Year 1941

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.

Diary for Sunday, July 20, 1941: Home Fronts Russia: Stalin becomes People’s Commissar for Defence.

Diary for Saturday, July 19, 1941: Occupied countries Europe: ‘Colonel Britton’ initiates the ‘V for Victory’ campaign in midnight broadcast on the BBC: he calls on all the oppressed peoples

Diary for Friday, July 18, 1941: Politics RUSSO-CZECH AGREEMENT: Czech Government in London and government of Russia to exchange ambassadors. Czech National Army in Exile to be formed in USSR.

Diary for Thursday, July 17, 1941: Neutrals Spain: General Franco makes speech condemning US refusal to sell urgently needed supplies of wheat to Spain and declaring that the Wehrmacht is

Diary for Wednesday, July 16, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: Stalin‘s son, Lieutenant Jacob Dzhugashvili, captured by German soldiers. Sea War Baltic: Russian battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and cruiser Kirov, with

Diary for Tuesday, July 15, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: BATTLE OF SMOLENSK. Germans encircle 300,000 Russian troops in Smolensk–Orsha pocket.

Diary for Monday, July 14, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach river Luga (last great river, 90 miles before Leningrad). Middle East Syria and Lebanon: Convention of Acre

Diary for Sunday, July 13, 1941: Air War Eastern Front: German Luftwaffe bombs Kiev; Russians attack Ploesti (Rumania). Sea War Baltic: Russian destroyers, MTBs and bombers make determined efforts to

Diary for Saturday, July 12, 1941: Politics ANGLO-RUSSIAN MUTUAL ASSISTANCE PACT: including declaration that neither Britain nor Russia will make a separate peace agreement with the Axis powers.

Diary for Friday, July 11, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: Panzers cross river Dnieper. Army Group South beats off major Russian counter-attack and threatens city of Kiev. Three new Russian

Diary for Thursday, July 10, 1941: Neutrals USA: Roosevelt asks Congress for additional defence expenditure of $4,770 millions. US Navy warns that entrance to San Francisco harbour has been mined.

Diary for Wednesday, July 9, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: German troops capture Vitebsk. Air War Western Europe: RAF night raids on railways at Aachen (Western Germany) and Naples (Italy).

Diary for Tuesday, July 8, 1941: Air War Germany: First daylight operation by RAF four-engined Fortress I bombers (B-17C Flying Fortress) against Wilhelmshaven. Politics Britain: Russian Military Mission arrives in

Diary for Monday, July 7, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: US Marines land in Iceland, from powerful naval task force, to relieve British garrison.

Diary for Sunday, July 6, 1941: Neutrals Ecuador and Peru: Border War. Peru ousts Ecuadorian forces from two disputed areas and recaptures Matapalo Island (occupied by Ecuador in 1938); Peruvian

Diary for Saturday, July 5, 1941: Air War Germany: RAF night raids on Munster (railway targets) and Bielefeld (power station); heavy civilian casualties.

Diary for Friday, July 4, 1941: Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa: German troops capture Ostrov, south of Pskov. Air War Germany: 11 Blenheim bombers carry out daylight raid on Bremen factory