Tuesday 11 March 1941

President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill, one of the most consequential laws of the 20th Century (Library of Congress).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues on 11 March 1941. However, what little impetus the attack managed on its first two days is now gone. The center of the offensive, at Monastery Hill, is proving an immovable barrier to the Italians. The Italian Puglie Division attempts to flank Monastery Hill, but this fails and the division is withdrawn and replaced with the Bari Division.

East African Campaign: The British at Keren continue to build their forces for another attempt to take the town. Much further south, British forces continue to move further through the barren country toward Addis Ababa.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe bombs Birmingham, Manchester, and Salford after dark. Manchester United's Old Trafford football stadium is very nearly demolished in an attack by 135 bombers that drop 830 incendiaries. The attack on Manchester's port damaged a number of British ships:

• 6004-ton Contractor
• 6133-ton Novelist
• 7917-ton Markhor
• 1189 ton Stella (Swedish, sunk but refloated and repaired) 

The Luftwaffe also bombs Portsmouth during the night of 10/11 March. The German bombs kill ten Royal Navy officers and damages destroyer HMS Witherington at its jetty. The Witherington has to be beached on a mudflat and is later repaired. Destroyer HMS Tynedale also is damaged by near misses, but the repairs are effected in just nine days. Destroyer HMS Sherwood also is damaged. Minesweeping trawler HMT Revello is sunk (one death), but later refloated and repaired. Four other minesweeping trawlers and monitor Marshall Soult also are damaged.

During the day, the Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the North Sea and damages destroyer HMS Cattistock. The German aircraft also damage 7900-ton British ship Royal Star at Stonehaven and sink 163-ton British trawler Aberdeen in Cardigan Bay (8 men killed).

RAF Bomber Command raids Kiel during the night with 27 bombers.

Winston Churchill and US Ambassador, John G. Winant sign the Lend-Lease Agreement, London, 11 March 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Berlin, the Atlantic cruise of German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, continues. While not sinking a lot of ships, the cruisers' mere presence in the Atlantic is scrambling Royal Navy deployments. Far out in the Atlantic, the cruisers rendezvous with tankers Ermland and Uckermark. The operation's commander, Admiral Lütjens, holds a conference on his flagship, the Gneisenau, with the captains of all of the ships.

Lütjens then receives a message from Berlin: proceed to Brest, France. The reason for this (which means crossing the convoy routes again) is to provide a diversion for a contemplated break out into the Atlantic of heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper. In addition, the Operation Berlin cruisers can prepare in port for the expected breakout later in the spring of battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen. Once all of the German heavy ships are together in the Atlantic, they will constitute an overpowering force - at least, that is the plan.

U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) is operating 370 km west of Cape Blanco, French West Africa when it spots 7506-ton British ore freighter Menmon. At 15:46, Oesten pumps a torpedo into the ship's starboard side. The 62-man crew immediately abandons ship, which sinks quickly as is typical with ships with heavy cargo. Oesten pumps a second torpedo into Memnon, which sinks after fifteen minutes. There are four deaths (five if counting a man lost on the journey to shore), and many of the survivors in two lifeboats make a heroic journey to Dakar and Sierra Leone. Four survivors eventually are picked up by Gneisenau. This is the start of an extraordinarily successful second patrol by U-106.

U-37 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen) spots an Icelandic trawler, 97-ton Frodi, about 200 miles (300 km) southeast of Reykjavik. Clausen opts not to waste a torpedo on the small fishing trawler and surfaces to give his crew some practice with the deck gun. The gun does a lot of damage, killing five crew, but the Frodi escapes and makes it back to Reykjavik.

German torpedo boats remain active in the waters off Great Yarmouth. S-28 attacks local Convoy FS 32 and sinks 5257-ton British freighter Trevethoe. There is one death.

Convoy HX 114 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 114 departs from Bermuda.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Offa is launched and corvette HMS Pennywort is laid down.

Damage to Old Trafford due to the bombing of 11 March 1941. The stadium will not be repaired and reopened until 1949.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, flies back to Germany for a meeting with Hitler at the Fuhrer Headquarters. He learns that his 5th Light Division, now largely in place in Tripoli (its Panzer regiment unloads in Tripoli today), soon will be joined by the 15th Panzer Division. Once both divisions are fully assembled, Rommel is to advance eastward and recover Benghazi. Already, the Germans have 150 tanks in Tripolitania. Pursuant to Hitler's 18 February 1941 decision, the tanks have been up-gunned to carry 50-75 mm guns. The antiaircraft forces have 88 mm guns which can double as land artillery or even, in exceptional emergency cases, anti-tank weapons.

The RAF raids Tripoli and its harbor area. Other planes attack Italian/German installations throughout Tripolitania. The RAF also attacks the Italian bases at Rhodes.

Greek destroyer Psara claims the sinking of an Italian submarine off Falconera. However, it is unclear what, if any, ship it sank.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe launches a heavy raid against Sliema, a residential district on the west coast that has received little attention in the war so far. There are 21 deaths and 16 badly wounded.

Convoy AS 18 departs from Piraeus, Convoy AN 19 departs from Alexandria, Convoy BS 18A departs from Port Sudan, Convoy BS 19 departs from Suez.

Anglo/US Relations: With the Lend-Lease Bill finally having made it through Congress after lengthy debate, President Roosevelt signs Public Law 11 of the 77th Congress into law at 15:50 in the afternoon. The law in its initial form grants the President the power to authorize $7 billion in shipments of war goods without payment by the recipients or anyone else - at least not until the recipients are able to pay. This is a dramatic reversal of the Neutrality Act of 1939 when munitions shipments were banned.

Long expecting passage, the US Army and Navy immediately begin shipping items to Great Britain. While the British are the prime recipients of aid under the bill, it is not limited to Great Britain. China, Greece and other opponents of Hitler present and future (such as the Soviet Union) also are eligible for aid under the terms of the law (once they actually are opposing Hitler, which the USSR is not as of yet). Roosevelt wastes no time: he almost immediately sends Congress an order for the full $7 billion in war material.

Averell Harriman is President Roosevelt's latest personal envoy to Great Britain. He leaves by air for London.

Terrorism: Great Britain's former Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Bulgaria, George William Rendel, is in Istanbul following the severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries (Rendel is ultimately heading to a similar post in Yugoslavia). He is just settling into his room in the Pera Palace Hotel, with his luggage still in the baggage room, when there is a tremendous explosion. Rendel's daughter Ann is slightly injured and four others are killed due to a bomb planted in Rendel's luggage.

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky during the war.

Soviet Military: The Stavka (Soviet High Command) continues to plan for an offensive west into German territory upon the outbreak of war (which is assumed to be initiated by the Germans). In the latest Strategic Deployment Plan, Deputy Commander of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff Aleksandr Vasilevsky proposes to put the main Soviet weight in the direction of southern Poland. Somewhat prophetically, the plan envisages hostilities beginning on 12 June 1941. The Germans, meanwhile, are arming their north and south prongs heaviest, while leaving the center - the area Vasilevskiy proposes to attack the hardest - relatively weak. Timoshenko, Zhukov, and Molotov meet with Stalin to discuss how to orient the troops.

Belgium: Jews are required to register for forced labor.

Yugoslavia: Reflecting the unsettled nature of politics in the country, there are anti-German demonstrations in Belgrade.

Indochina: Today is the official signing of the Frontier Agreement between the Vichy French and the Thai government. Symbolically, the agreement is completed aboard a Japanese warship in the Gulf of Siam. While the Thais get all the territory in Laos and Cambodia on the right side of the Mekong River that they originally sought, the Japanese are the real winners: they get basing rights for their planes at Saigon, a monopoly on Indochinese rice production, and a chance to show the world who really dominates the Far East.

China: The Western Hupei Operation basically ends as a great success for the Japanese. The 13th Division has chased the Chinese back toward Chunking and devastated a large area to the south and west of the Yangtze River. Many civilians perish during such terror raids, which the Japanese specialize in.

British Homefront: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, searches for eloquence in his diary about the conditions in England:

London is drab and grey. There is a tough and determined spirit, but the colour and gaiety have gone. In squares like Berkeley Square, houses ruined, windows boarded up. The shops everywhere with windows reduced to peep holes.... One feels the hurry and pressure of events. Sandbags in the doorways, ground floor windows bricked up; death around the corner. No more leisurely strolling about the Charing Cross Road book shops or sauntering in Piccadilly. But enough!

Menzie is extremely popular in London as a sort of possible alternative to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Not everybody is enamored with Churchill's single-minded obsession with orienting the entire country in a deathmatch with Hitler. Menzies drops a hint today in his diary that some are almost desperate for an alternative: he writes down that newspaperman Ronald Cross pleads with him, "We must not let you leave this country!" In fact, Menzies will remain in London for months, but he has no real power there and recognizes the authority of Churchill.

American Homefront: Football star Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, also a championship wrestler, regains his National Wrestling Association world title from Ray Steele.

Ray Steele, wearing the National Wrestling Association title belt that he has just won from Bronko Nagurski in March 1940. This is the belt that he loses back to Nagurski today, 11 March 1941. The other gentlemen in the photo are subject to some debate, but apparently, the fellow on the right is Col. Harry J. Landry, the first president of the NWA.

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

Tuesday 21 May 1940

A German patrol in the silent streets of Luxembourg, potato mashers, pistols and rifles at the ready. 21 May 1940.

Western Front: A small force of British and French tanks counterattacks Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer Division in front of Arras on 21 May 1940. It is one of the very few counterattacks by the Allies.

Major-General Harold Franklyn commands tank forces in the Arras area of the British 5th Infantry Division, the 50 Infantry Division and the French 3rd Light Mechanized Division. The Allied high commands have not formulated a coordinated plan to pinch off the German spearhead, so he essentially is acting on his own despite large nearby French armored forces, including some of the SOMUA S35 heavy tanks that had proven superior at the Battle of Hannut. Franklyn's mission is muddled: he is not told of a clear objective, just to attack. In the event, he assumes that his mission is to relieve Arras, not re-establish vital communications to the south with France.

Franklyn sends in 74 Matilda tanks and 14 light tanks, keeping the strong French tanks for flank protection. He achieves surprise. The British Matilda tanks stand up quite well to standard German antitank guns. Radio communication is poor, and the tanks are not adequately supported in a modern combined-arms fashion. The British make some early gains. Rommel's 7th Panzer Division is vulnerable because he has sent units ahead, bypassing Arras - and leaving his center weak. If there is one weakness of Rommel's style of leadership, this is it.

As is often the case with unexpectedly powerful enemy tanks, the Germans always have an ace in their pocket with their 88 mm (3.46 in) FlaK guns and 105 mm (4.1 in) field guns). While not particularly mobile, they are devastating when used over open sights against nearby ground targets - at great risk to the guns' crews, of course. In addition, Rommel's penchant for stringing out his forces - which so panics his tradition-minded superiors - pays massive dividends. Rommel is able to recall an advanced panzer regiment which returns and takes the advancing British in a devastating flank attack.

The British tanks falter, then retreat, harassed by the Luftwaffe all the way. The British lose 60 of their 88 tanks, while Rommel only loses 89 killed, 110 wounded and 173 missing. It is a huge tactical defensive victory for the Wehrmacht. However, the attack greatly impresses the German OKW high command - and particularly Hitler. It might have made some real impact if coordinated with de Gaulle's abortive attack from the south on 19 May.

The Battle of Arras has long-lasting effects. One theory of German tank development is that this encounter at Arras so impresses Hitler with the superiority of heavily armored British tanks that he puts in place the design program that ultimately leads to the Panzer VI Tiger Tank of 1942. The battle also is when the Allies begin to speak of "German 88s" with respect. The failure of the attack makes the senior British leadership - if not the French - even leerier about the BEF's prospects on the Continent. Finally, the ferocity of the attack is giving the top brass second thoughts about pressing home the attack against the quickly contracting First Army Group as it bellies up beside the sea.

To the southwest, General Guderian's panzers consolidate their hold on the Somme. The 1st Panzer, 2nd Panzer, and 10th Panzer Divisions take bridgeheads across the river. These will be quite handy when the time comes to head south.

The Germans besiege Maubeuge, west of Dinant on the River Sambre. The French Ninth Army, having lost its commander General Giraud when captured by German troops, is in a state of collapse.

French Commander-in-chief Weygand is continuing to "assess the situation." He goes to Ypres to meet with King Leopold, General Gaston Billotte, commander of the 1st Army Group, and General John Vereker Lord Gort, commander of the BEF. Billotte is depressed and pessimistic, and Gort misses the meeting entirely. After the meeting, Billotte - who has Weygand's plan in his head for a coordinated attack against Rommel's panzers from north and south - gets in a major car accident, leaving him in a coma and near death. Gort's Chief of Staff, not one to mince words, observes caustically, "With all respect, he's no loss to us in this emergency" - which is a bit unfair because Billotte was the key to the counterattack, which now does not take place. General Blanchard, heretofore in charge of French 1st Army, takes over as Cinc of 1st Army Group.

The gun camera still from Spitfire Mk I ZP-A records the first victory of acting F/L Adolph G "Sailor" Malan of No 74 Squadron RAF over Dunkirk on the early evening of 21 May 1940. Breaking out of the cloud at 17,000 ft, the 30-year-old South African leader of A Flight nearly rams a Heinkel He 111 before firing from 150 yds whilst in a banking turn. With debris and smoke issuing from the starboard engine and a wheel dropped, the claim still was categorized as unconfirmed.

European Air Operations: The RAF is in full battle mode. It attacks the German ground troops during the day and sends 124 bombers total (sources vary) to take out road and rail targets at night in Namur, Dinant, and Aachen, as well as the German troops outside Arras.

The RAF completes its evacuation from Belgium. Air cover over the BEF henceforth will originate from either France or England. This is not optimal for the gun-carrying infantry still trying to hold tenuous lines that keep shifting back toward the coast.

First victory of "Sailor" Malan of RAF No. 74 Squadron.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe catches French destroyer L’Adroit off Dunkirk and bombs and sinks it. They also sink - perhaps inadvertently - British hospital ship Maid of Kent off Dieppe, along with British ship Hubbastone at Dieppe.

British ship Firth Fisher hits a mine and sinks off Boulogne.

The British commission corvette HMS Hibiscus (K 24) (Lt. Commander Reginald Phillips).

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Orion rounds Cape Horn into the Pacific.

Norway: The German 2nd Mountain Division continues advancing past Mo i Rana toward Bodo and takes up positions on the north shore of the Rombaksfiord. Colonel Gubbins plans to mount a defense at Storjord, 20 miles (32 km) south of Rognan - if he can get the Scots Guards under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax to stop their retreat.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier Furious sends off 18 Gladiators of No. 263 Squadron and 18 Hurricanes of 46 Squadron to man a base at Bardufoss north of Narvik. Luftwaffe dominance of the northern Norway skies is becoming a problem, perhaps a decisive one. It is easy to question priorities since British fighters are being withdrawn from the decisive Western Front at the same time as they are being sent to the sideshow in northern Norway. This is just another indication of the tremendous strategic importance placed on the Swedish iron ores which flow through northern Norway at Narvik.

War Crimes: There are many anecdotal reports of Luftwaffe fighters and Stukas strafing refugees on the roads. Doing so would both block the roads and sow terror about the chilling new aerial weapons of the Luftwaffe - the Stukas have had air horns installed specifically to enhance the terror effect. These types of incidents are extremely difficult to prove, and they may not necessarily be intentional war crimes. However... intentionally targeting civilians in such a manner most definitely is a war crime.

German Military: Hitler and Raeder hold a conference. Raeder has radical ideas about naval strategy - he was the architect of the invasion of Norway, Operation Weserubung - and now he has another idea: invade Great Britain. This is the first record of anyone even broaching this topic in a serious manner. Hitler agrees with the proposal but also tells Commander-in-chief Brauchitsch and his chief of staff Halder that he wants to do a deal with Great Britain.

Soviet Military: General Alexander Vasilevsky becomes 1st Deputy Head of Operations Directorate of the Stavka.

USS Military: The submarine USS Trout is launched.

Gibraltar: Non-essential personnel being evacuated to England. Nobody knows Francisco Franco's intentions, and Gibraltar would be indefensible if Spain joins the Axis.
French Government: While the Generals as a group are almost moribund with pessimism, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud is full of vigor despite the "disaster," telling the Senate:

France cannot die! …. if I were told tomorrow that only a miracle could save France, I should reply: I believe in miracles because I believe in France!

His ultimate conclusion is that the problem facing the nation stems from failure to understand the recent evolution of military doctrine - something that Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle has become known for.

United States Government: President Roosevelt sends a secret executive order to FBI Director Edgar Hoover: wiretap foreign agent suspects. This includes members of foreign embassies and consulates. This is a highly controversial decision that is of dubious legality - especially with the US not at war with anyone.

Dutch Homefront: The influence of the German occupation already is being felt. Radio broadcaster AVRO dismisses its Jewish employees.

American Homefront: While the Germans and the Allies are locked in their brutal beat-down in Belgium and France, US journalists are able to provide stateside readers with accounts from both sides. Journalist William Shirer, for instance, is one of several US newspapermen accompanying the Wehrmacht on its glory ride. He notes rather tonelessly that "Our Wehrmacht officer guide is very complimentary to the French." It is not safe to report from the front, as the journalists are as exposed as anyone to air attacks.

Future History: Tony Sheridan is born in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He becomes famous as a singer after he collaborates with an unknown group known as The Beat Brothers in 1961. They release a single ("My Bonnie") that makes it to No. 5 on the German chart. This is not when he becomes famous as a result of the collaboration, but rather after The Beat Brothers change their name to The Beatles.

One of the RAF pilots evacuating from Belgium on 21 May 1940 is P/O Keith T Lofts (right). He had flown out with No 615 Squadron RAF from RAF Croydon to Merville on 15 November 1939, and today he returns with them from Moorsele to RAF Kenley. The 22-year-old pilot claimed 3 enemy aircraft damaged operating over France/Belgium, but the details have been lost. He later shares a He 111 with S/L Joseph R "Joe" Kayll on 22 June, the bomber coming down west of Rouen.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020