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Day 769 of World War II, October 10th 1941

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Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

German Heeresgruppe Süd (GFM Gerd von Rundstedt) ends the battle of encirclement along the Sea of Azov and takes 100,000 prisoners. The German 1.Panzerarmee reached the Sea of Azov. 1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot.) of 1.Panzerarmee is attacking toward Taganrog. German 6.Armee captures Sumy. Soviet 9th and 18th Armies begin to fight their way out of the German encirclement and take up defensive positions around Stalino.

Despite the withdrawal, Soviet 3rd and 50th Armies are once again surrounded in the Bryansk area. This time the encirclement would hold. The trapped soldiers would fight on for two more weeks, but in the end, only 30,000 of the 600,000 would escape. At Gzhatsk (now known as Gagarin, 32 miles East of Vyasma and 40 miles from the main defensive line at Mozhaysk), Soviet 18th and 19th tank Brigades hold up the German spearhead, SS Reich Division which suffers about 500 casualties. The German 4.Armee, straddling the Minsk-Moscow highway, begins its advance on Moscow after a week of regrouping. German 4.Panzer-Divisionen reached Mtsensk, Russia in Oryol Oblast, but it would be held there for many days by stubborn Soviet resistance. Elements of German 2.Panzerarmee capture Mzensk on the road to Tula. All of Army Group Center is now moving in on Moscow. General Zhukov takes command of Western Front with Konev as his deputy, although Stalin originally wanted the latter tried before military tribunal. A new Soviet Western Front was made up of the remnants of the former Western Front, the Southwestern Front, and the Reserve Front. Budenny's Soviet Reserve Front, which was mostly destroyed, is disbanded. Zhukov immediately called for the formation of a new defensive Mozhaysk Line to protect Moscow, Russia, stretching from Tula south of the city to Volokolamsk to the northwest. Defensive fortifications will be hastily built, mainly by civilians. In addition, Soviet 32nd Rifle Division (full-strength Division with 15,000 fresh, well-trained troops) begins arriving at Mozhaysk by train from Siberia.

The German 250.Infanterie Division, also known as the Blue Division, entered service on the Eastern Front. This division was notable as being made up of Spanish volunteers.

Soviet bombers and fighters attack Orel airfield and claim 75 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed on the ground.

German Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau issued the "Severity Order" in which he ordered the annihilation of Bolshevism and the extermination of Jews. Reichenau, the C-in-C of the German 6.Armee today told his men:

“In the east, the soldier is not merely a fighter according to the rules of war, but also the bearer of an inexorable national idea and the Avenger of all bestialities inflicted upon the German people and its racial kin. Therefore the soldier must always have a full understanding for the necessity of a severe but just atonement on Jewish subhumanity.”

Hitler likes the wording so much that he is going to have it issued as a model for other generals on the eastern front.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-126 sank SS “Nailsea Manor” in Convoy OS-7. U-331 damaged HM LCT-18. U-331 was then attacked by 3 fighter aircraft and one of its gunners died.

U.S. Navy Task Group 14.3, under command of Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, comprised of the aircraft carrier USS “Yorktown” (CV 5), battleship USS “New Mexico” (BB 40), heavy cruiser USS “Quincy” (CA 39), light cruiser USS “Savannah” (CL 42), and Destroyer Divisions 3 and 16, set sail from Argentia, Newfoundland, for Casco Bay, Maine. Encountering heavy weather en route, the USS “Yorktown”, USS “New Mexico”, USS “Quincy”, USS “Savannah”, and destroyers USS “Rhind” (DD 404), USS “Hammann” (DD 412), USS “Anderson” (DD 411), USS “Sims” (DD 409), USS “Mayrant” (DD 402), USS “Rowan” (DD 405), USS “Hughes” (DD 410), and USS “Trippe” (DD 403) would all suffer damage before the force reaches Casco Bay on October 13.

Allied convoy QP-1, which was consisted of 14 British and Soviet merchant ships escorted by British cruiser HMS “London” and four minesweepers, from Arkhangelsk, Russia arrived at Scapa Flow, Scotland.

Winston Churchill appoints Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten as Director of Combined Operations, and instructs him to prepare for the invasion of Europe.

The aircraft carrier HMS “Indomitable” (92) is commissioned.

Air War over Europe

RAF Bomber Command sends 78 aircraft to attack the Krupp works in Essen and 69 aircraft to attack Cologne overnight.

RAF Bomber Command sends 13 aircraft to attack Rotterdam overnight. RAF Bomber Command sends 22 aircraft to attack Ostend overnight. RAF Bomber Command sends 23 aircraft to attack Dunkirk overnight. RAF Bomber Command sends 22 aircraft to attack Bordeaux overnight.

Battle of the Mediterranean

Italian submarines “Saint Bon”, “Cagni”, and “Atropo” engaged in transport operations from Taranto to Bardia.

German military

Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 37. The Army is to go on the defensive in Finland, and prepare to capture Murmansk next year. der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/37.html He also orders that the following list should prioritize all armament programmes on the home front:

a. Production of aircraft
b. The Flak programme (Luftwaffe and Army)
c. The Flak munitions programme (Luftwaffe and Army)

Adolf Hitler ordered a stop to night intruder operations over RAF airfields in eastern England. 1./NJG 2 who have been conducting successful harrying of returning RAF bombers were consequently transferred to the Mediterranean.

Reinhard Heydrich established a camp-ghetto in Sudetenland in southern Germany (occupied Czechoslovakia) that would later be known as the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. He recommended the site to be used to house deported German, Austrian, and Czechoslovakian Jews. He placed Adolf Eichmann and Rolf Günther in charge of establishing this camp-ghetto.

United States military

The USN decrees that all fleet aircraft are painted flat light grey with all surfaces viewed from above to be painted flat blue grey.

Tank production in Detroit, Michigan, is hampered by an inter-union struggle as CIO members refuse to handle parts made by AFL workers.

China

American Military Mission to China, headed by Brigadier General John Magruder, arrives in Chungking to oversee Lend-Lease and military aid. Madam Chiang makes a radio broadcast to America:

“We are the senior nation in the stand against aggression.”

Day 771 of World War II, October 12th 1941

Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock received an order from German Supreme Command: "The Führer has reaffirmed his decision that the surrender of Moscow will not be accepted, even if it is offered by the enemy." Generalfeldmarschall von Bock then ordered an all-out push for Moscow. Germans move toward Moscow on a broad front despite the heavy rains. Many German formations have advanced over 70km in 5 days. On the northern flank of Army Group Center, 1.Panzer-Divisionen takes Rhzev and Staritsa on the Volga north of Zubtov. They were then ordered to take the vital communications hub of Kalinn. On the southern flank, Kaluga, less than 100 miles southwest of Moscow is captured by the Germans. The GKO set up the Moscow Defence Zone and ordered the construction of another defensive line around Moscow itself. Remnants of the Soviet forces still encircled at Vyazma continue to attack east in feeble attempts to escape the German encirclement. Two rifle divisions broke out of the Vyazma pocket in the night through a swampy sector where the panzers could not operate. Lukin then destroyed his heavy equipment and ordered the men in the pocket to escape in small groups. Some reached the Russian lines and others joined the partisans. Lukin was wounded and captured but survived the war. SS Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ from XLVI.Armeekorps (mot.) was the only major German Motorized unit that was not involved in the Vyazma fighting and it was ordered to push eastward down the Minsk-Moscow Highway. Since ‘Reich’ was relatively weak in anti-tank capability a Kampfgruppe from 10. Panzer Division was duly dispatched to assist him. The SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) captured Gzhatsk. Heinz Guderian noted in his diary that snow continued to fall amidst the campaign in the Soviet Union. Heavy rain and the subsequent mud forces the Army Group South to call a temporary halt in their advance.

440,000 Moscow citizens, mostly women, children and old men, are mobilized to build defenses in and around Moscow. In four days they would dig 60 miles of anti-tank ditches, 5000 miles of troop trenches and lay 177 miles of barbed wire.

Photo: Muscovites building fortifications



German forces launched an attack against the Soviet garrison on the island of Hiiumaa in the Baltic Sea. Despite being outnumbered and lacking in ammunition, the garrison would hold out for six days.

German 250th Infantry Division of Spanish volunteers was deployed on the River Volkhov near Leningrad, Russia.

Air War over Europe

A Dornier Do 217 of 5./KG 2 on an evening reconnaissance flight over the eastern Atlantic, confuses the English Channel with the Bristol Channel. Crossing the north coast of Devon, thinking it to be France, the pilot, Lt. Dolenga uses the two German radio beacons in France to direct him home. What he gets instead are two beacons from "Meacon" spoof transmitters at Newbury and Templecombe. Flying across the length of southern England in the darkness, the crew finally realizes the mistake. But it's too late. Running out of fuel, the Dornier eventually crash lands in an open field at Jury's Gut, near Lydd in Kent. The Royal Air Force secures its first intact example of the Do 217.

After dark, German bombers attacked Manchester, Clayton, Denton, and Oldham in England, causing generally light damage. 23 were killed at Oldham.

RAF Bomber Command sends 24 aircraft to attack Boulogne during the day and another 24 aircraft to attack Boulogne overnight.

Battle of the Atlantic

German motor torpedo boats S41, S47, S53, S62, S104, and S105 attacked Allied convoy FN531 just off the coast of East Anglia, England, sinking British ship “Chevington” (9 killed) and Norwegian ship “Roy” (3 killed).

The neutral Portuguese steam merchant “Corte Real” was stopped for inspection by the U-83, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Werner Kraus, 80 miles west of Lisbon in the eastern Atlantic Ocean at 1400 hours. It was established that they were carrying contraband because most of the cargo was en route to Canada and Australia, so the Germans removed the 42 crew members onto 3 lifeboats and then sunk “Corte Real”. U-83 towed the lifeboats for 3 hours toward Lisbon, Portugal before cutting the tow lines. The 2,044 ton “Corte Real” was carrying cork, dyes, watches, wine, and canned food and was bound for New York.

Kriegsmarine destroyer “Friedrich Eckoldt” rammed, apparently intentionally, by Norwegian vessel “Vaagen” and heavily damaged. British vessel “Glynn” is heavily damaged by Luftwaffe aircraft and subsequently sinks.

Battle of the Mediterranean

Operation CULTIVATE, the relief of the Tobruk garrison, began. With the moon waning, the final phase to replace Australian 9th Division at Tobruk, Libya begins. British cruiser HMS “Abdiel” and destroyers HMS “Hero”, HMS “Kipling”, and HMS “Nizam” departed Alexandria, Egypt bringing British 14th Infantry Brigade and 23rd Infantry Brigade into Tobruk and evacuating Australian 20th Infantry Brigade and 26th Infantry Brigade to Egypt. German submarine U-75 discovered them and attacked 35 miles west of Tobruk. The 372 ton landing craft HMS TLC-2 (A 2) was sunk by gunfire by the U-75, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Helmuth Ringelmann. All of the ship’s complement of 16 died. The 372 ton landing craft HMS TLC-7 (A 7) was sunk by gunfire by U-75. Of the ship’s complement, 21 died and 1 survivor was picked up by the U-boat and taken prisoner, whom would be delivered to Germany for interrogations.

Axis Convoy departs Trapani for Tripoli with four vessels escorted by Italian destroyers “Da Recco” and “Sebenico” and a torpedo boat.

A series of relief efforts for Tobruk begin today. During the next 14 days over 7000 troops of the British 70th Infantry Division will be transferred in and almost 8000 Australians will be pulled out. The minelayer “Latona” is sunk by a Stuka attack and one destroyer is damaged in the operations.

Hans-Joachim Marseille of JG 27 scored his 24th and 25th kills as he shot down P-40 fighters piloted by Flying Officer H. G. Roberts and Sergeant Derek Scott over Bir Sheferzan, Libya. He also damaged another P-40 fighter on this day.

British breweries sent 35 tons of beer to Tobruk for distribution on Christmas Day. Troops should be able to drink to the longest siege in British history.

Day 773 of World War II, October 14th 1941

Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

Temperatures in the Moscow area fall and hover around freezing. Rain and the subsequent mud slow the German advance toward Moscow. The Soviet troops in the Bryansk pocket in Russia were eliminated (50,000 captured), while the Vyazma pocket was within days of the same fate. Germans announce that Soviet resistance West of Vyasma has ended; in reality the Red Army will hold out in small pockets for another 10 days, tying down German infantry. The Soviet defenses between Kalinin and Tula are very stubborn. The German 3.Panzerarmee’s attacks in the Kalinin sector threaten the rear of Soviet 22nd Army, 29th Army, and 31st Army. Kramatorsk falls to the German forces. German 4.Panzergruppe is involved in heavy fighting in the Mozhaisk sector. Guderian’s 2.Panzerarmee is involved in heavy fighting in the Mzensk sector. Rzhev is also captured. The German spearheads are now sixty miles from Moscow as Adolf Hitler ordered that the Soviet capital was to be enveloped, not attacked directly. Meanwhile, in Moscow, Joseph Stalin briefed 23 senior Soviet military and civilian officials between 1530 and 1815 hours on a plan to evacuate the city in an orderly fashion; he ordered four theater groups (Lenin State Theater, Maxim Gorkiy Artistic Academic Theater, Little Academic Theater, and Vakhtangov Theater) to be evacuated first. In a bold move, 1.Panzer-Divisionen raids deeply between Soviet Northwestern and Western Fronts, scattering Soviet infantry formations. They advance 75 miles Northeast from Rzhev to capture the medieval Russian city of Kalinin, 93 miles north-west of Moscow, cut the Leningrad—Moscow railway, and captured the only Volga bridge that was to fall into German hands intact during the Second World War. A small bridgehead on the eastern bank, held by 1.Panzer-Divisionen and Lehr-Auflkärungs-Abt. (mot.) 900, covered the bridge. Thus the cornerstones of the 190-mile-long first line of defenses covering Moscow had been brought down. The centerpiece of this line, however, the barrier across the motor highway some 60 miles outside Moscow, was between Borodino and Mozhaysk. Stalin intended to bring Hitler to a halt. To do this he had hurriedly brought up the best forces he had—a crack unit from Siberia, the 32nd Siberian Rifle Division from Vladivostok, with three infantry regiments and two armored brigades newly equipped with T-34s and KV-2s. There, at Borodino, 62 miles from Moscow, the SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) Reich (SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser) was in position. At Borodino the regiments of Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ and the "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10.Panzer Division had their first encounter with the Siberians. They were tall, burly fellows in long great-coats, with fur caps on their heads and high fur boots. They were most generously equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, but even more so with the dangerous (and hated) 7.62-cm. multi-purpose gun nicknamed by the German troopers the "Crash Boom." The Siberians fought impassively. The Russians employed their multiple mortars, the "Katyushas," known to the German forces as "Stalin's organ-pipes," which invariably caused havoc by their high-fragmentation effect. The heavy T-34 tanks were used for the first time in massed formations. Since 8.8-cm. anti-aircraft guns were not always available, the infantry often had to tackle the T-34s with high-explosive charges. More than once the outcome of the battle hung in the balance. The casualties suffered by the SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ were so alarmingly high that its 3rd Infantry Regiment had to be disbanded and the survivors divided up between the "Deutschland " and "Der Fuehrer " Regiments. SS-Obergruppenführer Hausser was wounded and lost the sight in his right eye. He would subsequently wear a black eyepatch that would become his trademark. At last a breach was torn through a strong-point held by the Siberians. The two infantry regiments of the "Reich" SS Division, the "Deutschland" and "Der Fuehrer" Regiments, charged through. The infantry regiments of the "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10.Panzer Division were engaged in the same bloody battle. They fought on the battlefields where Napoleon had stood 130 years before them; they stormed the stubbornly defended historic scarp of Semenovskoye. The Siberians resisted in vain. The 32nd Siberian Rifle Division died on the hills of Borodino along with countless young Germans. The great bolt of Moscow's first line of defense on the Moscow highway had been blasted open.

The first substantial snow of the season falls at Leningrad.

Operation Karlsbad begins in the area between Smolensk and Minsk. This was a German operation against partisans in the Orsha and Vitebsk area near the Berezina river in the Belorussian region of the German-occupied western USSR. This would be the first of many operations by the Germans against partisans in Russia. Such operations were particularly important in the Berezina sector as this cut the Moscow Highway between Minsk and Smolensk, and it was along this highway that there moved much of the equipment and supplies needed by the formations of Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Heeresgruppe ‘Mitte’, which was at this time approaching the gates of Moscow.

Soviet transports and warships move to Odessa to begin final evacuation of 51st Army. Soviet transport “Gruziya” is damaged by Luftwaffe aircraft off Odessa.

Battle of the Atlantic

German submarine U-553 encounters convoy SC 48 and summons help. Convoy SC-48 had left Sydney, Australia, on October 5, then traveled up the East coast of USA and entered the North Atlantic through the Labrador Straits.

The German Kriegsmarine placed orders for 49 more submarines to be constructed.

Air War over Europe

RAF bombers make their first large-scale night raid on Nürnberg. 80 RAF aircraft attacked Nürnberg but again encountered very bad weather and only 14 aircraft claimed to have hit the intended target. The weather continued to interfere with Bomber Command's activities.

Battle of the Mediterranean

German submarine U-206 sank British corvette HMS “Fleur de Lys” (Lieutenant A. Collins; escorting Allied convoy OG-75) 60 miles west of Gibraltar at 0336 hours; 71 were killed, 3 survived and were rescued by a Spanish ship.

Italian Defence Chief Ugo Cavallero ordered that plans be completed for the occupation of Malta and that special units be trained to participate in the operation.

Italian vessel “Bainsizza” from Axis convoy heading for Tripoli, is attacked by RAF bombers from Malta, heavily damaged and subsequently sinks.

RN Force H departs Gibraltar toward Malta.

British commandos landed by RN submarines “Talisman” and “Torbay” unsuccessfully raid Rommel's headquarters.

Photo: "A discarded Italian bomb is blown up beside a Matilda tank near Tobruk. The resulting craters were used to hide the tanks



Battle of the Pacific

Arnold writes MacArthur that the heavy bombers assigned to USAFFE were to be used to control not only the sea lanes but to bomb Japan itself. Date of receipt in the Philippines unknown.

Japan

Tatsuta Maru” was acquired by the Japanese Navy and was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District, Japan. Her civilian crew was replaced by that from the military.

Konoe's final cabinet meeting, at which it is acknowledged that from the Japanese perspective efforts to negotiate with the US have failed to achieve the desired goals.

Day 775 of World War II, October 16th 1941

Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

Tanks of Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ and the "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10.Panzer-Divisionen continued to attack the Mozhaysk Line at Borodino, the site of the 1812 Napoleonic battle, 125 km West of Moscow (allegedly, Soviet troops are shown 1812 Russian battle standards to motivate them). The Battle of Borodino had become a slugging match with duels between small groups of T-34s and panzers, and multiple barreled rocket launchers on both sides. However, the Panzers lack infantry support and are turned back by Soviet rifle divisions (Feldmarschall von Kluge is resting 4.Armee’s 11 infantry divisions after the battles around Vyasma). By the evening German forces had worked their way around the Russian flanks as airstrikes pounded the Russian positions. Hoepner then threw in tanks and infantry. 30 panzers broke through and headed for Leliushenko’s HQ. General Leliushenko led his HQ staff into hand to hand combat armed with molotov cocktails. Leliushenko was severely wounded and evacuated but his men fought on. But Colonel Polosukhin’s 32nd Division held on for five days before retreating, unbeaten, along the road to Moscow. In Moscow, panic breaks out in the citizenry as they learn that Lenin’s tomb has been moved out of the city to prevent its capture by the Germans. While thousands of civilians continued to flee the city, the Soviet government and diplomatic corps moved to Kuibyshev 1,500 miles to the east; Joseph Stalin, however, chose to stay. Shaposhnikov and most of the Soviet General Staff evacuate Moscow, leaving Vasilevsky in the city to assist Stalin. Later that evening Stalin almost boarded a train to be evacuated but instead resolved to stay in Moscow. With that decision Stalin also recall more of the Siberian divisions guarding the border with Japanese held Manchuria. It would take 3-4 weeks for the Siberians to arrive and to fill the gap. Stalin raised more scratch forces (termed ‘strike forces’) to throw into the front. Workers battalions, armed by Moscow’s own factories, are taking their places in the front line. Over half a million men, women and children complete building new defenses around the city - 5,000 miles of trenches, 60 miles of anti-tank ditches and 177 miles of barbed wire. There is panic in the air as rumors spread that German tanks are in the suburbs. There is no transport; the buses and taxis have been commandeered to take troops to the front. Some officials and policemen, fearful of what will happen to them if the Germans arrive, are fleeing the city, and looters are taking advantage of their departure. General Zhukov, recalled from Leningrad, is working feverishly to organize a new line of defence. He has ordered the setting up of artillery and anti-tank strongpoint to ambush the German Panzers on their approach routes.

The final Soviet evacuation ships departed Odessa, Ukraine at 0510 hours. The last man to leave was Captain Makarenko, the commander of the port. But not before Soviet transport “Bolshevik” is sunk by Luftwaffe bombers. In the past two weeks, 121,000 troops and civilians were evacuated from the city, along with 1,000 trucks and 20,000 tons of ammunition. Romanian troops entered the city later on this date, capturing the city. The Romanian and Germans who have been besieging the Black Sea port since August finally marched into the city only to find it empty and burning. All the material that had to be left behind was burnt. The big guns of the 95th Rifle Division were dumped into the harbour.

A full 73 days after they began the siege of Odessa, Romanian troops enter the city late in the afternoon. They find Odesa empty, the last Soviet evacuation ships having left well before sunrise at 05:10. The fortifications are still there, but many buildings are burning and everything else of value is wrecked.

Photo: Romanian troops enter Odesa on 16 October 1941



Photo: German infantry crossing a anti-tank ditch, one of the Germans soldiers carries an MG 34 machine gun on his shoulder



Battle of the Atlantic

German submarine U-568 sank British ship “Empire Heron” 400 miles west of Ireland at 0114 hours; 42 were killed, 1 survived and picked up by escorting corvette HMS “Gladiolus” (Lieutenant Commander H. M. C. Sanders). Later in the day, however, HMS “Gladiolus” was lost from an unknown cause. Early the following morning a very loud explosion is heard behind the convoy, which may have, been “Gladiolus” following an attack by U-568, but there is no conclusive evidence of this loss, or any survivors.

The destroyer USS “Charles F. Hughes” (DD 428), while escorting Convoy HX-154, rescued the only seven survivors of British freighter “Hatasu” (torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-431 on October 2, 600 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Air War over Europe

RAF Bomber Command sends 87 aircraft to attack Duisburg overnight. Returning from a raid on Mannheim, Germany, RAF Pilot Officer AJ Heyworth flies a Wellington bomber of No. 12 Squadron Bomber Command 500 - 600 miles on 1 engine (about 5 hours). He flew most of the way on only one engine while the other was aflame.

RAF Bomber Command sends 12 aircraft on coastal sweep off Cherbourg during the day. RAF Fighter Command flew Rhubarb operations. RAF Bomber Command sends 15 aircraft to attack Ostend overnight. RAF Bomber Command sends 22 aircraft to attack Dunkirk overnight.

Battle of the Pacific

The Chief of Naval Operations sends the following message to the fleet commanders: “The resignation of the Japanese Cabinet has created a grave situation X If a new Cabinet is formed it will probably be strongly nationalistic and anti American X If the Konoye Cabinet remains the effect will be that it will operate under a new mandate which will not include rapprochement with the US X In either case hostilities between Japan and Russia are a strong possibility X Since the US and Britain are held responsible by Japan for her present desperate situation there is also a possibility that Japan may attack these two powers X In view of these possibilities you will take due precautions including such preparatory deployments as will not disclose strategic intention nor constitute provocative actions against Japan X Second and third addressees (in the Pacific) inform appropriate Army and Naval district authorities X Acknowledge XX.”

Stimson asks State Department to arrange with Australians for use of airfields in New Guinea, New Britain, and Australia itself.

German merchant raider “Kormoran” made rendezvous with supply ship “Kulmerland” off Cape Leeuwin, Australia and began to take on fuel and supplies. “Kulmerland” has sailed 5000 miles from Japan in 45 days, carrying 4,000 tons of diesel oil and 6 months supply of provisions which will take 7 days to transfer to “Kormoran”.

Singapore Prime Minister Brooke-Popham reports to the Australian Advisory War Council that the aircraft at Singapore are superior to those of Japan, and that Japan is preoccupied with launching an attack on Russia, and hence would not be able to launch a large-scale attack to the south for the next three months.

US Admiral Harold Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends a message to Pacific commands, warning of "grave situation" created by the fall of the Konoye Cabinet in Japan, that Japan might attack US and British territories.

The destroyers USS “Peary” (DD 225) and USS “Pillsbury” (DD 227) were damaged in a collision during night exercises in Manila Bay, Philippine Islands.

Japan

The Japanese Government of Prime Minister Konoye collapses. Prime Minister Konoye resigns, following Roosevelt’s refusal to grant him a summit meeting and division in the Japanese cabinet over negotiation with the USA. Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni was recommended by Konoe and Tojo as Konoe's replacement because it was generally felt that he was the only person who could control the Army and the Navy and. Emperor Hirohito rejected this option, arguing that a member of the imperial family should not have to eventually carry the responsibility for a war against the West. Following the advice of his Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, Koichi Kido, Hirohito chose Tojo, who was known for his devotion to the imperial institution. Hirohito Emperor summoned Tojo to the Imperial Palace and instructed him to form a new government. Tojo was given one order from the Emperor: To make a policy review of what had been sanctioned by the Imperial Conferences. Tojo, who was on the side of the war, nevertheless accepted this order, and pledged to obey. Tojo was promoted to General in order to assume the post of Prime Minister. Although the decision to go to war has not been finally taken, these changes show the rise of those wishing to go to war.

Day 777 of World War II, October 18th 1941

Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

German Army Group Center is pushing toward Moscow at Mozhaisk, Dorohov, Maloyaroslavets, Borovsk, Kaluga, Tarusa, Naro-Fominsk, and Podolsk. Despite determined resistance from the main Russian line, Mozhaisk is captured by Paul Hausser’s SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ and the "Hauenschild Brigade" of 10.Panzer-Divisionen of 4.Panzerarmee’s XXXX.Panzerkorps (General der Panzertruppen Georg Stumme). Maloyaroslavets and Tarusa on the southern approaches to Moscow are captured by 19.Panzer-Divisionen of the 4.Armee’s LVII.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of Panzer Troops A. Kuntzen). Soviet 5th Army has suffered 60% casualties defending Mozhaysk and only 5 weakened rifle divisions and 20 tanks stand before Moscow. The conquered area east of the Dniester is incorporated into Romania and renamed Transdniestria. The 32nd Rifle Brigade finally withdrew from Borodino up the Smolensk-Moscow highway. The Germans pushed them hard but the 32nd blocked the German advance guard. In the evening, a motorcycle battalion of SS ‘Reich’ Division found the Minsk Highway toward Moscow, Russia, 90 kilometers to the east, undefended.

German Colonel General Erich von Manstein launched his 11.Armee against the Perekop Isthmus in Russia but fierce Soviet resistance on a narrow front caused the German advance to proceed extremely slowly. For his thrusts across the isthmus Manstein had lined up three divisions of LIV.Armeekorps (General of the Kavalry E. Hansen). Indeed, there was no room for more formations in the four-mile-wide corridor. Reading from left to right, they were the 22.Infanterie Division (Lieutenant General H. Graf von Sponek), 73.Infanterie-Division (General der Infanterie Bruno Bieler), and 46.Infanterie-Division (Generalleutnant Kurt Himer) and parts of 170.Infanterie Divisionen (Major General W. Wittke). Behind them stood XXX.Armeekorps (General of the Infantry von Salmuth) with the 72.Infanterie Division (Lieutenant General Mattenklott), the bulk of the 170.Infanterie Divisionen, and the 50.Infanterie Divisionen (Lieutenant General K. Hollidt). Still on the road, but later to follow the attacking Corps of 11.Armee, was the XLII.Armeekorps (General of the Engineers W. Kuntze) with 132.Infanterie-Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Sintzenich) and 24.Infanterie-Divisionen (Major General H. von Tettau). The Fuehrer's Headquarters had made this Corps available to Manstein on condition that its divisions were moved across into the Kuban area from Kerch as quickly as possible, to advance to the Caucasus. Manstein's six divisions were opposed by eight field divisions of the Soviet 51st Army. To these must be added four cavalry divisions, as well as the fortress troops and naval brigades in Sevastopol. Moving towards the front were General Petrov's units from Odessa. Manstein's 11.Armee drives Soviet forces into Sevastopol.

Photo: German armored units waiting for orders to attack. On the left side you can see the PzKpfw 38 (t) tank from the 7th Panzer Division



Lavrentiy Beria ordered the execution of Nikolai Rychagov, Rychagov's wife, and other conspirators. General Ivan Proskurov was executed without trial for relocating his aircraft to safe airfields shortly before German invasion.

British General Wavell in Tiflis to confer with Soviets regarding defense of the Caucasus.

Battle of the Atlantic

German submarines break off operations against convoy SC 48, but not before German submarine U-101 attacked, damaging destroyer HMS “Broadwater” with one torpedo at 0420 hours; 46 crew and 11 previously rescued survivors were killed, 85 crew survived. HMS “St. Apollo” scuttled HMS “Broadwater” by gunfire at 1541 hours. USN destroyers USS “Plunkett” (DD-431), USS “Livermore” (DD-429) and USS “Decatur” (DD-341), meanwhile, make concerted depth charge attacks on sound contacts with no visible results.

A PBY-5A Catalina of USN Patrol Squadron Seventy Three (VP-73) based at Reykjavik, Iceland, drops a package containing blood plasma and transfusion gear for use in treating the wounded on board the destroyer USS “Kearny” (DD-432) torpedoed yesterday. The destroyer USS “Monssen” (DD-435) retrieves the package but the gear becomes disengaged and sinks. A PBM-1 Mariner of a VP-74 detachment also based at Reykjavik repeats the operation a few hours later. This time the drop is successful and USS “Monssen” retrieves the medical supplies intact.

The unescorted Soviet steam merchant “Argun” was torpedoed and sunk by the U-132, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Ernst Vogelsang, five miles off the Gorodetzkij lighthouse in the Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean. The 3,487 ton “Argun” was bound for Iokanga, Soviet Union. At 2017 hours, U-132 struck again. The unescorted 608 ton Soviet fishing steam trawler RT-8 ‘Seld´ was torpedoed and sunk by the U-132 in the Barents Sea. Soviet vessel SKR-11 lost this day was possibly sunk by U-132, or perhaps by mine.

British vessels “Mahseer” and “Empire Ghyll” were sunk by mines in the North Sea.

Battle of the Mediterranean

British cruiser HMS “Latona” and destroyers HMS “Jackal”, HMS “Havock”, and HMS “Nizam” arrived in Alexandria, Egypt from Tobruk, Libya.

Malta’s air forces are increased with the addition of a force of strike planes flown in from Gibraltar. Eleven Albacore and two Swordfish aircraft of British No. 828 Squadron took off from HMS “Ark Royal” (escorted by battleship HMS “Rodney”, cruiser HMS “Hermione” and 7 destroyers) to reinforce Malta. Their function to continue to harass Axis supply lines through the Mediterranean to North Africa. One Swordfish torpedo bomber was lost en route, however.

RAF attacks Tripoli overnight with 17 Wellington bombers flying from Malta.

Japan

The Japanese arrest Richard Sorge, ending the carrier of one of the most successful and productive Soviet spies in history. He would be hanged three years later. The son of a German engineer and a Russian mother, he was brought up in Germany, joined the Communist Party, and became a Soviet agent in 1928, serving in America, China and Japan under journalistic cover. He then got Stalin’s permission to go back to Germany and become a member of the Nazi Party. He returned to Tokyo as correspondent for a Frankfurt newspaper. Sorge, a craggy-faced womaniser and drinker, soon charmed his way into the confidence of the German ambassador. He also set up a highly-placed ring of Japanese agents, and soon he was sending a flood of economic, political and military information back to Moscow. One of his major coups was to warn Stalin that Hitler was preparing to attack Russia. He gave the precise date for the invasion - but Stalin ignored him.

General Tojo, known as Kamisori [the Razor] retains his portfolio as war minister. It is the first time that Japan has had a serving general as prime minister. One of General Tojo’s first moves has been to extend the deadline for diplomacy to prevent war with the United States until 25 November. This overturns the decision of the last imperial conference, calling for a decision on war or peace with the US no later than 15 October, which divided the Konoye cabinet and precipitated its resignation. General Tojo insisted on being given a “clean slate” on this issue before accepting his appointment from Emperor Hirohito.

Day 779 of World War II, October 20th 1941

Eastern Front - Operation Barbarossa

There is heavy fighting near Mozhaysk and Malayaroslavets in the Moscow sector. The Germans capture Borodino and are now 60 miles from Moscow. Stalin declares a state of siege in Moscow. He appeals to all workers “to keep calm and orderly and to render the Red Army defending Moscow all possible help.” It also says that all enemies of public order are to be handed over at once to court martials and that all provocateurs, spies and other enemies inciting riot are to be shot on the spot. Boldin takes command of Soviet 19th Army.

Soviet General Fedyuninsky launched an attack south of Lake Ladoga with 70,000 troops and 97 tanks in an attempt to break through the Leningrad siege. They make little progress against dug-in German troops on the swampy terrain. German Field Marshal von Leeb makes his own move in the area, heading Southeast from Lake Ladoga to the important rail and road junction at Tikhvin to cut off the supply route to Leningrad.

While Manstein had burst into the Crimea the other Armies of Army Group South, fighting on the mainland, had advanced farther to the east between the Dnieper and Donets. Kleist's Panzer Group, now renamed 1.Panzerarmee, had been pursuing the defeated enemy and was now lining up to attack Rostov. The three fast divisions (60.Infanterie-Division (mot), 13.Panzer-Division and the SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot.) “Liebstandarte der SS Adolf Hitler” penetrated into the town, which then had 500,000 inhabitants, and pushed straight on to the Don. The 1st Battalion ""Leibstandarte."" stormed across the Rostov railway-bridge and captured it intact. The 60.Infanterie-Division (mot) meanwhile covered the exposed flank of the Corps by a dashing drive far to the east and south-east, and captured Aksayskaya, while units of 13.Panzer-Division vigorously pursued the retreating enemy from the west. Rostov, the gateway to the Soviet oil paradise, was in German hands. Naturally the Soviet General Staff made every possible effort to recapture Rostov from the Germans and to bar Kleist's Panzer Army from access to the Caucasus. As a result of Mackensen turning to the south a gap had arisen between 17.Armee and 1.Panzerarmee, a gap which, in view of the shortage of forces, could not be immediately closed. Here was Timoshenko's opportunity. He struck at the gap and into the rear of III.Armeekorps (mot).

Elements of the German 6.Armee reach the outskirts of Kharkov but stubborn resistance by the Soviet 38th Army prevents the city’s capture.

The German 1st Mountain Division seized Stalino from the Soviet Twelfth Army. The 20th Bersaglieri Battalion forces the Russian the 383rd Rifle Division to abandon the Ukrainian steel manufacturing city of Stalino. The situations for the Soviets became very serious on the northern flank of the 383rd Rifle Division, around the suburban railroad station of Stantsia Stalino, where the Italians were advancing. With the capture of Grishino and Grodovska from the 296th Rifle Division, the Pasubio Division had maneuvered to the north of the Celere Division, thus securing the left flank of the Bersaglieri and cavalrymen. General Marazzini decided it was an opportune time to attack the 383rd Rifle Division's unprotected flank, in the vicinity of Yasinovataya. A reinforced battalion from the 291st Rifle Regiment, under 1st Lieutenant Shcherbak, was sent to the threatened area. The Soviet battalion fought bitterly to prevent an Italian breakthrough and delayed them long enough to allow the "Miners" Division to retreat. Nevertheless, the XX Bersaglieri Battalion captured Stalino Station. Threatened by the Italians to the north, and with Germans vanguards already in Stalino, the Russians had no choice but to abandon the city. Thus the principal armaments-making centre in the Donets area, the most, important industrial region of the Soviet Union, was in German hands.

In reprisal for partisan attacks the Germans executed 2,324 Serbian men and boys in the Yugoslavian town of Kragujevac, including 300 boys who were herded out of the First Boys High School on the previous day. Local German authorities announced that the mass execution was in response to a recent attack that saw 10 Germans killed and 26 wounded. Furious at partisan activity, Adolf Hitler had previously decreed that for every German soldier killed in attacks, 100 civilian would be executed, and for every German wounded, 50 would be executed.

Air War over Europe

The weather continued to interfere with Bomber Command's activities and it wasn't until the night of the 20th/21st, when 284 aircraft were in action, that any sizeable number of missions was flown. On that night, Bremen was raided by 153 aircraft, Wilhelmshaven by 47 aircraft, Emden by 36 and Antwerp by 35 (none of which attacked because of complete cloud cover). The remaining sorties were Gardening and Nickelling.

Battle of the Mediterranean

After sundown, British cruiser HMS “Latona” and destroyers HMS “Kingston”, HMS “Encounters”, and HMS “Nizam” departed Alexandria, Egypt for Tobruk, Libya, returning in the early hours of the next day. To protect them, British cruisers HMS “Ajax” and HMS “Galatea” and Australian cruiser HMAS “Hobart”, escorted by destroyers HMS “Griffin” and HMS “Jaguar”, bombarded German coastal guns near Tobruk.

The Italian Spica-class destroyer escorts 'Aldebaran' and 'Altair' sink after hitting mines in the Aegean.

Battle of the Atlantic

Sailing with a small convoy of two tankers and one escort, the British steam tanker “British Mariner” was torpedoed and damaged beyond repair by the U-126, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Ernst Bauer, approximately 80 miles southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Of the ship’s complement, 3 died and 48 survivors were picked up by a British tug. The 6,996 ton “British Mariner” was carrying ballast and was bound for Curaçao.

United Kingdom

Churchill tells the Defense Committee that he does not believe that the Japanese would go to war with both the United States and Great Britain.

United States of America military

Aircraft carrier USS “Hornet” (Yorktown-class) was commissioned into service commanded by Captain Marc Mitscher.

Photo: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) photographed circa late 1941, soon after completion, probably at a U.S. East Coast port. A ferry boat and "Eagle Boat" (PE) are in the background



War games and exercises were held at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

Japan

New Japanese Prime Minister Tojo makes a speech: “Japan stands at the crossroads of its rise or fall.”

Japanese aircraft carrier IJN “Zuikaku” ("Happy Crane") departed Saeki for Sukumo Bay. IJN “Shokaku” arrived at Terajima Strait.