On this day in 1941, the Afrika Corps took Halfaya Pass between Egypt and Libya and entered Egypt from the west. Given the dire situation, the British withdrew its Hurricanes from Tobruk, although they were down to two there at the time. This left only Westland Lysanders stationed there for artillery spotting purposes.
The move conceded control of the skies to the Luftwaffe over Tobruk.
On the same day, Arab recruits to the British forces paraded in Jerusalem.
In spite of manpower shortages, and in spite of the fact that Arab volunteers were forthcoming, the British made very little use of them. It made some, but not much. All in all, there seems to have been an element of lingering mistrust of Arab volunteers and forces in spite of the significant cooperation between the Hashemites, now ruling Transjordan (and recently overthrown, albeit temporarily, in Iraq), during World War One. This was partially amplified by Arab unrest between the wars.
On this day, the British forces were defeated at Thermopylae.
Be that as it may, however, the British defense there did amount none the less to a strategic victory given as the delaying action gave the British forces now withdrawing from Greece much needed time. The British forces made a 100 miles strategic withdrawal in twelve hours, a remarkable feat, and were greeted with flowers by crowds in Athens.
Many of the troops in Greece were New Zealand, so here again we'll not a bit of an irony in that on this day the British in the Middle East were observing ANZAC Day.
In a press conference, President Roosevelt compared Charles Lindbergh's position on the war to that of the Copperheads to the Civil War.
