Saturday, March 28, 1942. The St. Nazaire Raid

On this day in 1942 the British conducted the large and risky raid on the Normandie Dry Dock at the port of St. Nazaire.  The raid involved ramming the HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete destroyer packed with explosives, into the dry dock.  It worked, and it took the dry dock out of operation for the rest of the war.

Areal photograph of Normandie Dry Dock with Campbletown inside dry dock.  The dry dock had been for the modern French passenger liner Normandie which had been lost in an accidental fire only recently while being converted to a troop transport in the United States.

The raid was sizable and involved air, sea and land elements of the British forces, resulting in British dead and 215 becoming prisoners of war.  Surprisingly, the Germans lost 360 dead, if civilian casualties at the dock are also included, in part because explosives on the Campbletown were time delayed and did not go off until noon.  At that time a party of 40 German officers and civilians were on board the Campbletown examining it.

The USS Buchanan in 1936.

The HMS Campbletown had originally been the USS Buchanan.  Decommissioned before World War Two, she was transferred to the British as part of the Destroyers For Bases program. She'd been built in 1918.

The British sank the SS Galilea in the Ionian Sea in a submarine strike.  The ship was an Italian hospital ship, but it was being used as a troops transport carrying Alpini to Italy so that they could be reassigned to the Eastern Front.  The ship also carried other Italian troops and some Greek POWs.  981 people went down with the ship.

The British struck Lubeck Germany with landmines, incendiary canisters and high explosives.  The raid resulted in damage to 62% of the cities buildings and destroyed its cathedral.

Friday December 19, 1941. Royal Navy Disasters, German Ground Reversals, Japanese Advances, Gardens and Censorship.

Italy achieved what was amounting to a rare naval victory when it attacked two Royal Navy battleships at Alexandria, Egypt, and disabled them, using three manned torpedoes, dispatched from a submarine.  The HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth were badly damaged in the bold attack, and the HMS Jervis, a destroyer, was as well.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Because of the way the HMS Queen Elizabeth settled, it had the illusion of remaining afloat, something that was maintained until she could be dry docked and repaired.

HMS Valiant.

The Valiant was a sister ship, both being of the Queen Elizabeth Class.  She'd be reassigned to the Pacific later in the war.   Both British battleships would return to action, but it would take more or less a year to accomplish.

All the Italian frogmen survived and were made Prisoners of War.

On the same day, the British HMS Neptune was sunk by mines off of Tripoli.  The HMS Aurora and HMS Penelope were damaged.  The following day, the HMS Kandahar was hit and had to be scuttled.

The bold and unconventional Italian attack, and the successful minefield laying, reversed the naval balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean in favor of the Axis.

It also somewhat cuts into the myth that there were no naval surface actions during the war.  In fact, there were a lot of them, and at this stage of the war the naval battle in the Mediterranean remained a heavily surface campaign.

Walter von Brauchitsch was relieved as Commander in Chief of the Germany Army.  Hitler replaced him with Hitler, a tipping point in the war for a variety of reasons.  With this, the German Army's bargain in which it supported the rise of the Nazis in exchange for Nazi support for the Army was essentially betrayed and shown to be worthless, as the Nazi co-opting of the Army was effectively complete.

Moreover, it showed an increasing strain in the German war effort as the dawn of realization that not only had Operation Barbarossa failed started, but it was obvious that the Soviets were not only not defeated, but they were beginning to reverse German fortunes for the first time in the war.  The obvious fear that Germany had overstretched herself and now the decline would become general was developing.

Von Brauchitsch was effectively retired by the act and never received another command.  He was imprisoned after the war on war crimes but died in a British military prison before he could be tried.

Hitler, who was already Commander in Chief of the Wehrmacht, would remain CiC of the Heer for the rest of the war.

The Indian 4th Division took Derna, Libya, where the Germans were also experiencing setbacks.  It was a victory, but the Germans had pulled out before they could be trapped and defeated there.

The Japanese invaded Davoa, in the Philippines.

Sgt Maj. John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers won a posthumous Victory Cross for falling on a Japanese hand grenade at the battle for Hong Kong, making him the first Canadian soldier to receive that award during World War Two.

His citation read:

At Hong Kong on the morning of 19th December 1941 a Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers to which Company Sergeant-Major Osborn belonged became divided during an attack on Mount Butler, a hill rising steeply above sea level. A part of the Company led by Company Sergeant-Major Osborn captured the hill at the point of the bayonet and held it for three hours when, owing to the superior numbers of the enemy and to fire from an unprotected flank, the position became untenable. Company Sergeant-Major Osborn and a small group covered the withdrawal and when their turn came to fall back, Osborn single-handed engaged the enemy while the remainder successfully rejoined the Company. Company Sergeant-Major Osborn had to run the gauntlet of heavy rifle and machine gun fire. With no consideration for his own safety he assisted and directed stragglers to the new Company position exposing himself to heavy enemy fire to cover their retirement. Whenever danger threatened he was there to encourage his men. 

During the afternoon the Company was cut off from the Battalion and completely surrounded by the enemy who were able to approach to within grenade throwing distance of the slight depression which the Company was holding. Several enemy grenades were thrown which Company Sergeant-Major Osborn picked up and threw back. The enemy threw a grenade which landed in a position where it was impossible to pick it up and return it in time. Shouting a warning to his comrades this gallant Warrant Officer threw himself on the grenade which exploded killing him instantly. His self-sacrifice undoubtedly saved the lives of many others. 

Company Sergeant-Major Osborn was an inspiring example to all throughout the defence which he assisted so magnificently in maintaining against an overwhelming enemy force for over eight and a half hours and in his death he displayed the highest quality of heroism and self-sacrifice.

Osborn was born in England, reflecting a Canada in which the English speaking population still had strong connections to the United Kingdom and in fact a fair number were English born.  He'd served in the Royal Navy during World War One.

US War Cabinet meeting, December 19, 1941.

The United States started the Office of Censorship.

It censored communications during the war coming into and out of the country.

The National Defense Garden Conference commenced to encourage growing your own.

Both of these last two items are from here:

Today in World War II History—December 19, 1941

Also on that site, you can read about Victory Gardens as well, here:

Victory Gardens in World War II

The endless series of nearly meaningless declarations of war continued, with Nicaragua declaring war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

Saturday, November 22, 1941. Advances and Reversals.

On this day in 1941 the Germans captured Klin on their advance towards Moscow.

The Atlantis.

On the same day, the German surface raider Atlantis was sunk off of Ascension Island by the HMS Devonshire, ending her surface raiding career.  The commander of the U126 which had been with her was left on board the Atlantis when the Devonshire appeared.

With the Atlantis sinking the Devonshire left the area and the U126 resurfaced and picked up 300 German survivors and one American prisoner.  She then towed the survivors in rafts towards Brazil until they were taken on board the refueling ship Python, which in turn was surprised by a British vessel on December 1 and scuttled.  It too left the area, and the survivors were then picked up by a collection of German and Italian submarines.

This interesting event gives us a window into the state of naval combat at the time. The Atlantis, a converted merchant ship, had been an effective surface raider, which is something that was on its way out.  And the Royal Navy didn't linger on station after the sinking, no doubt for good reasons, but with the results that survivors of sinkings were twice left to the Axis to pick up themselves.  Finally, the Italian navy participated in that recovery, even though their role in the Battle of the Atlantic is nearly forgotten.

Also, on this day German Luftwaffe squadron leader Werner Mölders was killed when a HE 111 he was a passenger in crashed while landing in a thunderstorm.  The plane was carrying him and other Luftwaffe figures to the commemorations for Ernst Udet.  Mölders was the first pilot in history to claim 100 aerial kills, a tally that dated back to his service in the Spanish Civil War.

Mölders was an enigmatic character who in some ways bests presents the myth of Luftwaffe pilots as somehow being above the taint of Nazism, although his service in the Spanish Civil War should cause and has a person to question that.  His father was killed in World War One when he was just a boy, and he thereafter was very much influenced by a family friend who was a Catholic Priest and was in contact to some degree with Westphalian Bishop Graf Von Galen during the war.  He was devoutly religious in spite of his German military service being 100% within the context of the Nazi regime.  When he was shot down over France early in the war he asked to meet the pilot who had brought him down, only to learn that the pilot had been killed.  He was at first somewhat mistreated as a Prisoner Of War, until a French airman intervened on his behalf, and then he later intervened with Goering to keep one of his former captors from being executed.

At the time of his death he'd only been married for a few months, with the Catholic ceremony having been preformed by his Priest friend and having been disapproved of by the Nazi regime.  Indeed, the Priest was under suspicion from the authorities.  His wife was pregnant at the time of his death.

West Germany honored him after the war with the naming of a ship and other military fixtures for him, although they were later reversed when the honors rescinded due to his service in the Spanish Civil War. At least one street remains named for him.  His grave was destroyed by East German authorities with the destruction of a graveyard, but it was restored in 1991.

At the time of his death he had been appointed Inspector of Fighters, a ground role, in part because the Nazi regime felt that it didn't wish to risk his combat death due to publicity reasons.  It's interesting to speculate what rule he may have played, if any, in the July 1944 plot had he still been living, given his strong Catholic nature, something he shared with several of the plotters of that attempted coup.

The 2nd New Zealand Division captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo in the Commonwealth drive to relieve Tobruk.

Discussions with the Japanese legation continued.

The Japanese Ambassador and Mr. Kurusu called at the Secretary's apartment by appointment made at the request of the Ambassador. The Secretary said that he had called in the representatives of certain other governments concerned in the Pacific area and that there had been a discussion of the question of whether things (meaning Japanese peaceful pledges, et cetera) could be developed in such a way that there could be a relaxation to some extent of freezing.

The Secretary said that these representatives were interested in the sug gestion and there was a general feeling that the matter could all be settled if the Japanese could give us some satisfactory evidences that their intentions were peaceful.

The Secretary said that in discussing the situation with the representatives of these other countries he found that there had arisen in their minds the wine kind of misgivings that had troubled him in the course of the conversations with the Japanese Ambassador. He referred to the position in which the Japanese Government had left the Ambassador and the Secretary as they were talking of peace when it made its move last July into Indochina. He referred also to the mounting oil purchases by Japan last Spring when the conversations were in progress, to the fact that he had endured public criticism for permitting those shipments because he did not wish to prejudice a successful outcome to the conversations and to the fact that that oil was not used for normal civilian consumption.

The Secretary went on to say that the Japanese press which is adopting a threatening tone gives him no encouragement and that no Japanese statesmen are talking about a peaceful course, whereas in the American press advocacy of a peaceful course can always get a hearing. He asked why was there not some Japanese statesman backing the two Ambassadors by preaching peace. The Secretary pointed out that if the United States and other countries should see Japan coming along a peaceful course there would be no question about Japan's obtaining all the materials she desired; that the Japanese Government knows that.

The Secretary said that while no decisions were reached today in regard to the Japanese proposals he felt that we would consider helping Japan out on oil for civilian requirements only as soon as the Japanese Government could assert control of the situation in Japan as it relates to the policy of force and conquest. He said that if the Ambassador could give him any further assurances in regard to Japan's peaceful intentions it would help the Secretary in talking with senators and other persons in this country.

Mr. Kurusu said it was unfortunate that there had been a special session of the Diet at this time, as the efforts of the Government to obtain public support had brought out in sharp relief the abnormal state of the present temper of the Japanese people who had been affected by four years of war and by our freezing measures.

The Secretary asked to what extent in the Ambassador's opinion did the firebrand attitude prevail in the Japanese army. Mr. Kurusu said that it took a great deal of persuasion to induce the army to abandon a position once taken, but that both he and the Ambassador had been pleasantly surprised when the Japanese army acceded to their suggestion in regard to offering to withdraw the Japanese troops from southern Indochina. He said he thought this was an encouraging sign, but that nevertheless the situation was approaching an explosive point.

The Secretary asked whether it was not possible for a Japanese statesman now to come out and say that Japan wanted peace; that while there was much confusion in the world because of the war situation Japan would like to have a peace which she did not have to fight for to obtain and maintain; that the United States says it stands for such ideas; and that Japan might well ask the United States for a show?down on this question.

The Ambassador said he did not have the slightest doubt that Japan desired peace. He then cited the popular agitation in Japan following the conclusion, of the peace settlement with Russia in 1905, as pointing to a difficulty in the way of publicly backing a conciliatory course.

The Secretary asked whether there was any way to get Japanese statesmen to approach the question before us with real appreciation of the situation with which we are dealing including the question of finding a way to encourage the governments of other powers concerned in the Pacific area to reach some trade arrangement with Japan. He pointed out that Japan's Indochina move, if repeated, would further give a spurt to arming and thus undo all the work that he and the Ambassador had done. He suggested that if the United States and the other countries should supply Japan with goods in moderate amounts at the beginning those countries would be inclined to satisfy Japan more fully later on if and as Japan found ways in actual practice of demonstrating its peaceful intentions. He said that one move on Japan's part might kill dead our peace effort, whereas it would be easy to persuade the other countries to relax their export restrictions if Japan would be satisfied with gradual relaxation.

Mr. Kurusu said, that at best it would take some time to get trade moving. The Secretary replied that he understood this but that it would be difficult to get other countries to understand until Japan could convince those countries that it was committed to peaceful ways. Mr. Kurusu said that some immediate relief was necessary and that if the patient needed a thousand dollars to effect a cure an offer of three hundred dollars would not accomplish the purpose. The Secretary commented that if the Japanese Government was as weak as to need all that had been asked for, nothing was likely to save it.

Mr. Kurusu said that Japan's offer to withdraw its forces from southern Indochina would set a reverse movement in motion.

The Secretary said that the Japanese were not helping as they should help in the present situation in which they had got themselves but were expecting us to do the whole thing.

Mr. Kurusu asked what was the idea of the American Government.

The Secretary replied that although the Japanese proposal was addressed to the American Government he had thought it advisable to see whether the other countries would contribute and he found that they would like to move gradually. The effect of an arrangement between these countries and Japan would be electrifying by showing that Japan had committed herself to go along a peaceful course.

Mr. Kurusu asked what Japan could do. The Secretary replied that if, for example, he should say that he agreed to enter into a peaceful settlement provided that there should be occasional exceptions and qualifications he could not expect to find peaceful-minded nations interested.

The Secretary then asked whether his understanding was correct that the Japanese proposal was intended as a temporary step to help organize public opinion in Japan and that it was intended to continue the conversations looking to the conclusion of a comprehensive agreement. Mr. Kurusu said yes.

Mr. Kurusu asked whether the Secretary had any further suggestions. The Secretary replied that he did not have in mind any suggestions and that he did not know what amounts of exports the various countries would be, disposed to release to Japan. He said that Japan made the situation very difficult, for if Japan left her forces in Indochina, whether in the north, east, south or west, she would be able to move them over night, and that therefore this would not relieve the apprehensions of neighboring countries. The British, for example, would not be able to move one warship away from Singapore. .

The Ambassador argued that it would take many days to move troops from northern Indochina to southern Indochina, and he stated that the Japanese desired the troops in northern Indochina in order to bring about a settlement with China. He said that after the settlement of the China affair Japan promised to bring the troops out of Indochina altogether.

The Secretary emphasized again that he could not consider this, that also uneasiness would prevail as long as the troops remained in Indochina, and commented that Japan wanted the United States to do all the pushing toward bringing about a peaceful settlement; that they should get out of Indochina.

Mr. Kurusu observed that the Japanese Foreign Minister had told Ambassador Grew that we seemed to expect that all the concessions should be made by the Japanese side.

The Secretary rejoined that Mr. Kurusu had overlooked the fact that in July the Japanese had gone into Indochina. He added that the United States had remained from the first in the middle of the road, that it was the Japanese who had strayed away from the course of law and order, and that they should not have to be paid to come back to a lawful course.

Mr. Kurusu said that this country's denunciation of the commercial treaty had caused Japan to be placed in a tight corner.

The Secretary observed that Japan had cornered herself; that we had been preaching for the last nine years that militarism was sapping everybody and that if the world were to be plunged into another war there would not be much left of the people anywhere. He said that in 194 he had told Ambassador Saito that Japan was planning an overlordship in East Asia. The Secretary added that he had tried to persuade Hitler that participation by him in a peaceful course would assure him of what he needed. The Secretary said it was a pity that Japan could not do just a few small peaceful things to help tide over the situation.

Mr. Kurusu asked what the Secretary meant. The Secretary replied that the major portion of our fleet was being kept in the Pacific and yet Japan asked us not to help China. He sand we must continue to aid China. He said it was little enough that we were actually doing to help China. The Ambassador commented that our moral influence was enabling Chiang to hold out.

The Secretary said that a peaceful movement could be started in thirty or forty days by moving gradually, and yet Japan pushed everything it wanted all at once into its proposal. The Ambassador explained that Japan needed a quick settlement and that its psychological value would be great.

The Secretary said that he was discouraged, that he felt that he had rendered a real contribution when he had called in the representatives of the other countries, but that he could only go a certain distance. He said he thought nevertheless that if this matter should move in the right way peace would become infectious. He pointed also to the danger arising from blocking progress by injecting the China matter in the proposal, as the carrying out of such a point in, the Japanese proposal would effectually prevent the United States from ever successfully extending its good offices in a peace settlement between Japan and China. He said this could not be considered now.

There then ensued some further but inconclusive discussion of the troop situation in Indochina, the Secretary still standing for withdrawal, after which the Ambassador reverted to the desire of the Japanese Government to reach a quick settlement and asked whether we could not say what points in the Japanese proposal we would accept and what points we desired to have modified.

The Secretary emphasized that there was no way in which he could carry the whale burden and suggested that it would be helpful if the Japanese Government could spend a little time preaching peace. He said that if the Japanese could not wait until Monday before having his answer there was nothing he could do about it as he was obliged to confer again with the representatives of the other governments concerned after they had had an opportunity to consult with their governments. He repeated that we were doing our best, but emphasized that unless the Japanese were able to do a little there was no use in talking.

The Ambassador disclaimed any desire to press the Secretary too hard for an answer, agreed that the Secretary had always been most considerate in meeting with the Ambassador whenever an appointment had been requested, and said that the Japanese would be quite ready to wait until Monday.

The Secretary said he had in mind taking up with the Ambassador sometime a general and comprehensive program which we had been engaged in developing and which involved collaboration of other countries.

The Ambassador said that the Japanese had in mind negotiating a bilateral agreement with us to which other powers could subsequently give their adherence.

The U.S. Navy launched the USS Aaron Ward, a Gleaves class destroyer.  Her service would be brief, as she was sunk by the Japanese in 1943 off of Guadalcanal.

Sunday November 9, 1941. Force K intercepts an Axis Convoy.

On this day in 1941 Force K of the Royal Navy, led by the HMS Penelope, devastated the German/Italian convoy Duisburg in the Mediterranean, sinking seven transport and tanker ships headed to resupply the Africa Korps.  Two Italian destroyers also went down. 

The Penelope would be sunk by a U-boat in 1944, loosing over 400 of her crew.

A lot of British ships of the period bore names from Greek mythology or works of antiquity.  Why, I don't know.  Given that, Penelope was certainly named after the character from The Odyssey, although the name was one that was used by the Greeks well past that and spread into general use in modern times.

On the same day, the Germans took Yalta, but the Soviets completed the evacuation of 23,000 troops from the Crimea.

All of these events are noted here:

Today in World War II History—November 9, 1941

Another site notes that by this day in 1941 German radio had quite broadcasting that troops would return from the Eastern Front by Christmas.  The Germans were certainly still advancing, but they were having a much harder time digesting Soviet territory, and indeed there has always been pockets of stout resistance. The recent massive Soviet parade in Moscow was a demonstration of absolute defiance of German hopes, and even in the south combined German and Romanian troops were slowing down in their advances.

May 24, 1941. The sinking of the HMS Hood

On this day in 1941 the HMS Hood was sunk by the Bismarck in the opening day of the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

Today in World War II History—May 24, 1941

HMS Hood sunk

Only three of its crew of over 1400 survived.

On the same day, a British submarine sank the Italian troops ship SS Conte Rosso off the coast of Sicily which resulted in the loss of 1,300 lives.

May 3, 1941. Meet John Doe

The famous Capra film, Meet John Doe, was released on this date in 1941, which I only know as its mentioned here:

Today in World War II History—May 3, 1941

The film is regarded as a classic, but its one that I haven't seen.

Australian troops at Tobruk launched a counterattack, but were repulsed by Italians, while at sea the Italians took a bruising from the British.

Italy annexed part of Slovenia and termed it the Province of Ljuljana.  The annexation caused an odd ethnic relocation of the Gottschee population, which was German speaking, to a different portion of Slovenia which Germany had annexed as Hitler didn't want ethnic Germans in territory annexed into Italy.

March 29, 1941. Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Denver and Italian surface fleet defeated.

Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center, in Denver Colorado, or more properly on the edge of it, was photographed from the air on this day in 1941.

Fitzsimmons is now the Anschutz Medical Center in north Denver.  It's not on the edge of town, but it still isn't really that far away, growth of Denver not withstanding.

I was first on these grounds when it was still an Army installation.  I went on it to go to the PX, although the PX I went to (I'm not sure if it was the only one), wasn't one of the better ones I ever visited.  If I recall correctly, I was hoping to pick up a pair of BDU trousers.  I picked up a t-shirt instead.  It may sound odd, but I've long since lost it. As I have t-shirts older than (we're talking the mid 1980s) that's a bit surprising.  I likely outgrew it, circumferentially.  

Two more Italian ships were sunk in the culmination of a several day running battle in the Mediterranean between the Italian and British navies. Once again, the Italians proved themselves to be losing everywhere.   This was the effective end of the Italian surface fleet as a fighting force during the war.

More on that here:  

Today in World War II History—March 29, 1941

The aftermath of Matapan

Day 576 March 29, 1941

German test pilot and unrepentant Nazi Hanna Reitsch may have won the Iron Cross on this day, or it may have been the day prior.  This day would have been her 39th birthday.

Reitsch never did acknowledge the atrocities of the Third Reich and as late as the 1970s she was not only unapologetic but confessed she was still a Nazi.  She none the less lived in Ghana for an extended time post World War Two and show no racism towards Africans at that time.  She seems to have adopted a Holocaust denier position.  She and Werner Von Braun were the parents of her only child, whose parentage was not acknowledged at the time.

On the same day, the first Beechcraft C-45A was complete.

March 28, 1941. Royal Navy victory in the Mediterranean, manufacturing victory in Detroit.

B-24s being built at Willow Run.

Ford Motor Company began building B-24s components at Air Force Plant 31 in Michigan. The plant is better known as the Willow Run plant.  Ultimately it would construct entire aircraft, something that was not foreign to Ford which had manufactured civilian aircraft prior to the war.  The facility was actually leased, rather than owned, by Ford, which had an option to purchase it.  It would decline that option post war.

The plant was taken over by Kaiser after the war, a Ford competitor, which manufactured automobiles there until the Korean War, at which time it also manufactured C-119 cargo aircraft.  Kaiser was formed in July 1945, so it was a post war startup, and was originally the Kaiser-Frazer Company.  It technically lasted only until 1953, but it didn't disappear at that time but merged with Willys Overland, whose forte at that time were its 4x4 vehicles, lead by the Jeep.  It sold Willys to American Motors in 1970, but retained a minority interest in that company.  American Motors continues in operation today, contrary to the common assumption, as AM General, the manufacturer of the military and civilian variants of the Hummer.

It was a bad day for the Italians in the Battle of  Matapan as a heavy cruiser and two destroyers were sunk by the Royal Navy.  More on that here:

Today in World War II History—March 28, 1941

Italian fleet surprised at ‘The Battle of Matapan’

On the same day, the Italians suffered further losses in Eritrea.

Day 575 March 28, 1941

King Peter assumed the Yugoslavian throne to cheering crowds.

March 27, 1941. Yugoslavian Coup

In Yugoslavia a coup inspired by opposition to that country's entering the Tripartite Pact deposes the government and declares 17 year old King Peter II sovereign of the country, effectively nullifying the government's joining the Axis.

The coup was dominated by Serbian officers of a nationalistic bent, and can be regarded as a military coup.  Those who advocated the overthrow of the government, and who accomplished it, were aware that the result would surely be a German invasion.  Hitler in fact ordered it that very day.  The only senior officers in it were in the Yugoslavian air force.

The Yugoslavian military was large, numbering some 700,000 men in size, which may have caused those backing it to be able to convince themselves that Yugoslavia stood a chance against Germany, which was heavily committed as it was. Still, Germany's armed forces were comparatively enormous and combat hardened.

The coup would prove a fateful choice for the country, and indeed for the world.

On the same day Romania's military leader Ion Antonescu signed an anti Jewish law allowing for segregation of the country's Jewish population and the expropriation of its urban property.  Therefore, on the same day Yugoslavia was being taken away from the Axis by is population, Romania was running towards it through its military leader.  As we've already seen, Bulgaria had reluctantly signed the Tripartite Pact and German troops were already massing on its border with Greece.

While all of this history is well known, a person has to wonder what would have occurred if Yugoslavia, which only entered the Tripartite Pact with Germany reluctantly, had coordinated with Bulgaria and pressured Romania.  If the southern Slavic nations had refused jointly to participate in German designs on Greece, brought about only because Italy was losing in its battle with that country, it would have posed a more difficult strategic problem for Germany. They likely would have solved it by invading those nations, of course, so perhaps things would have been no different.

In the Mediterranean a major naval engagement between the British and the Italians commences at Cape Matapan.

The United States leased British military installations in the Western Hemisphere for 99 years.

More of the events of World War Two on this day be read here.

Today in World War II History—March 27, 1941

Day 574 March 27, 1941

March 14, 1941. The Blitz over Scotland, Italian submarines in the North Atlantic, Japanese offensive in China.

British troops took meals and were photographed on this day in St. Andrew's House, which is now the seat of the Scottish Parliament.

Serving during what is now regarded as Britain's dark days of the war, these men would have nonetheless have had a hard time imagining a United Kingdom with more than one parliament and being in the current state of being at least somewhat disunited, let alone that kingdom not having an Empire.

In Leeds, the city would sustain the worst night of the Leeds Blitz. Clydeside was destroyed on the second night of raids against it.  You can read more about that here:

Clydeside bombed again

In  China, the Japanese would launch as assault at Shanggao which would result in a decisive Chinese victory.

The SS Western Chief, formerly a U.S. naval cargo vessel but now a civilian cargo ship, was sunk by an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic.

We tend to not even think of the Italians having submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic, but in fact their submarine fleet was the largest in the world at the start of World War Two and their commitment to the Atlantic early in the war equaled that of the Germans.

A  Marcello class submarine in German service in the Inland Sea, Japan, in August, 1944. This submarine had been Comandante Cappelini in Italian service prior to their surrender to the Allies and would go on to Japanese service as the  IJN I-503 after Germany's surrender to the Allies.

The submarine in question was the Emo, a Marcello class submarine that was sunk in the Mediterranean in 1942.  

The story of Italian submarines during the war is not only largely forgotten, but complicated as well.  About half their fleet was destroyed in action as the war went on, and a surprising number of their boats were converted to transport craft to run to the Far East.

On the topic of submarines, German film maker Wolfgang Petersen, who filmed the submarine masterpiece Das Boot, was born on this day in 1941.

And speaking of the Japanese, President Roosevelt met with the Japanese Ambassador late in the day, on this day in 1941.

February 27, 1941. Things Naval.

Vought "OSZU-1's" [Kingfishers] of the Neutrality Patrol, Quonset Point Naval Air Station, Roger Williams Way, North Kingstown, Washington County, RI.

The United States was not yet at war, of course, but was building towards it.  Given that, a photographer took some photographs at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station.

On the same day, the Academy Awards were given out on this day.  More on that here:

Today in World War II History—February 27, 1941

A New Zealand light cruiser engaged an Italian auxiliary cruiser in the Indian ocean.  They were not an even match and the result was predictable.

HMNZS Leander.

The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb I was sunk.

The sinking Ramb I.

The Italians continued to suffer one defeat after another, and earlier this week were pushed out of Mogadishu, Somalia.  None the less, the did score some Naval success elsewhere on this February 27, which an be read about below, with other World War Two events of the day:

Day 546 February 27, 1941

Daylight raid on Aircraft Works kills 53

27 February 1941: 8 Killed by Enemy Mines – Gozo Boat Sunk

January 22, 1941. The Fall of Tobruk

British Commonwealth forces, together with some allied forces from occupied countries in Europe, took Tobruk.

Australian soldiers after the capture of Tobruk.

The taking of the town from the Italians was an early major British Commonwealth victory which is heavily associated with the Australian army, which played a major, but not exclusive role.

Scuttled Italian cruiser burning at Tobruk.

The loss of the city was a major Italian defeat and was demonstrating that Italy was rapidly becoming an detriment to the Axis cause, not a plus.

Other events of World War Two on this day:

Day 510 January 22, 1941

A great photo of Tacoma Washington on this day can be found here:  Tacoma, January 22, 1941.

Tacoma was about to be forever changed due to World War Two industrial production.  It'd never look like this again.

January 10, 1941. War Materials.

The Germans ordered the registration of all Jews in the Netherlands take place on this day in 1941.

In the United States, the Lend Lease Act passed Congress.

The bill was premised on the thesis that the United States had, or could build, war materials that it could then loan to the Allied powers. This was a big step towards war and that was appreciated at the time.  Lending a person a gun in a fight is pretty close to being in the fight yourself.  The act acknowledged that the Allies, and at that time particularly the British, were struggling to keep themselves supplied with weapons in their fight against the Germans and Italians, but of course the act would soon apply to the USSR as well.

Related to the problems of supply, the Royal Navy launched Operation Excess in the Mediterranean.  The effort was a supply effort for forces on Malta and Greece. The Royal Navy encountered the Luftwaffe for the first time in the operation.

HMS Illustrious.

During the operation the HMS Illustrious was damaged by a Ju87, Stuka dive bomber, attack.  We tend not to think of the Stuka engaging ships in World War Two, but this gives us an early instance of that occurring.   The Illustrious was defended by Fairey Fulmars, a combination fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, which did engage the Stukas during their second run, but largely unsuccessfully.

Fulmars on the Illustrious.

The Fulmar itself was frankly not a great plane, but it reflected the state of Royal Navy aviation at the time.  The Royal Navy had a lot of ships, with some of them being very modern, and some not, but their aviation was not as advanced either technologically or conceptually as the United States' or Japan's at the time.

In spite of the successful Luftwaffe attack the convoy run was successful and no British ships were lost. The Italians, however, lost the Vega, a torpedo ship, which was destroyed in a surface engagement.  Of her 128 crewmembers, only 6 survived.

More on this can be read about here:

10 January 1941: Luftwaffe Swoops on Convoy – Illustrious an Inferno

The British effort reflected the fact that fighting was going on in Greece and Malta was threatened.  This is important, however, in that the Italians were getting beat by the Greeks, a fact that was altering Germany's tactical thinking.  On this day Greek forces took Kilsura Pass in Albania.  Albania had been invaded by Italy in April, 1939, for reasons that would only make sense to fascist Italy.  Now Greece was advancing into Albania.

Greek troops at Kilsura Pass.

More on the events of World War Two on this day can be read here:

Today in World War II History—January 10, 1941

And here:

Day 498 January 10, 1941

And in the United States, preparation for the coming war continued.

Hanger under construction on this day at Alaska's Ft Wainright.  B17 in the foreground.

On the same day, Arsenic and Old Lace premiered on Broadway.

August 26, 1919. Pinto House to Willow Springs on the Motor Transport Convoy.

As the 1919 transcontinental Motor Transport Convoy was being received in Willow Springs, Nevada, the crew of an Italian warship was being received in Boston Commons.

On this day in 1919, the Motor Transport Convoy traveled from Pinto House to Willow Spring, making 44 miles in 8.25 hours.

Mention is made of the Mack "chain drive".  During this period, and for quite some time thereafter, some vehicles used chain drives, like bicycles, rather than drive shafts, to convey the rotation of the engine to the axle.

By and large, however, the vehicles held up that day in spite of the conditions.

Countdown on the Great War, November 10, 1918: A Socialist Provisional Government forms in Germany, the Naval War continues on, and Mildred Harris weds.

American engineers constructing a bridge in a ruined French city.  November 10, 1918.

1.  The HMS Ascot, a minesweeper, was sunk by the UB-67 with the loss of 51 hands.  The HMT Renarro, a British Navy trawler hit a mine and sank as did the Italian 36PN torpedo boat.

2.  Romania, which earlier surrendered to Germany, came back into the war in order to retake territory it had lost in the peace to Bulgaria. Allied forces entered Svishtov and Nikopol in Bulgaria.

3.  The Council of the People's Deputies becomes the provisional government of Germany with the aim of negotiating a peace with the Allies.  It's membership is completely comprised of members of the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, making it a highly left wing ruling body, which came about when the SDP, which had evolved into a much less radical party in recent years, co-opted some revolutionary councils the day prior after it found it could not stop them from pushing forward.  The inclusion of the USDP was a distasteful necessity at first, even though the SDP did not see eye to eye on most things.

This essentially meant that to a degree the aims of the German revolutionaries had been partially recognized and in fact a government partially installed by them was in power, although one that had, due to the SDP, much less radical aims than the USDP.  The government would sweep away Germany's tiered franchise and introduce many liberal reforms before yielding to the Reichstag in 1919, by which time the USDP had pulled out of the government and the SDP was ruling alone.   The SDP under Friedrich Ebert, it's leader, would find itself thereafter increasingly aligned with Germany's conservative elements and it even would rely upon the Freikorps to take on left wing revolutionaries during the German civil war.

4.  With the war winding down, even celebrity news, albeit local celebrity news, started to reappear on the front page of the papers.

The Cheyenne girl was Mildred Harris.  As we've reported on her before:

Mildred Harris.  Her entry in Today In  Wyoming's History:  

1901  Mildred Harris, movie actress, born in Cheyenne.  She was a significant actress in the silent film era, having gone from being a child actor to a major adult actress, but had difficulty making the transition to talking pictures.

Harris is also evidence that, in spite of my notation of changes in moral standards elsewhere, the lives of movie stars has often been as torrid as they are presently.  Harris married Charlie Chaplin in 1918, at which time she was 17 years old and the couple thought, incorrectly, that  she was pregnant.  She did later give birth during their brief marriage to a boy who was severely disabled, and who died only three days after being born.  The marriage was not a happy one.  They divorced after two years of marriage, and she would marry twice more and was married to former professional football player William P. Fleckenstein at the time of her death, a union that had lasted ten years.  Ironically, she appeared in three films in 1920, the year of her divorce, as Mildred Harris Chaplin, the only films in which she was billed under that name. While an actress probably mostly known to silent film buffs today, she lived in some ways a life that touched upon many remembered personalities of the era, and which was also somewhat stereotypically Hollywood.  She introduced Edward to Wallis Simpson.

She died in 1944 at age 42 of pneumonia following surgery.  She has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  A significant number of her 134 films are lost or destroyed due to film deterioration.  Her appearances in the last eight years of her life were minor, and unaccredited, showing the decline of her star power in the talking era.

Stories like hers, however, demonstrate that the often held concept of great isolation of Wyomingites was never true.  Harris was one of at least three actors and actresses who were born in Wyoming and who had roles in the early silent screen era.  Of those, she was arguably the most famous having risen to the height of being a major actress by age 16.