerous diversions and large Royal Navy forces at heading in all sorts of different directions. Force H from Gibraltar, led by battleship HMS Malaya and aircraft carrier HMS Essex, heads out in Operation MC 4 to protect four freighters carrying troops and supplies. Other large formations, Forces A, C, and D, depart from Alexandria to cover supply ships heading from that direction (Operation MW 5 1/2). Force D includes tanker Brambleleaf, which the Royal Navy ships take to Suda Bay, Crete.

The Royal Navy also has submarines HMS Triumph, Upholder and Pandora patrolling around Sardinia. Another submarine, HMS Rover, attacks a convoy, but misses its target and instead is attacked and damaged by Italian torpedo boats Clio and Castore. Rover heads to Malta for repairs.

The British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), having resupplied with gasoline carried by the French over the Tibesti mountains by camel, leaves its encampment near Tazerbo in western Libya. It proceeds toward its target, Murzuk, a major Italian administration center.

The Italians send destroyers and torpedo boats to lay minefields X2 and X3 north of Cape Bon.

A view of USS Wasp's (CV-7) radar arrays whilst in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard refitting on 7 January 1941. The Wasp has been re-deployed to the Atlantic.

Finnish/German Relations: Marshal Mannerheim writes Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering a letter. He requests that Germany release artillery pieces that Finland had purchased, but that had been captured aboard ships in Norwegian harbors during Operation Weserübung. This is one of an increasing number of amicable contacts between the two nations in early 1941.

US Military: Admiral Richardson, onboard flagship USS New Mexico, sends a letter to Admiral Stark that includes a copy of Admiral Bloch's letter outlining concerns about the lack of long-range patrols from Pearl Harbor. The letter's subject: "Situation Concerning the Security of the Fleet, etc." Richardson concurs with Bloch's 30 December 1940 assessment that there should be aircraft allocated to Hawaii for long-range reconnaissance patrols. This all will resurface during the Hart Inquiry Proceedings in 1942.

USS Wasp at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 7 January 1941.

Japanese Military: In one of those eerie coincidences, just as the US Navy is raising concerns about security at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy is beginning to plan a strike against that very target. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto submits an assessment, Gumbi ni kansuru shiken (Views on Preparations for War). It proposes that the best strategy against the United States would be to destroy the US fleet at Pearl Harbor in the opening raid of a future war. However, at no point does he suggest invading or conquering the United States.

Yamamoto's plan is not widely approved of within the Japanese high command. The conventional Japanese strategy in any event of war with the United States has been to patiently wait for the United States to advance across the Pacific, and gradually whittle away its striking power using submarines, surface vessels, and airplanes. This is virtually a mirror image of the US strategy proposed by the US Navy, which envisages a purely defensive war in the Pacific while the main effort focuses on Europe. The Yamamoto plan envisages scoring a dramatic victory in the war's opening hours and then trying to secure a peace deal to consolidate gains in Japan's real areas of interest: the Dutch East Indies, British bases in Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Philippines, among others.

There is a potential problem with Yamamoto's plan: it relies upon US willingness to make a deal quickly. However, this may not be possible in the event of a surprise attack that arouses US war passions. Thus, a formal declaration of war and then an attack is the preferred way to go in order to leave open this avenue of resolution.

US Government: With Executive Order 8629, President Franklin Roosevelt establishes the Office of Production Management (OPM) and the Office for Emergency Management. Their purposes: to "increase, accelerate and regulate" items necessary for the national defense, and to "advise and assist the President" regarding "any emergency arising out of war," respectively. The OPM, in particular, is just the start of much more extensive bureaucracies created to manage war production, with the overall federal bureaucracy nearly quadrupling. Industrialist William S. Knudsen, labor leader Sidney Hillman, U.S. Secretary of the Navy William "Frank" Knox, and U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson lead the Council.

William C. Bullitt, speaking at UNC-Chapel Hill on 7 January 1941.

British Government: Churchill and his War Cabinet discuss his assessment that Middle East forces need to be transferred to Greece to support that country against a threatened Wehrmacht invasion. He tells General Hastings Ismay, his de facto military adjutant, that the “speedy destruction of the Italian Armed Forces in North East Africa must be our prime overseas objective in the opening months of 1941.”

Canadian Government: The War Cabinet Committee receives a split-decision recommendation from a subcommittee that Japanese-Canadians be barred from military service due to public hostility to them.

China: Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) units attack and surround units of the New Fourth Army in Maolin, Anhui Province.

American Homefront: Former ambassador William C. Bullitt has submitted his resignation as ambassador to France - he already has been replaced by Admiral William D. Leahy, who today already is in Vichy - and President Roosevelt today accepts it "with great reluctance." By coincidence (perhaps), Bullitt also gives a stirring speech at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill today. He states in pertinent part:

At this time of danger, each American must ask himself each day not what he can get from his country but what he can give to his country, and must ask himself each night: “Have I given enough?”

Anyone with an ear for history will recognize that this quotation is quite similar to another quote from a certain 1961 JFK inauguration speech.

"Inner Sanctum Mysteries" aka The Inner Sanctum, created by producer Himan Brown and based on the imprint of Simon & Schuster mystery novels, premieres on the NBC Blue Network. Host Raymond Edward Johnson (who goes by his first name on the show) maintains a sardonic tone that borders on high camp. The mysteries themselves are straightforward tales that could have been taken from the works of Edgar Allan Poe or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show is a huge radio hit and the forerunner of television shows such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Outer Limits."

Host Raymond Johnson of "Inner Sanctum Mysteries." He would begin every broadcast - after the famous creaking door sound, actually created by a squeaky chair - by saying "This is Raymond" in a creepy voice. It would have been quite normal to listen to the entire radio series - which lasted over a dozen years - and never know what Raymond looked like.

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

Sunday 27 October 1940

Tommies on patrol in the Western Desert, 27 October 1940.

Battle of Britain: The weather remains acceptable for flying on 27 October 1940, and the pattern of recent days continues - that is, no real pattern. There are disjointed Luftwaffe raids throughout the day which primarily are made by fighter-bombers (Jabos) and cause little damage. They do stretch out the RAF fighter defenses, but they stress the Luftwaffe planes and pilots as well. As usual, the daylight attacks are bifurcated between the usual city targets and RAF airfields, with neither suffering particularly much due to the Jabos' small bomb loads.

The day has low-hanging clouds which allow the planes to battle it out in blinding sunshine, but on the ground, it is dark, drizzly and miserable. For some reason, Fighter Command loses (at least temporarily out of action) several planes today due to running out of fuel. This may be related to the standing patrols that it has begun implementing.

The Jabos start early this morning, coming across in waves beginning around 07:30. The primary targets are the airfields around London (Biggin Hill, Kenley) and the city itself. As usual with the early morning raids, Fighter Command is slow off the mark and makes relatively few interceptions. Both sides take losses.

The first series of raids last for two hours, and another series begins around 11:30. This formation flies high and fast and heads for the London docklands. Two Hurricanes run out of fuel and are forced to crash-land, and a Spitfire is lost at Andover.

Another wave of Jabos crosses around 12:30. Fighter Command is ready and waiting for them and prevents any major damage.

The next wave of attacks is just after lunchtime at 13:30. The Jabos split up after crossing the coast, some heading for Central London, others for points further east. RAF No. 603 Squadron takes a beating in this encounter, losing three planes and two pilots.

The largest raids of the day take place around 16:30. This one includes medium bombers, a rare sight during daylight hours. Junkers Ju 88s, Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s fly over the Thames Estuary to East Anglia. RAF Martlesham and Coltishall are attacked, but they sustain little significant damage. The medium bombers strafe the airfields to little purpose, and the bombs, including some with delayed action fuses, only lightly damage the facilities.

At the same time, Junkers Ju 88s escorted by fighters attack Southampton and Portsmouth. Both sides claim victories in this attack. Further, but smaller, raids take place beginning around 18:30 against a bunch of RAF airfields: Leconfield, Feltwell, Driffield, Kirton-in-Lindsey, and Martlesham. One of the Junkers is shot down near Driffield, and the men at the base recover one of the MG 15 machine guns for their trophy case. Italian BR 20M bombers participate in an attack on Ramsgate

After dark, the main targets are London, Liverpool, and the Midlands. The London raids are of moderate intensity, and the bombers drop their loads all across the southern part of England without any main target. The LMS railway at Tottenham takes a hit which puts it out of action when a water main bursts. The Luftwaffe also drops mines all along the eastern coast, including Harwich and the Thames estuary.

Losses for the day are about even at roughly a dozen apiece. While the Luftwaffe attacks appear disorganized, they cause a fair amount of damage. The Germans do much better when they do not send their formations over "parade-style" but instead, vary the targets and intensity of their raids. The RAF loses four pilots killed, which is much worse than losing planes.

A Bf 109 shot down today in the marshes near Canterbury - flown by Oblt. Ulrich Steinhilper of I./JG 52 - will be recovered in 1980 for preservation by the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge. Steinhilper himself, who survived the war as a POW in Canada, visits the plane a few years later.

Another plane lost today at Congburn Dean, Edmondsley, a Hurricane of No. 43 Squadron flown by Sergeant L.V. Toogood, is recovered in October 1978. Toogood perished in the crash. This apparently was not a combat crash, but due to some equipment malfunction such as oxygen failure.

Major Hannes Trautloft of JG 54 claims a Spitfire over Ashford.

“The Messerschmitt Bf 109 E Oberleutnant Karl Fischer shot down in Windsor Great Park. October 1940.”

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks several targets in Greater Germany, including oil installations at Hamburg, Hanover, Gelsenkirchen, Magdeburg, and Ostermoor. Other targets include the Skoda plant at Pilsen, ports such as Antwerp, Flushing, Ostend, Lorient, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg, and warehouses at Krefeld, Hamm, and Mannheim.

Battle of the Atlantic: British 42k ton troopship Empress of Britain is taken in tow by oceangoing tugs HMS Marauder and HMS Thames around 09:30. They make for the Clyde at 4 knots, covered by destroyers and Short Sunderland flying boats. U-32 (Kptl. Hans Jenisch), directed to the scene by U-boat Command, approaches the British ships during the day but must remain submerged throughout the day due to the British escorts. After dark, he surfaces and locates the stricken liner using hydrophones. Destroyer escorts HMS Broke and Sardonyx are zig-zagging. U-32 maneuvers into position to attack just after midnight.

Italian submarine Nani torpedoes and sinks 1583 ton Swedish freighter Meggie about 130 km off Santa Maria Island, Azores. Everybody aboard survives.

Dutch 325 ton coaster Margaretha hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel near Newport, Monmouthshire. Everybody aboard survives.

British 20 ton drifter Persevere hits a mine and sinks in the Firth of Forth.

British 634 ton coaster Suavity hits a mine and sinks off Hartlepool, County Durham in the North Sea. Everybody aboard survives.

The Luftwaffe damaged 5013-ton British freighter Alfred Jones in Convoy OB 234 in the Irish Sea. There are 12 deaths.

The Luftwaffe also damages 411-ton British freighter Conister and 1556 ton British freighter Newlands.

Royal Navy light cruiser Arethusa collides with freighter Flaminian in the North Sea, slightly damaging its bow.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Swordfish reports damaging a freighter off Cherbourg.

German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer departs Germany for a raid into the Atlantic, proceeding north along the Norwegian coast.

Convoy OB 235 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 321 departs from Southend, Convoy FN 321 departs from Methil, Convoy SL 53 departs from Freetown.

USS Wasp decked out for Navy Day. 27 October 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General de Gaulle's Free Free troops in French Equatorial Africa are on the march into Vichy French Gabon. Under the command of General Edgard de Larminat, they advance from the Congo Valley, take the town of Mitzic, and invest the fortress of Lambarene. These events in central Africa are intended to consolidate de Gaulle's strength and set up bases for air attacks on the Italian positions further north and east.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, on a mission out of Alexandria, launches air attacks against the Italian seaplane base at Maltezana, Rhodes, Greece.

At Malta, there is an air raid around 10:00 which results in a massive dogfight over the island. Eight RAF planes (six Hurricanes, two Gladiators) take on an equal number of Macchi 200 aircraft. There is no bomb damage and both sides take some damage to a plane (the Italian plane may not have made it back).

Spy Stuff: An Enigma intercept puts British fears of an imminent invasion to rest. The German message refers to "training" for the invasion - which means it can't happen any time soon, if at all.


Italian/Greek Relations: Italian ambassador in Athens Emanuele Grazzi peremptorily delivers a demand from Mussolini late in the evening. The note demands that Italian troops be permitted to occupy key points in Greece. Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas replies:

Alors, c'est la guerre ("Then, it's war").

Everybody knows this is tantamount to a declaration of war. Metaxas is fully aware of increasing Italian provocations, such as their air raid on Greece on the 26th, but censors such news from the media.

Metaxas has been mobilizing his own troops in great secrecy and they are dug in along the mountains facing Albania. Mussolini, of course, did not deliver the demand in the expectation that it would lead to anything other than such a refusal. The Greek/Albanian front - the traditional invasion route from Italy for millennia - is full of good defensive positions. It also is an extremely restricted front, with almost no maneuvering room. For the time being, Metaxas can concentrate his entire army there, because the Italians also have to worry about the Royal Navy and thus cannot embark on tenuous amphibious invasions further south. Deep-seated historical enmity guarantees that any conflict between the two countries will be fought with great savagery.

German/Italian Relations: The Germans remain in the dark about Italian intentions toward Greece, and news flows to them sporadically from various sources. German Generalmajor Enno von Rintelen, the liaison with the Italian military, calls the OKW at noon and informs them that it is now "practically certain" that the invasion will take place the next morning. This is the first "confirmation" of when the attack will take place, as Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano has been uncommunicative. German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, meanwhile, already is on his train "Heinrich" for the meeting on the 28th with Mussolini in Florence and remains completely out of the loop. General Alfred Jodl, OKW Chief of Operations, reviews the information and informs Hitler that the Italian attack will take place in the morning; Hitler simply accepts the information, issues no instructions, and leaves as scheduled in his train "Amerika" at 18:00 for Florence. If the attack does take place as anticipated, it will be while Hitler is still crossing the Alps in his train. By 21:00, the Italians reveal their plans officially to the Germans.

Today is Navy Day in the US. Here, the battleship USS Texas shows its colors on 27 October 1940 (US National Archive).

US Military: The Greenslade Board investigating the British bases acquired in the destroyers-for-bases deal winds up its travels aboard light cruiser USS St. Louis at Norfolk, Virginia.

Free France: In a symbolic exercise, the Free French government officially is established in London. General de Gaulle, in Africa, broadcasts:

As long as the French Government and the representation of the French people do not exist normally and independently of the enemy, the powers formerly performed by the Chief of State and by the Council of Ministers will be exercised by the leader of the Free French forces assisted by a Council of Defense.

Albania: The Italians, preparing for their invasion of Greece, order all Jews out of Albania.

American Homefront: The 1939-40 New York World's Fair, which opened in April 1939, closes. A cultural success, it is a financial failure at least in part due to the outbreak of the war in Europe. Many countries have not participated or have withdrawn their participation due to the conflict. The site in Flushing Meadows remains a park to this day and was later used for the 1964-65 World's Fair, which obliterated the remnants of the earlier fair but used the same basic geography. The monuments leftover from the latter remain clearly visible to travelers on the nearby New York highways. Little is left of the 1939-40 Fair, however, which most people consider having been more historically significant and a classier affair. The site, incidentally, also will be used briefly as the first home of the United Nations.

Future History: John Joseph Gotti, Jr. is born in the Bronx, New York. Born in poverty, he rises through the ranks of organized crime and becomes the boss of the Gambino crime family. He ultimately is convicted of five murders and numerous other crimes. He dies in prison on 10 June 2002.

Frieda Siegel (Miss Brooklyn) at the Fair. The Crosley Pavilion and Trylon and Perisphere can be seen in the background.

October 1940
October 2, 1940: Hitler's Polish Plans
October 3, 1940: British Cabinet Shakeup
October 4, 1940: Brenner Pass Meeting
October 5, 1940: Mussolini Alters Strategy
October 6, 1940: Iron Guard Marches
October 7, 1940: McCollum Memo
October 8, 1940: Germans in Romania
October 9, 1940: John Lennon Arrives
October 10, 1940: Führer-Sofortprogramm
October 11, 1940: E-Boats Attack!
October 12, 1940: Sealion Cancelled
October 13, 1940: New World Order
October 14, 1940: Balham Tragedy
October 15, 1940: Mussolini Targets Greece
October 16, 1940: Japanese Seek Oil
October 17, 1940: RAF Shakeup
October 18, 1940: Convoy SC-7 Catastrophe
October 19, 1940: Convoy HX-79 Catastrophe
October 20, 1940: Convoy OB-229 Disaster
October 21, 1940: This Evil Man Hitler
October 22, 1940: Aktion Wagner-Burckel
October 23, 1940: Hitler at Hendaye
October 24, 1940: Hitler and Petain
October 25, 1940: Petain Woos Churchill
October 26, 1940: Empress of Britain Attack
October 27, 1940: Greece Rejects Italian Demands
October 28, 1940: Oxi Day
October 29, 1940: US Draft Begins
October 30, 1940: RAF Area Bombing Authorized
October 31, 1940: End of Battle of Britain

2020