Tuesday 1 April 1941

"General Charles de Gaulle with General Sir Archibald Wavell in Cairo, 1 April 1941." © IWM (E 2324).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Yugoslavs mobilize the military on 1 April 1941 and dissolve the Senate. Hitler demands demobilization and adherence to the Tripartite Pact.

Ante Pavelić, with Mussolini's permission, uses Italian radio facilities in Florence to transmit an appeal to the people in Croatia calling for its liberation from the Belgrade government by the Axis. Croatia is notable for its strong pro-German sentiments, as opposed to the rest of Yugoslavia which favors the Allies.

British CIGS Sir John Dill is in Belgrade discussing joint defense with Yugoslavian Prime Minister Simovic. There is little that Great Britain can offer except promises of future aid whenever it can be made available.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Teleki cooperates with Admiral Horthy and authorizes the mobilization of the Hungarian Army. However, he remains opposed to any military participation by Hungary in attacks on Greece or Yugoslavia.

East African Campaign: The British stampede continues in Eritrea. The Indian 5th Infantry Division, now well past the broken Italian defenses at Keren, advances to Asmara. The Italian 2nd Colonial Division attempts to block the British at Adi Tecesan, which is 35 miles (60 km) from Asmara, but the Indian troops blow through the position. Italian General Nicola Carnimeo then declares Asmara an open city by sending a pair of policemen out with a white flag.

Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto enters the Canale Navigabile at Taranto, 1 April 1941. It is heading for the dockyard in Mar Piccolo to repair damage from a torpedo during the Battle of Cape Matapan. Those are 15-inch guns, and next to them are 6-inch guns, with 8.5-inch antiaircraft guns seen along the side.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe moves several units to Austrian airfields in preparation for Operation Marita. These include elements of JG 27, 54, 77, along with  LG 2  and ZG 26.

Some Luftwaffe planes do remain on the Channel Front. To prove it, Bf 109s strafe a train near Berwick.

Battle of the Atlantic: German cruiser Admiral Scheer completes its journey homeward from Brest to Kiel.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy HXM-114 off Smalls in Pembrokeshire. Five ships are hit:

• 7982-ton British tanker San Conrado (sinks while under tow)
• 7639-ton Norwegian tanker Hidlefjord (sunk, 29 dead)
• 7984-ton British tanker Adellan (damaged, taken to Milford Haven)
• 8955-ton British tanker Chesapeake (makes it to Walton Bay)
• 9603-ton Norwegian tanker Kaia Knudsen (towed to Milford Haven)

The Luftwaffe attacks Royal Navy destroyer HMS Quorn in the River Medway. There are two near misses that cause some damage.

Swedish 5842-ton freighter Lidingo hits a mine and sinks west of Falsterbo. After the captain beaches it, the Lidingo is towed to Malmo, Sweden.

Two German freighters - 4833-ton Hermonthis and 5619-ton Muenchen - are trying to escape through the British blockade of Callao, Peru when they are spotted by Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Prince Henry. Both are scuttled by their crews.

A number of other German freighters scuttle themselves in Mexican and South American ports:

• 1120-ton freighter Cerigo
• 4323-ton freighter Eisenbach
• 6310-ton freighter Friesland
• 5898-ton freighter Leipzig
• 4351-ton freighter Hameln
• Freighter Seostris
• 5578-ton freighter Monserrate.

Italian freighter Himalaya, a refugee from Massawa, makes it to Rio de Janeiro.

Commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet Admiral Sir John Tovey transfers his flag from battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth to newly commissioned King George V.

The German supply system in the Atlantic continues in fine operational form. German tanker Nordmark restocks from German tanker Ill in the Mid-Atlantic.

The British Navy gives the Italian Fleet good ironing at Cape Matapan. By Strube, 'The Daily Express', April 1, 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British, under pressure from the Afrika Korps, withdraw toward Benghazi. Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame, General Officer Commanding Western Desert Force, also warns the commanders in Benghazi to prepare the city for possible evacuation. The German 5th Light Division, which has a small position within the Mersa Brega (also known simply as Brega) defenses, finds to its soldiers' delight that the British have left. They immediately occupied the town and the surrounding area. Advance units of the division pursue the British east toward the Via Balbia. There is no fighting at all - the British 2nd Armoured Division simply bugs out.

The Luftwaffe aids the Afrika Korps advance, using Stukas to destroy British tanks and trucks. By the end of the day, the advanced German detachments of the 5th Light Division are approaching Agedabia. Italian Libyan Commander Gariboldi, meanwhile, tries to place the breaks on the German advance, sending a letter to Afrika Korps Commander Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel warning of the "strong enemy defense" and the need to wait for "necessary reinforcements." Rommel technically is subordinate to the Italian command in North Africa, but displays a strong tendency to ignore them (and, at times, the Wehrmacht high command as well). The Italians also fail to supply transport planes for Rommel's Gialo operation, so it is postponed again.

Convoys ANF and AG 10 depart from Alexandria bound for Piraeus, while Convoys ASF-22 and AS-23 depart from Piraeus.

An Italian convoy of four troopships departs from Naples bound for Tripoli.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy destroyer Kandahar stops 4188-ton German freighter Bertram Rickmers, which fled from Massawa on 31 March. The crew scuttles the freighter off Gondumiat.

Another German freighter, 7566-ton Lichtenfels, tries to make a run for it from Massawa as well. However, it spots the Royal Navy patrols and has to return to Massawa.

Convoy BS-22 departs from Suez.

Anglo/Yugoslavian Relations: While things have changed in Belgrade following the March 27 coup, they haven't changed that much. The new Yugoslavian Prime Minister, General Dušan Simović, is under no illusions about the country's military power. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, who had been on his way back to Britain when the coup took place, is now back in Athens and requests a meeting there with Simović. However, Simović is a former chief of the general staff and is well aware of the danger facing the country. He turns down the meeting so as not to provoke the Germans into a quick invasion.

Italian/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka moves on from Berlin to Rome. He meets separately with King Victor Emmanuel III and Mussolini.

US/Mexican Relations: The US and Mexico reach an agreement in Washington for joint air defense. Each can use the other's airfields.

Anglo/US Relations: British Far East Commander RAF Air Marshal Brooke-Popham flies to Manila for consultations with US commanders General MacArthur and Admiral Hart.

The body of Jan Willem Ter Braak, as found in an air raid shelter on 1 April 1941.

Spy Stuff: A boy finds the body of Jan Willem (or Wilhelm) Ter Braak in a Cambridge, England air-raid shelter. Ter Braak is a German (actual name Engelbertus Fukken) spy who parachuted into Buckinghamshire on 2 November 1940. He had committed suicide using an Abwehr-issue pistol. The reason for his suicide requires speculation, but he had run out of money and faced eviction from his flat. He also had reason to suspect that British Intelligence was closing in on him. The British claim that they had learned about his spying and were waiting for him back at his room.

German Military: Hans-Joachim Marseille receives a promotion to Leutnant. His unit, JG 27, is scheduled to head east along with many other formations to aid in Operation Marita.

Werner Haase, Hitler's deputy personal physician, joins the SS.

US Military: Rear Admiral John H. Newton, fresh off his successful visit to Australia with his cruiser squadron, arrives at Suva, Fiji.

The US Navy takes over artificial Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Built for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island will be turned into Naval Station Treasure Island.

Iraq: Raschid Ali al-Gaylani and his military conspirators, known as the "Brethren of the Golden Squares," seize power. Ali initially announces that he is the Chief of the National Defence Government, then becomes Prime Minister. This is in part due to German support and funding, while Regent 'Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz moves on from the British gunboat where he has taken refuge to Amman, Jordan. The Germans have great hopes to use the uprising as a way to undermine British power throughout the Middle East. The British, meanwhile, have a large airbase at Habbaniya and don't intend to leave. Thus, the stage is set for an epic clash in unexpected theater operations.

A Plymouth advertisement, April 1941.

Antarctic: US Interior Department ships Bear and North Star depart Punta Arenas, Chile. They carry the crew from Admiral Byrd's Little America outpost in Antarctica. North Star heads up the west coast, while Bear heads up the east coast.

Japan: Rice is rationed. While Japan is not at war, it greatly depends upon fertilizers based upon phosphate. The German raider Komet attack on Nauru of 27 December 1940 crippled phosphate exports upon which Japan greatly relied. Even though shipments have resumed recently, they are at greatly reduced levels. Japan thus has run short of fertilizer, which has strained its relations with Germany.

China: The Japanese 11th Army continues withdrawing under pressure after the Battle of Shangkao. The Chinese recover Kaoan and Hsiangfukuan.

American Homefront: The Ford Motor Company has fired several union members at its River Rouge plant in Michigan. The other workers go out on strike.

Joseph Creamer, owner/operator of Station W71NY of New York City signs the first contract for advertising on a commercial FM station. This is a big change for the radio industry, as advertisers to this point have felt that it was not worthwhile to advertise on FM.


March 1941

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

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

2020

Monday 24 March 1941

Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 tanks of the VII Battaglione, 32 Reggimento Carri, Ariete Armored Division on or about 24 March 1941, just before the Axis advance on El-Agheila. Italian troops, particularly infantry, formed a huge component of General Rommel's successful Afrika Korps operations.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italian Primavera Offensive continues on 24 March 1941, with heavy artillery bombardments followed by mass attacks. As on all the other days, the effort is futile and no gains of any significance are made. But, as on the other days, there is one tangible and lasting result: lots of bodies left in the crevices and crags and barren rocks.

Indian artillery troops at Keren, 1941.

East African Campaign: Major-General Lewis Heath, in command of the 5th Indian Infantry Division, launches the latest British attacks at Keren just before midnight on the 24th. The objective is to neutralize Italian positions that overlook the Dongolaas Gorge and whose fire prevents British engineers from clearing the obstructions that the Italians have dropped to block its passage. In essence, the entire attack is a diversion, designed to draw Italian fire and allow the sappers to clear the gorge. However, there are diversions within diversions, making this a complex attack.

The diversion for the main attacks begins with an advance on Sanchil to the left of the gorge. After this progresses a bit, the main attack on the right of the gorge begins. This main attack is made by the West Yorkshires and the 3/5th Mahrattas, advancing from Fort Dologorodoc. They advance down the hill from the fort to take a lower feature that actually overlooks the gorge, Hillock A, as the day ends.

Much further south, the British Army completed the reoccupation of British Somaliland - whose conquest in August 1940 was the one real Italian military achievement of the war.

European Air Operations: RAF No. 82 Squadron of Bomber Command attacks shipping off the Norwegian and Dutch coasts during the day. They lose a Blenheim but sink a fishing trawler. Coastal Command raids Cherbourg right when a German military parade is in progress, somewhat spoiling the festivities as everyone has to scatter. The Luftwaffe remains quiet, with a few random attacks by lone raiders in Kent and South Wales.

RAF ace James Lacey, flying a Supermarine Spitfire Mk II fighter, damages a German fighter.

The launching of the Wilna at Cochrane shipyard, Selby, on 30 May 1941. Later requisitioned by the Royal Navy. Attacked on 24 March 1941 by the Luftwaffe and written off. The owner, Mr. W. H. Collins of Portsmouth, never got much use out of her.

Battle of the Atlantic: Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks if damaged battleship HMS Malaya can be repaired in the United States. He adds, somewhat hopefully, "She is steaming thither at 14 knots." As a supposedly neutral nation, technically the United States should be interning British warships that make port there - but that legal nicety has been completely ignored throughout the war.

The Royal Navy remains obsessed with German cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, which the Admiralty now realizes have made port in Brest. The British detail aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and battlecruiser Renown from Gibraltar to sit outside the port waiting for them to depart. A rotating cast of destroyers supports them.

The Commander-in-chief Fleet Home Fleet Admiral Sir John Tovey transfers his flag from HMS Nelson to Queen Elizabeth.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 461-ton Royal Navy anti-submarine yacht HMT Wilna at Portsmouth. The ship is abandoned and written off. There are no casualties.

Italian submarine Veniero torpedoes and sinks British 2104-ton freighter Agnete Maersk in the mid-Atlantic southwest of Ireland. The Agnete Maersk is part of Convoy OG-56. Everybody perishes.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) also attacks Convoy OG-56. It sinks 4301-ton Norwegian freighter Hørda. There are no survivors from this ship, either, all 30 aboard perish.

U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) torpedoes and sinks 4267-ton British freighter Eastlea. The ship's back is broken by the torpedo and it sinks within ten minutes.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Mansfield loses all engine power and has to be towed to port. It is out of service for ten days.

Royal Navy armed boarding vessel St. Day collides with 3276-ton Spanish freighter Gayarre in the Straits of Gibraltar. The St. Day has to return to Gibraltar.

Norwegian tanker Polykarb, captured by the Gneisenau, arrives in the Gironde. The other captured ships haven't made it, intercepted by the Royal Navy and scuttled by their crews.

Minelayer HMS Abdiel, escorted by destroyers Kashmir and Kipling, lays minefield GV in the English Channel.

Convoy WS (Winston Special) 7 departs from the Clyde with 21 transport ships each of 20,000-30,000 tons. However, two of the transports, 22,281-ton HMT Strathaird and 25,550-ton Stirling Castle, collide and must return to the Clyde.

Convoy OB 302 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 57 departs from Gibraltar.

Avro Anson in front of Air Traffic Control, Brantford, Ontario, 24 March 1941.  Used during the war as RCAF's No. 5 Service Flying Training School, the airport is still there, though greatly reduced in size and primarily used by a flying club. Courtesy Canadian Forces Digital Image Centre.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Today is the first military success for the Afrika Korps.

Adolf Hitler has ordered Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel not to attack - so he does anyway. At 06:00, the advance begins. By 07:30, the 3rd Reconnaissance detachment of the 5th Light Division of the Afrika Korps occupies El Agheila at the extreme west of the British conquests against light opposition. The British destroy the lead German armored car, then withdraw. The Germans do lose two tanks damaged to mines. Rommel uses one of his typical ruses, sending dummy tanks out on Volkswagen chassis to raise up a lot of dust and make it look like an entire panzer army is on the way.

Rommel comments:

The garrison, which consisted only of a weak force, had strongly mined the whole place and withdrew skilfully in face of our attack.

The green 2nd Armoured Division, which has replaced the veteran 4th Armoured Division due to the latter's transfer to Greece, gives ground rapidly. To be fair, the British in El Agheila are under orders to retreat if attacked. Nobody thinks that a British armored division, no matter how green, is full of cowards: many such incidents on both sides are due to blind caution at the higher levels ("REMFs," for those who understand military slang).

The British retreat to Marsa Brega 30 miles behind El Agheila. The Luftwaffe attacks it there, losing a Bf 110 to antiaircraft fire.

The Afrika Korps command squadron advances east of Nofaliya (Nawfaliya).

After dark, the RAF bombs Sirte. The attack kills 15, with 32 wounded, including 2 German soldiers.

Italian 633 ton freighter Nuraghe founders off Capo Pali, Valona, Albania. The cause of the sinking is described as a "marine accident."

Axis convoys have been getting through from Naples to Tripoli without many incidents. Royal Navy submarines know the route well, but so far they have had few successes. Today, the streak continues, as Royal Navy submarine HMS Ursula attacks a convoy off Cape Bon - but misses. As Rommel well knows, his success in the desert depends upon the successes or failures of the Royal Navy off Tripoli, so advances in the coming days can be partially attributed to this failure.

At Malta, the convoy that arrived on the 23rd remains in port. This requires constant patrols at full strength above the island. Coupled with the heavy recent RAF losses, this is imposing a strain on both the equipment and the pilots. The situation also is affecting the local population, who are cautioned to cease looting downed Luftwaffe aircraft - of which there have been many recently. Over the past two days, the Luftwaffe has lost 14 planes (almost all Junkers Ju 87 Stukas) while the RAF has lost only 6 or 7 - but the RAF has far fewer planes at its disposal than the Germans.

The Luftwaffe bombs the dockyards at dawn, causing some damage. There is one fatality and three wounded among the antiaircraft gunners, no losses by the Luftwaffe. In the afternoon at 18:25, the Luftwaffe returns with a bombing run by 10 Junkers Ju 87 Stukas on Grand Harbour. The Germans lose a Stuka this time, with three reportedly damaged.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines west of Sicily.

Hawker Tornado P5224, March 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Royal Navy sloop HMS Shoreham stops German freighter Oder, which escaped from Massawa yesterday, in the Strait of Perim. The Oder's crew scuttles the ship. Italian freighter India, which fled along with the Oder, is spotted by Royal Navy spotter aircraft. India's crew knows it has been detected, and rather than scuttle the ship or be captured, the captain makes port in Assab.

Convoy BN 21 departs from Aden, Convoy BS 21 departs from Suez.

Turkish/Soviet Relations: Both the USSR and Turkey pledge to remain neutral if the other is attacked. The superficial fear by both is that the other will take advantage of German aggression to settle long-standing scores. The real underlying concern is by Turkey, which fears being attacked by Germany, but the treaty will come in very handy for the USSR.

Anglo/Yugoslav Relations: The diplomatic center of the world has shifted to Belgrade. Both sides are trying to alternately cajole and threaten the Yugoslavs to side with them - or else. Today, London gives a warning.

Life Magazine 24 March 1941, "Spring Veils," Designer Sally Victor.

British Government: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies describes the day as "routine," but also comments:

War Cabinet [meeting] chiefly about Ireland, but also rendered gloomy by reports from Jugo-Slavia, Turkey and Spain. The Irish position grows intolerable. Winston summed up - "700 years of hatred, and six months of pure funk."

US Government: The US Senate passes President Roosevelt's $7 billion appropriations request for Lend-Lease.

China: The Battle of Shanggao heats up again after a very brief lull. The Japanese make an all-out assault on the Japanese lines, while the Chinese throw everything they have to stop them. There are tremendous casualties on both sides, with nobody really sure how many died or whose side suffered more. Last-minute Chinese reinforcements, brought in by Chinese General Zhu Xiang, turn the tide. As on the other side of the world in Albania, the lines remain the same at the end of the day, but the rivers of blood on the ground tell the tale.

American Homefront: "Native Son," written by Paul Green and Richard Wright, premieres at the St. James Theatre on Broadway. Orson Welles and John Houseman produce the play, which stars among many others Welles protege Ray Collins (of "Citizen Kane") and Francis Bavier. You may recognize that latter name but not be sure where you know it from. Aunt Bee. Mayberry. Enough said.

March 24, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 12. Field Marshal List is the commander of German forces in Bulgaria. His forces are poised to invade Greece (Cover credit: AP).

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

2020

Tuesday 28 January 1941

British tank officers in North Africa on January 28, 1941, read an Italian newspaper. The puppy was "captured" at Sidi Barrani.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians and Greeks continue to battle over the heights of Trebeshina (specifically Height 1923) on 28 January 1941. Two Italian Blackshirt battalions have recovered the peaks in appalling weather, while the Cretan 5th Division of II Corps is trying to dislodge them again. The Blackshirts, heavily indoctrinated political troops akin to the SS, are fighting strongly.

East African Campaign: In Eritrea, the Italian 4th Colonial Division under General Orlando Lorenzini is making a stand at Barentu Agordat. He has 76 guns and a company of both medium and light tanks, not an inconsiderable force in the area. Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse, in command of the 4th Indian Division, sends his troops (3rd Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment) on a flanking move to the Cochen Hills to the south of the Italian defenses. Elsewhere, the British troops are advancing to catch up with the retreating Italians.

European Air Operations: The lousy winter weather continues to hamper air operations in northern Europe. The Luftwaffe continues its random nuisance raids on scattered targets in the southeast, dropping a few bombs dropped on London. The RAF raids the Naples airport, railway facilities, and marshaling yard. The bombers also attack Catania and Comiso airfields, the bases of Fliegerkorps X.

A carload of Germans pedals their way through the Bailiwick of Jersey on 28 January 1941. "To save petrol German soldiers use a pedal car to get around in town." (Photo- Keystone Photo Agency).

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather is extremely rough in the North Atlantic. This causes collisions, ship sightings that are hard to confirm, and similar issues. The Luftwaffe can't get enough planes in the air to provide proper scouting reports for the U-boats, due to the lack of sufficient Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors in KG 40.

At about 06:49, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the two Kriegsmarine battlecruisers attempting to break out into the Atlantic to join Admiral Scheer, sight two British cruisers on radar patrolling south of Iceland. Admiral Lütjens, under strict orders not to engage capital ships, immediately turns around 180 degrees and heads back to the northeast. Hitler, in particular, is prone to giving his ship captains very cautious instructions which some feel unduly inhibit their discretion and opportunism. This time, Lütjens follows such orders, which is likely a good thing in this instance. Being too aggressive in the Atlantic can pay big rewards for German raiders - but it also, as will be seen in May 1941, be extremely hazardous to one's health. The entire British Home Fleet is at sea waiting in the general vicinity for the two German ships, and there would be a very little margin of error should a lucky Royal Navy hit slow them down or disable one of them.

The HMS Naiad also spots the two German ships at about the same time, but for some reason, the commander of the force - Admiral John Tovey - does not believe the lookouts. The Naiad thus does not shadow the German ships, but Tovey sends battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers to reinforce the two cruisers just in case. Admiral Lütjens does not intend to give up the mission but instead plans a rendezvous with tankers Adria and Schlettstadt in the far north near Bear Island and considers going north of Iceland instead of south.

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli torpedoes and sinks a straggler from Convoy HX 102 about 250 miles off Ireland in the Western Approaches. It is 5198-ton British freighter Urla. All 42 onboard survive.

The Luftwaffe (I,/KG 40 Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condors) bombs 1944 ton British freighter Pandion in the Northwest Approaches north of the westernmost points of Ireland. The ship makes it to Loch Swilly, where it anchors. However, the damage proves too great for the crew to handle. First, the crew beaches the ship, and later abandon it. The weather eventually destroys the ship entirely.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and sinks 4574-ton British freighter Mendip Grelrosa about 400 miles off Malin Head, Ireland in the Northwest Approaches. There are five deaths.

The Luftwaffe also bombs and damages 3635-ton British freighter Baron Renfrew in the same general area in the Northwest Approaches. The ship eventually makes it to Loch Lathaich and later to Glasgow for repairs.

British oil refinery ship 13,640-ton Tafelberg hits a mine and is badly damaged in Bristol Channel southwest of Cardiff. This area has seen numerous mine-strikes recently. The crew beaches the Tafelberg at Porthkerry but declared a total loss (it breaks in two). However, salvagers recover it and take it to Whitmore Bay, where the ship is completely rebuilt as tanker Empire Heritage.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Bluebell collides with the destroyer HMS Westcott in the Western Approaches. Both ships head for port, the Westcott's damage very minor but Bluebell's repairs at Cammell Laird taking until 4 March 1941.

Norwegian freighter Erling Jarl runs aground and sinks at Brønnøysund, Nordland. There is one death. The ship later is raised, repaired and renamed Bodø.

Responding to completely erroneous rumors that liner Empress of Australia has been sunk, the Admiralty decides to issue an odd statement that the ship is "safe in port."

Convoy OB 279 departs from Southend, Convoy AN 14 departs from Port Said for Piraeus,
Royal Navy submarine HMS Urchin is commissioned, the submarine HMS P-33 is launched, the destroyer HMS Pakenham is launched, corvettes HMS Mignonette and Myosotis are launched.

Dutch submarine O-12, sunk and refloated earlier in the war, is recommissioned as UD-2 in the Kriegsmarine.

U-411 is laid down.

Recruiting poster for the SS in Norway.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Derna, the Italians hold out throughout the day as Operation Compass grinds forward. However, the Australian 2/4th Battalion and British 7th Armored Division are threatening to cut the coast road. Rather than risk another catastrophe with the loss of the entire garrison, the Italian commanders order the evacuation of Derna during the night. While pulling out, the Italian Babini Group conducts a skillful retreat, harassing the advancing British troops, laying mines and wrecking the coast road. Italian artillery, situated north of Wad Derna, is particularly effective in slowing down the Australians and covering the retreat.

Elsewhere, the British consolidate at Mechili, which the Italians also abandoned. The issue is not one of tiredness or casualties, but more of fuel and supplies. The key supply port of Tobruk opened on the 27th, which will ease the supply situation going forward, but it will take time to resupply the troops, give the tanks proper maintenance, and the like. The Italians also are showing a bit more fight than they have before. In addition, the weather is lousy and heavy rain is causing issues.

Taking advantage of the start of a lull in the Libyan operations, British Middle East Commander General Wavell flies to Nairobi to discuss with General Cunningham plans for an offensive into Italian Somaliland. Wavell also meets with General Platt, commander of the forces entering Eritrea. Wavell will stay here for several days, leaving on 1 February.

Greek 5197 ton freighter Kate hits a mine and sinks in the Aegean.

Royal Navy submarine Upholder (Malcolm D. Wanklyn) torpedoes and damages 7389-ton German freighter Duisburg off Cape Bon, Tunisia. The Duisburg is towed into Tripoli. Wanklyn is one of the more enterprising Royal Navy submarine commanders.

Taking the Italian prisoners at Tobruk to prison camps once again becomes a major operation. Net layer HMS Protector sails from Suda Bay to bring prisoners from there to Alexandria.

Royal Navy submarine Rorqual lays 29 mines in the Adriatic off the port of Ancona.

The weather at Malta is overcast and it is a quiet day. While fears remain high about a planned German invasion from Sicily, reports from spies and observers (such as Americans) are mixed about what may actually be going on there.

Anglo/US Relations: Having read and pondered the handwritten note from President Roosevelt brought to him by Wendell Willkie, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill writes a lengthy "Personal and Secret" response. He notes the following:

• "All my information shows that the Germans are persevering in their preparations to invade this country";
• "[A]dvance parties of the German air force have already to the extent of several thousand infiltrated themselves into Bulgaria";
• "[Hitler] could carry out both offensives [in the East and against Britain] at the same time."

The reply does not really break any new ground, but definitely continues the brewing bromance between the two men.

US Military: Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson approves the construction of 12 detector radar stations in Alaska. Originally, the plan was for 8 locations, but a survey found that five of those sites were unacceptable and, in fact, a dozen sites were necessary. All of the sites are south of Cape Prince of Wales. Both Japan and the US fear an air attack using the Aleutian island chain, so these stations are oriented toward Japan, not the USSR. Commander General DeWitt of the Ninth Corps Area and Fourth Army is in charge of construction, while Colonel Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. is in charge of US troops in Alaska. Troops are being slowly inserted into Alaskan naval bases such as Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor due to rising war fears with Japan.

Heinrich Himmler in Norway, January 1941. Aside from work, Himmler dabbles in his theories about the origin of the Aryan Race during this visit (Mobius, Federal Archive).

German Military: General Keitel meets with Hitler and gives him the conclusion of the OKH (army high command) regarding Operation Felix (invasion of Gibraltar). They believe that:

[I]n the event of preparations being resumed on 1 February, the attack on Gibraltar was not possible before the middle of April and that therefore the forces envisaged for this operation would not be available in time for 'Barbarossa.'

Hitler may wish to invade Gibraltar, but he wants to invade the Soviet Union more. Accordingly, he states that "Operation Felix will have to be dropped because it was impossible to create the political prerequisites." While Hitler continues to cajole Franco into joining the Axis and permitting Operation Felix, a project which remains on the docket for years (like Operation Sealion), this marks the death knell for the planned operation.

Two hundred Norwegian volunteers, recruited by the SS, swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. These Norwegian volunteers are to serve in the "Wiking" Division. They will be part of Army Group South, heading toward the Ukraine, where numerous atrocities will take place (of course, atrocities will take place across the entire front). Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler watches with approval.

British Government: Home Secretary Herbert Morrison appears before the House of Commons to defend his recent closure of the Daily Worker and other communist publications. He claims that the publication has been blaming the government for deaths from air raids, which Morrison claims is "cruel and cynical, sheer sniveling hypocrisy." The MPs support the move as removing a subversive element of the press. Support is not unanimous, with Labour MP Aneurin Bevan claiming it was an unjustified restriction on the press, but the move carries 297-11.

Minister of Food Robert Boothby gives a speech in the House as well, defending himself against charges of self-dealing. Churchill rises and reflects upon this "heartbreaking business" without really taking a position. In a note to his son Randolph, Churchill states that Boothby's speech was "a remarkable parliamentary performance." The House continues to consider the matter.

An official painting memorializing Ho Chi Minh's return to Indochina today.

Indochina: The Thai 50th Bomber Squadron bombs Sisophon, Cambodia with B-10 medium bombers. This is the last significant action of the brief border campaign between French Indochina and Thailand. This raid induces the Vichy French somewhat belatedly to agree to mediation by Japan, an offer previously accepted with some alacrity by Thailand. There is no question - from the outcome - which side Japan favors in this border war. An effective but unofficial ceasefire now takes place, which is formalized later. Negotiations proceed aboard Japanese battleship IJN Natori, anchored off Saigon.

Ho Chi Minh (Nguyễn Ái Quốc), a committed Chinese communist of Vietnamese descent who has studied in Europe, returns to Indochina today after 30 years overseas. Ho at first lives in a cave in Pac Bo and sets to work preparing for the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) 8th Party Congress. His ultimate goal is to form an organization eventually called the Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (Vietnam Independence League), or Viet Minh. The Viet Minh is a Communist front organization to organize resistance against French colonial rule and occupying Japanese forces. It ostensibly is more nationalist than communist (in order to appeal to a wider audience), and equally, voices outrage about "French jackals" and the "Japanese fascists." However, Ho's ICP actually controls the Viet Minh behind the scenes. Having learned from his experiences in China, Ho successfully stresses the unity of opposition within Indochina to achieve independence, contrary to the infighting between the Kuomintang and the Communists in China which hampers their opposition to the Japanese.

This date of 28 January - unremarked in the Western world - is considered to be a very significant date in Vietnam today, with various official commemorative meetings held on the anniversary.

Ho Chi Minh with happy American soldiers during World War II. As happens later in many other places around the world, the Americans support a revolutionary disruptive force in an area controlled by a temporary enemy... and learn to regret it.

China: The Battler of Southern Honan continues, with the Japanese 11th Army continuing its attacks against the Chinese 5th War Area near Hsianghokuan.

American Homefront: "The Pepsodent Show" aka "The Pepsodent Radio Show Starring Bob Hope" aka "The Bob Hope Show" features Basil Rathbone today.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Saturday 25 January 1941

Australian troops at Tobruk, 25 January 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians have built up their strength in the region of the Klisura Pass - considered to be the gateway to the Italian supply port of Valona - and are ready on 25 January 1941 to make a major push to recapture the critical pass. The Italian Legnano Infantry Division is making some progress on the heights west of Klisura, and area which the two sides have been contesting vigorously ever since the pass was taken by Greek II Corps. The Italians pull back slightly around Tepelini. The RAF bombs Boulsar, near Elbasan.

However, the weather is horrendous in the mountains. Not only are the Italians suffering from frostbite, but there also is an outbreak of typhoid fever. The Greek forces, of course, face the same conditions. However, they have the advantage of help from the local Albanian inhabitants, who strongly support the Greeks whom they view as liberators and often have family ties that cross the border.

East African Campaign: The British troops continue advancing past the Keru Gorge toward Agordat, a key crossroad. The Italian troops are falling back on the city in disorder. Gazelle Force advances to Biscia.

The British open a new attack by Nigerian, Ghanaian, East African, and South African troops of 11th African Division under British General Harry Edward de Robillard Wetherall, as well as 12th African Division under British General Reade Godwin-Austen. They enter Italian Somaliland from Kenya. The Italians immediately withdraw behind the Juba River, 100 miles behind the border. This is the "Southern Front."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids the U-boat pens at Lorient. The Luftwaffe only sends over a few attackers during the day and night.

Norwegian freighter Elisabeth Bakke, one of the ships that successfully escaped from Sweden to Scotland. © IWM (A 9976).

Battle of the Atlantic: Five Norwegian freighters complete their breakout from Gothenburg, arriving at Kirkwall, Scapa Flow under Royal Navy escort. The five ships are:

• 5460-ton Elizabeth Bakke
• 4718-ton John Bakke
• 6962-ton Tai Shan
• 4767-ton Taurus
• 6355-ton Ranja

The five freighters are under the command of British Captain R.D. Binney in Operation Rubble.

Force J, composed of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and light cruiser HMS Enterprise, is operating out of Dakar and searching for Admiral Scheer and other German commerce raiders. It doesn't find them, but it does intercept Vichy French 8917 ton freighter Sontay and escort it to Durban.

British 178 ton coaster Spey runs aground at Warkworth, Northumberland and is lost.

U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe) does everybody a favor and torpedoes and sinks the burning derelict 3564-ton British freighter Lurigethan. The ship was abandoned by its crew west of Ireland after attacks by KG 40 Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condors on 23 January.

British Admiral Sir John Tovey takes the Home Fleet out of Scapa Flow at 23:20 for the Faeroes Gap in order to intercept German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The forces include battleships HMS Nelson and Rodney, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and three light cruisers of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.

Making efficient use of its assets, the Admiralty has battleship King George V in the Chesapeake Bay after having brought across Lord Halifax, join the escort for Convoy BHX 104.

German raider Pinguin sails with its captured Norwegian whaling vessels for the South Atlantic for a rendezvous in the South Atlantic with supply ship Nordmark.

Convoy FN 391 departs from Southend, Convoy AS 13 departs from Pireaus for Port Said, Convoy BS 13A departs from Suez, Convoy HX 105 departs from Halifax.

U-201 (Adalbert Schnee) commissioned, U-79 and U-501 launched, U-600 laid down.

US battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64, Iowa Class) is laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. This is the last battleship ever laid down by the US Navy. Submarine USS Gudgeon is launched at Mare Island, California.

USS Gudgeon is launched today.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The tank battle outside Mechili continues between the Italian Italian Special Armoured Brigade (Brigata Corazzato Speciale, or Babini Group) and the British 7th Hussars. The Italians had the upper hand on 24 January, destroying half a dozen Light Tank Mk VIs and forcing the British to retreat. Today, the British bring up larger Cruiser tanks - they have 50 - along with 2-pounder anti-tank guns portée and some 25-pounder field guns. The British set up below a ridge, and when the Italian tanks appear at the top, the British blast them. The Italians lose nine M13/40s and only destroy one Cruiser. Having lost radio contact with their command (General Giuseppe Tellera), the Italians return to Mechili. The British essentially win the battle, but they remain blocked by the fortress of Mechili.

Another related battle takes place to the north, at Derna airfield. The Babini Group's supporting Italian infantry, the 60th "Sabratha" Division, takes heavy casualties against the 2/11th Australian Battalion and the 19th Australian Brigade. The Italians use their planes to good effect, and the flat ground makes the attacking Australians extremely vulnerable. The Italians hold their positions throughout the day despite the heavy casualties, but the British are bringing up more forces while the Italian force is being whittled away.

After dark, ten Fliegerkorps X Stukas, perhaps patrolling to find HMS Illustrious and its escorts (which all make port at Alexandria during the day), find other targets. They spot and attack British minelaying cruiser HMS Latona and several accompanying destroyers off Tobruk. Latona is damaged by a 500 kg bomb and sinks at 22:30 after the ship's magazine blows up. There are 27 deaths. In addition, destroyer HMS Hero is damaged by near-misses. Illustrious, meanwhile, is now safe from air attack and can proceed via the Suez Canal to the United States for permanent repairs.

At Malta, an Italian Cant Z501 flying boat lands off Comino and the crew surrenders. The British go out and arrest them, but are puzzled about why the flying boat landed there (the crew never intended to surrender). The crew explains that they were lost and running low on fuel, and they mistook British searchlights for a signal from their base at Augusta. The large flying, incidentally, sinks in the rough seas.

The RAF on Malta begins air operations against Italian convoys to North Africa, though at first only reconnaissance is performed.

Collier's January 25, 1941, Vol. 107, No. 4. Cover Art by Earl Oliver Hurst.

Anglo/US Relations: Lord Halifax, having arrived aboard the battleship HMS King George V at the Chesapeake Bay yesterday, today meets with US Secretary of State and presses the case for US aid to Great Britain. The administration is shepherding House Bill No. 1776, the Lend-Lease bill, through Congress to do just that.

US Government: Former Ambassador William C. Bullitt testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and gives his own view of the current strategic situation. Bullitt warns that "our own self-preservation" requires that the United States support Great Britain against Germany. His argument is that the Royal Navy protects the United States and that it might take too long to get the US fleet from Hawaii to defend the East Coast.

Bulgaria: Pursuant to the original orders of the Wehrmacht of 11 December 1941, today was to have been when Field Marshal Wilhelm List was to have been ready to cross the Danube from Romania into Bulgaria. However, it is a cold winter, and rail traffic from Germany has been essentially stopped since 4 January, hurting logistical preparations. List only has about two armored and two infantry divisions in place. This is much too weak for an invasion, not necessarily because of Bulgarian strength, but because of the possibility that Turkey will intervene on Bulgaria's side (or perhaps to occupy Bulgaria itself) with its dozens of divisions. In addition, the Romanian airfields are in terrible shape and insufficient to support the required Luftwaffe forces. The new date for the invasion of Bulgaria is fixed at 24 February, but it is unclear if these difficulties will clear up by then, either. An invasion of Bulgaria will not be necessary, of course, if Bulgaria decides to join the Tripartite Pact, to which its leaders are currently giving hard thought and beginning to lean in favor of joining.

In what today might be considered a politically incorrect move, President Franklin D. Roosevelt recommends Bible reading on 25 January 1941. This is one of those Roosevelt views that historians have a tendency to downplay or ignore completely.

China: It is Chinese New Year's Day, and the Japanese decide to partake of the festivities in a particularly macabre way. The Japanese continue their scorched earth policy in China (the Three Alls Policy, the three "alls" being to "kill all, burn all, loot all"). They destroy Panjiayu, Hebei, China and kill 1230 Chinese. General Yasuji Okamura orders the massacre because he suspects that the villagers are harboring, aiding and abetting the Chinese Communist forces. This is part of a deliberate strategy to create a "dead zone" between the Japanese lines and Chinese forces. This becomes known as the Panjiayu Massacre or Panjiayu Tragedy.

Okamura, incidentally, is a fascinating/loathsome character for a number of reasons. He began the policy of "comfort women" for Japanese troops in China and, despite being convicted of war crimes, never is punished for those crimes on the personal order of Chiang Kai-shek.

Separately, the Japanese 11th Army opens an offensive against the Chinese 5th War Area in the region of Hsaiolintien, Mingkang, and Chengyang. This is known as the Battle of Southern Honan.

British Homefront: One of the odder pieces of trivia about World War II is that animals sometimes receive medals. Chum the Airedale, who saved the life of Mrs. Marjorie French of Purley when he dug her out of a bombed-out house and dragged her to safety, is awarded the Bravery Medal of Our Dumb Friend's League, aka the "Dog's VC." The word "Dumb" in this context, incidentally, is meant in its classical sense of "unable to speak," not "stupid." This is the first animal medal of the war, but not the last.

Chum the Airedale.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Wednesday 15 January 1941

Royal Navy battleship HMS King George V on its journey from Scapa Flow to the United States in January 1941. "A view of the fore guns of "A" turret with spray breaking over the fo'c'sle." © IWM (A 3017).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue to consolidate their grip on the key Klisura Pass on 15 January 1941. The Italian forces have been badly mauled, especially the Lupi di Toscana Division, and many Italians have become POWs. However, both the remaining Italian forces and the weather are preventing the Greeks from exploiting this victory and marching on the strategic port of Valona. The RAF bombs Italian supply lines near Berat.

Air Marshal Longmore joins General Archibald Wavell in Athens, where the two discuss reinforcing the Greeks with British forces. Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas requests equipment to help in Albania. Wavell offers the immediate transfer of a combined anti-aircraft and anti-tank regiment, but Metaxas refuses. Wavell argues that sending even a token British force will impress the Turks and Yugoslavs to stay out of the war, and even lead them to the Allied side. Metaxas, however, responds that such a small force "would provoke the Germans to attack." Metaxas only wants British troops on the mainland if they are able to act offensively as well as defensively, and until such time as such forces are available, the British should stay out.

The heart of the issue is Greek mistrust of the British, who they feel are only trying to get Greece involved in the war against Germany. The British also mistrust the Greeks, who they feel will make a separate peace with Italy and leave the British troops with another front to defend in Greece/Albania. Wavell puts on a good show, but he (along with Longmore) already has indicated internally that he does not want to send British troops to the Greek mainland. Metaxas, in a sense, is just playing into his hands and permitting the British offensive in North Africa to continue. However, truth is that the British simply do not have the troops to spare that Metaxas feels would justify a British ground presence in Greece.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Wilhelmshaven with 70-76 bombers out of 96 that set out. The 20 that fail to attack either get lost or turn back. At this stage of the war, that is considered a successful attack. Another, smaller force attacks Emden.

The RAF lists new priorities for its bomber attacks. They are to be oil, industrial towns, and communications in that order. The order reads, "Oil considered the sole primary aim of our Bomber Offensive." Major targets are to include Bremen, Hanover, Magdeburg, and Oppau, among others.

The Luftwaffe sends 49 bombers against Derby during the night, and night fighters also attack RAF airfields in the north, including Church Fenton and Driffield. Action during the night is confused, and the darkness prevents British anti-aircraft from operating while RAF bombers are operating. The German night fighters get in some useful practice, tracking RAF bombers back to their bases after their missions and forcing down three of them.

During this night's action, Oblt. Egmont zur Lippe of 4./NJG 1 shoots down a Whitley bomber over Holland for his second victory claim. Oblt. Albert Schulz of 2./NJG 2 shoots down two Blenheims in fifteen minutes for his first two claims. It is dangerous work, however; another fighter pilot with six claims, Heinrich Kopperschläger of JG 53, perishes in a flying accident.

Strong hurricane-force winds sink three US Navy PBY Catalina flying boats of the US Navy squadron VP-73 and two PBM Mariner aircraft of VP-74 at Iceland.

Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet Vice-Admiral Sir John C. Tovey (right), and Vice-Admiral Sir Bruce A Fraser (front left) aboard HMS King George V at Scapa Flow. January 15, 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Pinguin rounds up some more parts of the Norwegian whaling fleet, including 12,083-ton oil refinery tanker Pelagos and several whalers. Three whalers have escaped to the Falkland Islands, where they will report what happened.

German tanker Nordmark, operating in the South Atlantic, rendezvouses with captured refrigerated ship Duquesna and replenishes its food stocks. The German sailors have grown to love the Duquesna, which they call a "floating delicatessen" full of frozen meat and dairy products.

Italian submarine Torelli (Captain C.F. Primo Longobardo) is one of the most successful Italian submarines under its able commander. Operating in the mid-Atlantic west of Ireland, Torelli torpedoes and sinks 5198 ton Greek freighter Nemea and 4079-ton Norwegian freighter Brask. There are 17 deaths on the Nemea and a dozen on the Brask (20 survivors). The incident is a bit unusual because, after the survivors of the Nemea abandon ship, the survivors of the Brask board the abandoned Nemea. The Greek survivors of the Nemea then themselves re-board their own ship. However, soon everyone is out of luck because the Nemea eventually sinks. Happily, the survivors are all rescued by HMS Highlander.

The Torelli also torpedoes and sinks 3111-ton Greek freighter Nicolaos Filinis from the same group of about six ships that it originally spotted. This sinking either occurs on the 15th or the 16th, accounts differ. Three crewmen perish.

British 1286-ton sludge ship Mancunium hits a mine and sinks off Liverpool in the Mersey. Everyone survives. Another freighter, 354 ton Karri, also hits a mine in the same vicinity but makes it to shore to be beached and later repaired. One man perishes on the Karri.

British 1823-ton freighter Maywood hits a mine and is damaged in the Bristol Channel south of Cardiff. Several vessels have hit mines there recently. Maywood temporarily is beached at Whitmore Bay, then goes to Barry for repairs.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages British 197-ton freighter Stalker in Hawke Roads, Grimsby. It sinks but is refloated and repaired.

Royal Navy minelayer HMS Adventure hits a mine and is badly damaged.

Convoys FS 388 and 389 depart from Methil, Convoy HX 103 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 103 departs from Bermuda.

U-151 and U-554 are commissioned, U-179 is laid down.

US destroyer USS Gwin is commissioned.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Felixstowe and minesweeping trawler HMS Hoxa launched, corvettes HMS Godetia and Anchusa are laid down and launched, respectively.

An inauguration ceremony for local officials in Tagkawayan, Quezon, the Philippines on 15 January 1941. Visible is Benigno Aquino Sr., whose grandson, Benigno S. Aquino III, will become the 15th President of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016 (Tripod).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Australian and British troops earmarked for the assault on Tobruk in under a week's time to continue their preparations. The British 7th Armoured Division is getting its tanks repaired, while the Australian infantry works on the tactics that it successfully employed at Bardia.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent torpedoes and sinks 2472 ton Italian freighter Citta di Messina off Benghazi.

Vice Admiral Andrew Cunningham, already commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, is promoted to the rank of full Admiral. Cunningham was before a board of inquiry only a few months ago, so this is a vote of confidence in him by the Admiralty.

At Malta, a Luftwaffe plane bearing a red cross in a white circle - an internationally recognized symbol for rescue operations that are immune from attack - is spotted at high altitude over eastern Malta. While the RAF does not get airborne in time to shoot it down, the use of this symbol is considered by the RAF to be a ruse. The RAF is notorious for shooting down such planes over the English Channel, which, if they actually are search and rescue planes, is a war crime. However, the British view these planes as performing reconnaissance, particularly since they appear at times when no rescue is needed and fly at altitudes used by reconnaissance planes, not search and rescue missions. This is another sign that the fierce contest of over the Channel is heading down to Malta as well, with the Germans and British gearing up for similarly heated warfare.

The Axis planes also stage a couple of air raids over Malta, but foul weather prevents them from releasing any bombs of consequence. RAF reconnaissance over Catania, Sicily shows that the results of the 13 January British air raid were quite good, with 25 Axis planes destroyed or badly damaged and hangars badly damaged.

Japanese Military: The Japanese Navy forms the 11th Air Fleet under Vice-Admiral Eikichi Katagiri, commander, and Rear Admiral Takijiro Onishi, chief of staff.

US Government: The US House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Relations debates HR 1776, the Lend-Lease bill. In a sign of the importance attached by the administration to this bill, Secretary of State Cordell Hull addresses the House committee in a speech entitled, "The Defense of the United States: Speed is Our Greatest Need Today.”

Italian Somaliland: British forces mount major attacks on Italian positions from Sudan and Kenya.

HRH Haile Selassie during his return trip to Ethiopia, January 1941. With him are two heavily armed bodyguards and a priest.

Abyssinia: His Royal Highness Haile Selassie, deposed (and future) Emperor of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), returns to his country for the first time since May 1936 with British assistance. He is one of several claimants to thrones or exiled nationalist figures that the British have chosen to support for their own purposes, Charles de Gaulle being a famous example. Other claimants have not proven so fortunate, such as exiled King Zog of Albania, but Selassie inspires fervent devotion in his followers. The British hope that Selassie will spark an uprising and, should the Italians be chased out of his country, govern with policies favorable to them. Selassie is accompanied by his two sons and a retinue.

He issues a royal proclamation:

Italy is cornered by the grip of Great Britain by sea, air and land power. The Italians will not escape my trusted warriors.

Selassie is not just popular in his own country; many - the Rastafarians - actually consider him to be a living god. Selassie's return is a harbinger of increased British attacks to wrest the entire region from Italian hegemony. There are reports of uprisings upon his return. Haile Selassie, despite being from an impoverished third-world nation, is one of the enduring figures of 20th Century politics and this is his most stressful period.

Indochina: The Thai army pushes back Vichy French troops near Pakse and in the Sisophon area. French naval units in the area form up and head out toward the Thai-Cambodian border around 21:15.

China: The Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) government completes the destruction of the surrounded Communist Chinese New Fourth Army. The Nationalists demand that the remainder of the New Fourth Army be disbanded. The Communists, on the other hand, decry the entire Nationalist attack as a plot to destroy internal opposition and help the invading Japanese. Chairman Mao tells his troops not to trust the Nationalist Chinese.

British Homefront: King George and Prime Minister Churchill travel to Scapa Flow to see off Lord Halifax for his voyage to Washington as the new British ambassador. After lunch, battleship King George V departs for the US carrying Ambassador Lord Halifax, escorted by four destroyers, in Operation Parcel. Separately, Sir Gerald Campbell, British High Commissioner to Canada, is transferred to Washington to become British Consul General to the United States.

"Jack Delano - Street in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania January 1941" (Chris Tancock, Pictify)

American Homefront: RKO Pictures studio head George J. Schaefer has his lawyers study the issue of whether or not to release Orson Welles' forthcoming motion picture, "Citizen Kane." Schaefer believes strongly in Welles and the picture but wants to make sure that there are no legal issues involved in releasing it. The RKO lawyers review the film and ask Welles to cut three minutes of its running time to satisfy their concerns about a possible defamation action by William Randolph Hearst. Welles complies.

Future History: Don Glen Vliet is born in Glendale, California. Vliet shows artistic inclinations at an early age and attends high school with Frank Zappa (born on 21 December 1940). While Don later is full of fanciful tales about his early days, some of which appear somewhat suspect, it is clear that he is extremely talented in multiple fields - perhaps not quite so much as he claims, but who knows - but drops out of high school to help support his family. Don and Zappa begin collaborating on music, and at some point, he and Zappa decide to rename Don "Captain Beefheart" (something that Don later asks Rolling Stone "don't ask me why or how"). Anyway, as Captain Beefheart, he begins recording in the early 1960s, and gains as admirers none other than John Lennon and Paul McCartney, though it is unclear if the two Beatles ever actually met Don (he claims to have met McCartney, who has no recollection of this). Captain Beefheart goes on to become a legend in avant-garde music, one of the true characters of the rock scene and passes away in 2010.

"Director Humphrey Jennings (left) stretches up to touch a piece of sculpture in Poets' Corner, as he suggests a shot for Camera Operator Chick Fowle of the Crown Film Unit, probably during the filming of 'Words For Battle' in Westminster Abbey, 1941." This was taken during January 1941. © IWM (D 1861).

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020