August 12 Tuesday
ASIA: Light carrier "
Hosho" became the flagship of Carrier Division 3.Battleship No. 1 departed Kure, Japan for trials.
Zhao Chengshou signed a secret armistice with the Japanese.
Crown Prince Yi Un was assigned to Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China.
The N.Y.K. "Silk Express" Liner "
Asama Maru" is recalled by the Japanese to Japan without touching a United State port because the Unites States had not given general assurances of the inviolability of Japanese ships. The "
Asama Maru" is carrying a number of American passengers and a large cargo of silk. This is the sister ship of the "
Tatu Maru".
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The conference between US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Placentia Bay, Argentia, Newfoundland, is held in the US heavy cruiser USS "
Augusta" (CA-31).It is agreed to send strong warnings to the Japanese and it is understood the America will almost certainly enter the war if Japan attacks British or Dutch possessions in the East Indies or Malaysia. A message is also sent to Stalin, proposing a meeting in Moscow. The conference is most remembered for the agreement later called the Atlantic Charter. This is a statement of principles governing the policies of Britain and the USA and states that all countries have the right to hold free elections and to be free from foreign pressure. The conference also gives British and American staffs an opportunity to get to know each other and to work together. The Atlantic Charter was signed but not made public until two days later. After the last meeting, the battleship HMS "
Prince of Wales" and her escort depart Newfoundland for England while USS "
Augusta", with USS "
Tuscaloosa" (CA-37) and 5 destroyers, sail to Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where the presidential yacht USS "
Potomac" (AG-25) and her tender, USS "
Calypso" (AG-35), are anchored.
The US Army-US Marine Corps 1st Joint Training Force under Major General Holland M. Smith was redesignated the Atlantic Amphibious Force.
HMS "
Picotee" (Lieutenant R. A. Harrison) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-568 while the Flower class corvette is escorting convoy ON.5 south of Iceland.
The Canadian Hall Corporation merchantman "
Eaglescliffe Hall" (1,900 GRT) was damaged by bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft in the North Sea, off Sunderland. There is no record of casualties in this incident.
US Navy takes over patrolling convoy routes in the North Atlantic and tracking German submarines for the Royal Navy in violation of Neutrality Act.
EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party ordered the security forces to deport the entire population of the Volga German Autonomous Republic to destinations in Central Asia and Siberia. Semyon Timoshenko drafted an order calling for the execution of deserters; it would be revised by Joseph Stalin and issued as Order No. 270 four days later.
Heeresgruppe Nord: The Soviets, reeling from their defeats at the hands of Operation Barbarossa launch a hastily organized counter-attack at Staraya Russa, south of Lake Ilmen in Novgorod, against elements of Heeresgruppe Nord. This envisaged the newly formed Soviet 48th Army attacking from the Novgorod region along the west side of Lake Ilmen, while the newly formed 34th Army, supported by 11th and 27th Armies, would attack south of Lake Ilmen. The Soviets concentrated 8 rifle divisions, a cavalry corps and a tank division for the offensive, with the objective of capturing Staraya Russa and Dno station, and destroying 16.Armee's X.Armeekorps (General of the Artillery Christian Hansen). The Soviet counterattack at Staraya Russa by the 34th Army succeeds in caving in the flank of the German X.Armeekorps. Three German divisions are threatened with encirclement on the south bank of Lake Illmen. North of Lake Illmen, German armored formations break into the clear and advance toward Leningrad. The Ushnitsa River was forced by a frontal attack. The infantrymen were weighed down by their weapons and ammunition-boxes. Everything had to be carried. The Russians were resisting stubbornly. Along the railway embankment especially they contested every inch of ground.
Heeresgruppe Mitte: German II. Armeekorps and elements of 2. Panzergruppe attacking toward Gomel. XXIV.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of Panzer Troops Geyr von Schweppenburg) had encircled elements of Central Front near Krichev, and the German II. Armeekorps already had 3 divisions across the Dnepr south of Zhlobin.
Heeresgruppe Süd: The OKH orders Rundstedt to destroy all Soviet forces between Zaporozh'e and the mouth of the Dnepr to trap the 9th, 18th, and Coastal Armies against the Black Sea. With units of both Axis forces operating in close proximity, hostilities nearly erupt between Hungarian and Rumanian troops near Voznessensk on the Bug River.
The Soviet Politburo granted thousands of Polish prisoners of war amnesty for the formation of a Polish unit under General Wladislaw Anders to fight against Germany.
Siegfried Freytag of JG 77 scores his tenth victory, a MiG 3. At JG 3, the Staffelkapitän of 7th Staffel, Oblt. Kurt Sochatzy, is rammed during a dogfight by a Russian I-16 over Kiev. Both machines crash and Oblt. Sochatzy survives although he is captured and imprisoned. Later in the day Oblt. Sochatzy is awarded the
Ritterkreuz, even though he is still a prisoner of the Russians.
GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 54 aircraft to attack power stations at Cologne in daylight in conjunction with Fighter Command operations. Cologne was hit by 54 Blenheims and four US made Flying Fortresses, setting fire to two power stations.
78 British bombers, escorted by 485 fighters, conducted the heaviest daylight attack against Germany to date, targeting the powerplants near Köln (Fortuna Power Station in Knapsack and Goldenburg Power Station in Quadrath) and other targets in a wide area. RAF Bomber Command sends 70 aircraft to attack Berlin, 36 aircraft to attack Magdeburg and 35 aircraft to attack Essen overnight. The Germans were only able to scramble few fighters, but anti-aircraft fire was heavy. The Germans could not offer as much opposition as they once did because many of their planes had been diverted to the Eastern Front. The Germans suffered four fighters shot down (plus five likely shot down) and heavy damage to both powerplants; the British suffered 12 British Blenheim bombers shot down and 10 British fighters shot down. South east of Vlissingen, Major Johannes Seifert of I./JG 26 shoots down a Blenheim. The attack follows a bombing directive by Air Vice-Marshal Norman Bottomley, the deputy chief of the air staff, claiming that strikes on industrial towns undermine civilian morale. Last month he wrote: "Destroy the morale of the civilian population as a whole and the industrial workers in particular." The air ministry says that the raiders had a fighter escort to Antwerp. Then "the bombers went on alone, ... on their 150 mile penetration of the German air defence system. The power stations were attacked at point blank range." Due to their success, power output is reduced by 10 percent for nine days.
Hitler issues a Supplement to Directive 34. Army Group North is ordered to continue its efforts in the direction of Leningrad. Army Group South is to begin the battle for the Crimea, Kharkov and the Donets. Army Group Center is to halt and provide help to the other army groups.
http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/34a.html
The Finnish Ambassador in Berlin, T. M. Kivimäki informs the German Foreign Ministry that Finland doesn't think it necessary to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, because 'the Finnish attitude towards communism is already clear'.
MEDITERRANEAN: Apprentice John Sedgwick Gregson (b. 1924) helped free a gunner on the sinking MV "
Deucalian", then swam 600 yards with the helpless man to another ship. He is later awarded the Albert Medal.
Italian vessels conduct minelaying operations in the Sicilian Narrows.
NORTH AFRICA: In response to pressure from the Australian government concerning the relief of their troops in Tobruk, Allied naval forces evacuate 5000 Australian troops from Tobruk and land 6000 fresh troops from a Polish Brigade over the course of several nights (August 12-18th). The fast minelayers "
Abdiel" and "
Latona" are prominent in these moves. A cruiser and two destroyers are also employed.
NORTH AMERICA: The United States Congress passed a modification to the Selective Service Act, which extended the service period of draftees as requested by Franklin Roosevelt, by a single vote.
The Canadian government ordered all Japanese Canadians to carry a registration card that have their thumbprint and photo.
The manoeuvres held at New River, North Carolina, since 3 August involving the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 1st Division, end.
US Navy Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 is commissioned and sent to the Philippines.
UNITED KINGDOM: No. 489 (NZ) Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland, from New Zealand personnel under the command of Wing Commander J. A. S. Brown. The squadron would see extensive service on anti-shipping strikes in the North Sea and protection of the North Cape convoys.
British convoy Dervish departs Liverpool for Archangel via Iceland.
WESTERN FRONT: French Marshal Philippe Pétain appointed Admiral François Darlan as Minister for War, the Navy, the Air and the Colonies. General Maxime Weygand was thus placed under Darlan's orders. General Petain declares that the Vichy government will cooperate completely with the Nazi Germany. Pétain made an address announcing the appointment in which he also announced a series of harsh new measures including the dissolution all political parties, the creation of a Council of Justice to judge;
"...those responsible for our disaster," and the new requirement that all ministers and high officials swear an oath of loyalty directly to him. "In 1917 I put an end to mutiny," Pétain said. "In 1940 I put an end to rout. Today I wish to save you from yourselves."
The powers of the police and of the departmental prefects have been increased, and a council for political justice will be set up to punish those responsible for the collapse of France last year. Commissioners will be appointed to root out secret societies and action will be taken immediately against Freemasons in particular. All ministers and high officials will be required to take an oath of allegiance to Marshal Petain. The marshal acknowledged that his "national revolution" was proving more difficult than he had expected, and that the collaboration "offered with great courtesy" by Hitler was slow. Minds were falling prey to anxiety, he conceded; he even admitted that this unease was in part caused by "insidious propaganda", an apparent admission of the widespread popularity of the BBC news broadcasts from London. In effect, the Marshal proposes to replace "Petainism by persuasion" with "Petainism by discipline," thus imposing on the French people a conservative revolution which they have refused to adopt of their own free will.
RAF Fighter Command Circus operations and diversions in conjunction with Bomber Command daylight attack on Cologne. RAF Bomber Command sends 14 aircraft to attack Le Havre overnight.
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