Eastern Front
Operation Silberfuchs (‘Silver Fox): German ski troops (Gebirgskorps) led by ‘Dietl of Narvik’, begin advance from north Finland towards Murmansk. Three successive attacks fail due to considerable supply difficulties in the rough terrain and the tenacious Russian resistance since the Soviet High Command knows about the crucial importance of the only ice-free port for western supply convoys. Dietl’s troops dig in along river Litsa in September
Home Fronts
Russia: Stalin takes over Defence Ministry from Marshal Voroshilov and forms five-man Council of Defence – Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Malenkov and Beria (Chief of NKVD; Soviet secret police and intelligence Commissariat) .
Britain: Lord Beaverbrook appointed Minister of Supply.
Neutrals
USA: Death of Paderewski, Polish statesman and musician, in New York, aged 80.