Britain Alone
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- “Ulysses,” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Adolf Hitler flew to Paris and visited sites including the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides. In his first and only visit to Paris, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler toured the occupied French capitol and did some sightseeing early in the morning; this would be his only visit to Paris. He tells nobody in advance, and the visit is a complete surprise to everyone around him and the German authorities in Paris. He visits the Paris Opera House — where he impresses the elderly guide with his knowledge of the building — and Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides. Just like other tourists, he walks up Montmartre and stands to observe the city as bemused Parisians going to church walk by in astonishment. Imagine just walking by and seeing Hitler standing there! But that’s what happened. Hitler has little protection, but his best security, as always, is his planned spontaneity which prevents possible assassins from planning an attack. That spontaneity and frequently changing his schedule on the fly saves Hitler’s life several times.
After a few hours, he flies back to his headquarters, never to visit Paris again. “That was the greatest and finest moment of my life,” he says, “”It was my life’s dream to be allowed to see Paris.” His companions, architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker, professor of visual arts in Berlin, are there to get ideas about how to remake Berlin.
Speer later notes that he hears Hitler say, “Compared to France, an invasion of Russia would be child’s play in a sandbox.”
Peace talks commenced between the French and Italian delegations at the Villa Incisa near Rome. The French were prepared to walk out if the Italian demands were too harsh, but they were surprised at the leniency of the terms. The Italian delegation headed by Ciano and Badoglio presents armistice terms to Huntziger. Although Germany and France had already signed an armistice, fighting between Italy and France continued while French delegates negotiated in Rome; General Huntzinger, who signed the German-French armistice at Compiègne on 22 June, was once again the a member of the French delegation.
German forces enter Rochefort and Royan, France.
Some evacuations continue at St. Jean de Luz pursuant to Operation AERIAL. The Germans are not yet in possession of this region, which is under their administration pursuant to the Armistice.
Some French holdouts in the Maginot Line refuse to surrender, but they are bottled up in fortresses and cannot do any harm. The only troops still “fighting” are Italian troops. A massive Italian force occupies the beach resort town of Menton – or, in Italian news summaries, the “strongly fortified town of Menton.” In addition, the Italian troops in the Alps make some perfunctory attacks on the French dug in behind mountain passes.
A British commando raid is made against Boulogne.
Pierre Laval was appointed Deputy Premier of France by Prime Minister Marshal Philippe Pétain. Prime Minister Marshal Philippe Pétain appoints former Premier Pierre Laval – currently Minister of Foreign Affairs – as Vice-Premier and Minister of State. Laval is a firm believer that German total victory is inevitable, and this is often viewed as being pro-German, or, at the very least, “the agent of collaboration.” This view is solidified by the fact that Pétain is more or less a figurehead figure in terms of day-to-day governance, while Laval handles the hard work of making arrangements with the Germans.
General Charles de Gaulle forms the French National Committee. French officials are forced to choose sides between the “legitimate” Vichy government and the “continuation” de Gaulle organization – which has no legitimacy at all beyond the sheer force of his personality.
Free French leader Charles de Gaulle was officially cashiered from the French Army by French Supreme Commander General Maxime Weygand. The “official” government of France, which remains very much in power, is not impressed by de Gaulle’s freelance act. General Weygand is still the Commander-in-chief. He dismisses de Gaulle, who remains in London and technically is AWOL, in absentia. De Gaulle continues to call himself General de Gaulle as a self-described leader of the Free French.
De Gaulle, the leader of the French National Committee in London, pledged that the French would continue to oppose the Germans, marking the beginning of the Free French movement. The British government recognized General De Gaulle and severed relations with the Petain government in Vichy.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a flaming appeal today to Frenchmen everywhere to fight on at Britain’s side against Germany, despite French capitulation last night to a German armistice which he said no free and independent French government could have accepted. Frankly going over the heads of the Bordeaux government, Churchill said the German terms, if accepted by all Frenchmen, would force the French to work against their allies, would use the soil of France as a means of attacking Britain, and would turn the French navy and empire over to Germany. . Despite all this, he declared, Britain will “cherish the cause of the French people,” and a British victory is France’s only hope for restoration and freedom.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor arrived in Madrid at 8:30 PM and dined with Sir Samuel Hoare, British ambassador to Spain. The duke and duchess, though refugees from France, looked extremely fit and cheerful as they registered at the Ritz hotel.
The German ambassador in Spain noted that the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, was traveling through Portugal.
A serious food shortage in Belgium, particularly in rural regions, was reported today by Brussels observers watching the little kingdom try to adjust itself to German occupation. The German Red Cross, financed domestically and from abroad, was reported attempting to forestall a critical situation and German relief was said to be reaching Belgium in increasing quantities. Belgium, which previously imported much food by sea, now is closed off by the British blockade. The Red Cross in country districts is distributing bread, biscuits, condensed milk and canned food. Sugar, butter, eggs and cured meat generally are scarce.
Turkey, greatly concerned over possibility of an attempted Italian occupation of French-mandated Syria, prepared tonight to receive Foreign Minister Nuri Said and other officials of Iraq whose Mosul oil fields are at the mercy of any power established in Syria. The Iraqi officials, due in Ankara tomorrow, are expected to sound out the Turks on how much help they can count on in case of trouble.
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov sent German Ambassador Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg a message noting that the Soviet Union would like to gain Bessarabia and Bukovina from Rumania. This greatly alarmed the German OKW as the German military was dependent on Rumania as a source of oil and fodder.
The Soviets demand access to the nickel mines at Petsamo.
Portuguese police arrested American 30 sailors of light cruiser USS Trenton in a street brawl in Santo Amaro Oerias outside of Lisbon. Three Americans were injured during the arrest.
The Egyptian government resigns.
The British are shifting to a “battle of the periphery,” where they confront the Wehrmacht in commando raids and secondary theaters (such as North Africa) rather than head-on. A Commando force is established which comes under the jurisdiction of the Combined Operations Headquarters. Admiral Sir Roger Keyes takes command, and he begins working up operations to start quickly. The nucleus of the new Commando force is composed of the men of the disbanded Independent Companies.
British Army Major Ralph A. Bagnold met with General Archibald P. Wavell, the commander of the Middle East Command in Alexandria, Egypt and explained his concept of using a small group of men intended to undertake long-range reconnaissance patrols behind the Italian lines in Libya to gather intelligence. Wavell endorsed the concept and and gave Bagnold six weeks to get a unit organized and ready. Wavell also dictated an order to heads of departments and branches that any request that Bagnold might make for personnel and equipment “should be met instantly and without question.” This was the beginning of the Long Range Desert Group.
Three downed Luftwaffe airmen who perished in their Heinkel (shot down by ‘Sailor’ Malan) on 21 June are buried with full military honors (paid for by local RAF officers) at Chelmsford. The Bishop of Chelmsford officiates, and the RAF sends a wreath. In 1966, their graves are removed to the newly formed German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to attack Osnabruk and Hamm during the day
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 79 aircraft to attack Bremen and other targets overnight
French bombers attack Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
French bombers attack Zuara, Libya.
French aircraft unsuccessfully attempt to locate and attack Italian cruisers west of Sardinia.
Italian submarine Toricelli, which had departed Massawa on the 14th, engaged Sloop HMS Shoreham at 0530 in the Red Sea north of Perim, approximately 13N, 43E. Shoreham was hit by a shell from Toricelli and was later repaired at Aden. Destroyers arrived on the scene, joined also by Indian sloop HMIS Indus, and Toricelli was sunk by the combined gunfire of destroyers HMS Kingston, HMS Khartoum, and HMS Kandahar and sloops Shoreham and Indus north of Perim at 12 34N, 43 16E. The survivors from submarine Toricelli were taken by destroyers Kingston and Kandahar to Aden.
Destroyer HMS Khartoum was detached to patrol in the area. At 1400, destroyer Khartoum (Cdr D. T. Dowler) was badly damaged by the explosion of one of her torpedoes on her deck. She ran herself aground near Perim to prevent sinking. One rating was killed and Lt Cdr (E) A. C. Reed and three ratings were injured. Destroyer Khartoum was a total loss and was never repaired.
Heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire departed Freetown and joined Aircraft carrier HMS Hermes off Dakar to watch French battleship Richelieu, escorted by French destroyer Fleuret, which arrived at Dakar on the 23rd. Armed merchant cruiser HMS Maloja was already patrolling off Dakar.
Late on the 23rd, Italian light cruisers Eugenio, Montecuccoli, D’aosta, and Attendolo of the 7th Cruiser Division and destroyer Division 13 patrolled between Sardinia and the Balearic Islands to intercept French traffic en route to Algerian ports.
Off western Sardinia, heavy cruisers Zara, Fiume, and Gorizia of the 1st Cruiser Division, heavy cruisers Pola, Bolzano, and Trento of the 3rd Cruiser Division, and light cruisers Colleoni and Bande Nere of the 2nd Cruiser Division with Destroyer Divisions 9, 10, 12 waited in support for Cruiser Division 7.
French Admiral Darlan ordered the French aircraft carrier Bearn, which had put to sea from Halifax on the 16th, to proceed to the West Indies. French destroyers Fortune, Basque, and Forbin departed Haifa for Alexandria. The next day, Admiral Godfroy at Alexandria was ordered to take his force to Beirut, but Admiral Cunningham informed Admiral Godfroy that he would not be allowed to comply.
Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and destroyers HMS Fearless, HMS Faulknor, HMS Foxhound, and HMS Escapade departed Scapa Flow at 0400/17th. Destroyer HMS Foxhound was detached at Milford Haven to refuel and did not rejoin. Battlecruiser HMS Hood departed the Clyde on the 18th with destroyers HMS Wanderer, HMCS St Laurent, HMCS Fraser, HMCS Restigouche, and HMCS Skeena at 0400. Destroyer HMS Atherstone sailed at 0520 and relieved destroyer Wanderer in the escort. The two forces joined at sea on the 19th at 1530. Destroyer Atherstone was detached late on the 19th and returned to Liverpool. The Canadian destroyers joined convoy TC.5. En route Aircraft carrier Ark Royal was unsuccessfully attacked by U-46 on the 22nd, but all ships safely arrived at Gibraltar on the 23rd.
Light cruiser HMS Emerald (Captain F. C. Flynn) departed Greenock at 2330 on Operation FISH escorted by destroyers HMS Cossack and HMS Atherstone. In heavy weather the destroyers were detached outside the local approaches at 12W on the 25th. Destroyer Cossack arrived at Scapa Flow on the 26th at 1720 and destroyer Atherstone arrived in the Clyde. Light cruiser Emerald arrived at Halifax on the 29th carrying 2229 cases of gold for safekeeping.
In Operation ROBIN, patrol sloop HMS Puffin escorted salvage ship HMS Tedworth, carrying out diving operations on sunken U-13 north of Lowestoft.
British steamers Isle Of Sark (2211grt), Alderney Queen (633grt), and Sheringham (1088grt), three others escorted by destroyer HMS Sabre evacuated Alderney.
Destroyer HMS Keppel departed Port Vendres for Sete to organize the evacuation of Czech and Polish troops. Destroyer HMS Velox was sent to Port Vendres from Gibraltar. Destroyer Velox entered Vendres at 0600/23rd. Destroyer Keppel arrived Sete at 0740/23rd and found French destroyers Tartu, Chevalier Paul, and Cassard in harbor. At 1345, the French destroyers departed Sete. At 1830, French destroyer Palme and tanker La Rance arrived. During the afternoon of 24 June, British steamers Oakcrest (5407grt), Britannic (26,943grt), and Lord Cochrane (4157grt) arrived at Sete. Involved in the evacuation of Port Vendres and Sete were British steamers Apapa (9333grt), Coultarn (3759grt), Gartbrattan (1811grt), Viceroy Of India (19,627grt), Ashcrest (5652grt), Saltersgate (3940grt), Northmoor (4392grt), and Neuralia (9182grt) and Egyptian steamers Mohamed Ali El Kebir (7290grt) and Rod El Farag (6369grt). Thirty nine ships in all were employed. 12,832 troops were evacuated from Sete, Vendres, and Marseilles. Destroyer Keppel departed Sete with Egyptian steamer Mohamed Aliel Kebir and joined destroyer Velox which departed Vendres at 0300/26th with British steamer Apapa. The ships travelled in company to Gibraltar. They arrived at Gibraltar later on the 26th.
Canadian destroyer HMCS Fraser evacuated personnel, including the British Ambassador to France, off Arachon at noon on the 23rd and these personnel were transferred to light cruiser HMS Galatea. Late on the 23rd, light cruiser Galatea evacuated British and Canadian diplomatic personnel from Bordeaux. The warships arrived at Plymouth on the 24th.
French destroyer Lansquenet, which was nearing completion and in drydock at Bordeaux for painting and outfitting, was floated out and towed to Pauillac where she was fuelled. She departed the Gironde early on the 23rd and arrived at Casablanca on the 27th.
French patrol boat La Cherbourgeoise was scuttled at Le Verdon.
Destroyer HMS Broke assisted British troopship Ormonde under air attack at Bayonne.
Tug HMS Coringa (294grt) was lost in the Atlantic to unknown cause.
Heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire and destroyer HMS Watchman departed Gibraltar for Dakar and Casablanca, respectively. Destroyer Watchman was to consult with British consul and impress upon the French the British intention of continuing the war.
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Herbert (DD-160) proceeded from Casablanca, French Morocco, to Lisbon with American refugees.
German Battleship Bismarck entered floating drydock No. V-VI to install propellers and the MES magnetic system.
German U-boat U-99, damaged on 21 June by German battlecruiser Scharnhorst in a friendly fire incident, was en route to Wilhelmshaven, Germany for repairs when she was bombed by friendly aircraft twice on this date; she suffered only minor additional damage.
Convoy FN.203 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer HMS Vimiera, sloop HMS Londonderry, patrol sloop Guillemot. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 25th.
Convoy MT.94 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer HMS Woolston and sloop HMS Fleetwood. The convoy arrived in the Tyne the next day.
The War at Sea, Sunday, 23 June 1940 (naval-history.net)
Italian submarine TORICELLI, which had departed Massawa on the 14th, engaged Sloop SHOREHAM at 0530 in the Red Sea north of Perim, approximately 13N, 43E. SHOREHAM was hit by a shell from TORICELLI and was later repaired at Aden.
Destroyers arrived on the scene, joined also by Indian sloop INDUS, and TORICELLI was sunk by the combined gunfire of destroyers KINGSTON, KHARTOUM, and KANDAHAR and sloops SHOREHAM and INDUS north of Perim at 12‑34N, 43‑16E.
The survivors from submarine TORICELLI were taken by destroyers KINGSTON and KANDAHAR to Aden.
Destroyer KHARTOUM was detached to patrol in the area. At 1400, destroyer KHARTOUM (Cdr D. T. Dowler) was badly damaged by the explosion of one of her torpedoes on her deck. She ran herself aground near Perim to prevent sinking.
One rating was killed and Lt Cdr (E) A. C. Reed and three ratings were injured.
Destroyer KHARTOUM was a total loss and was never repaired.
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE departed Freetown and joined Aircraft carrier HERMES off Dakar to watch French battleship RICHELIEU, escorted by destroyer FLEURET, which arrived at Dakar on the 23rd.
Armed merchant cruiser MALOJA was already patrolling off Dakar.
Late on the 23rd, Italian light cruisers EUGENIO, MONTECUCCOLI, D’AOSTA, and ATTENDOLO of the 7th Cruiser Division and destroyer Division 13 patrolled between Sardinia and the Balearic Islands to intercept French traffic en route to Algerian ports.
Off western Sardinia, heavy cruisers ZARA, FIUME, and GORIZIA of the 1st Cruiser Division, heavy cruisers POLA, BOLZANO, and TRENTO of the 3rd Cruiser Division, light cruisers COLLEONI and BANDE NERE of the 2nd Cruiser Division with Destroyer Divisions 9, 10, 12 waited in support for Cruiser Division 7.
French Amiral Darlan ordered the French aircraft carrier BEARN, which had put to sea from Halifax on the 16th, to proceed to the West Indies.
French destroyers FORTUNE, BASQUE, and FORBIN departed Haifa for Alexandria.
The next day, Amiral Godfroy at Alexandria was ordered to take his force to Beirut, but Admiral Cunningham informed Amiral Godfroy that he would not be allowed to comply.
Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL and destroyers FEARLESS, FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, and ESCAPADE departed Scapa Flow at 0400/17th.
Destroyer FOXHOUND was detached at Milford Haven to refuel and did not rejoin.
Battlecruiser HOOD departed the Clyde on the 18th with destroyers WANDERER, HMCS ST LAURENT, HMCS FRASER, HMCS RESTIGOUCHE, and HMCS SKEENA at 0400. Destroyer ATHERSTONE sailed at 0520 and relieved destroyer WANDERER in the escort. The two forces joined at sea on the 19th at 1530.
Destroyer ATHERSTONE was detached late on the 19th and returned to Liverpool. The Canadian destroyers joined convoy TC.5.
En route Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL was unsuccessfully attacked by U-46 on the 22nd, but all ships safely arrived at Gibraltar on the 23rd.
Heavy cruiser NORFOLK departed the Clyde after repairs for Scapa Flow.
Light cruiser NEWCASTLE and destroyer ECHO departed Scapa Flow to investigate an enemy destroyer force reported in the North Sea and cover Polish submarine WILK, damaged on the 20th.
Light cruiser EMERALD (Captain F. C. Flynn) departed Greenock at 2330 on Operation FISH escorted by destroyers COSSACK and ATHERSTONE.
In heavy weather the destroyers were detached outside the local approaches at 12W on the 25th.
Destroyer COSSACK arrived at Scapa Flow on the 26th at 1720 and destroyer ATHERSTONE arrived in the Clyde.
Light cruiser EMERALD arrived at Halifax on the 29th carrying 2229 cases of gold for safekeeping.
Destroyers JACKAL and JAGUAR departed the Humber to patrol in the North Sea.
British steamer HORSA, with government stores, escorted by armed boarding vessels NORTHERN ISLE and NORTHERN SUN departed Scapa Flow for Iceland.
In Operation ROBIN, patrol sloop PUFFIN escorted salvage ship TEDWORTH, carrying out diving operations on sunken U-13 north of Lowestoft.
British steamers ISLE OF SARK (2211grt), ALDERNEY QUEEN (633grt), and SHERINGHAM (1088grt), three others escorted by destroyer SABRE evacuated Alderney.
Destroyer KEPPEL departed Port Vendres for Sete to organize the evacuation of Czech and Polish troops. Destroyer VELOX was sent to Port Vendres from Gibraltar.
Destroyer VELOX entered Vendres at 0600/23rd.
Destroyer KEPPEL arrived Sete at 0740/23rd and found French destroyers TARTU, CHEVALIER PAUL, and CASSARD in harbour.
At 1345, the French destroyers departed Sete. At 1830, French destroyer PALME and tanker LA RANCE arrived.
During the afternoon of 24 June, British steamers OAKCREST (5407grt), BRITANNIC (26,943grt), and LORD COCHRANE (4157grt) arrived at Sete.
Involved in the evacuation of Port Vendres and Sete were British steamers APAPA (9333grt), COULTARN (3759grt), GARTBRATTAN (1811grt), VICEROY OF INDIA (19,627grt), ASHCREST (5652grt), SALTERSGATE (3940grt), NORTHMOOR (4392grt), NEURALIA (9182grt) and Egyptian steamers MOHAMED ALI EL KEBIR (7290grt), and ROD EL FARAG (6369grt). Thirty-nine ships in all were employed.
12,832 troops were evacuated from Sete, Vendres, Marseilles.
Destroyer KEPPEL departed Sete with Egyptian steamer MOHAMED ALIEL KEBIR and joined destroyer VELOX which departed Vendres at 0300/26th with British steamer APAPA. The ships travelled in company to Gibraltar. They arrived at Gibraltar later on the 26th.
Canadian destroyer HMCS FRASER evacuated personnel, including the British Ambassador to France, off Arachon at noon on the 23rd and these personnel were transferred to light cruiser GALATEA.
Late on the 23rd, light cruiser GALATEA evacuated British and Canadian diplomatic personnel from Bordeaux.
The warships arrived at Plymouth on the 24th.
French destroyer LANSQUENET, which was nearing completion and in drydock at Bordeaux for painting and outfitting, was floated out and towed to Pauillac where she was fueled. She departed the Gironde early on the 23rd and arrived at Casablanca on the 27th.
French patrol boat LA CHERBOURGEOISE was scuttled at Le Verdon.
Destroyer BROKE assisted British troopship ORMONDE under air attack at Bayonne.
Submarine H.32 departed Dover escorted by destroyer VIVACIOUS to Portsmouth.
Convoy FN.203 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIMIERA, sloop LONDONDERRY, and patrol sloop GUILLEMOT. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 25th.
Convoy MT.94 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and sloop FLEETWOOD. The convoy arrived in the Tyne the next day.
Tug CORINGA (294grt) was lost in the Atlantic to unknown agent.
Lt (E) W. H. Inson RNR, was lost in the tug.
Heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE and destroyer WATCHMAN departed Gibraltar for Dakar and Casablanca, respectively.
Destroyer WATCHMAN was to consult with British consul and impress upon the French the British intention of continuing the war.
Indian patrol vessel HMIS PATHAN (Lt Cdr K. Durston RIN) was badly damaged at 0100/23rd and sank the next day off Bombay at 18‑56N, 72‑45E.
Although contemporary sources stated that PATHAN was a victim of an enemy mine or torpedo from Italian submarine GALVANI, sloop PATHAN was lost through the explosion of her own depth charges.
Lt Cdr Durston, S/Lt D. V. R. Curry RINVR, three ratings were killed and one officer and sixteen ratings, one of which later died of wounds, were wounded.
Australian heavy cruiser HMAS CANBERRA (Captain H.B. Farncomb, CB DSO, MVO) departed Fremantle and relieved light cruiser HMAS PERTH of the escort of British liner STRATHMORE (23,428grt) en route to Colombo.
Both ships departed Adelaide for Capetown on the 29th.
Heavy cruiser CANBERRA and liner STRATHMORE safely arrived at Capetown on 11 July. The heavy cruiser was assigned to the South Atlantic Command.
Heavy cruiser CANBERRA’s duty in the South Atlantic was cut short when she had to depart on 4 August from Simonstown for Sydney to repair defects to one of her propeller shafts. This repair was completed in August.
Convoy BN.1 of nine ships departed Bombay. The convoy was escorted by light cruiser CERES and armed merchant cruiser CATHAY from 23 June to 4 July.
Light cruiser HMNZS LEANDER escorted the convoy from 2 to 10 July.
Indian sloop HMIS HINDUSTAN escorted the convoy from 2 to 5 July.
Sloop SHOREHAM was with the convoy on 2 July.
Destroyer KINGSTON escorted the convoy from 5 to 10 July.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE, destroyer KANDAHAR, sloop FLAMINGO escorted the convoy from 6 to 10 July.
Sloops GRIMSBY and CLIVE escorted the convoy from 10 to 12 July when the convoy arrived at Suez.
Light cruiser DAUNTLESS departed Singapore for Penang, arriving on the 25th.
Resigned to a continuous session because of the European war, Washington Congressional leaders expect additional Presidential requests to complete the defense program, including Executive views on selective compulsory military training, when the legislators reconvene July 1 after the recess for the Republican National Convention. President Roosevelt is expected to return to the capital tomorrow after a weekend at his home at Hyde Park. He will find on his desk the program of Sidney Hillman, personnel coordinator in the National Defense Advisory Commission, contemplating the training of workers in the manufacture of defense needs. This is expected to call for some legislation.
Besides, Mr. Roosevelt may request additional funds for some phases of the defense program, but the nature of these was not revealed in Congressional quarters. Mr. Roosevelt is expected to give his views to Congress on the compulsory military training program which has been proposed in Congress, in the Senate by a Democrat, Senator Burke of Nebraska, and in the House by a Republican, Representative Wadsworth of New York.
Army and Navy officers are known to favor compulsory training as an absolute need for proper defense. Their views are expected to be asked by both the Senate and House Committees on Military Affairs as soon as hearings start on the two pending bills sponsored by the Military Training Camps Association of the United States, which initiated the “Plattsburg Idea” of officer training in 1915. Senator Sheppard, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, said he would call his group together within a week or so to begin hearings on the Burke-Wadsworth bill. Representative May of Kentucky, chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee, also said his committee would begin hearings soon, indicating a time early in July.
The Senate will have as a first order of business when it reconvenes the Vinson bill to increase the Navy by 1,350,000 tons of combatant and auxiliary vessels, which would make the Navy the greatest in the history of the world. The bill would authorize virtually a 70 percent increase in naval strength, affording this nation a fleet for both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The House passed this bill yesterday after considering it for less than two hours. No voice was heard in dissent after Representatives Vinson of Georgia, chairman, and Maas of Minnesota, ranking minority member of the House Naval Affairs Committee, told their colleagues that the security and independence of the United States rested upon its ability to defend itself against any possible combination of enemies.
The apparently growing strength of Wendell Willkie put all other Republican presidential candidates on the alert tonight, while an excited throng of delegates awaited the 1940 convention’s convening tomorrow in Philadelphia. Impartial samplers of convention eve opinion in the city’s jammed hotel lobbies came quickly to what they considered an inescapable conclusion, that as of the moment the battle lay between Willkie, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, and Thomas E. Dewey.
The chances of Wendell Willkie for the Presidential nomination grew on the eve of today’s opening of the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia as the withdrawal of Governor Baldwin, Connecticut’s “favorite son,” gave the utility man sixteen votes and as the up-State bloc of New York delegates led by Mayor Marvin of Syracuse switched from Thomas E. Dewey to Mr. Willkie.
Willkie workers, warned that their lack of a committee of strategy might spell failure, moved to give an organizational character to the spontaneous, casual boom for him.
Senator Vandenberg warned that the nation faced real trouble if it held to its present foreign policy and continued to make threats while unable to support them.
The resolutions sub-committee, headed by Alfred M. Landon, agreed in principle on a foreign policy plank; it was believed to advocate preparedness to keep war from this hemisphere.
Republican leaders in Congress seemed slated as a unit for minor parts in the convention, while men who were prominent in the pre-New Deal days were becoming active again.
A program for filling labor needs in the national defense program was announced today by Sidney Hillman, personnel coordinator of the National Defense Advisory Commission.
Outlawing of the German-Ameriean Bund, the Communist party, Christian Mobilizers and other organizations described as component parts of the fifth column in America was demanded by speakers at the final session of the Tamiment Economic Social Institute today.
Major League Baseball:
The Dodgers and the Pirates played at Ebbets Field yesterday until darkness was falling, each game being continued under protests from both managers, and arrived at only one decision. The Pirates took the opener, 8–5, and the 13-inning nightcap was called at the end of three hours and one minute on account of darkness with the score deadlocked at 4–4.
With 52,657 in attendance at the Polo Grounds, the Giants’ Billy Jurges is hit on the head by a pitch thrown by Bucky Walters of the Reds. He leaves the field on a stretcher. A shaken Walters then allows two runs and is lifted. The Giants have a 4–2 lead with 2 out in the 9th, but the Reds score 5 runs on 6 hits to win 7–4. Cincy takes the second game 2–0. Jurges will stay in the hospital 6 days and the Giants will go 39–61 and tailspin from 2nd place to 6th after his injury.
The Boston Bees put an abrupt halt to the surge of the Cardinals today by sweeping a doubleheader, 7–5 and 10–5, to climb out of the National League cellar as the Phillies dropped two games to the Cubs. Boston captured the first contest when it combined six-hit pitching by Manuel Salvo with a four-run drive in the seventh inning to erase a 5–3 St. Louis lead. Joe Sullivan kept eight hits scattered while his mates produced two four-run clusters in the second encounter, called at the end of the eighth by the Sunday baseball curfew.
The Cubs pinned their hopes on a couple of rookie pitchers today and both came through with victories over the Phillies before 12,201 spectators at Shibe Park. In the opener a right-hander, Jake Mooty, limited Philadelphia to six hits for a 3–2 decision. Ken Raffensberger, a southpaw from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, mastered the Phils in the second game, 7–2. Johnny Rizzo, Phillies’ left fielder, hit a home run in each game, his first putting the home team ahead, 2–1, before the Cubs came along with a two-run rally in the seventh on hits by Bobby Mattick, Stan Hack and Billy Herman.
In Cleveland, 56,659 watch the Indians split with Boston. Cleveland wins the opener 4–1 for their 8th win in a row, then Boston wins the nitecap 2–0 on two Jim Tabor home runs. In game 1, Ted Williams and Doc Cramer collide chasing a fly ball. Williams is knocked unconscious and the ball goes for an inside-the-park home run.
Detroit’s Bobo Newsom wins his 9th in a row, stopping the Yankees on 4 hits. The Tigers collect 15 hits, including a homer and a triple by Rudy York. The Tigers move to a game and a half in back of the 1st place Indians.
Starting forty-five minutes late because of rain and playing until darkness, the Senators and Browns split a doubleheader today, Washington winning the first game, 12–5, and St. Louis the seven-inning nightcap, 3–2. Chet Laabs hit a homer for the Browns in the first inning of the second game, then doubled to initiate the winning rally in the fifth. Gerald Walker drove in both Washington tallies.
Pittsburgh Pirates 8, Brooklyn Dodgers 5
Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 4
St. Louis Cardinals 5, Boston Bees 7
St. Louis Cardinals 5, Boston Bees 10
Boston Red Sox 1, Cleveland Indians 4
Boston Red Sox 2, Cleveland Indians 0
New York Yankees 2, Detroit Tigers 9
Cincinnati Reds 7, New York Giants 4
Cincinnati Reds 2, New York Giants 0
Chicago Cubs 3, Philadelphia Phillies 2
Chicago Cubs 7, Philadelphia Phillies 2
Washington Senators 12, St. Louis Browns 5
Washington Senators 2, St. Louis Browns 3
Addressing his compatriots throughout the Dominion by radio tonight, Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice and French-Canadian Liberal leader, made an eloquent appeal for their support of the new mobilization laws adopted by the government.
The United States Government notified all the other American governments — and also the rest of the world — that it was prepared to cooperate with other American governments in crushing all activities arising from non-American sources that imperil the political or economic freedom of the Americas. This position was enunciated by Edwin C. Wilson, American Minister to Uruguay, in a speech at a luncheon given by the Uruguayan Foreign Minister, Dr. Alberto Guani, at the Jockey Club in Montevideo, Uruguay, for Captain Williams C. Wickham and other officers of the cruiser USS Quincy. Mr. Wilson said in his speech that he had been authorized by the State Department to announce that such cooperation constituted the intention and the avowed policy of the United States Government.
Battle of South Kwangsi: Japanese 22nd Army captures Panli and Leishihhsu.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Chung-Hui condemned French acquiescence to Japanese demands that Indo-China be closed to trade with China in a statement issued tonight. He announced that “China would take such measures in self-defense as might be deemed necessary,” in case of an armed Japanese invasion of the French colony. Chinese military intervention in Indo-China in the event of a Japanese attack there is clearly implied in Mr. Wang’s statement.
Pointing out that Indo-China is of vital importance in the commerce between China and foreign countries and also to the security of China, the Minister stated that France had agreed to the transportation through Indo-China of all kinds of merchandise, including arms and ammunition, in the Chinese-French Convention of 1930. He declared, therefore, that “the Chinese Government has the right to request France to live up to her obligations and keep the Indo-China route open to international trade.”
Mr. Wang said that the Chinese Government considered it “most regrettable” that the Japanese demands for the closing of the Indo-China frontier had not been “categorically rejected.” A Japanese blockade of China through Indo-China was called unjustifiable from the standpoint of the Chinese-French Convention or in international law. Mr. Wang asserted that the Japanese aim in Indo-China was “to utilize aggressive gains for attaining the principal object of conquering China.”
“Therefore, in case of an armed Japanese invasion of Indo-China,” he declared, “the Chinese Government, in order to preserve China’s existing independence, would be constrained to take such measures in self-defense as might be deemed necessary to cope with the situation, in pursuance of the fixed policy of resistance against aggression.”
The British Government’s appeal, in effect, to Frenchmen outside of France to continue resisting injects a new, urgent factor into the French Indo-China question, it is evident here today. The Japanese Government has repeatedly announced that it is determined to prevent the European war from spreading to the Far East. If the colonial government of Indo-China decides to continue hostility to Germany, its action can be interpreted here as war involvement in the Far East and the clamor in Japan for a “protective occupation” would become irresistible.
The Tokyo government is expected to withhold announcement of its policy until the official terms of French submission are disclosed. It is not doubted that Adolf Hitler’s peace conditions regarding France’s colonies have been so written as to give the Reich the maximum possible advantage in a final struggle with Britain. While the Japanese Government is considering these rapid developments all sections of the Japanese press are demanding the resuscitation of the Berlin-Tokyo Axis. It is assumed that the British Empire will be the next to go down, and the press writes as if American influence on world affairs had become secondary.
Even Tokyo’s Asahi, traditional voice of Japanese liberalism and an organ that has always advocated friendship with the democratic powers, now declares that Japan must concentrate on strengthening the ties with Germany and relegating relations with the United States to a minor place. To cultivate Germany’s goodwill Asahi is even willing to accept Russia, as may be read between the lines of its new policy. Instead of crusading against communism, Japan’s policy must now be aimed against the world’s status quo and must seek to realize a new “world order.” Those lofty words mean simply that the time has come to join Germany in order to share in the presumed redistribution of the British and French colonies.
Former Japanese Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye resigned today as president of the Privy Council. He is expected to head a new political party which may embrace all existing parties, giving Japan a single party system.
Indian patrol vessel HMIS Pathan (Lt Cdr K. Durston RIN) was badly damaged at 0100/23rd and sank the next day off Bombay at 18 56N, 72 45E. Although contemporary sources stated that Pathan was a victim of an enemy mine or torpedo from Italian submarine Galvani, sloop Pathan was lost through the explosion of her own depth charges. Lt Cdr Durston, S/Lt D. V. R. Curry RINVR, three ratings were killed and one officer and sixteen ratings, one of which later died of wounds, were wounded.
Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra (Captain H.B. Farncomb, CB DSO, MVO) departed Fremantle and relieved light cruiser HMAS Perth of the escort of British liner Strathmore (23,428grt) en route to Colombo. Both ships departed Adelaide for Capetown on the 29th. Heavy cruiser Canberra and liner Strathmore safely arrived at Capetown on 11 July. The heavy cruiser was assigned to the South Atlantic Command. Heavy cruiser Canberra’s duty in the South Atlantic was cut short when she had to depart on 4 August from Simonstown for Sydney to repair defects to one of her propeller shafts. This repair was completed in August.
Convoy BN.1 of nine ships departed Bombay. The convoy was escorted by light cruiser HMS Ceres and armed merchant cruiser HMS Cathay from 23 June to 4 July. Light cruiser HMS Leander escorted the convoy from 2 to 10 July. Indian sloop HMS Hindustan escorted the convoy from 2 to 5 July. Sloop HMS Shoreham was with the convoy on 2 July. Destroyer HMS Kingston escorted the convoy from 5 to 10 July. Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle, destroyer HMS Kandahar, and sloop HMS Flamingo escorted the convoy from 6 to 10 July. Sloops HMS Grimsby and HMS Clive escorted the convoy from 10 to 12 July when the convoy arrived at Suez.
Born:
Wilma Rudolph, American track and field sprinter, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee (d. 1994).
Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish musician, original bassist for The Beatles, in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (d. 1962).
Adam Faith [as Terence “Terry” Nelhams-Wright], English singer and actor, in Acton, London, England, United Kingdom (d. 2003).
Diana Trask, Australian-American country music and pop singer (“It’s a Man’s World (If You Have a Man Like Mine)”; “When I Get My Hands on You”), and television personality (“Sing Along With Mitch”), in Camberwell, Australia
Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, Scottish lawyer, judge and Lord Chancellor, in Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Died:
Hermann-Paul, 75, French artist.
Naval Construction:
The Вое́нно-морско́й флот СССР (ВМФ) (Soviet Navy) “M” (Malyutka)-class (3rd group, Type XII) submarines M-33 and M-34 are launched by Krasnoye Sormovo (Gorkiy, U.S.S.R) / Yard 112.
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