Military operations
Category
(1014)1941
January
- 10
- The attack on HMS IllustriousOn 10 January 1941 German Ju 87s from Sicily hit the carrier Illustrious off Malta. For two weeks the Luftwaffe tried to finish her off in the Grand Harbour.
- 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
- 25
- The sinking of the cruiser Armando DiazOn 25 February 1941 the British submarine Upright torpedoed the Italian cruiser Armando Diaz, escorting a Libya convoy off Kerkennah. About 460 men died.
- The British take MogadishuOn 25 February 1941 General Cunningham’s African troops entered Mogadishu unopposed, two weeks after advancing from Kenya into Italian Somaliland.
March
April
- 06
- Key eventGermany attacks YugoslaviaOn 6 April 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia without declaring war and the Luftwaffe bombed Belgrade. The partly mobilised army quickly fell apart.
- Key eventGermany attacks GreeceOn 6 April 1941 the 12th Army struck Greece from Bulgaria. The Metaxas Line forts beat off the first attacks; at night an ammunition ship blast wrecked Piraeus.
- The British enter Addis AbabaOn 6 April 1941 Cunningham’s troops entered Addis Ababa, given up by the Italians without a fight. Asmara, capital of Eritrea, had fallen five days earlier.
- 16
- The Belfast BlitzOn the night of 15–16 April 1941 Luftwaffe bombers devastated north Belfast. Several hundred died, the highest toll of any single raid outside London.
- The Battle of the Tarigo convoyOn the night of 15–16 April 1941 four British destroyers from Malta wiped out a convoy bound for Tripoli and its three Italian escorts off Kerkennah.
- 25
- Rommel takes the Halfaya PassOn 25–26 April 1941 Colonel von Herff's group drove the British from Sollum and the Halfaya Pass. Axis forces stood in Egypt but went no further.
- The Battle of Thermopylae (1941)On 24 April 1941 New Zealanders at Molos and Australians on the Brallos Pass held the Germans all day, then withdrew at night to the evacuation ports.
- 27
- Key eventThe Germans enter AthensOn 27 April 1941 the Germans entered Athens and raised their flag on the Acropolis. The Greek army had capitulated, but the King fought on from Crete.
- New Hurricanes for MaltaOn 27 April 1941, 23 Hurricanes flew to Malta from the carrier Ark Royal. The island was enduring its heaviest month of German bombing.
May
- 31
- The bombing of DublinDuring the night of 30–31 May 1941 four German bombs fell on Dublin. In North Strand 28 people were killed and some 300 houses were destroyed or damaged.
- Baghdad surrendersOn 31 May 1941 an armistice ending the Anglo-Iraqi War was signed outside Baghdad. Rashid Ali and the Mufti had fled to Iran; the Regent returned on 1 June.
June
- 22
- Key eventGermany invades the Soviet UnionAt dawn on 22 June 1941 Germany and its allies attacked the USSR. Operation Barbarossa broke the pact of 1939 and opened the Eastern Front.
- 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.
- 03
- The Summer War in EstoniaFrom 3 July 1941 the Estonian Forest Brothers attacked Soviet units in the south. The Germans entered Estonia on 7 July and the front halted on the Emajõgi.
- The surrender of GazzeraOn 3 July 1941 Belgian troops from the Congo attacked the Italians at Saïo. That afternoon General Pietro Gazzera sought terms; he surrendered on 6 July.
August
- 11
- Malta in August 1941In August 1941 no convoy reached Malta. Supplied in July, the island struck from the air and from under the sea at ships carrying supplies for Rommel.
- Raids on Chongqing in August 1941In August 1941 the Japanese bombed Chongqing day and night to wear the city down. On 30 August bombs fell on Chiang Kai-shek's residence.
September
October
November
- 28
- The Red Army retakes RostovOn 28 November 1941 the Germans began leaving Rostov under attack by three Soviet armies; next day it was free. Rundstedt fell back to the Mius and was sacked.
- The Germans reach the Moscow–Volga CanalOn the night of 27–28 November 1941 a 7th Panzer Division battlegroup crossed the Moscow Canal at Yakhroma. A 1st Shock Army counter-attack threw it back.
December
- 02
- The Germans at KhimkiOn 2 December 1941, some authors say, a German patrol reached Khimki outside Moscow. In the bitter cold the attacks of Army Group Centre were collapsing.
- 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.
- 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 Japanese invasion of ThailandOn 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed on the Thai coast and crossed from Indochina. After hours of fighting, Bangkok ceased fire and let them pass to Malaya.
- 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.
- The Malayan campaign beginsJust after midnight on 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Kota Bharu in Malaya and in Thailand. Five days later Yamashita's army beat the British at Jitra.
- 10
- The sinking of Prince of Wales and RepulseOn 10 December 1941 Japanese bombers from Indochina sank the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse off Malaya. 840 sailors were killed.
- The Japanese take GuamOn 10 December 1941 the Japanese landed on Guam, and after a brief fight in Agana Governor George McMillin surrendered the island. The same day they took Makin.
- 11
- 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.
- The Japanese invasion of Burma beginsIn mid-December 1941 the Japanese took Victoria Point in southern Burma; on 23 and 25 December their bombers struck Rangoon, setting off a flight from the city.
- 16
- Rommel withdraws from GazalaOn 16 December 1941 Rommel, facing encirclement at Gazala, began retreating across Cyrenaica against Italian wishes. On 24 December the British took Benghazi.
- The Japanese invasion of BorneoOn 16 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Miri and Seria, where the British had already wrecked the oil wells. On Christmas Eve they entered Kuching.
- 25
- The surrender of Hong KongOn 25 December 1941 Governor Mark Young surrendered Hong Kong. A week of fighting on the island brought massacres of prisoners, wounded and hospital staff.
- The Kerch landingOn the night of 25–26 December 1941 the Red Army began landing near Kerch and on 29 December at Feodosia. Manstein had to halt his Sevastopol assault.