Monday 11 August 1941

Rita Hayworth in the 11 August 1941 issue of Life magazine. This shot by Bob Landry (there are a couple of slightly different versions) becomes a classic pin-up of World War II soldiers, second only to a Betty Grable photo from 1943.

Eastern Front: Adolf Hitler on 11 August 1941 reiterates that he wants the Wehrmacht to take Kiev before advancing on Moscow. To do this, Army Group Center is to divert forces to the south. With much grumbling and half-hearted cooperation, General Guderian and the other generals comply.

In the Far North sector, Finnish 15th Division, with 10th Division, capture Khitola (Khityola) just northwest of Lake Ladoga. This forces Soviet 142nd Rifle and 198th Motorized Division to withdraw into a "motti" (surrounded fortress) on the shores of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets there can serve as a thorn in the side of the Finnish advance toward Leningrad, with the availability of escape over the lake. In the center of the Karelian Isthmus, Finnish troops of IV Corps take Vuosalmi.

Finnish Group J of III Corps continues a rapid advance from Kestenga toward the Murmansk railway. Today, following the embankment of a spur line of the railway, it reaches the vicinity of the narrows between Yelovoye Lake and Lebedevo Lake. At this point, about 20 miles southwest of Loukhi, the Soviets make a stand and bring the Finns to a grinding halt. The Soviets are bringing in the 88th Rifle Division from Archangel (Arkhangelsk). Ordinarily, the arrival of one rifle division on the main front would mean little, but in the far north, it can have a huge impact. The Germans know something is up because they have been monitoring frantic Soviet radio traffic in the area, but they don't know what. The only question is if the Soviet defenders on the spot can hold out until the reinforcements arrive in a few days.

Another Finnish advance by Group F a little further south has become stalled at the Kis Kis River line on the Korpiyarvi-Ukhta Road. The Finns are attempting some probing attacks, but there are no signs of weakness.

In the Army Group North sector, the Germans continue pushing across the Luga River toward Leningrad.

In the Army Group Center sector, Red Army counterattacks continue at Yelnya. Guderian continues sending his panzers south to Gomel.

In the Army Group South sector, the Hungarian air force attacks Nikolayev. They manage to destroy a key bridge which eliminates a prime escape route for retreating Soviet soldiers (there are only three crossings on the entire southern section of the Dnepr River).

Soviet auxiliary river gunboats Issa, Plyussa, and Surop are lost today while in action on rivers within the Soviet Union. Soviet monitor SB-37 (Zhemchuzin) is heavily damaged by German panzers and artillery on the Dnepr River. SB-37 is a total write-off and scuttled on the 12th. Incidentally, there is some confusion about this sinking of SB-37. It often is confused with a completely separate Soviet warship sunk in the Arctic Ocean by U-451 on 10 August (that one is Soviet corvette  Zhemchug No. 27).

Newsweek, 11 August 1941. "U.S. Women Answer Call of National Defense."

European Air Operations: There is little activity during the day aside from training and the usual reconnaissance.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Rotterdam, Krefeld, and Monchengladbach.

The Rotterdam raid is completed with 31 Hampden and 3 Wellington bombers. They target the dockyards. All of the bombers, including another bomber that goes to Antwerp, return safely. This raid is notable because Hampdens of RAF No. 50 Squadron drop 500 pounds of teas intended for civilians as a "gift" from the Dutch East Indies.

The Krefeld raid is made with 20 Hampdens and 9 Whitleys. They target railway marshaling yards. Bombing accuracy is terrible due to clouds over the target, and only one bomber even claims to hit the target. All of the planes return safely.

The Monchengladbach raid is completed with 29 Wellington bombers. This raid is almost identical to the Krefeld raid, as the bombers target railway yards, find cloud cover, and bomb at random.

The RAF uses two Wellington bombers to test out the new Gee navigational device during this raid. The test is a success, and plans are made to perform further tests over the next two nights.

Time, 11 August 1941. "[Sumner] Welles, Under Secretary of State."

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet minesweeper T-213 "Krambol" hits a mine and sinks off Cape Yuminda.

The Soviets use motor torpedo boats to intentionally sink Soviet destroyer Karl Marx at Loxa Bight, Estonia. It was damaged by the Luftwaffe on 8 August 1941.

Before dawn, German 2nd S-Boat Flotilla lays 24 mines in minefield Allirahu in Riga Bay. After dark, German 5th M-Boat Flotilla lays 45 EMC mines in minefield Pinnassi I, Pinnassi II, and Pinnassi III off Cape Domesnas.

"The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and Lord Beaverbrook leave HMS PRINCE OF WALES to say good-bye to President Roosevelt aboard USS AUGUSTA. This photograph was taken during a series of meetings between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill on board HMS PRINCE OF WALES and USS AUGUSTA in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland, 9 - 12 August 1941." © IWM (A 4862).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe (a Focke-Wulf FW-200 of I,/KG40) attacks and sinks 2852-ton British freighter Empire Hurst in the Atlantic about 100 miles southwest of the southern tip of Portugal. Empire Hurst had fallen behind Convoy HG-70 and was being escorted by anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Hogarth. There are 26 deaths and nine survivors.

Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi I (Lt Cdr Pollina) attacks Convoy HG-70 about 100 miles off the southern Portuguese coast. It misses and then is attacked by Royal Navy corvette Convolvulus and sloop Deptford, but the submarine escapes.

German E-boats attack shipping in the Thames Estuary. S-49 (LtzS Günther) of the 4th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla sinks 1548-ton British freighter Sir Russell near No. 10 Buoy. Everyone survives. S-20 also claims to sink a freighter, but there is no confirmation of this.

Norwegian 124-ton wooden transport Cito hits a mine and sinks in the Sognefjord (north of Bergen). This apparently is a German mine left over from the Battle of Norway in 1940, though it may also have been a defensive mine laid later.

U-93 and U-94 intercept Convoy HG-69 west of Gibraltar, but the escorts force them to abandon any attacks.

U-501, operating west of Ireland, spots outbound convoy ONS-4 and reports it to BdU in Paris.

An RAF De Havilland DH.91 Albatross AX903 on a cargo flight from Ayr, Scotland to Reykjavik, Iceland spots a U-boat on the way and reports its position to Reykjavik. After landing and while slowing, the Albatross' landing gear collapses and the plane skids off the airfield and hits a Fairy Battle aircraft parked by the runway. The Albatross is written off, but the crew survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tigris is based in Murmansk for the time being. Today, it leaves on patrol.

Minelayer Port Quebec lays minefield SN.22A in the North Sea.

Convoy ON-6 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Bellwort and minesweeper Ipswich are launched and submarine Unsparing is laid down.

Canadian minesweepers Gananoque and Nipigon are commissioned, corvette Moncton is launched.

US Navy cruisers USS Belleau Wood and Independence are laid down as Cleveland-class cruisers. They are later diverted into becoming light fleet carriers.

U-655 (Kapitänleutnant Adolf Dumrese) is commissioned and U-416 is laid down.

"Exterior view of Rubber Products Co. at 114 East G Street, in Wilmington." [photo dated August 11, 1941]. Note the vintage hot rod in the drive and the Wilmington Oil Field rig in the background, a common sight in Los Angeles, California then. Source: waterandpower.org.

The same building as seen on Google street view, 31 May 2018. It looks like the building behind the old rubber store has survived and the power lines, too. The oil rig is long gone, though.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages Royal Navy net-layer Protector with an aerial torpedo while en route from Port Said to Alexandria. Corvette HMS Salvia takes Protector in tow back to Port Said, where they arrive in the evening.

The Red Sea is full of German mines, and US ships have been traversing it since the last Italian port in East Africa fell. Today, one of those US freighters, 5685-ton Iberville, hits one and is damaged. It makes it to port.

Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as Australian sloop HMAS Parramatta departs from Port Said for Famagusta.

At Malta, Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-87 reappear over Malta for the first time in weeks. Nine Stukas attack the Ta Qali area and Grand Harbour, damaging some warehouses and private dwellings. The RAF claims two of the Stukas. Rome radio claims that this small raid is a massive success, stating "A veritable shower of bombs was rained down on [Luqa] aerodrome" and "The attack on the naval base of Valletta was extremely effective. Loud explosions were heard and huge fires visible from a great distance were started."

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarines M-33, SHCH-211, and SHCH-301 are all in operation today. M-33 unsuccessfully attacks Romanian submarine Delfinul off Constanza, SHCH-211 (Lt Cdr Devyatko) lands two spies off Varna, Bulgaria, and SHCH-301 (Lt Cdr Grashchev) unsuccessfully attacks Romanian convoys off Landsort, Romania.

War Crimes: RAF  Fairey Swordfish torpedo-bombers of RAF No. 830 Squadron based on Malta attack shipping in Syracuse harbor on Sicily. This is a standard target for the RAF which they hit every week, and sometimes daily. This attack is slightly different than the norm because one of the torpedoes sink 13,060-ton Italian hospital ship California (formerly SS Albania pre-1930). The wreck is in 30 feet of water.

While all sorts of factors are usually taken into account to "define away" war crimes ("It was a mistake" "I was aiming at something else") and they seldom are prosecuted, sinking a hospital ship - they are clearly marked - is a war crime.

Rita Hayworth.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill spend their third day (second official day of the Atlantic Conference) conferring at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. They meet twice aboard Roosevelt's ship USS Augusta (CA-31). The British War Cabinet is kept apprised of developments and writes in the Minutes:

America is as yet far from being prepared for active operations on a war footing. While the American Navy is in a more advanced state of readiness, the building up, training and equipping of the American army and air corps is still in embryo and the shortage of equipment is acute.

The bottom line, the Minutes reveal, is that American needs come first, and then surplus production will be sent to Great Britain.
Most of the real work of the meeting, of course, is being done by their staff throughout the day.

Life magazine, 11 August 1941. This is the issue that contains the famous Rita Hayworth pin-up that adorns countless barracks around the world.

British Military: King George VI, who arrived at Scapa Flow on 9 August, continues his inspection tour of the naval base. Today, he visits destroyers, including HMS Charlestown and Eclipse, and also destroyer depot ship Tyne. He then boards on destroyer Inglefield at 12:30 to Scrabster, returning to Scapa Flow later in the day.

Japanese Military: The new chief of staff of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet is Matome Ugaki.

Rita in an out-take from her Life photo-shoot. I don't know, I kind of like this one better than the cover version they chose.

French Military: General Huntziger, Minister of War who signed the armistice with Germany in 1940, becomes Commander-in-Chief of Vichy French ground forces.

US Military: Lieutenant Colonel Harold D. Shannon, executive officer of the US Marine Corps 6th Defense Battalion, arrives at Midway. He is there to prepare for his battalion to relieve the 3rd Defense Battalion.

A barracks on Adak Islands, Aleutians, 1943 (Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures: Getty Images).

Polish Army: General Wladyslaw Anders, released from the Soviet Lubianka prison in Moscow on 4 August, is made commander of a new Polish Army in the Soviet Union and begins collecting Polish POWs in Buzuluk and Totskoye. It is estimated that 1.7 million men are POWs, but, in fact, about a third of those are dead from mistreatment. Those that survive and are able to serve, about 400,000 men, are given amnesty and struggle to get to the collection points in rags and using whatever transportation they can find. The Poles forming the army notice a surprising absence of officers among the released Polish POWs. Poles in the prison camps who are not soldiers are sent to work on collective farms (Kolkhoz) in Tashkent and Bukhara and the southern Aral regions.

China: Japanese bombers attack Chungking again. The Japanese lose another three out of four I-153 fighters sent up to intercept them. In a subsequent action, the last of the I-153 fighters is destroyed. The Chinese manage to shoot down one plane.

Holocaust: Vichy France forbids Jews from serving as doctors.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in production on MGM's "Babes On Broadway," 11 August 1941 (The Judy Garland Experience).

American Homefront: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra record "Elmer's Tune," written by Elmer Albrecht, Dick Jurgens, and Sammy Gallop. Previous versions of the song did not have lyrics, so Miller has the song's publisher, Robbins Music Company, hire Sammy Gallop to write some lyrics. Ray Eberle does the lead vocals, backed by the Modernairnes. Released later in the year, it hits No. 1 on the Billboard Best Selling Retail Records chart of 13 December 1941 and spends 20 weeks in total on the chart. It becomes a classic of the big band era.

Actress Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino) appears in a classic spread in Life magazine. One of the shots inside, of Rita on a bed dressed in a satin negligee and black lace bodice sitting on a bed, becomes the most requested pin-up for GI's during World War II until a 1943 shot of actress Betty Grable appears. Hayworth broke through as a major film star with "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939) and is at the peak of her fame during World War II. Incidentally, that nightgown in the photo is preserved and sold for $26,888 in 2002.

Adak island barracks in the Aleutians, 1943, showing typical pin-ups. That appears to be a different Rita Hayworth pin-up on the right (Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures: Getty Images).

August 1941
August 1, 1941: More Executions on Crete
August 2, 1941: Uman Encirclement Closes
August 3, 1941: Bishop von Galen Denounces Euthanasia
August 4, 1941: Hitler at the Front
August 5, 1941: Soviets Surrender at Smolensk 
August 6, 1941: U-Boats in the Arctic
August 7, 1941: Soviets Bomb Berlin
August 8, 1941: Uman Pocket Captured
August 9, 1941: Atlantic Conference at Placentia Bay
August 10, 1941: Soviet Bombers Mauled Over Berlin
August 11, 1941: Rita Hayworth in Life
August 12, 1941: Atlantic Charter Announced
August 13, 1941: The Soybean Car
August 14, 1941: The Anders Army Formed
August 15, 1941: Himmler at Minsk
August 16, 1941: Stalin's Order No. 270
August 17, 1941: Germans in Novgorod
August 18, 1941: Lili Marleen
August 19, 1941: Convoy OG-71 Destruction
August 20, 1941: Siege of Leningrad Begins
August 21, 1941: Stalin Enraged
August 22, 1941: Germans Take Cherkassy
August 23, 1941: Go to Kiev
August 24, 1941: Finns Surround Viipuri
August 25, 1941: Iran Invaded
August 26, 1941: The Bridge Over the Desna
August 27, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Tallinn
August 28, 1941: Evacuating Soviets Savaged
August 29, 1941: Finns take Viipuri
August 30, 1941: Operation Acid
August 31, 1941: Mannerheim Says No

2020

Tuesday 22 April 1941

German executions in Pancevo, Serbia. These are usually identified as killings of civilians. There also is an argument that these are partisans. 22 April 1941 (Photographer: Gerhard Gronefeld).

Operation Marita: The Greek government, including King George, departs from Greece on 22 April 1941 aboard Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga, bound for Suda Bay. The Germans begin absorbing their conquests in the Balkans by creating the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia.

The Italians remain violently upset that they have been excluded from the surrender of Greek forces in Albania. In fact, they open an offensive on the Epirus front, where the Greeks fight back and, following the established pattern, give little ground and inflict heavy casualties on the Italian attackers.

Hitler - conflicted between his roles of military warlord and statesman - tries to placate Mussolini. He has his military headquarters (OKW) rush a draft of the surrender terms to Rome to "keep Italy in the loop." Mussolini, however, loudly proclaims that Italy could have defeated Greece by itself and demands to be included in the setting of any surrender terms. After looking over the OKW agreement, he objects to provisions allowing Greek officers to keep their sidearms because they have humiliated the Italian troops. The Germans - meaning Hitler - reject Mussolini's quibbles on that one score, but basically give him everything else that he wants. This includes handing over the entire Yugoslav and Greek navies to Italy (which admittedly are not that large).

Victims of the Pancevo Massacre being marched to their executions.

A surrender conference begins late in the day at Salonika (Thessaloniki). The Germans agree to an Italian demand that Axis troops stage a ceremonial entry into Athens with German and Italian troops marching side-by-side. The Italians - meaning Mussolini - also demand that the Greeks offer to surrender to them on the Epirus front before they will sign any surrender documents. The Germans are uncertain how to respond to this - Hitler briefly considers letting the Italians fight on - but the Greeks agree to surrender to Mussolini's generals as well as the German ones.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell telling him, regarding the evacuation from Greece:

In the execution of this policy you will no doubt not worry about vehicles or stores, but get the men away. We can re-arm them later.

The main problem for the Allied troops in Greece is that their left flank was supposed to be defended by Greek troops, but the Greek Army for all intents and purposes has been prevented from doing that. The campaign is turning into a race for the ports that the British can use to evacuate their troops, with the Germans hurrying toward the Gulf of Patras in order to cross over to the Peloponnese and shut off escape routes there.

The New Zealand 4th Infantry Brigade begins the withdrawals from the Thermopylae Line. The British 1st Armoured Brigade also heads south towards Athens. The RAF withdraws its last fighters from Athens to a base at Argos further south.

Another view of the Pancevo Massacre of 21-22 April 1941.

The Luftwaffe engages in major raids throughout the Aegean against Allied shipping and sinks numerous ships throughout the region, almost all Greek ships. With the Wehrmacht grinding forward on the mainland, the Luftwaffe aims to cut off the British escape route to Crete and Alexandria.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks:

• Greek destroyer Hydra off the island of Lagousa in the Saronic Gulf (42 deaths, including Commander Th. Pezopoulos)
• 968-ton Greek freighter Athinai in Itea Harbor
• 223-ton Greek freighter Avlis in Raphina
• 4514-ton British freighter Aghios Markos off Salamis Island
• 1361-ton Greek freighter Frinton at Megal Lefko
• Greek torpedo boat Thyella in Vouliagmeni Bay
• Greek torpedo boat Kios in the Gulf of Athens
• 637-ton Greek freighter Ioannis Nomicos off Rhion, Gulf of Corinth
• 2171-ton Greek freighter Pancration off Milos
• 657-ton Greek tanker Thedol 2 off Antikyra, Gulf of Corinth
• 1511-ton Greek freighter Thraki off Sombraina, Gulf of Corinth
• 1566-ton Greek freighter Thassos off Megara
• 985-ton Greek freighter Messarya Nomikou at Nafpactos (later raised by the Germans)
• 315-ton Greek freighter Sifnos at Suda Bay (later raised by the Germans) 
• British yacht Sea Serpent off Syros

There also are several ships damaged.

Greek freighter "Macedonia" being bombed and sunk by Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers at Spilia Phocidos (George Karelas, via ww2wrecks).

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages two Royal Navy ships, cruiser HMS York and net layer Protector, at Suda Bay. The two ships are hit while attending to beached heavy cruiser York (being used for antiaircraft defense). A lighter (A.16) is lost as a result of this bombing.

The Luftwaffe bombs and near-misses 1054-ton Greek tanker Theodora off Antikyra, Gulf of Corinth. There are twelve deaths. The Theodora is moored next to tanker Thedol 2 and catches fire from the burning Thedol 2, causing the Theodora to sink also.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages Greek destroyer Leon in Suda Bay, Crete.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 2747-ton Greek freighter Teti in the Gulf of Corinth. The master beaches it to prevent sinking.

Yugoslavian torpedo boats Kajmakcalan and Durmitor make it to Suda Bay.

Yugoslavian 4294-ton freighter Serafin Topic is interned at Oran, Algeria for use by the Italians.

The Italians seize 5387-ton Yugoslavian freighter Tomislav in Shanghai. The Italians rename it Venezia Giulia for their own use.

Convoy AG 13 departs from Alexandria bound for Suda Bay. This is the genesis of Operation Demon, the evacuation of British forces from Greece, though that operation technically does not begin for another couple of days. The ships of Convoy AG 13 will take off some of the British troops on the mainland.

Convoy ANF 29 departs from Alexandria bound for Suda Bay.

Another view of the executions on 22 April 1941 in Pancevo, Serbia. This is a still from a color film taken by Gottfried Kessel of the Gross Deutschland Regiment's film squad.

Iraq War: Tensions are simmering in Iraq. The British hold several bases, including the port of Basra and the airfield at Habbaniyah, while the pro-Axis government of Rashid Ali controls the rest of the country. The Iraqis surround the British base at Habbaniyah. They also cut some oil pipelines. As yet, despite demands from both sides to the other to abandon their positions, there has been no fighting.

European Air Operations: The Plymouth Blitz continues with another classic Luftwaffe all-night raid. This continues the devastation of the center of town. A direct hit on a communal air-raid shelter at Portland Square kills 72 people inside. The raid damages three Royal Navy ships in drydock at the Devonport facility:

• cruiser Kent
• destroyer Lewes
• destroyer Leeds

KG 55, which carries out the raid, loses two bombers.

Churchill sends Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal a memorandum noting that the US will soon "bombard" (not perhaps the aptest word choice) the RAF with a "very great mass of aircraft." He suggests that Portal "start another 10 Squadrons and cut into this surplus of Spitfires and Hurricanes." As he concedes in the memo, however, the real bottleneck for the RAF's expansion is not planes - it is a lack of pilots.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 14 planes on coastal sweeps off southern Norway. After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids Brest with 26 aircraft.

East African Campaign: The 1st South African Brigade troops in Abyssinia Take Camboicia Pass. They make 1200 Italian troops (mainly natives) as prisoners. This is a major step on the road to Dessie, one of the main Italian strongholds in the country.

Victims of the Pancevo Massacre, 22 April 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 364-ton salvage ship Miss Elaine at Plymouth. Miss Elaine is later raised and repaired.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 5225-ton British freighter Antonio off Tyne. The ship makes it to Shields in tow.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 391-ton British freighter Croham at Peterhead.

British 87-ton steam barge Coronation of Leeds hits a mine and sinks off Thames Haven. All three men on board perish. Part of the barge is later salvaged.

German 551-ton freighter Obra hits a mine and sinks off Greifswald.

Convoy OB 313 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy anti-submarine warfare trawler HMS Tango (T 146, Lt. John Hunter) is commissioned.

Australian minesweeper HMAS Geelong is launched.

U-611 is laid down.

US destroyer USS Wilkes (DD 441, Lt. Commander John D. Kelsey) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Churchill sends a message to Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell in which he confirms that the Royal Navy will deliver "307 of our best tanks through the Mediterranean... around May 10." This is Operation Tiger. Churchill notes that "99 are cruisers Mark IV and Mark VI... and 180 I tanks." He asks for a "plan for bringing these vehicles into action at the very earliest moment" and adds, hopefully:

If this consignment gets through the hazards of the passage, which, of course, cannot be guaranteed, the boot will be on the other leg and no German should remain in Cyrenaica by the end of the month of June.

Of course, the Germans continue to reinforce their troops in Libya, too, with elements of several units of Infantry Regiment 19 arriving. An arms race is developing in North Africa with a very uncertain outcome.

Churchill also memos CIGS Sir John Dill, stating that it is the War Office's estimation that the British/Australian Tobruk defenders "are four or five times as strong as the besiegers," adding somewhat characteristically that "some of them are Italians." The War Office estimates that there are 4500 Axis troops besieging Tobruk.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies notes in his diary that "Bombardment of Tripoli not, I think, a great success, but some damage done."

Skirmishing continues on the Tobruk perimeter, with the Allied troops focusing on the Italian troops. At dawn, the British send armored vehicles against the 5th Light Division. Australian soldiers of the 2/48th Battalion, including three tanks and 25-pounder artillery, mount a raid southwest of Ras el Medauar. The Fabris detachment holding a hillock there loses 370 men as prisoners and 2-4 guns. A company of the 2/23rd Battalion advance toward Derna and takes about 100 prisoners of the Italian 27th Infantry Division "Brescia." The German war units note, "The Italians are surrendering."

The Luftwaffe bombards Tobruk with about 30 Junkers Ju 87 Stukas.

Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel (who is awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor in Silver today) drives to Acroma to assess the situation. He orders the Italian Trento Division to take over for the mauled Fabris detachment. The report notes (apparently based on Rommel's inspection) that the Italian troops simply abandoned their guns and other equipment "undamaged" when surrendering and did not even take out their breechblocks. It is standard procedure in all armies to disable artillery when abandoning it to take out the breechblocks.

Rommel continues to assemble his forces for a massive set-piece battle to take Tobruk. The 15th Panzer Division continues to assemble in Tripoli, and the Allied attempts to break out of Tobruk give him a sense of urgency to move his troops across Libya for that purpose.

Australian Private Ron Daniels, the gunner on a Bren-gun carrier, continues firing after his commander, Sergeant Len Batty, is wounded during one of the morning skirmishes. Daniels himself also is wounded and receives the Military Medal for his heroism.

Around 20:30, the Luftwaffe sends a very large air raid after dark on Valletta, the surrounding area, and RAF airfields. The attack destroys 40 homes and kills about six people. The attack is very professional, with pathfinders dropping flares on a moonless night. The Luftwaffe escapes without loss.

Victims of the Pancevo Massacre, 22 April 1941.

War of the Pacific: The ABD Conference continues in Singapore to develop a coordinated plan in case of Japanese attacks. Participating are military officials from Great Britain, the Netherlands (who control powerful naval forces in the Dutch East Indies) and the United States. The British are nonplussed by the low-level participants that the United States has sent.

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe (Junkers Ju 87 Stukas) bombs and holes British hospital ship Vita off Tobruk. The ship sinks after destroyer HMAS Waterhen takes off 486 people (including 6 nurses).

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 1134 ton Greek hospital ship Sokratis off Antikyra, Gulf of Corinth.

What happened at Pancevo, Serbia today is extremely murky and controversial. A few facts seem ascertainable:

• 18 people were shot, apparently at the Orthodox Cemetery
• 18 people were hanged, allegedly by ethnic German civilians

Why exactly half were hung and the others shot is unclear.

The names of those hung: Milanović Milan, Milivojevic Milutin, Cadik Jacob, Koceš Franja, Caran Milorad, Azick Pera, Mirđić George, Žestić Vladimir, Maxine Jovan, Topolovački Alexander, Skovran Mirko Ristic, Ljubomir Jeftic Milenko, Adamović Jovan Stojkov Dusan, Radak Kosta, Cosic Taja, Šiškulović Darinka (all from Pancevo, except for Milivojevic, who was from Omoljica near Pancevo).

The names of those shot: Humanović Tihomir, Grobanović Ivan, Tešanović Gojko, Pantelić Sava, Hadžić Dušan, Grujuć Đura, Haker Šandor, Markov Toma, Perić Steva, Crni Đura, Novak Marijan, Milenković Dragutin, Nedić Pera, Dimković Tihomir, Atanacković Draga, Atanacković Radivoj, Avramov Vasa, Pinter Stevan (All from Pancevo).

Beyond that, historians disagree. The incident was meticulously documented by filmmaker Gottfried Kessel of the Grossdeutschland Division and photographer Gerhard Gronefeld.

Some claim that it was pure butchery by the Germans.

Others claim that the Germans executed armed partisans after a lawful (if extremely brief) trial presided over by an SS man, SS-Sturmbannführer Rudolf Hoffmann of the SS Das Reich Division. Allegedly, the partisans had been firing on the Wehrmacht soldiers and were executed according to the norms of international law.

Drawing any firm conclusions as to guilt or legality is impossible. Going beyond these sketchy facts is dangerous and involves assumptions. The only firm conclusion is that the incident happened, and about 36 people died by hanging or firing squad.

There are streets named after two of the people killed, Vladimir Žestić and Jovan Maksin. Otherwise, the massacre has received little notice, then or now. A perfunctory German investigation after the war by state attorneys in Munich and Darmstadt allegedly was closed without any charges being brought. Beyond that, everything is speculation or disputed evidence. But... something bad happened in Pancevo.

German/Soviet Relations: The Soviets lodge a diplomatic protest with Germany over German overflights of Soviet territory. They complain that there have been 80 such incidents during the period 27 March 1941 - 18 April 1941. Among the proofs offered are a downed Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane complete with maps of the Soviet Union and rolls of exposed film.

US Military: Congress raises the authorized enlisted strength of the US Navy and Marine Corps. The Navy is allocated 232,000 men, with the Marine Corps strength set at 1/5 of the Navy's complement.

Greek destroyer Hydra, sunk today by the Luftwaffe.

German Military: Admiral Erich Raeder meets with Adolf Hitler to discuss provocative US Navy conduct.

Australian Government: In his diary entry for 22 April 1941, Australian PM Menzies refers cryptically to "malcontents" back home in Australia. Churchill calls Menzies and remonstrates with him about negative press commentary about the war situation emanating from Australia. Some politicians there in Menzies' own party are upset that he is spending so much time in Britain.

Japanese Government: Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka returns to Tokyo, completing his productive journey to Europe. He states:

We should not confuse deliberation with procrastination just as the Tripartite Pact does not affect the relations of the Three Powers vis the Soviets so that the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact and the declaration do not affect in the least the Tripartite Pact which remains the immutable basis of our foreign policy.

China: The Japanese occupy Fuzhou, Fujian Province, directly across from Taiwan and south of Shanghai.

American Homefront: Thomas H. Beck, Chairman of the Board of Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, submits to President Roosevelt a proposal for the organization of a private air force. Beck's submission advocates a course of pre-flight instruction for men interested in the air force. This is a key step in the formation of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), which is designed to be an Auxiliary of the US Army Air Corps.

The Vichy “Workers’ Committee for Immediate Relief” (Comité ouvrier de secours immédiat) confiscates Jewish property. Paris, 22 April 1941.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Monday 14 April 1941

"The For'ard 14" guns of HMS KING GEORGE V firing during practice." April 1941. © IWM (A 3888).

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The German 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still only brigade-size during the battle for Greece) is through the Klidi and Kleisoura Passes by 14 April 1941. It now is pursuing the retreating British and Greek armies south. The German 9th Panzer Division comes up against the new Allied blocking position at Siatista Pass, but such is the disarray on the Allied side that only one battalion of the 82nd Regiment of the 12th Greek Division is in place to delay them.

The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani in northern Greece, which was the first main objective following the XL Panzer Corps' turn south. In addition, the Germans send some units across the Aliakmon River near Thessaloniki and take Katerini, which is only 6 km from the coastline. The British have pulled back slightly there, but remain in the vicinity to prevent further German advances.

The British strategy right now still is to stop the Germans, not to evacuate. They put forces into three main zones: the Olympus Pass, the Servia Pass, and the Platamon tunnel sector west of Olympus. In effect, the British have abandoned the Aliakmon Line even though they still have scattered units trying to hold it. The British organize "Savige Force" under Brigadier S. G. Savige with 1st Armored Brigade and 17th Australian Brigade to defend their left flank.

The Yugoslavian Zetska Division had been leading the advance to the west against the Italian positions in Albania, but the sudden appearance of German forces on its flank has compelled it to retreat. Today, it sits on the Pronisat River, watched carefully by the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Because of this withdrawal, the Greek forces in Albania are now completely cut off. However, the Italians in Albania are very quiet.

The RAF bombs the Italian port of Valona (Vlore) with Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Squadron. They sink 3329-ton Italian freighter Luciano and 1228 ton Italian freighter Stampalia. The British lose a Swordfish, with one man killed and two becoming prisoners.

King Peter arrives at a secret British airbase in northwest Greece at Paramythia. That is an Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparrowhawk. Peter is fourth from the left facing the camera, bare-headed and in a tweed jacket. (R.J. Dudman via Serbianna).

King Peter II abandons Yugoslavia and flees to Athens. He departs from Kopino Polje airport in Niksic, Montenegro, thence to Paramythia, the site of a top-secret RAF airfield (near the Yugoslav/Albanian border) previously used (in February) by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. Prime Minister (and Yugoslav Chief of Staff) Dusan Simovic and other top military and government leaders also flee separately. The Yugoslav gold reserves also are flown out. Peter flies from here to Athens, then to Alexandria, then to Jerusalem, then to Cairo.

The Yugoslav government is under no illusions. It is considering asking the Germans for a ceasefire. Some accounts state that they request one late today.

British Col. Oakley-Hill, an old Albanian hand, has been trying to organize the Albanian resistance. With the situation rapidly changing, he is recalled. Resistance efforts, however, will continue.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7264-ton transport Clan Cummin at sea, then it hits a mine and sinks in Eleusis Bay northwest of Athens. While 36 men are rescued by the Allies, 77 become German prisoners.

Time Magazine, 14 April 1941 - Adolf Hitler - "Spring is Here."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Dutch power stations with 14 bombers and coastal targets with another 14 bombers during the day. Then, after dark, the RAF sends 94 bombers to attack the French port of Brest, where German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock.

The RAF has a tragic accident when a Halifax bomber crashes at Tollerton, near RAF Linton on Ouse. The engineer apparently shuts off the engines accidentally. Two of the crew are injured.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its 8th and final patrol, torpedoes and sinks 6563-ton Belgian freighter Ville de Liège about 810 miles (1300 km) east of Cape Farewell, off southern Greenland. There are ten survivors. This is U-52's final victory, it will return to port after this and spend its remaining years as a training boat. During its eight patrols, it sank 13 Allied ships.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping at Falmouth and bombs and sinks Free French Naval Forces gunboat Conquérante. Also sunk is French gunboat Suippe, which is later refloated.

German guard ship H 453 Gretchen sinks of unknown causes.

USS Gar (Lieutenant D. McGregor) is commissioned at New London, Connecticut.

The Des Moines Register, 14 April 1941. The big news is yesterday's Russia/Japan nonaggression pact.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies is concerned, and he notes the situation tersely in his diary:

The position in Libya becomes worse, and Egypt is threatened. In Balkans, the Jugo-Slavs are going to collapse, and as the Greeks have not withdrawn their Albanian divisions, the Aliakhmon line will probably be turned and our Greek position rendered untenable.

At the War Cabinet meeting, Menzies disagrees with Churchill's strategy to hold Tobruk as a rallying point. Menzies views the War Cabinet as "deplorable" and Churchill as a "dictator" who cows his ministers into submission. Menzies, who has been planning to leave for several decides, decides to remain for a couple more weeks to participate in "grave decisions" that will be made about his homeland's troops.

Today is the first coordinated German attack on Tobruk, and it is a complete flop. It starts well enough when German sappers cut defensive wires and fill in the Italian-built anti-tank ditch at 02:30. Then, supported by heavy machine-gun fire, they advance. At 04:30/05:20, 38 Afrika Korps tanks break through the first line of fortifications and into the Tobruk perimeter. Supported by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, they make good progress at first. The Australian defenders, though, have been told to let the tanks pass so they can trap the accompanying infantry.

The British have artillery sited on the spot and knock out 17 of his 5th Panzer Regiment tanks of Group Olbrich (General Olbrich). The remaining panzers withdraw at 07:30 into the desert in disarray, but the 8th Machine Gun Battalion which follows them in is trapped. The 8th loses about 900 men to death or capture, leaving it with a strength of only about 300 men (casualty estimates for this action vary widely, but those figures are from the Germans themselves, though they may include some earlier casualties, too). General Rommel is furious at the failure to capitalize on the initial breakthrough and will sack General Streich, commander of the 5th Light Division, as a result.

The German prepare for a siege. They bring up the Italian Trento Division and put it under the command of the Brescia Division. They also put Detachment Schwerin in the line, along with most of the 5th Light Division. A second attack scheduled for 18:00 is canceled, an indication of the depth of the fiasco in the morning. The Afrika Korps also goes over to the defense of Bardia/Sollum/Sidi Oma. The RAF has complete air superiority, and forward Detachment Knabe is bombarded by Royal Navy gunboat HMS Gnat and its accompanying two destroyers in the Bay of Sollum. Royal Navy gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Bardia.

The Luftwaffe is doing what it can. It attacks the Gnat in the Bay of Sollum and badly damages it, killing one sailor. The Gnat makes it to port in Mersa Matruh, then proceeds to Port Said. Lieutenant General Rommel requests control over Luftwaffe operations in Libya by X Fliegerkorps.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2485-ton Turkish freighter Trabzon off Laurium/Lavrio/Lavrium (about 60 km southeast of Athens and north of Cape Sounio).

Royal Navy auxiliary tanker RFA Pericles, which had been damaged during the Luftwaffe bombing of Suda Bay, Crete, sinks (it breaks in half) while en route to Alexandria. Everyone aboard survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku is proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta, along with fellow submarines Torbay and Undaunted, when a torpedo - apparently launched by an Italian submarine - is spotted coming toward it. Taku takes evasive action and avoids the torpedo. Apparently, because of this incident, the Admiralty (CinC Mediterranean) orders Taku and Torbay back to Gibraltar for other missions.

Convoy AN 27 (four British and six Greek ships) departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete. The ships carry reinforcements and supplies for the troops in Greece.

Australian Corporal John Hurst Edmondson earns a posthumous VC when, while badly wounded during a bayonet charge in the morning darkness, he saves the life of his commanding officer.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: British ammunition ship Fort Stikine catches fire and in Bombay Harbor and explodes in a massive fireball. The blast wave destroys the docks, sinks four nearby ships, and damages 11 others. It explodes again half an hour later. A total of 231 men are killed in the explosion, with another 476 men injured, but the devastation is far worse: an estimated 1000 people simply vanish and 2000 are hospitalized. The Fort Stikine was carrying 124 gold bars, of which all but one remain unrecovered.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Marines garrison Palmyra Atoll (due south of the Hawaiian Islands) with the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion. Legally, this is the southernmost point in the United States because it is an incorporated territory. It operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Navy and is the center of the Palmyra Island Naval Defensive Sea Area established by President Roosevelt on 14 February 1941.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D22) towing the damaged hospital ship HMHS Vita 400 miles (650 km) to Tobruk following her bombing. Judge for yourself - do you think that the Vita appears different from other ships? Can you spot the huge red crosses on her side and funnel? Do you think that is sufficient marking for an attacking plane to know enough not to attack it?

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4691-ton British hospital ship HMHS Vita off Tobruk. Reports indicate that 8 German planes attack it and that a bomb deflects off her rear mast (with very high-resolution pictures you can see that it is bent backward slightly) and explodes just off her side, opening her plates and flooding her engine room (thus no damage is visible above water). The Vita, carrying 430 patients, makes it to Tobruk, where it sinks on 22 April 1941. While mistakes happen in war, committed by both sides, hospital ships are clearly marked and off-limits to all attacks. No, these are not especially famous incidents, but if you attack a hospital ship, that's a war crime whether it gets a lot of media attention or not.

German/Egyptian Relations: Today, Farouk sends Hitler a personal note through his ambassador in Tehran. Farouk states that ''he was filled with admiration for the Fuhrer'' and was ''certain that the Germans are coming as liberators" and would "soon liberate Egypt from the British yoke." But Egypt was not the only goal, important as it was. The Grand Mufti also met with Hitler around this time and wished "the elimination of the Jewish national home in Palestine."

Egypt is the cornerstone of the British position in the Mediterranean. It is more important than Gibraltar. The Suez Canal enables them to bring in troops from their dominions in India, Australia, New Zealand and their other holdings in Asia to counter the German and Italian positions in North Africa and the Balkans. It also is a potential British escape route for their massive forces in Greece and North Africa. In fact, seizing Egypt is the fundamental goal of German military policy in the Mediterranean, the heart of Adolf Hitler's "Peripheral Strategy."

Hitler has been cultivating his ties to the Arab world for years. For instance, he gave King Farouk of Egypt a Mercedes Benz 540k sports cabriolet for the king's wedding in 1938. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem also is on close personal ties with Hitler, while Rashid Ali in Iraq is eyeing the British at the Habbaniyah airbase near Baghdad and wishing them to be gone. King Farouk without question is the monarch in position to help further Hitler's war aims in the Mediterranean Basin.

The mere fact that Farouk feels confident enough to send this (top secret) sign of dissatisfaction with British hegemony over his country is telling. It suggests that the British hold on Egypt - and elsewhere in the Arab world - may be weakening.

Life Magazine, April 14, 1941 - New York Harbor.

US/Icelandic Relations: Fresh off its agreement to occupy Greenland, the US begins talking with the Icelandic government to see if a similar arrangement can be made there.

US/Chinese Relations: Author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Martha Gellhorn, ostensibly in Asia as tourists (there's a war on!), meet with Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

Australian/British Relations: Australian delegates to the ABDA Conference being held in Singapore later in the month embark on Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Attending will be representatives of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies.

German Military: Australian soldiers at Tobruk report seeing what almost certainly are German 88-mm antiaircraft ("8.8 cm Flak 41") guns (they call them "long-barrelled guns on strange carriages"). The guns are not used and are there to exploit the expected breakthrough into Tobruk (German 88's, as they are routinely called, also are used as ground artillery and even, in a dire emergency, as anti-tank weapons). General Rommel used the guns in an anti-tank role at Arras in May 1940, so he is well aware of their versatility. They are sort of a halfway ground between tanks and artillery, with many mounted on vehicles. Their chief drawback, however, is that they have no armor protection and are vulnerable not just to artillery and tanks, but even to rifle fire.

April 14, 1941, Old Gold Cigarettes ad.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places an order for 2000 Model 74 (BT-13A) Vultee (Stinson) L-1 Valiant observation planes. These planes will bear the designation O-49 and perform various auxiliary services such as towing, artillery spotting and espionage flights.

Holocaust: The Vichy French undertake a mass arrest of Jews in Paris.

Future History: Peter Edward Rose is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes one of the top baseball players in history, accumulating numerous records which still stand, including but not limited to:

• Most hits (4256)
• Most career winning games played (1972)
• Most career games played (3562)
• At bats (14,053)
• Singles (3215)
• Most Outs (10,328).

Rose stars for the Cincinnati Reds during the prime years of his career, playing from 1963 to 1986. He also manages the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1989, becomes a 17x All-Star, is a member of three World Series championship teams, and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is barred from the Major League Hall of Fame due to allegations that he bet on baseball games while a player-manager of the Reds. Many consider Pete Rose, if not the greatest baseball player of all time, certainly worthy of being on an all-star team composed of the greatest players of all time.

Pete Rose circa 1963.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Friday 31 January 1941

"Air raid damage to the Naval Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London, 31 January 1941." © IWM (MH 127).

Italian/Greek Campaign: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 31 January 1941 continues to place greater priority on the Greece/Turkey region than on the current campaign in North Africa. He sends a memo today to the Chiefs of Staff Committee in which he reiterates that "only Forces which do not conflict with European [i.e., Greek and Turkish] needs can be employed" in any advance to Benghazi in Libya. He emphasizes that "this should be impressed upon General Wavell."

The Greeks and Italians continue to fight for supremacy of the Trebeshinë massif. The heights are held by two battalions of Italian Blackshirts, and they are fighting as hard as any Italian troops anywhere. The Greeks want the range in order to secure their flank for an advance on Salona. At this point, in light of later events, all the Italians have to do is prolong the battles as long as possible and wait for the Germans.

Greek women pitching into the war effort by digging ditches, 31 January 1941 (AP Photo). This photo receives a lot of press at the time, and an original caption to this photo states that they carry 80-pound packs up mountains.

East African Campaign: A seesaw battle in Eritrea ends today in a decisive British victory. It is between the British 4th Indian Division and five Italian colonial battalions under the command of Colonel Luziani west of Agordat. The Italians, using a mountain range for defensive purposes, have taken Mount Cochen (the peak is about 2,000 ft (610 m) above the plain) and control the pass between it and nearby Mount Laquatat. Today, the British Indian troops launch a major effort and take back the Cochen heights. Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse then orders  Indian troops to take the road in the pass between Mount Cochen and Mount Laquatat. He also has them take Mount Laquatat, still in Italian hands. All of these missions succeed.

The pass between Mount Cochen and Mount Laquatat is the last good defensive position ahead of the Agordat plain, where the advance should be easier because it is a good tank ground. While the Italians fight hard, the British Matilda tanks are almost invulnerable to the light Italian arms and overpower the Italian armor. By 14:00, the battle is over, and the Matildas have destroyed eleven M11/39 tanks and Fiat L3 Tankettes. Italian cavalry counterattacks beyond the pass, however, fail, and the Italian troops retreat in a panic to Keren, bypassing Agordat (which is still fortified by the Italians). The pathway to Agordat now is wide open with nothing to stop the Allies.

At Barentu, the other prong of the British invasion, the battle between the 5th Indian Division and the Italian 2nd Colonial Division continues to a conclusion. The Italians have been fighting hard there, too, continuing with counterattacks. However, they have their eye on Agordat, where the roads to the coast join. If it falls due to the advance of the 4th Indian Division near Mount Cochen, their own rear will be threatened and further defense impossible. Once in possession of Agordat, the 4th Indian Division could attack them from behind and essentially surround them. During the night, the Italians, no doubt hearing of events at Mount Cochen, decide to retreat toward Tole and Arresa. The Indians prod them along by sending a motorized machine-gun unit behind them, but the Italians have no desire to fight. In fact, they are abandoning the roads and heading for safety on foot over rough ground where they can't be pursued.

The collapse of this prime defensive position opens up the road to Agordat for the 5th Indian Division as well, which is garrisoned by only a small force (which the other Italian troops are leaving to their fate). The Italians are hampered by shortages of everything except men (mostly natives), including planes, supplies, vehicles, and fuel.

Elsewhere, the Italians retreat from their base at Gallabat under light pressure from the Indian 9th Infantry Brigade. The South African 2nd Infantry Brigade and 5th Infantry Brigade advance from Kenya into Ethiopia (Abyssinia).

More debris from the 31 January 1941 LRDG action in southwest Libya.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its random raids by fighter-bombers (Jabos). Today, the Jabos score hits on three London hospitals, apparently as a fluke. They also damage the Naval Gallery at the Imperial War Museum. RAF Bomber Command stays on the ground, and there are no attacks by either side after dark.

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather remains rough in the North Atlantic. It is so rough that German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, on Operation Berlin, remain unable to refuel from the tanker with which they have rendezvoused near Bear Island, delaying their breakout into the Atlantic through the Denmark Strait.

Italian submarine Dandolo torpedoes and sinks 1367 ton British freighter Pizzaro about 1200 km off Cape Finisterre, Spain. There are six survivors and 23 deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 5159-ton British freighter Rowanbank, a member of Convoy SL-62, in the Northwest Approaches several hundred miles from Ireland.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 5035-ton Belgian freighter Olympier about 220 km northwest of Tory Island. There are 8 deaths and 19 survivors.

British mines claim two Allied ships north of North Rona Island, Scotland. They are 3091 ton Royal Navy collier HMS Botusk aka Molton and 5436-ton Dutch freighter Emmaplein, both members of Convoy HX 103. There are four deaths on Botusk, but all 31 men on the Emmaplein survive. At first, a U-boat is suspected, which leads to a major search in the area, but eventually, someone figures out the real cause.

A mine also strikes 200-ton Dutch balloon barrage vessel Saturnus off Maughold Head on the Isle of Man. The ship is abandoned, but salvagers later refloat it and bring it to the port of Douglas.

Danish freighter Maja hits a mine and sinks in the Elbe.

Convoy OB 280 departs from Liverpool, convoy FN 396 sails from Southend, Convoy FN 397 is held in the port, Convoys FS 400 and FS 401 depart from Methil, Convoy SC 21 departs from Halifax.

US destroyer USS Edison (Lt. Commander Albert C. Murdaugh) and submarine USS Finback commissioned, USS Grayback launched.

U-751 (Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk) is commissioned.

Allied Shipping Losses for January 1941:

74 Allied ships of 309,942 tons in Atlantic
2 Allied ships of 13,478 tons in other areas

There are:

• 126,782 tons sunk by U-boats
• 78,597 ton sunk by aircraft
• 80,796 tons sunk by warship/raider
• 17,107 tons sunk by mines

All figures are approximations only, as judging tonnage lost becomes art at the fringes (e.g., is a ship that is beached due to war damage part of the tonnage lost?). U-boat sinkings are down by almost half due to the weather, as are losses by mines. Losses due to aircraft, however, increase substantially from December 1940, as KG 40's Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors are operating with great efficiency. Kriegsmarine surface warships also increase, as Admiral Scheer remains on the loose and the raiders scored some major successes (such as the capture of the Norwegian whaling fleet).

The Axis loses 8 ships of 23,129 tons, all in the Mediterranean. The Kriegsmarine loses no U-boats. There are 22 U-boats operational at the end of the month, of which typically 1/3 are on patrol (1/3 are in port and 1/3 transiting to/from patrol).

Africa, Libya, Fezzan. Remains of an LRDG Chevrolet trucks in a valley of the Gebel Sherif mountains southwest of Kufra. This is a remnant of the battle on January 31, 1941. The Long Range Desert Group was attacked by the Italian Compagnie Sahariane, and the battle debris apparently still sits where it came to rest that day.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British troops, in possession of Derna, continue pursuing the retreating Italians along the Via Balbia. The Australian infantry approaches the next town, Giovanni Berta, today. However, it is at best a half-hearted pursuit, as the troops do not have clear instructions to carry Operation Compass further north and west.

General O'Connor wishes to send his armor and wheeled vehicles from Derna south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) to head the Italians off further west (the Australian infantry is advancing north of the mountain). However, Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell remains in Nairobi overseeing the advance in Abyssinia and has not approved that operation. Truth be told, the British armor can probably use a few days to bring up more fuel and other supplies and undergo routine maintenance. On the other hand, the chances of cutting off a fleeing enemy diminish with each day of delay.

Free French Forces and the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), which recently combined for an attack on the Italian forces based at Murzuk, plan to launch another attack together. This one is against Kufra, in the same general area in southwest Libya. Colonel Philippe Leclerc commands about 400 men in 60 trucks and 8 armored vehicles. Kufra is a well-defended Italian fort, and the Italians have their guard up due to the successful LRDG attack on Murzuk.

Today, while part of the LRDG is on patrol, an Italian plane spots that part of the LRDG force at Gebel Sherif, which leads to a battle with the Italian Sahara patrol. Major Pat Clayton commands G Guard (Brigade of Guard) and T Patrol (New Zealand patrols) of LRDG, a total of 76 men in 26 vehicles. The Italians overpower the T Patrol of LRDG and destroy four (of 11) British trucks. They also capture Major Clayton and several others, along with Clayton's plans for the Kufra raid. One British and two Libyan (Italian) soldiers are killed. This action forces most of the LRDG to withdraw to Egypt to refit and regroup - in fact, some walk back to Egypt. However, Leclerc continues with his plan to attack Kufra sometime in February.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Huntley is attacked and sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft (apparently Fliegerkorps X based on Sicily) about 30 nautical miles northwest of Mersa Matruh, Egypt. There are 18 deaths, including Captain Cotsell who perishes from his injuries later, while 26 crew survive but are wounded.

Force H departs from Gibraltar toward Italy. It is to launch attacks on a dam at Tirso (Operation Picket) and on Genoa (operation Result). The fleet is divided into four groups: Group 1 led by battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battlecruiser HMS Renown and light cruiser HMS Sheffield, the other three groups composed of destroyers and support ships.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual spots 407-ton Italian tug Ursus in the Adriatic near the island of Curzola (Korčula) and attacks it with its deck gun. The tug sinks and the barge the tug is towing also suffer damage but is later towed into Dubrovnik.

Italian S boats Lupo and Libra operating off Crete damage 8120-ton British tanker Desmoulea. Destroyer HMS Dainty tows it to Suda Bay, and eventually, it is taken to Mumbai, where it serves as a store ship rather than be completely repaired.

The Luftwaffe (apparently Heinkel He 111s of II,/KG 26) bombs and damages 1290 ton Egyptian freighter Sollum near Sidi Barrani. (Some accounts say the captain saves the ship by beaching it.) The Sollum is transporting 250 Italian POWs.

The RAF bombs Tripoli during the night and causes harbor damage.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Greyhound collides with battleship HMS Warspite at Alexandria. Both ships are lightly damaged and require minor repairs.

More battle debris from the 31 January 1941 LRDG action in Libya.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Atlantis seizes 5150-ton British freighter Speybank off the eastern coast of Africa. It later puts a prize crew on board and sends the undamaged ship to Bordeaux for conversion into an auxiliary minelayer.

A German supply ship, Tannenfels, departs from Kismayu in Italian Somaliland to service German raiders.

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe (apparently KG 26) hits and damages 9717 ton Royal Navy hospital ship HMS Dorsetshire in the Gulf of Sollum. Naturally, attacking hospital ships is against international law, and such ships always are clearly marked. Such attacks usually are the product of frustration imbued with sheer malevolence and is always (presumably) against orders. That this ship is hit again on 1 February suggests that this attack was not an accident.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a lengthy letter to Turkish President İsmet İnönü. In light of the "rapidly growing danger to Turkey," Churchill writes, he would like to base "at least ten Squadrons of Fighter and Bomber aircraft" there. These would be followed by another five squadrons should Greece surrender to the Axis. One of the purposes of this would be to "bombard the Roumanian oilfields" - which is precisely what Hitler fears and perhaps the overriding reason why he is sending troops to the area at all. Another advantage, Churchill writes, would be to "restrain Russia from aiding Germany."

Hitler also is extremely interested in gaining favor with Turkey. However, the country remains steadfastly neutral, with its leaders knowing that it is in an extremely strategic, but also quite vulnerable, position - like Spain at the other end of the Mediterranean.

More battle debris from the 31 January 1941 LRDG action in southwest Libya. That appears to be part of a Chevy truck.

US Military: Vice Admiral William S. Pye takes over as Commander Battle Force, and Vice Admiral Walter S. Anderson takes over as Commander Battleships Battle Force.

British Government: Churchill continues to obsess over the regular radio broadcasts by socialist J.B. Priestley on the BBC. He sends a memo to Alfred Duff Cooper in which he demands that no payment be made for such "hampering criticism" and calls for equal time to be given to "Conservative opinion." Churchill also sends another memo to Duff Cooper in which he expresses a desire for a "malicious lie" being told about him by isolationist sources - that Churchill supposedly once said that America should have stayed out of World War I - that should be countered by repudiations "as often as possible on the American radio."

According to the diary of Minister of Information Sir John Reith, a fierce critic of Churchill, he has dinner today with Chief of the Imperial General Staff General John Dill. According to Reith, Dill is extremely uncomplimentary toward Churchill, claiming that the Prime Minister is "often unable to appreciate or understand major issues." Churchill, according to Dill, wastes much time by forcing ministers to deal with "silly minutes from the PM" (a claim to some extent supported by the record, though of course one man's "silly minutes" are another man's vital communications of national importance).

Dill, according to Reith, equivocates when asked whether Churchill does more harm or good to the war effort in his present position. Needless to say, both men's careers would be at hazard if Churchill ever found out about such opinions, but the two men obviously feel a kinship in their distaste for Churchill and his methods and safety in their mutual vulnerability to his potential wrath.

Romanian/Hungarian Relations: Details of the transfer of much of northern Romania to Hungary continue to be determined via Arbitrage in Vienna. Today, 191,000 Jewish residents in Transylvania are transferred from Romanian to Hungarian control. By one estimate, 58,000 of them survive the war.

Occupied Luxemburg: The occupying authorities issue an order requiring citizens to change their first and last names to Germanic variations, else the names will be changed for them.

The Baltimore News-Post, 31 January 1941. Congress continues to debate the Lend-Lease Bill.

Occupied Belgium: Kriegsverwaltungsrat Tidemann Ulrich Lemberg, Kommissar für die Diamant-Wirtschaft in Belgien, takes a key step in an obscure turf war within the occupying authorities. Lemberg is in charge of overseeing the diamond markets centered in Antwerp. His official goal is to try to restore the diamond markets, completely disrupted by the invasion and occupation, to some semblance of normal. The Devisenschutzkommando (Foreign Currency Control Unit) - a subsidiary of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt - has been hindering Lemberg's goal by basically stealing any diamonds they can find (for the Reich, of course). This, of course, is no secret and sends all the diamonds in private hands into basements and attics.

Today or around this date, Lemberg manages to make it a punishable offense for any German units to loot diamonds, with any violators prosecuted. The Germans in general, of course, plunder with glee. However, exactly who gets to plunder is a very, very sensitive issue, and sometimes, such as with issues like this, the German government concludes that plundering may be counterproductive to larger goals. Throughout the war, German officers who loot, but aren't supposed to loot, are prosecuted. Others who are allowed to loot do so with impunity and even official assistance. Lemberg has powerful patrons within the Third Reich hierarchy, as Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering has a deep interest in the diamond and art markets centered in Holland and Belgium. So Lemberg can loot even as others are prosecuted for doing the same thing or even much less.

Afghanistan: Subhas Chandra Bose, fleeing from the British in India, arrives in Kabul. His destination is Germany.

Iran: Prime Minister Rashid Ali is succeeded by Taha al-Hashimi.

Indochina: Aboard Japanese cruiser Natori, the Vichy French and Thais sign an agreement ending their border war. The cease-fire is made permanent and - for some reason - is made retroactive to the 28th, when the last Thai bombing operation took place. The Thais get all of the territories that they sought in the Mekong Delta area.

Australia: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his epic journey from Australia to London, flying out of Calcutta across India to Karachi.

Antarctica: West Base, home of the famous Snow Cat, officially is closed by the US Antarctic Service.

Holocaust: The German authorities uproot 3,000 Jews from villages and send them to the Warsaw ghetto. They are the first of 70,000 Jews to face this fate within the next two months. The Warsaw ghetto is overcrowded and inadequately provisioned already.

Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway en route to China, January 31, 1941.

British Homefront: Churchill tours bomb damage at Southampton and gives a speech in which he summarizes the war situation, noting that the "offensive in the Middle East has succeeded beyond our dreams" and that "My one aim is to extirpate Hitlerism from Europe."

American Homefront: Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis retains his title against Red Burman with a fifth-round knockout at Madison Square Garden.

The first picture to star radio stars and comedy team Abbott and Costello, "Buck Privates," is released. This is the beginning of a terrific film career for the two comedians. A big hit for Universal, "Buck Privates" later is remembered for the Andrews Sisters' classic (and much imitated) rendition of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" which some might consider being the first true music video (admittedly, there are many, many contenders for that title). The song, incidentally, is later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but in one of the worst decisions in Academy history loses to "The Last Time I Saw Paris." The Japanese, who apparently do not understand American humor very well, will use this film to deride the competence of US soldiers. Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges makes a brief appearance during his "solo career."

Future History: Richard Andrew Gephardt is born in St. Louis, Missouri. As Dick Gephardt, he later becomes the Democratic Party House Majority (and Minority) Leader in the 1990s and a Presidential contender.

Jessica Walter is born in Brooklyn, New York. The daughter of a musician who works for NBC, Jessica early on develops an interest in the theater, which flowers into a distinguished film and television career. Among her many, many career highlights are a starring role in Clint Eastwood's first directorial project, "Play Misty For Me." Jessica Walters continues to act in films and on Television, recently voicing spymistress Malory Archer on FX's "Archer."

Below, some jazz from Alix Combelle in Occupied Paris.

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