Thursday 15 May 1941

Gloster -Whittle G.40 E28/39 on its first flight, 15 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Junck, in command of Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck), arrives in Mosul, Iraq on 15 May 1941 with the balance of his command. He now has a dozen Bf 110s, 5 Heinkel He 111 bombers, some light aircraft for communications, 3 Junkers Ju 52 transport planes, and a unit of anti-aircraft guns.

Oberst Junck sends a Heinkel bomber to Fort Rutbah, which it finds under British command and bombs. While this does little to damage the fort, it confirms British intelligence that the Luftwaffe has arrived in Iraq. Some accounts state that Major Axel von Blomberg, head of the reconnaissance group that preceded Junck's flight, is shot and killed by ground fire today while flying to Baghdad, other accounts state that this happened several days previously.

The RAF also continues conducting air attacks. The Iraqis get a rare success against the British airplanes today when they shoot down a Swordfish of 814 Squadron during a dive-bombing attack on some military barracks at Samawah, midway between Baghdad and Basra.

The air situation in Iraq is confused. The Iraqis have some Bristol Blenheims, and they use one today to attack Kingcol, the troop convoy coming from Palestine. However, the RAF basically has control of the air even despite recent Luftwaffe reinforcements. The French High Commissioner in Syria, General Dentz, protests to the British about the recent RAF air raids on his airfields at Palmyra and Aleppo which are being used by the Luftwaffe.

General William Slim assumes command of the Indian 10th Infantry Division at Basra.

Free French General Catroux issues a demand for Vichy Syria to surrender to British forces.

Luftwaffe General Ulrich Grauert, KIA 15 May 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe launches scattered night attacks against targets including Newcastle, Scarborough and Middlesbrough's dock installations. Notably, the 39 bombers are accompanied by 14 night fighters, a sign of increasing Luftwaffe bomber vulnerability at night.

The RAF sends Rhubarb operations composed of 20 planes along the French coast. RAF Bomber Command raids Berlin (14 bombers), Cuxhaven and Hannover (101 aircraft).

During the RAF Rhubarb attacks, the Junkers Ju 52 transport of Luftwaffe Generaloberst Ulrich Grauert, commander of the 1st Air Corps, is spotted flying near St. Omer, France. F/Lt Jerzy Jankiewicz, flying a Supermarine Spitfire, and Sgt Wacław Giermer, flying a Spitfire II, from the No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, combine to shoot the plane down and kill Grauert. This is a sign of increasing RAF penetrations over the Continent during daylight hours. There is the possibility that this interception is not a moment of serendipity, as the British are reading many Luftwaffe coded messages in the Ultra program.

British Royal Air Force Vickers Wellesley taking off in East African, 15 May 1941.

East African Campaign: At Amba Alagi, the British attacks make progress against the Italians. The recently arrived South African troops link up with Indian troops at Triangle Hill. The British have the support of Abyssinian guerilla fighters who are loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie. The Italians, meanwhile, are running short of the most basic and essential supplies, a situation made direr by shell damage to an oil tank containing the Italians' only source of drinking water.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe), on a lengthy second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5920-ton British freighter Benvenue a little over 400 miles off Freetown. There are two deaths and 55 survivors.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth), on its seventh patrol out of Lorient, spots a three-masted sailing ship on the fourth day of its patrol. It is 488-ton French sailing ship Notre Dame du Châtelet. Rather than waste a torpedo on it, Lüth surfaces and uses his deck gun. U-43 pumps 45 shells into the ship, sinking it. The French crew reflects the state of confusion in their country's allegiances by assuming they had been sunk by a British submarine. Because the ship took so long to sink, Lüth assumes that it has alerted the Royal Navy to his position and quickly leaves the area. There are ten survivors and 28 deaths, with the survivors being picked up by passing Italian submarine Otaria on 23 May.

The RAF sinks 1564 ton Swedish freighter near Heligoland. There are three deaths. Great Britain, of course, is not at war with Sweden, but the ship is operating in a well-known war zone.

Free French submarine Surcouf is assigned to patrols based on Bermuda. US Navy heavy cruisers USS Quincey and Vincennes of the 11th Destroyer Squadron also join the Central America Neutrality Patrol there.

The 1st Minelaying Squadron lays minefield SN 9B.

Convoy OG 2 departs from Liverpool bound for Gibraltar.

Battleship USS Washington, a sister ship of USS North Carolina, is commissioned at the Washington Navy Yard. While this is months ahead of schedule and a boost to US Navy morale, the commissioning is a bit premature, as Washington's engines have not been run at full power. In fact, the engines have some unnoticed issues (acute longitudinal vibrations from her propeller shafts) that will be noticed when they are properly tested and require further work. USS Washington is scheduled for Atlantic service.

Submarines USS Amberjack and Halibut are laid down.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Coltsfoot is launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Galt (Lt. Alexander D. Landles, K 163) is commissioned.

U-577 and U-578 are launched, and U-169 and U-195 are laid down.

The bombed-out horseshoe gallery at Liverpool museum, May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At 0600, the British Under Major General William "Strafer" Gott launch Operation Brevity. This is a counteroffensive in southeast Libya to put pressure on the Afrika Korps and possibly relieve Tobruk.

The British attack with three columns aimed squarely at Halfaya Pass and the surrounding coast and inland area. The 22nd Guards Brigade and 4th Tanks under the overall command of Brigadier William Henry Ewart "Strafer" Gott, commander of the 7th Support Group, open the offensive at Halfaya Pass and achieve complete surprise against Italian defenders. However, the Italians recover quickly and make use of the heights to destroy seven heavy Matilda tanks before giving up the top (but not the bottom) of the pass. The Germans occupying Fort Capuzzo then move forward and put up a spirited resistance. The battle seesaws back and forth throughout the day, with Fort Capuzzo changing hands several times and the Germans recapturing Musaid at the top of Halfaya Pass. General Rommel acts quickly and sends his own panzers forward, both to repel the British attack and to reinforce the southern perimeter of Tobruk. As the day ends, the British have secured the critical Halfaya Pass, but little else of value, and are under pressure by the German response.

The Royal Navy gets ready for the coming Luftwaffe attack on Crete by organizing its forces into Forces A, B, C, and D. Force A, led by battleships Barham and Queen Elizabeth, is the most powerful. During the night, the Royal Navy sends elements of the 2nd Battalion Leicester Regiment to Heraklion aboard cruisers HMS Fiji and Gloucester.

Luftwaffe attacks on Suda Bay, 15 May 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping and airfields on Crete in preparation for Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. They complete the destruction of Greek destroyer Leon, first damaged on 22 April, at Suda Bay.

Italian 861 ton freighter San Giusto hits a mine and sinks about 15 miles from Tripoli.

The Luftwaffe raids Cyprus, perhaps as misdirection for Operation Mercury. The British, amply informed by Ultra, are not fooled.

Air raids continue on Malta. During the day, the airfields at Luqa and Hal Far are hit. The Luftwaffe continues using Bf 109 fighter-bombers (Jabos) with great success. While the Jabos can't carry large bomb loads, they have great accuracy and incur few losses. During the night, there is a large raid centered on Grand Harbour and Luqa. Destroyer HMS Encounter is hit in a bomb that explodes in its boiler room, while MV Amerika suffers from a near-miss.

The Germans lay many mines at the entrance to Grand Harbour, a problem for the British magnified by the fact that so many minesweepers at Malta have been sunk recently. These include the new G mine.

New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser arrives in Cairo on an inspection tour of New Zealand forces.

Spy Stuff: Soviet sleeper agent Richard Sorge, posing as a newspaper reporter in Tokyo, uses his clandestine radio to report to Moscow. He apparently gives further warning of Operation Barbarossa, this time specifying the third week of June for the attack. Sources vary on exactly when Sorge makes these transmissions and exactly what he says in them. The Soviet "Korsikanets" and "Starshina" sources in Berlin and other sources also have been giving Stalin confirmation of the coming German invasion, but Stalin prefers to trust his personal instinct and Hitler's secret reassurances that he considers the USSR to be a staunch ally.

In London, British intelligence officers interrogate Karel Richter, a German spy captured recently. Richter gives them valuable information about other German spies in the UK. This includes information about German cabaret singer Clara Bauerle, who is not a spy, but is the mistress of Josef Jakobs, who is a German spy and thus suspected of being a spy.

Applied Science: At Suffield, Canada, artillery shells are tested containing metallic cadmium mixed with explosive RDX. This is intended to release smoke that damages the inhalers' lungs. Chemical warfare, of course, is banned following the tragedies of World War I.

German/Vichy French Relations: Marshal Petain gives his approval of Vice Premier Admiral Darlan's recent agreement with the Germans. Pursuant to this agreement, Germany has free access to Syrian airfields held by Vichy French forces. This is a sign of growing collaboration between the two governments.

Anglo/US Relations: US Navy Patrol Squadron 52 (VP-52) transfers from Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point, Rhode Island north to NAS Argentia, Newfoundland. The ten PBY-5A Catalinas, serviced by seaplane tender USS Albemarle (AV-5), are intended to fly anti-submarine patrols along the North Atlantic convoy routes to Great Britain.

Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4 Willys MA (left), Truck, Command Reconnaissance, 3/4 ton, 4x4 Dodge WC-56, and Truck, Radio, 1/2 ton, 4x4 Dodge, 15 May 1941.

US/Vichy French Relations: President Roosevelt addresses relations with France by issuing a statement:

The policy of this government in its relations with the French Republic has been based upon the terms of the armistice between Germany and France and upon recognition of certain clear limitations imposed upon the French Government by this armistice.

Roosevelt strongly disapproves of French collaboration:

The people of the United States can hardly believe that the present Government of France could be brought to lend itself to a plan of voluntary alliance, implied or otherwise, which would apparently deliver up France and its colonial empire, including French African colonies and their Atlantic coasts, with the menace which that involves to the peace and safety of the Western Hemisphere.

The statement appears to be timed to Senate passage of the Ship Seizure Bill, as France has over a dozen ships sitting idle in US ports that are subject to seizure - including massive liner Normandie.

Soviet Military: Stalin, following his bellicose 5 May speech to graduating officers in Moscow, has had General Zhukov prepare a plan of attack against the Reich. In the Zhukov Plan of May 15, 1941, the Southwestern and Western Fronts (centered around Zhukov's former command at Kyiv) will be the axis of advance. The objective of the invasion will be to destroy the opposing Wehrmacht defense and advance across Poland toward the Reich border. This, Zhukov believes, would force the Wehrmacht to abandon Greece and Yugoslavia and cut the Germans off from their essential Romanian, Hungarian and Bulgarian allies (Romania is important more for its oil fields than its military). Once the Red Army has broken through, it could turn north and northwest to encircle the northern wing of the German defenses. Furthermore, the Red Army would invade Finland and complete the unfinished business from the Winter War.

The plan, which has no start date, and of course is never executed, reflects the poor state of Soviet military intelligence at this time. Zhukov is under the impression that the main Wehrmacht forces are across the border from Kyiv rather than further north, and that defeating them would eliminate the Wehrmacht's ability to resist. This is an easy mistake to make because Hitler also prefers to place more emphasis on this sector than the Baltic states and Moscow, which he thinks are pointless political objectives. The Wehrmacht generals, however, are of the opinion that taking Moscow is a top priority, and the OKW subtly has been orienting the main attack further north.

Gloster-Whittle E.28/39 W4041/G in its original configuration (Gloster).

British Military: The Gloster E.28/39, the first British jet-engined aircraft to fly and powered by a single 860-lb thrust Whittle W. 1 turbojet engine (designed by Frank Whittle), has its first flight at dusk. Piloted by Gloster's Chief Test Pilot Flight Lieutenant Gerry Sayer, the jet flies under its own power from RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. The jet-powered flight lasts for 17 minutes and attains 350 mph, which is in line with the top-performing propeller aircraft. Great Britain thus becomes the third member of the jet aircraft club, following German (August 1939) and Italy (August 1940). The Germans are working on multiple jet and rocket-powered aircraft at this time, though the Luftwaffe already is focusing on the Me 262.

The Royal Navy transfers corvettes HMS Arrowhead, Bittersweet, Eyebright, Fennel, Hepatica, Mayflower, Snowberry, Spikenard, Trillium and Windflower to the Royal Canadian Navy. This is a reflection of the continued move westward of U-boat attacks. The corvettes all retain their names but now will be manned by Canadians.

US Military: During parachute training, a Marine Corps officer, 2nd Lieutenant Walter S. Osipoff, is left dangling from his transport after a mishap. Two US Navy men, Lt. John Lowery and Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate John McCants, quickly get in a Curtiss SOC-1 Seagull biplane and fly up to save Osipoff by cutting his lines with their plane's propeller and hauling him into the rear cockpit. Lowery and McCants are awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The first Civilian Public Service camp for conscientious objectors opens near Baltimore, Maryland.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill answers questions in the House of Commons. He inadvertently lets slip that Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton (who coincidentally marks his one-year anniversary in the post today) is part of the country's propaganda efforts. Since Dalton presumably is providing real information regarding trade, this calls into question his ministry's regular press releases.

Churchill rejects a request that representatives of all three major political parties be included in the War Cabinet - and not just Churchill's cronies. Churchill's reasoning is that the War Cabinet is composed of non-Departmental Ministers, and the leader of the Liberal Party is Air Minister.

Regarding Rudolf Hess, Churchill denies that his mission was intended to seek a separate peace for Scotland, stating, "Whatever delusions may exist, that is not among them." He does not mention that Hess has proposed a complete peace, not just one with Scotland.

At the evening War Cabinet meeting, Churchill claims that the Japanese "always showed nervousness when either the United States or [Great Britain] took a strong line." Reasoning that the Japanese would never attack the Dutch East Indies without the certainty of US neutrality, he denies an Admiralty request that naval forces be sent to the Far East to strengthen its defenses.

Labour Minister Ernest Bevin makes the first official government statement on the Rudolf Hess incident, stating:

I do not believe that Hitler did not know that Hess was coming to England. From my point of view Hess is a murderer. He is no man I would ever negotiate with and I don't change even for diplomatic reasons. I am not going to be deceived.

Interestingly, he does not adopt the "Hess is crazy" line that Germany already is using and that the British themselves believe is the most convenient cover story.

The government announces that, in operations in Norway and France, there were 13,250 men killed and 41,000 captured out of a total of 437,000 soldiers deployed.

A new Dodge WC9 truck, 1/2 ton Ambulance, 15 May 1941.

US Government: The US Senate passes the Ship Seizure Bill, which already had passed the House on 7 May. This bill has been drafted and passed in accordance with President Roosevelt's request for congressional authority to purchase or lease 83 European ships (including 2 German, 26 Italian, 36 Danish, 1 Belgian, 14 French, 2 Estonian, 1 Lithuanian, 1 Romanian) lying idle in New York Harbor. These ships total half a million tons in total. This bill as drafted grants the US Navy the right to take over vessels "by purchase, charter, requisition" or into "protective custody."

New York congressman Hamilton Fish has called the bill "the grossest breach of international law in history," while Illinois congressman Leo Allen has warned of German and Italian retaliatory seizures of US property. US Air Force General Hoyt Vandenberg also thinks the move imprudent, terming it a "provocative step toward war."

Now that the bill has passed Congress, all that remains is for President Roosevelt to sign it for it to become law, which he promptly does. It is commonly believed that this bill is passed in retaliation for Vichy French collaboration with the Reich. French freighters are still coming into US ports, and they now are liable to seizure as they arrive. The biggest prize of all is the 83,423-ton liner Normandie, berthed in New York City. FDR sends guards to board all French ships in US ports pursuant to the new law.

Yugoslavian Homefront: Croatian strongman Ante Pavelić visits Rome to meet with Pope Pius XII. The Pope offers de facto recognition of Pavelić and his government. This is controversial on many levels, including the massacre in Glina that just concluded, but there is disagreement about how much the Pope knows about what is happening in occupied Yugoslavia.

Singapore: General Percival returns from England by air.

Haiti: Elie Lescot becomes president.

Holocaust: Dr. Sigmund Rascher, a captain in the Luftwaffe's Medical Service, writes a letter around this time to Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler requesting permission to perform medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners. Rascher makes clear that the experiments, to test human physiology at altitude, would involve fatalities. Himmler quickly has his adjutant, Rudolf Brandt, grant permission.

"Further large numbers of British troops arrived today, 15-5-41, to strengthen the defence of Malaya. The Royal Navy and merchant marines showed their capacity again in the arrival of this contingent which traveled through the North Atlantic and the 11,000 miles to Malaya without incident. The picture shows:- British troops arriving in Malaya." © IWM (K 667).

French Homefront: Marshal Petain addresses the public in a radio address. He states in part, "For you, the French people, it is simply a question of following me without mental reservation along the path of honor and national interest."

British Homefront: There is a report in the British press today that Dame Sibyl Mary Hathaway, DBE (née Collings), the Dame of Sark in the Channel Islands, has been arrested by the Germans and deported to a concentration camp. However, this appears to be erroneous, as the Dame (who survives the war) makes no mention of the incident in her autobiography and is known to be present on the island throughout the war. How the story originated is a mystery, since there was no communication of any kind permitted between the occupied Channel Islands and Great Britain during the war aside from rare Red Cross deliveries. It is unclear if the Dame was aware at this time that her son, Francis William Lionel Collings Beaumont, heir to the Seigneur of Sark, had recently been killed (on 4 May) in the Liverpool Blitz.

American Homefront: New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio hits a single in the first inning to drive in the team's only run in a 13-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. This is the start of DiMaggio's famous 56-game hitting streak.

Joan Crawford's film "A Woman's Face," directed by George Cukor, opens in New York City. Some consider this tale of a female blackmailer who tries to go straight to Crawford's finest performance. The tale is told in the form of flashbacks by other characters.

The long swing of Joe DiMaggio.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Monday 12 May 1941

Westminster Abbey after the raids of 10/11 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: On 12 May 1941, having just secured permission from Vichy Vice Premier Admiral Darlan on 11 May for Reich use of Syria as a transit hub for the military supply of Iraq, the Luftwaffe flies six Heinkel He 111s (Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck)) toward Damascus. Having flown from Greece via Rhodes under the command of Luftwaffe Oberst (Colonel) Werner Junck (Commander of Aviation Iraq. (Fliegerführer Irak)), these are the first major Reich attempt at interdiction in the Iraq war. Their ultimate destination is Mosul, Iraq.

British reconnaissance planes spot several German aircraft in Iraq.

Joseph Stalin is keeping an eye on the situation in Iraq. The Soviet Union/Russia long has had its eyes to the south. Stalin decides today to recognize the Rashid Ali government.

A map in the 12 May 1941 Guardian showing flight distances to Reich targets.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues raiding ports in northern Europe. Tonight, it sends 105 bombers against Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.

During the day, the Luftwaffe launches standard anti-shipping sweeps by 125 planes in the English Channel. After dark, the Luftwaffe launches scattered attacks on Newcastle and Eshott in Northumberland, Billingham, Stockton, Darlington, North Hylton, Darlington, and Hartlepool in Co Durham and Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Thornaby and Hull in Yorkshire. Billingham, in particular, suffers from an attack on a chemical factory by 19 bombers.

The Reich Press Chief today indicates indirectly that the RAF raids are beginning to affect morale when he cautions broadcasters to:

avoid any sort of cynicism, frivolousness and puerile or brazen expressions in broadcast reports about air raids, which destroy immeasurable cultural, economic and human treasures. This is how we can best live up to the mood in cities like Hamburg and Bremen.

He further draws a distinction between different types of citizens - a hallmark of the Third Reich is dividing people up - when he adds gratuitously that "we are fortunate that the bombing raids made on German territory are taking place in the northern part of the Reich" which is populated by "hardy Schleswig-Holsteiners and other Nordic people." Presumably, the slackers in the South would not stand up to the bombings as well. Hitler, incidentally, is from the south. A lot of these subtle regional antagonisms influence Germans throughout the war but are completely missed by outsiders.

In England, Air Marshal John Slessor takes over RAF No. 5 Group of Bomber Command.

East African Campaign: The East African 21st Infantry Brigade captures the Italian position at Alghe in Galla-Sidamo.

The British Indian troops at Amba Alagi prepare another battle to take the Italian stronghold.

Drum (SS-228), launched today, gets a tug at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME, 12 May 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-boats captains typically are prone to zealously limiting their torpedo usage in order to preserve as many as possible for future operations. In fact, it is not unheard of for U-boats to surface and use their deck guns in questionable circumstances. Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe in U-38 has a very bad day with his torpedo management when he spots a freighter off Freetown in the mid-Atlantic, fires four torpedoes - and misses with all four. Fortunately for Liebe, the Kriegsmarine supply network in the Atlantic remains intact and he can be resupplied at sea. This allows U-38 to continue an extremely long patrol of almost three months.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 4484-ton British freighter Fowberry Tower near the Humber Light Vessel. There are six deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 5358-ton freighter Richard De Larringa in the Tyne. An attempt is made to tow her to port, but she sinks near Hard Sands.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages destroyer HMS Ripley near Londonderry, but the destroyer continues with her mission.

British freighter Speybank, captured by German raider Atlantis in the Indian Ocean in January 1941, finally arrives at Bordeaux.

Convoy OB 322 departs from Liverpool.

Admiral Günther Lütjens and embarks on battleship Bismarck at Gdynia/Gotenhafen in preparation for Operation Rheinübung, a planned sortie into the Atlantic in the company of cruiser Prinz Eugen.

Corvette HMS Bergamot is commissioned, minesweeping trawler Bute, minesweeper Fraserburgh, destroyer Middleton, corvettes Snowdrop and Stonecrop, and submarines Turbulent and Unbending are launched, and submarine Unrivalled is laid down.

Minesweeper HMAS Whyalla is launched.

Submarine USS Drum is launched.

U-128 (Kptlt. Ulrich Heyse) is commissioned, U-155 is launched, and U-516 is laid down.

MV Rawnsley, sunk off southeastern Crete and now a popular dive site.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Tiger (Convoy WS 8A) completes its bold passage through the Mediterranean when it arrives at Alexandria. It brings some 238 precious tanks (including 135 Matildas, 82 of the new 2-pounder-gunned Mark VI Crusader cruiser tanks and 21 light tanks), vital for the defense of the Nile River Valley and Tobruk. Also included are 43 Hawker Hurricanes. With this desperate operation completed successfully, the Mediterranean Fleet returns to Alexandria and Force H returns to Gibraltar.

An Italian convoy of two freighters departs from Tripoli escorted by torpedo boats Clio, Orione, and Pegaso. The torpedo boats attack a submarine, which may be HMS Undaunted, which is lost around this date of unknown causes. There are 32 deaths on the Undaunted.

Royal Navy gunboat HMS Ladybird has given sterling service in support of British ground forces in North Africa. She is bombarding Tobruk during the night when her luck finally runs out. Italian aircraft catch and sink the Ladybird (some sources say these are Luftwaffe Stukas). There are four deaths and 14 wounded. On the bright side for the British, the gunboat settles in only ten feet of water, meaning her guns remain above water level and can remain in operation with the assistance of another ship to provide power. Admiral Andrew Cunningham commends the ship's captain, stating:

Great fighting finish worthy of highest ideals and tradition of the Navy and an inspiration for all who fight on the seas.

The Regia Aeronautica (Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 aircraft of 281 Squadron) bombs and sinks 4998-ton British freighter Rawnsley during an attack on Ierapetra Bay, southeast Crete. The wreck has become a very popular dive site.

Royal Navy submarine Rorqual is off Lemnos when it torpedoes and sinks 25 ton Greek freighter Aghios Paraskavi and accompanying schooner. These are transports carrying Wehrmacht troops to garrison Aegean islands.

The Royal Navy command structure in the Mediterranean experiences a shakeup. Among the changes:

• Vice Admiral Pridham Wippell CB, CVO, former Vice Admiral Light Forces => Vice Admiral, 1st Battle Squadron with his flag on battleship Queen Elizabeth
• Rear Admiral E. L. S. King CB MVO => Rear Admiral, 15th Cruiser Squadron with his flag in anti-aircraft cruiser Naiad
• Rear Admiral H. B. Rawlings CBE => Rear Admiral, 7th Cruiser Squadron with his flag in light cruiser ORION.
• Rear Admiral I. G. Glennie => Rear Admiral (D) the Mediterranean with his flag in anti-aircraft cruiser Dido or depot ship Woolwich, if Dido was required at sea as a private ship.

At Malta, a second permanent fighter squadron is formed at Hal Far, No. 185. The Squadron Leader is Flight Lieutenant P W O Mould, DFC. The other fighter squadron on Malta remains No. 261 and is based at Ta Qali. By some accounts, RAF No. 261 Squadron is disbanded at this time and its equipment is given to No. 185. RAF No. 249 Squadron - composed of planes flown in from aircraft carrier Ark Royal - also participates in the island's defense.

"Gunners of the 3rd Battery of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment (1st Polish Corps) hitching their French-built 75mm field gun to a Morris-Commercial C8 'Quad' artillery tractor during an exercise near St Andrews in Scotland." 12 May 1941 (Captain W.T. Lockeyear, © IWM (H 9522)).

POWs: Polish Lieutenant Mietek Chmiel and Lieutenant Miki Surmanowicz attempt to escape from Colditz Castle. They contrive to be sent to solitary confinement - usually considered a punishment - and then pick the locks and then climb to the prison roof. This brings them to the attic of the German guardhouse. They then lower a rope and climb down the castle wall. However, while climbing down, their boots make noises against the wall which wake up the German duty officer inside the guardhouse. The German spots them immediately from his window and arrests the escapees in comical fashion, yelling "Hände Hoch" ("hands up") while the two Poles are dangling from a rope dozens of feet above the ground.

HMS Sennen (Y 21), formerly USCGC Champlain.

Anglo/US Relations: Another group of US Coast Guard cutters transfers to the Royal Navy pursuant to Lend Lease:

USCGC Champlain (CGC-48) => HMS Sennen
USCGC Sebago (CGC-51) => HMS Walney
USCGC Cayuga (CGC-54) => HMS Tortland

All of these ships, as have several in the past, are manned by crew selected from battleship Malaya, which is in New York undergoing major repairs.

US/Australian Relations: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies meets with President Roosevelt. He finds Roosevelt looking older and more tired than he remembers, but still sharp and up-to-date on the war.

US/Japanese Relations: Ambassador Nomura and US Secretary of State Cordell Hull continue their discussions regarding a settlement of claims in the Pacific. Nomura presents Hull with a draft proposal.

German/Vichy French Relations: The Germans invite a select delegation of Vichy French officers to a meeting to discuss participation in Operation Barbarossa.

British Military: Charles Henry George Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl of Berkshire, is serving as a volunteer bomb disposal expert when he perishes. The Earl of Sussex is working on a 250 kg (500 lb) bomb dropped some six months earlier in London which had been taken to a "bomb cemetery" in remote Erish marshland when it suddenly explodes. The bomb could have been detonated safely but was being worked on to retrieve its rare Type (17) and Type (50) fuzes for instructional purposes. A total of 13 people in the vicinity perish, including the Earl's private secretary Eileen Beryl Morden and his chauffeur, Fred Hards. One theory is that the Earl's attempt to disarm the bomb triggered a hidden Zus 40 booby trap. It is the 35th bomb the Earl has worked on, and he dies at age 35 and will receive the George Cross.

Winston Churchill will make special mention of this particular incident "as symbolic of the others" in volume 2 ("Their Finest Hour") of his massive "The Second World War." The BBC will televise a biographical series of the Earl's life in 1973 called "The Dragon's Opponent." The Earl of Sussex earlier in the war was a key player in rescuing French nuclear scientists and the entire world stockpile of heavy water from France as it fell to the Wehrmacht in 1940.

Vought OS2U-2 Kingfisher floatplane, 12 May 1941.

Soviet Military: Soviet Chief of Staff General Zhukov, wary of continuing reports from many sources warning of a brewing German attack on the USSR, orders four Soviet Armies to forward positions. The Soviet border is so long, however, that they can only provide a local defense.

German Government: Joseph Goebbels meets with Hitler at the Berghof to discuss the Hess affair. After a curiously long delay, the German government issues a formal statement concerning the flight of Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess to Scotland on 10 May. The release ascribes the incident to "hallucinations and a mental disease" in Hess. In addition, it states that all those who assisted Hess are to be arrested, but this is not done - though apparently astrologers, occultists, and clairvoyants are rounded up because Hess supposedly consulted them before making his flight.

Hitler abolishes the post of Deputy Fuehrer and creates instead the new post of Chief of the Party Chancellery (Head of the Parteikanzlei). Martin Bormann, who has been Rudolf Hess's party secretary since 4 July 1933 and has done personal tasks for Hitler such as overseeing renovations at the Berghof in 1935, takes the position. In his new role, Bormann controls access to Hitler in much the same manner that a US President's Chief of Staff does, and in addition, he controls all NSDAP appointments. Due to his ability to restrict access to Hitler even by such Hitler confidantes as Albert Speer and Joseph Goebbels, Bormann instantly becomes one of the most hated figures within the hierarchy of the Third Reich.

In Glasgow, military intelligence officer Ivone Kirkpatrick continues listening to the injured Hess describing the terms of a fantastic peace offer. Hess basically offers peace on Great Britain's terms so as to free the Reich's rear for the real war in the offing in the East. In a carefully memorized statement, Hess claims that he has come "to save humanity."

Bonneville enrollees at the transportation depot for the Civilian Conservation Corps, 12 May 1941.

British Government: Ivone Kirkpatrick, interviewing Hess in Scotland, is keeping Whitehall informed of his findings. Churchill's aide Sir Alexander Cadogan notes in his diary that Churchill has been informed about Hess' announcement which claimed that he "had come here 'in the name of humanity.'" Cadogan notes next, "This won't do - looks like a peace offer, and we may want to run the line that he has quarreled with Hitler." The last thing the Allies want to do is dangle the possibility of peace before a war-weary nation - why is open to debate. However, this has been Churchill's consistent attitude throughout the war.

Members of Parliament meet in the House of Lords due to the extensive damage to their own chamber.

Queen Elizabeth sends a very rare note to Churchill from Windsor Castle to offer her "thanks... for his kindness in sending news of the progress and safe arrival of Tiger." She adds, "Any risk was well worth taking," and adds that she is "dreadfully sorry" about the destruction of the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey during the air raid of 10/11 May.

Croatia: Atrocities in Yugoslavia continue as members of Pavelic's Ustaše led by Mirko Puk kills 200-300 Serbs by burning them alive in the Orthodox church in Glina. There is an obvious edge of religious hatred involved in the symbolism of many of these killings.

Philippines: Ernest Hemingway, on a stopover in Manila after a six-week tour of China, briefs the Philippine Department's intelligence (Colonel Joseph O'Hare) and air officer (Colonel Richards) about the military situation in China. Hemingway is coy about the extent of his observations, claiming never to have gotten near any battlefields, but gives an extremely perceptive summary of ongoing and likely events in China. Among his conclusions is that the Chinese Nationalists and Communists soon will be fighting each other as much as they are fighting the Japanese and that Japan at some point will attack the United States. The 4th Composite Group CO, Major Kirley Gregg calls Hemingway "quite an interesting chap," while the 3rd Pursuit Group CO, Major William  Maverick, says Hemingway is "a marvelous fellow... a real genius" with a "striking personality."

China: The Battle of South Shanxi continues, with the Japanese North China Front Army capturing Kuangkou, Maotien, and Shaoyuan. The Japanese now have reached their first objective, the north bank of the Yellow River. Elsewhere, the Japanese also continue attacking Tungfeng.

Life Magazine, 12 May 1941, Hugh Randall, U.S. Army Parachutist.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Tuesday 6 May 1941

Australian 6th Division Troops landing at Suda Bay, Crete after their evacuation from Greece (Australian War Memorial).

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 6 May 1941 gradually have been pushing the Iraqis back from their stronghold at Habbaniyah Airfield west of Baghdad. Today, they clear the plateau to the south which overlooks the airfield from which the Iraqis have been shelling the airfield with 28 artillery pieces. The Iraqis flee in disarray after taking 1000 casualties, falling back on Baghdad with the rag-tag British troops (chiefly the King's Own Royal Regiment) in pursuit in armoured cars. The British catch up to the Iraqis at Sinn El Dhibban, taking 433 prisoners while losing 7 killed and 14 wounded.

Hitler still wants to send troops and planes to Iraq. His representative in Paris, Otto Abetz, receives tentative permission from Admiral Darlan, the Foreign Minister of Vichy France under Petain, to do so (in exchange for cutting the French indemnity owed to Germany from 20 million to 15 million Reichsmarks per day). Of course, there is the little matter of getting German troops to Syria in the first place, which is a tricky proposition given Royal Navy command of the eastern Mediterranean. The British already have two columns of troops of their own on their way across the desert from their possessions in Palestine and today receive the 21st Indian Brigade at the port of Basra, so the possibility of a remote battle between Axis and Allied troops in the desert looms.

Hermann Goering is eager to increase his prestige with operations in Iraq. He organizes Fliegerführer Irak with 12 Messerschmitt Bf110 fighters and 12 Heinkel He111 bombers under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel Werner Junck. Of course, this force also must find its way to Iraq.

In London, Winston Churchill writes an angry memo to General Ismay about a military appreciation he has received of the Iraq situation. The analysis by Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and General Bernard Auchinleck of the Indian Command suggests that the British troops in Palestine, which are headed to relieve the British forces in Iraq, are insufficient to overcome the Iraqi Army. Wavell and Auchinleck are pessimistic and they project that the outnumbered British will be forced to surrender by the 12th of May. Churchill notes that British losses in Iraq "have been nominal as so far reported" and rejects the recommendation that negotiations with Iraqi leader Rashid Ali be planned. "We should treat the present situation like a rebellion," Churchill concludes, and the British Army has a century of experience in handling those.

Damage in Belfast, Ireland from the Belfast Blitz which concluded on 5 May 1941 (Belfast Telegraph).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Liverpool again as part of the May Blitz. The bombing causes additional damage.

The Germans damage several ships. These include:

• 4861-ton British freighter Industria, but it manages to make it to Greenock for repairs
• 3874-ton Greek freighter Moscha D. Kydoniefs

The Germans also attack Greenock, Scotland. This is the first of two consecutive nightly attacks that collectively are known as the Greenock Blitz. The Luftwaffe loses at least two bombers during the night.

The RAF sends a Roadstead operation to Gravelines during the day. RAF Bomber Command sends 8 aircraft to attack shipping. After dark, it sends 16 bombers against Le Havre and 115 to attack Hamburg.

Kommodore Mölders of JG 51 shoots down an RAF No. 601 Squadron Hurricane for another victory in his new Bf 109F fighter.

East African Campaign: Indian Troops attacking at Amba Alagi are pinned down by withering Italian crossfire throughout the day. They retreat after dark.

HMS Camito, sunk on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 5529-ton British freighter Surat about 100 miles off Conakry, Guinea. There are three deaths. There is still an element of chivalry in the sea war, with the Germans helpfully righting a lifeboat for the struggling British crew.

U-103 also torpedoes and sinks 4752-ton British freighter Dunkwa in the same area. There are three deaths.

U-556 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth)  is on its first patrol out of Kiel when it uses its deck gun and sinks 166-ton Faroes fishing trawler Emanuel west of the Faroe Islands. There are three deaths.

U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe) torpedoes and sinks 4255-ton British freighter Oakdene midway between Guinea-Bissau and Brazil. Everyone survives.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Camito southwest of Ireland. There are 28 deaths and a few survivors. U-97 also torpedoes and sinks 6466-ton Italian freighter Sango in the same area. The Camito has been escorting the recently captures blockade runner Sango to port in England - obviously ineffectively.

Convoy HG 61 departs Gibraltar bound for Liverpool, Convoys HX 125A and B departs from Halifax also bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sea Nymph is laid down.

U-613 and U-614 are laid down.

Igor Sikorsky, wearing his customary homburg, at the time of his record-breaking helicopter flight in VS-300 on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The battle on land at Tobruk has subsided for the moment, so attention turns to the war at sea. Both sides depend completely on supplies from their home countries, with the Axis troops favored by the short but somewhat risky route from Naples to Tripoli. The Allies have a relatively clear supply route - setting aside the omnipresent threat of U-boats - around Cape Horn and up toward Suez. However, that passage takes several weeks, time that the Allies cannot spare. So, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as the main instigator, the decision has been made to send a convoy "up the gut" from Gibraltar all the way across the Mediterranean to Malta and Alexandria. This is the Tiger Convoy.

Tiger leaves Gibraltar today. It is composed of five large troop transports escorted by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleships Renown and Queen Elizabeth, cruisers Fiji, Gloucester, Naiad and Sheffield, and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Ark Royal has a new commander, Captain Loben Maund, as Captain Holland has been relieved due to "stress." The convoy is limited in speed by its slowest ship, as all convoys are, and travels at a still-brisk 14 knots (26 km/h). Italian aircraft quickly spot it, and the Luftwaffe readies its forces on Sardinia and Sicily to intercept it. Curiously, the Italian Navy remains in port.

Winston Churchill, who apparently is in a foul mood throughout the day, sends an angry memo to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal which includes in relevant part:

Here is another shocking week at Takoradi. Only 18 aircraft have been despatched, whereas I think a programme of nearly double the number was promised. I am afraid it must be realized that this is a very great failure in our arrangements, which may play its part in a disastrous result to the great battle proceeding in the Nile Valley [by which Churchill apparently means North Africa in general].

Takoradi is the airfield in the British colony of the Gold Coast (Ghana) which serves as the key transit hub for flights to Cairo (a 3700-mile air route) aka the West African Reinforcement Route (WARR). Churchill wishes more planes to be shuttled from Takoradi to Cairo to help in the defense of North Africa. Bemoaning the "complete breakdown," Churchill demands an accounting.

Churchill also sends a sarcastic memo to General Sir John Dill, asking that the suitability and supply of maps by Allied forces in Crete be determined, "Otherwise we shall soon find that any German arrivals will be better informed about the island than our men."

In another memo, Churchill demands of Admiral Pound an inquiry into a "lapse of Staff work" over problems transporting a mobile naval base defense organization to Suda Bay, Crete. The base took 12 weeks to arrive and was packed in a disorganized fashion, he notes.

British military intelligence is hardening that Crete will be the next German objective in the Mediterranean. This is largely based on Ultra decrypts of coded Wehrmacht transmissions. However, Churchill is desperate to not let the Ultra secret out, so he allows commanding General Bernard Freyberg to believe that the Germans will arrive in ships rather than by air.

The German 8th Panzerregiment arrives at Tripoli aboard a convoy to Tripoli.

The RAF (830 Squadron) attacks Tripoli, losing a plane. Two crewmen are made prisoner and one perishes.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks 2322 ton Italian freighter Cagliari about three miles (5 km) off Fuscaldo, southern Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant torpedoes and sinks 1716 ton Italian freighter Bengasi a few miles off Cavoli, Elba, Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph spots a German convoy heading north from Tripoli. It attacks but misses.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Cachalot arrives at Gibraltar from England loaded with supplies for Malta. It will continue toward the island on the 8th.

At Malta, the air defense is refined to alternate defense by fighters and anti-aircraft fire. During a large 36-plane Luftwaffe raid in the evening on Grand Harbour, the fighters shoot down one or two raiders and damage another. In addition, anti-aircraft fire shoots down two Junkers Ju 88s.

Convoy AN 30, composed of four freighters, departs from Haifa and Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete.

Joseph Stalin, 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Convoy US 10B departs from Colombo. It includes three large liners - 44,786 ton Aquitania, 43,450 ton Ile De France, and 35,739 ton Mauretania. It is escorted by New Zealand light cruiser Leander.

War Crimes: Churchill sends a memo to General Ismay which states in relevant part:

Surely I gave directions that the C-in-C was to have full liberty to capture enemy hospital ships in retaliation for their brutality.

On its face, this memo is evidence of Churchill authorizing war crimes (Churchill asks for previous correspondence on the matter to be found, but it is unclear if such exists).

Attacking or capturing hospital ships is against the rules of war. There have been many instances on both sides of attacks on hospital ships, though, so it is open to interpretation how much of a breach of international law Churchill's stance really is. Certainly, whoever wins the will is likely to hide their own breaches of the rules of warfare and prosecute the other side's transgressions, this is known sardonically on both sides as "victor's justice."

Ernest Hemingway with Madame Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Martha Gellhorn in provisional capital Chungking (Chongqing), China.

Spy Stuff: Soviet spy Richard Sorge, posing as a hard-partying newspaperman in Tokyo, warns Stalin of German plans to invade the Soviet Union. In his dispatch today, he writes:

Possibility of outbreak of war at any moment is very high…. German generals estimate the Red Army’s fighting capacity is so low…[it] will be destroyed in the course of a few weeks.

This information, of course, is extremely accurate and jibes with more general warnings coming from various other sources, such as his military attache in Berlin. However, Stalin does not think much of Sorge - viewing him as a sort of ne'er-do-well more interested in partying than providing useful information. Accordingly, Stalin does not change his own dispositions to any great extent.

Separately and coincidentally, Ernest Hemingway, who many think serves as a US spy (this is only hypothetical and never proven) and who accurately predicts the eventual outbreak of war between the National and Communist Chinese, departs today from Hong Kong aboard a Pan Am Clipper to return to the United States. Hemingway has been in Asia for 100 days on a very curious trip accompanying his new bride, Martha Gellhorn. Hemingway has led a hard-partying lifestyle (which seems to have been common among expatriates in Asia at the time). Hemingway, in fact, has spent much of the trip alone - or, shall we say discreetly, without his wife - and his solo departure is commonly seen as marking the end of his brief marriage. Gellhorn, who actually may have been the spy in the couple (all of this is conjecture), will carry a grudge against Hemingway for the rest of her life. Hemingway will have many more direct interactions with World War II over the next few years.

US/Australian Relations: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, aboard a Clipper flying boat, arrives safely in Bermuda. He has breakfast, then departs immediately for New York aboard a Douglas DC-3. He is ensconced in the Ritz-Carlton by dinnertime.

Vichy French/Japanese Relations: The Japanese conclude a trade agreement with French Indochina.

Republic XP-47B Thunderbolt prototype, 40-3051, at Farmingdale, New York, 1941. (Republic Aviation Corporation).

US Military: First flight of the Republic XP-47B (40-3051), with Lowry P. Brabham as the pilot, at Republic Field in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. The aircraft performs well, and the US Army Air Corps approves further development. Designed by Alexander Kartveli, the large all-metal fighter with elliptical wings has had several redesigns, but this one sticks. After much further development, the design will become the famous P-47 Thunderbolt, of which 15, 579 will be built.

Igor Sikorsky continues working on his helicopter design, the VS-300, which has been the designation for a constantly changing design. Today, he scores a major success when he flies the experimental chopper (hovering) for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds, which is a new record, beating that of the Luftwaffe's Focke-Wulf Fw 61.

The Douglas Aircraft Company begins taxiing tests of its new XB-19 four-engine bomber at Santa Monica Airport. The plane is the largest in the world and is so heavy (86,000 lbs or 39,009 kg) that it breaks through the airport pavement. The U. S. Government has paid $1,400,064 for it and Douglas itself has spent almost $4,000,000 in company funds to complete it.

Looking ahead, the XB-19 is remembered as the B-19, but after a long period of development (which aided the development of other planes) was not accepted for production and was scrapped. Two of its enormous main tires will be saved and put on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, though apparently, they are no longer there. Of course, the Germans would love to have any effective four-engine bomber, while the Americans have the luxury of testing out different kinds, keeping some and rejecting others.

Radio star Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope does a rare personal appearance at March Field in Riverside, California, broadcasting his Pepsodent show from there. Hope unexpectedly finds that he enjoys performing before a live audience, particularly servicemen who are not too demanding about the quality of the show. This will lead to Hope's long association with the USO during World War II and thereafter. Hope is a US citizen, naturalized at the age of 17 in 1920 after having immigrated from the United Kingdom, but is well past draft age and is not compelled to participate in the war. Hope will be a leading figure among a select group of celebrities including Hemingway and John Wayne who will work with the US military to provide various specialized services without actually mustering in.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV 5) is transiting the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal at night when it scrapes the side and sustains slight damage.

A postcard of the B-19. It receives a lot of attention in the media throughout its unsuccessful life.

Soviet Government: In a decision approved several days ago, Stalin officially succeeds Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Thus, Stalin becomes the de jure as well as the de facto leader of the Soviet Union - but there never at any time has been any doubt whatsoever that he is the boss. This ruling-from-behind-the-scenes strategy is a recurring theme in Russian politics.

The change is noted by the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Werner von der Schulenburg. Schulenburg opposes any military action against the Soviet Union, though he has not officially been made aware of the plans for Operation Barbarossa (though he may at this time be aware through rumors and personal observations). Ambassador Schulenburg reports the change in Soviet leadership to Berlin but passes it off as nothing but a public rebuke of Molotov for allowing German/Soviet relations to wither. The reasons for the change, in fact, are murky and subject to interpretation, especially considering that on the 5th of May, Stalin had given two bellicose secret speeches to graduating military officers in the Kremlin which strongly suggested that he, too, was contemplating beginning a war with Germany. Molotov, in any event, is not out of favor. Stalin may, viewing the change in that context, be preparing his leadership role for the war he himself intends to start.

Wehrmacht soldiers chatting with Dutch kids, May 1941.

Philippines: Newly arrived Brigadier General Henry B. Clagett assumes command of the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. His chief of staff is Colonel Harold Huston George.

Poland: A Polish doctor, Zygmunt Klukowski, observes the Germans conscripting local civilians to build military installations. Klukowski finds this curious as he notes it in his diary since there seems little need to do so in peacetime conditions.

Yugoslavia: Serbs in Kijevo and Tramošnja villages are celebrating Đurđevdan slava, an Eastern Orthodox holy day in honor of Saint George when the Ustaše do something that provokes them. This develops into a massive revolt called the May 1941 Sanski Most revolt, or alternatively the Đurđevdan uprising or the revolt of the Sana peasants. The Serbs generally were pro-British before the war, and there is an element of baiting going on by the Ustaše regime. The revolt quickly spreads, and the Serbs chase the Ustaše out of town. The escaping Ustaše request German military aid from the garrison at Prijedor.

American Homefront: US Secretary for War Henry L. Stimson makes a radio broadcast in which he announces his support for using US warships to protect British freighters. He says that Americans must sacrifice in defense of freedom. According to Stimson:

The world is facing so great a crisis that all of our efforts must be turned toward the defense of our nation's safety. . . . our own self-defense requires that limits should be put to lawless aggression on the ocean. The President has said that we must not allow the steps which we have already taken to become ineffective.

USS Grayback during a shakedown cruise in Long Island Sound, 6 May 1941 (United States National Archives and Records Administration).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020