Franz Baron von Werra, KIA 25 October 1941, and Simba.
US/German Relations: The German Reich has been operating largely in silence on the Eastern Front while its army (Heer) and special services (Schutzstaffel or SS) engages in a growing number of atrocities. For example, mass executions at Babi Yar (Kiev), and Odesa within the past month (and some ongoing) have killed thousands of people, and many other atrocities have been committed. The media has been largely quiet about these incidents because they happen in remote areas and means of communication are sketchy. On 25 October 1941, however, United States President Roosevelt shines a light on these massacres and directly warns German leader Adolf Hitler to stop them - or else.
George Brent and Bette Davis promoting "The Great Lie" on the cover of Picture Show magazine, 25 October 1941.
Roosevelt's statement that is issued through the U.S. State Department reads in full:
The practice of executing scores of innocent hostages in reprisal for isolated attacks on Germans in countries temporarily under the [Third Reich] heel revolts a world already inured to suffering and brutality. Civilized peoples long ago adopted the basic principle that no man should be punished for the deed. of another. Unable to apprehend the persons involved in these attacks the [German] characteristically slaughter fifty or a hundred innocent persons. Those who would "collaborate" with Hitler or try to appease him cannot ignore this ghastly warning.
The [Germans] might have learned from the last war the impossibility of breaking men's spirits by terrorism. Instead, they develop their lebensraum and "new order" by depths of frightfulness which even they have never approached before. These are the acts of desperate men who know in their hearts that they cannot win. Frightfulness can never bring peace to Europe. It only sows the seeds of hatred which will one day bring fearful retribution.
There is little question that this statement, particularly the closing words, "which will one day bring fearful retribution," is a veiled threat to Hitler.
The Camden (Arkansas) News, 25 October 1941. Unlike in 1939 or 1940, the entire front page of local newspapers now is war news.
Roosevelt is demanding that the German leader have his troops stop committing massacres. Roosevelt refers to this statement repeatedly throughout the remainder of World War II. It seems that this is one of FDR's proudest moments and reflects the strain of moralism that has been growing in United States foreign policy since World War I. The fact that Roosevelt's seems timed to the Kyiv massacres that took place just yesterday suggests that the Allies have a very good real-time understanding of exactly what is happening to people in the Reich and occupied territories. In hindsight, this leads to the question of whether Allied leaders had the same kind of insight into the Holocaust as it was happening and perhaps could have done more to interfere with it.
Eastern Front: The weather in the central section of the Eastern Front is bad and getting worse. The Rasputitsa, or change of seasons, is flooding roads, turning them and other areas into muddy morasses, and making the entire area almost impassable by most vehicles and even men and horses in some areas. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, essentially suspends offensive operations for the time being. The Germans, who are unfamiliar with these conditions, intend to wait until the ground freezes and firms sufficiently to provide tractions for their vehicle. That should happen within about two weeks as the temperature continues to drop as the days get shorter.
Wehrmacht soldiers launching a weather balloon in Tunisia, 25 October 1941 (Photo: Berliner Verlag/Archiv. - Unbekannt/Tunisia).
That does not mean that everything just stops. Wehrmacht infantry continues to slog forward, trying to catch up with the panzers who are leading the advance. The German 78th Infantry Division, for instance, catches up to the SS Das Reich Division which is consolidating its hold on the central position of Mozhaysk on the main Moscow highway. The Soviets also have time to formulate plans to protect Moscow and also stop the dangerous Wehrmacht offensive north of the city toward Tikhvin. In Moscow, the Soviets prepare a new war production plan to replace the earlier one that has been rendered obsolete by recent German victories on the central front and further south at Kharkiv and in the Donbas industrial region.
Franz Baron von Werra.
While on a practice flight in Bf 109F-4 Number 7285, Franz Baron von Werra crashes in the sea north of Vlissingen due to engine failure. His body is never found. Von Werra eventually will become famous as the subject of "The One That Got Away" (1957) starring Hardy Kruger (also a World War II vet), which chronicles his escape from a POW train in Canada on 10 January 1941. In a dramatic escape, Franz von Werra jumped off a prison train, got across the St. Lawrence River, and made it back to Germany on 18 April 1941 via New York and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He became a media sensation in New York City during his brief stay there, and then a celebrity in the Reich as well. Franz von Werra, also known for his pet lion Simba, remains famous to this day for students of World War II as the only German POW to escape from Canadian custody and make it back to the Reich.
Mrs. Harry I. Lucas christens USS Juneau (CL-52), 25 October 1941. Sunk off Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 (U.S. Navy).
US Military: The US Army Air Force places an order for two experimental long-range heavy bombers with Northrup. The objective is to create a bomber force that can leave the continental United States, bomb targets in Europe, and return to the United States without landing or refueling. This is a worst-case scenario plan in case Great Britain is invaded by the Reich. The bomber ordered is the XB-35 flying wing.
British Military: Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, newly appointed commander of Force Z and Commander-in-Chief of the China Station, departs from Great Britain in command of his fleet. His command includes his flagship, the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, together with the veteran Great War-era battlecruiser HMS Repulse, and the four destroyers HMS Electra, HMS Express, HMS Encounter, and HMS Jupiter. They are heading for Singapore to reinforce the massive naval base there. Force Z arrives there on 2 December 1942. Holocaust: While Hitler officially has suspended his euthanasia program due to broad public disapproval, stirred over the summer by sermons by Bishop Galen and others, in reality, the program continues in secret. Those euthanasia "experts" are now in high demand. Due to conquests in the East that have brought in new hordes of "undesirables," the authorities there are looking for more efficient killing solutions. Erhard Wetzel, an official in charge of race questions for the Ministry of Occupied Eastern Territories, comes up with an idea: why not gas them? He writes a letter to Hinrich Lohse, Reich Commissioner for the Ostland territories, suggesting that those who were working on the euthanasia program be used to implement this solution. They can, he suggests, construct gas chambers in which to eliminate large groups of people, primarily deported Jewish people who are unfit to work. Wetzel's suggestion is not acted upon immediately but reflects a growing consensus within the Reich security forces that simply shooting large numbers of people is inefficient, time-consuming, and bad for morale.
Riga Ghetto is established.
Sweden's new ministers in Copenhagen, Envoyé and Mrs Gustaf von Dardel, 25 October 1941.
Heinrich Himmler looks at a young Soviet prisoner during an official visit to a prisoner-of-war camp in the vicinity of Minsk, Belarus on 15 August 1941. The Soviet POWs have been told to sit, and this one has refused. He could be shot for his disobedience (and perhaps was). This picture is sometimes misidentified as showing a different visit by Himmler to a concentration camp with the prisoner identified as a famous British office, but that does not seem to be the case. (US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD).
Eastern Front: A very common theme in German recollections of Operation Barbarossa is the unexpected weight of Soviet military resistance. This is the case on 15 August 1941 at the highest levels, as OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder notes in the war diary that "It appears" that the 16th Infantry Division has run into "a larger enemy group than expected" at Cherson (Kherson), Ukraine. He notes that the "advance" is "held up as a result." It is easy to read into such writings a sense of bewilderment as to where all these Soviet troops are coming from. They are stopping the panzers from Finland to the Black Sea every time it seems an opening has been found, and nobody has a good explanation of why - it was supposed to be easier than this.
In the Far North sector, the Finns and Germans are stopped cold in their attempts to seize Murmansk and the Murmansk railway, but the Soviet position in the Karelian Isthmus is falling apart. The Finns are tightening their grip on the northern half of the lake, which is important because the Soviets are using the lake to supply many of their units, and any loss of control also could imperil shipping of supplies to Leningrad (though that is not necessary - yet) near its southern tip. Towns in Karelia have outsized importance because there are so few of them, and they control the few roads through the dense forests. The Soviets continue to demonstrate their difficulties operating in the dense forests and marshy areas of Karelia that they displayed during the Winter War (and which, incidentally, German troops share).
Soviets surrendering while playing a merry tune. "The last of the surrendered Russian soldiers translate their joy through the accordion." - Sortavala, 15 August 1941.
The Soviets send in the fresh 265th Division over the lake, but Finnish 10th Division mauls it in battle near Lake Ladoga today, encircling the hapless Soviets. Nearby, Finnish I Corps (2nd, 7th, and 19th Divisions) takes Sortavala on the northern fringes of Lake Ladoga (7th Division under Colonel Svensson enters first). The defending Soviet 168th Rifle Division has nowhere to run except the forests, and its only hope of survival is a seaborne rescue. The Finns take 540 Soviet prisoners, but many escape into the woods. It is a double-whammy in one day that drastically undermines the Soviet grasp on the lake.
Original caption: "Private Heino Jauhiainen... who singlehandedly took 25 Russians prisoner during the Ontrosenvaara sweep." - 15 August 1941.
In the Army Group North sector, the Germans of I Corps supported by VIII Air Corps take Novgorod at the northern tip of Lake Ilmen after a vicious struggle. With difficulty, 16th Army is retaining its hold on Staraya Russa at the lake's southern tip. They now can use the lake to form a solid defensive barrier - although the Wehrmacht going on the defensive is not the plan. The Soviet breakthrough south of Staraya Russa is stopped. Hitler, concerned by the breakthrough, orders reinforcements sent in from all sides, which Halder in his diary notes is "that old mistake" of overreacting to a perceived threat and thereby allowing the 2-4 Soviet divisions to "tie up three to four German Divisions."
Field Marshal von Leeb of Army Group North asks for more troops. Hitler hears of this, calls von Leeb in for a conference, and orders the transfer to von Leeb of a panzer division and two motorized divisions from General Hoth's Panzer Group 3. Field Marshal von Bock of Army Group Center, Halder records in the war diary, is "furious" and warns that this means his army group will have to go over to the defensive.
In the Army Group Center sector, the German high command continues to debate whether or not to give up the "lightning rod" position at Yelnya. The German advance continues at Rogachev, but the going is slow elsewhere, though XII and XIII Corps appear in good shape to link up soon with XXXII Corps north of Gomel and trap some more Soviet soldiers.
In the Army Group South sector, the Romanians continue their pause in their attack on Odessa as they bring forward forces. The German 6th Division of 11th Army runs into strong resistance at Nikolayev, and Soviets in a pocket near Kanev on the Dneipr are refusing to surrender. The Soviets at Nikolayev, while fighting a ferocious rearguard action and fooling the Germans into thinking they are making a stand there, continue evacuating while covered by naval forces.
The Red Air Force sends 15 bombers to raid Berlin, but they cause little damage.
Soviet prisoners who are taken at Sortavala, including female soldiers, 15 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command takes the day and night off after several maximum efforts in recent days, most famously the daylight raid on Cologne power station on 12 August. RAF Bombers - the ones that make it back - struggle in before dawn from their raids on Hannover, Brunswick, and Magdeburg.
The Luftwaffe raids northeastern England in small raids by individual bombers. One bomb land on a house killing all seven people inside, including five boys aged 6-14. Another bomb lands on a house nearby and kills a 64-year-old widow and apparently others in the house. Other houses also are destroyed. The night's events prove that even "pinprick" attacks can cause large numbers of casualties, especially considering that the British public has been lulled into a false sense of security since the end of large-scale Luftwaffe raids in May.
David Bensusan-Butt, a civil servant in the War Cabinet Secretariat and an assistant of Winston Churchill's friend Lord Cherwell, completes his report based on analysis of RAF bombing missions. The report is not circulated until 18 August, but the reports are obvious at a glance and can be summarized in a phrase: RAF bombing is wildly inaccurate and only rarely hits the actual target. The Butt Report's results are explosive (no pun intended) and will lead to major changes in RAF bombing strategy. Churchill takes a few days to think about the findings before releasing them to the War Cabinet and RAF.
Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Despatch stops 3667-ton German freighter Nordeney northeast of the Amazon Estuary. Like many crews of blockade runners, the German crewmen scuttle the ship and become prisoners.
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown leads a neutrality patrol out of Bermuda. US battleship Arkansas (BB-33) ends its own neutrality patrol when it returns to Hampton Roads.
Convoy Dervish, a supply mission bound for Archangel, Soviet Union, stops briefly at Scapa Flow before heading toward its next port of call in Reykjavik, Iceland.
German raider Orion, back in the Atlantic following a lengthy sojourn in the Indian Ocean, arrives in Spanish territorial waters and disguises itself as Spanish freighter Contramestre Casado.
Convoy ON-7 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL-84 departs Freetown bound for Liverpool. Convoy WS-8C (Exercise Leapfrog) is canceled and the ships return to the Clyde.
U-165, U-334, and U-377 are launched, U-233 is laid down.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF bombs and sinks 400-ton Italian freighter Adua in the Gulf of Sirte.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Thrasher attacks German freighter Ankara in Mandri Channel, Greece, but misses.
Royal Navy battleship arrives at Suez and proceeds toward Alexandria now that its battle-damage from the Crete campaign has been repaired in Durban. It sails in company with four destroyers, anti-aircraft ship Coventry, and troopship Glengyle.
Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues with Australian light cruiser HMAS Hobart arriving in Famagusta with three other ships and unloading troops there.
Royal Navy destroyers Kandahar and Kimberley make the nightly supply run to Tobruk and return safely to Alexandria before dawn breaks on the 15th. Destroyers Hasty and Jaguar make the run after dark.
At Malta, Royal Navy submarine Osiris arrives safely carrying supplies. RAF No. 105 Squadron sends 5 Blenheims (two lost) to attack Benghazi. Early on the 16th, they claim to destroy one tanker, damage another and leave two other ships damaged.
Heinrich Himmler with local ladies near Minsk, 15 August 1941 With Himmler are SS-Hauptsturmführer Werner Grothmann (Chief adjutant of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler) and at right their translator (because Himmler and Grothmann do not speak Russian). (Walter Frentz).
Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine Shch-211 (Lt. Cdr. Devyatko) torpedoes and sinks 5706-ton Romanian freighter Peles near Cape Ermine, Romania.
Soviet submarine L-5 lays a minefield off Sulina, Romania.
Soviet gunboats Krasnaya Armeniya and Krasnaya Gruziya give fire support to Soviet ground troops at Grigorevka and Spridovka, Odessa, Ukraine.
The Soviets scuttle submarine S-39, under construction at Nikolayev, Ukraine, to prevent its capture.
Battle of the Pacific: Soviet 2607-ton freighter Tungus sinks from an unexplained cause between Vladivostok and the La Perouse Strait. Several Soviet ships have sunk in the Vladivostok region recently from "friendly" mines.
Spy Stuff: German spy Josef Jakobs, who parachuted into Britain on the night of 31 January/1 February 1941, is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London. This is the last execution in the Tower of London - to date. Jakobs is given this "honor" - and Germans do consider it more dignified to be shot than hanged - because, unlike most spies, he is a member of the Wehrmacht.
In Tokyo, Richard Sorge sends a message to Moscow stating that the Japanese have decided not to attack the Soviet Union. Sorge's messages are taken much more seriously now following his successful warning of Operation Barbarossa.
Surrendered Soviet troops playing the accordion and singing as they march into captivity in Sortavala, 15 August 1941 (SA-Kuva).
Anglo/US/Soviet Relations: President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill send a joint message to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The message reads in part that it is time to discuss "long term policy" at a special conference:
In order that all of us may be in a position to arrive at speedy decisions as to the apportionment of our joint resources, we suggest that we prepare for a meeting to be held at Moscow, to which we would send high representatives who could discuss these matters directly with you.
The President and PM also note that they will continue to send supplies (as in the current Operation Dervish) pending Stalin's response. As with virtually all messages sent by the western allies to Stalin, he does not respond directly, but only through intermediaries.
US Military: The US Navy commissions Palmyra Island Naval Air Station. Although widely separated from the other islands in the chain, Palmyra Atoll is part of the Hawaiian Island chain. It has been under naval jurisdiction since 1934, codified by Executive Order 8616. US control of part of the atoll is legally disputed by private parties throughout the war (and ultimately overturned by the US Supreme Court), but that does not affect NAS Palmyra Island. The government has plans to dredge a ship channel, lay roads and causeways, and even build new islands.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson gives a radio address in which he goes through various aspects of the international situation, such as the bases obtained as leases from Great Britain recently. He remarks in all seriousness that an invasion of the United States by Axis troops "would be no playboy affair."
Japanese Military: Japanese 8360-ton seaplane tender Sanyo Maru completes its conversion and is attached to the Sasebo Naval District. It embarks six Type 0 Mitsubishi F1M2 “Pete” scout float biplanes and two Type O Aichi E13A1 "Jake" three-seat reconnaissance floatplanes, with two Type 95 Nakajima E8N2 "Dave" two-seat reconnaissance float biplanes in reserve.
The Imperial Japanese Navy fits AMC Hokoku Maru with searchlights and equipment for handling floatplanes. She will carry one Type 94 Kawanishi E7K2 “Alf” floatplane and one spare plane.
The IJN requisitions 5181-ton freighter Hide Maru for use as an ammunition ship, 10,383-ton tanker Kuroshio Maru, and 5350-ton freighter Bangkok Maru as a specialty cruiser.
The IJN commissions 6795-ton salvage vessel Yamabiko Maru.
"Singapore, Malaya. 15 August 1941. Troops after they have disembarked at Singapore Harbour. Marching centre front is possibly NX51557 Private Aubrey Thomas Stiff, Headquarters, 8th Division." (Australian War Memorial 009249_28).
Australian Military: Australian 27th Infantry Brigade arrives in Singapore.
US Government: Having returned to the United States from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, President Roosevelt spends a quiet day fishing from presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) in Pulpit Harbor, Penobscot Bay, Maine. Fishing, of course, was the cover story used during his absence from public view during the Atlantic Conference.
British Government: On his way back to England from the Atlantic Conference aboard battleship HMS Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Churchill stops for a day at Iceland.
German Government: Over dinner, Hitler relaxes with friends and goes into one of his monologues about whatever topic has crossed his mind during the day. Today, because there has been a high-profile murder in Berlin, the topic is the penal system. This does give some insight into the Reich's justice system:
The greatest vice of our penal system is the exaggerated importance attached to a first sentence. Corporal punishment would often be much better than a term of imprisonment. In prison and in penitentiary establishments, the delinquent is at too good a school. The old lags he meets there teach him, first that he was stupid to be caught, and secondly to do better next time. All that his stay in prison amounts to in the end is only an uninterrupted course of instruction in the art of doing wrong. In such a case, I see no sense in a long trial, with all its formalities, to study the question of responsibility or irresponsibility. In my view, whether responsible or not, the author of that crime should disappear.
It turns out that Hitler is not a big fan of due process.
CEREMONY AT CAMP MURPHY, RIZAL, 15 August 1941, marking the induction of the Philippine Army Air Corps. Behind Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, from left to right, are Lt. Col. Richard K. Sutherland, Col. Harold H. George, Lt. Col. William F. Marquat, and Maj. LeGrande A. Diller.
Philippines: General Douglas MacArthur, recently recalled to US Army service, chairs a meeting of senior commanders and holds a ceremony at Camp Murphy. The overall gist of his message is that the US is going to fight for the islands. He also announces that the Philippine Air Corps has been inducted into federal service.
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski gives a speech in Minsk on the occasion of a visit by Heinrich Himmler, 15 August 1941.
Holocaust: Following the successful institution of the practice in the former Yugoslavia, Reich Commissioner for Eastern Territories Heinrich Lohse in Minsk decrees that Jews must wear the Yellow Star of David. This actually includes two yellow badges, one on the chest and one on the back. He also orders that Jews are not to own radios or automobiles. Jews also are prohibited from using public accommodations such as trains, parks, and theaters.
Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler visits Minsk and witnesses the execution of Jews at a nearby concentration camp. In company with SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and adjutant Karl Wolf Himmler also inspects an insane asylum. Bach-Zalewski claims to have told Himmler that using firing squads for euthanasia damages the shooters psychologically. Himmler orders them to try using dynamite on the inmates instead, which later is done with poor results. After exhausting these choices, they try gas.
In the town of Roskiskis on the Lithuanian-Latvian border, locals riot and institute a pogrom against Jews that ultimately claims an estimated 3200 lives.
At Kovno, Lithuania, surviving Jews who have survived earlier purges are forced into the suburban Ghetto in Viliampole.
The German authorities at Riga, Latvia establish a Jewish ghetto.
Einsatzcommando 3 executes 425 Jewish men, 19 Jewish women, and 17 non-Jews in Vilnius.
American Homefront: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases "Life Begins for Andy Hardy." Directed by George B. Seitz, this is the 11th installment of the "Andy Hardy" series starring Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone. It is memorable as the last installment of the Andy Hardy series to feature Judy Garland as Miss Betsy Booth. As with all of the Andy Hardy films, it turns a tidy profit. Counting domestic and overseas revenues, "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" nets MGM $1.324 million.
In Major League Baseball, there is a rare forfeit at Griffith Stadium in Washington. There is a rain delay in the 7th inning and the umpire orders the infield covered. This is standard practice, but ... it doesn't happen because the ground crew can't be located. The umpire then adjudges the field unplayable and calls it in favor of the home team Senators because they are leading 6-3. However, after an appeal by the Red Sox, the American League forfeits the game to the Red Sox 1-0 because the home team is responsible for the care of the playing field.
Benny Goodman records "Elmer's Tune" in Chicago for Columbia (36359), four days after Glenn Miller records his version for Bluebird Records. Goodman uses his new "girl singer," known as Peggy Lee (real name Norma Deloris Egstrom). It is Lee's first recording with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and apparently her first recording ever. While Miller's version goes to number one on the Billboard chart in December, Goodman's and Lee's version does not chart - but it begins a very long and productive career for Miss Peggy Lee.
Future History: Donald Eugene Ulrich is born in Olympia, Washington. As Don Rich, he becomes a top country musician in the early 1960s and helps to develop the Bakersfield sound. Rich backs singer Buck Owens as a member of The Buckaroos until his untimely death in a motorcycle accident in 1974 at the age of 1932.
Eastern Front: In the Far North sector, Group J (one regiment) of Finnish III Corps finally on 3 August 1941 smashes through fierce Soviet opposition at the Sof'yanga, an eight-mile-long channel connecting Pya Lake and Top Lake in Karelia. The Soviets are only pried out of their defenses due to a brilliant Finnish flanking move accomplishing by sending a battalion over the western tip of Top Lake to attack from behind the Soviet line. With this accomplished, the Finns can advance to Kesten'ga with the ultimate objective of cutting the Murmansk railway.
In the Army Group North sector, Soviet 325th Rifle Regiments is evacuated by sea from Litsa Bay.
In the Army Group Center sector, General Guderian's advance on Roslavl bears fruit when XXIV Corps (General Geyr von Schweppenburg) links up with 4th Army's (General Feld Marshal Gunther Hans von Kluge) IX Corp. This forms the Roslavl Pocket, trapping about 38,000 Soviets who quickly become POWs. This junction wipes out Group Kachalov and much of Soviet 28th Army. The Soviets also lose about 35,000 in a pocket at Mogilev which 4th Army finally subdues.
An advance unit of German soldiers attacking a village west of Kyiv, August 1941 (Hähle, Johannes, Federal Archive, Bild 146-1974-099-45).
In the Army Group South sector, the German 16th Panzer Division meets with the Hungarian Mechanized Corps (Gyorshadtest) at Pervomaisk to form a secondary encirclement around the Soviet forces trapped in a pocket at Uman. Portions of 20 Soviet divisions continue to resist within the pocket, but with increasing futility. About 103,000 Soviet soldiers are within the pocket and face bleak prospects of rescue from Soviet forces further east. Many Soviet officers are trapped within the pocket, including the commanders of 6th and 12th armies, four corps commanders, and 11 division commanders.
Romanian 4th Army (General Nicolae Ciuperca) crosses the Dniester River and continues advancing eastward. This shows Romanian leader Ion Antonescu's willingness to aid Operation Barbarossa even in the conquest of lands that are not historically (at least arguably) Romanian.
The Luftwaffe bombs Moscow again. However, this attack is much smaller than previous attacks and can best be described as a nuisance raid.
Oblt. Kurt Sochatzy of III./JG 3 shoots down an IL-2 over Kyiv for his 38th - and last - victory. His own plane is disabled when a Soviet plane hits his Bf 109 and shears off its wing. Sochatzy successfully bails out and is taken a prisoner of war.
3rd Panzer Division Panzer 3 Tanks crossing makeshift pontoon war bridge, Beresina River, August 1941.
European Air Operations: The weather across northwestern Europe is unsettled, with heavy cloud cover that impairs navigation and bombing accuracy. RAF Bomber Command sends 39 Whitley bombers against Frankfurt (no losses) and 34 Wellingtons against Hannover (one lost). A Rhubarb attack by 7 Whitleys is sent against Calais harbor (no losses).
The Luftwaffe also sends some small raids against England during the night. Some bombs drop at Spittal near Berwick, damaging about a hundred houses and a church and destroying some ships and four houses.
Battle of the Baltic: The Soviets lose U-1, a motor torpedo boat, today. In addition, Soviet minesweeper T-212 Shtag hits a mine and sinks in the Soela-Vjajn Strait.
Germans at a sign warning of partisans in the area, August 1941. "Soviet Union center, Welish-Usswjat - field gendarmerie on a motorbike with sidecar in a partisan area (sign: "Partisan danger from Welish to Ußwjati" (Trautvetter, Federal Archive, Bild 101I-007-2477-06).
Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have spotted Convoy SL-81 southwest of Ireland and have assembled a large force to intercept it. Already eight U-boats are in the vicinity, and the Luftwaffe maintains observation as well. This leads to action even though the Germans don't yet attack the convoy itself.
Royal Navy CAM (Catapult-Armed Merchantman) ship HMS Maplin uses its catapult to launch a modified Hawker Hurricane (called a "Hurricat"), which shoots down a Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor. This is the first success of a CAM ship. Volunteer pilot R.W.H. Everett of RAF No. 804 Squadron lands his plane near destroyer Wanderer, escorting Convoy SL-81, and is picked up after he struggles to get out of the aircraft before it quickly sinks.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Wanderer and corvette Hydrangea, and Norwegian destroyer St. Albans team up to sink U-401 (Kptlt. Gero Zimmermann) southwest of Ireland. The depth charge attack kills all 45 men on the U-boat. U-401 sinks on its first patrol, with no successes to its credit.
Operation EF (the raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo) ends as Force K returns to Seidisfjord, then proceeds back to Scapa Flow.
Convoy WS-10 (Winston Special) forms at sea. Its ultimate destinations are Bombay and Aden. Convoy OS-2 departs from Liverpool bound for Freetown.
Canadian minesweeper HMCS Quinte is launched.
Schenectady 1912 at St. Paul, August 3, 1941 (Robert Graham).
Battle of the Mediterranean: After dark, a heavy Luftwaffe attack on Suez and surrounding areas causes great damage. The planes are Heinkel He 111s of II/KG.26.
The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 111s of II/KG.26) bombs and sinks 1087-ton Belgian ship Escaut in Attika Bay, Suez. All three aboard perish.
The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 111s of II/KG.26) bombs and sinks 5322-ton Belgian tanker Alexandre Andre about eight miles south of Suez. The ship is burned out and can only be used as a storage hulk for the remainder of the war.
The Luftwaffe (Heinkel He 111s of II/KG.26) bombs and damages 8120-ton British tanker Desmoulea at Suez. The ship has to be towed to Bombay for repairs.
The RAF bombs and sinks 216-ton Italian freighter Elisa off Benghazi.
Dutch submarine O-21 (Lt Cdr Van Dulm) uses its deck gun to sink two small Italian ships south of Sardinia. However, a larger sailing vessel gets away.
Greek submarine Nereus claims to sink a sailing ship and a transport off Rhodes. However, there is no confirmation.
Bf 100 fighters of ZG-26 attack Mersa Matruh and damage Royal Navy submarine chaser Sotra during the night.
Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as Royal Navy sloop Flamingo escorts transport Kevinbank to Famagusta.
The RAF sends 21 Maryland bombers to attack the Axis front lines at Tobruk.
Winston Churchill praises Malta in a telegram, stating in part:
Now that the convoys have reached you safely with all the stores and reinforcements, I take occasion to congratulate you on the firm and steadfast manner in which you and your devoted garrison and citizens have maintained Malta inviolate against all attacks for more than a year and to express my confidence that with the help of God our cause will continue to prosper and that the contribution of Malta to the final victory will add a noble chapter to the famous story of the Island.
Malta is now well-supplied, at least compared to its situation during 1940.
Bf 109D of the 3/JFS 5 at Toussus le Noble, August 1941.
US Government: On a highly secret mission, President Franklin Roosevelt boards a train from Washington, D.C. to New London, Connecticut. There, he boards the Presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25), which is attended by tender Calypso (AG-35). The ships sail to Point Judith, Rhode Island and stay there for the night. The White House informs the press corps that this is merely a fishing cruise.
British Government: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill travels north from London to board a ship that will take him across the Atlantic for a conference with President Roosevelt.
Holocaust: There are incidents in several places today. At Slobodka, Ukraine, the Germans fill a local synagogue with Jews and then set it on fire.
In Jelgava, Latvia, SS Einsatzkommandos (Lt. Hamann) execute 1550 Jews.
At Chernivtsi, Romania, Einsatzgruppen arrest 1200 Jews and execute 682 of them.
At Mitau, Latvia, the Germans execute 1500 Jews.
At Stanislawów, Ukraine, the Germans round up professional Jews and execute several hundred of them.
Isi Brauman, who writes a diary that later is published, arrives at Auschwitz. He writes: "I am going to die. There is no doubt." He received the diary from his mother for Hanukkah in 1940.
Bishop von Galen.
German Homefront: Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster, gives a sermon today - the third in a sequence during the summer of 1941 - in which he denounces the policies being followed by the Reich:
"Thou shalt not kill." God engraved this commandment on the souls of men long before any penal code... God has engraved these commandments in our hearts... They are the unchangeable and fundamental truths of our social life... Where in Germany and where, here, is obedience to the precepts of God? [...] As for the first commandment, "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me," instead of the One, True, Eternal God, men have created at the dictates of their whim, their own gods to adore: Nature, the State, the Nation, or the Race.
About euthanasia (German program Aktion T4) in particular he says:
It is a terrible doctrine which seeks to justify the murder of innocent people and which allows the violent killing of invalids, cripples, the incurably ill, the old and the weak who are no longer able to work ... once the principle that it is permissible to kill "unproductive" humans has been admitted and applied then we must all pity ourselves when we, too, grow old and weak.
Von Galen spends the remainder of his sermon denouncing the depredations of the current German regime against the Church and vulnerable people in society. He focuses on harsh euthanasia policies and calls it murder. If a regime can dispense with the Fifth Commandment, thou shalt not kill, no other commandment survives. Once you start down that path, he concludes, others could be at risk of similar policies - such as injured Wehrmacht soldiers.
Father Bernhard Lichtenberg, dean of St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin, also denounces the euthanasia program in a sermon today. However, his sermon does not receive as much publicity as Bishop von Galen's does.
Copies of the sermon spread throughout the Reich, particularly the heavily Catholic southern regions such as Bavaria. This is considered a seminal moment in the German resistance, though it is not a direct call to action. The German authorities notice, of course, and restrict von Galen's movements. Hitler later comments:
The fact that I remain silent in public over Church affairs is not in the least misunderstood by the sly foxes of the Catholic Church, and I am quite sure that a man like Bishop von Galen knows full well that after the war I shall extract retribution to the last farthing.
Despite menacing indications in the surviving German record as to von Galen's likely fate, he survives the war, perhaps through an oversight (Hitler evens many old scores during the final months of the war, but not this one). Hitler does not harm him in part due to von Galen's moral legitimacy that is recognized by many religious Germans who could be alienated. True to his principles, he then castigates the Allied occupation forces for their mistreatment of civilians. He also argues on behalf of certain imprisoned Wehrmacht officers at their trials. His life is cut short on 22 March 1946 by an appendix infection.
Von Galen is beatified (one step down from being a saint) by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. The Catholic Church moves very deliberately in such matters and he may someday become a saint.
No fuel sales are permitted after 19:00 on 3 August along the east coast of the United States in order to conserve fuel. (Photo by John Rooney/AP Photo).
American Homefront: There is a dusk-to-dawn blackout along the east coast in order to conserve gasoline. This shuts down 100,000 service stations from 19:00 to 07:00 on the 4th.
Future History: Martha Helen Kostyra is born in Jersey City, New Jersey. While attending Barnard College, Martha does some fashion modeling for Chanel. She marries Andrew Stewart in July 1961and takes his name to become Martha Stewart. Martha goes on to begin a career as a stockbroker, then eventually becomes a business mogul. As of 2018, Martha Stewart remains active, with her business endeavors, with her "Martha Stewart Everyday" home furnishing line featured in K-mart and products sold in other stores.
The royal residence at Detmold (Proietti, Ugo, Federal Archive, Bild 212-283).
Eastern Front: The German forces make only minimal advances today because Hitler has ordered the consolidation of the massive gains already made. While not welcomed by the commanders at the front, this pause provides a chance for the mechanics to work on vehicles and the infantry to catch up to the leading panzers.
In the Army Group North sector, advance Wehrmacht units of Panzer Group 4 take Kingisepp, 138 kilometers (86 miles) southwest of Leningrad and 40 km (25 miles) south of the Gulf of Finland. The Soviets are preparing to make a stand on the Luga River.
In the Army Group Center sector, the Germans have closed a large pocket around Soviet troops in the vicinity of Smolensk and now are attempting to subdue it. A large group of trapped Soviet forces, led by the 20th Army, prepares to attempt a breakout.
In the Army Group South sector, the Stavka orders Marshal Budenny (Budyonny), in command of 1.5 million men of Southern and Southwestern Fronts, to focus on preventing the Germans from establishing any bridgeheads across the Dneiper. In effect, the Stavka tries to freeze the front and further orders that retreats are only permissible in an easterly direction. The Soviet troops still have an open road to retreat to the southeast, but now they cannot do that.
The Germans, meanwhile, continue compressing the huge concentration of Soviet troops in the Uman area into a smaller and smaller area. The two Soviet Fronts have their headquarters in the town of Podvisokoye (Подвысокое). The Germans continue struggling to close the pocket, with Panzer Group 1 (von Kleist) pushing toward advance units of 17th Field Army (Karl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel) and 16th Panzer Division heading toward the Hungarian Mechanized Corps.
Hauptmann (Captain) Walter Oesau leaves III./JG 3 to take the position of Kommodore of JG 2. Hptm. Werner Andres replaces Oesau as Gruppenkommandeur of III Gruppe JG 3. Lt. Max-Hellmuth Ostermann of 7./JG 54 downs a Russian I-18.
Finnish soldiers, 28 July 1941 (SA-Kuva).
European Air Operations: Weather continues to be poor over northwest Europe. The cloudy conditions make it difficult for bombers to find a particular city, let alone targets of value within them. There is a minelaying operation by 42 RAF bombers during the night in the Baltic.
Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine ShCh-307 torpedoes and sinks U-144 (Gert von Mittelstaedt) in the Gulf of Finland north of Hiiumaa. All 28 men onboard perish. Most sources place this sinking on 10 August 1941, and that is the generally accepted date for the sinking, but either date is possible. U-144 is in 22. Flotilla and sank one Soviet submarine, M-78, of 206 tons on 23 June 1941.
The Red Air Force bombs and sinks 315-ton German freighter Elbing III near Liepāja, Latvia.
The Red Air Force bombs and sinks German minesweeper R-169 near Libau.
German 3rd S-boat Flotilla is operating off Osel when it sinks 253-ton Latvian icebreaker Lashplesis near Saaremaa (Oesel/Ösel), Estonia.
German patrol boat V.309/Martin Donandt hits a mine and sinks off Libau. The mine was laid by Soviet minesweeper T-204/Fugas.
A British motorcycle dispatch rider hands off a message to an occupant of a 1/2 ton, 4x4 Dodge Command Reconnaissance Car, 28 July 1941.
Battle of the Atlantic: A U-boat wolf pack continues to stalk Convoy OG-69 northwest of Cape Finisterre. Attacks continue throughout the day, and it is a confusing affair, with different U-boat captains claiming the same kills.
U-68 (K.Kapt. Karl-Freidrich Merten) starts things off with Convoy OG-69 in the early morning hours when Merten claims to make an attack. However, the attack fails and U-68 has no success with the convoy now or later.
U-561 (Kptlt. Robert Bartels), on its first patrol out of Hamburg, later in the pre-dawn hours then gets its first-ever victory by torpedoing and sinking 1884-ton British freighter Wrotham in Convoy OG-69. All 26 crew survive. Bartels, like Mertens, claims to make additional attacks, but there is no record of them succeeding.
After dark at 21:27, U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks two ships of Convoy OG-69 in quick succession (with the same spread of torpedoes):
1330-ton British freighter Lapland
1516-ton Swedish freighter Norita
There are 26-28 survivors of Lapland (everyone survives) and 18 from Noria (two deaths), all rescued by corvette Rhododendron.
The Luftwaffe bombs 212-ton British fishing trawler Strathlochy about 180 miles northwest of Rora Head, Orkneys.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Tamarisk is launched and destroyer Wensleydale and minesweeping trawler Foula are laid down.
Norwegian 4785-ton freighter Highlander, which escaped from internment at Dakar and was being chased by Vichy French patrol boat Edith Germaine, is taken under protection by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Highlander. They proceed to Freetown along with destroyer Boreas.
The ships of Operation EF, the projected raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo, continue steaming toward their destination in northern Norway. The operation's destroyers refuel from fleet oiler Black Ranger near the Russian Kola coast.
Convoy HG-69 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.
US Navy destroyer USS Corry is launched.
U-625 and U-626 are laid down.
"Women from the Winnica, Ukraine region come to a detention center to learn the fates of their husbands," 28 July 1941 (Hubner, Federal Archive, Bild 146-1979-113-05).
Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Utmost torpedoes and sinks 1466-ton Italian freighter Federico C. off Intavolata, western Calabria.
Dutch submarine O-21 torpedoes and sinks 747-ton Italian freighter Monteponi ten miles north of Cape Comino, Sardinia. This becomes a favored scuba-diving site
Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder spots an Axis convoy heading from Tripoli to Naples off Cape St. Vito. It torpedoes and sinks Italian light cruiser Garibaldi. The cruiser makes it to Palermo, Sicily at daybreak on the 29th and is under repair until November 1941.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy lighter A-8 off Bardia. There are 8 deaths. Another lighter, A-14, is nearby but escapes.
The Regia Aeronautica bombs and damages Royal Navy submarine HMS Olympus off Cavoli Light in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The submarine manages to make it back to Gibraltar.
The RAF launches raids from Malta on Sicily that destroy 36 Axis aircraft. The commanding officer of the Regia Aeronautica, General Federigi, perishes in aerial combat over Malta.
The Luftwaffe attacks the Suez Canal during the night.
The nightly run to Tobruk is made by destroyers HMS Hotspur and HMAS Vendetta. Early on the 29th, the ships take off some Australian troops - many of whom are exhausted from spending months isolated in the port with inadequate supplies and Axis shelling - and take them to Mersa Matruh.
Operation Guillotine, the Royal Navy reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as corvette HMS Hyacinth escorts transport Kevinbank to Famagusta.
An RAF night fighter unit begins operation at Malta. It is led by Group Captain George Powell-Shedden and based at Ta Qali.
Soviet POWs at Winnica, Ukraine, 28 July 1941 (Hubner, Federal Archives, Bild 146-1979-113-04).
Special Operations: Operation Chess, which began on 27 July, concludes. Second Lieutenant Philip Pinckney leads 17 men of No. 12 Commando to a landing from two landing craft. Much about this operation is obscure. Even the landing area is uncertain. According to some sources it occurs about two miles from the River Slack near Ambleteuse, Pas-de-Calais, France, while other sources claim it is further south at Fécamp. The landing force arrives at about 01:30 and occupies empty ground for an hour or two, then departs the way it arrived. There are one or two deaths from unknown causes - sources vary - but, apparently, they are not due to enemy action. Cdr. Sir Geoffrey Congreve Bt DSO, the Commando's Senior Landing Officer, is said to have perished during this raid, and perhaps a Lt. J. Templeton RNR and an unidentified rating, but details on the rather uneventful Operation Chess are hard to come by.
A Finnish soldier fires a Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, 28 July 1941. The L-39 weighed 50kg and was one of Finland's main anti-tank weapons. Over 1900 were built in Finland during the war.
Anglo/Finnish Relations: Finnish Foreign Minister Witting meets with British Ambassador Sir Gordon Vereker and rather sheepishly informs him that Finland has to 'interrupt' her diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. Relations with the United States, however, remain fully intact.
Dutch/Japanese Relations: The authorities in the Dutch East Indies ban all oil exports, an obvious slap at the Japanese. This piles on to US sanctions recently imposed.
US/Japanese Relations: The Japanese retaliate for the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States by doing the same to US assets in Japan. This is more of a symbolic move than anything else, as there aren't many US assets in Japan.
Imperial Japanese Navy oiler Otowasan arrives at San Pedro, California to take on a load of oil. However, due to the embargo placed on oil exports to Japan begun on the 26th, it is refused service and must return to Japan only with ballast.
German/Vichy French Relations: The Petain government agrees to manufacture Luftwaffe aircraft in France.
Anglo/Soviet Relations: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin receives a message from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This continues a pattern in their correspondence in which Churchill sends a stream of messages and Stalin rarely responds (he is said to be "too busy running the war," but this does not seem to hinder Churchill). Churchill comments that President Roosevelt's crony, Harry Hopkins, has left to visit the Soviet Union (by air, though that is not mentioned) and "You will be advised of his arrival through the proper channels." Hopkins is heading for Archangel. As usual, Stalin does not respond.
A Soviet T-28 medium tank lies abandoned in Ukraine, July 1941.
Soviet Military: The Stavka issues Stavka Directive No. 00549, "Concerning Measures to Regulate the Employment of Artillery in the Defense." The general thrust of this directive is to employ massed artillery to weaken sections of the German line prior to counterattacks. While this is eminently reasonable and a staple of tactical doctrine, it is symptomatic of the state of the Red Army that the leadership thinks it necessary to issue such basic instruction.
US Military: The 1st Joint Training Force is formed, with commander Major General Holland M. Smith. This is just a redesignation of the joint US Army and US Marine Corps unit Task Force 18, attached to the US Atlantic Fleet.
German Government: Hitler recently has been clarifying in his own mind the ultimate objectives for Operation Barbarossa (incredibly, he seems not to have done this in any sort of detail before the invasion). According to the diary of his army adjutant, Major Gerhard Engel, today he somewhat randomly comments after the noon situation conference that he considers the southern lands of the USSR more important than Moscow or Leningrad. Engel writes that the Fuhrer reasoned:
Whereas Moscow was a big industrial center, the south was more important, where oil, wheat, more or less everything was located necessary to keep the country going. A land where milk and honey flowed.
Engel concludes his entry by noting that Hitler commented:
One thing at least was absolutely required, and that was a proper concentration of forces. To use Panzers in fighting to demolish cities, that was a sin against the spirit. They had to operate in the open areas of the south. He had already started to hear the cries of those from whom they had been stripped; but that was neither here nor there.
Hitler's generals, however, do not all agree with his economic reasoning. At least some think that taking Moscow would deliver a devastating psychological blow to the Soviet state, regardless of any economic considerations. In fact, some don't just think that but are covertly acting upon their own - and not Hitler's - priorities. Of course, they also would achieve renown by being the conquerors of Moscow.
French Indochina: The Japanese 25th Army begins landing its first of 30-40,000 troops at Saigon, Cam Ranh Bay and other strategic points in southern French Indochina. There are to be naval and air bases designed to project Japanese to the south - where the Japanese military covets sources of oil. The Japanese now have airfields within 300 miles of northern Malaya and naval bases within 750 miles of the British port of Singapore. Some Japanese army troops also arrive in Cambodia, the first of 8000 troops the Japanese will place there.
TIME Magazine, Sir Charles Portal, July 28, 1941.
Burma (Myanmar): The first advance party of General Clare Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG, or Flying Tigers) arrive by ship at Rangoon.
China: The Japanese Imperial Air Force attacks Sichuan Province with 108 aircraft. The Chinese put up only seven fighters in opposition, and lose three planes. Chinese Lieutenant Gao Chunchou (I-153 no. P-7237) is shot down.
Holocaust: A "Euthanasia Program" begins at Auschwitz Concentration Camp when a select team of SS men arrives on Heinrich Himmler's orders. The first group of 573 sick Polish prisoners is taken from Block 15, along with two German criminals, to Sonnenstein Castle. There, under the supervision of Franz Hössler, the 575 men are exterminated in a shower room converted into a gas chamber. This apparently is the first use of such shower rooms, which quickly become stained blue due to the residue from the gas used.
At Drogobych, Ukraine, locals riot and kill an unknown number of Jews with their bare hands and whatever weapons are handy. Bodies of the dead and dying are thrown in the street.
Captured Soviet T-28 tank with Finnish crew, July 1941.
American Homefront: Judy Garland marries songwriter David Rose. Rose, a native of London, England, leads an orchestra and has his own twice-weekly show on the Mutual Broadcasting System. It is a troubled marriage without issue (and rumors that Rose and Garland's studio, MGM, pressured her into an abortion). They will divorce in 1944.
Future History: Peter Claver Cullen is born in Montreal, Canada. He becomes a noted voice actor, perhaps best known for his role of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s "Transformers" animated series, Eeyore in the "Winnie the Pooh" canon, and the voice of the title character in King Kong (1976). As of this writing in 2018, Peter Cullen remains active, particularly voicing Optimus Prime in new projects.
