Natalia
Author
(823)1941
January
- 10
- The Lend-Lease bill in CongressOn 10 January 1941 bill H.R. 1776, letting Roosevelt lend arms to the British, went before Congress. On 23 January Lindbergh urged that it be rejected.
- The Greeks take the Klisura PassOn 10 January 1941 the Greek II Corps took the Klisura Pass on the Vjosa in Albania, opening the road to Berat. An Italian relief division disintegrated.
February
March
April
May
- 12
- RAF raids on Hamburg and BerlinOn the night of 8–9 May 1941 the RAF sent over 350 bombers against Germany, its largest force yet, then returned to Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin.
- The USSR recognises Rashid Ali’s governmentOn 12 May 1941 the Soviet Union recognised Rashid Ali al-Gaylani’s government, then ten days into its war with Britain – a gesture by Stalin towards Berlin.
June
- 22
- Auchinleck replaces WavellAfter the failure of Operation Battleaxe Churchill swapped commanders. Wavell was to take command in India, General Claude Auchinleck in the Middle East.
- The June Uprising in LithuaniaOn 22 June 1941 Lithuanians rose against the Soviets and next day proclaimed a restored state in Kaunas. Germany did not recognise it; a pogrom followed.
July
- 01
- The British take PalmyraOn 1 July 1941 the Arab Legion routed a Vichy company at Sukhnah. Palmyra, besieged since 21 June, surrendered on 3 July, and Slim's Indians took Deir ez-Zor.
- The Germans take RigaOn 1 July 1941 the Wehrmacht entered Riga. Latvia passed from Soviet to German occupation, and the Germans and local collaborators began murdering Jews.
August
September
- 27
- The first Liberty shipOn 27 September 1941 the Patrick Henry, the first Liberty ship, was launched in Baltimore. By 1945 US shipyards had built 2,710 of these freighters.
- The founding of EAMOn 27 September 1941 in Athens the communists and three small left-wing parties founded the National Liberation Front (EAM), the core of the Greek resistance.
October
- 24
- The Germans take KharkivOn 24 October 1941 the German Sixth Army took Kharkiv. Its tank and aircraft plants had gone to the Urals; famine, terror and the murder of Jews followed.
- The yellow permits actionOn 24 October 1941 an action began in the Wilno Ghetto against people without yellow work permits. Within a week several thousand of them were killed at Ponary.
November
- 24
- Lend-Lease for the Free FrenchOn 24 November 1941 it was announced that Roosevelt deemed the defence of Free French territory vital to the USA. Lend-Lease aid was to go via London.
- Rommel’s dash to the wireOn 24 November 1941 Rommel drove his tanks to the Egyptian frontier, spreading panic behind the Eighth Army. Meanwhile the New Zealanders reached Tobruk.
December
- 01
- The thousandth air raid on MaltaAround 1 December 1941 Malta logged its thousandth air raid alert since June 1940. A quiet autumn was ending as the Luftwaffe returned to Sicily.
- The creation of the Civil Air PatrolOn 1 December 1941 La Guardia, head of the Office of Civilian Defense, signed the order creating the Civil Air Patrol to enlist private pilots in US defence.
- The Jäger ReportOn 1 December 1941 Karl Jäger tallied Einsatzkommando 3’s executions in Lithuania: 137,346 dead, almost all Jews. He declared the “Jewish problem” solved.
- 02
- The evacuation of HankoOn 2 December 1941 the last convoy left the Soviet base at Hanko. That night the transport Iosif Stalin, with 5,500 troops, hit mines in the Gulf of Finland.
- “Climb Mount Niitaka”On 2 December 1941 Tokyo signalled the fleet “Niitakayama nobore 1208”, fixing the attack for 8 December. The day before, an Imperial Conference had chosen war.
- 08
- The attack on Clark FieldOn 8 December 1941 Japanese bombers from Formosa destroyed half of the US air force in the Philippines at Clark Field and Iba, hours after news of Pearl Harbor.
- The Battle of Hong Kong beginsOn 8 December 1941 Japan attacked Hong Kong. In five days it took the New Territories and Kowloon, and the defenders withdrew to Hong Kong Island.
- 11
- Key eventGermany and Italy declare war on the United StatesOn 11 December 1941 Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States, and Congress responded that same day. The war had become truly global.
- The defence of Wake IslandOn 11 December 1941 the defenders of Wake atoll beat off a Japanese landing. Coastal guns sank the destroyer Hayate, and Marine fighters the destroyer Kisaragi.