Author Archives: The Bay Museum

SECOND WORLD WAR February 1942

SECOND WORLD WAR February 1942

Britain

The “Channel Dash” was a German naval operation which saw battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and their escorts leave the French port of Brest on the 11th February 1942. The ships left their harbour in Brest just after 9.00 pm and approached the Straits of Dover undetected 12 hours later. The British belated response by the RAF, Fleet Air Arm, Navy and coastal artillery was due to bad winter weather with reduced visibility and airfields blocked with snow. This limited the number of aircraft and naval vessels available to stop the “Channel Dash”. Adolf Hitler ordered the Olerkommand der Marine (OKM German Navy high-command) to return the ships to German bases as protection against a British invasion of Norway. For surprise the short dash up the English Channel, from Cornwall to Dover, rather than the longer detour around the British Isles was the preferred option. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were damaged by mines in the North Sea and they reached German ports on the 13th February 1942. Scharnhorst was out of action for nearly a year. Gneisenau went into dry dock on the 26/27th February 1942 and was bombed, never to sail again. Prinz Eugen together with escorts steamed to Norway arriving on the 21st February 1942. Whilst patrolling off the Trondheimfjord Prinz Eugen was torpedoed by British submarine HMS Trident. The torpedo caused serious damage to the stern, making steering almost impossible, in addition to killing 50 members of the crew. However, she was able to reach Trondheim where emergency repairs were carried out over the next few months.

On the 20th February 1942 American General Ira Eaker arrived in Britain together with six Staff Officers. Eaker was placed in charge of the 8th Bomber Command (VIII BC). On the 23rd February 1942 the newly formed (VIII BC) was established at RAF Bomber Command headquarters at RAF Daws Hill in High Wycombe. Potential sites for the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) installations had been surveyed in May 1941 even though America was still a ‘neutral’ country.

Under the Ministry of Labour’s Youth Registration Scheme 16 year old Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen, registered for war service on the 25th February 1942. Elizabeth was the first female member of the Royal Family to register and serve in the military. Her family refused to leave the country during the war and chose to remain in London in solidarity with the British public. Elizabeth’s mother explained in a letter “The children will not leave unless I do. I will not leave unless their father does, and the king will not leave the country in any circumstances whatsoever”. The decision of the Royal Family to remain in England was greeted with major support from the public.

America

The United States automotive industry switched over to war production on the 1st February 1942. The Great Depression of 1929 to 1939 had drastically reduced the number of vehicle manufacturers from the boom years of the 1920s. The industry was dominated by three large companies: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. When the Second World War began in 1939 the American economy rapidly expanded and when the U.S. entered the war in December 1941 all vehicle manufacturers were converted to war production. On the 1st February 1942 all passenger vehicle production ceased as the emphasis was on the production of jeeps, tanks and aircraft engines. The industry employed thousands more production workers and was a major factor in the victory of the allies in 1945.

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On the 2nd February 1942 Joseph Warren Stilwell (known as Vinegar Joe) was promoted to Lieutenant-General and assigned as the Commander-in-Chief of all allied forces in the China-Burma-India theatre of war. He arrived in India later in the month where he had three major roles.

1) Commander of all U.S. forces in China, Burma and India.

2) Deputy Commander of the Burma-India Theatre under Admiral Louis Mountbatten.

3) Military advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the commander of All Nationalist Chinese forces.

He had been selected for these positions because between the two world wars he had served three tours in China, where he mastered spoken and written Chinese.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower, newly assigned to the General Staff in Washington, along with other top U.S. and U.K. military leaders met on the 9th February 1942 to discuss the military strategy of the war. The Atlantic Charter was confirmed by the United Nations that the Allies were obligated not to sign a separate peace deal with the Axis powers. The defeat of Germany was the primary objective as they were considered to be the more powerful of the Axis powers. A heavy bombing campaign should be the primary target against Germany. The consensus of opinion was that an offensive against Germany by the Allies forces should be employed at the earliest possible time. The British persuaded the Americans that a landing in France was not a viable proposition in 1942 but focus should be on driving the Axis powers out of North Africa. The war in the Pacific was considered to secondary.

In New York on the 10th February 1942, the French cruise Liner SS Normandie was being converted to a troopship when she caught fire from welding torch sparks. She had sailed into New York harbour at the outbreak of the war and was seized by the U.S. Authorities. On the 20th December 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved Normandy’s transfer to the U.S. Navy. In honour of the Marquis de la Fayette the navy renamed her USS Lafayette. The Marquis de la Fayette was the French general who fought alongside the colonialists during the American War of Independence. The sparks from the torch ignited a stack of life jackets and the fire spread rapidly along the varnished woodwork which had not been removed. The ships fire protection system had been disconnected and the New York fire hoses were not compatible with ships water inlets. A fifteen minute delay in the arrival of the Fire Department coupled with a strong wind allowed the blaze to spread to the upper decks. As firefighters on the dockside and fire boats poured water on to the blaze the ship began to list to the port side. This was due mainly because more water was being pumped in from the fireboats. By early evening the fire was considered to be under control and the authorities began to close down the operation. However, water was pouring into the lower decks, further increasing the list to port. By midnight the authorities abandoned Lafayette and she finally capsized at approximately 02.45 am the following morning. Enemy sabotage was suspected but a later investigation concluded the fire was accidental. USS Lafayette never sailed under the U.S. flag she was finally broken up for scrap on the 31st December 1948.

In mid-February 1942 the American government discussed possible espionage on American shores by Japanese-American citizens. On the 19th February 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the order committing the internment and relocation of Americans of Japanese ancestry. The order affected the lives of about 117,000 people, the majority of whom were American citizens. The relocation and internment began on the 25th February 1942. Canada followed suit and relocated 21,000 Japanese residents from its West Coast. Over 2,000 people of Japanese descent were also relocated to the U.S. from Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina but Mexico dealt with their own Japanese population.

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Pacific War

There were tactical raids by the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fleet together with other warships against the Imperial Japanese Navy on the Marshalls-Gilbert Islands on the 1st February 1942. The object was to attack the Japanese naval garrisons in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. The raids were carried out by two separate U.S. carrier task forces, under the overall command of Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr. The raid on the Gilbert Island was assigned to Task Force 17 carrier USS Yorktown command by Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. The aircraft inflicted moderate damage to the Japanese naval installations and destroyed three Japanese aircraft. Task Force 17 lost two aircraft in the raid. The second raid, carried out by Task Force 8, on the Marshall Island was assigned to USS Enterprise commanded by Halsey himself. The strikes inflicted light to moderate damage to the three naval garrisons. Three small Japanese warships were sunk and fifteen Japanese aircraft destroyed. Six U.S. aircraft were lost plus a float plane, which was damaged during recovery, and it was abandoned and sank. During a Japanese aerial counter attack the heavy cruiser USS Chester was hit and slightly damaged by a Japanese bomb. Immediately upon completion of the raids the two task forces retired from the area. The raids had very little strategic impact other than boosting the morale of the U.S. Navy following the attack on Pearl Harbour and the loss of the Wake Islands. The raids convinced the Japanese Naval Combined Fleet commander Isoroku Yamamoto that he needed to engage the U.S. carrier fleet in battle in order to destroy them, which resulted in the Battle of Midway later in the year.

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The first Japanese air strike on Surabaya, Java occurred on the 3rd February 1942.  Shore facilities were hit and a number of Dutch flying boats were strafed and sunk whilst moored in the harbour. The port and airfield on the island received almost daily air attacks and many aircraft were destroyed. The attacks continued until the Japanese assault began.

On the 27th February 1942 the Allied navies of the combined American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) was defeated at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Battle of Java Sea began when ships carrying the Japanese amphibious forces gathered to strike at Java and the main Allied naval forces under the command of the Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman sailed to intercept them. The Japanese troop transport ships were escorted by two heavy and two light cruisers and fourteen destroyers. The ABDACOM force consisted of two heavy and three light cruisers and nine destroyers. Upon engaging with the Japanese in the Java Sea the ABDA forces attempted to reach the transport ships but were repulsed by superior firepower. The Japanese heavy cruisers were far more powerful being armed with ten 200mm guns compared to ABDA’s heavy cruisers being armed with nine and six 200mm guns respectively. The battle raged intermittently from mid-afternoon until midnight. Of the ten Japanese transport ships four were sunk by ABDA forces who also damaged one Japanese destroyer. However, ABDACOM lost two cruisers, three destroyers and 2,300 sailors killed. One of the cruisers sunk was the flagship HNLMS De Ruyter whereby Admiral Karel Doorman was killed. The remaining ABDA fleet dispersed in different direction and another five ships were lost. The ABDA naval force had been almost totally destroyed allowing the Japanese access to Java, one of the most important food producing regions in the Far East. With the conquest of the Dutch East Indies Japan gained control of the 4th largest oil producers in the world.

Java was part of the Dutch East Indies. +

The Japanese invasion of Java (Operation “J”) began on the 28th February 1942 when Japanese troops landed on the island. The invading army consisted of 35,000 troops under the command of General Hitoshi Imamuba. The defenders of the island were the combined troops of ABDA. Dutch Lt-General Hein Ter Poorten was the overall commander of ABDACOM, in Java, who had a total force of 34,500 Men. The Battle for Java would last until March 1942 when the ABDACOM surrendered.

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The Battle of Reboul was conducted on the 9th February 1942 when the Japanese overran the Australian Territory of New Guinea on New Britain Island and captured the city and harbour of Reboul. The Japanese were eager to capture Port Moresby on the south coast of Papua New Guinea which would give them a springboard for a possible invasion of Australia. By capturing Port Moresby the Japanese would neutralise the Allies principal forward base in the Pacific. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander Allied Forces South West Pacific Area was determined to hold Port Moresby. From the 19th February 1942 the first of at least 111 attacks from Reboul were carried out on the Australian mainland. The first and deadliest was when Japanese aircraft bombed Darwin on the 19th February 1942 causing a great deal of damage and killing 235 people. The result was that Darwin’s use in the Northern Territories, as a major naval base, was abandoned by the Australians.

The island of Singapore was next on the Japanese invasion agenda following the occupation of Malaya. The British High Command had all the defensive guns positioned on the East Coast pointing out to sea. They were guilty of racial arrogance who didn’t take the Japanese threat seriously. Singapore had been previously bombed for the first time by Japanese long-range bombers on the 8th December 1941. Allied troops had fully retreated from Malaya to the island by the 9th February 1942. The defensive planning strategy was poor and although the garrison commander Lieutenant General Arthur Percival had 85,000 Allied soldiers at his disposal they were of mixed quality with regard to battle experience. When the senior officers of the individual British, Australian and Indian forces began to have disruptive disagreements, Percival’s overall defence strategy was compromised. The Japanese began the invasion with a fifteen hour bombardment of heavy naval guns on the 8th February 1942. On the same day the first wave of Japanese troops crossed the Johore Strait from Malaya to begin the land assault. However, two days prior to the Japanese attack (6th February 1942) a patrol from the Australian 22nd Brigade was sent over to Malaya at night to gather intelligence reports on the Japanese positions. After a large number of Japanese troops were located, the request to shell the Japanese was ignored by Malaya Command as insignificant. They believed any invasion would be from the sea on the North East coast and not through the jungles of the North West coast. On the 14th February 1942 the rapid advance of the Japanese troops through the jungle on bicycle brought them to the Alexandra Barracks Hospital. Upon entering the hospital the Japanese forces were approached by a British Lieutenant, acting as an envoy with a white flag, He was killed immediately by the Japanese with a bayonet. Doctors and nurses were also killed along with fifty Allied hospitalised soldiers, some who were undergoing surgery. The following day approximately 200 male staff and patients were marched away and killed by the bayonet. On the 15th February 1942, with the water system badly damaged and both rations and ammunition almost exhausted  Lieutenant General Percival surrendered to the Japanese HQ. Approximately 80,000 Allied troops were captured and became prisoners-of-war. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the surrender the “worst disaster in British Military History”.

The Sarawak royal yacht Vyner Brook, prior to the surrender of Singapore, evacuated the island on the 12th February 1942. On board the ship were many injured service personnel, civilian men, women and children and 65 nurses of the Australian Army Nursing Service. En-route to an unknown destination, the ship was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft on the 16th February 1942. Two nurses were killed during the bombing and the rest were washed up on various beaches of Bangka Island in the Dutch East Indies. 22 of the 65 nurses were among approximately 100 survivors who reunited on Bangka Island’s Radji Beach. An officer of the Vyner Brook went to Muntok to surrender the group to the authorities once they became aware the island were occupied by the Japanese. In the meantime army matron Irene Melville Drummond suggested the civilian women and children should leave for Muntok. After they left the nurses stayed to care for the wounded and set up a shelter with a large Red Cross sign plainly visible. The ship’s officer returned with approximately 20 Japanese soldiers who ordered all the walking wounded to travel around a headland. The Japanese soldiers returned after the nurses heard a quick succession of shots. A Japanese officer ordered the remaining 22 nurses and a civilian woman to wade into the surf. When the women were waist deep a machine gun, which had been set up on the beach, shot the women killing all but Sister Lt. Vivian Bullwinkel. The wounded soldiers who were left on stretchers were killed by being bayonetted. By lying motionless in the water, although shot in her diaphragm, Sister Bullwinkel reached the shore once the troops had gone. When on the beach she crawled into the bush where she lay unconscious for several days. When she awoke she encountered the only other survivor Private Patrick Kingsley. He was a British soldier who had survived being bayonetted by the Japanese. She dressed his wounds and her own, then on the 25th February 1942 they surrendered to the Japanese. Sister Bullwinkel spent three years in a Japanese POW camp but Private Kingsley died before reaching one. At the Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1947 Sister Bullwinkel, who survived the war. Gave evidence of the massacre. According to the Australian government the perpetrators of the massacre remain unknown and therefore unpunished for this crime. Evidence, later discovered, appears to have been suppressed by the Australian government that most of the nurses had been raped before being massacred.

Burma prior to the Second World War was part of the British Empire but the British regarded Burma as a military “backwater” unlikely to be subjected to a Japanese threat. However, Japan was looking to extend it’s territory in the far east to obtain the raw materials Japan needed to conduct the war. Burma had oil, food production and rubber. The need to have control of rubber production was that the Japanese were aware that rubber was the only commodity that America was not self-sufficent in. Japanese were able to begin their invasion of Burma through the newly allied Thailand. In December 1941 they began bombing the capital Rangoon and caused considerable damage to the dock area. The commander of the Burma Army was Lieutenant General Thomas Hutton had only the 17th Indian Infantry Division and the 1st Burma Division to defend the country. They were also expecting assistance from Chiang Kai-Shek’s Chinese Nationalist forces.  By the 17th February 1942, Hutton considered the capital city of Rangoon could not be defended and attempted to divert reinforcements to ports further north. However, General Sir Archibald Wavell, as Commander-in- Chief of ABDACOM, ordered Rangoon to be held. Japan had declared war on the U.K. and America in December 1941 and Wavell held the position of Commander-in-Chief India. In addition he was made C-in-C of ABDACOM. When the Japanese troops crossed the Salween River on the 20th February 1942 via Thailand and the Burma Army withdrawing they were gradually being overwhelmed. Major-General “Jackie” Smythe VC blew the bridge over the Sittang River on the 23rd february1942 to prevent the Japanese crossing. The problem was that most of his division was on the wrong side of the river. They Burma Army did manage to cross the river to safety. The blowing of the bridge only delayed the Japanese by a few days. On the same day British Prime Minster Winston Churclhill ordered a complete withdrawal of of the Burma Army to India. Both Hutton and Smythe were sacked by Wavell and General Harold Alexander took over temporary command of the Burma Army. With Malaya lost and the British position in Java precarious ABDACOM was closed down. Wavell returned to India, as C-in-C India, and his resonsibilities now included the defence of Burma. Hutton later served as Secretary of War Resources. Smythe returned to the U.K. to retire, through ill health, with the rank of Colonel and the honoury rank of Brigadier.

With the Japanese rapid advance in the Philippines the forces of the Philippine and American armies retired to the south of the islands. Retired General Douglas MacArthur had been appointed a defence advisor to the Philippine government prior to the war. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour MacArthur was recalled to service in the U.S. army to become commander of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). This appointment united the Philippine and U.S. armies under one command. On the 21st February 1942, fearful that  MacArthur, as America’s most experienced general, would be captured and taken prisoner  President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered him  to evacuate the Philippines.     

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Other Theatres

In the Desert Campaign, Commander of the Afrika Korps Erwin Rommel’s second offensive began on the 20th January 1942 with an unexpected counter attack from Benghazi. The attack forced the British to retreat 350 miles to the Gazala Line. By the 5th February 1942 Rommel ended his offensive by reaching El Gazala, Libya which became the new front line until Rommel was finally ready to attack the Gazala Line in May 1942.

In Norway on the1st February 1942, Vidkun Quisling was elected to the post of Minister-President. Quisling was a Norwegian politician and Nazi collaborator. In the 1920s he was posted as a diplomat to the Soviet Union. He returned to Norway in 1929 and served as Minister of Defence in the Norwegian government until 1933 when he founded the fascist Nasjonal Samlink (National Union) party. In 1939 Quisling turned his attention towards Norway’s preparations for the European War, which seemed inevitable, and wished to increase the county’s defence spending to guarantee neutrality. He was also a supporter of Adolf Hitler with the “Jewish problem in Norway”.  He had met with Adolf Hitler in December 1939 and urged a German occupation of Norway. The intention of the occupation would be to enable the Germans to break the British naval blockade in the North Sea and Norway would provide ideal U-boat bases. When the Second World War began Norway was a neutral country and was not allied to Britain or Germany. Fearful that any Anglo-Russian alliance would make neutrality impossible, Quisling’s fascist beliefs reasoned that Norway would have to become an ally of Germany. By 1940 the NS party was still only peripheral, but on the 9th April 1940 when the Germans invaded Norway he attempted to seize power in the world’s first radio broadcast Coup d’état. He proclaimed himself head of government as leader of the NS party and the occupying Germans supported Quisling. Because he was unpopular with Norwegian population he had to be accompanied by German bodyguards.  By the end of January 1942 the Germans announced the German administration would stand down and on the 1st February 1942 they duly elected Quisling to the post of Minister-President of the national government even though he was aware of his unpopularity in Norway.

William Mackenzie King was a Canadian statesman and politician who was serving as Prime Minster of Canada in 1942. The government had promised not to introduce military conscription in 1940. In response to the Conservative Party lobbying Mackenzie King to introduce compulsory military conscription he passed a law on the 19th February 1942 to allow a plebiscite on conscription. The plebiscite was asking the people of Canada whether they were in favour of conscription therefore releasing the government of any obligations they had previously promised. The plebiscite result was 66% in favour but Quebec province had a strong majority who voted against conscription. This action prompted Mackenzie King not to pursue the issue.

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Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service January 1942.

Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service January 1942.

Date                Time   Location         Damage

08/01/1942    Found  Billericay      1 – exploded British Smoke float found in a field

500 yards South West of Downham Church.  No damage or casualties.  Time and date of falling not known.

14/01/1942    21.30  Foulness       1 – H.E exploded on the foreshore.  No casualties. 

Slight damage to windows of Government property.

30/01/1942    18.30  Barling           A torn and deflated Naval Kite grounded in a field

500 yards South of Mucking Hall Farmhouse and 300 yards West of Mucking Hall Road.  Inscribed Mk. 6-29509X – AAD/AB2- R.N. – “Smokey Joe”.  RAF informed  (Removed by Naval Authority 3.2.42).

30/01/1942    18.30  Pitsea             A Naval Kite Balloon grounded at junction of

Northlands Drive and Rosemary Drive.  No damage or casualties.  Removed to Scotch Bakery.  Naval Control informed.

SUBJECT.  INSPECTION OF KIT AND EQUIPMENT.  

SUBJECT.  INSPECTION OF KIT AND EQUIPMENT.                         Capt Benham

TO Troop Commanders.

TROOP COMMANDERS WILL CARRY OUT AN INSPECTION OF ALL N.C.O.s AND MENS KIT.  ATTENTION MUST BE PAID TO THE FOLLOWING

ANTI GAS Equipment &Clothing, All Ranks to be in Possession of –

Respirator Mk 5…..1                        Wallets A/G ……1

Container Type “A” 1                       Flannelette……..2 pieces

Mk VI                                                  Cotton Waste…..4 ozs

Eyeshields A/G……6                      Capes A/G………1

Gloves A/G Prs ……1                      Detectors Individual 1 Pair.

Detectors Gas Ground… All Officers and N.C.O.’s … 1 Pad.

Detectors Paper Arthur……. Pads of 25…. 100 G.P.C.’s & G.P.O.’s.

Outfits A/Dimming…… 1 per Man.

Ointment A/G No 2……2 per Man.

Ointment A/G No 2……10 per Troop for Bren & A/T Rifle.

Discs Identity.

One Red & One Green Per Officer and other Rank.

Officers – Personal No. Rank Initials, Name & Religious denomination.

Other Ranks – No Initials, Name & Religious denomination.

Ear stoppers.

ON NO ACCOUNT WILL THE UNIT BE STAMPED ON DISCS.

Kit, Home Scale.

All Ranks should be in possession of full Kit-Home Scale.

Tropical Kit – All Ranks will be issued with –

Trousers Tropical Drill…..1 prs.                 Buttons G.S…………..9

Shorts          “        “   ……1 prs                  Hooks G.S…………….2

Shirts            “        “   ……2.                      Buckles (shorts) ..……2

Hose Tops prs……………1.                       Helmets (Tropical)……1

Putties short prs………….1.                       Chin Straps…………..1

Jackets Drill………………1.                       Sea Kit Bag…………..1

Marking of Baggage.

All Kit Bags will be Marked with 3 YELLOW BAR with Serial No 1433.

Vehicles –

In white on the Offside Front Wing in front of the Side Lamp M/Cs on extension of the Front Mudguard.

Gun Stores etc –

All U/S articles and articles Deficient, will be issued as soon as these articles are drawn from the R.Q.M.S.

Suits A/G.

Dr and Fitters etc, All Troops should be in possession of 6 suits of protective Clothing H.G.24.  These have been Issued.

Check Rifle Oil Bottles – Fill With oil Bren & A/T Rifles.

All Men for Over Sea Service must be in possession of One New Pair of Boots and one good repair pair.

Signed C.A. Shirley Capt R.A.

10th Field Bty R.A.

Rank and NameKitA/GasInspectionsA.B. 64Identity discs
MedicalRifleEquipment
        
B.S.M. Bax       
Sgt Hipwell       
Sgt Fowles       
Sgt Grey       
Sgt Fox       
Sgt Cook       
Bdr Bugler       
Bdr Brannan       
Bdr Brannagan       
Bdr Onions       
Bdr Ellis       
Bdr Murray       
Bdr Avery       
L/Bdr Head       
L/Bdr Bell       
L/Bdr Watson       
Gnr Appleton       
Gnr Bruce       
Gnr Baker Gnr Beechy       
Gnr Burlong       
Gnr Conroy       
Gnr Connelly       
Gnr Clare Gnr Crilly       
Gnr Carmichael       
Gnr Davies       
Gnr Foster       
Gnr Forrest       
Gnr Green       
Gnr Graves       
Gnr Heys       
Gnr Harris       
Gnr Nunn       
Gnr Offer A       
Gnr Offer S       
Gnr Southern       
Gnr Hammond       
Gnr Askew       
Gnr Milliard       
Dvr Chatfield       
Dvr Deabill       
Dvr Evans       
Dvr Elliot       
Dvr Hutchinson       
Dvr Head       
Dvr Lythgoe       
Dvr Sleigh       
Dvr Sutton       
Dvr Wilson       
L/Bdr Few       
Bdr Cathcart       

Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service November 1941.

Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service November 1941.

Date                Time   Location         Damage

03/11/1941    12.00  Dunton          A British Tiger Moth Training ‘plane number

N.6848, piloted by Sergt. Charles Alexander McMillan, of No.1 E.F.T.F. RAF stationed at Hatfield Herts, landed at Park Farm having lost his bearings.  No damage or casualties, took off under his own power.

06/11/1941    19.45  Wallasey        2 – Para mines exploded at Lower Barn Farm. 

Island             Damage to farm buildings.  No casualties.  One tailcap found 1/2 mile from River Crouch.  Stencilled letters and numbers scratched out.  2nd, found 800 yards from River Crouch.  Stencil scratched out.  Letters H.q.f.M. 1834.

08/11/1941    09.55  Landwick       On the 7.11.41 on instructions, Sergt. William

Wood Dow Petrie.  Regt No. 1880533 of the 205th Field Company, R.Es stationed at Battlesbridge and a party of men were going to make a roadway across a minefield situated near the Sewage Farm, Landwick.  Before starting on the road way several mines had to be exploded and this was done 7th inst.  At 09-55 hrs the 8th inst. Sergt Petrie and five men went to the minefield to carry out their job of putting a fence on either side of the supposed roadway, but before commencing work the Sergeant went into the supposed roadway to make certain that all the mines had been exploded and he there found a recovery wire leading to a mine.  He told his men to stand back, which they did.  He then got hold of the wire with his hand and walked towards the mine.  Sergt Petrie had almost reached the mine when it exploded and blew him to pieces.  The remains of Petrie’s body was conveyed to Billericay Mortuary.  No other person was hurt.

08/11/1941    13.20  Bowers           A British Spitfire made a forced landing at Smokey

Gifford            Farm, due to shortage of petrol.  Air-screw and under-carriage damaged.  The Pilot, Flight Sergt. Sanderson from 616 Squadron, West Malling, Kent escaped injury.

08/11/1941    19.45  Great              2 – Para mines.  One exploded 100 yards North of

Wakering       Old Halfway House Farm.  Telephone wires down.  No casualties.  One unexploded with parachute attached on Saltings at Fleet Head Creek.  30 yards from sea wall at Wick Farm.  1st Para tailcap found 100 yards North of Old Halfway House Farm.  1 1/2 miles from River Roach.  Letters embossed thereon OOS.M. 2018.  2nd Para tailcap found 100 yards North East of Old Halfway House Farm 1 1/2 miles from River Roach.  North wind.  (Unexploded mine removed by Admiralty 15.11.41).

11/11/1941                Ingrave           1 – Unexploded A.A. Shell found in a clover field,

100 yards South East of Hatch Farm, Thorndon Park.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.  (Disposed of BDS 20.12.41).

14/11/1941                Great              1 – Unexploded H.E. found in marshland on the

Wakering       West side of Brickfields.   No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.  (discredited by BDS 28.11.41).

15/11/1941    19.15  Foulness       1 – Para mine exploded on Shalford Farm.  No

damage or casualties.  Tailcap with 1057 punched in metal found the 18.11.41, 650 yards East of Foulness Road and 500 yards North of sea wall at Shalford Creek.

21/11/1941    09.15  Rochford       A deflated Barrage Balloon grounded in a field 200

yards East of Sutton Road.  Number 21217.  (Removed by Naval Authorities 22.11.41).

21/11/1941    09.15  Stambridge    A deflated Barrage Balloon grounded in a field 1/2

mile East of Stambridge Church.  No markings.  (Removed 22.11.41).

21/11/1941    10.25  Nevendon     A deflated Naval Kite Balloon grounded 150 yards

North of the Cricketers P.H. Arterial Road.  Inscribed K.B/MARY V.I.A. 8432.  (Removed by Naval Authorities 22.11.41).

23/11/1941    16.20  East                A Tiger Training ‘plane No. T.6706 bearing RAF

Horndon        markings and piloted by Sergt. Pilots Maguire & Penson of a Cambridge Aerodrome made a forced landing in a field 300 yards North of LMS Railway.  They were trying to locate another aircraft believed to have made a forced landing in the area and declined further ( Rest of entry missing on original).

24/11/1941    19.30  Rochford        Slight damage was caused to windows and

and Great      ceilings of property by blast from a mine exploding

Wakering       in the Southend Boro.  No casualties.

25/11/1941    Found  Hockley        1 – H.E unexploded in a greenhouse at McGee’s

Nurseries.  No casualties.  Believed to have fallen March 1941.  (Disposed of by BDS 26.11.41).

27/11/1941    19.15  Foulness       1 – H.E exploded in open ground 1/2 mile East of

                                                            The Rectory.  No damage or casualties.

SECOND WORLD WAR November 1941

SECOND WORLD WAR November 1941

(Britain)

In the Mediterranean the Royal Navy’s Force “K” was based in Malta after re-establishing a flotilla of surface ships for the first time since April 1941. Force “K” consisted of two light cruisers, HMS Aurora and HMS Penelope alongside two destroyers HMS Long and HMS Lively. British intelligence knew the Italian cypher code so when The Duisburg Convoy departed from Naples the British were ready and waiting. The Duisburg Convoy consisted of two German vessels, three Italian vessels and two fuel tankers carrying supplies to the Italian Army, civilian colonialists and the Afrika Korp in Libya. The convoy was escorted by six Axis destroyers. On the night of 8th/ 9th November 1941 the Battle of Duisburg Convoy commenced when Force “K” located the convoy east of Syracuse where they opened fire on the convoy. All the merchant ships were sunk also one destroyer. Whilst picking up survivors another Axis destroyer was sunk by submarine HMS Upholder. Force “K” suffered almost no damage while completely surprising the escorting Axis destroyers. After the attack Force “K” headed at high speed back to their base in Malta completely out-pacing the pursing Axis escorts.

British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal delivered a squadron of Hurricane fighters to Malta on the 12th November 1941. This enabled the continued defence of the island against the Axis Powers. Whilst returning to Gibraltar Ark Royal had received a message to the effect that German U-boats were active off the coast of Spain. On the 13th November 1941 a torpedo struck Ark Royal amidships between the fuel bunker and bomb store. The explosion caused Ark Royal to shudder after creating a gigantic hole below the water line on the starboard side. With engines still running Ark Royal continued taking in water and by the time she stopped she was listing heavily to starboard. With the exception of a damage control party the crew was ordered to abandon ship. The tug Thames arrived from Gibraltar and attached a tow line to Ark Royal and began to tow her away. She continued to list further until the early hours of the 14th November 1941 the remaining crew were ordered to abandon ship. At about 06.19 on the 14th November1941 Ark Royal finally capsized and sank 25 miles (41 km) east of Europa Point, the southernmost tip of Gibraltar. With the exception of one seaman killed at the time of the explosion, the remaining 1,487 officers and crew were transported safely to Gibraltar.          

 HMS Barham was a Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth class battleship and flagship to the Battle Squadron in the Mediterranean. The Battle Squadron consisting of HMS Barham, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant with an eight destroyer escort, sailed from Alexandria in Egypt on the 25th November 1941 to hunt for Italian convoys. Off the Egyptian coast German U-boat U-331 commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen detected the faint engine noise of the British ships and proceeded to position herself in readiness to attack. With extraordinary luck U-331 passed through the British sonar screen undetected but was too late to attack Queen Elizabeth as she was the leading ship but Barham was closing rapidly. Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedoes to be fired at a range of 375 m. (410 yds). Three of the four torpedoes struck amidships and Barham quickly capsized lying on her side and sank a few minutes later when a massive explosion tore the ship apart. 862 officers and ratings were killed including Captain Geoffrey Cook. Destroyer HMS Hotspur rescued 327 survivors including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham –Wippel and Australian N-class destroyer HMAS Nizam rescued a further 150 men. Upon discharging the four torpedoes U-331’s conning tower appeared above the surface. The order to crash dive was given immediately and she plummeted out of control until she stabilised undamaged at 150 m. (490 ft.). Although far exceeding her design depth she managed to escape undetected and eventually reached the port of Salamis in Cyprus on the 3rd December 1941. For this action Tiesenhausen was subsequently promoted to Kapitläieutnant and awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross after the announcement of the sinking of HMS Barham had been released.

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(Germany)

By the outbreak of the war in 1939 German Colonel-General Ernst Udet had risen to the post of Director-General of Equipment for the Luftwaffe. Udet became an alcoholic because of the stress of the position and on the 17th November 1941he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. His suicide was concealed from the public and he was reported having died on a flight testing a new weapon. He was buried alongside the Red Baron in the Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery in Berlin. Udet had been a notable flying ace of the Great War and was the highest scoring fighter pilot to survive the war. He became squadron commander under the administration of Manfred von Richtohofen (The Red Baron) and later under Herman Göring. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party and was involved in the development of the Luftwaffe. Following the failure to win the Battle of Britain, Udet was blamed by Herman Göring, Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe, for the defeat. When Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on the 22nd June 1941 was launched, Udet realised the Soviet air force was strong and technically very advanced and the coming war with the Soviet Union might destroy Germany. German Dictator Adolf Hitler was not informed of Soviet’s air force strength and torn between the truth and loyalty Udet suffered a mental breakdown. Göring controlled him by giving him drugs and his drinking enabled Göring to manipulate him which led to him taking his own life.

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 (Eastern Front)

Germany invaded the Soviet Union under the code name Operation Barbarossa on the 22nd June 1941.  At the beginning of November1941 and during the Battle for Moscow the attacking German forces were worn out with only one third of their motor vehicles still functioning. Serious logistical issues prevented the delivery of warm clothing and other winter equipment being delivered to the front. Whilst the battle was raging the Soviet Union’s “1941 October Revolution Parade” took place on the 7th November 1941.  The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin delivered a speech in Red Square to the soldiers who would go straight out to defend Moscow immediately after the parade The gist of the speech was that the German invader was facing disaster and that the Soviet Army would liberate the Russian people with complete destruction of the German Army on the Eastern Front. He maintained morale on the German troops was beginning to decline. Despite the attacking German forces being worn down the Germans still manged to continue their drive toward Moscow. By the 15th November 1941 the muddy ground was frozen and the Germans very slowly continued their advance toward Moscow. Winter clothing still had not arrived by the 28th November 1941 but the German Panzer tanks were on the outskirts of Moscow and awaiting the inevitable counter-attack.     

The Battle of Rostov was fought on the Eastern Front around Rostov-on-Don in the Soviet Union during November 1941. The participants being the Nazi German Army Group South and the Soviet Union Southern Front. The Germans had advanced across the Mius River by the 17th November 1941. The Germans captured Rostov on the 21st November 1941 taking over 10,000 Soviet prisoners-of-war. The Soviet Union’s Southern Front counter-attacked from the north six days later and threatened to surround the overstretched German Motorised Army Corps. The German Commander Gerd von Rundstedt ordered a retreat to the Mius River to prevent encirclement. Adolf Hitler immediately fired him for disobeying the order of “No Retreat”. Hitler relented after Rundstedt’s successor Walther von Reichenau confirmed the retreat order. When the Soviet army retook Rostov on the 28th November 1941 the counter-attack was the first successful Soviet victory of the war.

Operation Arctic Fox ended on the 17th November 1941 when the joint German/Finnish and the opposing Soviet armies dug-in east of Kestenga in the Soviet Union. Operation Arctic Fox was launched on the 1st July 1941 and was part of the ultimate aim of capturing the town Salla in Finland and then advancing to block the railway to Murmansk. Salla was captured and the more experienced Arctic Finnish Army approached to within 30km (19 miles) of the Murmansk railway. Facing strong Soviet reinforcements both sides dug-in on the 17th November 1941.

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(Desert War)

In the Western Desert the Allied Army had advanced 560 mile from Egypt and occupied the Libyan port of Tobruk in early December 1940. German General Erwin Rommel had been summoned to take command of the Afrika Korps and landed at the Libyan port of Tripoli on the 12th February 1941. The orders were for him to lead his army to total victory and to capture the port of Alexandria in Egypt. The 241 day Siege of Tobruk began on the 12thApril 1941. The 9th Australian Division had been left to defend Tobruk in order to deny the Axis Powers its port facilities. The remaining Allied army were withdrawn in order to organise and prepare a counter attack against the expected Axis invasion.

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Erwin Rommel nicknamed the “Desert Fox“, was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps, began to plan for a new offensive in November 1941 to capture the Port of Tobruk. Following the June 1941 offensive known as 0peration Battleaxe the defeated British appointed General Claude Auchinlech a Commander of the newly formed Eighth Army. Auchinlech’s position had been swapped with General Sir Archibald Wavell who became Commander-in-Chief, India. Operation Battleaxe was the British Army offensive designed to relieve the Siege of Tobruk and was the first time the Axis Powers fought on the defensive. However, the British suffered heavily with the loss of a great number of tanks and withdrawing just ahead of a German encircling movement. Auchinlech reorganised his forces and on the 18th November 1941 he launched Operation Crusader, a major offensive to relieve Tobruk. The British Eighth Army advanced west from their base at Mersa Matruth. They crossed the Libyan border near Fort Maddalena approximately 50miles (80km) south of Sidi Omar. The Eighth Army was relying on the Desert Air Force to heavily reduce enemy air opposition. The air offensive, planned to attack Axis airfields and destroy aircraft on the ground, was cancelled the night before it was due owing to torrential rain and storms.  On the first day (18th November 1941) the Eighth Army did not encounter any resistance as they approached the enemy positions. On the 19th November 1941 the Eighth Army’s 22nd Armoured Brigade advance was halted when they engaged the Italian Ariete Division who knocked out many British tanks. The 7th Armoured Brigade in the centre of the attack had advanced within sight of Tobruk and captured Sidi Rezegh airfield. Also on the 19th November 1941 the right flank of the 4th Armoured Brigade became heavily engaged with the 21st Panzer Division. Rommel revised his plans on the 20th November 1941 in which he called off his attack on Tobruk. Rommel’s counter offensive against the Eighth Army began on the 22nd November 1941 with the recapture of the airfield at Sidi Rezegh. By the 24th November 1941 Rommel had inflicted heavy losses on the Allies and the Afrika Korps advanced fifteen miles into Egypt before he outran his supply train. Meeting stiffening resistance from the British Rommel retreated to Bardia in Libya.  On The 27th November 1941 the New Zealanders reached Tobruk and thereby relieved the siege.

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Other Fronts)

The United States reached an agreement with the exiled Dutch government on the 23rd November 1941 whereby the Americans occupied Suriname. This occupation guaranteed the protection of the Bauxite mines which Germany needed for the production of arms. Suriname now a Dutch coastal colony in South America with the Atlantic Ocean on its northern coastline. Guyana is on its western border, French Guiana on the eastern border and Brazil to the south. The economy of Suriname during the Second World War was primarily dependant on the export of bauxite, gold, petroleum and agricultural products rather than the original slave orientated production of cocoa, sugar-cane and cotton.  

On the 24th November 1941 the United States granted $3.2 billion Lend-Lease aid to the Free French government. This figure coupled with a further Lend-Lease agreement of $46.9 billion to the British, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China made a total $50.1 billion. In general the aid was free and in return the U.S.A. had access to leases on land and naval bases in Allied territory during the course of the war. This effectively ended any pretence of neutrality by the United States.

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HMAS Sydney was a Leander light-cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy. She was active during the Abyssinian crisis at the start of the war, she then joined the British Mediterranean Fleet and provided support for the Malta convoys. She returned to Australian waters in February 1941.  On the afternoon of the 19th November 1941 Sydney was off the coast of Western Australia near Carnarvon heading south toward Freemantle. Sydney spotted an unidentified merchant ship in the distance on a north bound course. She immediately turned away and Sydney increased speed to intercept whilst requesting identification details. Further requests from Sydney established she was a Dutch Merchant Ship Straat Malakka but she was not on Sydney’s list of ships meant to be in the area. Straat Malakka had not identified herself because she was the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran In disguise. As Kormoran did not know the call sign the two ships engaged. Both ships were sunk by the other during the action. Of the 399 personnel on Kormoran 318 survived and served as prisoners-of-war who were repatriated to Germany in early 1947.  Mystery surrounds the loss of Sydney, as apart from the discovery of a Carly float and lifebelt, nothing from Sydney or the 645 aboard was discovered.

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In the East Africa Campaign the Italian army made a last stand around the town of Gondar in Ethiopia and surrendered to the British on the 28th November1941. When Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain and France in June 1940 he had already proclaimed the formation of the Italian East Africa. This territory included Ethiopia, Italian Eritrea and Somalia from which the Italians initiated operations in preparation for an assault on Egypt. The Italian forces consisted of 250,000 Italian soldiers and native troops who outnumbered their British opponents. However, Italian East Africa was isolated and far from supplies from the mainland thereby limiting the operations they could undertake. In June 1940 the Italians attacked the British in the Sudan, Kenya and British Somalia whereby the British evacuated Somalia to Aden. This was one of the few successful Italian campaigns which was accomplished without German assistance. The Regia Marina (Italian Navy) maintained a naval fleet based at Massawa in Eritrea which posed a threat to British convoys traversing the Red Sea. In doing this they lost a lot of vessels. The British counter-attacked in June 1941 which gradually led to their defeat of the East Africa Campaign and the final surrender on the 28th November 1941 in the town of Gondar.

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Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service October 1941.

Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service October 1941.

Date                Time   Location         Damage

04/10/1941    18.45  Rochford       A British Miles Magester Aeroplane No. T.9753

made a forced landing in a field 300 yards North of the Cock P.H. at Stroud Green, owing to ground mist.  No damage or casualties.  Aircraft from the 402 Squadron, Hull, attempting to land at Rochford.

07/10/1941                Foulness       1 – H.E unexploded found in a field at Jerry Wood,

Island             Small Gains Farm, 500 yards North of main road.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling believed 02.20 hrs the 23.6.41  (disposed of BDS 15.12.41).

07/10/1941                Ingrave           1 – H.E unexploded found in 45 Acre field, behind

Hatch Farm, 500 yards from Arterial Road.  No damage or casualties.  (disposed of BDS 6.11.41).

11/10/1941    20.10  Foulness       1 – H.E. exploded 80 yards East of sea wall, 1/4

Island             mile East of Eastwick Head.  No damage or casualties.

12/10/1941                Rayleigh        1 – A.A. unexploded Shell found in the garden of

“Barrington” Hockley Road.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.  (Disposed of BDS 17.10.41).

17/10/1941                Ingrave           1 – A.A. unexploded Shell found in a clover field

200 yards South East and at rear of Hatch Farm.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.

18/10/1941    10.55  Canvey          A Navy Barrage Balloon broke away from a ship in

Island             the River Thames opposite Chapman Lights and disappeared in a North Easterly direction.  Should clear Southend.  Will burst when high enough.

25/10/1941    12.00  Little Warley  1 – A.A. unexploded Shell found in a meadow 200

yards West of “Beredens” Cranham Road.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.  (Disposed of BDS 12.11.41).

30/10/1941                Rayleigh        1 – H.E. unexploded found in field 10 yards East of

path running North from Sandhills Road.  No damage or casualties.  Date and time of falling not known.  (Disposed of BDS 12.11.41).     

SECOND WORLD WAR September 1941

SECOND WORLD WAR September 1941

(Eastern Front)

During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, code named Operation Barbarossa, Leningrad was completely surrounded on the 1st September 1941. The Finnish Army, who were allied to Germany, advanced on the Soviet Union from the north whilst the German Army advanced from the south. The Siege of Leningrad began on the 8th September 1941 when the German Army severed the last road to the city. With the German forces still advancing on Leningrad, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin appointed General Georgy Zhukov to take over the defence of the city on the 11th September 1941. Zhukov began the erection of stronger defences. On the 16th September 1941. German Dictator Adolf Hitler ordered a major artillery and bombing offensive against the city and by the 30th September 1941 the Siege of Leningrad had claimed over 4,900 civilian lives. The blockade was broken on the 18th January 1943 when the Soviet Army opened a land corridor along the coast. The siege officially ended on the 27th January 1944 when the Soviet Army expelled the German forces from the southern outskirts of the city. The siege lasted 872 days and became one of the longest and most destructed sieges in history.                                                                   

During Operation Barbarossa, Hitler ignored the advice of his Generals to advance his forces to Moscow. He believed a simultaneous attack on Leningrad in the north and the Ukrainian city of Kiev in the south would destroy the Soviet Army. His miscalculation was to cost Germany dearly and the campaign in Russia was doomed. Operation Barbarossa had been postponed for a month. The splitting of the advance on Moscow wasted valuable summer weather and the German Generals predicted disaster when the Russian winter set in. At the same time Hitler’s directive ordered the German army to attack Kiev and on the 10th September 1941 the army had surrounded the city. Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces Marshall Semyon Budyonny had been ordered to defend Kiev. With the German army surrounding the city, he requested permission from Stalin to evacuate. Stalin refused permission but on the 17th September 1941 permission was given. It was too late as Kiev was captured on the 18th September 1941 and the commander General Kirponos was killed. Something like half a million Russian soldiers and vast amounts of equipment was captured and German troops murdered 30,000 Jews on the outskirts of Kiev.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union they reached Estonia in July 1941. Hopes of the Estonian people were high that the Germans were liberators from Soviet oppression and restoring Estonia’s independence. It soon became apparent that the Germans were replacing one occupation with another. Germany fully occupied Estonia on the 5th September 1941 and the Estonians began to self-govern the country on the 15th September 1941 under the guidance of the Germans.

0n the Lithuanian/Belarus border Nazi Germany established a Jewish ghetto in the Lithuanian city of Vilnius. The city was predominantly Polish and Jewish and the Lithuanians were in the minority. The German army entered Vilnius in June1941 followed by the German death squad. Local Lithuanian leaders proposed Jewish and Polish ethnic cleansing and formulated a plan to implicate the Jews and Poles as aggressors. Two civilian Lithuanians dressed as Jews broke into a Jewish apartment and fired upon German soldiers. They fled the apartment and returned with German infantry who captured two Jews and accusing them of firing at German soldiers. The Jews were beaten and then shot on the spot. In retaliation to the “Jewish offence” all Jews were driven out of the neighbourhood the Nazis had selected for the future ghetto. They were taken to Lukiškes Prison then on to Paneriai, also known as the Ponary, in Vilnius. By the 6th September 1941 between 5,000 and 10,000 Jews were murdered. The establishment of the ghetto to imprison the Jews of Vilnius was the prime objective.

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(Other Theatres)                                   

In the Balkans following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Germany placed Serbia under the authority of a military government. The Axis powers consisted of Germany, Austria and Italy decided to set up a puppet government to maintain control of the country in order not to tie up a large amount of German manpower. On the 1st September 1941 General Milan Nedić was installed as the new Prime Minister. Nedić was the former chief of staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army who was threatened that if he did not accept the position, then Germany would bring in Bulgarian troops to occupy the whole of Serbia. Nedić accepted the position and the puppet government stayed in power until October 1944 when Serbian partisans and the Soviet Army forced the occupiers to withdraw.

In Germany on the 1st September 1941, German Jews and all Jews from the age of six years were ordered to wear the “Yellow Star of David” badge. This order included Jewish citizens of the current German annexed states. The order for Jews to wear the badge in the future annexed states of Estonia, Luxemburg, Slovakia and Romania were soon to follow. From here-on all Jews were easily identified

In September 1941 the American navy was assisting the British Royal Navy in escorting merchant convoys in the North Atlantic through U-boat infested waters. The U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. Greer was the first American vessel to fire on a German ship on the 4th September 1941. Conflicting evidence indicates that German U-boat (U-652) fired upon S.S. Greer but did not make any contact. The identity as an American vessel was unmistakeable as she was flying the American flag. It would appear S.S. Greer immediately attacked the U-boat with depth charges. U-652 survived the attack and joined up with a wolf pack seeking British convoys. In his fireside chat on the 11th September 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt used this incident to declare that Germany had been guilty of an “act of piracy”. Roosevelt confirmed his order to “shoot on sight” if threatened effectively declaring naval war on Germany and Italy in the Battle of the Atlantic. On the 26th September 1941 the U.S. Navy implemented the order of all-out war on Axis shipping in U.S, waters.

In the U.S.A. the first Liberty ship S.S. Patrick Henry was launched from a shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland on the 27th September 1941. The vessels became known as Liberty ships when Roosevelt launched S.S. Patrick Henry and in his speech he quoted the phrase “Give me Liberty or give me death”. S.S. Parick Henry was launched nearly ten weeks before the United States officially entered into the war. The United States adapted the British concept of ships to replace those lost in the Atlantic convoys. Owing to low-cost of construction the ships were mass produced. Between 1941 and 1945 eighteen American shipyards built 2,710 Liberty ships (an average of three ships every two days). This was achieved because they were constructed in sections and welded together, not the traditional riveting. As America entered the war the shipyard men were enlisted in the armed forces and the shipyards employed women to replace them.

The Allied Powers of Britain and the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Iran in August 1941.  Reza Shah had been the Shah of Iran from December 1921 and encouraged German commercial policies. By the beginning of the war Germany was Iran’s largest trading partner. The Germans agreed to sell a steel factory the Shah desired whilst the Germans would have access to the oil fields. The Shah replaced the pro-British Prime Minister Ali Mansur with Mohammed Ali Foroughi. When negotiations with the British began, Foroughi implied he and the Iranian people wanted to be liberated from the Shah’s rule. Foroughi proposed handing all German nationals over to the British and Soviet Union authorities, but was planning the secret evacuation of the German nationals from Iran. On the 16th September 1941 the Red Army occupied the Iranian capital Tehran and Britain and the Soviet Union forced the Shah to abdicate in favour of his son, for having not handed German residents over to the Allies. Crown Prince Mohammed Reza Pahlavi took the oath to become the new Shah of Iran.

The uprising of the northern city of Drama in Greece began on the 28th September 1941. The Bulgarian Army entered Greece in April 1941 following Germany’s invasion of Greece. The official annexation of Greece followed when the Bulgarian government failed to bring changes to the Greek population by stealing land and houses in favour of Bulgarian settlers. Once the Bulgarian occupation of Greece had been established the uprising began. Under the guidance of the Macedonian politburo of the Communist Party of Greece a revolt broke out on the 28th September 1941. The following day, the 29th September 1941 the uprising was suppressed by the Bulgarian occupation authorities. Bulgarian retaliations were not limited to the rebels but included many citizens of Greece suspected as being involved. The suppression and subsequent massacre precipitated a mass exodus of the Greek population seeking refuge in the German occupation zone of Central Macedonia. Over 2,000 rebels and citizens died during the uprising.  

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Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service August 1941.

Air Raid Damage Reports Brentwood Division Essex Fire Service August 1941.

Date                Time   Location         Damage

02/08/1941                Paglesham    1 – Paramine located in Paglesham Pool and dealt

with by Naval Authorities.  No damage or casualties.  Believed dropped with one found at Canewdon see 10.7.41.

06/08/1941    00.15  Little                I.Bs (a number) burnt out in fields East of Dunton

Burstead        Waylet off Noak Hill Road.  No damage or casualties.

09/08/1941    23.30  Rayleigh        3 – H.Es exploded, 1 15 yards South of

“Bramblecot” Lancaster Road and 2 about 400 yards from junction of Lancaster and Eastwood Roads.  External walls of “Bramblecot” damaged and chimney of 3 Connaught Road.  No casualties.

16/08/1941    18.30  Great              A Naval Barrage balloon grounded in a field 300

Wakering       yards North of Twyford Avenue.  Fabric torn.  Letters in black on side “R.N.” & on the nose “MARY and 5804” RAF Rochford informed.

16/08/1941                Vange            1 – H.E unexploded found in a field 30 yards North

of L.M.S. Railway and 200 yards East of Timberlog Lane.  No damage or casualties.  Date of falling believed to be 15.9.40.

18/08/1941                South Weald 1 – Oil I.B. unburnt found on open ground East of

Weald Brook, opposite 13th hole Maylands Golf Course.  No damage or casualties.  (disposed of BDS 7.9.41).

19/08/1941                Eastwood      1 – H.E. unexploded found on open ground 1/2

mile West of Flemmings Farmhouse.  No damage or casualties.  Date of falling believed 19.8.41.  (disposed of BDS 9.9.41)

22/08/1941    19.15  Wickford        A Tiger Moth aeroplane, No 7229, Piloted by

Flying Officer Gardiner attached to Hornchurch Aerodrome made a forced landing in a meadow at Beauchamps Farm, Southend Road, owing to mechanics defects.  No casualties or damage.  RAF informed at Hornchurch.  Police & Home Guard supplied the Guard.  Removed 23.8.41.

28/08/1941                Ingrave           1 – H.E. unexploded in a corm field 200 yards

North West of Handleys Farmhouse.  No damage or casualties.  Date of falling not known.  Ref E.X.625  (disposed of BDS).

31/08/1941                Great Warley 1 – H.E. unexploded in field at Stoney Hills Farm

near Upminster common.  No damage or casualties.  Date of falling not known.  Disposed of BDS).

Benham letter 20 August 1941

I carried out your instructions re your letter.

Larkhill

Friday 10.30 pm.

My dearest Maz,

I must apologise for using this thin paper but I am sitting up in bed, and this is the only paper I can muster in my room.

Many thank, Maz, for your letter which arrived this evening.  It was sweet and I was very touched by it.  I too have had the same involuntary feeling sometimes but it has always passed quickly when I think of the future which lies ahead of us all.  As I’ve said before the times which you and I have had in the past were times which I shall never forget, you were always so terribly sweet and kind to me and you and Par were for ever encouraging me in every way; and in the future we shall have some more marvellous times together.  I know that it will be some recompense to you to know that I am really happy and in the care of a girl who loves me as much as I love her.  I’ve never had the chance to talk to you as I should like to have done about Eileen, but she’s really wonderfully sweet, and, I know, looks upon you as her mother.  It’s a funny thing I suppose but I always rather liken my heart to a house, one part of which will always be occupied by you, it will never matter where I am or what I’m doing I shall always think of you and love you in the same way as I do now and that is with all the love a son has for his mother.

The words of yours in the latter part of your letter were very true and I shall never forget them and I hope that Eileen and I will be able to live up to the ideals for which we are all fighting.

When we get our house in running order absolutely nothing will please us more than to have you with us and I might say I’m already longing for the day when we shall be meeting you at Salisbury and bringing you to see our home, and hoping that everything will meet with your approval!!

Please open anything which looks as though it may contain a spot of cash.  Very many thanks for your very kind cheque but I really shall be most upset unless it’s a small one.  All that I want, Maz dear, is your love and your blessing and the promise from you that you will never think for one little minute that I shall ever be anything but your ever loving and ever affectionate

Peter

Letter addressed to Mrs. G.C. Benham, 5, Oxford Road, Colchester Essex.  Postmark mostly unreadable but date 20 Au 41.

SECOND WORLD WAR August 1941

SECOND WORLD WAR August 1941

(Britain)

By August 1941 the Government Code & Cypher School (GC & CS) was well established with both male and female British code-breakers. Bletchley Park was established as the principal centre for the code-breaking facilities in 1938. Before the beginning of the Second World War Polish code-breakers had cracked the Enigma Code which sent out military secret messages produced by the Germans. The original Enigma machine looked like a typewriter and when each letter was typed in, another letter came out so that messages would be received in code. The receiving party had an identical machine which changed the code back to the original message. The codes for the Enigma cyphers were frequently changed and the task was to find a way to access the more complicated code. As the Germans were changing their cyphers daily the Polish code-breakers were not able to proceed and handed the information over to the British to continue the task. The capture of German U-boat U-110 off the coast of Ireland on the 9th May 1941 proved beneficial to the Bletchley Park code-breakers. Before the U-boat could be scuttled the Enigma machine and code book was secured. U-110 was taken in tow back toward Britain but sank en-route to Scapa Flow. The British code-breakers eventually developed the “Colossus” computer in 1943.

The British special group nicknamed “The Shetland Bus” came into force on the 30th August 1941 and became a permanent link between Shetland in Scotland and German occupied Norway. The main purpose of the group of men and boats was to assist agents of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in and out of Norway. A fleet of camouflaged working fishing boats were used, armed with light machine-guns concealed inside oil drums placed on deck, and the crew passing as fishermen. ”The Shetland Bus” was used to transfer agents to Norway and to provide them with the necessary weapons and supplies. The crossing were mostly carried at night during the winter months which entailed the crews and passengers enduring very heavy North Sea conditions. By sailing without navigation lights the boats were under constant risk of discovery by German aircraft or patrol boats. There was always the possibility of being captured whilst carrying out a mission to the Norwegian as the operations were under constant threat from German forces.

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(Germany)

In Nazi Germany in 1939 the T4 programme was set up to establish the euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped citizens. The T4 programme was formed to create the Euthanasia Department, headed by Doctor Viktor Brack and targeted some children as being mentally defective. The children, including Jewish children, were transported from all over Germany to a Special Psychiatric Youth Department and systematically murdered. Either they were injected with lethal substances or led into shower rooms where they were gassed.  Eventually the programme was extended to include adults. German doctors and clergy protested that the programme was barbaric. On the 18th August 1941, Dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the programme to be suspended in Germany as he did not need such bad publicity. The programme would be revived in occupied Poland. This programme continued when the T4 personnel were transferred to concentration camps primarily for the extermination of the Jewish population.

German U-boat U-570 was on patrol in the North Atlantic south of Iceland on 27th August 1941. U-570 was on her first patrol although the commander Kapitäieutant Hans-Joachim Rahmlow and his second-in-command were experienced surface naval officers, but not in submarine warfare. The U-boat crew were inexperienced in any type of naval service. U-570 spent most of the morning submerged but surfaced approximately 10.50 am and was attacked by an American Lockheed Hudson light bomber. The Hudson was on loan to the British and was being flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on patrol. Rahmlow ordered a crash dive after hearing the approach of The Hudson which dropped four depth-charges. One of the depth-charges detonated approximately 10 yards from the boat and U-570 resurfaced. Some of the crew emerged and displayed a white sheet after the Hudson had subjected them to machine-gun fire. A Catalina flying boat was ordered to fly out and watch the U-boat until Allied ships arrived. She was towed away for repair and eventually entered service with the Royal Navy as HMS Graph in September 1941.

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(Eastern Front)

Following Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Germany declared the District of Galicia in Poland as the fifth district of Generalgouvernement on the 1st August 1941. After occupying Galicia, Adolf Hitler formed a capital in the Galician province of Limburg. Prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union the joint German/Soviet Union had invaded Poland in 1939 and the Soviet Union had temporarily occupied the District of Galicia.

In Stanislaw in Galicia on the 2nd August 1941 German S.S. Commander Hans Kruger ordered all Jewish and Polish intelligentsia be registered.  Subsequently the intelligentsia were tortured and murdered. This action became the first implementation of the “one bullet one Jew” system in the occupied territory of Galicia.

In Norway on the 2nd August 1941 the Nazi German occupation authorities implemented the confiscation of all Norwegian civil radios in order that the population did not have access to BBC broadcasts.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, was initially a spectacular success and on 5th August 1941 the German army trapped the Soviet army at Smolensk on the drive toward Moscow. Smolensk fell to the Germans on the 6th August 1941 but overall the German advance had slowed down. Hitler took personal control of the campaign and on the 12th August 1941 he issued a directive that he believed would be a tactical move to take Leningrad in the north and the Crimean industrial basin in the south before winter. Against the advice of his military Generals, who wanted to continue the advance to Moscow, Hitler moved some of his troops advancing on Moscow to the Leningrad fronts. By the 22nd August 1941 the German forces were closing in on Leningrad and the first steps in the Siege of Leningrad began on the 31st August 1941.

Spain during the Second World War was officially a neutral country. However, on the 20th August 1941 a new German Infantry division was formed and had the assistance of 18,000 Spanish volunteers. The volunteers were officially designated as the Blue Division who were to serve in the German Army on the Eastern Front. Spanish leader General Francisco Franco sent an official offer of help to Berlin in June 1941 on the proviso that the volunteers would only fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. Adolf Hitler readily approved of the Spanish volunteers on the 26th June 1941 and Spanish volunteers flocked to recruiting offices in Spain to fight against the Soviet Army. The offer of help was to repay German support during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 and to maintain their neutrality they would not take up arms against the Allies on the Western Front.

The Soviet Union began the evacuation of Tallinn in Estonia on the 28th August 1941. Soviet forces had occupied Estonia since June 1940 and, following Operation Barbarossa, German forces advanced rapidly through the Soviet-occupied Baltic States. 190 ships in the Red Army Baltic Fleet were bottled up in the harbour of the Estonian capital Tallinn surrounded by German forces. In anticipation of a Soviet breakout the German navy began laying minefields and the Soviet minesweepers tried to clear a pathway through the minefields. The Soviet embarkation was protected by smokescreens, but previous minesweeping activities were largely ineffective. Bad weather and the shortage of Soviet aircraft was the main cause for the lack of protection for the fleet. Despite this the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn was successful in that 165 ships, 28,000 civilian passengers and 66,000 tons of equipment managed to escape. There are not any available records showing how many Soviet soldiers and airmen were evacuated, however, 12,400 people were thought to have drowned.

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(Other Theatres)

On the 1st August 1941 the United States of America announced a ban on oil exports to “aggressor countries” including Japan. There had been tensions between America and Japan following the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan imposed an embargo of all oil imports and war supplies from America to China. The Japanese Imperial Navy estimated it had less than two years bunker oil remaining following the American ban of oil imports to Japan. This eventually would lead to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 bringing America into the war.

During 1941 the Japanese military planned to attack the British colonies of Malaya and Burma in a bid to conquer Southeast Asia. Germany encouraged Japan on the proposed invasion as it would divert British military forces away from the European theatre of war. In order to attack Malaya and Burma the Japanese sought free passage through Thailand. The British however, began to suspect that Japan was planning to set up bases in Thailand. On the 6th August 1941 the British and American Governments warned Japan not to invade Thailand and severe sanctions were placed on Japan. Despite the sanctions the Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on the 8th December 1941.

The Atlantic Charter was a joint statement by the British and American governments and issued on the 9th August 1941. This statement outlined the British and American aims for the world at the end of the Second World War. The Charter proposed that there was not any territorial changes made against the wishes of the people, restoration of self-government and reduction of trade restrictions. There never was a signed version but when it was released to the public the Charter was titled “Joint Declarations by the President of the U, S. and the British Prime Minister”.

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of neutral Iran began on the 25th August 1941. The joint UK and Soviet troops invaded as they suspected the Iranian Leader Reza Shah was friendly to Germany. The invasion was to secure Iranian oil fields and Allied supply lines. Upon occupying Iran the Allies replaced Reza Shah with his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the invasion ended on the 17th September 1941 as the occupation took over.