Year 1941

Diary for Tuesday, January 14, 1941: Air War RAF night raids on Benghazi and Assab (Eritrea). Sea War German disguised raider Pinguin captures a Norwegian whaling fleet with 3 factory […]

Diary for Monday, January 13, 1941: Air War RAF bombs Lorient U-boat base (night January 13-14). German night bombers shower incendiaries over Plymouth. Neutrals Switzerland: Death of James Joyce, author

Diary for Sunday, January 12, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: 21-ship troop convoy leaves Britain for North Africa. Air War Europe: RAF night raids on oil installations at Regensburg and Porto

Diary for Saturday, January 11, 1941: Sea War Ju 87 Stukas cripple heavy cruiser HMS Southampton for second time near Malta. She must be abandoned. German and Italian submarines and

Diary for Friday, January 10, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean: Ju 87 Stukas disrupt Malta convoy and score 6 hits on carrier Illustrious escorting convoy west of Malta. Cruiser Southampton crippled.

Diary for Thursday, January 9, 1941: Home Fronts Britain: Air Training Corps to be formed. Politics Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s personal representative, arrives in London (leaves February 16).

Diary for Wednesday, January 8, 1941: Air War RAF night raid on Naples: battleship Giulio Cesare damaged (she has to be moved to La Spezia). Neutrals USA: $17.5 billion Defense

Diary for Tuesday, January 7, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: Four-engined Fw 200 Condor reconnaissance bombers, based near Bordeaux transferred to operational command of Admiral Dönitz. British corvette Anemone sinks large

Diary for Monday, January 6, 1941: Neutrals USA: Roosevelt’s ‘Four Freedoms’ Speech to Congress: ‘We look forward to a world founded on four essential human freedoms … freedom of speech

Diary for Sunday, January 5, 1941: North Africa British capture Bardia in Libya: 45,000 PoWs, 130 tanks taken. Home Front Britain: Amy Johnson, famous long-distance flier, dies in crash over

Diary for Saturday, January 4, 1941: North Africa The Murzuk Raid: A small force of Tuareg and Tibesti tribesmen under Free French officers cross 485 km of desert from Chad

Diary for Friday, January 3, 1941: Balkans Italians launch unsuccessful counter-offensive in Albania. Air War Britain: Night raids on Bristol by 170 aircraft: 8,000 t. of grain destroyed. Neutrals Vichy

Diary for Thursday, January 2, 1941: Air War Britain: 100 German bombers raid Cardiff (night January 2-3); many fires started. Llandaff Cathedral badly damaged.

Diary for Wednesday, January 1, 1941: Air War Germany: 95 RAF bombers raid Bremen (night January 1-2).