Year 1941

Diary for Sunday, June 22, 1941: Politics GERMANY DECLARES WAR ON USSR. ITALY AND RUMANIA DECLARE WAR ON USSR. Churchill pledges British material and moral support for USSR. Eastern Front […]

Diary for Saturday, June 21, 1941: North Africa After the failing of Operation Battleaxe, Auchinleck succeeds Wavell as British CinC Middle East. Wavell appointed CinC India. Middle East Free French

Diary for Friday, June 20, 1941: Neutrals Finland: General mobilization. USA: Major-General H H ‘Hap’ Arnold appointed Chief of US Army Air Forces. Roosevelt describes torpedoing of SS Robin Moor

Diary for Thursday, June 19, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean – Tobruk Ferry: Australian and British destroyers and sloops (11 vessels) carry out frequent night supply and troop transport missions from

Diary for Wednesday, June 18, 1941: Secret War British radar development, under Watson-Watt, is revealed in the Press as ‘Detection of Enemy Aircraft by Ether Waves’. Politics German-Turkish non-aggression pact.

Diary for Tuesday, June 17, 1941: Middle East Fierce fighting at Kuneitra (Syria), which twice changes hands.

Diary for Monday, June 16, 1941: Neutrals USA: Roosevelt orders closing of all German consulates by July 15. Sea War Mediterranean: Vichy destroyer Chevalier Paul, carrying ammunition to Syria, sunk

Diary for Sunday, June 15, 1941: Air War Catalina flying-boat routs four German aircraft off Gibraltar (1 crashing in Portugal). Middle East Allied forces capture Sidon.

Diary for Saturday, June 14, 1941: North Africa OPERATION BATTLEAXE begins: British attempt to raise siege of Tobruk achieves initial success (at cost of many tanks), but Rommel counter-attacks (June

Diary for Friday, June 13, 1941: Sea War Ferry steamer St Patrick sunk by German aircraft in Irish Sea off Fishguard (23 killed). Air War Britain: Attempted night raid on

Diary for Thursday, June 12, 1941: Home Front Germany: Berlin civil defence authority warns the population to take immediate shelter in air raids owing to danger posed by heavy HE

Diary for Wednesday, June 11, 1941: Air War Germany: RAF begins series of 20 consecutive night raids on the Ruhr, the Rhineland, Hamburg and Bremen. Britain: Widespread German night raids

Diary for Tuesday, June 10, 1941: Home Fronts Britain: House of Commons debate the debacle at the German airborne invasion of Crete. Hore-Belisha declares: ‘For the first time in history

Diary for Monday, June 9, 1941: Middle East Allied forces occupy Tyre and cross river Litani (Lebanon). Sea War Mediterranean: Vichy destroyers Guepard and Valmy bombard Australian troops advancing along

Diary for Sunday, June 8, 1941: Middle East INVASION OF SYRIA AND LEBANON by British Commonwealth and Free French forces at three points. Politics Free French promise full independence to

Diary for Saturday, June 7, 1941: Air War Egypt: 230 killed in night raid on Alexandria (evacuation of 40,000 people commences, June 8).

Diary for Friday, June 6, 1941: East Africa Commonwealth forces cross river Omo, capturing 2,000 Italians and 14 guns.

Diary for Thursday, June 5, 1941: Air War China: Air raid on Chungking; 700 Chinese entombed and suffocated in tunnel shelter. Sea War Mediterranean: British sub Taku sinks 3 Italian

Diary for Wednesday, June 4, 1941: Home Fronts Germany: Death of ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II, German emperor in World War One, aged 82 (at Doorn, Holland). Air War Egypt: 170 killed,

Diary for Tuesday, June 3, 1941: East Africa British regain control of Debarech, near Gondar (Ethiopia), after Italians have twice recaptured the town. Sea War Mediterranean: Italian transport explodes during