Thursday 27 March 1941

"Lt (A) Clifford's torpedo being released, as seen by Mid (A) Wallington, Observer in the second aircraft." Battle of Cape Matapan, 27 March 1941. © IWM (A 9801).

Italian/Greek Campaign: In events that directly impact the course of the campaign Albania, army generals in Belgrade stage a coup d'état on 27 March 1941. At 02:15, a group of Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) officers in Zemun, and Royal Guard officers in nearby Belgrade, strike. VVKJ deputy commander Borivoje Mirković oversees occupation of key installations in Belgrade such as the Zemun air force base, Belgrade bridges, government buildings, and army barracks. Exactly who initiated the coup is somewhat murky.

Regent Prince Paul is in Zagreb. He immediately returns by train to Belgrade. Upon arrival, he immediately is forced to sign papers abolishing his regency and is sent into exile in Greece. The British want him out of the way, so they send him first to Kenya, then to South Africa to sit out the war.

The rebels surround the royal palace and issue statements over the radio. Public demonstrations break out in Belgrade and elsewhere. Crown Prince Peter II Karađorđević, 17 years old at the time of the coup, is declared to be of age and crowned king. The new government does not outright renounce Prince Paul's signing of the Tripartite Pact, but it refuses to ratify it. Prince Peter - now King Peter - appoints the chief of the air staff, General Dušan Simović, as Prime Minister. Crowds in the street cheer him and demonstrate in favor of the Soviet Union and against Germany.

All of this turmoil and the alien-sounding names leads to some black humor abroad. As recorded by Australian Prime Minister Menzies in his diary, one common joke is "Ah! Robbing Paul to pay Peter!" Another is, "It's hard to tell vitch vitch is vitch."

International reaction is swift and deadly. In London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill piously announces that "Yugoslavia has found its soul" - which reinforces the feeling England was behind the whole thing all along. Menzies notes that "War Cabinet [meeting] more cheerful as a result." He further writes, "we are all wishfully thinking that the tide has turned." It hasn't, at least not yet.

Adolf Hitler sees it somewhat differently. His transient diplomatic coup that he has been working on literally for months disappears overnight, and he is furious. Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 25, the gist of which is obvious from its title: "Plan of Attack on Yugoslavia." It states "my general intention to break into Yugoslavia ... to deal an annihilating blow to the Yugoslav forces." He also obviously has been thinking about gain to be had from taking the country, because he specifically mentions that "seizure of the Bor copper mines [is] important for economic reasons." Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece, is to begin "if possible simultaneously - but in no event earlier." In a preview of coming attractions elsewhere, Hitler vows an "Ohne Gnade," or merciless invasion.

Belgrade demonstrators, 27 March 1941.

East African Campaign: The Italians realize that their defenses at Keren have become untenable with the British capture and clearing of the Dongolaas Gorge. During the night, the Italians withdraw from Keren to Asmara, but large formations on the Sanchil Ridge (the Savoia Grenadiers and Bersaglieri) are left in the lurch and must surrender. British units advance after an artillery barrage at 04:30, and the Italians on Sanchil surrender by 05:40. They are in Keren itself by 10:30. The advance British units don't wait around, at 07:30 they immediately begin pursuing the Italians down the Nacfa/Asmara road (Asmara being the capital of Eritrea). By 12:30, the 5th Indian Division is a mile west of Habi Mantel.

At Enghiat to the north, the Italians also withdraw during the night, so the Foreign Legion Battalion advances there as well. By the end of the day, it hooks up with the Indian troops advancing past Keren, and they thereby swell their bag of Italian prisoners.

Total casualties at Keren are unclear, but estimates are in the vicinity of 3000 Italian deaths, 4500 other Italian casualties, along with 9000 Eritrean Askari killed and 12,000 wounded. The British, who lost 536 killed and 3229 wounded, have Massawa next on their list, after Asmara. However, the Italians had staked everything on holding Keren and, as elsewhere, once the main blocking position was overcome, there was virtually nothing behind it.

British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell has need of the troops which have been tied up at Keren for seven weeks. He orders the 4th Indian Division to move to Port Sudan for transport back to Egypt. Italian defenses in Abyssinia now are irreparably broken.

Demonstrations in Belgrade, 27 March 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe's transfers of units to Romania and Bulgaria switches into high gear. Hundreds of aircraft make the journey during the day. This necessarily dilutes Luftwaffe's strength in North Africa, France and elsewhere.

The Luftwaffe continues its recent pattern of fighter sweeps during the day, with occasional bombs falling in the south and southeast.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 38 bombers against Cologne and 39 bombers against Dusseldorf. Another 13 aircraft attack the usual Channel ports of Brest, Calais, and Dunkirk.

The British in Greenland spot Luftwaffe bombers overhead.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-98 (Kptlt. Robert Gysae) is operating along the convoy routes south of Iceland when it spots 6695-ton British freighter Koranton. The Koranton is a straggler from Convoy SC 25. A torpedo sends the ship down quickly because it is loaded with 8769 tons of pig iron. All 41 men on board perish.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 642-ton freighter Meg Merrilies south of St. Govan's Light Vessel (now known as St. Gowan's) in the Bristol Channel off the Pembrokeshire coast, Wales. While the ship is taken in tow, it eventually sinks. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages 430-ton British salvage vessel Palmstone southeast of St. Govan's Light Vessel. The captain beaches the ship at Milford Haven. It later is taken to Pembroke.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 396-ton Dutch freighter Oud Beijerland just south of St. Govan's Light Vessel. The ship makes it back to Milford Dock.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages British depot ship Alecto at the mouth of the English Channel.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 212-ton British trawler Fort Dee east of the Faroes Islands.

British 178-ton trawler Kinclaven sinks off the Faroes from unknown causes. There are many mines in the vicinity, and also Luftwaffe attacks near there today.

Dutch 5483-ton freighter Alioth hits a mine and is damaged near the mouth of the Humber. The ship makes it back to Hull.

British cable layer CS Faraday, bombed on the 26th, sinks off Dale, Wales. There are eight deaths.

On U-46 (Kapitänleutnant Engelbert Endrass), Oberleutnant zur See (Lieutenant) Helmut Pöttgen falls overboard and is lost. He likely would have gotten his own command someday, and perhaps become a famous commander. However, because of this incident, Pöttgen never gets a chance to show it.

Convoy OG 57 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 117 departs from Halifax.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Burdock (K 126,  Lt. Harold G. Chesterman) is commissioned.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Petard is launched today.

U-563 (Oberleutnant zur See Klaus Bargsten) is commissioned.

"New Zealand members of the LRDG pause for tea in the Western Desert, 27 March 1941." © IWM (E 2307).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Royal Navy under Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell is heading toward an epic clash with the Italian Fleet under Admiral Iachino. Pridham-Wippell has four cruisers and numerous destroyers. In addition, Admiral Cunningham is bringing battleships HMS Warspite, Barham and Valiant and aircraft carrier Formidable from Alexandria. The British aerial reconnaissance spots the Italians by noon, but the British already know from spies and Ultra decrypts what is going on. Despite misgivings, the Italians proceed with their somewhat pointless advance toward the convoy routes between Alexandria and Piraeus, Greece.

The Afrika Korps already is feeling the pinch from the movement of Luftwaffe units out of the North African theater. A proposed attack to take the Gialo Oasis (Jalu) to the south is shelved for the time being because it is considered accessible only by air - and no planes are available. In fact, to perform reconnaissance in that direction, the Germans must ask Italian air units to do it.

With Keren finally taken, General Wavell flies back to Cairo from East Africa.

At Malta, the British observe that the Luftwaffe now is maintaining a continuous fighter patrol off the east coast. The RAF scrambles occasionally to confront them, but no interceptions are made. The purpose of this screen is unclear, but it may be to prevent reconnaissance missions over the convoy route from Naples to Tripoli.

British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and CIGS Sir John Dill continue their unexpected stay in Mala. Dill passes the day by touring military units.

Demonstrators in Belgrade, 27 March 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Thanks largely to pressure from visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies, the British today establish the Australian Shipbuilding Board. The Board's objective is to build 1420-ton frigates for the Royal Navy in Australia.

Captain Ellis S. Stone's US Navy Task Group 9.2 completes its visit to Tahiti and proceeds to Pearl Harbor.

German/Italian Relations: Hitler sends Mussolini a letter stating:

I consider it necessary, Duce, that you should reinforce your forces on the Italian/Yugoslav front with all available means and with the utmost speed.

German/Hungarian Relations: Hungary suddenly has become much more important in the German order of battle now that Yugoslavia is an enemy. Hitler and Ribbentrop meet with the Hungarian ambassador and remonstrate with him to cooperate in the dismemberment of Yugoslavia. As usual, Hitler offers his "partners" little chunks of the conquests should they help.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler also meets with the Bulgarian ambassador. Bulgaria also has an expanded role to play now that German troops can use it to invade Yugoslavia as well as Greece.

German/Japanese Relations: German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop finally makes time to meet with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. Matsuoka later meets with Hitler.

Peter II and Air Force General Dusan Simovic after the 27 March 1941 coup.

Anglo/US Relations: The British formally lease their naval base at Chaguaramas, Trinidad (off the coast of Venezuela) to the United States for a term of 99 years pursuant to the September 1940 destroyer-for-bases deal. Trinidad takes the base back in 1963.

The Anglo/US "ABC-1" talks that began in January conclude today. There is broad agreement on strategic cooperation should the United States enter the war. Plan ABC-1 posits placing the priority on the defeat of Germany over that of Japan, with a pronounced emphasis on securing the North Atlantic. There will be a combined Chiefs of Staff and US naval protection of convoys. These conclusions are summarized in "The United States British Staff Conversation, Report," 27 March 1941. American participants include Rear Admiral Ghormley and Major General S.D. Embick, while British participants include Rear Admirals Bellairs and Danckwerts and Major General Morris.

Congress approves President Roosevelt's request for $7 billion in Lend-Lease aid. Still fishing off Florida on Presidential yacht USS Potomac, Roosevelt quickly signs it.

Applied Science: The US Army Air Corps sends a B-18 Bolo over the ocean near Cape Cod to test the new centimetric radar system. The plane manages to make the first air-to-air contact by a USAAC plane (the RAF already has done it). It also shows promise for detecting contacts on the ocean, too.

South African pilots and crew taking a captured Italian Caproni 133 bomber from Mogadishu to South Africa. This is at Broken Hill (Kabwe), Zambian Central Province. South African ace Cornelius Arthur van Vliet, flying the plane down, is the man at the left. 27 March 1941.

Spy Stuff: Japanese liner Nitta Maru makes port in Hawaii, bringing with it Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa poses as a diplomat. Knowing what to look for from earlier reports out of the Honolulu Consulate, Yoshikawa quickly observes that the battleships are parked next to each other, and with no anti-torpedo netting.

German Military: Hitler indicates that Operation Barbarossa, tentatively scheduled for 15 May 1941, will have to be postponed until mid-June due to the need to invade Yugoslavia and Greece first.

POWs: Up until now, Oflag IV-C camp Colditz Castle has been a POW camp for Polish prisoners. Today, the Germans begin moving the Poles out, sending them to Oflag VII-B in Eichstatt, Germany.

China: The Chinese continue attempting to surround the advance elements of the Japanese Army at the Battle of Shanggkao. However, the Japanese are alert to their peril and stay one step ahead of the Chinese as they retreat back to their bases. This will be a steady retreat that takes some time, but the Japanese have no need to occupy the territory in the area because it serves no strategic purpose if attacks further west are not going to be made.

American Homefront: US General Secretary of the Communist Party Earl Browder begins a four-year prison sentence at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He has been convicted of passport fraud.


March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Becomes Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Monday 10 March 1941

The King and Queen visit Dundee, 10 March 1941. © IWM (A 3383).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues into a second day on 10 March 1941. On the left flank, the Pusteria Division captures, then loses Mali Spadarit, a peak overlooking the strategic Klisura Pass. In the center, Italian attacks to take Monastery Hill fail, and the Italians begin to bring up the reserve Bari Division. Elsewhere, the Italians are stopped cold by fixed Greek defenses of the Greek 1st Division. The weather turns poor, with cold rain negating any advantage that the Italians have in the air. The Italian high command decides to try to outflank the main Greek positions.

Operation Lustre, the British reinforcement of Greece, continues. The troop convoys from Alexandria and Suda Bay are arriving every three days. So far, the first troop tranche has arrived at Piraeus, and the second is en route.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, Lieutenant-General William Platt remains frustrated at his troops' inability to fight through the narrow Dongolaas Gorge. The fierce Italian resistance at Keren is the only thing standing between the British and the coast at Massawa. Platt is assembling his troops for another attempt at the middle of the month.

Keren is a key crossroads whose capture will enable the British to scoop up all of Eritrea and head south into Abyssinia toward Addis Ababa, which is being threatened by the South African advance far to the south. Once the British are past Keren, the entire Italian position in East Africa will become unhinged - but there are very few routes in this rough country that are able to support large military operations. So far, attempts to flank Keren using secondary routes have produced no results.

Far to the south, the South African forces continue to advance north from the vicinity of Mogadishu. Operation Canvas continues without any meaningful results despite swallowing large amounts of territory. Now about 500 miles (900 km) past it, the Italian resistance begins to stiffen forward of the fortress of Jijiga, Abyssinia. The Italians top the 23rd Nigerian Brigade of the British 1st African Division at Dagabur (Degehabur), about 100 miles (160 km) south of Jijiga.

Belgian Congolese troops, meanwhile, cross the border into Abyssinia from the west and take Italian base Asosa.

Battery "Pooh," located at St. Margaret's near Dover, on 10 March 1941. It is a 14-inch gun designed to counter the German batteries at the Pas de Calais at Hellfire Corner.

European Air Operations: After the winter lull, air operations are picking up again. Both sides launch damaging raids, though the Luftwaffe continues to have the upper hand in terms of the devastating effects of their raids.

The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth after dark for the second night in a row. It is one of the most devastating raids outside of London for some time. The Germans put around 240 bombers over the city, the most since 1940, and cause extensive damage to the docks and shipping. They sink a minesweeping trawler, HMT Revello, killing one man, and damage destroyers HMS Sherwood, Tynedale and Witherington, training ship HMS Marshal Soult and four other minesweeping trawlers. Four sailors on shore also perish.

RAF Bomber Command raids Le Havre. While just another raid against a Channel port, this is the first raid by Handley Page Halifax bombers by No. 35 Squadron flying out of Yorkshire (Linton-on-Ouse). One of the Halifax bombers (L9489) goes down over Hog's Back in Surrey, killing four of the six crew, crashing on fields near Merrist Wood, Worplesdon. This is what is known as a "nursery raid," the first operational raid by new equipment which is intended as much to test it operationally as to produce actual results. The crash is a friendly fire incident, as the bomber is shot down over England by an RAF night fighter (Squadron Leader P A Gilchrist DFC) whose crew is completely unaware that it just shot down one of its own planes. One of the engines will be recovered from the field in 1996, and a plaque will be erected on the lonely spot on 8 March 1997.

Other RAF targets during the night are Cologne (19 bombers) and St. Nazaire (14 bombers). The RAF also conducts Rhubarb sweeps over the French coast during the day.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies writes down in his diary his impression of the Blitz:

Curious to see the North Lodge at Buckingham Palace lying in ruins this morning. Houses shattered in Curzon Street. Germans are poor psychologists. If they had left the West End alone the East Enders might have been persuaded that they alone were bearing the brunt of the war. And Buckingham Palace again! ha ha!

Of course, the German bombs at Buckingham Palace came within whiskers of killing the King, which would not have been such a laughing matter.

The Reykjaborg, sunk by U-552 today.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (KrvKpt. Erich Topp), on its first patrol just south of Iceland, comes across 687-ton Icelandic fish trawler Reykjaborg.  Topp fires a torpedo that fails to explode. Refusing to waste another torpedo, Topp surfaces at 23:14 and uses his deck and anti-aircraft guns to sink the ship about 460 miles southeast of Iceland. There are 12 deaths (13 if you count a man who dies just before his mates are rescued by HMS Pimpernel) and three survivors.

A convoy of British freighters blunders into a minefield off Hastings. Three ships sink:

• 870-ton Corinia (14 deaths)
• 708-ton Sparta (9 deaths)
• 1107-ton Waterland (7 deaths)

German S-boats (fast boats) attack Convoys FN 428 and FS 429A in the English Channel. The Royal Navy escorts fight them off without loss.

The Luftwaffe attacks a freighter off Wexford in St. George's Channel. It is the 4343-ton Norwegian ship Bur. The Bur is damaged and barely makes it to Fishguard, where the captain beaches it. The ship is repaired at Barry in the Bristol Channel. Another freighter, 391-ton Dutch ship Libra, also is damaged and towed into Swansea.

Royal Navy submarine HMS H.28 is damaged by a collision with an unidentified freighter in the Irish Sea. Repairs in Belfast take until mid-April.

German supply operations in the Atlantic operate without much hindrance these days. German tanker Nordmark rendezvouses with supply ship Alsterufer.

German minelayers lay minefield Pregel as part of minefield Westwall.

Convoy OB 296 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 25 departs from Halifax.

Destroyer HMS Chiddingfold is launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable completes its journey to join the British Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. HMS Illustrious, badly damaged but seaworthy, departs from Alexandria for Port Said.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Unique torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Fenicia 160 km (100 miles) north of Tripoli.

In Malta, there are repeated attacks by the Luftwaffe throughout the day. At 12:21, nine German Bf 110s strafe the Sunderland flying boats in St. Paul's Bay, destroying one and damaging two others. In addition, a fuel lighter has to be beached with damage. The defending Hurricanes shoot down one of the Bf 110s. After dark, up to 20 bombers attack in bright moonlight, damaging Luqa Airfield and various other points on the island.

Convoy BN 19 departs from Aden, bound for Suez.

Applied Science: Centimetric radar is being developed both by the Americans and the British, and today both countries try out a prototype mounted in a bomber. The USAAC uses a Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber to try out the radar, but it is a first test of the equipment with no real results beyond making sure the aircraft can handle it. The British are at the next stage in their development and today use the radar to make an air-to-air detection. It is hoped that centimetric radar will have useful applications in naval warfare.

Spy Stuff: Acting Japanese Consul General Ojiro Okuda is continuing his spying operations on the US Pacific Fleet. Today, he sends another message to Tokyo listing the ships present there on the 9th. This includes "Four battleships... Five heavy cruisers... Six light cruisers... [and the aircraft carrier USS] Yorktown."

French diplomat Gaston Henry-Haye on the cover of Time Magazine, March 10, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 10 (Cover Credit: DAVID E. SCHERMAN).

Vichy French/US Relations: Marshal Petain requests humanitarian aid from the United States. The hold-up for such aid is not President Roosevelt or the US government, because Roosevelt has been pressing for such aid since late 1940. Instead, the British government, meaning Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is against such aid to any country that is not strictly neutral. The official British position is set forth concisely and coldly:

Nothing has since occurred to alter the view of His Majesty's Government that it is the responsibility of the German Government to see to the material welfare of the countries they have overrun, nor to weaken their conviction that no form of relief can be devised which would not directly or indirectly assist the enemy's war effort.

Speaking to US journalists, Admiral Darlan, now Petain's chief deputy, warns:

I am responsible for feeding 40 million people, plus millions more in Africa. I will feed them even if I have to use force.

The issue of humanitarian aid will remain throughout the war, with the US wishing to help the people of Europe, but the British government objecting on the grounds that any aid of any sort to countries controlled by the Germans will help the Axis war effort.

France confirms the Murphy-Weygand Agreement today. Pursuant to the agreement, the United States agrees to supply French North Africa with certain basic commodities, so long as the French do not build up stockpiles and do not export them.

Anglo/US Relations: The Lend-Lease Bill is not yet law, but President Roosevelt gets a jump on the process by requesting $7 billion in aid to England.

US Military: The USAAF 73rd Squadron (Douglas B-18s) begins transferring from McChord Field outside Tacoma, Washington to Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska.

Japanese Military: Japanese rear admiral Takijirō Ōnishi submits to Isoroku Yamamoto a plan for the Pearl Harbor attack.

British Government: There is a rare meeting of the War Cabinet at the Cabinet War Room bunker ("Paddock") located in Brook Road, Dollis Hill, northwest London. It is a massive, two-story underground facility under a corner of the Post Office Research Station site. The bunker is only used for two meetings during the war. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies gives a summary of Australian achievements in the war to date.

Soviet Government: Nikolai Voznesensky becomes the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Maksim Saburov becomes Chairman of the State Planning Committee.

"Squadron Leader James Wheeler, a Flight Commander of No. 85 Squadron RAF, gets into the cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I night fighter, 'VY-X', at Debden, Essex, for a sortie while taking advantage of the clear moonlit nights during the period of the full moon from 10-16 March 1941." © IWM (CH 2249).

Yugoslav Government: Regent Prince Paul convenes the Crown Council again to consider signing the Tripartite Pact. There is great disagreement about what course to take - support the British or succumb to the Germans.

Vichy French Government: The Vichy government orders that, as of this date, compulsory ceremonies be conducted in every school Dahomey. This includes raising and lowering the French flag to the sounds of choral music.

Indochina: The Japanese mediate the French into giving the Thais everything that they originally sought. Thailand takes possession of all land up to the Mekong River. As their "fee," the Japanese take a monopoly on Indochinese rice production and basing rights for their planes at a Saigon airfield. This is a major expansion of Japanese influence in Indochina, which formerly was confined to the northern area around China.

Australia: Queensland's Public Works Department begins construction of the Rocklea Small Arms Factory/Munitions Works.

China: The Western Hupei Operation continues. Japanese 13th Infantry Division advances to take Kuankungling, Hutzuchung, and Hsianglingkou along the Yangtze River as the Chinese (Kuomintang) continue retreating on Chunking.

French Homefront: The Vichy government rations beer. It cannot be sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

German Homefront: The government constantly monitors public views about the war and toward the regime. These reports continue throughout the war and, unlike German propaganda, are as accurate as the preparers can make them. This week's report notes that hawking pictures of Hitler at fairs next to those of religious icons is meeting resistance with the public.

American Homefront: Following upon the test of batting helmets in Havana, Cuba, the General Manager Lee MacPhail of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization announces that the team's players will wear them throughout the season.

Future History: Naw Louisa Benson is born in Burma. She becomes Burma's first Miss Universe contestant in 1956 and again becomes Miss Burma in 1958. Benson joins the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in 1964 and takes over command of her husband's brigade after he is assassinated.

On 10 March 1941, Transport Workers Union bus drivers in New York City go on strike over wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits. The strike halts most of Manhattan’s bus service.

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Monday 6 January 1941

"Australian infantry advancing during the assault on Bardia, 6 January 1941." © IWM (E 1573).

Italian/Greek Campaign: Minor operations continue on 6 January 1941 in the Klisura Pass and elsewhere. Greek Commander-in-chief Papagos is preparing a renewed effort at Klisura in an effort to secure the vital Italian port of Valona (Vlorë) before anticipated German intervention, which is projected to begin any time on or following 15 January. The Italians are fighting hard at Klisura, using Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 tanks.

Both sides have large naval forces in action during the night. Greek destroyers shell Valona during the night. A group of Italian destroyers and torpedo boats from the 9th Destroyer Division shell Greek bases at Porto Palermo in Albania. Porto Palermo is a few kilometers south of Himarë, which the Greeks recently captured.

The Great Powers are becoming increasingly interested in Greece as perhaps their next proxy battlefield. Hitler's plans for Operation Marita are well known, and becoming known at this time outside of his own country (it is impossible to hide the Wehrmacht troop movements in Romania, and the cover story of it being related to "training" is wearing thin). British Prime Minister Winston Churchill today memos his military aide, General Ismay, stating:

We must so act as to make it certain that if the enemy enters Bulgaria, Turkey will come into the war.... It is quite clear to me that supporting Greece must have priority after the western flank of Egypt has been secured."

Hitler also remains preoccupied with Turkey and maintains close diplomatic relations with it - as do the British.

European Air Operations: Operations remain light. RAF Coastal Command attacks German convoys off Norway and the Dutch coast. The Luftwaffe sends a few raiders against London and Kent but stays on the ground after dark.

The inter-service rivalries in the Wehrmacht continue. Admiral Karl Dönitz has requested control over air units - specifically Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors - in order to aid U-boat operations in the Atlantic. He hopes that they will operate as the U-boats' "eyes" and spot ships and convoys that the U-boats - at surface level - cannot see.

Hitler approves this request today, shifting I,/KG 40 to the Kriegsmarine's control. However, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering controls all air units in the Reich (under Hitler, of course). Seeing this as an infringement on his own authority, Goering quickly objects to the transfer. As a sort of compensation, Hitler returns KGr 806 (Junkers Ju 88s) from Kriegsmarine control and gives them to Field Marshal Sperrle's Luftflotte 3 for attacks on England. For now, though, the Condors remain with the Kriegsmarine, and this marks the start of a permanent increase in cooperation between German air units and U-boats. However, KG 40 itself is in poor shape and proves to be of little value to Dönitz.

"A column of Italian prisoners captured during the assault on Bardia, Libya, march to a British army base on 6 January 1941." © IWM (E 1579)

Battle of the Atlantic: U-124 (Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz), on her third patrol operating out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5965-ton British freighter Empire Thunder (on her maiden voyage) northeast of Rockall/west of the Hebrides in the Western Approaches. There are nine deaths and 30 survivors. The Empire Thunder was a straggler from Convoy OB 269 because of engine issues, and convoys wait for no ship.

German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) Kormoran (Korvettenkapitän Theodore Detmers) sinks 3729 ton Greek collier Antonis in the mid-Atlantic. The 29 men (and 7 sheep) on board are taken as prisoners. This incident sends Royal Navy heavy cruisers HMS Norfolk and Devonshire searching fruitlessly for the Kormoran, which of course quickly departs the scene. This is another incidence where the exaggerated value of surface raiders is demonstrated, as the Royal Navy expends huge amounts of effort trying to track the Kormoran down, while the much more effective U-boats attract little attention except at the times of sinkings.

British 87 ton tug Lion hits a mine and sinks in the River Medway. Everyone on board perishes.

British 219 ton trawler Gadra hits a mine (laid by the British) off Myling Head, Faroe Islands. There are three survivors, 7 deaths.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Mashona collides with destroyer HMS Sikh while departing Scapa Flow on a convoy mission. The Mashona is taken to West Hartlepool for repairs. The Sikh also is damaged which puts it out of action for just short of two weeks.

Convoy FN 377 departs from Southend, Convoy HX 101 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 101 departs from Bermuda.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Dianella (T/Lt. James G. Rankin) is commissioned, while destroyers HMS Fitch and Forrest are laid down.

US battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) is laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard - quite a coincidence given President Roosevelt's speech today, in light of the events of 2 September 1945.

Time Magazine, January 6, 1941. | Vol. XXXVII No. 1.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Australian forces continue mopping up at Bardia, with the Italian position now completely hopeless. However, there are still some holdouts in the northern sector of the fortress.

Already, British eyes are turning elsewhere. The British 7th Armoured Division, having bypassed Bardia, takes El Adem airfield and Belhamed to the south of Tobruk (General Enrico P. Manella) and essentially cuts its Italian troops off from land communications. The Italians have other large troop formations sitting idle in Libya, but, as with Bardia, they appear uninterested in what happens to Tobruk. A surprise assault on the 7th Armoured Division, for instance, in theory, could crush it against the fortress of Tobruk like a hammer striking an anvil, but the Italians further west do not stir.

With yet another major British objective - Bardia - now crossed off the list, Churchill begins thinking about which theater of operations presents the greater threat: Greece or North Africa. He cables his Middle East Commander, General Wavell, to hurry things along because there are other pressing priorities:

Time is short. I cannot believe Hitler will not intervene soon [in Greece and other Balkan states].

Given that Wavell has just won another resounding victory and perhaps expects some thanks or congratulations rather than another lesson in the obvious, this perhaps comes as a bit of a downer.

Churchill, however, does not stop there. He even implies that Wavell's army has become a haven for slackers, urging that Wavell do something "about purging rearward services" and shifting more of the rear echelon establishment into the front line. Churchill further elaborates by commenting that more forces should be shifted to Greece, including aircraft, artillery and "some or all of the tanks of the 2nd Armoured Division, now arrived and working up in leisurely fashion in Egypt." These are all implied criticisms of Wavell's leadership, extending disagreements and resentments between the two men that have been bubbling to the surface since the quick loss of British Somaliland in August 1940.

This is a familiar theme that leaders on both sides will take up from time to time, the length of the supply "tail." However, modern armies require large-scale logistical support, and cutting back on that can result in degradation of combat effectiveness by those who do carry rifles.

General Wavell, for his part, flies to Khartoum. He wishes to evict the Italians from Eritrea, and also reinstall British pawn Haile Selassie as ruler of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

Meanwhile, the Germans are doing more than subtly sniping at each other. Today, General Geisler begins operations with his Junkers Ju 87s of Fliegerkorps X from their new bases in Sicily. They attack Royal Navy units involved in Operation Excess.

As part of Operation Excess, a convoy mission to Malta, Group B of Operation MC 4 departs from Alexandria. Operation Excess is designed to reinforce Malta with additional troops, and ships are coming from both Alexandria and Gibraltar.

RAF planes drop propaganda leaflets on Italian positions in North Africa. The leaflets emphasize the moral superiority of British war aims and recent British successes in Egypt and Libya.

In southwest Libya, the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) is camped near Tazerbo and continues patrolling to learn as much as possible about its objective, regional center Murzuk and its airfield. The men hear today that Bardia, about 700 miles to the east, has fallen via special poles they construct to aid communications. This is no small force; there are 23 vehicles and 76 men. Included in the group are Coldstream Guards and New Zealanders. They are all under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bagnold, with Major Pat Clayton leading the raid itself.

The Indian 11th Infantry Division transfers from Egypt to Sudan.

Battle of the Pacific: British 16810 ton transport Empress of Russia departs from Auckland, New Zealand with an escort of HMNZS Achilles. With known German raiders in the area following the shelling of Nauru in December, the Royal Navy is becoming much more security conscious about its assets in the Pacific.

US Navy TBD-1 Devastators, Torpedo Squadron 2, of USS Lexington (I think), 6 January 1941.

Applied Science: Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) test a prototype centimetric radar system on the roof of the university's Radiation Laboratory.

Anglo/US Relations: After quickly loading $148,342,212.55 (at 1941 prices) in British gold bars within about 24 hours, USS Louisville immediately departs from Simonstown, South Africa bound for New York. That is about $2 trillion in 21st Century value. This shipment, part of Operation Fish, will be used to pay for armaments and other items in the United States. In its path lies German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer (which today is replenishing its fuel stocks from tanker Nordmark), but the ocean is vast and the odds of the two ships encountering each other is remote. Even then, the USS Louisville is a heavy cruiser that can take care of itself.

If anything were to happen to this shipment, there could be cataclysmic consequences.

Irish/German Relations: The Irish government sends the Germans an official note of protest regarding recent air attacks on Dublin and the Irish coast to the south. The Luftwaffe bombed Ireland for three straight nights and killed several people. Many in Ireland and Great Britain do not think these bombings were accidental at all, but an intimidation tactic.

Soviet Military: The war games that began on 2 January conclude today. General Zhukov, in charge of the "Western" or "Blue" forces, has achieved a victory over Colonel-General D.G. Pavlov commanding the "Eastern" or "Red" forces. The precise outcome is somewhat murky, as the accounts of this exercise rely upon memoirs from those involved (some of whom did not survive the war). Another exercise is planned to begin on 8 January, with Zhukov commanding the "Red" side and General Kulik commanding the "Blue" side.

British Government: Winston Churchill sets the ultimate objective in North Africa as the capture of Benghazi. This he sees happening in March 1941, after which troops can be shifted to Greece and North Africa become basically a static front. He gives this appreciation both to General Wavell and to the Defence Committee for discussion.

President Roosevelt gives his 6 January 1941 "Four Freedoms" State of the Union address. Camera angles give the impression that he is standing, when in fact he is seated.

US Government: President Roosevelt gives his 1941 State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress. It quite possibly is the most consequential address of the 20th Century. This becomes known as the "Four Freedoms" speech, and Roosevelt enumerates the "Four Freedoms" as follows:

1. Freedom of speech
2. Freedom of worship
3. Freedom from want
4. Freedom from fear

While the speech is a classic and the Four Freedoms have entered the lexicon, this is Roosevelt's second attempt at creating the list. On 5 July 1940, he gave a slightly different list at a press conference. Then, these "essential freedoms" were:

1. Freedom of information
2. Freedom of religion
3. Freedom to express oneself
4. Freedom from fear
5. Freedom from want

Obviously, the initial five-point list was not quite catchy enough. Whatever difference lies between "freedom of information" and "freedom to express oneself" got boiled down to "freedom of speech," which is essentially the idea underlying both - but not quite with the same nuances. Reviewing the two lists is like watching a brilliant writer editing his own work to make only the most fundamental points.

The idea also has an antecedent from an unlikely source: the 1939 New York World's Fair (which only closed at the end of October 1940). The Fair's four freedoms were:

1. Freedom of religion
2. Freedom of speech
3. Freedom of the press
4. Freedom of assembly

Roosevelt's final Four Freedoms list is a fundamental recitation of concerns which sometimes echo, if not outright paraphrase, the US Constitution, but also extend the Constitution with Roosevelt's own New Deal agenda (not included in the "Four Freedoms" but also listed in the speech are such things as jobs, equality of opportunity, and civil liberties). In effect, Roosevelt is proposing that US Constitutional - and his own philosophical - priorities should be the template for the entire world. That is, whether the rest of the world agrees or not - but mass acceptance of these principles, or "freedoms," is assumed.

While Hitler is busy trying to craft a New World Order by dividing the world up into military spheres of influence, Roosevelt is doing the same thing in a philosophical fashion (in fact, he actually uses the phrase "new order" in reference to the Axis and proposes instead the term "moral order."

The Baltimore News-Post, 6 January 1941.

One of the ironic aspects of Roosevelt's speech lies in how he describes "freedom of fear":

which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor – anywhere in the world.

In fact, President Roosevelt will preside over the greatest arms buildup in the history of the world. That defense establishment essentially remains into the 21st Century, with US defense expenditures continuing to amount to more than that of all other nations put together. There was no "reduction of armaments" under President Roosevelt, and there was none after his tenure, either. It is easy to say that Roosevelt's arms buildup was necessary, as well as that of post-war US governments - but it takes a certain myopic or ethnocentric point of view to refuse to see your own arms buildup as not violating the "freedom from fear." Apparently, it is okay if the other guys feel fear as long as you and those who agree with you do not. I'm not trying to be political here, just pointing out some inescapable realities of how the world works and how high-minded principles can't square with them.

Nobody can really argue with Roosevelt's list; that would be like saying that you are in favor of repressing or mistreating people. In a sense, the Four Freedoms speech is the dawn of the age of political correctness, where any dissent makes you morally a "bad person," though that takes decades to gather steam.

The speech provides a moralistic framework for US intervention abroad which ultimately is not necessary during the Roosevelt years, but helps to frame World War II (from the US perspective) as "the Good War" (some would say the last good war). It also imbues a conscious moralism to US foreign policy which never leaves - moralism which is not always applied or justified in the same ways, particularly during US military interventions. However, this moralism does imbue US military adventurism with the aspect of a modern Crusade (in fact, General Eisenhower's memoir is entitled "Crusade in Europe," so some at the time saw this, too). Some key US allies never follow these Four Freedoms (notably the USSR), so everything is relative in the context of the Four Freedoms. Again, those inescapable realities again.

The Four Freedoms will remain a catchphrase to which Roosevelt will return time and again and will inform the creation of the United Nations, perhaps his most lasting legacy.

Also included in the speech, almost casually and with almost no elaboration, is another tremendous topic with immediate ramifications: Lend Lease. While once again he does not use this term, President Roosevelt does everything but say the words. After noting in the abstract that Great Britain is about to run out of money - with an actual shipment of British gold leaving for the United States on this very day - Roosevelt says:

I do not recommend that we make them a loan of dollars with which to pay for these weapons -- a loan to be repaid in dollars. I recommend that we make it possible for those nations to continue to obtain war materials in the United States, fitting their orders into our own program. And nearly all of their material would, if the time ever came, be useful in our own defense.

In this way, in a single paragraph, Roosevelt announces a new policy that essentially turns Great Britain into a client state, a very willing mercenary army for the United States. Roosevelt makes this even plainer in the following paragraph when he reassures his listeners that "we are free to decide how much should be kept here and how much should be sent abroad to our friends." Not only does Roosevelt decide what goes where, but the British will wind up paying for the privilege of accepting these American handouts. It is an artful way of ramping up the munitions industries without actually going to war or, really, having any legal pretext at all (though that will soon follow).

East Indians: Local Dutch authorities arrest Nationalist leaders.

China: The Nationalist Chinese 3rd War Area attacks the retreating Communist New 4th Army near Maolin on the Yangtze.

The Nationalist (Kuomintang) government purchases 100 H81A-2 Curtiss Tomahawks (P-40Bs). These are intended for use by the American Volunteer Group (AVG), which Claire Chennault is still forming. Their armament is 2 x 0.5 in. and 4 x 0.3 in. machine guns, which is fairly substantial for this period of time, though 20 mm cannon would be better.

American Homefront: Unknown young actor Richard Widmark makes his radio debut on the CBS drama "The Home of the Brave."

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