Tuesday December 16, 1941 Fanatischem Widerstand

On this day in 1941 Hitler ordered troops on the Eastern Front to exhibit "fanatischem Widerstand", fanatical resistance, to Red Army advances.   The Germans were in full retreat outside of Moscow at the time having lost 50 miles in twelve days and having becoming completely demoralized due to the advances of the Red Army and the increasingly horrible weather.

Hitler had already relieved Guderian and Von Rundstedt for retreats with in recent days, and one senior officer in Operation Typhoon had committed suicide after his troops had retreated.  

Given the order, it's hard not to conclude that Hitler realized at this point that things may have turned in the war in a direction that couldn't be halted.

President Roosevelt issued an executive order on this day allowing appointments of government officials to the Alien Enemy Board.

December 16, 1941

EXECUTIVE ORDER 8980

AMENDMENT OF EXECUTIVE ORDER OF JANUARY 17, 1873, TO PERMIT PERSONS HOLDING STATE, TERRITORIAL, AND MUNICIPAL OFFICES TO BE APPOINTED AS MEMBERS OF ALIEN ENEMY HEARING BOARDS

December 16, 1941

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1753 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and as President of the United States, the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding State, Territorial, and municipal offices, is hereby further amended so as to permit any person holding a State, Territorial, or municipal office to accept appointment and serve as a member of an Alien Enemy Hearing Board.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 16, 1941.

Exec. Order No. 8980, 6 FR 6471, 1941 WL 4079 (Pres.)

By most accounts (some have it as the 17th) Lt. Boyd Wagner achieved his firth areal victory over the Philippines, becoming the first U.S. ace of World War Two.

Wagner.

All of his victories at that time appear to have been over Nakajima Ki-27 "Nates", a good Japanese army fighter that had entered service in 1937 but which curiously retained fixed landing gear.  Wagner was flying a P40.  He'd score three more victories in the Pacific flying P39s before he was posted to the United States.  He disappeared in 1942 flying out of Florida, at which time he was a Lieutenant Colonel.

The Japanese invasion of Burma began.

The Japanese invasion of Borneo began.

The Japanese battleship Yamato was commissioned.

The Germans outrun the British at Bir Halegh el Eleba, retreating faster than the British can advance.

The Italian torpedo boat Orione rammed and sank the German U557, mistaking it for  aBritsih submarine resulting in the loss of all the U-boats crew.

The Czechoslovak government in exile declared war on everyone who was at war with the US, UK and USSR.

Look magazine had an exposé on Hollywood, and its "Money, Manners and Morals".  It featured a young woman in the snow with a sled.

It also had an article on Anti-Semitism in America.

Friday, December 5, 1941. A Turning Point.

It's worth noting that this day was a Friday.  For Americans, this would be the last day in which the United States was not a full belligerent in the largest war in modern history.

As a Friday, most people would have been looking forward to a weekend off, when people really did have the weekends off.  Wartime shortages were already a thing, but young adults would have been out on the town, and even older ones such as myself may have gone to the movies or the like in an era when home entertainment of the electronic type was limited to the radio.  Thousands of men, at the end of the day, would have hit bars before going home.

It's also traditionally a day when some soldiers and sailors received weekend leave, but I don't know the situation on December 5, 1941. I suspect, but don't know, that it had largely been cancelled in overseas locations, although that's certainly not the way movies depict it.  On this day the US felt that a Japanese strike was imminent, but they were still not expecting it on Hawaii.  Indeed, as recent posts and today's' make plain, the Navy was just reinforcing some outlying Northern Pacific island now.

Secretary of War Stinson criticized the leakers of Rainbow 5 to be unpatriotic and dismissed the matter as one of simple contingent preparedness.

Secretary of the Navy Knox met with Franklin Roosevelt and expressed the opinion that the Japanese Navy, which was out to sea, was going south. Roosevelt asked it could be going north, which Knox allowed for, but discounted.

As detailed Today In Wyoming's History: December 5, 1941, things were in motion all over the globe.

1941  The USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier, and the cruisers USS Indianapolis, Astoria, Chicago and Portland, together with five destroyers depart the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 

Their mission was to deliver Marine Corps aircraft to Wake Island, where the commander was fearing a Japanese attack.

The USS Arizona arrived at Pearl Harbor, as noted here:

Today in World War II History—December 5, 1941

1941  Japanese diplomats provided the following explanation to the U.S. Secretary of State in response to a question about Japanese ship movements in the eastern Pacific.

Reference is made to your inquiry about the intention of the Japa­nese Government with regard to the reported movements of Japanese troops in French Indo‑china. Under instructions from Tokyo I wish to inform you as follows

As Chinese troops have recently shown frequent signs of movements along the northern frontier of French Indo‑china bordering on China, Japanese troops, with the object of mainly taking precautionary measures, have been reinforced to a certain extent in the northern part of French Indo‑china. As a natural sequence of this step, certain movements have been made among the troops stationed the southern part of the said territory. It seems that an exaggerated report has been made of these movements. It should be added that no measure has been taken on the part of the Japanese Government that may transgress the stipulations of the Protocol of Joint Defense between Japan and France.

 [WASHINGTON,] December 5, 1941.

The Japanese Ambassador and Mr. Kurusu called at their request at the Department. The Ambassador handed to the Secretary a paper which he said was the Japanese Government's reply to the President's inquiry in regard to Japanese troops in French Indochina. The paper reads as follows:

STATEMENT HANDED BY THE JAPANESE AMBASSADOR (NOMURA) TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON DECEMBER 5, 1941

Reference is made to your inquiry about the intention of the Japanese Government with regard to the reported movements of Japanese troops in French Indo-china. Under instructions from Tokyo I wish to inform you as follows

As Chinese troops have recently shown frequent signs of movements along the northern frontier of French Indo-china bordering on China, Japanese troops, with the object of mainly taking precautionary measures, have been reinforced to a certain extent in the northern part of French Indo-china. As a natural sequence of this step, certain movements have been made among the troops stationed the southern part of the said territory. It seems that an exaggerated report has been made of these movements. It should be added that no measure has been taken on the part of the Japanese Government that may transgress the stipulations of the Protocol of Joint Defense between Japan and France.

The Secretary read the paper and asked whether the Japanese considered that the Chinese were liable to attack them in Indochina. He said, so Japan has assumed the defensive against China. He said that he had heard that the Chinese are contending that their massing troops in Yunnan was in answer to Japan's massing troops in Indochina. Mr. Kurusu said that that is all that they have received from their Government in regard to this matter. The Ambassador said that as the Chinese were eager to defend the Burma Road he felt that the possibility of a Chinese attack in Indochina as a means of pre?venting Japan's attacking the Burma Road from Indochina could not be excluded.

The Secretary said that he had understood that Japan had been putting forces into northern Indochina for the purpose of attacking China from there. He said that he had never heard before that Japan's troop movements into northern Indochina were for the purpose of defense against Chinese attack. The Secretary added that it was the first time that he knew that Japan was on the defensive, in Indochina.

The Ambassador said that the Japanese are alarmed over increasing naval and military preparations of the ABCD powers in the southwest Pacific area, and that an airplane of one of those countries had recently, flown over Formosa. He said that our military men are very alert and enterprising and are known to believe in the principle that offense is the best defense. The Secretary asked whether the Ambassador's observations applied to defensive measures we are taking against Hitler. The Ambassador replied that he did not say that, but that it was because of Japan's apprehensions in regard to the situation that they had made their November 20 proposal.

The Secretary asked whether, if the Chinese are about to Japan in Indochina, this would not constitute an additional reason for Japan to withdraw her armed forces from Indochina. The Secretary said that he would be glad to get anything further which it might occur to the Japanese Government to say to us on this matter.

The Ambassador said that the Japanese Government was very anxious to reach an agreement with this Government and Mr. Kurusu said that the Japanese Government felt that we ought to be willing to agree to discontinue aid to China as soon as conversations betweem China and Japan were initiated. The Secretary pointed out that when the Japanese bring that matter up it brings up the matter of the aid Japan is giving to Hitler. He said that he did not see how Japan could demand that we cease giving aid to China while Japan was going on aiding Hitler. Mr. Kurusu asked in what way was Japan aiding Hitler. The Secretary replied that, as he had already made clear to the Japanese Ambassador, Japan was aiding Hitler by keeping large forces of this country and other countries immobilized in the Pacific area. (At this point the Ambassador uttered sotto voce an expression in Japanese which in the present context means "this isn't getting us anywhere".) The Secretary reminded the Ambassador of what the Secretary had said to the Ambassador on this point on November 22 as well as on our unwillingness to supply oil to Japan for the Japanese Navy which would enable Japan to operate against us in the southern Pacific and also on our attitude toward continuing aid to China. The Ambassador said that he recalled that the Secretary had said that he would almost incur the danger of being lynched if he permitted oil to go to Japan for her navy. The Ambassador said that he believed that if the Secretary would explain that giving of oil to Japan had been prompted by the desirability of reaching a peaceful agreement such explanation would be accepted. The Secretary replied that senators and others are not even now desisting from criticizing the Secretary for the course that he had hitherto taken.

The Secretary then recapitulated the three points on which he had orally commented to the Japanese. Ambassador on November 22, with reference to the Japanese proposal of November 20, namely one, our difficulty with reference to the Japanese request that we discontinue aid to China, two, our feeling that the presence of large bodies of Japanese troops anywhere in Indochina caused among neighboring countries apprehensions for their security, and, three, public attitude in this country toward supplying Japan with oil for military and naval needs. He asked the Ambassador whether he had not set forth clearly his position on these points to the Ambassador on November 22. The Ambassador agreed.

The Ambassador said that this Government blames Japan for its move into Indochina but that if Indochina was controlled by other powers it would be a menace to Japan. The Secretary replied that as the Ambassador was aware we could solve matters without delay if only the Japanese Government would renounce courses of force and aggression. The Secretary added that we were not looking for trouble but that at the same time we were not running away from menaces.

Mr. Kurusu said that he felt that if we could only come to an agreement on temporary measures we could then proceed with our exploration of fundamental solutions. He said that such a fundamental agreement would necessarily take time and that what was needed now was a temporary expedient. The Secretary replied that the Japanese were keeping the situation confused by a malignant campaign conducted through the officially controlled and inspired press which created an atmosphere not conducive to peace. The Secretary said that we knew the Japanese Government could control the press and that therefore we did not understand what the motives are of the higher officials of the Japanese Government in promoting such a campaign. Mr. Kurusu said that on the American side we were not free from injurious newspaper propaganda. He said that for example there was the case of a newspaper report of the Secretary's interview with the press which created an unfortunate impression in Japan. The Secretary replied that he had been seeing for months and months that Japanese officials and the Japanese press had been proclaiming slogans of a bellicose character and that while all this was going on he had kept silent. He pointed out that now he was being jumped on by the Japanese if he said a single word in regard to his Government's principles. Mr. Kurusu then referred to a press report casting aspersions on Kurusu to the effect that he had been sent here to check on the Ambassador, et cetera, et cetera. The Secretary replied that he had heard only good reports in regard to Mr. Kurusu and the Ambassador. At this point the Ambassador and Mr. Kurusu took their leave after making the usual apologies for taking so much of the Secretary's time when he was busy:

The United Kingdom was expanding the war, at leat on paper. 

1941  UK declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

Soviet territory lost to the Axis by December 1941, from Why We Fight.

1941  Soviets launched a massive counterattack against the Germans in the Siege of Moscow.  

This attack brought Operation Typhoon to an unsuccessful end for the Germans. Indeed, while not really perceptible, with German setbacks in North Africa and the Soviet Union, and Japan about to bring the United States fully into the war, it could be argued that the war was at a turning point.

Closer to Home:

This was a Friday in 1941, so at that time both of my parents would have been experiencing a "meatless" day, meaning that they were restricted to protein other than from animals or birds. This, of course, as their families were, and ours is, Catholic.

For my father, living in the interior of the country, it's likely that meant something like macaroni and cheese, a Catholic meatless staple.  For my mother, however, living in Quebec, that likely meant some sort of ocean fish, perhaps.

My mother, being a few years older than my father, may have gone to the movies with her sisters, brothers and cousins, all of whom lived on the same block, but I don't know for certain.

Sunday, November 30, 1941. War Warnings

On this day in 1941 Sunday newspaper readers in Hawaii woke up to read that war with Japan was imminent.  Indeed, headlines in the Hilo Tribune and Honolulu Advertiser read that Japan might strike that next weekend, the weekend of December 6/7.  In fact, the Emperor had issued permission to Tojo to proceed to war.

The Germans retreated near the Mius after the Soviets successfully took back Rostov.  Gerd von Rundstedt issued the order and then continued the retreat in spite of having received direct orders from Hitler to stop it.  On the same day, the commander of the German Army Group Center, Fedor von Bock, directly quested German intelligence estimates of the forces opposing him, which he correctly guessed to be inaccurate.

Also, on the same day they commenced mass murder in Rumbula, Latvia, of the area's Jewish population.  Ultimately, 25,000 people would die.

Two Faced Woman was released. The movie would be Greta Garbo's last appearance.  The film was a bomb, featuring Garbo as a woman posing as her own, fictitious, twin engaged in an effort to recapture the affections of her ex-husband.  The movie met with poor reviews and with the condemnation of the Legion of Decency.  Given the latter, the film was withdrawn and recut, but still bombed.

Tuesday, November 25, 1941. The sinking of the HMS Barham.

A tsunami was experienced in Portugal on this date in 1945, due to a submarine earthquake on the same day.

On this day in 1945 the United States rejected Japan's recent proposals and stated, flatly, that in order for normal trade relations to be restored between the countries, Japan had to withdraw from Indochina and China.

It was clear to the Administration that it was putting Japan in an untenable situation, but the view was that things had come to that.  Japan's only theoretical option was essentially to accept defeat in China, a position that it obviously could not agree to, or limp by with reduced resources.  On the flipside, the US, having taken a strong stand against it, could not resume supplying raw materials to Japan.

The British lost the battleship HMS Barham to a torpedo attack from the U-331.  800 of the ship's crew died in the attack off of Alexandria, Egypt.

Magazine of Barham exploding during her sinking.

The Germans took the small Russian city of Kashira outside of Moscow.   They also murdered almost 5,000 Jews near Kaunas, Lithuania.  Hitler, on this day, met with the Anti-Semitic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

The Germans were repulsed by the 7th Indian Brigade in a counter-attack at Sidi Omar, Libya, while Australian and New Zealand troops linked up at El Duda.

The Anti-Comintern Pact was renewed between Germany, Japan, Italy, Hungary, Manchukuo, Spain, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, Slovakia and Croatia.  Of those signatories, only Germany, Japan, Italy, Hungary, Manchukuo and Spain had belonged before. The original 1936 signatories included only Germany and Japan.  Of the new 1941 signatories, only Finland and Romania were not occupied by Germany or Japan.

The Anti Comintern Pact had originally been a Japanese pushed pact aimed at the Soviet Union, but Japan had distanced itself when the Germans entered the Ribbentrop-Molotov non-aggression pact, which clearly cut against it.  That would later be addressed by the Tri-Partite Agreement, but it never regained its real strength, demonstrating the inherent inability of the various authoritarian governments to really agree to a common global strategic policy, as their internal policies were not really aligned.  In retrospect, Japan gained a lot from its alliance with Germany, but Germany next to nothing from its with Japan.  Indeed, as Germany's attack on the USSR gave the Japanese breathing room in regard to the USSR, Germany's actions allowed Japan to attack the US, which caused the US to become a full belligerent against Germany and Japan.

Manchukuo was a Japanese Manchurian puppet state which gave its occupation of that part of China some supposed diplomatic cover.  The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China was a Japanese puppet government in China.  Both fielded armies, but they were under Japanese control.

The leader of the puppet Chinese government, Wang Jingwei, died in 1944.  His name is now a nickname for traitor in China.

Closer to Home:

On this day in 1941, my father would have gone to 7th grade, at age 12, in Scotsbluff, Nebraska. That would have been some sort of middle school.  A regular day, probably.  His oldest sister, at that time, would have been in high school there as a sophomore.  His other siblings were behind him in school.  His father went to his job managing the Cook Packing Plant in Scotsbuff and his mother would have stayed home.

Likewise, my mother would have gone to school at age 15 at the Convent school for English speaking Quebec Catholics in Montreal.  Most of her large family was also in school, save for her older brother Terry who was in the Canadian Army, stationed in England.  Her mother would have worked at his then job as a real estate agent in the city, and her mother would likewise have stayed home.  At the time, they were battling the economic hardships still lingering due to the Great Depression and were living a very hard life.

November 15, 1941. German offensive resumes.

After a hiatus, more or less, of three weeks, the Germans resumed their offensive on Moscow, but the temperatures were dropping and progress was slow.  Progress only resumed, however, as the roads were now frozen and not mud.

German forces were advancing in two pincers, with one on the Russian city of Kiln, where the Soviet defenders had no reinforcements.

Wednesday November 12, 1941. Cold

On t his day in 1941, the Red Army launched a counterattack in northern Russia at Volkhov.

The day was most remarkable for its weather.  The temperature dropped down to 10F and the Red Army deployed ski troops for the first time in the war.

King George VI opened a new session of Parliament.

Friday, November 7, 1941. A day of speeches and demonstrations.

Four Freedoms and Arsenal of Democracy posters set for display in Defense Square, Washington for a month beginning November 7, 1941. 

On this date in 1941, a set of massive posters was set on display in Defense Square in Washington D. C.  The posters, after being on display, would then tour major US cities for a month.  The display emphasized the four freedoms theme of the Administration and American industrial might.

On the same day, the U.S. Senate voted to amend the Neutrality Act to allow merchantmen to be armed and to allow the U.S. Navy to enter combat zones.  The vote was 50 to 37.

While this was occurring in the United States, senior members of the Japanese armed forces were informed that war against the United States would commence on December 8, one month away. The date was Japanese local time.

Japan did continue to exchange diplomatic notes with the United States during this period, with there being some slight hope that the US and Japan might reach an accord.  On this date, the Japanese delivered a note regarding Japanese forces in China, which stated:

DISPOSITION OF JAPANESE FORCES

(A) stationing of Japanese forces in China and the withdrawal thereof:

With regard to the Japanese forces that have been despatched to China in connection with the China Affair, those forces in specified areas in North China and Mengchiang (Inner Mongolia) as well as in Hainan-tao (Hainan Island) will remain to be stationed for a certain required duration after the restoration of peaceful relations between Japan and China. All the rest of such forces will commence, withdrawal as soon as general peace is restored between Japan and China, and the withdrawal will proceed according to separate arrangements between Japan and China and will be completed within two years with the firm establishment of peace and order.

(B) Stationing of Japanese forces in French Indo-China and the withdrawal thereof:

The Japanese Government undertakes to guarantee the territorial sovereignty of French Indo-China. The Japanese forces at present stationed there will be withdrawn as soon as the China Affair is settled, or an equitable peace is established in East Asia.

PRINCIPLE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION

The Japanese Government recognizes the principle of non-discrimination in international commercial relations to be applied to all the Pacific areas, inclusive of China, on the understanding that the principle in question is to be applied uniformly to the rest of the entire world as well.

Churchill delivered his Resolution Of The People Speech.

The day is most remembered for a parade.

In spite of hundreds of thousands of German troops attempting to take the city, a giant military parade was held in Moscow on this day commemorating the anniversary of the October Revolution.  The daring of it was such that it became an event in the history of World War Two in and of itself.

Soviet sailors marching in parade.

The massive parade featured tanks, marching infantry and cavalry and truck and horse-drawn artillery.  Some troops deployed directly from the parade to frontline deployment.  Stalin observed as the troops passed in review and then delivered a speech.  

Making it more dramatic, a snowstorm broke out during the parade, with the snow going from light to heavy as the parade went on.

Stalin's speech predicted a German defeat, but suggested it would be coming in a matter of mere months.

In post Communist Russia, the parade still occurs, but it now honors the November 7, 1941 parade itself.  This year it was cancelled due to COVID 19 which is hitting Russia  hard at the present time.

This event and a dramatic stamp depicting it can be found here:

Today in World War II History—November 7, 1941

The Soviets sustained a terrible disaster on this day when the hospital ship Armenia was sunk by German He111s through a torpedo strike.  7,000 people lost their lives, making it one of the worst naval disasters in history.  The ship was marked with red crosses, but it was also armed with light anti aircraft guns.

The Armenia before the war when she was a Black Sea passenger ship.

While the US was heading rapidly towards war, life continued on, as it does.  

Bette Davis became the first woman to be elected president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

In Cleveland a six man high school football team was photographed, this being football season.

Monday, November 3, 1941. The Last Tycoon

On this day in 1941 the Germans took Kursk.

The city is a major one and to a degree this accomplishment, and it was one, shows how people reading the newspapers, or sitting around tables in war rooms, would have had reason on this date to be gloomy about Allied, and at this time that really meant British and Soviet, prospects for winning the war.

Things for the Allies continued to look very bad.

The Germans tried again, and failed again, for Tula.

Today in World War II History—November 3, 1941

. . . points out that the first radar attack by a (British) submarine took place on this day, a major technological achievement, the Army commences Japanese language instruction. . . more than a little late, and that F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel The Last Tycoon, which I have not read, was published.

It was published posthumously.  Indeed, while Fitzgerald was already well known due to The Great Gatsby, he was about to achieve a late prime position in American literature due to World War Two.  This was because the US had thousands of editions printed for soldiers during World War Two, along with other novels.

Thursday, October 30, 1941. A Change In Material Circumstances

 

On this date in 1941, T-34s began to appear in action in numbers for the first time.

In other technological, if you will, news, Northrup received a contract for one full-scale mockup, and one actual flying experimental example, of its flying wing design.

Northrup XB-35 experimental flying wing bomber.

The revolutionary design would not fly until after the war and would not see adoption until modern stealth technology arrived, at which time Northrup's design would reappear, evolved, as the Northrup B-2 Spirit.

At Tula, the Germans attempted a pitched massive assault but Soviet forces, some of which were militia, turned them back in spite of suffering heavy losses.  The Soviets used anti tank guns and anti-aircraft guns in the effort.

The Germans and Romanians commenced the Siege of Sevastopol.  It would take the Axis forces until July to take the city.

Charles Lindbergh spoke to an anti-war rally crowd of 20,000 in Madison Square Garden.  His speech was very harsh on Franklin Roosevelt, whom he accused of attempting to draw the United States into war and of using dictatorial measures.

USO Camp Shows commenced on this day in 1941, as discussed in the link below:

Today in World War II History—October 30, 1941

A u-boat damaged the USS Salinas, a U.S. Navy fleet oiler, but the vessel managed to escape without sinking.

Pearl Harbor, October 30, 1941.

Tuesday, October 28, 1941. Lend Lease gets an office, How Green Was My Valley gets a film.

P-39L-1BE 44-4673 on its way to the Soviet Union. The P39 was a favorite of the Soviet Air Force, but never really well liked by the U.S.

The Office of Lend Lease Administration was established on this day in 1941 to oversee that effort, something I only am aware of due to the link below:

Today in World War II History—October 28, 1941

Lend Lease was a massive effort, suffice it to say, and was one of the primary ways in which the US helped bring about the Allied victory.

In the US, the classic film How Green Was My Valley, about Welsh miners, was released. The John Ford epic is highly regarded, as is the semi biographical book it is taken from, but I've not read the book nor seen the film myself.

The Germans reached Tula south of Moscow, but were stopped there. They would not take the city.

The troops that reached the border of the city were under Guderian's command.  While I can't find it offhand, I think that Tula is the city which Guderian made the really odd comment about "Tula, long drive, blond girl".

I have no idea what that means.

Lavrentiy Beria, Soviet Georgian, rapist, murderer and head of the Soviet NKVD had twenty former Soviet military officers and politicians executed in Kuybyshev.

In his capacity as an official murderer (rape was his hobby, being the bloody head of the NKVD his occupation) he was responsible for the deaths of thousands, but would go on to be executed following the death of his murderous patron, fellow Georgian Stalin, by natural. . . maybe, causes.

Australia opened its first diplomatic mission to China, opening it in Chunking due to wartime conditions in the country.

Monday. October 20, 1941. Borodino.

The Germans took Bordino outside of Moscow, the site of the early September 1812 pyhrric French victory over the Russians

French losses at Borodino on September 7, 1812, had been at a rate of 2 to 1 to the Russian forces. They won the battle, but the losses were unsustainable.  Notably, they had arrived at Borodino over a month prior to the Germans on the calendar.

Japanese battleship Yamato running trials off Bungo Strait, 20 October 1941.

Friday October 17, 1941. The Kearney Incident.

On this day in 1941 the USS Kearney dropped depth charges on U-boats after being summoned by a British convoy off of Iceland.  The U-boats had overwhelmed Canadian escorts.  Kearney's efforts went on for hours.  Ultimately, the Kearney was hit by a torpedo from one of them, and then retreated back to Iceland.  In the process, American sailors were killed, making it the first loss of life in combat for the US during World War Two.  Eleven men were killed, and 22 wounded.

USS Kearney.

The event would be cited by Germany's declaration of war against the United States as a provocation leading to the declaration.  Of course, the events of December 7, 1941, were the ultimate source of the US fully entering the war.

Soviet high command, Stavka, established the Kalinin Front, a major organizational event.  The front included Moscow.

Monday October 13, 1941. Hitler grounds Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 over the UK. The Germans commence mass murder in Dnipropetrovsk.

 On this day in 1941 Hitler ordered the cessation of German night raider operations over Great Britain.

Unit symbol for Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, which operated all German  night fighter units during World War Two.

First, giving credit where credit is due, I learned of this here:

Today in World War II History—October 13, 1941

The decision was a curious one.  The operation of night fighters to interdict RAF bombers had been expensive at first, but it was also having an outsized impact on the RAF and was gaining ground.  Hitler seems to have wanted, however, the night fighter to operate over German territory, where the bombers were actually less vulnerable, as anything they shot down would be visible to the German population.  He also seemed unconvinced that the tactic of hitting bombers over their bases was a sound one, was the RAF had not adopted it during the Blitz.

British captured Bf-110.

Simple logic, however demonstrated that the Luftwaffe was right.  Equipped at the time with early production variants of the Bf-110, the Luftwaffe did not yet have a radar equipped night fighter.  Therefore, RAF bombers had to be intercepted by site, after being guided by ground radar into location.  As the Luftwaffe knew where RAF airfields were, however, this meant that sending night fighters to areas where the bombers had to land was not a hugely difficult plotting proposition.  In contrast, sending them to where the RAF intended to strike over Northern Europe, and intercepting the bombers where they were going, was a hugely difficult task.

Regarding the RAF, Newsweek featured the latest model of the Hurricane on its issue that came out on this day.  The aircraft on the cover appeared to be a MkIIC, which introduced 20mm cannons in place of .303 machineguns.

On the same day the Germans took ground to the northwest and southwest of Moscow.  In Dnipropetrovsk they commenced a two-day massacre of the region's Jewish population.

Time Magazine's cover featured Marshall Budenny with a caption noting that "an army". . ."is only as good as its generals".  Budenny was a crappy General at this point, if he ever had been, but Stalin's favoritism of him meant that he not only survived Stalin's murderous purge, but it kept Budenny in uniform, if by this point sidelined forever.

 A U.S. soldier sent this letter:  October 13, 1941 Moss letter home.

Sunday, October 12, 1941. The Massacre at the Stanisławów Ghetto

Over 10,000 Polish Jewish residents of the Stanisławów Ghetto, part of the town of Stanisławów, which had been a prewar Polish provincial capitol, and then part of the Ukraine following the 1939 Soviet invasion, and at this time under German control, were murdered by the Germans.  The massacre was ordered by Hans Krueger of the SS.

Countess Karolina Lanckorońska in 1945.

Krueger survived the war, and entered private life following it, ultimately entering politics.  He claimed to have been an antifascist, but his public activities brought accusations as to whom he actually was, and he was arrested and put on trial in 1967.  He had assumed no victims of his crimes remained alive, but had apparently forgotten that some captives were spared the massacre for various reasons, including Countess Karolina Lanckorońska, whose family had paid a ransom for her life, which resulted instead to her spending the rest of the war in a concentration camp.  Krueger had admitted to her that he'd murdered twelve Jewish individuals, which was used at the trial.  Other survivors of the ghetto also emerged during the trial, which ran two years, and which featured anti Semetic outbursts from Krueger.  He was convicted and remained in prison until 1986.  He died in 1988.

Ironically, Lanckorońska actually had been arrested for partisan activities.  She's survived the war and died in 2002 at age 104.

For reasons that are unclear, the Germans transferred the Spanish Blue Division from Operation Typhoon to a quiet portion of the line outside of Leningrad.

The Licheng Rebellion broke out against the Chinese Communist Party in part of that country which it controlled. The rebellion was unsuccessful, although it had been long in the planning.

Friday October 10, 1941. Stalin reassigns Zhukov.

 

Marshal Georgy Zhukov replaced Ivan Konev as commander of the Soviet Western Front.  

Zhukov was one of the truly great generals of World War Two.  His military career had started when he was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War One.  A cavalryman in the Imperial Russian Army, he joined the Bolsheviks in 1917 and became an officer later in the Red Army. Still in the cavalry branch between the wars, he was able to escape Stalin's purge as the members of his cavalry army were oddly protected during the purge.

A major figure during World War Two, he fell from grace after the war due to Stalin's distrust of any rivals of any sort.  Following Stalin's death, however, he rose again and was part of the effort that lead to the trial and execution of Beria.  His second rise lasted until 1957 when he was retired after having increasingly asserted the independence of the Red Army from the Communist state.

On the same day, Hitler issued a directive reorganizing the German forces in the Arctic.  In the German Sixth Army, Walter von Reichenau issued the "Severity Order" against Jews, another instance of the German Army being fully complicit in the Holocaust.

Von Richenau, a cross country runner, experienced a stroke in 1941 while engaged in that activity.  An airplane that subsequently was obtained to fly him to medical attention crashed en route and he died due to one of the two incidents.

Tuesday October 7, 1941. Stalin relents on religion.

Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, the de facto head of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1941.

On this day in 1941, former Russian Orthodox seminarian, later revolutionary and mass murderer, Joseph Stalin lifted the prohibitions on religious worship in the Soviet Union in order to, the story is usually told, boost morale in his besieged nation.

Today in World War II History—October 7, 1941

It's also inescapably true that in spite of the brutality of the German invasion, large numbers of Russians and Ukrainians welcomed the Germans as they advanced.  Much of this was prior to their becoming aware of the virulent racial hatred of the Germans, but large numbers of Soviet citizens would aid the Germans, and even fight with them, right up until the end of the war.

Indeed, while I'm not putting it up, as I'm uncertain of its rights' status, a well-known photo of a smiling German tanker with smiling Ukrainian women and slices of bread was taken on this day in 1941.

Religious loyalty had remained strong in the Russian people in spite of Communism's brutal efforts to stamp it out.  To at least some degree, Stalin's actions may have been calculated to acknowledge that and to attempt to arrest defections to the Germans, or even forestall a potential coup.  As for Stalin himself, there's reason to doubt that he was actually an atheist, and he made at least one recorded statement that would strongly suggest that he was not.

On the Eastern Front, Army Group Center was dealing with snowfall that had come down the night prior, the first time it had to do so.  The 7th and 10th Panzer Divisions completed their encirclement of Vyazma.

John Curtin.

In Australia, John Curtin became Prime Minister.  The change in leadership which brought the Labor Party's Curtin to power was due to a parliamentary move, rather than an election.  Curtin would remain the Prime Minister for the remainder of his life, dying just before the end of the war in 1945.  He was 60 at the time.

Curtin had started off as a Socialist politician and was part of Australia's strong Socialist movement in the 20th Century.  The son of an Irish immigrant policeman who had a troubled career, Curtin had left school at age 13 and become in left wing politics and unions thereafter.  Indeed, while not really recalled outside Australia, the country had a very strong left wing movement that teetered on the edge of Communism throughout this period, although Curtin himself was a Labor Party figure in his later years, and at the time of his leading the country.   This perhaps makes him an odd figure in that he brought the country close to the United States during the war, pulling way from the United Kingdom, while also building a welfare state during the war.  Left wing parties were strongly anti-Catholic in Australia, a legacy which remains there and which has figured in recent news from the country, and even though Curtin was raised as a Catholic and educated in Catholic schools, he personally became anti-Catholic in his adult years to a rather pronounced degree.  While a Socialist, he also strongly reflected the Australia if his age, and was a strong backer of its "white's only" immigration policy.

He did survive an election that was called in 1943, and  therefore at that point he was Prime Minister in an elected fashion.  Lest it seem odd that he came to power in a parliamentary move, it was also the case that Winston Churchill did as well.  Cutin then overplayed his hand and sought a referendum to give his government control of the Australian economy for a five-year period following the end of the war, which failed.

Curtin's health, like Franklin Roosevelt's, was declining rapidly in the later stages of the war and like Roosevelt's his passing was not a surprise to those who knew him well.

Tuesday September 30, 1941. Operation Typhoon commences.

On this day in 1941, the Germans launched Operation Typhoon, an offensive aimed at the capture of Moscow (some sources put the date as October 2, with others this date, including the official Russian histories).

German armor advancing towards Moscow, October 1941.

Also on this day, the SS finished its murders at Babi Yar and buried the victims in mass graves.

The Germans sank the Russian cruiser Aurora, which was well past its prime and whose guns had been removed to be used in the defense of Leningrad.  The Aurora is claimed to have fired the first shot of the October Revolution.  She was later raised and is a museum ship today.

Churchill delivered a speech on the state of the war.

In June last I deprecated the making of too frequent expositions of Government policy and reviews of the war situation by Ministers of the Crown. Anything that is said which is novel or pregnant will, of course, be studied attentively by the enemy and may be a help to him in measuring our affairs. The House will have noticed how very silent the Nazi leaders have fallen. For seven months Hitler has said nothing about his war plans. What he blurted out in January and February certainly proved helpful to us.

"In the spring," he said, "our submarine warfare will begin in earnest, and our opponents will find that the Germans have not been sleeping. The Luftwaffe and the entire German defence forces will, in this way or that, bring about the ultimate decision."

And again:

"In March and April naval warfare will start such as the enemy never expected." We were, therefore, led to expect a crescendo of attacks upon our lifeline of supplies. Certainly the Germans have used an ever larger force of U-boats and long-range aircraft against our shipping. However, our counter measures, which were undertaken in good time on the largest scale, have proved very successful. For reasons which I have explained very fully to the House, we have since June abandoned the practice of publishing statements at regular monthly intervals of our shipping losses, and I propose to continue this salutary practice. But, apart from anything that may happen during this afternoon, the last day of the month, I may make the following statement to the House. The losses from enemy action of British, Allied and neutral merchant ships during the quarter July, August and September have been only one-third of those losses during the quarter April, May and June. During the same period our slaughter of enemy shipping, German and Italian, has been increasing by leaps and bounds. In fact, it is about one and a half times what it was in the previous three months. So we have at one end a reduction in average monthly losses of about a third and a simultaneous increase in the losses inflicted upon the enemy of half as much again.

These important results enable us to take a more expansive view of our important programme. Very few important ships carrying munitions have been lost on the way. Our reserves of food stand higher than they did at the outbreak of war, and far higher than they did a year or 18 months ago. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Food, who has a pretty tough job, now finds himself able to make some quite appreciable improvements in the basic rations of the whole country, and in particular to improve the quantities and varieties of the meals available for the heavy worker during the coming winter. There will be better Christmas dinners this year than last, and at the same time more justification behind those dinners. It seems likely now that we shall bring in several million tons more than the import total which I mentioned in private to the House earlier in the year, which total was itself sufficient to keep us going. We are now within measurable distance of the immense flow of American new building, to which, together with our own construction, we look to carry us through and on progressively till the end of the war.

I deprecate premature rejoicings over these considerable facts, and I indulge in no sanguine predictions about the future. We must expect that the enemy U-boat warfare, now conducted by larger numbers of U-boats than ever before, supported by scores of Fokke wolves, will be intensified. The U-boats will be beaten, and kept beaten, only by a corresponding intensification of our own measures and also, to put it very plainly, by that assistance which we are receiving in increasing degree from other quarters. We must not, I repeat, relax for an instant; nevertheless, the facts that I have stated must be regarded as not entirely unsatisfactory, and certainly they are most stultifying to Hitler, who so obligingly warned us of his hopes and plans. This is, I think, an apt illustration of the dangers which should prevent those who are engaged in the high conduct of the war from having to make too many speeches about what they think is going to happen or would like to happen or what they intend to try to do. All the more is this habit important when we have to deal not only with our own affairs but with those of other great Allied or associated nations.

Here I may perhaps be pardoned for making an observation of a somewhat encouraging character. We are no longer alone. Little more than a year ago we seemed quite alone, but, as time has passed, our own steadfast conduct, and the crimes of the enemy, have brought two other very great States and nations into most intimate and friendly contact and concert with us. Whether we look to the East or whether we look to the West, we are no longer alone. Whether we look at the devoted battle lines of the Russian Armies or to the majestic momentum of United States resolve and action, we may derive comfort and good cheer in our struggle which, nevertheless, even if alone, we should carry on inflexibly, unwearyingly, and with steadily increasing resources. The fact, however, that at every stage we have to consider the interests of our Russian Ally and also the outlook, wishes and actions of the United States, makes it all the more necessary, imperative even, that I and my colleagues should be particularly careful about any pronouncements, explanations or forecasts in which we might otherwise be tempted to indulge. I feel sure that the House of Commons, which is the solid foundation of the British war effort and which is resolved to prosecute the war as sternly and implacably as did our forerunners in bygone days, will expect and require from the Ministers who are its servants a particular measure of caution and restraint in all their utterances about the war.

We have climbed from the pit of peril on to a fairly broad plateau. We can see before us the difficult and dangerous onward path which we must tread. But we can also feel the parallel movement or convergence of the two mighty nations I have mentioned, Russia and the United States. We feel around us the upsurge of all the enslaved countries of Europe. We see how they defy Hitler's firing parties. Far away in the East we see the faithful, patient, inexhaustible spirit of the Chinese race, who too are battling for home and freedom. We are marching in company with the vast majority of mankind, all trending, bearing, forging, steadily forward towards a final goal, which though distant, can already be plainly seen.

When we reflect upon the magnitude of modern events compared with the men who have to try to control or cope with them, and upon the rightful consequences of those events on hundreds of millions, the importance of not making avoidable mistakes grows impressively upon the mind.

For those reasons I could not attempt to discuss at the present time questions of future strategy. They are discussed every day in the newspapers, in an exceedingly vivid and often well-informed manner, but I do not think that His Majesty's Government ought to take any part just now in such Debates. Take, for instance, the question of whether we should invade the Continent of Europe in order to lift some of the weight off Russia, whether we ought to take advantage of the lull now that Hitler is busy in Russia to strike him in the West. I shall be guilty of no indiscretion if I admit that these are questions which have several times occurred to those responsible for the conduct of the war. But what could I say about them that would be useful? If I were to throw out dark hints of some great design, no one would have any advantage but the enemy. If, on the other hand, I were to assemble the many cogent reasons which could be ranged on the other side, I should be giving altogether gratuitous reassurance to Hitler.

Such confidences are not reciprocated by the enemy. They have told us nothing since Hitler's speech in February. We are in complete ignorance at this moment about what he is going to do. We do not know how far he will attempt to penetrate the vast lands of Soviet Russia in the face of the valiant Russian defence, or how long his people will endure their own calamitous losses, or, again, whether he will decide to stand on the defensive and exploit the territory of immense value which he has conquered. Should he choose this last, we do not know whether he will turn a portion of his vast armies Southwards, towards the Valley of the Nile, or whether he will attempt to make his way through Spain into North-West Africa, or whether, using the great Continental railways of Europe and the immense chains of airfields which are in excellent order, he will shift his weight to the West and assemble an extensive army with all the special craft that he has constructed for an attempted invasion of the British Isles. It would certainly be in his power, while standing on the defensive in the East, to undertake all three of these hazardous enterprises, on a great scale, together, at one time.

The enemy's only shortage is in the air. This is a very serious shortage, but, for the rest, he still retains the initiative. We have not the force to take it from him. He has the divisions, he has the weapons, and on the mainland of Europe he has ample means of transport. If he does not tell us his plans, I do not see why we should tell him ours. But I can assure the House that we study and ponder over these dangers and possibilities and on how best to dispose our resources to meet them every working day, and all days are working days, from dawn to far past midnight. We also have the advantage of following very closely all the arguments which are used about it in the public Press and of considering every helpful suggestion which reaches us from any quarter. More than that I really cannot say, and I feel sure that the House would reprove me if I were by any imprudence or desire to be interesting to say anything which afterwards was seen to be harmful.

There is, however, one matter upon which I may speak a little more freely, namely, the material assistance in the way of munitions and supplies which we and the United States are giving to Russia. The British and United States Missions are now in conference with the chiefs of the Soviet at Moscow. The interval which has passed since President Roosevelt and I sent our message from the Atlantic to Premier Stalin has been used in ceaseless activity on both sides of the ocean. The whole ground has been surveyed in the light of the new events, and many important supplies have already been despatched. Our representatives and their American colleagues have gone to Moscow with clear and full knowledge of what they are able to give to Russia month by month from now onward. The Soviet Government have a right to know what monthly quotas of weapons and supplies we can send and they can count upon. It is only when they know what we can guarantee to send, subject, of course, to the hazards of war, that they themselves can use their vast resources and reserves to the best possible advantage. It is only thus that they can best fill the gap between the very heavy losses sustained and the diminution of munitions-making power which they have suffered on the one hand and the arrival of really effective quantities of British and American supplies on the other. I may say at once, however, that in order to enable Russia to remain indefinitely in the field as a first-class war-making power, sacrifices of the most serious kind and the most extreme efforts will have to be made by the British people and enormous new installations or conversions from existing plants will have to be set up in the United States, with all the labour, expense and disturbance of normal life which these entail.

We have just had a symbolic Tank Week for Russia, and it has, I feel--in fact, I know--given an added sense of the immediate importance of their work to the toiling men and women in our factories. The output of Tank Week is only a very small part of the supplies which Britain and the United States must send to Russia, and must send month after month upon a growing scale and for an indefinite period. It is not only tanks, the tanks for which we have waited so long, that we have to send, but precious aircraft and aluminum, rubber, copper, oil and many other materials vital to modern war, large quantities of which have already gone. All these we must send and keep sending to Russia. It is not only the making and the giving of these commodities, but their transportation and reception which have to be organised. It may be that transportation rather than our willingness or ability to give will prove in the end the limiting factor. All this is now being discussed and planned with full authority and full knowledge by our representatives and the American representatives in conclave in Moscow with Premier Stalin and his principal commanders. It would certainly not be right for me in public Session, or even in Secret Session, at the present time to make any detailed or definite statements upon these subjects. The veriest simpleton can see how great is our interest, to put it no higher, in sustaining Russia by every possible means.

There are, however, other interests which have to be remembered at the same time. In some respects the problems we now have to face are similar to those which rent our hearts last year, when we had, for instance, to refuse to send away from this country for the help of France the last remaining squadrons of fighter aircraft upon which our whole future resistance depended; or again, they remind one of the occasion when, rightly judging Hitler's unpreparedness for invasion in the summer of 1940, we took the plunge of sending so many of our tanks and trained troops all round the Cape to the Valley of the Nile in order to destroy the Italian Armies in Libya and Abyssinia. If it is now thought that we solved those problems correctly we should hope that there might be grounds for confidence that in these new problems His Majesty's Government and their professional advisers will not err either in the direction of reckless improvidence or through want of courage. Anyone who, without full knowledge, should attempt to force the hands of those responsible would act without proper warrant and also--I say it with great respect--would not achieve any useful purpose, because in the discharge of the duties which the House has confided to us we are determined to make our own decisions and to be judged accordingly.

Here I must say a few words about the British Army. There is a current of opinion, which finds frequent expression, that the brass hats and Colonel Blimps and, of course, the much abused War Office, are insisting on building up a portentous, distended and bloated mass of soldiers in this island at the expense of the manufacture of those scientific weapons and appliances which are the main strength of victory in modern war. The truth is far different. We have never had, and never shall have, an Army comparable in numbers to the armies of the Continent. At the outbreak of war our Army was insignificant as a factor in the conflict. With very great care and toil and time, we have now created a medium sized, but very good Army. The cadres have been formed, the battalions, batteries, divisions and corps have taken shape and life. Men have worked together in the military units for two years. Very severe training was carried out all through last winter. It will continue all through this winter. The Army is hardened, nimble and alert. The commanders and staff have had opportunities and are having opportunities of handling large scale movements and manoeuvres.

Our Army may be small compared with the German or Russian armies. It has not had the repeated successful experiences of the German army, which are a formidable source of strength. Nevertheless, a finely tempered weapon has been forged. It is upon this weapon, supported by nearly 2,000,000 of armed and uniformed Home Guard, that we rely to destroy or hurl into the sea an invader who succeeded in making a number of successive or simultaneous lodgments on our shores. When I learned about the absolutely frightful, indescribable atrocities which the German police troops are committing upon the Russian population in the rear of the advance of their armoured vehicles, the responsibility of His Majesty's Government to maintain here at home an ample high-class force to beat down and annihilate any invading lodgment from the sea or descent from the air comes home to me in a significantly ugly and impressive form. I could not reconcile such responsibilities with breaking up or allowingly to melt away the seasoned, disciplined fighting units which we have now at last laboriously and so tardily created.

As our Army must necessarily be small compared with European standards, it is all the more necessary that it should be highly mechanised and armoured. For this purpose a steady flow of skilled tradesmen and technicians will be required in order to use the weapons which the factories are now producing in rapidly increasing numbers. There is no question of increasing the numbers of the Army, but it is indispensable that the normal wastage--considerable even when troops are not in contact with the enemy--should be made good, that the ranks should be kept filled and that the battalions, the batteries, and the tank regiments should be at their proper strength. Above all, we cannot have the existing formations pulled to pieces and gutted by taking out of every platoon and section trained men who are an essential part of these living entities, on which one of these fine or foggy mornings the whole existence of the British nation may depend.

I hope, indeed, that some of our ardent critics out of doors--I have nothing to complain of here--will reflect a little on their own records in the past, and by searching their hearts and memories will realise the fate which awaits nations and individuals who take an easy and popular course or who are guided in defence matters by the shifting winds of well-meaning public opinion. Nothing is more dangerous in war-time than to live in the temperamental atmosphere of a Gallup Poll, always feeling one's pulse and taking one's temperature. I see that a speaker at the week-end said that this was a time when leaders should keep their ears to the ground. All I can say is that the British nation will find it very hard to look up to leaders who are detected in that somewhat ungainly posture. If today I am very kindly treated by the mass of the people of this country, it is certainly not because I have followed public opinion in recent years. There is only one duty, only one safe course, and that is to try to be right and not to fear to do or say what you believe to be right. That is the only way to deserve and to win the confidence of our great people in these days of trouble.

Our hearts go out to our British Army, not only to those who in the Mediterranean and in the East may soon have to bear the brunt of German fury and organisation, but also to the splendid, but not too large, band of men here at home whose task is monotonous and unspectacular, whose duty is a long and faithful vigil, but who must be ready at any hour of any day to leap at the throat of the invader. It may well be the occasion will never come. If that should be the final story, then we may be sure that the existence of the kind of army we have created would be one of the reasons why once again in a war which has ravaged the world our land will be undevastated and our homes inviolate.

Of course we strive to profit from well informed criticism, whether friendly or spiteful, but there is one charge sometimes put forward which is, I think, a little unfair. I mean the insinuation that we are a weak, timid, lethargic Government, usually asleep, and in our waking hours always held back by excessive scruples and inhibitions, and unable to act with the vehemence and severity which these violent times require. People ask, for instance, "Why don't you bomb Rome? What is holding you back? Didn't you say you would bomb Rome if Cairo were bombed?" What is the answer? One answer is that Cairo has not yet been bombed. Only military posts on the outskirts have been bombed. But, of course, we have as much right to bomb Rome as the Italians had to bomb London last year, when they thought we were going to collapse, and we should not hesitate to bomb Rome to the best of our ability and as heavily as possible if the course of the war should render such action convenient and helpful.

Then there is the case of Persia. I see complaints that we have acted feebly and hesitatingly in Persia. This surprises me very much. I do not know of any job that has been done better than that. With hardly any loss of life, with surprising rapidity and in close concert with our Russian Ally, we have rooted out the malignant elements in Teheran; we have chased a dictator into exile, and installed a constitutional Sovereign pledge to a whole catalogue of long-delayed sorely-needed reforms and reparations; and we hope soon to present to the House a new and loyal alliance made by Great Britain and Russia with the ancient Persian State and people, which will ratify the somewhat abrupt steps we were forced to take, and will associate the Persian people with us not only in their liberation but in the future movement of the war. It must, indeed, be a captious critic who can find a pretext to make a quarrel out of that. The Persian episode, so far as it has gone, would seem to be one of the most successful and well conducted affairs in which the Foreign Office has ever been concerned. It ill deserves the treatment it has received from our natural and professional crabs.

In conclusion, let me once again repeat to the House that I cannot give them any flattering hopes, still less any guarantee, that the future will be bright or easy. On the contrary, even the coming winter affords no assurance, as the Russian Ambassador has candidly and shrewdly pointed out, that the German pressure upon Russia will be relaxed; nor, I may add, does the winter give any assurance that the danger of invasion will be entirely lifted from this island. Winter fog has dangers of its own, and, unlike last year, the enemy has now had ample time for technical preparation. We must certainly expect that in the spring, whatever happens in the meanwhile, very heavy fighting, heavier than any we have yet experienced in this war, will develop in the East, and also that the menace to this island of invasion will present itself in a very grave and sharp form. Only the most strenuous exertions, a perfect unity of purpose, added to our traditional unrelenting tenacity, will enable us to act our part worthily in the prodigious world drama in which we are now plunged. Let us make sure these virtues are forthcoming.

The British withdrew their early model B-17s from combat service on this day due to problems they were experiencing with it. The B-17s used by the US during the war were principally later models.

Today in World War II History—September 30, 1941

As noted in the item above, the Japanese suffered a defeat in China at the Second Battle of Changsha.

Pic magazine, featuring a cheesecake photo of a young female tennis player, also had a cover story on "What Lindbergh's hometown thinks of him."