Diary WW2

Diary for Saturday, August 9, 1941: Sea War German destroyers make sortie to Kola Inlet (August 9-10), sinking Russian patrol ship, but withdraw under heavy air and artillery bombardment.

Diary for Friday, August 8, 1941: Occupied Territories Russia: Marshal Timoshenko issues proclamation to all Russians in enemy-occupied areas, urging them to join partisans, carry out Stalin’s scorched-earth policy and

Diary for Thursday, August 7, 1941: Air War France: RAF carries out repeated sweeps over north France: 10 fighters lost, 7 Me 109Fs shot down. Douglas Bader‘s aircraft collides with

Diary for Wednesday, August 6, 1941: Russian Front Operation Barbarossa: Special communique issued by German High Command claims that Wehrmacht has inflicted ‘annihilating blows unique in history’; 895,000 prisoners taken;

Diary for Tuesday, August 5, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: Guderian liquidate Smolensk–Orsha ‘pocket’. SIEGE OF ODESSA by Rumanian-German forces begins (ends October 16). Rumanians suffer heavy casualties.

Diary for Monday, August 4, 1941: Air War South African Air Force bombs Gondar – last Italian stronghold in East Africa (and also on August 4, 5 and 6).

Diary for Sunday, August 3, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: Focke-Wulf Condor shot down in mid-ocean by Hawker Hurricane catapulted from converted CAM ship SS Maplin (‘Catafighters’ destroy 4 more Fw

Diary for Saturday, August 2, 1941: Neutrals USA: Rayon rationed (imported mainly from Japan).

Diary for Friday, August 1, 1941: Politics Britain: Government breaks off diplomatic relations with Finland.

Diary for Thursday, July 31, 1941: Home Fronts Germany: THE ‘FINAL SOLUTION’ ORDER. Goering, on Hitler‘s instructions, orders Heydrich to make ‘all necessary preparations … for bringing about the complete

Diary for Wednesday, July 30, 1941: Sea War Polar Sea: British carriers Victorious and Furious raid Petsamo (Finland) and Kirkenes (Norway). 13 of 29 aircraft from Victorious are shot down

Diary for Tuesday, July 29, 1941: Home Fronts Germany: General Ludwig von Schroeder, former head of civil defence and president of 13,000,000-strong ‘Air Raid Protection League’, dies of injuries received

Diary for Monday, July 28, 1941: Air War Mediterranean: RAF destroy 36 aircraft during raids on airfields in Sicily. General Federigi, CO Italian Regia Aeronautica in Central Mediterranean, reported killed

Diary for Sunday, July 27, 1941: Air War Britain: Night raid on London by 50 aircraft (4 lost).

Diary for Saturday, July 26, 1941: Occupied Countries France: Marx Dormoy, former Minister of Interior and outspoken critic of Vichy Government, killed by terrorist bomb; aged 51. Politics Japan: All

Diary for Friday, July 25, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean: Attempted night raid on shipping in Grand Harbour, Malta, by Italian explosive boats and ‘human torpedoes’.

Diary for Thursday, July 24, 1941: Air War France: 149 RAF bombers attack Brest, Cherbourg and La Pallice where battlecruiser Scharnhorst is damaged.

Diary for Wednesday, July 23, 1941: Far East Indo-China: Vichy French permit Japanese to establish naval and air bases in south Indo-China.

Diary for Tuesday, July 22, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: German spearheads halt for rest and recuperation near lake Ilmen, south of Leningrad. Sea War Atlantic: German battlecruiser Scharnhorst transferred

Diary for Monday, July 21, 1941: Air War Operation Barbarossa: MOSCOW ‘BLITZ’ commences with raid by 127 aircraft (night July 21-22), led by He 111 pathfinders of KGr.100 and KGr.26.