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

Nov2

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 8^th/ 9^th 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 12^th 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 13^th 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 14^th November 1941 the remaining crew were ordered to abandon ship. At about 06.19 on the 14^th 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 25^th 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 3^rd 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.

————-

(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 17^th 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 22^nd 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.

————-

(Eastern Front)

Germany invaded the Soviet Union under the code name Operation Barbarossa on the 22^nd 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 7^th 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 15^th 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 17^th November 1941. The Germans captured Rostov on the 21^stNovember 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 28^th November 1941 the counter-attack was the first successful Soviet victory of the war.

Operation Arctic Fox ended on the 17^th 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 1^st 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 17^th November 1941.

————-

(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 12^th 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 12^thApril 1941. The 9^th 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.

——

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 18^th 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 (18^th November 1941) the Eighth Army did not encounter any resistance as they approached the enemy positions. On the 19^th 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 7^th Armoured Brigade in the centre of the attack had advanced within sight of Tobruk and captured Sidi Rezegh airfield. Also on the 19^th November 1941 the right flank of the 4^th Armoured Brigade became heavily engaged with the 21^st Panzer Division. Rommel revised his plans on the 20^th November 1941 in which he called off his attack on Tobruk. Rommel’s counter offensive against the Eighth Army began on the 22^ndNovember 1941 with the recapture of the airfield at Sidi Rezegh. By the 24^thNovember 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 27^th November 1941 the New Zealanders reached Tobruk and thereby relieved the siege.

———-

Other Fronts)

The United States reached an agreement with the exiled Dutch government on the 23^rd 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 24^th 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.

—–

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 19^th 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.

——

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 28^th 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 28^th November 1941 in the town of Gondar.

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

Oct31

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

Sep1

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 1^st 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 8^th 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 11^th September 1941. Zhukov began the erection of stronger defences. On the 16^th September 1941. German Dictator Adolf Hitler ordered a major artillery and bombing offensive against the city and by the 30^th September 1941 the Siege of Leningrad had claimed over 4,900 civilian lives. The blockade was broken on the 18^th January 1943 when the Soviet Army opened a land corridor along the coast. The siege officially ended on the 27^th 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 10^th 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 17^th September 1941 permission was given. It was too late as Kiev was captured on the 18^th 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 5^th September 1941 and the Estonians began to self-govern the country on the 15^th 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 6^th 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.

———

(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 1^st 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 4^th 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 11^th 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 26^th 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 27^th 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 28^th 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 28^th September 1941. The following day, the 29^th 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.

Aug31

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

Aug20

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

Aug1

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 9^th 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 30^th 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.

———–

(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 18^th 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 27^th 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.

————

(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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 5^th August 1941 the German army trapped the Soviet army at Smolensk on the drive toward Moscow. Smolensk fell to the Germans on the 6^th August 1941 but overall the German advance had slowed down. Hitler took personal control of the campaign and on the 12^th 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 22^nd August 1941 the German forces were closing in on Leningrad and the first steps in the Siege of Leningrad began on the 31^st August 1941.

Spain during the Second World War was officially a neutral country. However, on the 20^th 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 26^th 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 28^th 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.

———–

(Other Theatres)

On the 1^st 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 6^th 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 8^th December 1941.

The Atlantic Charter was a joint statement by the British and American governments and issued on the 9^th 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 25^th 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 17^th September 1941 as the occupation took over.

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

Jul31

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

Date Time Location Damage

01/07/1941 Found Paglesham 1 – Unexploded Para Mine complete with

parachute found in mud on North side of Paglesham Pool Creek 1/4 mile from junction with River Roach, Wallasea Island (exploded by Naval Authority 4th). Also Tail Cap marked L.D. 682 in cap in red stencil and Parachute complete with shackle and Tail cap marked D.5718 in red over 63 in yellow found at Clements Farm. All believed fell the 23.6.41. No damage or casualties.

02/07/1941 01.10 Foulness 2 – Parachute mines exploded in the sea off

Island Foulness Island, between Eastwick Farm and Fishermans Head. No damage or casualties.

9 – H.Es exploded in fields 300 yards North of Scaldhurst Farm. No damage or casualties.02/07/1941 01.40 Foulness 2 – Parachute mines exploded in the sea off Foulness Island, between Eastwick Farm and Fishermans Head. No damage or casualties.

02/07/1941 Found Thundersley 1 – Unexploded AA Shell found in a field

behind the Utility Poultry Farm, Rayleigh Road. Time of occurrence not known. No damage or casualties.

06/07/1941 02.45 Canvey A Barrage Balloon grounded. Deflated and

Island removed to Canvey Island Fire Station. RAF Hornchurch informed.

07/07/1941 Found South 1 – H.E unexploded in wood 800 yards North of

Weald Colchester Road, Brook Street, East of Putwell Bridge, 500 yards from Brook, 150 yards into wood. Time of falling not known. No damage or casualties. (disposed of BDS 27.7.41).

07/07/1941 Found Hockley A Meteorological balloon found by Leslie Ellis of

Nelson Road Hockley forwarded to HQ 17.7.41.

10/07/1941 16.55 Canewdon Captain Dane, Resident Naval Officer of Burnham

on Crouch reported that at 16-55 hours the 10th, 1st, a mine exploded at the entrance to Lion Creek, Nr Lower Raypits Canewdon and blew up a motor boat, owned by P & N Petticrow Ltd of Eastern Boathouse, Burnham and contained two employees of that firm (names not known). They had been to Bridge Marsh Island and when returning the boat struck a mine. Search has been made of the foreshore of the River Crouch at Wallasea Island and Canewdon, but no trace of the two men or the boat has been found.

13/07/1941 02.45 Wickford 2 – H.Es exploded in a field East of Brock Hill Road

slight damage to a disused farm building. No casualties.

14/07/1941 09.45 Rayleigh Naval Barrage Balloon found in a field 100 yards

West of Doggetts Chase, deflated. Marked in black KB/MK over 1043. Also R.N. removed by RAF 16.7.41.

17/07/1941 Found Great Naval Barrage Balloon found in a ditch 100 yards

Burstead North West of Sewer Works, Barleylands. Seen to fall 21-00 hrs 12.7.41. Marked R.N. Collected by RAF 18.7.41.

18/07/1941 15.45 Great Naval Barrage Balloon found in a field at

Wakering Alexander Road. Deflated and torn from end to end. Marked R.N. and K.B. Mark 6. 4804 on side and EVA on nose. RAF Rochford informed.

19/07/1941 Found Brentwood 2 – H.E unexploded in a field East of Weald Brook,

opposite 13th hole, Mayland Golf Course, Brook Street. No damage or casualties. Time of falling not known.

21/07/1941 Found Canewdon 1 – H.E unexploded in a field 400 yards North of

Wick Farm. No damage or casualties. (disposed of BDS 26.7.41).

24/07/1941 13.00 Hockley A Meteorological balloon with machine attached

found in a field removed to Police Station. Inscribed No B.236 on machine. Label “The Supt, Observatory, Richmond, Surrey. (Forwarded to H.Q.).

25/07/1941 19.00 Haven Gore The body of a German Airman in an advanced

Island state of decomposition found on the foreshore, 100 yards from sea wall at Haven Gore Point. Body removed to Rochford Rural District Mortuary. Name and identity undecipherable. Removed and buried by RAF Southend.

28/07/1941 02.30 Ingrave 8 – H.Es unexploded in fields at rear of Whitby

Avenue. No damage or casualties.

28/07/1941 03.15 Canewdon 9 – H.Es exploded in fields 300 yards North of

Scaldhurst Farm. No damage or casualties.

SECOND WORLD WAR July 1941

Jul1

SECOND WORLD WAR July 1941

(Britain)

On the 12^thJune 1941 Britain and the Soviet Union signed the Anglo-Soviet Agreement pledging to assist each other and not make a separate peace with Germany. This military alliance was to be for the duration of the war and was the direct result of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on the 22^nd June 1941 code named Operation Barbarossa.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill referred to the “V for Victory” campaign in a speech, on the 19^th July 1941, from which point he began using the “V” hand sign. In January 1941 the “V” sign was introduced as part of a campaign by the Allies. The Belgian Minister of Justice, Victor de Lavelete suggested, on the Belgian-French language broadcasts on the BBC, that the “V for Victory” sign be used as a rallying emblem during the Second World War. The emblematic use of the letter “V” had spread through occupied Europe by July 1941. The BBC started the “V for Victory” campaign using the Morse code rhythm (three dots and a dash) as its call sign. The opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has the same rhythm and the BBC used this call sign in its foreign language programmes to occupied Europe throughout the remainder of the war.

———-

(Germany)

German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen whilst under repair in Brest Harbour, on the French coast, was attacked by British bombers on the 1^st July 1941. An armour-piercing bomb dropped on and destroyed the control centre deep down under the bridge which also controlled all the guns. During the Battle of the Atlantic in May 1941 the German battleship Bismarck was joined by the Prinz Eugen and escorted by three destroyers in an attempt to break out into the Atlantic. They engaged with the Royal Navy and Bismarck was sunk on the 27^th May 1941. Although damaged Prinz Eugen managed to escape to Brest, arriving on the 1^st June 1941. German battle ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were also under repair in Brest Harbour at the time of the attack. The three ships were out of action and under repair until the end of 1941.

The Final Solution to the “Jewish question” began on the 31^st July 1941. The Final Solution was a Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jews. It was designed as a deliberate and systematic genocide across German occupied Europe. Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler became the new architect of the plan proposed by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler about the forcible removal of Jews from German controlled territories. Reichsmarshall Herman Göring wrote to Reinhardt Heydrich, Himmler’s deputy, authorising him to submit concrete proposals for the extermination of the Jews.

———-

(Mediterranean Campaign and Desert War)

The Battle of Palmyra was part of the Allied invasion of Syria during the Syrian-Lebanon campaign. Vichy-France had substantial forces in the region and their ally Germany were allowed to use the air bases as staging posts for the Luftwaffe to take part in Anglo-Iraqi War. The Germans were also allowed to use the railway systems for send arms and ammunition to Iraq. In June 1941 the Allied forces had been launched from Palestine and Trans-Jordan into Syria and Lebanon. On the 1^st July 1941 British mechanised cavalry and an Arab legion desert patrol advanced to defeat the Vichy-French 2^nd Garrison at Palmyra to secure the oil pipeline from Iraq to Tripoli. The Allies entered Sukhna as it was not occupied by Vichy- French troops, but was attacked by the Vichy 2^nd Light Desert Company. After a sharp battle the Vichy-French retreated into a box valley pursued by Arab Legion troops and surrendered. This caused the 3^rd Light Desert Company, garrisoned at Palmyra, to lose heart and surrender. One minute past midnight of the 12^th July 1941 the campaign ended and a ceasefire came into effect.

On Malta the new Air Commodore Hugh Lloyd made an inspection tour of the airfields and main workshops in early July 1941. The state of the island was worse than he expected but he realised the protection of air and naval assets would have to be his first priority. The Royal Air Force (RAF) had fewer than 60 serviceable aircraft of all types with very limited spares and what spares he did have was supplemented by sifting through the debris of wrecks or cannibalising of damaged aircraft. German air activity was slackened after the Luftwaffe departed for the Eastern Front following Operation Barbarossa after Germany had undertaken their attack on Russia. The Italian Regia Aeronautica was left to continue the effective air campaign against Malta By mid -July 1941 supplies were beginning to reach Malta and RAF British Hurricane fighter aircraft were arriving in readiness to defend the island.

———–

(Eastern Front)

In June 1941 the Russian nation was unprepared for war. The Germans advanced over a wide front and Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union dictator, proposed “a scorched earth policy” during a radio broadcast on the 3^rd July 1941. When the Soviet army was forced to retreat all materials, food and military equipment was to be destroyed in order that the advancing German army could not benefit from the evacuation. In the occupied territory the remaining citizens were required to form into partisan groups and sabotage the enemy progress at every possible opportunity. Despite “the scorched earth” policy the invading forces, code named Operation Barbarossa, reached the Dnieper River near Kiev on the 5^th July 1941. On a wide front stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea on the 16^th June 1941 the Battle of Smolensk began and by the 28^th July 1941 German Panzers had reached Smolensk with the infantry following up.

The Baltic state of Latvia was occupied by the Germans on the 1^st July 1941. The Soviet Union had annexed Latvia from Germany and Riga became the capital of Latvia under the Soviet regime prior to Operation Barbarossa. Following the German occupation, which began on the 10^th July 1941, Riga became the German capital of Latvia. Once the Germans had established its authority the elimination of the Jewish and Roma population began. Anyone not racially acceptable or who opposed the German occupation were either killed or sent to concentration camps. Any Latvian citizen who cooperated with the Soviet Union suffered the same fate. The Jewish community were humiliated and deprived of their rights by being confined to their homes for most of the time. They were only able to shop in special stores and were allotted lower food rations. They were forced to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothes, restricted in their movements and had to surrender any securities they possessed. On the 27^th July 1941 guidelines on the Jewish question was made public. They were herded into specific areas where ghettoes were arranged and they were forbidden to leave them. They were also used as cheap labour being paid minimum wages and provided with minimum food.

Operation Arctic Fox began on the 1^st July 1941 when joint Finnish-German forces conducted a major offensive against the Soviet Union. This offensive followed the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The principal goal was to capture the town of Salla, just inside the Finnish border with the Soviet Union, then advance toward Kandalaksha in the Soviet Union. This advance was an effort to block the railway route to Murmansk. The joint operation combined Finnish arctic troops with unsuitably equipped German troops who had been based in Norway. After fierce fighting Salla was captured by the Finnish-German troops and they advanced to within 19 miles (30 km) of the Murmansk railway. Further advance was prevented by the arrival of strong Soviet reinforcements. Owing to the offensive of Operation Barbarossa the Germans were unwilling to commit more units to this theatre and called an end to their attack. Operation Arctic Fox ended in November 1941 when both sides dug in after the Finns were reluctant to continue the attack on their own.

During Operation Barbarossa, Hungary who was an ally of Nazi Germany, occupied the Polish city of Stanislawow on the 2^nd July 1941. By orders of the Nazi Gestapo, on the 26^th July 1941, a Jewish council was established to organise Jewish life and implement German orders. By the end of July 1941 the German occupiers took control of the city.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered a contingent of the Italian Royal Army to the Eastern Front on the 10^th July 1941. In an effort to show solidarity to the Axis Powers Mussolini sent a corps size formation into the Soviet Union called the “Italian Expeditionary Force in Russia”. This force participated in the German advance through the Ukraine to the Volga along the southern part of the Eastern Front.

A general uprising in Montenegro broke out on the 13^th July 1941 against the Italian forces in occupied Yugoslavia. The uprising was instigated by the Yugoslav Communist Party who objected to the privileged position offered by the occupiers. In three weeks the insurgents forced the Italian troops to retreat to their stronghold position and captured almost all of the territory of Montenegro. The Italians conducted a counter-offensive and suppressed the uprising within six weeks.

In Poland between the 1^st and 4^th July 1941 in the city of Lwow (modern day Lviv in the Ukraine) the occupying Nazi German army murdered 25 Polish academics. The Massacre included professors, scientists and writers and their families in an effort to prevent anti-Nazi activity. By targeting prominent citizens and intellectuals they wished to weaken the resolve of the Polish resistance movement

————

(Other Theatres)

In America on the 1^st July 1941, all men aged twenty-one and under the age of thirty-three years were required to register with their local draft officer under the Selective and Service Act of 1940. Draftees were then selected by national lottery to be included in the first military conscription in the U.S. history. If selected the draftee served on active duty for twelve months and then served in a reserve capacity for a further ten years.

The defence of Iceland was transferred to the United States of America from Britain on the 7^th July 1941. At the beginning of the war neutral Iceland was a sovereign kingdom of Denmark. With the German invasion of Denmark, Britain imposed strict export controls on Icelandic goods as part of its naval blockade preventing profitable shipments to Germany. The British invaded Iceland during May 1940 and by June 1940, to protect the North Atlantic sea lanes, handed control over to the Canadians. The British was able to return back in the defence of Britain. Although still officially neutral the United States of America was handed the role of defence of Iceland by Britain on the 7^th July 1941. Iceland remained neutral throughout the Second World War and cooperated with the British and the Americans whilst enjoying the benefits of being “protected” by them.

In America on the 26^th July 1941 Japanese assets were frozen and relations suspended between the U.S and Japan. This was in response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina. For the Japanese this meant a 77% loss of foreign trade and a 90% loss of oil supplies. American President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered these events following similar freezing of German and Italian assets and the withdrawal of their consular staff in June 1941.

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

Jun30

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

Date Time Location Damage

04/06/1941 Found Little Warley 1 – H.E unexploded at Bluehouse Farm, East of

Horndon Railway Bridge. No damage or casualties. (disposed of BDS 4.6.41).

05/06/1941 00.03 Thundersley Damage to telephone kiosk in Hart Road by

shrapnel. No casualties.

05/06/1941 01.10 Bowers 4 – H.Es exploded, 2 on Golf Course, 1 in ditch and

Gifford 1 in Farmyard at Great Mussels Farm. Severe damage to farm buildings and a bungalow. No casualties.

17/06/1941 19.00 Billericay 1 – H.E. unexploded found 300 yards North of Tye

Common Road and 150 yards South of Bluntswall Chase. No damage or casualties.

18/06/1941 19.30 Great Bernard Aubrey Wendon, 13 years, of 5 Wakering

Wakering Wick Cottages, New Road with two other boys was returning home from Havengore Creek and was walking on an unmade road which leads from Oxenham Farm to Coastguard Station Cottages. The road passes through a minefield fenced off either side of the road. Wendon was killed by a mine exploding caused by the children throwing stones into the minefield. Body conveyed to Mortuary at Billericay Hospital. Other boys escaped injury.

21/06/1941 Found Vange 1 – H.E unexploded on open ground about 70

yards South, South East of “Niacasa” Beech Road. Believed to have fallen 13.9.40.

23/06/1941 01.30 Nevendon 2 – Parachute Flares, 1 aluminium container fell

through the roof of a bungalow in Burnt Mills Road causing slight damage to roof. 1 aluminium container found in a field at Nevendon. No casualties. (removed by B.D.S. 24.6.41).

23/06/1941 01.40 Foulness 2 – Parachute mines exploded between Lodge

Island Farm and East Wick Farm. Damage to Lodge Farm and houses at Church Road. No casualties.

23/06/1941 01.45 Rayleigh 26 – H.Es 5 are unexploded, 7 exploded in vicinity

of Eastwood Road. 1 exploded in Leslie Road, 2 Warwick Road, 2 in The Chase. 2 Avondale Road, 5 in vicinity of Wellington, Napier and Victoria Roads, and 2 in an orchard in Bull Lane. The unexploded 1 between Trinity Road and The Chase (BDS 26.6.41), 1 in garden of “Terra Murra” Princes Road (BDS 1.7.41). 1 in orchard 200 yards South of Bull Lane (BDS 8.7.41). 1 Warwick Road.

23/06/1941 Found Shenfield 1 – A.A. unexploded Shell near L.N.E. Railway,

rear of engine turntable. No damage or casualties. (BDS 26.6.41).

26/06/1941 05.00 Foulness 1 – Naval Barrage Balloon torn from end to end

Island and deflated grounded 100 yards West of Landwick Police Lodge, New Ranges. R.N. marked on side & XB/NK 6/1127 on nose. RAF informed.

27/06/1941 01.40 Foulness 1 – H.E. exploded in a field 300 yards North East of

Island Wardens Post “P” 18. No damage or casualties.

30/06/1941 Found Paglesham The tail cap and parachute of para mine at

Clements Farm. Tail Cap marked D.5718 in red stencil over 63 in yellow. Search being made for para mine. No damage or casualties.

30/06/1941 Found Canvey 1 – Unexploded Cannon Shell at rear of “Selsey

Island Bay” Mornington Road. No damage or casualties.