Showing posts with label USS West Point. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USS West Point. Show all posts

Friday, April 27, 2018

July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured

Wednesday 16 July 1941

Bristol Blenheims 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
"Low-level oblique aerial photograph was taken during a major daylight raid on the docks at Rotterdam, Holland, by Bristol Blenheim Mark IVs of No. 2 Group. The Commanding Officer of No. 18 Squadron RAF, Wing Commander T Partridge, in Bristol Blenheim Mark IV, V6267 'WV-M', leads the second wave of the attack in at low level toward the docks, seen on the skyline. Moments later he was shot down by the anti-aircraft fire and killed with his crew, Segreant G Dvorjetz and Flight Sergeant J Smith." 16 July 1941 (© IWM (C 1951)).

Eastern Front: The Germans continue their giant pincer movement at Uman on 16 July 1941. This involves several Wehrmacht armies heading for a meeting behind a huge Soviet troop concentration. Soviet Marshal Budyonny is determined to hold Kyiv and views assembling a mass of men in a relatively confined space as the best way to do that. The Germans also are forming a giant pincer at Smolensk further north. There are so many armies swirling about that another German encirclement here or there is not only not decisive, it is almost perfunctory.

General Halder hopefully notes in his war diary that "the enemy is softening" and "here, it seems he has nothing left in the rear." However, in fact, the Soviets always have plenty left in the rear to replace any troops the Germans take prisoner.

In the Far North sector, the 1st Jaeger Brigade of Finnish VI Corps reaches the northern shores of Lake Ladoga at Koirinoja on the eastern side of the lake. This divides the defending Soviet 7th Army, which also is defending against the Finnish VII Corps advance toward the western side of the lake. The Stavka grows concerned and begins calling in reinforcements from elsewhere along the Finnish Front.The Finns begin redeploying their forces, sending Finnish 1st Division forward to cover the eastern flank of the advance and also sending forward Finnish 17th Division (which had been left guarding the Soviet base at Hanko). German 163rd Infantry Division, the one that had traveled across Sweden by rail at the outbreak of the war, joins the attack as well. By the standards of the Finnish Front, this is a dramatic expansion of strength. The next objective is the railroad junction of Suvilahti.

Farther north, Axis Operation Arctic Fox is stalled at the village of Kayraly just beyond the road junction of Salla. General Hans Feige, commander of German XXXVI Corps, is hesitant about continuing the advance, so General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, in command of Army of Norway, pays him a visit. Falkenhorst convinces Feige to resume the advance, but Feige wins substantial time to regroup and the offensive remains dormant for the time being. The Soviets land an additional battalion of soldiers in the Bay of Litsa, reinforcing the defense of Murmansk.

Fires in Mogilev, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
"Near Mogilev on the Dneipr. A mounted patrol has reached a burning village, the scene of fierce enemy resistance. The German artillery has demolished the enemy, the village is clear, and the infantry now can march through." 16 July 1941 (Kessler, Rudolf, Federal Archives, Bild 101I-137-1032-14A).
In the Army Group North sector, a Soviet counterattack against LVI Army Korps (General Erich von Manstein) makes some progress. The 8th Panzer Division (Major General Erich Brandenburger) takes the brunt of the attacks on the Shelon River. A large part of its difficulties arises from the speed of its advance, as it has outrun its infantry - something that Hitler has been worried about. Manstein sends the 3rd Infantry Division (Lt. General Curt Jahn) to rescue it, and the Soviets decimate it as well. The Luftwaffe supplies the German troops by air as the slower Wehrmacht troops approach from the southwest.

In the Army Group Center sector, the Soviet 16th Army hurls counterattacks against the German 29th Motorized Division and 17th Panzer Division in Smolensk. Bitter house-to-house fighting takes place in the suburbs while the Germans slowly expand their grip on the heart of the city.

In the Army Group South sector, the Battle of Uman continues. General Ewald von Kleist’s 1st Panzer Group continues to split the defending Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, taking Koziatyn. General Eugen Ritter von Schobert’s 11th Field Army, meanwhile, advances north from the Romanian border, and General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel’s 17th Field Army advances to the south of Uman. The movement of all these armies gradually tightens the noose around the trapped Soviet defenders. Soviet Marshal Budyonny is under orders to stay where he is in order to shield Kyiv, and he does. Romanian troops take Kishinev.

The Luftwaffe's nine-victory ace Kurt Sauer of JG 53 becomes a prisoner.

Bristol Blenheims attack Rotterdam, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
View from the dorsal turret of a Blenheim bomber after bombing the docks of Rotterdam during the raid on 16th July 1941.
European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a low-level raid at Rotterdam. The attacking 36 Blenheim bombers of RAF Nos. 18, 21, 105 and 139 Sqns scream across the Channel at mast height and score hits on a reported 22 ships (97,000 tons "destroyed," 43,000 tons "severely damaged"), including converted Dutch liner Baloeran, and harbor installations. However, the RAF loses four bombers in the process due to extremely heavy German Flak.

Five Blenheims undertake a sweep off the Dutch coast, while five Hampdens lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 107 planes against Hamburg. The 51 Wellingtons, 32 Hampdens, and 24 Whitleys fly into bad weather, and only 52 planes report actually making it to the target while 52 others bomb secondary targets. The RAF loses 3 Wellingtons and a Hampden. Damage is moderate, with some fires, 1 injury and 154 people made homeless.

Battle of the Baltic: In a rare incident, Soviet battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and cruiser Kirov, with Red Air Force support, bombard the German-held port of Riga. This is another example of the Germans' occasionally shaky grip on the Baltic being exposed.

German Panzer II, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
German Panzer III at Oinasniemi, Finland, 16 July 1941.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2039-ton British freighter Elizabete off the Tyne. The ship makes it back to port in the Tyne.

Two Royal Navy gunboats, HMMGB 90 and 92, are consumed in a fire in Portland Harbour, Dorset.

US light cruisers USS Philadelphia and Savannah depart with destroyers Gwin and Meredith from Bermuda on a neutrality patrol.

Convoy OB-347 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX-139 departs from Halifax, bound for Liverpool.

Free French Flower-class corvette FFL Lobelia (K 05, formerly HMS Lobelia) is commissioned.

U-701 (Kapitänleutnant Horst Degen) is commissioned, U-408 is launched.

U-701, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
U-701 is commissioned in Stülcken-Werft, Hamburg. Note that Kapitänleutnant Degen is saluting the flag. 16 July 1941.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian submarine Nereide claims that it damages Greek submarine Triton using a torpedo and its deck gun between Ikaria and Mikonos. There is no confirmation of this attack.

The Luftwaffe raids the Suez Canal with 24 bombers during the night and also raids Tobruk in conjunction with the Regia Aeronautica. The RAF raids Tripoli and Benghazi.

An Italian convoy of three ships departs from Taranto bound for Tripoli.

Executions at Banjica concentration camp, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Executions at Banjica concentration camp, Serbia, 16 July 1941. These apparently are the first at the camp.
Partisans: The partisan uprising Montenegro - the "13 July Uprising" - continues. Insurgents in Virpazar use some small boats to trade some injured Italian soldiers for food and medicine in Scutari.

Executions at Banjica concentration camp, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Stalin's son, leader of an artillery battery, doesn't have much to say as a POW.
POWs: In an embarrassing incident for the Soviet Union, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin's son, artillery regiment Lieutenant Yakov Iosifovich Jugashvili (aka Yakov Dzhugashvili), is captured by the Wehrmacht. He is the eldest of Stalin's four children, the son of his first wife, Kato Svanidze. Yakov winds up in a POW camp near Borisov (Barysaw), and one of the other prisoners "outs" him. The Germans publicize the capture in order to use him for propaganda purposes.

Stalin, according to his daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva, believes that Yakov has voluntarily surrendered at the behest of his wife, Yulia. Stalin is so sure of this that, as soon as he hears of the incident, he orders Yulia imprisoned and "interrogated" (which in the USSR of the 1940s usually means some element of torture and mistreatment).

There actually is some evidence that Yakov surrendered voluntarily because a letter written by his brigade commissar alleges that he willingly put on civilian clothes in an attempt to escape from a pocket, but then chose to stay behind and be caught anyway. Since Yakov is caught in civilian clothes, the Germans technically have the right to shoot him - but the Germans shoot anyone they like anyway (pursuant to Keitel's pre-war orders), so they don't need any special reason to do so. Instead, the Germans keep Yakov alive in hopes of using him as a bargaining chip, shuttling him between several POW camps before sending him to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Yakov does not get along with the British prisoners and slips into a deep depression.

What happens to him there is not exactly known, but he does not survive the war. There are various theories and "interpretations" of the story. It is believed, pursuant to captured German documents, that Yakov is shot by a guard for disobeying orders. However, other variants of the story have him voluntarily throwing himself on the electrified wire surrounding the camp or getting into arguments with the British prisoners and then making some kind of disturbance.

Williams Air Force Base, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Williams Air Force Base, now known as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, sits on about 4,000 acres of land in Mesa, AZ. It is about 30 miles southeast of Phoenix. Williams AFB was established on July 16, 1941. It was used during World War II for training fighter pilots. It was named after Charles Linton Williams, who was born in Arizona and was a pilot. Over 26,500 men and women passed through the base and earned their wings.
Allied Relations: General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French, is startled at his headquarters in Brazzaville when he receives a copy of the Treaty of Saint-Jean D'Acre that ended the war in the Levant. He cannot believe that it makes no mention of the Free French at all. In a fit of pique, he repudiates it. However, he quickly is brought to his senses and ultimately channels his anger into advocating for the self-determination of the peoples of Lebanon and Syria - something the British already have decided to do.

US/German/Italian Relations: US Navy transport USS West Point (formerly the SS America) anchors off Staten Island and embarks 137 Italian and 327 German citizens. They are former employees of the consulates that the United States closed during the recent "consulate war." At 14:55, the West Point raises its anchor and proceeds to Lison, where the quarantined foreign nationals will be dropped off.

Anne Frank, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Ann Frank and Otto Frank, Laurens Nieuwenhuis (Miep’s foster father), hand in hand with his granddaughter Irene. Walking behind him are, from left to right: Anna Nieuwenhuis (Miep’s foster mother), Otto Frank, Anne Frank and Esther (an office worker at Opekta). Bep Voskuil. This is on 16 July 1941, the wedding day of Jan and Miep Gies.
German/Swedish Relations: After hearing some intelligence reports of Swedish ships at Göteburg loading steel for trade with Great Britain, the Germans warn Sweden not to permit any ships to head there or face invasion.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's personal emissary Harry Hopkins arrives by air in London.

US Military: Chief of Staff General Marshall instructs General "Hap" Arnold, commander of the US Army Air Force, to send reinforcements to the Philippines, including B-17 bombers.

British Military: Captain J.A.V. Morse is named Naval Officer in Charge of Syrian ports with his headquarters at Beirut.

Vichy French Military: General Weygand becomes governor-general of Algeria.

Hermann and Auguste van Pels, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Hermann and Auguste van Pels in Amsterdam on the day of Jan and Miep Gies’ wedding, July 16, 1941. They hide with Anne Frank and her family in the annex in Amsterdam. They both perish late in the war, Hermann at Auschwitz, Auguste at Theresienstadt (Anne Frank Foundation).
Soviet Military: In another twist in a very long road of the power of commissars, every Soviet command once again is provided with both a military and a political commander of equal responsibility. These commissars have no military training, but they have a lot of opinions and their own channels to Moscow. If the military commander does not do what they say or acts "improperly," the commissars and will denounce them. This gives the commissars outsized power and influence over military commanders, who ignore them at their peril.

Commissar of State Security 3rd Rank (19.07.1941) (the equivalent rank of Lieutenant General) Mikheev Anatoly Nikolaevich, head of the political side of the Kyiv Military District, provides an excellent example of how this works today when he accuses NKO Commissar/Marshal Semyon Timoshenko of treason. Mikheev points out the obvious, that Timoshenko had connections with General Pavlov and other executed "traitors," though his real motivations in making the charge may have nothing to do with that. Stalin begins to look at Timoshenko a bit differently and eventually takes away his title of NKO Commissar. However, Timoshenko remains in good standing, more or less, and gradually satisfies Stalin's suspicions.

Strip mining in Illinois, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
"Coal Mining in Illinois, Strip mining photos," Coal City Public Library, July 16, 1941 (Photo printed by Douglas-Edwards Camera Shop, Joliet, IL)
German Government: At Fuhrer Headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia, Hitler convenes a meeting of his cronies: Hermann Goering, Keitel, Alfred Rosenberg, Bormann, and Hans Lammers (head of the Reich Chancellery). They contemplate something that was never decided before Operation Barbarossa: how to divide up the certain-to-be-conquered Soviet Union.

While plans remain vague, Hitler foresees Germany occupying all of the Soviet Union up to the Urals. He plans to keep the choicest and most strategic prizes for German, including Ukraine (necessary for its food production), the Crimea (as a tourist resort for Germans), the Baltic States (which have many ethnic Germans), the Baku oil fields (Germany has no indigenous oil fields), and the Kola Peninsula in the far north (considered important strategically). Of course, Germany hasn't conquered any of these places yet, but that is considered just a matter of time. Hitler also plans to annex Finland ultimately into the Greater Reich, but the time being will allow it to have its cherished territory of East Karelia.

Hitler confirms Rosenberg's appointment as Reich Minister for Occupied Eastern Territories.

Japanese Government: The Imperial Headquarters-Cabinet Liaison Conference has decided to attack south, rather than north toward Vladivostok, Russa as the Germans want. Foreign minister Matsuoka, however, greatly favors the northern strategy and drops some hints to both the Soviets and the Americans that it will join the attack on the USSR. The Soviet ambassador is startled and demands assurances that the recently signed non-aggression pact between the two countries will be honored. This causes a rift within the Japanese government, and Prince Fumimaro Konoye (Konoe) resigns to form a new cabinet - without Matsuoka. The ironic thing about this sequence of events is that Matsuoka's strategy has a lot to offer - more than drawing the United States into the war, at least.

Miep and Jan Gies, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Miep and Jan Gies on their wedding day, 16 July 1941.
Holocaust: The Petain government ordains that no more than 2% of lawyers can be Jewish.

The Wehrmacht permits men who are 50% Jewish or married to women who are 50% Jewish to serve.

Miep Gies gets married. Gies is one of the Dutch citizens who will hide Anne Frank and her family and four other Jews in an annex in Amsterdam. This marriage gives Gies Dutch citizenship and prevents her deportation back to the Reich where she is a citizen.

American Homefront: The New York Yankees travel to Cleveland to play the Indians at League Park. Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio goes 3-4 against pitchers Al Milnar and Joe Krakauska. While not known now, this is the last game of DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak This record is never broken, and never even approached.

Joe DiMaggio, 16 July 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, hitting in his 56th consecutive game in Cleveland, July 16, 1941 (BL-5595-95, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library).


July 1941

July 1, 1941: US TV Broadcasting Starts
July 2, 1941: MAUD Report
July 3, 1941: Stalin Speaks
July 4, 1941: Pogroms in Eastern Europe
July 5, 1941: Germans on Schedule
July 6, 1941: Australians Attack Damour
July 7, 1941: US Marines in Iceland
July 8, 1941: Flying Fortresses In Action
July 9, 1941: British Take Damour
July 10, 1941: Sword and Scabbard Order
July 11, 1941: Cease-fire in Syria and Lebanon
July 12, 1941: Anglo/Russian Assistance Pact
July 13, 1941: Uprising in Montenegro
July 14, 1941: Katyusha Rocket Launchers in Action
July 15, 1941: Smolensk Falls
July 16, 1941: Stalin's Son Captured
July 17, 1941: Heydrich Orders Mass Executions
July 18, 1941: Twin Pimples Raid
July 19, 1941: V for Victory
July 20, 1941: The Man Who Wouldn't Shoot
July 21, 1941: Moscow in Flames
July 22, 1941: Soviet Generals Executed
July 23, 1941: Secret Plan JB 355
July 24, 1941: Operation Sunrise
July 25, 1941: US Naval Alert
July 26, 1941: Italian E-Boat Attack on Malta
July 27, 1941: MacArthur Returns
July 28, 1941: Auschwitz Exterminations
July 29, 1941: Rescue From Crete
July 30, 1941: Raid on Petsamo and Kirkenes
July 31, 1941: Final Solution Order

2020

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe

Sunday 15 June 1941

Operation Battleaxe 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Soldiers of the 4th Indian Division decorate their truck during Operation Battleaxe, North Africa. 15 June 1941. "Hell-Fire Pass" is the common British nickname for Halfaya Pass.
Syrian/Lebanon Campaign: After a two-day battle, on 15 June 1941 Australian troops of the 21st Brigade walk into Sidon after the Vichy French retreat during the night. While a bit of a hollow victory, it is still a victory and solidifies Australian/British control over the vital coast.

The Battle of Kissoué begins at 04:00 when 5th Indian Infantry Brigade troops (Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd) begin a frontal assault on the town, which is a key stop on the road to Damascus. By 08:30, the Indian troops take the town, and by 09:00, they are probing the hills beyond. By 10:00, the Indian troops have taken Tel Kissoué slightly further north, and Free French marines occupy Mokelbe on the river along the flank. The Free French forces then advance across the river into the hills beyond and take Jebel Kelb, but then run into determined Vichy French resistance at Jebel Abou Atriz just beyond. An artillery battle develops on the extreme right flank, stopping a sortie by Free French tanks. A large Vichy French force then sorties out of Damascus, and other Vichy French advance from the east and take Ezraa.

Brigadier Lloyd then decides that the best defense is a good offense. He sends two companies of Free French troops to the south to hold the Vichy French advancing from the east and orders the Indian brigade to march on Damascus. The Indian troops make some ground, taking Aartouz on the left flank and severing Vichy French lines of communication. As the day ends, the entire sector is in the midst of a wild melee with no clear winner and pockets of troops of both sides scattered in the hills to the south of Damascus.

At Merdjayoun (Merjayun), the Vichy French attack the Australian troops who have been left behind while the main forces moves toward the coast. The French recapture Merdjayoun, but lose a number of their Renault R35 tanks to British 25-pounder anti-tank guns. The French advance stalls after this. Another French counterattack at Jezzine is beaten off.

Overhead, French Dewotine D.520 fighters bounce six Gloster Gladiators above Kissoué and shoot one Gladiator down (Fl-Off J. N. Craigie) and badly damage another. The French lose two fighters, one of which crash-lands at Rayak airfield and is destroyed.

Offshore, Vichy French destroyers Guephard and Valmy once again sortie out of Beirut Harbor. They run into Royal Navy destroyers HMS Jervis and Kimberley, and after a brief fight, the French destroyers retreat back into the harbor. Vichy French bombers attack light cruisers Phoebe and Leander and destroyers Ilex, Isis and Hasty while they are bombarding Sidon. Isis is damaged by a near miss and proceeds to Haifa, and thence to Singapore until 1942.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber command sends 23 aircraft on anti-shipping missions. RAF Bomber Command also sends 35 bombers to the oil refinery at Hamburg, with 26 reaching the target. After dark, another 91 aircraft attack Cologne, 31 attack Dusseldorf and 16 bombers attack Hannover.

German tanker Lothringen 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
German tanker Lothringen, captured 15 June 1941.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy winds up its destruction of the German supply network (the "Etappendienst") in the Atlantic. Aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle disable 10,746-ton German tanker Lothringen, allowing cruiser HMS Dunedin to capture it. The entire crew survives. The tanker is renamed Empire Salvage and used by the Royal Navy. The Lothingren had been seized from the Dutch while under construction.

Acting on Ultra intelligence, Royal Navy submarine HMS Thunderbolt conducts a rare attack on another submarine. It fires a six-torpedo spread at U-557 (Oblt. Ottokar Paulssen), but all six torpedoes miss. U-557, operating with Wolfpack West, never even notices. The two submarines will meet again on 15 December 1941, incidentally, with the tables turned.

The RAF bombs and sinks Danish freighter Hans Broge about 15 nautical miles (28 km) southwest of Texel, Northern Holland. The Hans Broge is later refloated and used for target purposes.

British 7-ton fishing boat Audacious hits a mine and blows up in the Thames Estuary south of Great Wakering. There is one survivor.

U.S. Navy Task Force 3, under command of Rear Admiral Jonas H. Ingram, begins patrol operations from the Brazilian ports of Recife and Bahia. The force consists of four Omaha (CL 4)-class light cruisers and five destroyers.

Convoy OB-336 departs from Liverpool.

Transports 26,454-ton USS West Point (Captain Frank H. Kelley, Jr., Ap-23, formerly liner America) and 33,560-ton Wakefield (AP-21, formerly liner Manhattan) are commissioned.


Troop transport USS West Point 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Troop transport USS West Point in camouflage gray paint, 15 June 1941 (Photo No. 19-N-24557 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command). The West Point is the converted SS America, constructed in 1940. Retaking its original name after the war, SS America wrecked on the Canary Islands in 1994 and parts of it remain visible at low tide.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Battleaxe, the latest British attempt to push the Germans and Italians back from the Egyptian frontier, begins. Lt. General Noel Beresford-Peirse sends his troops forward around 02:00 and they attack around dawn. It is a long day of attacks and counterattacks, with the British taking ground but scoring no breakthroughs.

At 05:15, Brigadier Reginald Savory leads Coast Force toward Halfaya Pass. His force has Halfaya Group (2nd Battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, the 13 tanks (twelve Matildas and one light tank) of C Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment) on the escarpment overlooking the pass. Advancing from the east are the 1st Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles and 2nd Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, two troops of A Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment and a few 25-pounder guns.

Opposing them in Halfaya Pass are 15th Panzer Division and assorted German and Italian infantry. British artillery fails to correctly position itself in time to launch a preparatory bombardment, so the British tanks attack at the top of the pass without artillery support at 06:00. The forewarned German and Italian troops - the Germans intercepted news of the offensive from careless Australian wireless transmissions before midnight - quickly open up with anti-tank fire that knocks out all but one of the advancing British Matilda tanks and one light tank.

The German troops respond quickly with a counterattack led by armored cars and motorized infantry in Halfaya Pass. At Fort Capuzzo, the British 7th Royal Tank Regiment has early success, but 8th Panzer Regiment of the 15th Panzer Division launches several counterattacks that the British tank regiment and 22nd Guards Brigade blunt with great difficulty. The British wind up with Fort Capuzzo. Rommel, however, is keeping the bulk of the 15th Panzer Division back for defensive purposes.

A map diagram of Operation Battleaxe 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
A map diagram of Operation Battleaxe, 15-17 June 1941.
The Germans use a favored tactic of launching feints against the British, such as with the 8th Panzer Regiment. These draw the British forward onto concealed anti-tank guns, which blast the advancing tanks from point-blank range. Five British tanks advancing up along Hafid Ridge are knocked out by German 88 mm flak guns being used as anti-tank artillery. Another 11 Crusader tanks are destroyed and six damaged a little later. Late in the day, the 5th Panzer Regiment of the 5th Light Division sends forward 30 panzers to solidify the defenses.

However, when all is said and done, the British overall score minor gains along the frontier during the and take over 500 German and Italian prisoners. The British now hold Fort Capuzzo, but fail to take Halfaya Pass and Hafid Ridge.

The British problem is not their minimal gains, but their very real losses in armor and infantry. They have lost dozens of tanks, with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment down to 20 cruiser tanks and the 6th Royal Tank Regiment down to 20 out of its original 50 Crusader tanks. The 4th Armoured Brigade winds up with only 48 of its starting allotment of 100 tanks (after 11 are repaired overnight). Perhaps just as importantly, the Germans chase the British off the battlefield and prevent the British from recovering their damaged tanks, of which there are many. Among the British tank losses is that of Major Miles, the Commander of "C" Squadron.

The British learn the expensive lesson that their tanks are no match for German 88 mm guns. The Matildas and others also are out-ranged and outgunned by the panzers, and many of the British shots bounce off the panzers' armor. Panzer shells, however, have little trouble destroying British tanks.

Overhead, Luftwaffe I./JG 27, 7./JG 26 and 8./ZG 26 shoot down eight Hawker Hurricanes and two bombers at a cost of two Bf 109s.

The biggest lesson from the first day of Operation Battleaxe, though, is the importance of knowing when your opponent is going to attack. This is a luxury that the British usually have due to Ultra, but in this instance, the tables are turned and the Germans and Italians are the ones who know the enemy's intentions. This enables the Germans to position and man their anti-tank guns along projected axes of the British advance and implement tactics to draw the British tanks into kill zones. The British, incidentally, generally are in the dark about Rommel's intentions because he operates independently from OKW in Berlin and often communicates with his troops directly or via messengers.

The British plan to resume their offensive on the 16th. General Rommel, on the other hand, brings up his 5th Light Division to Sidi Aziz during the evening and night and plans an attack on the advancing British from the rear in order to loosen the stress on the Axis troops defending Halfaya Pass. He orders them to attack before dawn, along with a frontal attack on Fort Capuzzo to pin down the leading elements of the British advance, because he knows from intercepts that the British intend to attack just after dawn.

Elsewhere, in a classic demonstration of the durability of Catalina flying boats, one flying near Gibraltar fights off four Axis planes. The attackers lose one plane, which crashes in Portugal.

General Ritchie takes up his position as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Middle East Command.

Australian Squadron Leader Peter Turnbull 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
 Australian Squadron Leader Peter Turnbull atop the Martin Maryland 167 he shot down on 15 June 1941 over Sheik Meskine. The victory, in a Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks, was Turnbull's fifth, making him an ace and thus meriting a celebration. Turnbull later earns the DFC for his service (Edmunds Collection-PVR Image)
Battle of the Pacific: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Emerald collides with light cruiser Dauntless near Malacca Light. Both ships proceed to Singapore for repairs.

Spy Stuff:  The US government arrests Japanese naval officer Itaru Tachibana and Charlie Chaplin's former valet, Toraichi Kono for espionage. It is a joint operation by the FBI and Office of Naval Intelligence, and evidence is obtained via a break-in of the Japanese consulate in San Francisco. This becomes known as the "Tachibana Affair." The raid yields a large amount of evidence that effectively destroys the Japanese espionage network on the U.S. West Coast. The US agents, led by Lt. Cdr. Kenneth Duval Ringle, learn to their surprise that the Japanese agents look down on American Japanese as cultural traitors who are not to be trusted.

Axis Relations: The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH) becomes the final country to sign the Tripartite Pact. While nominally an independent nation ruled by the Duke of Savoy, Ante Pavelić controls the country. There now are nine signatories of the Pact, including Germany, Italy, Japan (the original three), Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union has asked to join the Pact, but Germany has ignored them. Germany does want Finland to sign, but the Finnish Government knows that signing it would produce a crisis in relations with the United States (with which it is never at war).

Anglo/US Relations: Winston Churchill sends President Roosevelt a cable warning that the Japanese are preparing an attack toward the southern Pacific sometime later in the year. Churchill asks Roosevelt to station warships in Singapore in order to deter a Japanese attack there, which, all things considered in light of later developments, is not such a bad idea.

Italian/Hungarian Relations: Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano informs the Foreign Minister of Hungary that the Soviet Union is poised to attack Hungary. Neither man knows about Operation Barbarossa, though there is a possibility that their national leaders do to one extent or another.

German Military: Wehrmacht troops continue assembling in their forward positions for Operation Barbarossa. U-boats in the Baltic are given permission to begin attacking any Soviet warships they spot - but there aren't very many of those at sea. These sinkings, if there are any, are to be excused as "accidents." This is reminiscent of the Kriegsmarine ordering its U-boats to sea on 15 August 1939 in preparation for the attack on Poland.

US Military: The US Navy commissions its new Naval Air Station (NAS) at Kodiak, Alaska. This NAS in the Aleutian Islands has been under construction since September 1939. It is to become home to PBY patrol squadrons which patrol 4,000,000 square miles covering the Gulf of Alaska, Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea, and Alaska's Pacific coast.

General Miles Dempsey takes command of the 46th Infantry Division.

an troops execute 10 Polish hostages in German-occupied Gąbin 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
German troops execute 10 Polish hostages in German-occupied Gąbin, 15 June 1941.
German Government: Adolf Hitler spends the day at home in Berlin with his cronies, including Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. He is in a good mood, laughing at Goebbels' jokes and biding his time until Operation Barbarossa opens in one week's time. The Wehrmacht is used to receiving delays in its invasions, such as of Poland in 1939 and France, Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940, but Hitler has no intention of delaying his grand design.

Hitler, for all his confidence, is having trouble falling asleep. He spends the early morning hours rambling with his attentive minions. This is a pattern that will recur frequently in the coming months, and at times become his daily habit. His personal physician, however, has sedatives for when he really needs some rest.

China: The Japanese bomb Nationalist capital Chungking (Chongqing) again. US gunboat USS Tutuila (PR-4) is docked in the river and some bombs land nearby. Some slight damage to the US Embassy there results. After the US files a diplomatic protest, Japanese Admiral Shimada Shigetaro issues an apology and tells the Americans that it was "not intentional." The US also complains in general about Japanese raids on the civilian population of Chungking.

Holocaust: In German-occupied Gąbin, Poland, German troops stage a public execution of 10 Polish hostages.

 The first match of the national football team of Croatia, played against Germany in Vienna 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
German striker Hans Fiederer (on the right) shoots at the Croatian goal, which is devotedly defended by Miroslav Brozović (on the left) and goalkeeper Franjo Glaser (on the ground). The first match of the national football team of Croatia, played against Germany in Vienna, 15 June 1941.
German Homefront: The first football game between Germany and Croatia is played at the Vienna's Prater Stadium. Germany wins 5-1.

American Homefront: Reflecting a pessimistic tone to many commencement speeches this year, James B. Conant, President of Harvard University and recently head of a mission to Great Britain on behalf of President Roosevelt, says to the graduating class of Harvard:
It is conceivable that the next fifty years for the United States will be as black as the last year has been for France.
He also somewhat cheerlessly notes that the Draft will cause "for most of you some frustration of your ambitions."

Future History: Harry Edward Nilsson III is born in Brooklyn, New York. He becomes a top recording star during the 1960s and 1970s, having big hits with albums Nilsson Schmilsson (1971) and Son of Schmilsson (1972). He also is known for being close friends with John Lennon and Ringo Starr. Harry Nilsson passes away on 15 January 1994 at age 52.

Neal Adams is born on Governors Island, Manhattan, New York. He becomes a top comic book and commercial artist, working for DC Comics and Marvel among others. He creates the definitive portrayals of characters Batman and Green Arrow. As of this writing, Neal Adams continues to work on various projects, including a "Deadman" limited series.

Essy Persson 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
Essy Persson becomes a Swedish film star.
Essy Ingeborg Vilhelmina Persson is born in Gothenburg, Sweden. Essy works as a secretary while studying to be an actress and gets parts in Stockholm City Theater beginning in 1963. Essy Persson makes her film debut in "Jeg - en kvinde" ("I - A Woman") (1965), a seminal Swedish erotic drama. The film becomes an international success, and  Essy makes additional appearances through the 1980s on television and in such films as "Mission Stardust" (1967), "Therese and Isabelle" (1968), "Das Rasthaus der Grausamen Puppen" (1967), and "Cry of the Banshee" (1970). Persson concentrates on Swedish television productions later in her career, the last in 1987. As her career in film dries up, Essy Persson studies art at Konsthögskolan Valand and Konstfack from 1981 to 1984. Essy then becomes a painter, which craft she apparently continues as of 2018.

German soldiers on vacation 15 June 1941 worldwartwo.filminspector.com
German soldiers on leave in East Prussia, 15 June 1941 (Federal Archive N 963 Bild-14-12A).

June 1941

June 1, 1941: Farhud Pogrom
June 2, 1941: Massacres on Crete
June 3, 1941: Kandanos Massacre
June 4, 1941: Kaiser Wilhelm Passes Away
June 5, 1941: Death in Chungking
June 6, 1941: Hitler's Commissar Order
June 7, 1941: Commandos Strike at Pessac
June 8, 1941: British Invade Syria and Lebanon
June 9, 1941: Litani River Battle
June 10, 1941: British Take Assab
June 11, 1941: Hitler Thinking Beyond Russia
June 12, 1941: St. James Agreement
June 13, 1941: Lützow Damaged
June 14, 1941: Latvian June Deportations
June 15, 1941: Operation Battleaxe
June 16, 1941: The Old Lion
June 17, 1941: British Spanked in North Africa
June 18, 1941: Turkey Turns Its Back
June 19, 1941: Cheerios Introduced
June 20, 1941: Birth of US Army Air Force
June 21, 1941: Damascus Falls
June 22, 1941: Germany Invades Russia
June 23, 1941: A Soviet KV Tank Causes Havoc
June 24, 1941: Kaunas and Vilnius Fall
June 25, 1941: Finland Declares War
June 26, 1941: Bombing of Kassa
June 27, 1941: Encirclement At Minsk
June 28, 1941: Minsk Falls
June 29, 1941: Brest Fortress Falls
June 30, 1941: Mölders Becomes Top Ace

2020