This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

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24 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
M-35 Class MSW DKM M-204
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UBOATS
Arrivals
Lorient: U-126

Departures
Trondheim: U-207

At Sea 24 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-46, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-75, U-77, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111,U-124, U-125, U-129, U-141, U-143, U-145, U-201, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-451, U-452, U-501, U-552, U-553, U-557, U-561, U-563, U-564, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-570, U-571, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 Boats

U-101 was attacked by RAF CC a/c near Rockall. Over the next 3 days she was repeatedly forced to dive and evade air attacks made on her by other aircraft. She suffered no damage, but was unable to make contact with an enemy convoy as a result of these repeated attacks.

A Catalina aircraft sighted and attacked a U-boat 30 miles SW of the River Tagus. DDs BOREAS and WIVERN searched the area without result

OPERATIONS
East Front
Baltic
Novik Class DD ENGELS (VMF 1260 grt) was sunk on a mine off Cape Juminda.


North Sea
DD VIVACIOUS arrived at Scapa Flow from Rosyth to work up.

Steamer SKAGERAK (UK 1283 grt) was sunk on a mine in the River Orwell, Harwich. Seventeen crew and the pilot were killed.
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ASW whaler KOS XVI (RN 350 grt)was sunk in a collision with Destroyer WOLSEY in the Irish Sea.Damage to the DD was minor and did not remove her from service. The vessel was built for Norwegians to a standard whaling vessel design in 1932, very similar to the Flower Class vessels. Hired by RN in July-1940, with Norwegian crew.The report on her loss states "At noon 1145 hrs. the 24th. August 1941 the destroyer HMS Wolsey, in clear weather, in high speed hit Kos XVI from behind, position N of buoy 62B off Hull. After the collision the captain on Wolsey called a trawler to the site and ordered it to escort Kos XVI to the nearest port.In spite of all pumps working on top speed, the water slowly filled the engine room, and shortly after midnight on the 25th. August the bulkhead between the engine room and the aft compartments gave way, and Kos XVI turned over in a few seconds and sank. The escorting trawler picked up the crew from Kos XVI and taken them to Grimsby. The mas ter of Kos XVI, Lt. M. Fredriksen, was the last man to leave the ship. The British commission to investigate the accident stated later: ´No blame is considered attributed to HMM trawler Kos XVI´".

Sister ship KOS XIX

Northern Waters
CL ARETHUSA departed Scapa Flow to refit in the Tyne. DD SOMALI departed Scapa Flow for Loch Alsh to embark the First Lord of the Admiralty. The DD arrived on the 25th and after embarking the First Lord sailed for Stornoway. SOMALI arrived later that afternoon. That same day the DD departed for Scapa Flow and arrived on the 26th. At Stornaway, the first Lord was transferred to BB PRINCE OF WALES.

West Coast
Sloop BLACK SWAN, escorting a convoy in the Irish Sea, was damaged by LW long bombing. The damage required three weeks to repair at Milford Haven.

Med/Biscay
CLs AJAX and NEPTUNE departed Alexandria covering ML cruiser LATONA and DDs KIPLING, KINGSTON, and GRIFFIN in the fifth series of the TREACLE operation. The ships returned to Alexandria on the 25th.

Nth Atlantic
Convoy SC.41 departed Sydney, CB escorted by AMC RANPURA and corvettes ARVIDA, CHICOUTIMI, and MATAPEDIA. The corvettes were detached on the 26th when relieved by DD ST.CROIX and corvettes BUTOUCHE, GALT, and PICTOU. DD RAMSEY joined on 2 September. Corvettes ARABIS, MONKSHOOD, and PETUNIA and ASW trawlers NORTHERN GEM, NORTHERN PRIDE, and NORTHERN WAVE joined on 5 September, DD SARDONYX on 6 September, and DDs MALCOLM and WATCHMAN on 11 September. DD ST.CROIX was detached on 5 September and DD RAMSEY and corvettes BUTOUCHE and GALT on 6 September. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 11 September.

Central Atlantic
In Operation CUTTING, British steamer LADY DENISON-PENDER departed Freetown, escorted by sloop MILFORD, to cut and lift about sixty miles of the Dakar - Pernambuco underwater telegraph cable. The ship arrived in position on the 28th and the operation required one week to complete.

Convoy SL.85 departed Freetown escorted by DD VANSITTART to 28 August, sloop MILFORD to 28 August, and corvettes ASTER, BURDOCK, STARWORT, and VERVAIN to 28 August. On the 28th, sloop SANDWICH to 17 September, sloop COMMANDANT DOMINE to 17 September, and ASW yacht PHILANTE to 17 September joined. On 2 September, corvette WALLFLOWER joined to 11 September.

On 11 September, DDs BOREAS, CALDWELL, VANOC, VOLUNTEER, and WALKER and corvettes BLUEBELL, CAMPANULA, CAMPION, CARNATION, HELIOTROPE, HYDRANGEA, LA MALOUINE, and MALLOW joined. Sloop LEITH joined on 14 September. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 17 September with ocean boarding vessel CAVINA and the escorts which joined on 11 and 14 September.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
CL CERES was damaged in a collision with Norwegian tanker GYLFE off Bombay. The cruiser's stem was fractured, but the cruiser was able to depart Bombay that day escorting convoy BM 8 to Trincomalee.

Convoy BM 8 departed Bombay with steamers EKMA, NEVASA, EGRA, ETHIOPIA, and EL MADINA, escorted by light cruiser CERES to Trincomalee. The convoy was escorted on by AMC ANTENOR to 31 August, when CL DAUNTLESS relieved her.

The convoy arrived at Port Swettenham on 2 September

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 24 AUGUST TO DAWN 25 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and fresh.

No air raids.

OPERATIONS REPORTS SUNDAY 24 AUGUST 1941

ROYAL NAVY P32 reported overdue. Farndale completed refit and carried out sea trials. HM Submarine Upholder attacked three 6in gun cruisers with one possible hit.

AIR HQ Departures 2 Wellington. 69 Squadron Maryland patrols Tunisian coast and western Ionian Sea, Empedocle and Licata, eastern Sicily and the toe of Italy. Special reconnaissance south of Sardinia AM and PM. 38 Squadron 9 Wellingtons sent to attack Tripoli, docks and petrol dumps drop bombs across the city causing considerable damage. 105 Squadron 4 Blenheims sent to attack shipping scored hits on vessels. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 4 Swordfish sent to attack shipping off Augusta/Catania areas failed to locate target.
 
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August 24 Sunday
EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: Oblt. Hans Philipp of II./JG 54 becomes the thirty-third soldier of the German Armed Forces to be awarded the Eichenlaub for achieving sixty-two kills, over forty of which were gained in Russia.

Heeresgruppe Nord: German 18.Armee were slowly pushing into Tallinn in Estonia. The Soviets withdraw their garrison, 10th Rifle Corps, from Tallinn by sea. Several convoys attempt to get through to Kronstadt, but incur heavy losses to mines and air attacks. Almost all the transports and many of the escort vessels from the Baltic fleet are sunk. The LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) and 18.Armee (Colonel General Georg von Kuchler) had started 'probing' the heavily fortified line through Krasnogvardievsk, only 20 miles from Leningrad. By this time the XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of Panzer Troops R. Schmidt) had arrived from Army Group Centre and its orders were to isolate Leningrad from the south-east while LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) attacked the city's defences from the south-west.

German 3.Panzergruppe were fighting within a mile of Velikiye Luki. During the night, the remnants of 22nd Army, perhaps as many at 15-20,000 men, began running the gauntlet northward out of Velikiye Luki, squeezing in between the panzers and panzer grenadiers of 19. Panzer-Divisionen (Lieutenant General O. von Knoblesdorff), which was advancing into the city from the east, and XXIII.Armeekorps' 253.Infanterie-Division (Lieutenant General Otto Schellert), approaching the city from the west. The remainder of Ershakov's army, about 25,000 men, left behind in small pockets south of the city and a larger one 15-20 kilometers southeast of the city, fought to the death or surrendered individually or in small groups over the next two days. The deadly deed of crushing the encirclement pocket fell to XXIII Army Corps' 253.Infanterie-Division, 251. Infanterie-Divisionen (Lieutenant General Hans Kraftzert), and 86.Infanterie Divisionen, which formed a cordon extending from Velikiye Luki southeastward 20 kilometer to Vas'kovo, while 19.Panzer-Divisionen and 20.Panzer-Divisionen (Major General H. Stumpff) occupied blocking positions along and south of the railroad and road from just east of Velikiye Luki southeastward to Vatolino, 17 kilometers east-southeast of the city. As these forces crushed the pocket, elements of 253.Infanterie-Division and German artillery and dive bombers pummeled Ershakov's columns moving northeastward along dirt roads.

Weichs' Second Army and Geyr's XXIV Motorized Corps essentially halted their operations. Thereafter, while Weichs' army consolidated its gains south of Gomel', it also began liquidating the forces of Golubev's 13th Army, which, wedged precariously in the region north of Novozybkov, were caught between the pincers formed by Second Army's XII and XIII Army Corps in the west and 10th Motorized and 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions of Geyr's XXIV Motorized Corps to the east. The forces in this loose pocket included the remnants of Golubev's army and Krivoshein's still largely intact 25th Mechanized Corps.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: Soviet troops under Marshal General Konev lead a new but hastily organized counterattack in the Gomel area. The counteroffensive bogs down and fails. By evening, the main forces of Timoshenko's Western Front, specifically, Konev's 19th and Khomenko's 30th Armies, had weathered the most powerful counterstroke Strauss' 9. Armee could throw at them. Konev's 19th Army met and defeated 9. Armee's reinforced 7.Panzer-Divisionen, destroying or damaging roughly two-thirds of its tanks and forcing it to withdraw from combat to lick its wounds. For the first time in the war, Red Army infantrymen, cooperating closely with field and antiaircraft artillerymen, a handful of tanks, sappers, and some supporting pilots and their crews were able to repulse a German armored thrust and, by doing so, keep the 19th Army's bridgehead intact. However, as he penned his after-action-reports to Timoshenko, Konev also understood his victory had a price. Specifically, the heavy losses his army suffered during the recent fighting had severely sapped its combat effectiveness. Unless reinforcements arrived, Konev concluded, it would be exceedingly difficult for his army to match its recent performance in the near future. To the north, Khomenko reached the same conclusion regarding his threadbare 30th Army. Thus, in this sense, the victories the two armies had won over the past week were largely Pyrrhic in nature.

Heeresgruppe Süd: Rumanian forces attack at Odessa, taking heavy losses and making little headway against the Soviet defenders. The German 6.Armee reached Desna.

Kriegsmarine minelayers lay more mines in the Baltic Sea with success. Soviet destroyer "Engels" is sunk by mine. Two Soviet minesweepers and three Soviet transports are sunk by mines.

GERMANY: Hitler has ordered the termination of the "T4" action, under which 70,273 mentally-ill people have been liquidated since September 1939. Although the murders were supposed to be carried out in strict secrecy, rumors about the specially-designed "euthanasia" centers have been spreading. On 31 July the bishop of Münster denounced the killings in a sermon. Hitler now appears to have bowed to public pressure. Some doctors would continue to kill the mentally-ill through the end of the European War.

RAF Bomber Command sends 44 aircraft to attack Dusseldorf overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: Operation Mincemeat: HMS "Manxman" (disguised as large French destroyer) lays 140 mines off Livorno. Mines are also laid off Leghorn. Force H also carries out an air offensive operation. Fleet Air Arm aircraft from "Ark Royal" attack the Italian airfield at Tempio in northern Sardinia. The battleship "Nelson" is in support. The Italian battleships "Vittorio Veneto" and "Littorio" also come out but they move against a suspected Malta operation and there is no contact. Italian auxiliary is gunboat sunk by British aircraft. The Italian cruiser "Bolzano" is torpedoed by the British submarine "Triumph".

NORTHERN FRONT: The Finnish attacks continue to press forward and Viipuri is surrounded. The troops of Col. Winell's 8th ID cross the Bay of Viipuri unopposed. They are able to consolidate their positions on the eastern shore before the Soviets react. Finnish Army of Karelia clears last Soviet forces from Kilpola sector on north shore of Lake Ladoga.

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in a radio address, made public the scope of Einsatzgruppen activities in Eastern Europe. He disclosed that "whole districts" were being exterminated, and that "scores of thousands of executions in cold blood" were being perpetrated by "German police-troops upon the Russian patriots who defend their native soil." Churchill didn't mention that Jews were being exterminated. He could not reveal this since it would have warned the Germans that British intelligence forces had cracked their secret radio codes. In a speech to the House of Commons Churchill says:
Taking advantage of low cloud, six Luftwaffe aircraft briefly attacked targets from Blyth to Teesside. The RCAF's No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron, equipped with Hurricane Mk. Is and based at Northolt, Middlesex, England, shoots down two RAF Blenheim bombers which were mistaken for Junkers JU-88s.

WESTERN FRONT: Vichy France passed anti-terrorist laws, punishable with death sentences, to deal with the resistance movement.

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August 25 Monday
ASIA: German MV "Munsterland" departs Yokohama to replenish raiders in the Pacific. MV "Munsterland" was taken over by the Kriegsmarine in 1940 and used as a blockade runner.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A British RAF Catalina Mk. 1 of No. 209 Squadron cooperating with naval forces sank German submarine U-453 off Iceland.

British anti-submarine trawler HMS "Vascama" and a British Catalina aircraft sank German submarine U-452 with depth charges in the North Sea, killing all 42 aboard.

At midnight, 30 miles off Grimsby, East coast of England, British destroyer HMS "Wolsey" rams and sinks British minesweeper "Kos XVI" (Norwegian whaler taken over in July 1940 by Royal Navy but still with a Norwegian crew).

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: Hptm. Hermann-Friedrich Jöppien of I./JG 51 is killed when his airplane comes out of a turn and crashes. He is awarded the Eichenlaub posthumously for achieving seventy aerial victories before his death.

Heeresgruppe Nord: The XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot.) and LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of the Infantry Erich von Manstein) attacked, and with the deepening crisis the (Soviet) GKO assigned the newly mobilized 4th, 52nd and 54th Armies along and east of the Volkhov River. The Stavka also approved the formation of two new Armies: the 42nd and 55th, which would defend Leningrad itself. The XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot.) soon captured Lyuban and closed up to the Neva River, while 4.Panzergruppe and 18.Armee put pressure on the shrinking line around Leningrad and the Oranienbaum region. The LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) crushed the 34th and 11th Armies driving them back to the Lovat River.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: German 3.Panzergruppe is still attacking into surrounded Velikiye Luki. The 131. Infanterie-Divisionen (Lieutenant General H. Meyer-Buerdorff) and 112.Infanterie-Division (General der Infanterie Friedrich Mieth) of Heinrici's XLIII.Armeekorps approached Novozybkov from the west, captured the town, and, together with 10.Infanterie-Division (mot.) (Lieutenant General F-W von Loeper), cut off and liquidated a sizeable portion of 13th Army. While this pocket was being reduced, a "deadly minuet" soon developed in the region west of the Desna River, Briansk, and Trubchevsk. Here, in a virtual bridgehead anchored on the towns of Pochep and Pogar on the Desna's western bank, 29. Infanterie-Division (mot.) (Major General W. von Boltenstern) and 17. Panzer Divisionen (Lieutenant General H-J von Arnim) and 18. Panzer Divisionen ( Major General W. Nehring) of Lemelsen's XLVII.Armeekorps (mot.), while performing their covering force mission, literally ran into the forces of the Briansk Front's 50th Army and the surviving portion of Golubev's 13th Army, which were themselves attempting to erect defenses to protect Briansk and Trubchevsk.

General Heinz Guderian, commander of the 2.Panzergruppe launches his forces south to encircle Kiev. Beginning late on 25 August, a new race loomed between Army Group Center and Timoshenko's Western Main Direction Command, - a race with far greater strategic implications than previous ones. Succinctly stated, this contest pitted the three fronts of Timoshenko's Western Direction Command, which were striving to defeat Army Group Center, against Guderian's panzer group and Weichs' army, which were trying to eliminate the threat to Army Group Center's southern flank. At stake in this race was nothing less than the long-anticipated German advance on Moscow. Timoshenko planned to conduct a new counteroffensive in three distinct stages. The first stage was designed to include defensive operations in 22nd Army's sector aimed at halting Group Stumme's attack and extensive regrouping, reinforcement, and reorganizing on the part of 16th and 20th Armies within the context of continued attacks by 19th, 29th, and 30th Armies. The second stage, which involved a general counteroffensive involving all of the front's armies in cooperation with Zhukov's Reserve Front, sought to penetrate Army Group Center's tactical defenses east and southeast of Smolensk and fulfill the front's immediate missions, most importantly, the destruction of the Germans' Dukhovshchina grouping. During the third and final stage, all of the front's armies were to exploit their successes and reach final objectives designated by the Stavka, presumably meaning the seizure of the entire Smolensk region by concentric attacks from the north, east, and southeast. If Timoshenko's and Zhukov's forces could achieve this objective, the Stavka believed Army Group Center would have no choice but to halt Guderian's forces and return them to the Smolensk region. Based on the Stavka's strategic concept, Eremenko's front was to attack into the teeth of Guderian's 2.Panzergruppe as it advanced southward, crush the advancing panzers, and restore a coherent defensive front from the Dnepr River south of Gomel' eastward to Novgorod-Severskii on the Desna River and northward along the Desna to south of Yel'nia. Eremenko was to do so by attacking the left flank of Guderian's advancing 2.Panzergruppe across a broad front extending from Novgorod-Severskii northward along the Desna River to Zhukovka, 50 kilometers northwest of Briansk. Although not under Eremenko's control, a newly-formed 40th Army was to attack the "nose" of Guderian's advance before it reached the Desna River. The Briansk front commander, Eremenko, boasted,
"I will smash this scoundrel Guderian, no doubt about it."
Click to expand...

Schmidt's XXXIX. Armeekorps (mot.) captures Liuban. Soviet Central Front, encircled and destroyed around Chernigov, is formally disbanded.

Tykocin pogrom: About 1,400 to 1,700 Jewish residents of Tykocin in occupied Poland were taken to nearby Łopuchowo forest and massacred by the SS.

GERMANY: The German Navy placed orders for 61 submarines to be constructed. German Navy issued the order to build the future submarine U-869.

Held responsible for the failure of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, and believing that his superiors had abandoned him, and convinced that his arch rival Inspector General Erhard Milch was plotting his down fall, the normally ebullient Ernst Udet (who was already showing signs of illness through depression and strain) reported sick. His duties were assumed by Milch.

Benito Mussolini arrived at Adolf Hitler's Wolfsschanze headquarters in eastern Germany (now Poland). Hitler requests that more Italian troops take over garrison duties in the Balkans in order to free German troops for fighting in the east. In talks with Mussolini, Hitler rails against Spain's refusal to join the war. Count Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law and Foreign Minister is also in attendance. Mussolini would stay in the area until August 29 - his longest visit of the war - touring battle sites, reviewing troops and meeting with German officials. After this meeting, both leaders then tour the Ukraine together. Mussolini confesses to Hitler that he cannot rely on loyalty of Italian Army. Also today, Hitler receives Count Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese ambassador, for consultation.

RAF Bomber Command sends 49 aircraft to attack Karlsruhe and 38 aircraft to attack Mannheim overnight.

MIDDLE EAST: Operation Countenance: The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union jointly attacked pro-German regime in Iran. They have been worried by reports of German "tourists" being in the country and have decided to demand that Iran accept their "protection" of its oil supplies. The British land forces are led by General Quinan and their naval support by Admiral Arbuthnot. The advance in two areas, to seize the oil installations near Abadan, and from the northeast of Baghdad to take similar sites around Kermanshah. The Soviet forces advance in three columns under General Novikov's command. One column moves on Tabriz while the other two advance on either side of the Caspian Sea. There are also British landings at Bandar Shapur, Abadan and Khoramshahr in the Persian Gulf area. Two small Iranian warships are sunk and several Axis merchant ships are seized. The British forces moving on Kermanshah, commanded by General Slim, and all three Soviet columns soon make good progress. The Soviets bomb Tabriz. There is little Iranian opposition to either the British or the Soviet forces. While the British troops crossed the western border and Soviets to the north, the respective ambassadors in Tehran demanded Iran to accept British and Soviet protection of oil supplies.

The sloop HMAS "Yarra", (CMDR W. H. Harrington, RAN), sank the Persian sloop "Babr" at Khorramshahr. "Yarra" attacked under the cover of darkness, and illuminated the enemy vessel at her berth. "Yarra's" guns pounded the "Babr" at point-blank range until she sank. While this operation was in progress HMS "Kanimbla", (an Australian manned armed merchant cruiser), attacked the port of Bandar Shapur, seizing the port installations and enemy shipping in the anchorage. During this latter action, PO J. T. Humphries, RAN, "Kanimbla's" diver, was sent aboard the burning German merchant ship "Hohenfels". The ship's sea-cocks had been opened, and the vessel was rapidly filling. PO Humphries dived in the flooded engine room, and in complete darkness found and closed the cocks, saving the ship from sinking. PO Humphries was awarded the George Medal in February 1942, for his outstanding gallantry.

NORTH AFRICA: Hans-Joachim Marseille returned to Ain el Gazala, Libya from his home leave in Berlin, Germany to Libya.

NORTHERN FRONT: The Allies launched Operation Gauntlet, a raid on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean, destroying fuel bunkers and machinery as well as freeing some 2000 Soviet citizens who would be evacuated to Murmansk. Originally a ground force of two battalions had been allocated to the landings, but this was reduced to one on confirmation that there were no Germans in the area. The troops mainly comprised elements of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier A. E. Potts, with 3 Field Company, RCE attached, a party of Norwegian servicemen based in the United Kingdom. There was demolition and logistic support from British Army units including a detachment from the Kent Fortress Royal Engineers, a unit with demolition experience. This was a total force of 645 All Ranks, including 527 Canadians. The liner RMS "Empress of Canada" acted as the troopship, escorted by Force K: two Royal Navy cruisers, HMS "Nigeria" (flagship) and HMS "Aurora" and five destroyers: HMS "Icarus", HMS "Eclipse", HMS "Tartar", HMS "Anthony" and HMS "Antelope"; Philip Vian remained in command. The troops landed and, as hoped, met no opposition throughout and were enthusiastically greeted by the islanders. When the demolitions at Barentsburg were complete, some 2,000 Soviet miners and their movable belongings and equipment were taken to Arkhangelsk, in Russia, on the RMS "Empress of Canada", escorted by "Nigeria", where a group of nearly 200 Free French were found waiting. These French had escaped from German prison camps and were duly taken on board for passage to the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the rest of Force K and the demolition parties had moved on to Longyearbyen.

Finnish Army of Karelia began attacking around Viipuri. A sudden counter-attack by two Soviet divisions stops the advance of Light Brigade 'T' north-east of Viipuri. The brigade commander Col. Tiiainen is lethally wounded and the brigade is forced back. After two days of intense fighting the 12nd ID manages to stop the Soviet attack.

UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill is quoted in the Times as saying that Britain would offer unhesitating aid to the US if a peaceful settlement with Japan could not be reached.

The production of the Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber has now been subcontracted to to a number of firms, including English Electric at Preston, Rootes at Speke, Fairey at Stockport and the London Aircraft Production Group. The first of these aircraft, a MK II (V 9976), flies today.

WESTERN FRONT: Pierre Laval is shot four times by student Paul Collete as he saw off French volunteers going off to fight with the Germans in Russia. Laval survived the assassination attempt, but was seriously wounded particularly by a bullet that penetrated his body about an inch from his heart.

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August 26 Tuesday
ASIA: The United States sends a military mission to China to determine what materials are needed to defend their nation from Japanese aggression. The White House issues a statement that "this Government is preparing to send a military mission to China. The mission will be sent for the purpose of assisting in carrying out the purposes of the Lend-Lease Act. It is being organized and it will operate under the direction of the Secretary of War. Its chief will be Brigadier General John Magruder."

Tokyo complains to Moscow about US Lend-Lease cargo passing through Vladivostok.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Cutter HMS "Lulworth" went to the rescue of survivors from a torpedoed Merchantman. The night was dark, with heavy seas running, so that the rescue work was slow and hazardous. As HMS "Lulworth" was about to abandon search, two men and a woman were found clinging to the wreckage. The men were saved, but as the woman, who was unconscious, was being hauled on board, she slipped from her lifejacket, disappeared below the surface, and came up astern. Lt Keefer at once dived into the sea to try to save her. He reached her, but both were swept away by the heavy seas, and though search was made for an hour, neither was seen again.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: By this date the German Army had suffered 461,100 casualties, including 94,222 killed, 345,650 wounded, and 21,228 missing in action. Officer losses amounted to 4,264 killed, 10,792 wounded, and 381 missing in action. Therefore, on the basis of the Army's total strength of 3,780,000 men in the East, it had lost over 12 percent of its manpower. Each and every day for 66 days, 6,683 more German soldiers and more than 300 officers became casualties, 1,435 of them killed, a figure equivalent to the loss of a full infantry division every two days. As a result, while the German Army in the East required approximately 11,000 officer-replacements, despite enormous efforts, including the transfer of many officers from the West and accelerating graduation from officer candidate courses, the army was short 3,000 officers, and perhaps as high as 11,000 officers, a figure cited in a report prepared on 15 August. If this attrition rate continued, without adequate replacements, the Army in the East would be reduced to nothing within nine and one half months.

Heeresgruppe Nord: Soviet forces at Velikiye Luki launch a counter attack. Local German forces contain the offensive, so the advance to encircle Leningrad is not affected. Soviet forces in Velikije Luki were surrounded and destroyed by the German Armeegruppe Nord. German 18.Armee attacking into Tallinn as German 4.Panzergruppe is attacking into southern outskirts of Leningrad.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: German 2.Panzergruppe crosses the Desna River at Novgorod-Seversky.

Heeresgruppe Süd: German tanks from 1.Panzergruppe (Army Group South) capture the major industrial city of Dnepropetrovsk. XLVII.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of the Panzer Troops J. Lemelsen) captured Chernobyl. Most of the important industries had already been moved east. The Hungarian Army rounded up 18,000 Jews at Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine.


Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini inspected Axis troops at Uman, Ukraine. During Mussolini's visit to Ukraine to review his troops, General Messe informs Mussolini that morale was high, but some important shortages, especially in good quality anti-tank rounds, were apparent. An OKW memorandum accepted by Hitler states that the war against Soviet Union won't be finished before the end of 1941.

GERMANY: Otto Skorzeny was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class medal for recovering a damaged vehicle under enemy fire at the bridgehead in Yel'nia, Russia.

RAF Bomber Command sends 99 aircraft to attack Cologne overnight. Six British Blenheim bombers set out for Heligoland, as a diversion while others attack German shipping. Four planes are shot down.

MEDITERRANEAN: After weeks of small air raids on the island, the first Italian aircraft is downed over Cyprus by RAF fighter.

MIDDLE EAST: British troops captured Abadan, Iran, along with the oil-related installations there. Far to the north, Soviet troops captured Tabriz while aircraft bombed Tehran. Following RAF attacks, Iranian forces abandon Paitak Pass.

NORTH AMERICA: Corvette HMCS "Buctouche" departed St. John's to join the 64-ship Sydney to Liverpool convoy SC41 which arrived safely on 11 Sep 41.

Lt Gregory Boyington resigns his commission in the US Marines in order to join American Volunteer Group.

In Canada, a Privy Council order calls for the establishment of an experimental offensive chemical warfare station in Suffield, Alberta, and for the Chemical Warfare Laboratories in Ottawa to work on defense. In the chemistry lab at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a poison gas based on fluorine is discovered. The element causing the extreme toxicity is named Compound Z. It is later cited as one of Canada's most significant contributions to chemical warfare. Its existence is kept secret for over 40 years.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation Gauntlet; A combined force of Canadian, British, and Norwegian commandos landed on Spitzbergen. The coal-mining installations and equipment there were destroyed and the Norwegian civilian populace was evacuated.

Swedish recruiting underway for German armed forces.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Philippine Department Air Force is re-designated USAFFE Air Force. The Philippine National Army is brought into existence.

UNITED KINGDOM: Mountbatten departs to take command of RN aircraft carrier "Illustrious" -- undergoing repairs in Virginia -- and make goodwill tour of the US.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command sends 36 aircraft on coastal sweeps. Wing Commander David Lascelles, a cousin of the British Royal family, was killed leading a daylight anti-shipping strike. Lascelles was No. 82 Squadron's seventh commanding officer in eleven months and the third to be killed. RAF Fighter Command flew Circus operations and sweeps.

RAF Bomber Command sends 29 aircraft to attack Le Havre and 16 aircraft to attack Boulogne overnight. RAF Bomber Command sends 17 aircraft on minelaying operations overnight.

Paul Collete was arrested after shooting and wounding Pierre Laval. Laval would recommend giving Collete a light sentence, citing that the young man was likely only a pawn used by more senior plotters behind the scenes.

.
 
August 27 Wednesday
ASIA: Prince Konoye, leader of the Japanese government, personally invites Roosevelt to meet with him to discuss resolving the outstanding issues between his country and the United States "to discuss from a broad standpoint all important problems between Japan and America covering the entire Pacific area, and to explore the possibility of saving the situation."

The Japanese government sends a protest to the US government concerning the shipment of goods from the US to Vladivostok, USSR via Japanese waters.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-570 (Kptlt Hans-Joachim Rahohmlow) is captured by the British in the Atlantic. U-570 had left Trondheim, Norway, to operate in the North Atlantic on her first operational patrol. At 1100 hours, the captain raised the periscope and saw nothing and thus surfaced his almost stationary boat. Directly above the submarine, in its periscope "blind spot," was an RAF Hudson, aircraft "S" of No. 269 Squadron (Sqn Ldr J.H. Thompson RAF) based at Kaldadarnes, Iceland. The pilot noticed the dream target and placed four 250-pound depth charges all around U-570 and returned for strafing. The submarine was disabled and forced to surface. Her inexperienced crew surrendered the vessel intact. The Hudson pilot contacted his superiors and was told to fly watch while they figured out how they could get vessels to the area. The Hudson was relieved by a Catalina flying boat of RAF No. 209 Sqn. in the evening and finally after 12 hours the H.M. Trawler "Northern Chief" showed up but the weather was too bad to capture her at that time so she waited for reinforcements that arrived during the night in the form of the H.M. Trawlers "Kingston Agate", "Windermere" and "Wastwater" and the destroyer HMS "Burwell". The last ship to the scene was the Canadian destroyer HMCS "Niagara" [ex USS "Thatcher" (DD-162)]. While awaiting the British to send a capture party, confidential papers and the cipher machine were dumped overboard. The next day, the German crew was removed and the captured vessel returned to a British port. Eventually, the ship was brought into the Royal Navy as HMS "Graph". As HMS "Graph" she even later fired a torpedo towards U-333 but missed. She later ran aground on the Island of Islay of Scotland in 1944 and was wrecked. HMS "Graph" was broken up in 1961. No other German submarine surrenders to enemy forces during World War II prior to the final days of the war.

German submarine U-557 attacked Allied convoy OS-4 300 miles west of Ireland between 0125 and 0426 hours, sinking four ships. U-557 sank SS "Embassage", SS "Tremoda", SS "Saugor" and Norwegian vessel "Segundo". German submarine U-202 sank British trawler "Ladylove" off Iceland at 1435 hours, killing the entire crew of 14.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: Finnish forces attack Soviet garrison at Hango. Finnish Army of Karelia isolates elements of Soviet 23rd Army around Viipuri.

Heeresgruppe Nord: German 18.Armee begins final assault on the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Soviet "Red Banner" Baltic Fleet has permission to break out of the Baltic port with over 200 military and civilian vessels (including former Estonian and Latvian warships). The Soviet 10th Rifle Corps starts to evacuate by sea the units that have been holding the city. 190 ships would attempt to traverse 150 miles of mine infested water with the airspace dominated by the Luftwaffe. In the end, 5000 soldiers and civilians would be killed before reaching the relative safety of Leningrad. Soviets begin deploying 4th Army, 52nd Army, and 54th Army in defense of Leningrad.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: By day's end, Group Stumme was ideally positioned to begin its final drive on Toropets and Staraia Toropa. By this time, General Stumme announced that the bag of prisoners captured at and southeast of Velikie Luki amounted to about 34,000 men and 300 guns, considering 22nd Army's dead, more than half of the original strength of Ershakov's 22nd Army.

German 250th Infantry Division, consisted of Spanish volunteers, began to march on foot from the Polish-Lithuanian border toward Smolensk, Russia. German 3.Panzergruppe recaptures Velikiye Luki. German 2.Panzergruppe expands its bridgehead across the Desna at Novgorod-Seversk.

Heeresgruppe Süd: Hitler and Mussolini travel, dine, and confer in their private trains.

GERMANY: Soviet Air Force dispatches bombers to attack Koenigsberg. RAF Bomber Command sends 91 aircraft to attack Mannheim overnight.

MIDDLE EAST: The British advance continue towards Kermanshah with elements of Indian 10th Infantry Division entering Paitak Pass and Shahabad. Meanwhile in the south, Indian 18th Infantry Brigade and 25th Infantry Brigade are deploying to attack Ahwaz. RN seizes Italian vessel "Hilda" at Bandar Abbas as German vessel "Weissenfels" is scuttled to avoid capture. HMAS "Yarra", (sloop), towed the abandoned and burning "Hilda" from Bandar Abbas to Chahbar Bay, Persia, where she was taken over by a tug. The Iranian government resigns. The Shah of Iran, Rezā Shāh, appoints Mohammad Ali Foroughi as Prime Minister of Iran (replacing Ali Mansur), who immediately began negotiations with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom to end the hostilities. Soviet 44th Army captures Bandar-i Pahlavi on the Caspian Sea and advance on Tehran from the North and British troops seize oil fields and refineries in the South and West.

NORTH AMERICA: Dusko Popov, former spy of Germany, now double-agent for Britain, meets with US FBI Bureau Chief J. Edgar Hoover in Washington. Popov shows a German spy questionnaire, with a section asking detailed questions about Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, intended for Japanese intelligence use. Hoover ignores the information.

UNITED KINGDOM: The British government took over the control of railways for the duration of the war; the private owners and operators were to receive £43,000,000 per year as compensation.

An RN Fairey Fulmer makes a forced landing on Tramore Strand in County Donegal. The crew and aircraft are returned to Northern Ireland.

William Dunn, while flying with RAF No. 71 Squadron downs his 4th and 5th enemy aircraft to become the first American Ace of the war. Joining the Canadian Army at the outbreak of war in September 1939, he was an infantryman until he transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in late 1940. He was assigned in April 1941 to the American volunteer No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron based at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich, flying the Hawker Hurricane. He was the first pilot in the Eagle Squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft, on 2 July 1941, and later became the first American ace of the war. After 3 claims, the Squadron converted to the Spitfire. Two claims on 27 August made Dunn the first American 5-kill 'ace', although he was wounded in the right leg during the same action. After recovery, he instructed at various units in the UK and the USA, and in late 1942 he served briefly with No 130 Squadron, RCAF. After service in an RAF Eagle Squadron, he joined the United States Army Air Force in 1943. He saw service with the 53rd Fighter Group (as Gunnery Officer), and then from October 1943 with the 406th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. Participating in the Normandy invasion and in Patton's sweep across France, he claimed 2 more kills up until October 1944. Unusually, he claimed a Messerschmitt Bf 110 shot down with a salvo of .5 inch RP rockets on 18 June 1944. By the end of the war he had claimed 8.5 kills, with another 4 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 4 damaged, with 12 more destroyed on the ground, flying 234 operational sorties. Immediately after the war he fought in the Chinese Civil War on the side of the Nationalists. He later helped trained the Iranian Air Force and the Brazilian Air Force. His final overseas duty was in Vietnam during 1967, with HQ, 7th US Air Force, flying 62 missions evaluating infra red location equipment. Lt. Col. Dunn, a veteran of 38 years of military service and 378 combat missions, retired from the U.S.A.F. in 1973.


WESTERN FRONT: Pierre Laval, the vice-premier of Vichy's council of state until last December, has been almost killed in an assassination attempt. Laval and a prominent pro-German newspaper editor are shot and wounded near Versailles by a young member of a resistance group. The shooting took place while Laval was seeing off the first members of the Legion des Volontaires Français contre le Bolshevisme on their way to the Russian front. Marcel Deat, the editor of the fascist L'Ouvre, was also wounded. Laval was close to death when a German officer told him: "your assassin has been arrested; we are about to shoot him." Always a politician, he replied: "Don't do that. You do not know the French reaction as I do." He had a bullet just half a centimeter from his heart when he said this and his teeth were discolored by blood. Few are upset by the shooting. Laval - who rose from peasant prime minister, and favours strong collaboration with Germany - is not popular in France as Marshal Petain is.
"An audouillette is like a government," Laval once said of black pudding, "you need some dung in it, but not too much."
Click to expand...
This incident is taken as an excuse by the Vichy government to round up many of its opponents, describing them as communists. This is not the first act of violence by the French Resistance. Last week a German officer cadet called Moser was shot in the Paris metro. Six Communists have been executed in reprisal.

RAF Fighter Command flew Circus operations and sweeps. RAF Bomber Command sends 17 aircraft on minelaying operations overnight.

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25 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIc DKM U-333

New source: Photographs from the U-boat War

Neutral
Tangier Class CVS USS TANGIER (AV8)


Allied
Abdiel Class ML Cruiser HMS WELSHMAN (M-84)


Fairmile B ML 209, 294
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

UBOATS
Arrivals
Brest: U-201
Lorient: U-124
St. Nazaire: U-75

Departures
Bergen: U-433
Brest: U-558
Lorient: U-562
Trondheim: U-432

At Sea 25 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-46, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-129, U-141, U-143, U-145, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-552, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-564, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-570, U-571, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 Boats

Type VIIc U-452 (DKM 769 grt) was sunk in the North Atlantic south of Iceland, , by depth charges from the British A/S trawler HMS VASCANAAND with assistance from an RAF CC Catalina from 209 Sqn. The entire crew of 42 were lost.


OPERATIONS
Baltic
Steamer TROYBURG (Ger 2288 grt) was lost when she was stranded at Faresund (at the western end of the Skagerrak). .
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

East Front
Arctic
U-752 sank MSW T-898 (VMF 553 grt); at 1011 hrs, U-752 fired a stern torpedo at T-898 and scored a hit on the port side after 47 seconds. The vessel was alone on guard duty between Cape Chernyj and Cape Svyatoj Nos and sank almost immediately after the hit about 80 miles east of Cape Chernyj. There were just 2 survivors from the crew of 43.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

North Sea
CL KENYA departed Rosyth after repairs and arrived back at Scapa Flow. Her repair trial was not satisfactory and speed was limited to a maximum of 28.5 knots.

ML Cruiser WELSHMAN departed Rosyth to carry out a practice lay of mines and then proceed to Scapa Flow where she arrived on the 26th. The cruiser then began her work up.

Northern Patrol
MLs SOUTHERN PRINCE, PORT QUEBEC, and ML cruiser ADVENTURE, escorted by DDs CASTLETON, NEWARK, and CHARLESTOWN, laid minefield SN.70 A in the Northern Barrage. SOUTHERN PRINCE, returning from this operation wasdamaged by U.652 west of the Faroes. There were no casualties in the ML. DDs LIGHTNING and LAMERTON departed Scapa Flow on the 26th to assist the ML. She was escorted as far the Minches. The DD returned to Scapa Flow on the 27th. SOUTHERN PRINCE was repaired at Belfast.

West Coast
AA ship ULSTER QUEEN arrived at Scapa Flow from Belfast to work up.


Med/Biscay
CLAs NAIAD, PHOEBE and CL GALATEA departed Alexandria to cover ML cruiser ABDIEL and DDs JACKAL, HASTY, and KANDAHAR on the series six of the TREACLE operation. The cruisers were unsuccessfully attacked at dusk by enemy a/c on the 25th. The ships safely returned to Alexandria on the 26th.

Yugoslav TBs DURMITOR and KAJMAKCALAN, after two operations off Bardia, were ordered to depart Mersa Matruh and return to Alexandria. The boats arrived on the 26th.

Nth Atlantic
USN CV WASP and CL SAVANNAH with DDs MEREDITH and GWIN departed Hampton Roads on neutrality patrol ending on 10 September at Bermuda.

Central Atlantic
T/A/Sub Lt (A) G. L. Stewart RNVR, was killed when his Walrus of 749 Squadron crashed in the West Indies near a town called Piarco. Two students, Leading Airman B. C. Hamilton, RNZNVR, and Leading Airman H. Hunt RNVR, were also killed.

Corvettes JONQUIL and COREOPSIS arrived at Gibraltar, escorting British tanker CARDIUM from Curacao.

Sth Atlantic
On the 25th, the Argentinian govt finally acceded in part to their obligatins under the Pan American Neutrality agreements and seized the following Italian cargo vessels, at that time sheltering in their ports. They were all taken over by Argentina for their own use.

MV AMABILITAS (FI 5245 grt), MV CAPO ROSA (FI 4699 grt), MV CASTELBIANCO (FI 4900 grt), MV CERVINO (FI 4363 grt), MV DANTE (FI 4901 grt), MV FORTUNSTELLA (FI 4864 grt), MV GIANFRANCO (FI 8181 grt), MV INES CORRADO (FI 5159 grt), MV MONTESANTO (FI 5850 grt), MV MARISTELLA (FI 4872 grt), MV PELORUM (FI 5314 grt), MV PRINCIPESSA MARIA (FI 8918 grt), MV TESEO (FI 4966 grt), MV VALDARNO (FI 5696 grt), MV VITTORIO VENETO (FI 4595 grt), MV VOLUNTAS (FI 5597 grt

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
Operation Countenance
Operation COUNTENANCE was the operation for the invasion and occupation of Iran. There were three naval operations and two ground forces operations in this plan. The name RAPIER was originally given to operations at Abadan and Korramshahr, but was not used. Operation BISHOP was the capture of the port and shipping at Bandar Shapur.

RAN AMC KANIMBLA, gunboat COCKCHAFER, sloop LAWRENCE, corvette SNAPDRAGON, MSW trawlers ARTHUR CAVANAGH and LILAC, Anglo Iranian Oil Company salvage tugs ST ATHAN and DELAVAR, R.A.F. Launch 20, and dhow DAIF were in BISHOP.

Sloop LAWRENCE seized Gunboat CHAZBAAZ (Iran 350 grt) and Gunboat KARKAZ. (Iran 350 grt), sister vessels. These vessels were taken over by the Indian Navy and returned to Iran in 1945.

Gunboat CHAZBAAZ (I think, it may well be her sister)

Steamer HOHENFELS (Ger 7862 tons) was captured by a boarding party from KANIMBLA and renamed EMPIRE KEMAL. The steamer left Bandar Shahpur under tow for Karachi on 11 October.


HOHENFELS under water at high tide. It had been grounded by Australian captors, crew of HMS Kanimbla, on 1941-08-25, being salvaged over a period of six weeks. The cargo of ilimenite sand was discharged on 1941-10-04 to 1941-10-06 and Hohenfels sailed in tow for Karachi on the 1941-10-08.

Steamer MARIENFELS (Ger 7575 tons) was captured by a boarding party from HMAS KANIMBLA and was renamed EMPIRE RANI. The steamer sailed for Karachi on 8 September.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer WILDENFELS (Ger 6224 tons) was captured by a boarding party from KANIMBLA and was renamed EMPIRE RAJA. The steamer departed on 2 September for Karachi.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer STURMFELS (Ger 6288 tons) was captured by corvette HMS SNAPDRAGON and was renamed EMPIRE KUMARI. The steamer sailed for Karachi on 5 September. She was torpedoed and lost in August 1942



Steamer BARBARA (FI 3065 tons) was set afire, but sloop LAWRENCE put a fire fighting unit aboard the steamer, assisted by ARTHUR CAVANAGH and DELAVAR. The steamer was renamed EMPIRE TAJ. The steamer departed Bandar Shahpur under of tow of SNAPDRAGON on 3 September 1941 for Karachi. At Chahbar on 9 September, Australian YARRA took over the tow and they arrived at Karachi on 13 September.



Tanker BRONTE (FI 4769 tons) was set afire by her crew, but was salved and renamed EMPIRE PERI. On 4 September, tanker BRONTE left Basra in tow of British sloop FALMOUTH for Karachi.


Bandar Shapur waterway, Iran, 1941-08-25. HMS KANIMBLA (fully manned by an Australian crew, alongside the burning italian tanker BRONTE. the crew of BRONTE had set their ship on fire in an attempt to prevent it being captured but a salvage crew from KANIMBLA extinguished the blaze within eight hours.
 
Last edited:
25th AUGUST 1941 Cont'd
RED SEA (Cont'd)
Steamer WEISSENFELS (Ger 7861 tons) was scuttled and was beyond salvage.


See:
http://navyleague.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/The-Navy-Vol_70_No_1-Jan-2008.pdf


Steamer CABOTO (FI 5225 grt) was scuttled to prevent her capture sloop LAWRENCE. The steamer had been set afire, but the fire was extinguished by LAWRENCE, ARTHUR CAVANAGH, and DELAVAR. The steamer was towed by sloop SHOREHAM to Karachi departing on 1 September.


CABOTO on fire whilst tied up alongside in the in the Bandar Shapur waterway

Gunboat COCKCHAFER captured a floating dock.

US steamers PUERTO RICO and ANNISTON CITY were at Bandar Shapur but were unharmed.

Operation MARMALADE was the destruction of Iranian Naval Forces at Khorramshahr at the junction of the Shatt Al-Arab and the Karun River. Sloops FALMOUTH and HMAS YARRA, Kenyan launch BALEEKA, and armed river tug SOURIYA operated at Khorranshahr.


YARRA sank Gunboat BABR (Iran 950 grt) at Khorranshahr in Operation MARMALADE and captured gunboats CHAROGH and SIMORGH, depot ship IVY, and tug NEYROU.


Khorramshahr, Persian Gulf. 1941-08-21. H.MASs.YARRA is proceeding in company of HMS FALMOUTH to the entrance of Karun River on an operation planned to destroy or capture Iranian warships and the occupation and holding of the naval barracks situated on the left bank of the river. In the subsequent action the Iranian sloop BABR was destroyed and two other gunboats( the CHAZBAAZ and KARKAZ) captured. Ninety Iranians, including three officers, were taken prisoner and brought aboard YARRA. Picture shows karun river, with persian sloop "BABR" aground and burning and tugs and depot ship alongside naval base after capture by.YARRA. In the defense of the Iranian naval base, the Iranian Naval Commander in Chief Rear Admiral Bayendor was killed ashore

Steamer HILDA (FI 4901 tons) was captured at Banda Addas on 27 August by RAN sloop YARRA. The ship was afire, but the fires were extinguished. The sloop towed her to Chahbar Bay before a salvage tug was required. The departed Chahbar Bay for Karachi under tow of the tug SYDNEY THUBRON on 8 September.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Operation CRACKLER was the capture of the oil refinery on the island of Abadan.

Armed yacht SEABELLE, sloop SHOREHAM, RIN Aux MSW LILAVATI, armed river steamers IHSAN and ZENOBIA, five Eureka motor boats, two motor dhows, and one motor launch were deployed against Abadan in CRACKLER. Sloop SHOREHAM sank Iranian gunboat PALANG.

The landing of troops at Abadan was Operation DEMON.

Operation MOPUP was successfully undertaken on 26 August to clear the Khazalabad area between Khorramshahr and Abadan.

Convoy BA.5 departed Bombay, escorted by AMC HECTOR and aux PVs DIPAVATI and SONAVATI. The patrol vessels were detached on the 26th. The convoy was dispersed on the 31st.

CL EMERALD arrived at Seychilles.
Pacific/Australia
CL DANAE arrived at Singapore.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 25 AUGUST TO DAWN 26 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.
1600 hrs A single enemy aircraft believed to be on photoreconnaissance crossed the Island at a great height; no interception was made.

0306-0345 hrs Air raid alert for two enemy BR 20 aircraft which approach the Island and cross the coast singly, dropping hundreds of incendiary bombs near Birkirkara, Mosta, Naxxar and Madalena. Two Hurricanes are scrambled but there are no searchlight illuminations and no interceptions.

OPERATIONS REPORTS MONDAY 25 AUGUST 1941

ROYAL NAVY Taku sailed for Gibraltar and UK.

AIR HQ Arrivals 1 Sunderland. Departures 1 Sunderland. 69 Squadron Marylands on striking force patrols Lampedusa, Kerkennah, Misurat. Two Marylands on morning and evening patrols to relocate the Italian Fleet south of Sardinia. Photoreconnaissance east coast of Sicily and Calabrian coast, including aerodromes. 38 Squadron 9 Wellingtons sent in 3 waves to attack Tripoli dropped bombs and incendiaries causing fires and damage to buildings. 1 Wellington, pilot Sgt Gilbert, crashed on landing at Luqa. 105 Squadron 3 Blenheims sent to attack enemy shipping unable to locate target.


Halder's Diary 25 August 1941




 
Last edited:
26 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type IXc DKM U-505


Neutral
Gato Class Submarine USS SILVERSIDES (SS-236)


Auk Class MSW USS AUK (AM-57)


ELCO 77' Class PT USS PT49
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Allied
Flower Class Corvette HMCS VANCOUVER (K-240)


Kiwi Class ASW Trawler HMNZS TUI (T-234)


MMS I Class Coastal MSW HMS MMS 80 (J-580)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Elco 77' Class HMS MTB 307
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses

UBOATS
Arrivals
Kiel: U-46
St. Nazaire: U-552

At Sea 26 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-69, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-129, U-141, U-143, U-145, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-564, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-570, U-571, U-652, U-751, U-752

43 Boats

OPERATIONS
East Front
Arctic
U-571 torpedoed the depot ship MARIJA ULJANOVA (VMF 3870 grt), causing the total loss of the ship. According to Russian sources, while the DD URITSKYI stood to the stricken vessel to try and save her, the Pre-WWI DD VALERIAN KUYBYSHEV dropped depth charges.U-571 was hit and suffered minor damaged with a leak from the conning tower hatch door.

Photo of the DD VALERIAN KUYBYSHEV, the first VMF DD in Arctic to damage a U-Boat.

German sources differ in details and state that at 0459 hrs the MARIJA ULJANOVA, escorted by DDs URITSKYI and VALERIAN KUYBYSHEV, was hit on the starboard side aft by one torpedo from U-571 27 miles north of Teriberskij lighthouse and hit by a coup de grace at 0502 hrs. Tghere is no mention of damage to U-571 in German records. However the German account does state U-571 was forced to dive and evade by the sustained depth charge attacks and was forced to return to port after that. After chasing away the U-boat with depth charges the VMF DDs returned and VALERIAN KUJBYSHEV picked up 14 survivors who had been blown overboard by the explosions.

Two hours after being hit about 11 metres from the stern of MARIJA ULJANOVA broke off, but the vessel remained afloat and was taken in tow by URITSKYI, later assisted by the Soviet salvage tug PAMYAT' RUSLANA. The screen was reinforced at some point by VMF DDsGROMKYI and GREMIASKYI, one SKR patrol vessel and three MO SCs. LW a/c unsuccessfully attacked the ships twice, the Soviets claiming two a/c shot down. The next day, the badly damaged ship was beached at Teriberka and declared a total loss. She was later used as oil storage hulk and broken up after the end of the war.

VMF Submarine depot ship. MARIJA ULJANOVA under her former name YAN RUDZUTAK

North Sea
DD INTREPID arrived at Sheerness on the 28th to disembark ammunition. The DD then proceeded to refitting at London, arriving on the 29th. The DD departed Sheerness for Scapa Flow on 23 October after the refit.

DD TARTAR departed the Tyne and joined convoy FS.577 as additional AA protection to the Humber. The DD arrived at Sheerness on the 27th to disembark ammunition prior to going up river to refit. DD TARTAR arrived at London on the 28th for refitting which continued until 17 October.

Northern Waters
DD INTREPID departed Scapa Flow to join convoy ES.78 off May Island and act as additional escort to Sheerness

West Coast
CA LONDON departed the Clyde after boiler cleaning and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 27th.

Med/Biscay
CLs AJAX and NEPTUNE departed Alexandria escorting ML cruiser LATONA and DDs JERVIS, GRIFFIN, and HAVOCK in the seventh series of the TREACLE operation. The ships returned to Alexandria on the 27th.

CLA CARLISLE, having passed through the Canal on the 24th, arrived at Alexandria. DDs DECOY and HOTSPUR arrived at Alexandria from Haifa.

Submarine RORQUAL laid fifty mines off Skinari.

Sub Lt (A) G. B. Pudney (RN) was killed when his Hurricane of 806 Sqn was shot down ten miles north of Sidi Barrani.

The 166th Sth African Minesweeping Group, consisting of trawlers GRIBB, IMHOFF, SEKSERN, and TREERN, arrived at Suez. The trawlers were sent to Haifa to fit out.

Nth Atlantic
Canadian troop convoy TC.12B departed Halifax with British steamers DOMINION MONARCH, EMPRESS OF RUSSIA, and STRATHDEN. The convoy was escorted on 26 and 27 August by DDs ANNAPOLIS and RICHMOND. On the 27th, DDs ASSINIBOINE, HARVESTER, HAVELOCK, RIPLEY, SAGUENAY, and ST.LAURENT joined the convoy and remained with it until its arrival on 1 September.

Central Atlantic
Convoy ST.1 of four steamers departed Freetown. The convoy arrived at Takoradi on the 31st.

Sth Atlantic
CA HAWKINS arrived at Simonstown.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 26 AUGUST TO DAWN 27 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.

1705 hrs 15 Macchi 200 fighters are spotted circling 40-50miles north of the Island. 18 Hurricanes are scrambled and successfully intercept the raiders who are in three formations. One Macchi is destroyed and one probably destroyed. The Hurricane of Sgt J Maltby fails to return. An extensive search by Swordfish and Hurricanes finds no trace of his aircraft.

2244-2326 hrs Raid no 826 Air raid alert for two enemy BR 20 bombers which approach the Island from the north and cross the coast singly, dropping hundreds of incendiary bombs on the Dockyard Victualling Yard, Boiler Wharf and a nearby depot, as well as Vittoriosa, Marsa, Birkirkara and Hamrun. Most incendiaries were quickly dealt with before they had time to start fires. Hurricane fighters are scrambled. One bomber is illuminated by searchlights and turns away towards the south. Hurricanes follow and attack; the raider's rear gunner returns fire but the bomber is badly damaged. The second is illuminated and heads away to the south west where it is engaged by Hurricanes and badly damaged. The first aircraft is seen to turn upside down and the second begins to lose height, smoking badly.
 
Last edited:
27 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Neutral
ELCO 77' Class PT USS PT-76
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-202 sank trawler LADYLOVE (UK 230 grt) of the Icelandic coast. Her entire crew of 14 were lost. At 1435 hrs, U-202 fired one G7e torpedo at a trawler about 110 miles sth of Iceland and observed the vessel to sink within 15 seconds after being hit on the starboard side. This must have been the LADYLOVE which was reported missing from 30 August.


Convoy OS-4
U-557 sank MV EMBASSAGE (UK 4954 grt) whilst on passage from Hull to Pepel via the Northern waters route. She was carrying a mixed cargo and a crew of 42, 39 of whom were to perish in the attack. At 0426 hrs the EMBASSAGE in convoy OS-4 was torpedoed and sunk by U-557 about 100 miles west of AchillIsland. Just 3 crew members were picked up after four days by HMCS ASSINBOINE (I-18) and landed at Greenock.


U-557 sank MV SAUGOR (UK 6303 grt) whilst on passage from London to Calcutta via Freetown, with a cargo of general stores and 28 a/c. She had a crew of 82, of whom 59 were to perish in the attack. Between 0125 and 0143 hrs, U-557 fired four single torpedoes at the convoy OS-4 west of Ireland and reported three ships sunk and another damaged which was hit after the torpedo had missed the intended target. In fact, only SEGUNDO and SAUGOR were hit and sunk. 52 crew members and seven gunners from the SAUGOR were lost. The master and 22 survivors were picked up by the British rescue ship PERTH and landed at Greenock the next day.


U-557 sank MV SEGUNDO (Nor 4414 grt) in the Western Approaches. She was on passage from Liverpool to Curacao, travelling empty with a crew of 34, 7 of whom would lose their lives in the attack. The details of the attack are that the SEGUNDO was struck on the port side at the #2 hold by a torpedo and sank by the bow within seven minutes. The crew stopped the engines and abandoned ship in the starboard lifeboat and the port motor boat and by jumping overboard. After about 30 minutes, HMS LULWORTH picked up two men from rafts, then 23 survivors from the boats and after a couple of hours another two men hanging on to some debris. The master, five crew members and the female secretary Gudrun Torgersen (the wife of the first mate) were lost.

The first mate Arnt Olav Torgersen was awarded the Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea. He jumped into the rough sea from a lifeboat in an attempt to rescue two men, but in spite of his desperate efforts they drifted away. He was not able to return to the boat and clung to a hatch cover until he was rescued by the sloop.


U-557 sank MV TREMODA (UK 4736 grt) in the Western Approaches, west of Ireland. The ship was on passage from London to Cameroons, via Duala carrying war stores when lost, with a crew of 53 aboard, 32 of whom would perish in the attack. At 0205 hrs the TREMODA in convoy OS-4 was torpedoed by U-557 west of AchillIsland and was last seen drifting the next day. The master, 25 crew members and six gunners were lost. 20 crew members and one gunner were picked up by FFL CHEVREUIL and landed at Kingston, Jamaica.



UBOATS
Arrivals
Brest: U-504
Kirkenes: U-571
St. Nazaire: U-69

Departures
Trondheim: U-81

At Sea 27 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-129, U-141, U-143, U-145, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-652, U-751, U-752

40 Boats

Type VIIC U-570 (DKM 765 grt) was captured by RN and CC forces. On 27 August, U-570 spent much of the morning submerged. She had been four days at sea and this was to give respite to a crew that was suffering acutely from sea sickness (several had been incapacitated). Earlier that morning, she had been attacked by a RAF CC Hudson of 269 sqn flown by Sgt Mitchell and operating from Iceland. The Hudson's bomb-racks failed to release its DCs during the attack.

The U-boat surfaced at around 1050 hrs immediately below a second 269 Sqn Hudson. Flown by Squadron Leader James Thompson, it was patrolling the area after being summoned by radio by Mitchell. The U-Boat skipper, (Rahmlow), who had climbed out onto the bridge, heard the approaching Hudson's engines and ordered a crash-dive. Thompson's aircraft reached the submarine before she was fully submerged and dropped its four 250-lb DCs—one detonated just 10 yards from the U-boat.

The U-boat quickly resurfaced and around ten of the crew emerged. The Hudson fired on them with mgs, but ceased when the U-boat crew displayed a whits sheet in surrender. An account of what happened was given to British naval intelligence interrogators by the captured crew members—the DC explosions had almost rolled the boat over, knocked out all electrical power, smashed instruments, caused water leaks and contaminated the air on the boat. The inexperienced crew believed the contamination to be chlorine caused by acid from leaking battery cells mixing with sea-water, and the engine-compartment crew panicked and fled forward to escape the gas. Restoring electrical power—for the underwater electric motors and for lighting—would have been straightforward, yet there was nobody remaining in the engine compartment to do this. The submarine was dead in the water and in darkness. Rahmlow believed the chlorine would make it fatal to stay submerged so he resurfaced. The sea was too rough for the crew to man their anti-aircraft gun so they displayed a white flag to forestall another, probably fatal, depth charge attack from the Hudson—they were unaware the aircraft had dropped all its depth-charges.

Most of the crew remained on the deck of the submarine as Thompson circled above them, his a/c now joined by a second Hudson that had been en route from Scotland to Iceland and had broken off its journey to lend assistance. A radio request for help resulted in a PBY Catalina of 209 sqn being scrambled at Reykjavik; it reached the scene three hours later. The German crew radioed their situation to the German naval high-command, destroyed their radio, smashed their Enigma Machine and dumped its parts overboard along with the boat's secret papers. Dönitz ordered U-boats in the area to go to the aid of U-570 after receiving this report and the U-82 responded, but was prevented from reaching U-570 by Allied air patrols.

U-570's transmission was in plain language and it was intercepted by the British. Adm Percy Noble, commander of Western Approcahes Cmd, immediately ordered ships to race to the scene.] By early afternoon, fuel levels had forced both Hudsons to return to Iceland. The Catalina, a very long-range aircraft, was ordered to watch the submarine until Allied ships arrived. If none came before sunset, the aircraft was ordered to signal (with aldis lamp) U-570's crew to take to the water, then sink the submarine. The first vessel to reach the U-boat was ASW trawler HMS NORTHERN CHIEF which arrived around 10pm, and was guided to the scene by flares dropped by the Catalina. The aircraft then returned to Iceland after circling the U-570 for 13 hrs.

The German crew remained on board U-570

Overnight; they made no attempt to scuttle their boat as NORTHERN CHIEF had signalled she would open fire and not rescue survivors from the water if they did this (The trawler's captain, N.L. Knight, had been ordered to prevent the submarine from being scuttled by any means). During the night, five more Allied vessels reached the scene, the ASW trawler KINGSTON AGATE, two ASW whalers, RN DD HMS BURWELL and RCN DD HMCS NIAGARA

At daybreak, there were a series of messages by Aldis Lamp between the Allies and Germans, with the Germans repeatedly requesting to be taken off as they were unable to stay afloat, and the British refusing to evacuate them until they secured the submarine and stopped it from sinking—the British were concerned that the Germans would deliberately leave behind them a sinking U-boat if they were evacuated. The situation became more confused when a small float-plane (a Northrop N-3PB of 330 (Nor) sqn) appeared. Unaware of the surrender, it attacked U-570 with small bombs and fired on the NORTHERN CHIEF (which returned fire). No damage was done and BURWELL ordered the aircraft away by radio.

The weather worsened; several attempts to attach a tow-line to the U-boat were unsuccessful. Believing the Germans were being obstructive, BURWELL's captain, S.R.J. Woodsordered warning shots to be fired with a machine gun, but five of the German crew were accidentally hit and slightly wounded. With much difficulty, an officer and three sailors from the trawler HMS KINGSTON AGATE reached the U-Boat using a Carley Float. After a quick search failed to find the U-boat's Enigma machine, they attached a tow line and carried out the transfer of the five wounded men and the U-Boat's officers to the KINGSTON AGATE. The remaining crew were taken on board HMCS NIAGARA, which by this time had come alongside the U-boat.

The ships began slowly sailing to Iceland with U-570 under tow, and with a relay of Hudsons and Catalinas constantly patrolling overhead. They arrived at dawn on 29 August. There, the submarine was beached as she had been taking on water and was thought to be in danger of sinking.

U-570 with an RN ASW Trawler standing to, photographed from a circling RAF Catalina

There were definately no US warships involved in the capture of U-570.

OPERATIONS
Baltic

East Front
Arctic
U-752 sank Trawler RT-8 SELD (SU 608 grt); in the Archangel fishing banks nth of the port, with all of the crew lost. At 1210 hrs, u-752 fired one G7e torpedo at a patrol vessel off Cape Kanin Nos and observed how the ship disappeared in an explosion after being hit aft of the funnel after 1 minute 37 seconds. The ship sunk must have been the fishing trawler rt-8 SELD which had left port in late August 1941 and was reported missing in October 1941 after she failed to return.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

North Sea
CLA EURYALUS and DD PUCKERIDGE departed Scapa Flow at 0100 to join BB MALAYA and DD PUNJABI off MayIsland and escort the BB to Scapa Flow.

Northern Waters
DD LIVELY departed Scapa Flow for Greenock having completed her work up. The DD arrived on the 28th.

West Coast
ON.10 departed Liverpool. The convoy was joined on the 29th by DDs KEPPEL, LINCOLN, SABRE, SHIKARI, and VENOMOUS, corvettes ALISMA and DIANELLA, and ASW trawlers LADY ELSA and MAN O.WAR. On 1 September, the convoy was joined by corvettes DIANTHUS, HONEYSUCKLE, and SNOWBERRY. DDs KEPPEL, LINCOLN, SABRE, and SHIKARI were detached on that date. On 2 September, DD NIAGARA and corvettes ALYSSE, CELANDINE, and COLLINGWOOD joined. These escorts, less DIANTHUS, were detached on 10 September. The convoy was dispersed on 11 September and the corvette was detached.

Western Approaches
Canadian T/Lt C. A. Keefer RCNVR, of escort vessel LULWORTH, drowned rescuing a passenger from Norwegian steamer INGRIA. Both ships were in convoy OS.4.. Keefer was awarded the Albert Medal.

Med/Biscay
CLAs NAIAD, PHOEBE, CL GALATEA, departed Alexandria covering ML cruiser ABDIEL and DDs KIPLING, KINGSTON, and HOTSPUR in the eighth series of the TREACLE operation (rotation of army formations defending Tobruk). PHOEBE was torpedoed by RA a/c in a twilight attack at 2145 on the 27th, 100 miles NE of Tobruk.

The light cruiser reported eight ratings killed. DDs JERVIS, KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, and HASTY departed Alexandria to escort the damage ship. PHOEBE was able to proceed to Alexandria under her own power. ML cruiser ABDIEL and DDs KIPLING, KINGSTON, and HOTSPUR returned to Alexandria from Tobruk, independently, arriving on the 28th. The CLA after temporary repairs was sent to the USA for permanent repairs. She was undocked at Alexandria on 9 October and passed through the Suez Canal on 13 October. On 26 October, the cruiser arrived at Durban from Mombasa and departed on 28 October for Simonstown. PHOEBE was under repair at New York Navy Yard from 20 November to 15 April 1942.

RAN sloop PARRAMATTA departed Port Said for Famagusta with Motor transport ship SALAMAUA of Serial 24, the last of the GUILLOTINE operations. The ships, plus steamer RODI, arrived at Famagusta on the 29th. The sloop returned to Alexandria.

Whaler SKUDD III (RN 245 grt) was sunk by the LW at Tobruk. T/Midshipman J. T. Bloxham RNR, and two ratings were killed. T/Sub Lt E. R. Swift RNVR, died of wounds. Two ratings were missing and six ratings were wounded.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

An Italian convoy of steamers ERNESTO, AQUITANIA, COL DI LANA, and POZARICA departed Naples on the 26th for Tripoli escorted by DDs ORIANI and EURO and TBs PROCIONE, ORSA, and CLIO. TB PEGASO joined at Trapani.

Submarine URGE unsuccessfully attacked steamer POZARICAoff Marettimo.

On the 27th, Submarine URGE torpedoed steamer AQUITANIA. The steamer and TB ORSA arrived at Trapani on the 27th. The convoy arrived at Tripoli on the 29th.

Submarine URGE was not damaged by heavy counterattacks by TB CLIO.

Submarine TRIUMPH captured, then sank a small fishing vessel off the FurianoRiver.

Dutch submarine O.21 departed Gibraltar for patrol in the South Tyrrhenian Sea.

Submarine UPHOLDER arrived at Malta from patrol.

Red Sea/Indian Ocean
CA EXETER departed Aden, escorting troopship MAURETANIA, and arrived at Durban on 2 September.

Malta
MALTA GARRISON AUGUST 1941
Malta Tank Troop
  • Malta Signal Company
  • HQ Fixed Defences
  • HQ Royal Artillery (RA): 4 Coast Regt RA, 17 Defence Regt RA, 12 Defence Regt RA, 1 Coast Regt Royal Malta Artillery (RMA), 26 Defence Regt, 12 GOR, 12 AADC HQ
  • 7 Light Ack Ack Brigade (LAA): 32 LAA Regt RA, 74 LAA Regt RA, 3 LAA Regt RMA, 4 Searchlight Regt RA/RMA
  • 10 Ack Ack Brigade (AA): 2 Heavy Ack Ack (HAA) Regt RMA, 4 HAA Regt RA, 7 HAA Regt RA, 10 HAA Regt RA, 11 HAA Regt RMA
  • Royal Engineers (RE): HQ Fortress RE, 24 Fortress Coy RE, Bomb Disposal Section RE, No 1 Works Coy RE (Malta Territorial Force), No 2 Works Coy RE (Malta Territorial Force), 173 Tunnelling Coy RE, Works Services
  • Northern Infantry Brigade: 4th Bn the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt), 8th Bn Manchester Regt, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers, 1st Bn Kings Own Malta Regiment, 2nd Bn Kings Own Malta Regiment
  • Southern Infantry Brigade: 1st Bn Hampshire Regt, 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 3rdBn Kings Own Malta Regt, 8th Bn Kings Own Royal Regt
  • Central Infantry Brigade: 11th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, 1st Bn Cheshire Regt, 2nd Bn Royal West Kent Regt
  • Royal Army Medical Corps: 30 Coy 90 General Hospital, No 45 General Hospital, 15 Field Ambulance, 161 Field Ambulance, 57 Fd Hygiene Section, Convalescent Depot, Medical Stores
  • Royal Army Ordnance Corps: LAD Det (12 Fd Regt RA), 2 Ordnance Depots, 2 Ordnance MT Sub-Depots, 1 Ordnance Ammunition Depot and Sub-Depot, 2 Ordnance Workshops
  • Other: RA CH D (7CE, 6RC), 72 Det Royal Army Pay Corps, Army Dental Corps, QAIMNS, CMP, RTD, Kings Own Malta Regiment Static Group

AIR RAIDS DAWN 27 AUGUST TO DAWN 28 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.

No air raids.

2305 hrs The sound of engines is heard off Gozo.

2355 hrs 8th Bn Manchester Regiment is ordered to 'stands to' at Gozo beach defence posts. Reports are received on Malta that a number of enemy motor torpedo boats are in the vicinity of the Island. Malta beach posts are ordered to 'Stand to'.

0145 hrs Orders are issued to all posts firing over GrandHarbour to be ready for 'Stand to'.

0245 hrs Central Infantry Brigade orders coastal defence posts surrounding GrandHarbour and MarsamxettoHarbour to be manned.

0330 hrs All posts are now manned.

OPERATIONS REPORTS WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST 1941

ROYAL NAVY Upholder returned from patrol off Marittimo, having sunk a ship thought to be Italian Fleet Auxiliary Tarvisio, a 2000 ton merchant vessel, and obtained an extremely doubtful hit on a cruiser.

AIR HQ Arrivals 2 Blenheim, 1 Sunderland, 2 Wellington. Departures 1 Sunderland. 69 Squadron Marylands reconnaissance Marittimo-Pantelleria, shipping patrol south of Lampedusa and photoreconnaissance of Comiso, Gerbini and Catania. 105 Squadron 5 Blenheims sent on a special sweep of Ionian Sea.

HAL FAR 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 9 Swordfish attacked a convoy 37 miles north west of Lampedusa. Due to cloud cover only one torpedo was released hitting a merchant ship. One Swordfish crashed on take-off; crew safe.
 
Last edited:
28 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Axis
Type VIIc DKM U-352


Type VIIc DKM U-585
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Type VIIc DKM U-754


Allied
Bangor Class MSW HMS BEAUMARIS (J-07)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Bar Class Boom Defence Vessel HMS BARSTOKE (Z-32)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses
U-554 sank MV OTAIO (UK 10298 grt) in the Western Approaches whilst the the ship was on passage Liverpool to Sydney (Australia) via Curacao. The ship was carrying a mixed cargo, with a crew of 71, 13 of whom were to perish in the attack. At 1641 hrs the OTAIO in convoy OS-4 was torpedoed and sunk by U-558 about 330 miles NW of Fastnet Rock. Twelve crew members and one gunner were lost. The master, 53 crew members and four gunners were picked up by DD HMS VANOC and landed at Liverpool.


UBOATS
Arrivals
Oxhöft: U-145

Departures
Helsingör: U-137
Kirkenes: U-571
Lorient, France: U-66
Stormelö: U-139, U-142
Trondheim: U-85

At Sea 28 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-129, U-139, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-571, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 boats

At 0303 hrs, west of Ireland: U-101 was forced to dive by a DD while operating against convoy OS-4. Several escorts then dropped a total of 30 DCs on the boat during a series of attacks that lasted three hours. The attacks were accurate, but the boat survived, with a damaged periscope. She was unable to make contact with the convoy.

OPERATIONS
East Front
Baltic
Soviet gunboats BK-213 and BK-214 raided the Finnish coast and intercepted a convoy of Finnish motorboats towing pontoons. Soviet commanders decided to not open gunfire, to not alert Finnish patrol boats, and the pair started a series of "taran" (ramming) attacks. In a short time, 4 Finnish motorboats were sunk alongside 2 pontoons, while other 2 pontoons were destroyed. Finnish sources confirm such losses (Soviets actually claimed a bit more: 10 targets sunk), and they suffered 3 killed and 4 wounded.

The VMF evacuation of Tallinnin
The Soviet evacuation of Tallinnin, also called Tallinnin disaster or Russian Dunkirk, was a Soviet operation to evacuate the 190 ships of the Baltic Fleet and a large number of Red Army troops and technical personel the fleet's encircled main base of Tallinnin during August 1941. It was a success, but a very costly operation

German forces advanced rapidly through the Baltic States, and by the end of August the Estonian capital of Tallinnin was surrounded, while a large part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet was bottled up in Tallinnin harbour.
In expectation of a Soviet breakout, DKM and the Finnish Navy carried out intensive minelaying activity from 8 August 1941 off Cape Juminda on what is known as the Lahemaa coast. While VMF MSWs tried to clear a path for retreating Soviet naval forces through the minefields, German coastal artillery installed a battery of 150 mm (5.9 in) guns near Cape Juminda and the Finnish navy gathered their 2nd MTB Flotilla with VMV9, VMV10, VMV11 and VMV17. At the same time the German 3. Schnellbootflottille with S-26, S-27, S-39, S-40 and S-101 was concentrated at Suomenlinna near Helsinki and a full gruppen of Ju88s from KG 806 based on airfields in Estonia were put on alert. On 19 August the final German assault on Tallinn began.

During the night of 27/28 August 1941 the Soviet defences, centres on their 10th Rifles Corps disengaged from the enemy and boarded transports in Tallinnin.

The embarkation was protected by smoke screens, however, the mine-sweeping in the days before the evacuation began was ineffective due to bad weather, and there were no Soviet a/c available for protecting the embarkation. This, together with heavy German shelling and aerial bombardment killed at least 1,000 of the evacuees in the harbor.

Twenty large transports, eight auxiliary ships, nine small transports, a tanker, a tug, and a tender were organized into four convoys, protected by the VMF KIROV, with Admiral Vladimir Tribuits on board, two Leningrad class leaders , 9 DDs (some modern), three TBs, 12 subs, ten modern and fifteen obsolete minehunters, 22 MSWs, 21 SCs, three gun boats, a ML, 13 PVs and 11 MTBs.

The armada started to move out at 2200 on the evening of 27 August. Five ships were sunk on 28 August by LW Ju88s. At 1600, 28 August, the first ship approached the heavily mined waters off Cape Juminda. The first ship to hit a mine and sink was the steamer ELLA, and a few moments after her, several other ships hit mines, while German bombers and Finnish coastal artillery opened fire. In the attempt to force the passage the Soviet Navy lost five DDs, two TBs, a PV, three minehunters, three submarines, two gun boats, two smaller warships and fifteen transports. Two DDs, a flotilla leader, a minehunter, and a transport were also damaged.

Later that evening the armada was attacked by Finnish and German torpedo boats, and the chaotic situation made organized mine sweeping impossible. Darkness fell at 2200 and the Soviet armada stopped and anchored at midnight in the heavily mined water.

Early on 29 August Ju 88 bombers again attacked the remains of the convoys off Suursaari, sinking two transports. Meanwhile, the undamaged ships made best speed to reach the safety of the Kronstadt naval base near Leningradwhich was heavily protected by shore based coastall artillery and AA. The heavily damaged merchant ship KAZAKHSTAN disembarked 2300 men of the 5000 on board before steaming on to Kronstadt. In the following days ships operating from Suursaari rescued 12,160 survivors.

Despite heavy losses , the VMF evacuation of Tallinn was a success , evacuating 165 ships, 28,000 civilaians,, and about the same number of troops, 66,000 tons of equipment. . However, at least 12,400 are thought to have drowned in circumstances little known outside the former Soviet Union. The event was long downplayed by the Communist regime after the war. The evacuation may have been the bloodiest naval disaster since the Battle Of Lepanto

Summary of known losses
Icebreaker KRISJANIS VALDEMARS (Ex-Latvian 1932 grt),


Izyaslav Class DD KALININ (VMF 1260 grt) was mined and sunk off Cape Juminda.



Orfrey Class DD ARTEM (VMF 1310 grt), modified Novik and Derzkhi class WWI DDs


Novik Class DD VOLADARSKI (VMF 1260 grt) a WWI era DD
NO IMAGE FOUND]


Storozhevoi Class DD SKORYI (VMF 2192 grt)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Uragan Class Guardship SNEG (VMF 450 grt)


Uragan Class Guardship TSKLON (VMF 450 grt)



Gunboat I-8 (VMF 33 grt) 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda


(Near sister class I-124 Class armoured gunboats)


MSW No. 71 (VMF 150 grt) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MSW No. 42 (VMF 150 grt) - 28 August 1941, off Cape Juminda
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Uragan class Guard ship SATURN (VMF 450 grt) (possibly the CIKLON)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MO-4 Class SC MO 202 (VMF 50 grt)
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

TK Type "MTB" TK 103 (VMF 32 grt) actually a PV as no torps carried
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Serie IX Bis Class Sub S-5 (VMF 856 grt)

Serie IX class leader S-1, a sister to the Serie IX Bis Sub S-5
 
Last edited:
28 AUGUST 1941 (Cont'd)
OPERATIONS (CONT'D)
East Front (Cont'd)
Baltic(Cont'd)
Series III Class Sub ShCh-301 (VMF 578 grt) was lost 28 Aug 1941to a mine.


MV JARVAMAA (SU 1363 grt) The Russian controlled Estonian steamship JARVAMAA was mined by the Finns and sank 10 miles E of Hogland Island, Finland on the 28th August 1941

(Note this list is very incomplete. At least 25 merchant ships were sunk, some may have been previously mentioned).

VMF CL KIROV was damaged by the LW at Tallinn.

VMF DDs LENINGRAD and MINSK were badly damaged in minings off Tallinn.

Northern Waters
DD PUCKERIDGE embarked the First Lord of the Admiralty and transported him to Scrabster. The destroyer returned to Scapa Flow later the same day.

West Coast
British tanker DONOVANIA was damaged by the LW three miles 208° from St Ann's Head. The steamer proceeded to Milford Haven. One crewman was killed on the tanker.

Med/Biscay
CLs AJAX and NEPTUNE departed Alexandria escorting ML cruiser LATONA and DDs NAPIER, JACKAL, and DECOY in the ninth series of the TREACLE operation. The ships returned to Alexandria on the 29th.

Submarine RORQUAL sank steamer CILICIA (FI 2747 grt) off Morea (off the south coast of Greece). Escorting torpedo boat ANTARES rammed the submarine and damaged her periscope.
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Submarine UNBEATEN unsuccessfully attacked an Italian submarine north of Sicily.

Submarine UTMOST unsuccessfully attacked a steamer east of Calabria.

Dutch submarine O.24 departed Gibraltar for patrol in the Gulf of Genoa

Nth Atlantic
CVE USS LONG ISLAND, CL NASHVILLE, and DDs LIVERMORE and KEARNY departed Bermuda on neutrality patrol. The patrol concluded at Bermuda on 9 September.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 28 AUGUST TO DAWN 29 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.

No air raids.

0625 hrs Troops on beach defence posts are ordered to 'Stand down'.

OPERATIONS REPORTS THURSDAY 28 AUGUST 1941

AIR HQ Arrivals 4 Blenheim, 1 Sunderland. Departures 3 Blenheim, 2 Hurricane, 1 Sunderland. 69 SquadronMaryland searches of Ionian Sea, photoreconnaissance of Tripoli and patrols eastern Sicilian and east Calabrian coasts. F/O Warburton dropped two 40lb bombs on buildings 10 miles west of Homs scoring direct hits and two more on barrack blocks south of Homs scoring a direct hit. 105 Squadron 5 Blenheims sent to attack merchant ships scoring several hits.

Halder's Diary 28 August 1941




 
Last edited:
29 AUGUST 1941
Known Reinforcements
Allied
Flower Class Corvette HMNoS EGLANTINE (K-197)


Fairmile B ML 280
[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Losses

UBOATS
Arrivals
Kiel: U-137
Lorient:U-67

At Sea 29 August 1941
U-38, U-43, U-66, U-71, U-73, U-77, U-81, U-82, U-83, U-84, U-85, U-95, U-96, U-101, U-105, U-106, U-108, U-111, U-125, U-129, U-139, U-141, U-142, U-143, U-202, U-206, U-207, U-432, U-433, U-451, U-501, U-553, U-557, U-558, U-561, U-562, U-563, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-571, U-652, U-751, U-752

45 boats

OPERATIONS
Northern Waters
BC REPULSE, CL SHEFFIELD, and DDs LIGHTNING, BADSWORTH, and VIVACIOUS departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde. The BC and CL were required for escort duties with convoy WS.11. The ships arrived in the Clyde in the forenoon of the 30th. The DDs returned to Scapa Flow, arriving just after sunrise on the 31st.

DD LAFOREY arrived at Scapa Flow to work up.

West Coast
DD ST.MARYS was damaged in a collision with troopship ROYAL ULSTERMAN in convoy SD 10 off the west coast of Scotland. The DD proceeded to Greenock for temporary repairs, then proceeded to Liverpool, arriving on 2 September. The DD was repaired at Liverpool, completing on 15 December.

SW Approaches
OG.73 departed Liverpool escorted by DDs CAMPBELTOWN, ST.ALBANS,WANDERER, and WESTCOTT, sloop FOWEY, corvettes GENTIAN, JASMIN, MYOSOTIS, PERIWINKLE, and STONECROP, AA ship SPRINGBANK, and ocean boarding vessel HILARY. The ocean boarding vessel was detached that night.

Med/Biscay
DDs GRIFFIN and HAVOCK departed Alexandria for Tobruk in the tenth and final series of the TREACLE operation. The DDs arrived back at Alexandria on the 30th.

DDs KINGSTON and HASTY departed Alexandria for Beirut.

An Italian convoy of troopships NEPTUNIA, OCEANIA, and VICTORIA, escorted by DDs AVIERE, DA NOLI, CAMICIA NERA, GIOBERTI, USODIMARE, and PESSAGNO, departed Naples for Tripoli. Submarine URGE made an unsuccessful attack on VICTORIA off Capri. Submarines UPHOLDER and URSULA departed Malta to intercept a convoy east of Tripoli.

DDs VIMY, VIDETTE, and WILD SWAN, corvettes CAMPANULA, WALLFLOWER, CAMPION, and HYDRANGEA, and motor launches ML.170 and ML.172 departed Gibraltar to patrol in the Straits of Gibraltar to intercept any U-boat attempting passage

Nth Atlantic
HX.147 departed Halifax escorted by AMC LACONIA and corvettes GLADIOLUS, MIMOSA, and WETASKIWIN. DD COLUMBIA joined on 2 September. On 8 September, the corvettes were detached when relieved by DDs AMAZON, BELMONT and BULLDOG, corvettes ACONIT, AUBRETIA, HEARTSEASE, and NIGELLA, and ASW trawlers DANEMAN, NORTHERN WAVE, and ST.APOLLO. DD COLUMBIA was detached on 8 September. On 11 September, DDs AMAZON, BELMONT, and BULLDOG and corvette ACONIT were detached. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 12 September.

Pacific/Australia
NZ manned CL ACHILLES departed Auckland and met British steamer RIMUTAKA off Cape Palliser. The steamer was escorted to 250 miles SE of Chatham Island. On 2 September, the steamer was detached and the CL escorted another steamer that it met back to Wellington.

Malta
AIR RAIDS DAWN 29 AUGUST TO DAWN 30 AUGUST 1941
Weather Sunny and hot.

1300 hrs Six enemy raiders are reported leaving the Sicilian coast. Malta fighters are scrambled but there is no interception.

1728-1740 hrs Air raid alert for 12 enemy aircraft which approach from the north. Six cross the coast over St Paul's Bay at great height, then recede without dropping any bombs. 20 Malta fighters are scrambled but there is no combat.

OPERATIONS REPORTS FRIDAY 29 AUGUST 1941

ROYAL NAVY Upholder and Ursula brought to short notice and sailed to intercept convoy east of Tripoli.

AIR HQ Arrivals 1 Bombay. Departures 2 Blenheim, 1 Bombay. 69 Squadron Marylands reconnaissance Tripoli, patrols of Cape Bon and western Sicily and photoreconnaissance Sicilian coast. Two 40lb bombs are dropped on land west of Lampedusa harbour. 38 Squadron 15 Wellingtons despatched to attack shipping and specified targets in Tripoli hitting vessels and buildings and causing damage and several fires. 830 Squadron Fleet Air Arm 9 Swordfish sent to attack a convoy of 6 destroyers and 3 merchant vessels south of Cape Spartivento. Owing to an effective smoke screen only one hit was scored on an 8000 ton merchant vessel. Two Hurricanes returning from a special patrol see a small schooner a mile offshore at Pozzello and dive to attack; no damage caused.

HAL FAR 2 Fulmars patrolled over Comiso, Gerbini and Catania, dropping two bombs on Gerbini and machine-gunning a control building.
 
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August 28 Thursday
ASIA: "Tenryu" was assigned to Truk, Caroline Islands to join Cruiser Division 18 of Japanese 4th Fleet. Captain Mitsutaro Goto was named her new commanding officer.

"Tatsuta Maru" departed Kobe, Japan. Among the passengers were 349 Jewish refugees.

Tokyo reassures United States it will not use military force against its neighbors. Japan requests talks with the US, indicating its desire for peace, and declared Japan;
"..offers broad assurances of its peaceful intent, including a comprehensive assurance that the Japanese Government has no intention of using without provocations military force against any neighboring nation".
Click to expand...

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarines U-101 and U-558 attacked Allied convoy OS-4 330 miles west of Ireland; U-558 sank British merchant ship "Otaio" (13 were killed, 58 survived); U-101's attack was unsuccessful and invited a 3-hour counterattack by 30 depth charges which caused little damage.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: Stavka disbands Voroshilov's Northwestern Theater headquarters.

Heeresgruppe Nord: With the German XLII Corps entering the Estonian capital Tallinn, Soviet "Red Banner" Baltic Fleet leaves port, heading 200 miles East through Gulf of Finland for Kronstadt near Leningrad. 200 vessels carrying Soviet 10th Rifle Corps sail in 7 groups starting at 1118 hours. Several convoys attempt to get through to Kronstadt, but incur heavy losses to mines and air attacks. At 1600 hours, Soviet ships become trapped in German/Finnish minefields off Cape Juminda, and it was soon targeted by shore-based artillery, German aircraft, and German and Finnish torpedo boats. Almost all the transports and many of the escort vessels from the Baltic fleet are sunk. Soviet submarines S-5 and Shch-301 of the Baltic Fleet are mined off Cape Juminda and sink in the Gulf of Finland. The main battlefleet with cruiser "Kirov", under the command of Vice-Admiral Vladimir Tributs, is the last to depart at 1452 hours. German Ju88 bombers attack immediately. Soviet destroyers "Artyom", "Kalinin", "Volodarsky", "Yakov Sverdlov" are all sunk by mines. The Izyaslav-class destroyer "Kalinin", Soobrazitelnyy-class destroyer "Skoryi", Orfey-class destroyer "Volodarski" and Novik-class destroyer "Yakov Sverdlov" were all among the Soviet ships that sank in the Baltic Sea during the evacuation. A total of 15 warships and submarines and 15 transports ships are sunk (12,000 lives lost). Soviet ships anchor overnight, unable to proceed through the minefield.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: German 3.Panzergruppe repulses Soviet counterattacks in Velikiye Luki sector.

General Halder recorded in his diary: the panzer divisions in Army Group Center's 2.Panzergruppe and 3.Panzergruppe were operating with average daily tank strengths of 45 percent, with 7.Panzer-Divisionen the lowest at only 24 percent strength.

Heeresgruppe Süd: Rundstedt orders Kleist's 1.Panzergruppe and the 6.Armee and 17.Armee to cross the Dnepr in as many places possible. Axis troops launched a renewed offensive against Odessa, Ukraine. The Soviet NKVD blew up Zaporozhye hydroelectric dam, which provided power to much of the industrial cities of the lower Dnepr, in the Ukraine. Thousands of civilians who resided downstream were killed by the flooding. One of the great symbols of Soviet modernization is utterly destroyed to prevent the Germans from using it.

The killing of 23,600 Hungarian Jews begins at Kamianets-Podilskyi (southwest of Kiev) as their nation refuses German demands to repatriate the deported citizens. the SS marches the Hungarian Jews to bomb craters at Kamianets-Podilskyi, orders them to undress, and then machine-guns them. Those who didn't die from the gunfire are buried alive under the weight of corpses that piled atop them. Tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews had been expelled from Hungary and had migrated to the Ukraine. The German authorities tried sending them back, but Hungary would not take them. That is when SS General Franz Jaeckeln vowed to deal with the influx of refugees by the "complete liquidation of those Jews by September 1." The Kamianets-Podilskyi massacre ended with a total of 23,600 Jews killed.

At Kedainiai in Lithuania, over 2,000 Jews are driven into a ditch and shot dead. A Jewish butcher resists by inflicting a fatal bite upon the throat of one of the Einsatzkommando soldiers. The butcher and the other Jews are immediately shot.

Joseph Stalin issued a formal Decree of Banishment abolishing the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and, fearing they could act as German spies, exiling all Volga Germans to the Kazakh SSR and Siberia. Many were interned in labor camps merely due to their heritage.

Hitler and Mussolini visit an Italian unit on the Russian Front. During the flight from Uman to Lvov carrying Hitler, Mussolini, Himmler, Ribbentrop and others, Mussolini asked to pilot the aircraft himself. Hitler was so surprised that he said nothing and managed only an awkward smile. Since no one was willing to voice an objection, Mussolini took the controls and flew the plane himself for over an hour while everyone else on board was made extremely nervous. Hitler eventually returns to his Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia.

GERMANY: British prisoner of war Lieutenant Airey Neave attempted to escape the Oflag IV-C camp at Colditz Castle in Germany with a fake German guard uniform; he was spotted near the front gate and captured.

The decree promulgated by Nazi Gauleiter Adolf Wagner forbidding Catholic prayers and Crucifixes from all Bavarian schools in April 1941 was officially rescinded today per order of Adolf Hitler after mass demonstrations by Bavarian mothers who threatened to remove their children from the schools, and a determined stance from the pulpit by Archbishop of Munich-Freising, Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber. The protesters were not punished.

RAF Bomber Command sends 118 aircraft to attack Duisburg overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: British Submarine HMS "Rorqual" sank Italian ship "Cilicia" 130 miles west of Crete, Greece. Italian torpedo boat "Antares" counterattacked by ramming the submarine, damaging the periscope.

A landing party from HMS "Triumph" demolishes an important railway bridge near Carsonia, Sicily.

MIDDLE EAST: With the Indian 18th Infantry Brigade and 25th Infantry Brigade attacking Ahwaz, a new government headed by Mohammad Ali Foroughi takes office and declares a ceasefire. Foroughi signed a treaty allowing the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union to occupy oil fields and the Trans-Iranian Railway in Iran, as well as closing down German, Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian legations in Tehran. However, he refused to allow British and Soviet troops in the capital city. The Iranian Premier orders his forces to stop their resistance to the Anglo-Soviet invasion.

NORTH AFRICA: On his first combat mission after returning from home leave to recover from dysentery, Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down a South African Air Force Hurricane fighter flown by Lieutenant V. F. Williams; it was his 14th kill.

The Australian 18th Brigade continues to leave Tobruk, with the remainder of the 9th AIF Division leaving in September and October. Tobruk was warned that the moon would soon be coming up and that all destroyer operations would end, for the time.

NORTH AMERICA: The final P-43 Lancer fighter delivery was made to the United States Army.

Chesty Puller returns from duty in China to take command of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull meet with the Japanese Ambassador, Nomura Kichisaburo at Nomura's request. Nomura hands the President a communication from the Prince Premier of Japan requesting a meeting between the two. Roosevelt states that it would be difficult and time consuming for him to travel to a meeting in the Territory of Hawaii and suggests a possible alternative, Juneau, Territory of Alaska. The only point raised by Nomura is that the conversation be held as early as possible. Nomura then hands the President another note which states that Japan desires "to pursue courses of peace in harmony with the fundamental principles to which the people and Government of the United States are commuted." At the conclusion of the reading of the communication, the President said to the Ambassador that he could say to his Government that he considered this note a step forward and that he was very hopeful. He then added that he would be keenly interested in having three or four days with Prince Konoye, and again he mentioned Juneau.

In Washington, President Franklin Roosevelt signs an executive order establishing the Office of Price Administration (OPA). The new government agency is charged with controlling consumer prices in the face of war. OPA initially imposed rent controls and a rationing program which initially targeted auto tires. Once the U.S. entered the war, the agency began issuing coupon books for sugar, coffee, meat, fats, oils, and numerous other items. Though goods were in tight supply, Americans were urged to stick to the system of rationing. The agency's record of service during the war was fairly impressive: by VJ Day, consumer prices had increased by 31 percent, a number which was noticeably better than the 62 percent bloating of prices during World War I.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies resigns as the leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) and as Prime Minister. He is replaced by Country Part leader A.W. Fadden. Menzies had formed a coalition government before the war but victories by the Labour Party in the September 1940 election had severely weakened the coalition forcing him to resign. Under pressure from his political opposition he demands the relief of the 9th Australian Division from Tobruk in Libya.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Fighter Command flew Rhubarb operations and sweeps. 18 British Blenheim bombers attacked German targets at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 7 bombers were shot down. RAF Bomber Command sends aircraft to attack Ostend and Dunkirk overnight.

Three Resistance members are guillotined under the new anti-terrorist laws.

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August 29 Friday
ASIA: Franco-Laotian Treaty of Protectorate signed by Vichy French Admiral Jean Decoux, Governor General of Indochina and King Sisavang Vong of Louangphrabang attaches the provinces of Vientiane, Xiangkhoang and Louang Namtha to the King's domain recompensing the loss of Lao territories to Thailand and normalizing Laos' status as a protectorate of Vichy.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: German divisions fighting in the Soviet Union and sustaining steady losses were surprised and delighted to accept a continuous stream of civilians and surrendered Soviet troops offering their services, and soon these men were unofficially employed as manual labour in all units and, in emergencies, as combat reinforcements. The Germans organized the first volunteers into armed units - ten Estonian, Russian and Ingermanland security battalions and the 'Anti-Partisan Regiment' (Freijagerregiment) in Army Group North, and five combat battalions (Kampfbataillone) in Army Group Centre. Attached to German divisions on anti-partisan duties or as front-line reinforcements these troops consistently proved their commitment and combat value. Cossack cavalry squadrons were raised for anti-partisan duties with security divisions, or mounted reconnaissance for Panzer divisions, usually with one squadron (Sotnia) per division: in late 1942 these expanded to 11 battalions. In 1942 three mounted regiments, three infantry regiments and six infantry battalions were recruited with Cossack field officers.

Heeresgruppe Nord: Leeb orders his forces to encircle Leningrad by capturing bridgeheads over the Neva as well as taking the towns of Uritsk, Pulkovo, Pushkin, Kolpino and Izhora. This was to be completed before Hoepner's 4.Panzergruppe departed for Army Group Centre. General of Panzer Troops R. Schmidt's 12.Panzer-Divisionen (Major General J. Harpe) and 20.Infanterie-Divisionen (mot.) (Major General H. Zom) reach the Neva River.

Soviet troops evacuated the Karelian Isthmus as Finnish forces retook Viipuri in northern Russia. Around noon the advance patrols of 4th and 8th IDs enter the center of Viipuri (today Vyborg in Russian Karelia), the second largest city of pre-1939 Finland. The Soviet units defending the city has been ordered to withdraw the day before, so there has been no fighting. The recapture of Viipuri marks the achievement of one of the main aims of the war. The men entering the city's medieval castle intend to raise a Finnish flag to the castle's main tower, but failing to find one a private's white shirt is raised. This "flag"-raising has special symbolism attached to it: one of the most famous pictures taken during the Winter War was taken on 13 March 1940, just minutes before the end of the war, of a Finnish flag still defiantly flying from the highest tower of the Castle of Viipuri, soon to be given over to Soviet Union in the harsh peace that ended that war. Soon after the recapture of the city that same flag that was lowered from the castle is again raised to celebrate the moment. Finnish troops also capture Terioki, 30 miles north of Leningrad, recovering all of the territory they were forced to surrender to the Soviets in the Winter War. Despite the prodding of the Germans, the Finns refused to advance on Leningrad. The news of the recapture causes great celebrations around the country. Flags are flying and special thanksgiving services are held in churches. Hitler awards Mannerheim the Knight's Cross. Two days later a victory parade is staged in the recaptured city although fighting is still going on nearby and time bombs left by the retreating Soviets are being feverishly searched and defused by engineers.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: The Soviet 30th Army attacks and penetrates the German line east of Vilizh as Soviet 29th Army is counterattacking in the Velikiye Luki sector. Major-General L.M. Dovator's Calvary Group consisting of the 50th and 53rd Cavalry Divisions exploited the gap by conducting raids deep into the German rear areas lasting over a week.

Heeresgruppe Süd: Mussolini meets Hitler at the Führer's military headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia. After talks about military and political strategy, the dictators toured the recently-conquered territory in the Ukraine and visited the Italian units serving alongside the Germans. This, the seventh meeting between the two men since the start of the war, was a full-scale affair with Mussolini resplendent in uniform, striding past knocked-out tanks and blasted buildings.

Soviet "Red Banner" Baltic Fleet resumes the voyage through the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn to Kronstadt. The warships steam as fast as possible to Kronstadt near Leningrad while the slower vessels are again attacked by German bombers, sinking 2 troop transports. Three Soviet vessels are sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft while three others were severely damaged and beached. 25 of 29 larger transports are lost. The Baltic fleet loses 5 destroyers, two corvettes, two submarines and two patrol boats. Only 1 bomb-damaged transport will reach Kronstadt, carrying 2700 troops after leaving 2300 on an island in the Gulf of Finland. A special salvage force of ships operating from the island of Suursaari will rescue 12,160 survivors from damaged vessels and Gulf islands (although a Soviet submarine covering this operation will be lost, presumably to mines). Finnish VMV patrol boats sink one sailing ship and capture two tugs.

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command sends 143 aircraft to attack Frankfurt and 94 aircraft to attack Mannheim overnight.

MEDITERRANEAN: General Milan Nedic establishes a government in Serbia. He, of course, is a puppet to the Nazis. The partition of Yugoslavia by the Germans is now complete. The Government of National Salvation succeeded the Commissioner Government as the puppet government in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia.

Axis Convoy departs Naples for Tripoli with three vessels escorted by Italian destroyers "Aviere", "Da Noli", "Camicia Nera", "Gioberti", "Usodimare", and "Pessagno".

MIDDLE EAST: In Iran the fighting has come to an end.

Fourth Vichy French convoy departs Haifa with 4044 troops being repatriated to France from the Levant.

The following gallantry awards were made to personnel of HMAS "Yarra" for her action in the Persian Gulf:- DSO: LCDR W. H. Harrington, RAN; DSM: PO N. Fraser, DSM: PO Steward R. J. Hoskins DSM: PO Stoker D. D. Neal.

NORTH AFRICA: Australian 18th Infantry Brigade completes withdrawal from Tobruk to Alexandria by sea with the rest leaving in September and October, 1941.

Italian convoy with five transports escorted by two destroyers and three torpedo boats departs Tripoli for Naples.

NORTH AMERICA: Charles Lindbergh said at an America First Committee rally in Oklahoma City that Britain might turn against the United States "as she has turned against France and Finland." Montana Senator Burton K. Wheeler spoke next and said,
"If our interventionists want to free a country from the dominion of another country, we ought to declare war on Great Britain to free India. I have never seen such slavery as I saw in India a few years ago."
Click to expand...
Many Americans started turning against Lindbergh at this time, as Gallup polling showed that the public favored the president's specific interventionist moves.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Following the resignation of Prime Minister Menzies, Artie Fadden (Country Party) becomes prime minister. Menzies is to be the minister for Defence Co-ordination.

WESTERN FRONT: The Luftwaffe suffers its first frontline loss of a new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 when Lt. Heinz Schenk of 6./JG 26 is shot down over Dunkirk by German - or 'friendly' – anti-aircraft fire.

RAF Bomber Command sends aircraft on Circus operation heavily escorted by Fighter Command. RAF Fighter Command flew a Rhubarb operation.

In Paris the Germans execute a naval officer, Comte Jean d'Estiennes d'Orves and two others who were amongst the first agents sent from London by de Gaulle, in reprisal for the assassination of a German naval cadet on the 21st.

RAF Bomber Command dispatches first operations to support Resistance movements by dropping supplies and agents in occupied territories.

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August 30 Saturday
ASIA: Joachim von Ribbentrop asked Soemu Toyoda regarding a possible Japanese attack on Vladivostok, Russia. The Japanese Navy admiral responded by saying that Japan was preparing for such a venture, and required more time to complete the preparations.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Convoy SC-42 of 62 merchant ships leaves Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, headed for England. Five more ships join the convoy near St. John's, Newfoundland. The slow-moving convoy is escorted initially by only four Canadian warships: destroyer "Skeena", and corvettes "Orillia", "Alberni", and "Kenogami". Before reaching England, fifteen ships of 70,000 tons will be sunk, one of the worst convoy losses of the war.

EASTERN FRONT: Unternehmen Barbarossa: Soviet destroyers "Grozny", "Oritsky", and "Kuibyshev" escorted the Allied convoy Dervish into the Dvina River and on to Arkhangelsk, Russia. Crewmen of the merchant ships of this first Allied convoy to arrive in Arkhangelsk reported poor cooperation from the Soviets. No stevedores were found so the crewmen attempted to unload the cargo themselves, only to be stopped by Soviet armed guards because they did not have the proper passes to step onto the shore. The situation was only improved after the arrival of higher ranking Soviet officers later in the day.

Heeresgruppe Nord: German troops captured Mga, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, severing the last railway leading into the city of Leningrad. Food and fuel would no longer reach the city in quantities needed for basic survival. Finnish Army of Karelia advancing toward Leningrad captures Raivola.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: The Yel'nia Offensive began on the Eastern Front when the Soviets began a counterattack southeast of Smolensk. The forces of Zhukov's Reserve Front, organized into two shock groups launched a counter attack on the Yel'nia salient in the first coordinated offensive by the Russians since the beginning of the war. After penetrating 10 kilometers into Kluge's southern flank, Bock was forced to send two divisions including 10.Panzer Division (Lieutenant General F. Schaal) to restore the line.

Heeresgruppe Süd: 1.Panzergruppe of Army Group South under Paul von Kleist and 2.Panzergruppe of Army Group Center under Heinz Guderian began to envelope the Soviet Southwestern Front (850,000 men under General Mikhail Kirponos) at Kiev, Ukraine. Romanian troops captured Kubanka, Ukraine, but Soviet forces recaptured the city later in the day. Romanian 4th Army under General Nicolae Ciupercă and elements of German 11th Army are held by the Soviet the defensive line 6km around Odessa (Romanian 4th Army has already suffered 27,307 casualties, including 5,329 killed).

Germany and Rumania sign agreement for Rumanian administration of Transnistria.

MIDDLE EAST: Elements of Indian 10th Infantry Division enter Kermanshah. Soviet and British troops meet at Sinneh.

PACIFIC OCEAN: MacArthur advises Marshall that the Philippines would be defensible by April, 1942, but admits that the Philippine Army is currently not adequately trained, especially at battalion level and above.

The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS "Ballarat", (LCDR A. D. Barling, RANR(S)), was commissioned. "Ballarat" was laid down in Williamstown Dockyard, VIC, Australia on 17 April 1940, and launched on 10 December 1940. Mrs. Dunstan, (Wife of the Premier of Victoria), performed the launching ceremony.

UNITED KINGDOM: German documents examined after the war revealed that a Junkers Ju 88 of 1(F)/120 ditched in the North Sea after it hit a balloon cable over the Humber Estuary on this day. Three of the crew were rescued by a German vessel on September 4th.

WESTERN FRONT: British Commandos executed Operation Acid Drop, an overnight raid on Pas-de-Calais, France. This was the first commando raid carried out by No. 5 Commando and consisted of two simultaneous operations. Each raid consisted of one officer and 14 men, their targets were the beaches at Hardelot and Merlimont in the Pas-de-Calais, France with the aim of carrying out reconnaissance and if possible, to capture a German soldier. It was a hit and run type raid with only 30 minutes ashore but in the event neither party encountered any Germans.

RAF Fighter Command flew Roadstead operations.

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