The Battle of Britain: The main activity of the day was centered in the Channel and the Straits of Dover with convoys being the objectives. A few isolated Luftwaffe raids penetrated inland. Luftwaffe operations appeared to have been on a smaller scale than usual, but covered a large area. Minelaying was suspected in Plymouth area, Thames Estuary and immediately north of it and in the Tyne area. [battleofbritain1940 web site]
The 21st was again not much different to any other day, the attacks by the Luftwaffe at this time were following a constant pattern and with little variance. Again, Do17s attacked shipping off the Scottish coast with one from 1/606 destroyed. A Do17 on reconnaissance was shot down by Hurricanes of 238 Squadron Middle Wallop and the squadron also destroyed a Bf110, both in the Hampshire region, and at 1350 hours 238 Squadron also badly damaged a Me110 off Portland that eventually crashed in France.
In the morning, there is an unsuccessful attack on convoy “Peewit” by bomber squadron KG3, escorted by KG27. The RAF intervenes and loses a fighter, with no shipping damage. There is another raid on the convoy in the afternoon, which again is dispersed by the RAF. During the melee, a Bf 109 of JG27 and a Hurricane of Squadron No. 43 collide and fall into the sea.
Dornier Do 17s attack shipping off of Scotland, with the loss of a bomber.
There are scattered raids on Great Britain itself. A raid over Goodwood produces no results except the loss by the Luftwaffe of a Bf 110 (repaired by the RAF). A Bf 109 shoots down a Hawker Hector biplane and in turn is shot down by RAF No. 238 Squadron.
There also are raids over the West Country, with attacks on Leeds, Church Fenton, Tyneside, and nearby areas.
Fighter Command re-positions its forces, sending No. 152 Squadron of Spitfires from Warmwell to Middle Wallop and No. 253 Squadron of Hurricanes to Turnhouse.
While the RAF fighters are holding their own, the losses at this point in the battle are difficult to replace. No. 603 Squadron is down to three Hurricanes, and No. 263 Squadron is down to four.
The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, also is shifting fighters around. The remainder of JG26, II and III groups, join the advance party at Calais. They are using old British World War I airfields. I,/JG52 moves to Bayreuth, further strengthening Luftflotte 2, the air fleet carrying the main attack on England.
Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering is confident. He tells the commanders of the three Luftflotten facing England that convoys remain the priority, small attacks over wider areas are preferred, and that he does not want critical British installations destroyed which might be of use after an invasion. Goering centralizes where and what to attack.
The strategy at this point is to lure the RAF fighters into the air, where they can be gradually eliminated through combat. The Luftwaffe needs to destroy Fighter Command for an invasion to be possible, and it can’t do that if the fighters remain hidden on the ground. The Achilles Heel of the RAF, meanwhile, is not a lack of planes, but of pilots.
RAF Statistics for the day: 190 patrols were flown involving 596 aircraft. Luftwaffe casualties: Fighters – 3 confirmed, 1 unconfirmed; Bombers – 1 confirmed. RAF casualties: 1 Hurricane confirmed, 1 Spitfire confirmed.
RAF Casualties: July 21st 1940
1515hrs: South of Isle of Wight. Hurricane P3973, 43 Sqn Tangmere. (Aircraft destroyed)
P/O R.A. DeMancha Certified as missing. (Collided with Bf109 and crashed into Channel)
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 1 Blenheim during daylight on reconnaissance to Waalhaven airfield in Holland; it returned early.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 15 Blenheims to airfields and shipping overnight, only 4 bombed, no losses.
At Malta, there are air raid alerts in the morning, with the attackers driven off by anti-aircraft fire without any bombs being dropped. The Regia Aeronautica mounts many of these half-hearted attacks throughout the campaign. One Italian plane is damaged and presumed by the British to be lost. The RAF loses a Swordfish torpedo plane sent up to investigate the incident. A London flying boat sent later on the same mission spots the downed Italian bomber, but in turn, is attacked by CR 42 fighters. The flying boat shoots one of the fighters down and escapes.
Housing on Malta is growing short. Some residents return to their bombed-out homes near the harbor after finding nothing acceptable anywhere else.
There are some historians who consider 21 July 1940 the day when all possibility of peace talks between Germany and Great Britain was completely eliminated. As such, it may be a seminal date in history that is completely unknown to the public at large, but worthy of knowing about for true students of the war because it reveals the state of play at this critical juncture.
Churchill is at his country estate at Chequers during the morning and is reading through his daily intercepts (courtesy of the Enigma program at Bletchley Park) when he spots a message to Berlin from the German ambassador in Washington. The ambassador is informing Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop that the British ambassador there, Lord Lothian, had discreetly enquired for Germany’s terms for peace.
Churchill is shocked. He supposedly is in charge of the government, and he has authorized no such thing. In the politics of the era, even opening discussions about “terms” is seen as a sign of weakness. Churchill, during the May cabinet crisis along similar lines, had emphatically shown himself to be against all peace initiatives. The British ambassador in Washington is freelancing, and Churchill decides to put a stop to it.
Churchill springs into action. He tells Lord Halifax, in charge of the Foreign Office, that his ambassador to Washington is strictly forbidden to talk to the German ambassador at all. Churchill sends a telegram to Lord Lothian telling him the same thing, to stop all communication. Further investigation reveals that the communications between the two had been clandestine, through a US Quaker (pacifist) intermediary. Lord Lothian is popular and competent but is acting outside his portfolio.
There also is speculation among some historians that during a later meeting this day with Sir Charles Portal, the Commander-in-chief of RAF Bomber Command, Churchill – with the peace issue directly on his mind – orders Portal to provoke the Germans by bombing Berlin. The objective would be to have the Luftwaffe bomb London and other English towns in retaliation (which Hitler has been avoiding because, as stated in his 16 July 1940 Fuhrer Directive about Operation Sea Lion, he would rather get a peace deal). Bombing Berlin, according to the theory, would escalate matters such that no peace talks would ever be possible. However, there is no proof of this rather convoluted conspiracy theory.
Evacuation of British schoolchildren continues, today from Eastbourne. The children are being sent to what amount to boarding houses, with many children staying with the same families in the countryside. Parents visit as they can on weekends, but travel is difficult in wartime England.
The Special Operations Executive was created in the United Kingdom.
General Sir Alan Brooke named to command Home Forces in Great Britain.
Hitler directed Walther von Brauchitsch to advise him on the feasibility of an attack on the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1940. In an OKH conference German Chancellor Adolf Hitler indicated to Germany’s military leaders that studies should be undertaken for the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the conference, he states that England’s situation is “hopeless” and that victory over the USSR would be “easy, easier than France.” This can be considered the true start of planning for Operation Barbarossa.
The German Army High Command submitted a rough plan to Adolf Hitler for an operation in the Baltic States and the Ukraine.
A conference of the top Luftwaffe officers is held at Karinhall.
Edvard Beneš established the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile in London, England, United Kingdom.
A provisional Czechoslovakian government was formed in London with Dr. Edvard Beneš as President and Jan Sramek as Prime Minister and was recognized by Great Britain.
Under pressure from Berlin, King Carol and the Romanian government cede Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria. Tensions between Romania and its northern and southern neighbors are steadily brewing, but there is little that Romania can do about the situation — yet.
The Rumanian Government has received a Russian note stressing the desirability of a “popular government” in Bucharest, and as a result King Carol is seeking the advice of Germany and Italy, authoritative sources said tonight.
The Soviet Union revealed the result of plebiscites in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania held on 14 July 1940, claiming that the citizens of the three countries approved the Soviet annexation of their countries.
Following Soviet-sponsored elections, new Latvian parliament takes office. New Latvian parliament immediately votes to become part of the Soviet Union. President Ulmanis denied permission to emigrate to Switzerland, subsequently arrested and later dies in Soviet captivity in Siberia.
Estonia votes to become part of the Soviet Union.
Lithuania votes to become part of the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was declared.
The Soviet Union formally annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
The collapse of France and the consequent uncertainty and ambiguity concerning the future status of Syria have suddenly and forcefully revived the Arab spirit of nationalism and independence dormant since the beginning of the war.
U-30, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp, sank steamer Ellaroy in 42-30N, 12-36W. At 1600 hours the unescorted Ellaroy (Master Thomas Grafton Smith) was stopped by U-30 with gunfire about 180 miles west of Cape Finisterre. The Germans ordered the crew to abandon ship and sank her by a coup de grâce at 2239 hours. The master and 15 crew members were picked up by the Spanish steam trawler Felix Montenegro and landed at Vigo, Spain. The 712-ton Ellaroy was carrying pitwood and was headed for Newport Mon, Wales.
Light cruisers HMS Liverpool, HMS Capetown and destroyers HMAS Stuart and HMS Diamond departed Alexandria with one steamer for convoy AN.2, while destroyers HMS Dainty and HMS Defender departed Port Said on the 21st with five steamers of convoy AN.2. The two sections joined on the 22nd. The convoy sailed on the 19th escorted by destroyers HMS Imperial and HMS Hereward, but was recalled due to the Italian cruisers engaged by Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. This convoy supported by Battleship HMS Ramillies and destroyers HMS Hyperion, HMS Ilex, HMS Hereward, and HMS Imperial which departed Alexandria at 0400/23rd. The convoy was dispersed on the 26th. The escorts escorted southbound convoy AS.2 back to Alexandria.
Destroyers HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian departed Alexandria on the 22nd to intercept the Greek vessel Ermioni (440grt) which was carrying petrol from the Corinth Canal to the Dodecanese. The patrol was unsuccessful and the destroyers arrived back at Alexandria on the 24th.
Submarine HMS Rorqual laid mines east of Tolmeita, Cyrenaica in 32-39N, 21-03E, and was then attacked an Italian steamer. The steamer, Securitas (5366grt), was struck by a torpedo which did not explode. Italian steamers Celio (3872grt) and Leopardi (3298grt) were lost on this minefield on the 24 July and 14 August respectively.
Australian light cruiser HMAS Hobart was unsuccessfully bombed off Aden by Italian bombers.
Destroyers HMS Inglefield and HMS Diana arrived Liverpool at 1200 escorting light cruiser HMS Glasgow. The destroyers then departed Liverpool at 1405 that afternoon with destroyer HMS Watchman to meet arriving aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and light cruiser HMS Fiji and escort them to the Clyde. On the 23rd at 0851, Diana was damaged when a fish hit her asdic dome, and put her asdic out of action. With leaks in her fore store, her speed was limited to 22 knots. The ships arrived at Greenock at 1945/23rd, and Diana departed the Clyde at 2200/24th for repairs at Sheerness.
Submarine HMS H.50 departed Harwich to patrol in the vicinity north of the Hinder to watch for the laying of dan buoys.
Submarine HMS Thames and submarine tender White Bear arrived at Dundee. Submarine Thames departed on patrol later that day.
Submarine tender Alecto and Dutch submarine HNLMS O.9 arrived at Tobermory.
Submarine HMS Talisman was docked at Glasgow.
Steamer Terlings (2318grt) was sunk by German bombing 10 miles southwest of St Catherine’s Point. Ten crew were lost, but destroyer HMS Scimitar rescued 17 crew and one naval gunner.
Norwegian tanker Kollskegg (9858grt) was damaged by German bombing fifteen miles west of St Catherine’s Point. Destroyer HMS Greyhound rescued the survivors.
Norwegian tanker Nina Borthen (6123grt) was damaged by German bombing 14 miles 240° from St Catherine’s Point.
Troopship Ulster Monarch departed Gibraltar with evacuees for Madeira, escorted by destroyer HMS Velox, which detached at 2100/22nd.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Battleship Bismarck underwent an inclining test.
Convoy HG.39 of 18 ships departed Gibraltar escorted locally by anti-submarine trawler HMS Arctic Ranger (493grt) from 21 to 24 July. Sloop HMS Scarborough joined from 21 July to 5 August, and corvette HMS Geranium in Home Waters from 30 July to 5 August. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 5 August.
Convoy OB.187 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer HMS Walker and corvette HMS Mallow from 21 to 25 July. The escort was detached to inbound convoy SL.39.
Convoy FN.228 departed Southend, and arrived at the Tyne on the 23rd.
Convoy MT.116 departed Methil, and arrived at the Tyne on the 22nd.
Convoy FS.227 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer HMS Vivien and sloop HMS LOWESTOFT, and arrived at Southend on the 22nd.
The War at Sea, Sunday, 21 July 1940 (naval-history.net)
Light cruisers LIVERPOOL, CAPETOWN and destroyers HMAS STUART and DIAMOND departed Alexandria with one steamer for convoy AN.2, while destroyers DAINTY and DEFENDER departed Port Said on the 21st with five steamers of convoy AN.2.
The two sections joined on the 22nd. The convoy sailed on the 19th escorted by destroyers IMPERIAL and HEREWARD, but was recalled due to the Italian cruisers engaged by Australian light cruiser HMAS SYDNEY.
This convoy supported by Battleship RAMILLIES and destroyers HYPERION, ILEX, HEREWARD, and IMPERIAL which departed Alexandria at 0400/23rd. The convoy was dispersed on the 26th.
The escorts escorted southbound convoy AS.2 back to Alexandria.
Destroyers MOHAWK and NUBIAN departed Alexandria on the 22nd to intercept the Greek vessel ERMIONI (440grt) which was carrying petrol from the Corinth Canal to the Dodecanese.
The patrol was unsuccessful and the destroyers arrived back at Alexandria on the 24th.
Submarine RORQUAL laid mines east of Tolmeita, Cyrenaica in 32-39N, 21-03E, and was then attacked an Italian steamer. The steamer, SECURITAS (5366grt), was struck by a torpedo which did not explode. Italian steamers CELIO (3872grt) and LEOPARDI (3298grt) were lost on this minefield on the 24 July and 14 August respectively.
Convoy HG.39 of 18 ships departed Gibraltar escorted locally by anti-submarine trawler ARCTIC RANGER (493grt) from 21 to 24 July. Sloop SCARBOROUGH joined from 21 July to 5 August, and corvette GERANIUM in Home Waters from 30 July to 5 August. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 5 August.
Australian light cruiser HMAS HOBART was unsuccessfully bombed off Aden by Italian bombers.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD and DIANA arrived Liverpool at 1200 escorting light cruiser GLASGOW. The destroyers then departed Liverpool at 1405 that afternoon with destroyer WATCHMAN to meet arriving aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS and light cruiser FIJI and escort them to the Clyde. On the 23rd at 0851, DIANA was damaged when a fish hit her asdic dome, and put her asdic out of action. With leaks in her fore store, her speed was limited to 22 knots. The ships arrived at Greenock at 1945/23rd, and DIANA departed the Clyde at 2200/24th for repairs at Sheerness.
Submarine H.50 departed Harwich to patrol in the vicinity north of the Hinder to watch for the laying of dan buoys.
Submarine THAMES and submarine tender WHITE BEAR arrived at Dundee. Submarine THAMES departed on patrol later that day.
Submarine tender ALECTO and Dutch submarine O.9 arrived at Tobermory.
Submarine TALISMAN was docked at Glasgow.
Leading Airman J. A. Seed, of 1 SFTS Netheravon, was killed, when German fighters shot down his Hart aircraft over Old Sarum airfield.
Convoy OB.187 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyer WALKER and corvette MALLOW from 21 to 25 July. The escort was detached to inbound convoy SL.39.
Convoy FN.228 departed Southend, and arrived at the Tyne on the 23rd.
Convoy MT.116 departed Methil, and arrived at the Tyne on the 22nd.
Convoy FS.227 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN and sloop LOWESTOFT, and arrived at Southend on the 22nd.
U-30 sank steamer ELLAROY (712grt) in 42‑30N, 12‑36W. Sixteen crew were rescued.
Steamer TERLINGS (2318grt) was sunk by German bombing 10 miles southwest of St Catherine’s Point. Ten crew were lost, but destroyer SCIMITAR rescued 17 crew and one naval gunner.
Norwegian tanker KOLLSKEGG (9858grt) was damaged by German bombing fifteen miles west of St Catherine’s Point. Destroyer GREYHOUND rescued the survivors.
Norwegian tanker NINA BORTHEN (6123grt) was damaged by German bombing 14 miles 240° from St Catherine’s Point.
Troopship ULSTER MONARCH departed Gibraltar with evacuees for Madeira, escorted by destroyer VELOX, which detached at 2100/22nd.
Congress will return to work tomorrow after its week’s recess over the Democratic National Convention, ready to lay the groundwork for appropriations and new revenues for the defense program. The work for the first few days will be largely in the hands of committees, leaving the House and Senate free for day-to-day recesses that will permit many members to go home and mend their political fences. The House Appropriations subcommittee on deficiencies will begin hearings tomorrow on President Roosevelt’s request for $4,800,000,000 for the Army and Navy. The Senate and House Military Affairs Committees will resume hearings on the Burke-Wadsworth Selective Compulsory Military Training Bill.
During the week the Excess Profits Tax Bill, which has been agreed upon in principle by President Roosevelt, Secretary Morgenthau, and the chairmen of the two Congressional tax committees, probably will be introduced and plans made for hearings. The Navy lost no time in announcing that it would request $178,000,000 for fleet increases, after President Roosevelt signed the “Two-Ocean” Navy Bill authorizing an increase of 1,326,000 tons in the nation’s naval force.
The Navy wants this sum to immediately lay down keels for 109,300 tons of fighting ships. This immediate construction program envisages also the reopening of shipbuilding yards dormant since the ship-construction holiday of the Nineteen Twenties. Naval construction experts are expected to appear before the House Appropriations Committee during the week, along with Army officers who will tell the group its plans for vastly increasing the land forces and equipping them.
The Excess Profits Bill, designed to recapture more than a normal profit on defense contracts, is in state of preparation by the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation. Representative Doughton of North Carolina, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said it was probable hearings on this measure would start within a week. This measure is expected to eliminate the present 8 percent profit limitation on ships and planes and to permit the new and expanded facilities to be charged off over a five-year period.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt returned to the Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C., after a cruise in the Chesapeake Bay aboard presidential yacht Potomac.
President Roosevelt heard a direct report on the fall of France from Ambassador William C. Bullitt tonight and then, it is understood, discussed Mr. Bullitt’s personal plans.
President Roosevelt’s two Republican cabinet members will make their first official appearances before congress this week to ask approval of his proposed new $4,848,171,957 defense appropriation. Representative Woodrum, Virginia Democrat, chairman of a house sub-committee which will start hearings tomorrow on the request, said Secretary Knox and top-ranking naval officials would be initial witnesses. Later, Secretary Stimson and war department spokesmen will explain the army’s needs.
John L. Lewis, CIO chief, began a new drive today for federal “blacklisting” of firms failing to comply with national labor relations board rulings. In a letter to CIO executive board mandates, Lewis reported he had turned over to Sidney Hillman, labor member of the defense commission, a proposed executive order which would require contractors with the government agree to “comply with all orders directed to them by the national labor relations board.”
More than 500 forest fires raced through portions of three northwestern states today in the wake of a “dry lightning” storm that brought between 4,000 and 5,000 smoke chasers into action. Forest crews and C.C.C. enrollees, directed by radio from regional forest headquarters here, swarmed into timber in eastern Washington, many parts of Idaho, and western Montana.
Burleigh Grimes, manager of Grand Rapids (Michigan State League) argues a home plate call with umpire Robert Williams and ends up spitting in the umpire’s face. Grimes is ejected and suspended. But after an investigation by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues the old spitballer’s penalty is reduced to banishment for the remainder of the season.
Major League Baseball:
The Indians swept a doubleheader with the Red Sox today, capturing the first contest, 3–2, as Robert Feller pitched his fifteenth victory and scoring a 2–0 shutout in the nightcap despite four-hit pitching by Fritz Ostermueller. Cleveland swept the three-game series. Both games were pitching duels, supported by sparkling plays afield. Jim Bagby opposed Feller in the opener and had a 2–1 lead until the eighth, when he was weakened by the usual failing of the Sox hurling corps — bases on balls.
The fading defending champions New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Detroit Tigers today, 4–3 and 3–2. The 4th palce Yankees are now seven games behind in the American League race. The nitecap was marked by a near riot after umpire Joe Rue made an unpopular call in the fifth inning. For ten minutes the field and the umpire were the targets of thrown bottles and fruit. Finally, New York police had to restore order.
Washington split a doubleheader with St. Louis today, taking the second game, 5–4, after bowing to the Browns, 8–4, in the opener. The Browns’ Joe Grace hit two homers in the first game. Sammy West went deep for the Senators in the nightcap.
Jimmy Dykes’s White Sox swept a three-game series with the Athletics by taking both games of a doubleheader, 10-8 and 7-2, before 11,290 fans at Shibe Park today. Ted Lyons, 39-year-old righthander, turned in his seventh victory of the year for the Sox, in the opener, although reached for a dozen blows, including Al Rubeling’s third homer and Bob Johnson’s nineteenth with two on in the first inning. Julius Solters also connected for the circuit off Porter Vaughan in the first game.
The Reds’ Paul Derringer retires the first 21 New York batters before Babe Young homers to lead off the 8th. The Giants get one more hit and lose the opener of the doubleheader, 6–1. Frank McCormick has a grand slam for the Reds. In the nightcap Jim Turner outlasted Harry Gumbert to win again for Cincinnati, 4–2. Ernie Lombardi hit for the circuit to delight 33,356 onlookers who, unmindful of a blistering heat wave, remained to cheer to the last. It was the ninth time this year the Reds had swept a doubleheader. The defeats dropped the Giants to eleven games behind the leaders.
The Dodgers, behind the masterful pitching of Freddy Fitzsimmons and home runs by Joe Medwick and Joe Gallagher off Clyde Shoun, topped the Cards, 3–1, in the opener of a twin bill. But they lost the nightcap, 5–2, chiefly on two home runs by Enos Slaughter off Luke Hamlin, and the Reds won two games and moved five games to the front in the National League.
The host Cubs split a doubleheader with the Phillies today. The visitors took the opener, 8–2, on a fourteen-hit attack and the Cubs won the nightcap, 8–5, on Hank Leiber’s two home runs. A crowd of 15,737 saw the games. Hugh Mulcahy handcuffed the Cubs in the first game for his tenth decision. The former Cub, Joe Marty, hit a two-run homer.
The Pirates trounced the hapless Bees, 5–3 and 16–2, in a doubleheader before a crowd of 11,071 today to make a clean sweep of the series that started yesterday with a 17–6 Pirate triumph. Leading the Pirate hit parade in the second game, called at the end of the eighth to conform with Pennsylvania’s Sunday Baseball Law, were the Waner Brothers, Lloyd and Paul. Lloyd went 4-for-4; Paul 3-for-4.
Pitchers Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell, along with Frankie Frisch and Mickey Cochrane are inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Cleveland Indians 3, Boston Red Sox 2
Cleveland Indians 2, Boston Red Sox 0
Philadelphia Phillies 8, Chicago Cubs 2
Philadelphia Phillies 5, Chicago Cubs 8
New York Giants 1, Cincinnati Reds 6
New York Giants 2, Cincinnati Reds 4
Detroit Tigers 4, New York Yankees 3
Detroit Tigers 3, New York Yankees 2
Chicago White Sox 10, Philadelphia Athletics 8
Chicago White Sox 7, Philadelphia Athletics 2
Boston Bees 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 5
Boston Bees 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 16
Brooklyn Dodgers 3, St. Louis Cardinals 1
Brooklyn Dodgers 2, St. Louis Cardinals 5
St. Louis Browns 8, Washington Senators 4
St. Louis Browns 4, Washington Senators 5
The foreign ministers of the 21 American republics met in Havana, Cuba to discuss neutrality and economic cooperation as well the conditions, problems, difficulties, and dangers confronting each of them. The Havana Conference marked a dramatic change in the use of the Monroe Doctrine. No longer was it to be used solely for economic dominance and imperialism by the United States, but in conjunction with its 20 neighbors, to defend the collective security of the Western Hemisphere.
President Federico Laredo Bru of Cuba urged immediate preparations for the defense of the Western Hemisphere in his welcoming address to delegates to the second Pan American Conference of Foreign Ministers, which opened here this afternoon.
The North China Daily News, the leading English language newspaper in China today called on the Japanese to control and bring to justice those responsbile for the recent terrorist attacks and assassinations of newspaper men in Shanghai.
Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye completed his new Cabinet this morning. In so doing he has completely ignored political parties. Of the twelve members of the new Cabinet, eight are officials, three business men and one a newspaper man turned freelance politician. It is an administration in which the authority of the Premiers is bound to increase and the distinction will become greater between the inner ruling four, two of whom represent the fighting services, and the other Ministers.
Financial circles are satisfied with Prince Konoye’s choice of Isao Kawada for Minister of Finance. His financial ideas are conservative and, though he supports the reformist policy, his appointment means that there will be no sudden or radical changes. The appointments of the new Home and Justice Ministers were made despite objections from those departments. Akira Kazami, the Minister of Justice, is a newspaperman turned politician, and the first Minister of Justice without legal training. He is almost the first who has not been chosen from judicial officials.
It is believed that Mr. Kazami and Eisi Yasui, the new Home Minister, received their posts in order to draft a new election law to serve. as the foundation for the new political structure that Prince Konoye advocates. These same two Ministers will collaborate in suppressing illicit trading and in strengthening the economic policy, thus meeting a part of the army’s demands for closer war-time control. The newspaper Asahi described the Cabinet’s mission as the establishment of a super-defense system and the security of living conditions for the people. It expects to obtain both purposes by extending the State-controlled economy.
Born:
James Clyburn, American politician (Rep-D-South Carolina 1993–) House Majority Whip, in Sumter, South Carolina.
Marco Maciel, Brazilian politician (Vice-President of Brazil, 1995–2002), in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil.
Denis Menke, MLB shortstop, third baseman, and second baseman (MLB All Star 1969, 1970; Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds), in Bancroft, Iowa (d. 2020).
John Bateman, MLB catcher (Houston Astros, Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies), in Fort Sill, Oklahoma (d. 1996).
Garry Bauman, Canadian NHL goaltender (Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars), in Innisfall, Alberta, Canada (d. 2006).
Penny Fuller, American actress (“All the President’s Men”), in Durham, North Carolina.
History Diaries 