August 1941

August

• 01

  • The United States imposes an oil embargoOn 1 August 1941 Roosevelt banned exports of aviation fuel outside countries “resisting aggression”. With the asset freeze, it cut Japan off from oil.
  • The District of GaliciaOn 1 August 1941 the Germans added Eastern Galicia, with Lwów, Stanisławów and Tarnopol, to the General Government as its fifth district.
• 02

  • The confiscation of radios in NorwayOn 2 August 1941 the Germans began taking radios from Norwegians. Only Germans and NS members could keep one, and underground papers relayed London news.
  • The Black Forest massacre near StanisławówOn 2 August 1941 the Stanisławów Gestapo summoned Jewish and Polish intellectuals to “register”. Hundreds were shot in the Black Forest near Pawełcze.
• 05

  • The end of the Smolensk pocketOn 5 August 1941 Bock declared the Smolensk pocket battle over, claiming over 300,000 prisoners. Days later the Germans also closed the Uman pocket.
• 07

  • The Germans reach the Gulf of FinlandOn 7 August 1941 the Germans reached the Gulf of Finland at Kunda and split the Soviet 8th Army. Tallinn was cut off, and Narva fell on 17 August.
• 09

  • Key eventThe Atlantic CharterOn 9–12 August 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill met aboard warships in Placentia Bay. On 14 August they announced eight common principles, the Atlantic Charter.
• 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.
• 12

  • Hitler changes the direction of the offensiveOn 12 August 1941 Hitler supplemented Directive No. 34; on 21 August he turned Guderian's tanks to Ukraine. The march on Moscow was delayed over a month.
• 18

  • Aktion T4 haltedIn August 1941 Hitler ordered a halt to the gassing of the sick under Aktion T4. More than 70,000 people had died, and the killing went on in secret.
• 20

  • The Blue DivisionOn 20 August 1941 Spain’s Blue Division, the Wehrmacht’s 250th Infantry Division, left Grafenwöhr in Bavaria by rail for the Eastern Front.
• 22

  • The Germans before LeningradIn August 1941 the Germans broke the Luga Line and reached Leningrad. On 30–31 August they took Mga, cutting the city’s last rail link with the country.
• 25

  • Key eventThe invasion of IranOn 25 August 1941 British and Soviet troops entered neutral Iran without a declaration of war. The Shah’s army stopped fighting after four days.
• 27

  • The capture of U-570On 27 August 1941 a British Hudson attacked U-570 south of Iceland. The crew hoisted a white flag, and the boat was towed in and taken into the Royal Navy.
• 28

  • The fall of TallinnOn 28 August 1941 the Germans took Tallinn. The Baltic Fleet broke through to Kronstadt via the Juminda minefields, losing dozens of ships and thousands of men.
• 30

  • The first Shetland Bus voyageOn 30 August 1941 the boat Aksel sailed from Shetland for occupied Norway – the first voyage of the secret transport service known as the Shetland Bus.
  • The Yelnya offensiveOn 30 August 1941 Zhukov’s Reserve Front struck the German salient at Yelnya. A week later the Germans abandoned it – the Red Army’s first such success.
• 31

  • The Great Provocation in WilnoOn 31 August 1941 the Germans staged a “Jewish attack” on soldiers in Wilno. In reprisal thousands of Old Town Jews were rounded up and shot at Ponary.