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

Sunday 9 March 1941

Greek troops at Doliana, Arcadia, Greece, March 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Mussolini is in Tirana on 9 March 1941 to personally oversee the launch of a major offensive to recapture ground in the center of the line. The Italians begin the attack, the "Primavera Offensive," with a two-hour artillery barrage by 300 guns. The attack is in the mountains, so the artillery size is small due to transport difficulties. While 100,000 shells are dropped on a 6 km front, the effect of the shelling on the Greek defenses is minimal. The Italian Regia Aeronautica chips in with attacks by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas.

The offensive by a dozen Italian divisions is designed on the left of the advance to break through the pass over Mt. Trebeshina north of the Vojussa. The Cagliari Division is to lead this assault, but its commander, General Gianni, is not well. This contributes to the attack losing impetus. On the right wing of the attack, the Pinerolo Division aims for the Qafa Lusit Pass. The most important area is in the center, where the Puglie Division heads toward Monastery Hill. This promontory is close to the front, but is heavily defended.

There is no subtlety to the attack; it is what the Germans might call a "cleaving stroke" in which 50,000 Italian troops will try to overcome the determined Greek defenders by sheer weight of numbers. The Greek First Army is dug in and knows the area well. The Italians make small gains of less than a mile during the day.

East African Campaign: South African troops continue advancing along the road to Mogadishu.

Fireboats at the West India docks, London. Some sources date this as 9 March 1941, others as some time in 1940.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe is quiet during the day, with its usual scattered raids by lone raiders in southern England. After dark, the German bombers once again attack London and Portsmouth. The docks burn throughout the day from the attacks that began late on the 8th.

As part of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's "Battle of the Atlantic," RAF Bomber Command switches bombing target priorities in favor of U-boat bases and construction yards. Throughout the war, tension will arise over what parts of the German war effort are targeted - each service has its own preferences, such as tank factories, aircraft factories, and U-boat pens.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, records his view of last night's big air raid on London:

Last night London has its first real blitz since I arrived, and I missed it [Menzies was at Churchill's Chequers home]. Bombs & incendiaries all round my hotel & the West End generally - Cafe de Paris, where a bomb cam right through into the ballroom. Curzon St. incendiaries on roof of No. 10 [Downing Street] & so on. There is no pretence of a military objective.

Menzies also has dinner today with Sir Alan Brooke, in charge of the United Kingdom Home Forces. Brooke explains in detail the predicates for areas where conditions favor a German invasion of England:

• Adequate Luftwaffe fighter cover for bombers
• Restricted waters to minimize Royal Navy defense

According to Brooke, these conditions mean an invasion must occur somewhere between Plymouth and The Wash, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire.

Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Lütjens continues taking his two ships in Operation Berlin, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, west into the Atlantic. As it retreats from the shipping lanes, Scharnhorst comes across 6352-ton independent Greek collier Marathon. Scharnhorst takes the entire crew prisoner.

The Luftwaffe bombs local Convoys EN 83 and WN 95. British 4976-ton freighter Esmond suffers damage off Buchan Ness. There are seven casualties.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages a 1040-ton British freighter, Sylvia Beale, off of Dungeness.

Anti-submarine trawler 730-ton HMS Gulfoss hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel. There are 10 deaths and the skipper, A. Hill, is wounded.

Royal Navy minesweeping trawler 295-ton HMS Hatsuse hits a mine off Penlee Point. The captain beaches the ship at Cawsand Bay. The ship later is salvaged and repaired at Plymouth.

The Royal Navy's 1st Minelaying Squadron departs to lay minefield SN.68 B.

Signal Magazine, March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Rommel in command of Afrika Korps considers going over to the offensive. He sends a message to the OKW which offers three objectives:

1. Recovery of ground to the British Operation Compass;
2. An advance into Northern Egypt;
3. Taking the Suez Canal.

Rommel's supply and troop convoys have been getting through from Naples, so he is rapidly building up his military strength.

The Royal Navy has been hard at work sweeping the Suez Canal of mines dropped by the Luftwaffe. While the entire canal is not yet clear, enough of it is for the Royal Navy to finally give aircraft carrier HMS Formidable the go-ahead to begin its transit to the Mediterranean. Formidable makes the entire passage and departs Port Said for Alexandria with an escort of two destroyers (HMS Juno and Griffin).

The Germans are famous for their Wolf Pack attacks, but a little-known fact from the war is that the British occasionally try the tactic, too. Today, four Royal Navy submarines (HMS Unique, Upholder, Upright and Utmost) position themselves astride the convoy route between Palermo and Tripoli about 50 km from Tripolitania in the Gulf of Hammamet. HMS Utmost spots a convoy and attacks, torpedoing and sinking 5683-ton Italian freighter Capo Vita. Another freighter, 6476-ton Caffaro, has mechanical issues and must return to Trapani.

Another Italian convoy of four freighters (Ankara, Kybfels, Marburg, and Reichenfels) makes port in Tripoli without incident.

A British troop convoy departs from Alexandria bound for Piraeus. The British soldiers are carried on Royal Navy cruisers HMS Bonaventure, Gloucester, and York.

Convoy GA-2 departs from Piraeus bound for Alexandria.

Vichy French submarine depot ship Jules Verne, escorted by destroyers Albatros and Tempete, passes through the Straits of Gibraltar without British interference.

In Malta, the first Luftwaffe attack is at 06:27. Four Bf 110s escort a lone bomber across the coast at wavetop level, evading the island's radar. They come in so low that one of the Bf 110s hits a ridge and crashes. The remaining planes strafe Ta Qali airfield, destroying a Hawker Hurricane and damaging two others. About two hours later, a single Junkers Ju 88 bomber drops bombs on the Grand Harbour area. Late in the afternoon, at 18:08, another lone Ju 88 drops four bombs near St. Clements Bastion. The first attack continues the Luftwaffe's gradual destruction of the defending RAF fighter forces which is becoming a real problem.

Spy Stuff: At around this time, the Japanese begin coordinating their spying efforts within the United States. Spying is to be done both by official Japanese government officials, such as embassy personnel and by ethnic Japanese with or without American citizenship. A meeting is held at the Japanese Embassy in which it is decided to request $500,000 to purse these spying activities. The Nichibei Kogyo Kaisha propaganda/espionage organization in Los Angeles is reorganized as the Nichibei Kinema Company, Inc., and it is suspected by the US government as acting as a front for other suspect organizations and firms. A spy ring in San Diego, a major naval port, also is organized around this time.

Superman Sunday No. 71, 9 March 1941.

Dutch/Bulgarian Relations: The Dutch government breaks diplomatic relations with Bulgaria.

US Military: A flotilla led by heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) under the command of Rear Admiral John H. Newton, Commander Cruisers Scouting Force) arrives in Samoa. This is their original destination, but that may change. For now, the ships will anchor as the military authorities contemplate their next move.

China: The Western Hupei Operation continues. The Japanese 11th Army's 13th Infantry Division captures Kaolingpo. The Chinese defenders continue withdrawing toward Chunking.

Holocaust: The German Occupation authorities begin deporting the Jews of Oswiecim to Chrzanow in southern Poland. Oswiecim is the home to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and also is the location of synthetic oil and other plants which are to make use of slave labor.

French Homefront: The Vichy government continues restricting the freedom of Jewish citizens. It now requires government authorization before Jews can sell or rent their companies. The Germans have noticed that many Jews who wish to flee the Continent are apt to "rent" their companies to Gentiles for the duration of the conflict while they escape to England or the United States.

British Homefront: Labour Secretary Ernest Bevin gives a speech directed at women civilians. He appeals for:

1. 100,000 women to volunteer to work at munitions factories
2. 50,000 former skilled shipbuilding workers (men) who have retired to return to their old jobs
3. businessmen and others in non-essential jobs to take on unskilled positions in shipyards.

The New York Herald Tribune on 10 March 1941 refers to this as a "triple-barreled appeal. He adds:

I have to tell the women that I cannot offer them a delightful life. They will have to suffer some inconvenience. But I want them to come forward in the spirit of determination to help us through.

To assist women in taking on these tasks, the government expands day nurseries and prepares a register of "minders."

Capitol Homes, public housing project, Atlanta, Georgia, March 9, 1941. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographs.

American Homefront: Ernesto Arturo Miranda is born in Mesa, Arizona. He quickly becomes a petty criminal, and by the 1960s is a hardened criminal who has been in and out of jail. On 13 March 1963, Miranda is arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and rape by the Phoenix Police Department. After participating in a police lineup, Miranda gives a confession for the crimes. However, the confession is obtained without informing Miranda of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to have an attorney present. The victim also identifies Miranda as her attacker. Miranda then writes down a confession.

A public defender, Alvin Moore, defends Miranda. The confession is used as evidence, to which Moore objects. The court overrules Moore and allows the confession as evidence. The jury convicts Miranda of rape and kidnapping, and the court sentences him to 20-30 years. Moore then hands to the case off to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which submits a petition for certiorari (appeal) to the United States Supreme Court.

In Miranda v. Arizona, the US Supreme Court holds that:

The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in court; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him.

This warning to persons in custody becomes known as the "Miranda Warning." Generally, the Miranda Warning is:

You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you at no cost. During any questioning, you may decide at any time to exercise these rights, not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?

The Supreme Court sets aside Miranda's conviction due to its tainting by an unconstitutionally derived confession. However, the state of Arizona retries Miranda without using the confession, but he is convicted on other evidence. He once again is sentenced to 20-30 years in prison. Paroled after only a few years, Miranda makes a living selling autographed Miranda warning cards, and on 31 January 1976 perishes in a knife fight in a bar.

Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe match in Turkey, 9 March 1941. The two teams have a fierce rivalry, representing parts of Istanbul on different sides of the strait that divides the city. Fenerbahçe wins, 2-0. It is the 87th meeting between the two teams (the rivalry currently approaches 400 games, and the most recent game in November 2016 also was won by Fenerbahçe 2-0).

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

Friday 21 February 1941

A Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter.

Italian/Greek Campaign: As has been the case often recently, poor winter weather curtails operations in Greece today, 21 February 1941. Both sides are looking to launch offensives soon, with the Italians steadily building up forces for a major offensive.

East African Campaign: HMS Formidable is stuck in the Red Sea waiting for the Suez Canal to be cleared before it can join the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. The crew occupies itself supporting army operations, bombing Massawa, but they accomplish little. The Luftwaffe mining of the Suez Canal has achieved a tremendous amount for the small investment involved.

The campaign along the Juba River continues as the British move toward the ultimate prize of Mogadishu. At dawn, the Transvaal Scottish South African troops embark in armored cars to Margherita. The Italians have artillery positioned, but the South African artillery stops it. South Africans take Margherita during the afternoon. The new commander is Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon le Roux. The next objective to the north is Jelib, and the 22nd East African Brigade is coming from the north to block the Italians' retreat from that city.

The Indian 7th Infantry Brigade attacks the Italian 112th Colonial Battalion at Cub Cub but makes little progress.

Damage during the Swansea Blitz, 19-21 February 1941.

European Air Operations: After dark, the Luftwaffe completes its three-day attack on Swansea, Wales. As on the other nights, the bombers appear over the city around 19:50 and continue the attack until after midnight. Known as The Three Nights' Blitz, the attacks result in 230 dead (of 167,000 residents), 409 injured and 7000 homeless. The entire city center of about 41 acres is completely destroyed by 1273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 incendiary bombs. It is the worst sustained bombardment in Wales.

If there is a silver lining for the British, it is that the fire watchers organized by the Swansea Council prevent the incendiaries from combining to create a firestorm. This shows that, with adequate intervention, incendiary bombs can be greatly reduced ineffectiveness. In addition, the vital dock facilities and oil installations are largely unscathed. The number of casualties also is relatively light due to the presence of numerous Anderson and domestic shelters, some built before the war. Swansea is a textbook study on how to suffer a devastating aerial assault while containing the consequences as much as possible due to good preparation.

RAF Bomber Command, meanwhile, sends 34 bombers to raid Wilhelmshaven. It also sends 42 aircraft to lay mines off Brest.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe also raids Skálafjørður, also known as Kongshavn (King's harbor) in Eysturoy, Faroe Islands. The British have oil installations there, along with associated shipping. They sink 398-ton anti-submarine trawler HMS Lincoln City, while anti-submarine trawler HMS Leicester City shoots down one of the attacking German planes.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Clare collides with British freighter Petertown just outside the Bristol Channel. Clare makes port at Plymouth but spends until October in port being repaired.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its first mission (though Topp previously commanded U-57), is heading out for its station along the convoy routes when it is spotted on the surface by RAF aircraft. The submarine takes some minor damage and continues with its mission. This is an omen of things to come, for U-boats are vulnerable while in transit to their patrol stations because they must make the trips on the surface.

The Lockheed Hudson bomber, T-9449, which crashed near Musgrave Harbour, 20 February 1941, killing Dr. Frederick Banting. This is some time after the crash, as the engines have been removed. The plane wound up in a remote area and survived intact through the 1970s. Pieces of it no doubt still lie where they came to rest.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Longmore sends the Air Ministry in London a telegram criticizing air supply to the Middle East. It is well known that Longmore feels that sending planes to Greece is a waste of time, and he is rapidly rising on Churchill's list of officers to get rid of.

Operation MC 8, a supply convoy to Malta, concludes without a hitch today. Light cruisers HMS Orion, Gloucester, Ajax, and destroyers Mohawk, Nubian and Diamond arrive in the predawn darkness. They deliver 1300 troops in total (two battalions), and the Germans and Italians apparently never notice. The ships (except for Diamond) head back out at dusk.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Ursula (Lt.Cdr. G.C. Phillips) spots a convoy from Trapani in Sicily, bound for Tripoli. It torpedoes and damages Italian freighter Sabbia. Italian torpedo boat Montanari counterattacks, damaging Ursula. Sabbia eventually makes it to Tripoli, and Ursula gets away.

Colonel Leclerc's Free French force continues pounding away at the El Tag fortress in Kufra. The Italians in the fort can do nothing about the mortars and 75mm field gun firing from 1.5 and 3 km away, respectively.

The last photograph of Major Banting.

Battle of the Indian Ocean:  German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, having sunk two ships about 2000 km east of Madagascar on the 20th, today sinks a third. It is 7178-ton Canadian freighter Canadian Cruiser. The entire crew becomes POWs. The Canadian Cruiser notifies the Royal Navy of its plight, causing nearby patrolling cruiser HMS Glasgow to head toward the spot.

Battle of the Pacific: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) stands 10-15 miles off Oahu and lanches 31 USAAC Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters. Taking off in flights of three, the fighters will be based at Wheeler Field in the Wahiawa District near Pearl Harbor (next to Schofield Barracks). Wheeler lies just north of the naval base. This is the first time in US Navy history that a regular USAAC fighter is flown off a carrier's deck in a ferrying operation - something the British have been doing with some regularity in the Mediterranean. Looking ahead, some of these fighters will be present and get into action on 7 December 1941.

The P-36 fighter is approaching obsolescence. The USAAC already has a better fighter, the P-40, in service. However, at this time, the P-36 is considered the basic American fighter.

Spy Stuff: In a memo to Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Alexander Cadogan, Prime Minister Winston Churchill inquires about a digest of intercepted phone calls between different foreign embassies in London. The British are tapping the Thai Embassy phones, and the Thais have conversations with the Japanese and Nepalese embassies which involve top secret information about Japanese war plans. This appears to be a primary source of British information about Japanese plans.

Sir Frederick Grant Banting.

Applied Science: Major Sir Frederick Grant Banting, inventor of insulin and a top aviation medicine researcher, perishes from wounds and exposure suffered following a 20 February 1941 Lockheed Hudson crash in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland. The plane's engines fail, causing the bomber to come down in a remote forested area. Banting survives in the frigid weather for a day, into 21 February 1941, before succumbing. Banting, who had just re-enlisted despite being in his forties, was on his way from Gander to London to serve as a liaison between the medical services of Canada and Great Britain. It is a terrible way to go, a Nobel Laureate wasting away in the wilderness.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill complains in a note to Harry Hopkins about having to give up "all our direct investments" to the Americans. "Is this really necessary?" he writes. It really is necessary. Despite his plaints, the British government authorizes the transfer. This effectively places the financial future of Great Britain in American hands - where, to be honest, it has been throughout the conflict.

Japanese Military: The Japanese Consulate in Honolulu is a hotbed of spies. Today, Consul Ojiro (Otohiro) Okuda sends his first true spy message to Tokyo. He observes fleet movements in Pearl Harbor from a hill hear his office, then sends the information to the IJN. The message notes the recent comings and goings of warships in the harbor, and also provides a detailed list of the ships currently in the harbor (which must have taken some effort to compile), to wit:

Seven battleships (three of the New Mexico class, two of the Pennsylvania class, one each of the Oklahoma and California classes); four heavy cruisers, (two of the New Orleans class and two of the Portland class); ten light cruisers, (four of the Honolulu class; six of the Omaha class of which one is in drydock); thirty destroyers; three destroyer tenders; aircraft carriers, Yorktown and Enterprise; one troop transport; one submarine tender; (no submarines were visible).

It takes quite some military knowledge to distinguish between different classes of ships, including cruisers, so Okuda likely received extensive training in Japan before assuming his position in Hawaii. The military planners in Tokyo find Okuda's information useful but do not wish to compromise him, so they consider sending a military aide to make the observations.

"Western Union," featuring a very young Robert Young in a rare early technicolor film, opens today, 21 February 1941.

Soviet Government: The Kremlin reveals today that former Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov and two others have been removed from the Central Committee. Tellingly, Litvinov's place is filled by V. G. Dekanozov, ambassador to Germany and an architect of the 1939 Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact. Litvinov is Jewish and married to an Englishwoman. Violently opposed to fascism, his dismissal is an obvious gesture to Hitler and Germany.

Another dismissal is of Polina Semyonovna Zhemchuzhina Molotov, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov's wife. Apparently not intended as a slap at her husband, the dismissal likely is due to the fact that she is Jewish, and also because Stalin dislikes her for personal reasons. Polina also is suspected of being a spy, apparently stemming from knowing some (unidentified) foreign spies. The fact that Polina is an outspoken Zionist probably doesn't help her cause, considering that Stalin is trying to improve relations with Hitler.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies finally makes it to London, a month after he set out from Melbourne. He is staying in the same suite at the Dorchester previously occupied by Wendell Willkie. Menzies notes that "So far I have seen only a few bombed places" and "Day raids have for the time been practically discontinued, and the street traffic... seemed almost normal." He has lunch with several cabinet ministers, noting that Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin "would be a great hand with a fractious union, but I would think of limited mental powers." He also finds Lord Woolton "quiet and perhaps a little deaf," while Home Secretary Herbert Morrison "is rather arresting, smallish, humorous, broadminded."

Norway: Following the lead of other nations, Norway breaks diplomatic relations with Romania.

South Africa: Lord Harlech becomes the High Commissioner.

Dutch Homefront: The German Grüne Polizei, local Dutch police and assorted German paramilitary organizations such as the WA ("Weerbaarheidsafdeling") are incensed by Jewish self-defense groups on the Waterlooplein injuring their comrades on the 20th. The Germans begin the process of rounding up 425 hostages, all young Jewish men and send them to Kamp School. After spending time there, the men will be sent to various concentration camps in Germany. Two will survive the war.

Italian Homefront: The government cuts the ration various cooking ingredients, including olive oil and butter, by half.

American Homefront: Promising young stars Robert Young and Dean Jagger team with Randolph Scott in Fritz Lang's "Western Union," which opens today. It is a rare 20th Century Fox technicolor film (there remain very few color film cameras in Hollywood) and is filmed on location in House Rock Canyon, Arizona and Kanab and Zion National Park, Utah. Reviews of the time generally focus on how colorful and vivid the film is - the acting and story are distinctly secondary. Several Native Americans appear in the film, including Chief John Big Tree and Chief Thundercloud. The Academy Film Archive will preserve the "Western Union" in 2000. Lang, incidentally, left Germany in 1934 in disgust at the German regime's control over the film industry despite being offered the plum position of head of UFA by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

Buster Keaton stars in Columbia Pictures' "So You Won't Squawk," a two-reeler directed by Del Lord, a veteran director for Mack Sennett. It also opens today.

Buster Keaton in "So You Won't Squawk," released on 21 February 1941. This period generally is considered a lull in Buster's career, and he vows never again to "make another crummy two-reeler" once his ten-picture deal with Columbia is up.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Sunday 17 November 1940

A parade in Denmark in support of a fascist takeover of the country. This is a rally by the DNSAP (National Socialist Worker's Party of Denmark) at Rådhuspladsen on 17 November 1940. While the DNSAP is favored by Hitler, it does not play an actual role in the Danish government, which Hitler prefers to keep independent at this time. The DNSAP is always broadly unpopular with voters. A successor to the DNSAP exists in the 21st Century and occasionally fields candidates to run for local office (without success). Source: National Museum of Denmark.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek counter-offensive continues on 17 November 1940, with moderate success all along the front. Greek III Corps, operating in the direction of Korçë, is reinforced with the 13th Division. The larger force is now called "K" Group of Divisions (OMK), under the overall command of Lieutenant-General Georgios Kosmas. While this force is moving forward, it is not making what one would call spectacular progress against the Italian 9th Army, but instead is grinding through each ridge and valley in the snow and mud. The Greeks are almost entirely on foot, which limits their advances and exploitation of breakthroughs (of which there are many).

The other sectors of the front are reasonably stable, with the Greeks on the attack. The Greek Liuba Detachment advances along the coast in the Thesprotia sector, while the 8th Infantry Division advances toward the Kalamas River. The Greek 2nd Infantry Division advances in the Negrades sector. Near Koritsa, the Greek 9th, 10th, and 15 Infantry Divisions make progress.

News of the World, 17 November 1940.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids Southampton with a heavy force of 150 bombers, and London with 49 bombers. The Italian Corpo Aereo Italiano chips in with an attack on Harwich by half a dozen bombers.

During the day, the RAF attacks invasion ports. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends a raid against an oil installation in the Ruhr river valley at Gelsenkirchen, and also sends planes against the U-boat pens at Lorient and various Luftwaffe airfields. The RAF also bombs Hamburg for the second consecutive night, an attack which receives wide play in the London media as retaliation for the "murder raids" on Coventry.

The Luftwaffe loses two competent pilots in action today, Oblt. Eberhard Henrici, Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 26 (seven victories) and Roloff von Aspern of JG 54 (18 victories).

Adolf Galland of JG 26 gains three victories today, his 53rd, 54th, and 55th.

German night fighter pilot Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld scores his first victory during the night of 16/17 November (at 02:05), a Vickers Wellington bomber from RAF No. 115 Squadron. This also is his first encounter with the RAF. Some guys just "have it." The prince commands an independent night fighter commando unit based at Schiphol airport.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-137 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth), on its third patrol out of Lorient, is perfectly positioned today in the sea lanes several hundred miles west of County Donegal, Ireland. Yesterday, it sank a "romper," that is, a freighter which had outrun its convoy, Convoy HG 46, and thus was unprotected. Today, all that Wohlfarth must do is sit right where he is, and the convoy will come to him. And, sure enough, it does.

U-137 torpedoes and sinks 1044-ton British freighter Saint Germain, which is carrying pit props from Leixoes to Port Talbot. The attack is at 20:14, and the ship takes a day to sink. Everybody on board is saved and taken aboard escort HMS Mallow.

U-137 also torpedoes 1316-ton Swedish freighter Veronica, which is en route from Aguiles to Barrow, a bit later at 20:40. The Veronica is carrying a cargo of 1800 tons of ore and thus sinks quickly. There are only three survivors, while 17 perish. The survivors are fortunate to be picked up by a British fishing boat.

Royal Navy minelayer Teviotbank and destroyer HMS Icarus lay minefield BS 47.

Convoy WS.4B (Winston Special) departs from Liverpool. It is a major military convoy with numerous passenger liners converted to military purposes:

• Andes (25,689 tons)
• Duchess of Atholl (20,119 tons)
• Viceroy of India (19,267 tons)
• Otranto (20, 026 tons)
• Orcades (23, 456 tons)
• Strathallan (23,772 tons) 
• Strathaird (22,284 tons)
• Empress of Canada (21, 517 tons)
• Reina Del Pacifico ( 17,702 tons)
• Strathnaver (22,283 tons).

The Winston Special convoys are composed of infantry and weapons such as tanks and artillery, bound for the Middle East. While the cargo convoys across the Atlantic, of course, are of prime importance, these Winston Special convoys require extensive preparation and absorb much of the Royal Navy's resources.

Convoy OB 244 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 336 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 33 departs from Methil, Convoy HX 89 departs from Halifax. Convoy BHX 89 departs from Bermuda, but for some reason quickly returns there (perhaps due to weather).

One of the destinations of Winston Special (WS) convoys is Egypt, which is where this photo is taken on 17 November 1940. The British are unloading a cruiser tank sent from England. (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Argus releases a dozen Hurricanes and two Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skuas to fly to Malta pursuant to Operation White. This is a repeat of successful Operation Hurry in August (though some planes were lost then, too). Unlike that earlier operation, though, this one goes disastrously wrong. The Argus releases the planes too early - as it turns out - and 8 of the 12 Hurricanes are lost.

The planes are sent off in two waves, each led by a Skua, and only four Hurricanes from the first wave and none from the second reach Malta. The Skua leading the first wave arrives safely at Malta, while the second gets lost (apparently after the Hurricanes all ditch) and crash-lands on Sicily.

A Short Sunderland flying boat sees two of the Hurricanes in the first wave ditch and lands to pick up a survivor. The Hurricane pilot, Sergeant R A Spyer (a very lucky man), reports that he simply ran out of fuel. There are many reasons why a plane can run out of fuel short of its destination - heavier headwinds than expected, for instance - but such things must be accounted for properly when lives are at stake. Launches must be timed with some margin of error. There is no reason to release convoy planes early due to potential enemy threats (and none seem to have been present, except in the minds of excuse-making historians). You can always reverse course and try again another time or show a little courage and simply sail forward for another six hours. In other words - it simply was a fatal mistake to send the Hurricanes off when it was done.

Overall, one must chalk up this disaster to poor RAF/RN staff work. This is one of those great tragedies that nobody remembers and only affects a relatively small group of people but is made all the more poignant from being so easily preventable. Somebody made a boneheaded error, sent these pilots off to die, and no trace of the missing planes or pilots is ever found. Nobody, apparently, ever is called to account for this disaster, either. The pilots simply vanish and soon the entire incident is swept under the rug. Imagine the ruckus if this happened in peacetime.

When you read accounts about how wonderful and perfect the Royal Navy was during the Second World War, remember this incident, too.

Separately, the RAF bombs Mogadishu in Italian Somaliland. The Italian Regia Aeronautica attacks Alexandria.

Hurricanes being ferried to Malta, 1941.

Spy Stuff: Around this date, MI5, the British Intelligence Service, figure out an ingenious way to use captured spy currency to fund its own operations. German spies often carry large sums of money whilst... spying. When captured, that is an awful lot of money to just go to waste (it sometimes must be used as evidence at trial, so cannot just be spent outright). It wasn't like in the 21st Century when global bankers just magically create money via keystrokes whenever they need for whatever purpose suits them - in those days, actual banknotes meant something.

So, the Bank of England and MI5 set up an arrangement whereby the intelligence service gives the bank the confiscated notes in exchange for new British banknotes that can be spent. The Bank of England then keeps the confiscated money somewhere in its vaults until such time as it is no longer conceivably needed for trial. In this fashion, MI5 funds some of its own operations. The British officer in charge of bringing the confiscated banknotes (and it was real currency, not forged, else the bank would not accept it - again, different days) to the bank is Lt. Col. W. E. Hinchley-Cooke, who requires joint approval for the deposits from another member of MI5, Squadron Leader Henry Arnold. Nowadays, there would be all sorts of issues about "oversight" and this and that with this sort of self-funding modus operandi, but again, things were different back in the day.

Do you want to see one of the guys who really win wars? You are looking at one, Lt. Col. W.E. Hinchley-Cooke of MI5.

British Military: RAF Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is removed from his position. This has been brewing for months and is the end result of an internal power struggle within the RAF. Dowding has supported Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, who has opposed the "Big Wing" tactic where time and effort is taken to assemble massive fighter formations rather than send squadrons into action piecemeal. Both tactics have advantages and drawbacks, but the Big Wing strategy is becoming much more practical with the recovery of the RAF from its summertime losses. Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Sholto Douglas takes Dowding's job, who is relegated to a staff position in the Ministry of Aircraft Production with responsibility for ordering American planes.

Basically, Dowding is being retired, though he will still have a desk and phone. Douglas, meanwhile, has been in a position to decide this political battle to his own advantage due to silent political backing within the Air Ministry. AVM Trafford Leigh-Mallory also has his eyes on Keith Park's job, which is more prestigious than his own. Without Dowding to run interference, that becomes much more likely. The power combination of Douglas/Leigh-Mallory has prevailed over that of Dowding/Park.

Hugh Dowding will remain a revered figure and be granted various honors which are richly deserved. Many take this change in leadership as an indication that the RAF will "lean toward France," as advocated by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard and others. In reality, though, that process is gradual and has more to do with shifting Luftwaffe priorities than it does a conscious decision by the RAF.

Staff changes often happen in bunches to cloak what is really going on, and this is no exception. The RAF forms a new RAF Command for Army Cooperation. Its first chief is Air Marshal Arthur Barratt.
Free France: Charles de Gaulle, having appealed to the Vichy captives at Libreville to join his cause but had little success, returns to London. He remains under a cloud due to the disaster at Dakar.

China: The long-running Battle of South Kwangsi concludes. The Japanese 22nd Army engages in a scorched earth strategy and destroys Chinhsien before withdrawing to Hainan Island.

American Homefront: The Detroit News announces in a banner headline that "Detroit Expedition Ready To Blaze Auto-Trail To Cape Horn." A group led by a Detroit News employee heads out just before midnight in a stock 1941 Plymouth to drive south to the tip of South America. Experts who are familiar with the route caution that, for long stretches, no road exists, and that lines on the map may mean only that a highway is planned, not actually constructed. This is an obvious publicity stunt to sell papers and promote the city's car industry - back when Detroit still had industry.

The Shavano, a regular train (#315) from Salida to Gunnison, Colorado. German prisoners of war soon would be held in this general area. Near Mears Junction, Colorado, 17 November 1940. (Otto Perry).

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020