Battle of Britain: A generally quiet day, mostly because of very low cloud and drizzle over much of the southern part of the country but there were a few shipping convoys in the Channel and along the east coast that were attacked. One of these was on the east coast and one small ship was sunk. [battleofbritain1940 web site]
Weather: Similar to the previous day, fine in the north and west but low cloud persisting over the Channel with rain and mist in the Thames Estuary and Dover areas.
The Luftwaffe made scattered bombing attacks, but no serious damage was recorded. One attack was made on an area near to the Forth Bridge in Scotland. while Halton and Christchurch in Hampshire suffered small bombing raids. Mine laying and reconnaissance along the east coast continued and a number of German bombers failed to return from their missions, while most of the RAF casualties were non-combat related. Two Spitfires were destroyed as pilots crashed on takeoff at Hornchurch, a Hurricane of 504 squadron Castletown came in too fast and it flipped over on landing. Then a Blenheim of 219 Squadron Catterick overshot the runway and needed minor repairs. Pilots are tired, training hours have been cut, there are insufficient lighting and support for night operations, and sorties must be conducted despite extreme conditions that would never be tolerated in peacetime.
The most interesting and unusual event of the day was when a formation of German bombers attacked the steamship Highlander. In trying to defend herself, the Highlander managed to hit one of the Heinkel’s and it crashed into the sea. Earlier bombs had missed the ship and by all accounts they started to come in low and began to strafe the ship. One of them, a Heinkel He 115 came in, just above the waterline and with a banking turn one of the wings almost touched the white capped waves of the sea. The gunners on the Highlander tried desperately to fire at the sweeping aircraft, when it tried to pull up and one of its wings hit one of the lifeboat davits in the deck. It is unclear as to whether the Highlander had hit the bomber with gunfire, but as it hit the davits, it swung round crashing onto the deck of the ship. According to German records, two He 115 bombers failed to return to their base, and all crew were reported as missing. English records do not state whether the crew were killed or were taken prisoner. The Highlander, obviously only suffering minor damage sailed into the Harbor at Leith Scotland delivering the wrecked Heinkel to the authorities.
RAF Statistics for the day: 207 patrols were flown involving 694 aircraft. Luftwaffe casualties: None. RAF casualties: 1.
RAF Casualties: (August 2, 1940)
2335 hours. Rochford Airfield. Spitfire R6799. 65 Squadron Hornchurch. (Burnt out)
S/L H.C. Sawyer. Killed. (Crashed on takeoff on night patrol and exploded in flames)
The Luftwaffe bombs Dundee for the first time.
Swansea suffers a heavy raid. While planes do not attack London, some do come into the central area there (known as the London Artillery Zone) apparently for reconnaissance purposes. Swansea gets hits, causing five casualties. The Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton, a favorite Luftwaffe target, is bombed.
German bombers drop leaflets over southern England detailing Hitler’s August peace proposals.
Czech pilot Josef František joined the Royal Air Force.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 36 Blenheims during the day to Holland, Belgium and France, 1 lost.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 62 Hampdens, Wellingtons and Whitleys overnight to 6 targets in Germany and minelaying. 1 Wellington lost.
RAF No. 303 (Polish “Kosciuszko”) Squadron forms at Northolt from personnel of No. 111 and 112 Squadrons of the Pursuit Brigade. It is the second “Polish” Squadron (that is an informal, not RAF, designation). These “foreign” squadrons are not popular with the top RAF brass due to the unknown quality of their pilots, but they perform quite well. In fact, some consider the Polish Squadrons to be the most effective in the entire RAF. One of 303 Squadron’s pilots, Sgt. Josef Frantisek officially joins the RAF and becomes a top ace.
Luftwaffe planes continue dropping copies of Adolf Hitler’s 19 July 1940 “Last Appeal to Reason” speech. These at the time are becoming souvenirs and conversation pieces, and over time have become collector’s items.
The RAF bombs Italian positions at Zula, Eritrea and other locales in the vicinity.
Canadian businessman William Maxwell “Max” Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (“Lord Beaverbrook”), Minister of Supply for Aircraft Production, joins Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s inner “War Cabinet.” The Prime Minister brought Beaverbrook into the government in May, and he has been one of its outstanding successes. Since he became Minister of Aircraft Production – a new post – in May, he has boosted output of fighters for the RAF. In February there was a shortfall: 141 planes produced against a planned 171. In May, however, this had been turned around with 261 planes planned and 325 built. This month’s planned output of 282 is expected to be exceeded by up to 200 machines. The Canadian-born press baron’s success has been achieved through force of personality. He has been aggressively cutting through Whitehall red tape and treading on ministerial toes in purloining all accessible supplies for aircraft factories.
“Photoflash” reconnaissance shows that RAF bombing accuracy is extremely poor. This is a subject that will occupy a lot of staff work and study during the war. The Luftwaffe’s accuracy also is poor when the target is isolated factories and other industrial targets rather than large cities.
Normal diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Rumania virtually have come to an end. This was made clear today by the Foreign Office spokesman, who said Britain has refused to accept the appointment of Basil Stoica as the new Minister to London in view of Rumania’s anti-British attitude.
A French military court tried General Charles de Gaulle in absentia for treason and sentenced him to death, deprivation of military rank, and confiscation of property. de Gaulle had previously been tried in absentia at a court martial in Toulouse on July 4, 1940 and sentenced to four years in prison.
French set August 8 for trial of former leaders charged with France’s war entry and defeat; former Premiers Daiadier and Reynaud among those publicly blamed.
Strict rationing is introduced in Vichy France due to the British blockade.
The restrictions on German Jews continue growing. Jewish Germans are now banned from owning telephones and may shop during certain hours in the afternoon. Jewish hospitals are not allowed to paint a red cross on the roof to deter bombing. A general tightening of restrictions affecting Jews in Germany was also marked today by regulations issued to emigrants forbidding them to carry out of the country more than two suits of clothes, one pair of overalls, one sweater and one overcoat. The ironic thing from the German point of view is that many non-Jewish German citizens suffer due to such petty and ridiculous laws.
Admiral Canaris of the Abwehr reports to General Keitel on possibilities for capturing Gibraltar.
Germany appoints a civilian administrator over Luxembourg to replace the military governor.
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop asks the German Ambassador to Moscow, Count von Schulenburg, to ask Molotov what it would be willing to give up in exchange for its desire (expressed on 13 July to the ambassador) to retain the strip of Lithuanian territory allocated to Germany under the secret protocols of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact of 23 August 1939.
Foreign Minister Molotov reiterates Soviet alliance with Hitler, who is now planning to attack the Soviet Union. Molotov confirms the alliance with Germany despite strains in the relationship over Soviet territory grabs in Romania and various issues over trade.
Soviet relations with Finland today reached a new state of tension with angry allegations by the Moscow press that the Finnish police had beaten many Russian sympathizers in disorders in Helsinki, Tampere and other cities.
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, formally incorporated into Soviet Union. The region included the Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina territories of Romania. The Romanian government, under a Soviet ultimatum delivered on June 26, 1940, agreed to withdraw its troops and administration from the territories in order to avoid a military conflict.
U-99, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer, damaged Norwegian tanker Strinda (10,973grt) in 55-10N, 17-16W and British tankers Lucerna (6556grt) in 55-18N, 16-39W and Alexia (8016grt) in 55-30N, 15-30W.
At 0251 hours, U-99 fired one G7e torpedo at the biggest tanker in convoy OB.191 about 340 miles west of Inishtrahull and hit the Strinda (Master Nicolay Jørgen Dahl) amidships on the port side in the #9 wing tank and bunker oil tank. All power was lost because the explosion had stopped the engines. One of the port lifeboats was destroyed and the crew abandoned ship in the remaining boats. Waiting nearby, the master and some men reboarded the tanker after four hours, brought her on an even keel by shifting the ballast and restarted the engines. The rest of the crew rejoined some time afterwards and the lifeboats were hoisted up at 0900 hours. The ship returned to port under her own power with two other torpedoed tankers from the same convoy and arrived at Gourock in the evening of 4 August. On 21 October, the Strinda arrived in Cardiff for repairs and returned to service in March 1941. The 10,973-ton Strinda was carrying ballast and was bound for Abadan, Iran.
At 0343 hours the Lucerna in convoy OB.191 was hit amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-99. She initially stopped and was later attacked by the U-boat with gunfire, but managed to escape and reached Greenock on 8 August. The tanker was repaired at Liverpool and returned to service in May 1941. The 6,556-ton Lucerna was carrying ballast and was bound for Abadan, Iran.
At 0427 hours, the Alexia in convoy OB.191 was torpedoed by U-99 (Kretschmer) in position 55°30N/15°30W (Grid AL 6616) and fell out of the convoy, where she was shelled by the same U-boat but did not sink. The 6,016-ton Alexia was carrying ballast and was bound for Curaçao. The Alexia was acquired by the Royal Navy after being damaged in a second attack in August 1942 and converted to the auxiliary escort carrier HMS Alexia, commissioned in December 1943. The ship survived two torpedo attacks and Royal Navy service during the war. After the war, the ship was rebuilt for merchant service and renamed Ianthina in 1951. Sold for scrap in August 1954 at Blyth.
Operation HURRY: After recognizing the need to close significantly closer to Malta to successfully launch the Hurricane Is of 418 Flight on their transit flight from HMS Argus, Force H opts to launch a pre-dawn strike on Regia Aeronautica’s airfield at Cagliari, Sardinia by aircraft from HMS Ark Royal. The plan calls for 9 Swordfish of 810, 188, and 820 squadrons to go after the airfield while simultaneously, 3 additional 820 Squadron Swordfish will lay mines in Cagliari. The 0230 takeoff is marred when one Swordfish of 810 Squadron crashes. Most unfortunately for those involved, the strike planes had difficulty finding their targets until after dawn. Although the harbor is successfully mined and the bombing destroyed 4 Italian aircraft and several hangers, one aircraft is downed by a defending fighter. Back with the fleet, dawn’s early light sees the 12 Hurricanes and their 2 Skua II guides depart HMS Argus and, ultimately, arrive safely at Malta, where they were to form the new No. 261 Squadron.. Covered by Ark Royal’s Skua II fighters of 800 and 803 Squadrons, the entire force sails past the rock enroute to the UK, where Force H will stay for most of the month.
The Hurricanes fly off and reach Hal Far airfield Malta around 08:30, greatly strengthening the island’s defenses. One Hurricane crashes near the field with engine failure, and the airfield’s commander personally drives at madcap speed to the scene and rescues the pilot, Pilot/Sergeant F N Robertson of 66 Squadron. An escorting Skua also crashes on landing but later returns to operation.
The Hurricanes form RAF No. 261 Squadron. Separately, the British submarines HMS Proteus and Pandora arrive in Malta with crews for anti-aircraft guns. There are no air raids during the day, the Regia Aeronautica perhaps distracted by the diversionary operations conducted by the Royal Navy throughout the Mediterranean.
At 0800, the destroyers under Rear Admiral Home Fleet destroyers were reorganized. 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, destroyers HMS Inglefield, HMS Isis, HMS Duncan, HMS Echo, HMS Eclipse, and HMS Electra. (and destroyer HMS Encounter on her return to England). 4th Destroyer Flotilla, destroyers HMS Cossack, HMS Zulu, HMS Sikh, HMS Maori, HMS Fame, and HMS Fortune. Temporarily attached destroyers HMS Fury and HMS Firedrake. (and, on return to England, destroyer HMS Foxhound). 6th Destroyer Flotilla, destroyers HMS Tartar, HMS Ashanti, HMS Matabele, HMS Mashona, HMS Bedouin, HMS Punjabi, HMS Eskimo, HMS Somali. 12th Destroyer Flotilla, destroyers HMS Keppel, HMS Douglas, HMS Arrow, HMS Achates, HMS Active, HMS Anthony, and HMS Amazon. Temporarily attached destroyers HMS Vortigern and HMS Watchman.
Destroyers HMS Maori and HMS Mashona departed Lerwick for an anti-submarine sweep north of the Shetlands. No contact was made.
Destroyers HMS Bedouin and HMS Punjabi departed Scapa Flow at 1315 to search in the area of North Minch, then join convoy WN.4. The destroyers would stay with WN.4 until Rattray Head when they were detached to join convoy OA.193.
British minefield BS.30 was laid by minelayers HMS Plover and HNLMS Willem Van Der Zaan and destroyers HMS Express, HMS Esk, HMS Icarus, HMS Intrepid, and HMS Impulsive.
Anti-submarine trawler HMS Cape Finisterre (590grt) was sunk by German bombing off Harwich. One rating was lost in the trawler.
Before dawn, two German He 115 seaplanes attacked British ship Highlander of convoy FN.239 20 miles south of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom; one of the aircraft was shot down by sloop HMS Weston, while the other crashed onto Highlander’s poop deck after clipping the mast.
Dutch submarine HrMs (HNMS) O-22 attacked either U-37 or U-38, which had set out on patrol from Wilhelmshaven on the 1st, in the North Sea without result.
British steamer City Of Brisbane (8006grt) was sunk by German bombing off South Longsand Buoy, Thames Estuary in 51-32-30N, 1-23-30E. The steamer went ashore at South Longsand. Steamer City Of Brisbane was still afire on the 5th. Eight crewmen were lost on the British steamer.
British drifter Embrace (94grt) was lost after stranding at Loch Alsh.
German Ju 87 aircraft attacked German U-boat U-60 with bombs by mistake off Hagesund, Norway; U-60 was able to escape without damage.
German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis, disguised as the Dutch freighter MV Tarifa, captured Norwegian steamer Tallyrand (6,732grt) in 30S, 67E. Steamer Tallyrand was scuttled on the 3rd in 32-03S, 66-36E. The Talleyrand was bound from Sydney to the United Kingdom via Fremantle and was carrying a crew of 36 and a a cargo of steel, wool, wheat, and teak. The crew and passengers were taken prisoner and transferred to steamer Tirranna. When Tirranna was lost, three of the steamer Tallyrand’s crew were lost.
Convoy OG.40 of twenty one ships departed Liverpool. The convoy was escorted by sloop HMS Enchantress from 2 to 14 August. Destroyer HMS Westcott escorted the convoy from 2 to 7 August when she was detached to convoy HG.40. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on the 14th.
Convoys SL.42 and SLF.42 departed Freetown escorted by light cruiser HMS Delhi to 8 August when she was relieved by armed merchant cruiser HMS Maloja. The light cruiser refueled at St Vincent on the 11th and arrived at Freetown on the 20th, patrolling en route. On 18 August corvettes HMS Bluebell and HMS Clarkia and escort vessel HMS Gleaner joined the convoy. on the 19th, destroyer HMS Viscount joined. Armed merchant cruiser Maloja was detached on the 20th. The convoy arrived on the 21st at Liverpool.
Convoy FN.240 departed Southend. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 4th.
Convoy MT.128 departed Methil. The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 2nd.
Convoy FS.239 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyers HMS Vega and HMS Westminster. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 3rd.
Convoy FS.240 was cancelled.
“I am in favor of a selective training bill and I consider it essential to adequate national defense,” President Roosevelt said yesterday. He had been told that there were rumors he was “not very hot” for such a program. President Roosevelt also said that the draft is necessary because there is a “real possibility the U.S. will soon have to fight alone.” He declined to endorse the Burke-Wadsworth bill now before Congress or any other specific legislation, but indicated he favored registration of all males up to 65 years of age. His reasons for favoring registration and selective training: It is the only way of obtaining quickly the manpower to handle the weapons being contracted for by the billions of dollars; advance preparation saves lives in action; it is the fairest, most efficient way of preparing a defense.
President Roosevelt directly advocated peacetime military conscription today and his former secretary of war, Harry W. Woodring, opposed it. “I am distinctly in favor of a selective service training bill and I consider it essential to adequate national defense,” the chief executive said at a press conference, emphasizing his words by permitting direct quotation. “How any fair-minded member of congress,” Woodring said in a letter to Senator Vandenberg, Michigan Republican, who issued it to the press, “could say that we have given the voluntary system of enlistment for the U. S. Army a fair trial and that it has broken down, and therefore we need compulsory service, is beyond my understanding.”
Apparently stiffened by his statement, the Senate Military Affairs Committee defeated several emasculating amendments to the Burke-Wadsworth bill preparatory to sending it to the Senate on Monday.
At the same time a House committee recommended a program of amortization of the costs of plant expansion for defense purposes and removal of a profits limitation — which, it was believed, would do much to speed up defense preparations. Congressional leaders told the President the suggested bill could be passed quickly.
The House also granted right of way to the bill that would permit the sending of American vessels to evacuate children in Britain menaced by the war now raging around their island home.
The promptness with which the Senate ratifies the Convention of Havana, providing machinery for the collective administration of European possessions in the Western Hemisphere threatened with seizure by Germany, will depend on the Administration’s alacrity in transmitting the document, according to indications today.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his cabinet had a “long discussion” in a cabinet meeting concerning “ways and means to sell directly or indirectly” 50 or 60 destroyers to the British. There was no dissent “that the survival of the British Isles under German attack might very possibly depend on their [the British] getting these destroyers.” All present agreed that legislation to accomplish that goal was necessary.
President Roosevelt, through Robert W. Horton, Information Director of the National Defense Commission, today took issue with published statements that his preparedness program is bogging down.
Negotiations are being carried on by the War Department with the General Motors and Chrysler Corporations for operation of two plants to be constructed by the government within a year for the manufacture of heavier guns for aircraft.
Wendell L. Willkie told his press conference today that he was ready and willing at all times to discuss publicly his views on national problems with President Roosevelt, but that he would not be drawn into any discussion with Democratic Senators or politicians. The Republican nominee made it clear that he was determined to avoid getting into a position of debating the issues of the campaign with New Deal intermediaries such as Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who recently called on Mr. Willkie to state his views on conscription. “If the President wants to ask my views on any subject, I’ll be glad to answer him,” Mr. Willkie said. He was questioned about published reports that the Roosevelt Administration had attempted to consult with him on the projected sale of old destroyers by the government to Great Britain.
President Roosevelt let it be known today he thought Senator Hiram Johnson had changed a lot since the veteran California Republican supported him in 1932 and now could not be considered a liberal or progressive Democrat. The president was told at a press conference Johnson was running for renomination on the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive tickets and then was asked if he regarded the Californian as a Democrat. Mr. Roosevelt said, no he didn’t think anyone thought of Johnson as a liberal or progressive Democrat in the year 1940 and while he was still very fond of the senator he thought Johnson had changed a lot in the last four or five years. There was no immediate reply from Johnson. Senator Wheeler, Montana Democrat, quickly differed with the president. “I consider Hiram Johnson one of the great liberals of the country,” Wheeler said, “His speech in 1932 did more to help President Roosevelt carry the western states than anything that happened during the campaign.”
The War Department conceded today that it had referred erroneously as “foreign agents” to the eighty-one aliens detained in the Panama Canal Zone. Those detained are merely refugees who received temporary haven recently from the Panamanian Government and later entered the Canal Zone illegally, officials said. It was reported privately that Panama officials deported them to the Canal Zone and that several Jamaican Negroes were among their number.
General Spaatz meets with “Wild Bill” Donovan in London about the status of the Battle of Britain.
“Red Cross Day” celebrated at the Treasure Island World’s Fair in San Francisco.
Major League Baseball:
Opportunity pounded hard on the Dodgers’ door in the ninth inning at Ebbets Field yesterday and they tried valiantly to open it. But the pressure applied by the Cubs’ Claude Passeau was too much, and the Cubs nosed them out, 4–3, in the first of the four-game series. A ladies’ day crowd of 15,211, of which 5,807 paid, became almost hysterically hopeful in that final frame when singles by Cookie Lavagetto, Blimp Phelps and Herman Franks, pinch hitter, coupled with an error by Stan Hack, put the tying run on third with two out. But Passeau, who had been summoned by Gabby Hartnett to replace Larry French, following Phelps’s blow, slipped a third strike by Pee Wee Reese to end the game.
The lowly Boston Bees snapped a nine-game losing streak today to win a doubleheader from the league-leading Cincinnati Reds, crushing the visiting Reds, 10–3, in the first game behind six-hit pitching by Nick Strincevich, and taking the nightcap, 4–3, in twelve innings. The Reds had not been swept in a doubleheader this year, sweeping five themselves, and splitting ten.
The Giants wrenched the first game of the afternoon’s doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals, 5–4. The wrenching, too, was accomplished in a highly sensational manner, for when the Cards rushed three runs across in the first half of the ninth to wipe out an earlier lead which a pair of homers by Mel Ott and Babe Young had given the Giants, Young stepped to the plate in the last of the ninth and smashed another circuit blow into the stands to put St. Louis down for keeps. But these Cards seem able to bounce back with the resiliency of a rubber ball and behind a surprisingly fine pitching performance by Carl Doyle they upset the Giants in the nightcap, 3–1.
Held to four hits in nine innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates bunched four hits for four runs in the tenth inning tonight to beat the Phillies, 5–2. Si Johnson, who relieved Cy Blanton in the third when the latter injured his elbow, had a pitcher’s duel with Joe Bowman. Art Mahan’s single in the third and Maurice Van Robays’s homer in the seventh accounted for the only runs. In the tenth singles by Frank, Gustine and Lloyd Waner, doubles by Bob Elliott and Arkie Vaughan, and two infield outs sent Johnson to the showers and gave the Pirates a 5–1 lead. The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the 10th for a run but could get no closer.
The White Sox combined a sixteen-hit attack with southpaw Thornton Lee’s two-hit pitching to gain a 10–2 victory over the Senators today. It was the twelfth triumph for the White Sox in their last fifteen games. Jimmy Bloodworth’s fourth-inning homer with a mate on base accounted for the Washington runs. The only other hit off Lee was Buddy Lewis’s single in the first inning. Joe Kuhel and Mike Kreevich led the attack on Sid Hudson, Alex Carrasquel and Joe Krakauskas. Kuhel connected for a double and three singles and Kreevich got his seventh homer, a triple and a single.
Lefthander Marius Russo holds the Indians to just six hits as the Yankees down the Tribe, 10–2. The Yankees, playing like the Bronx Bombers of old, pounded out 13 hits, including four doubles and a triple. Babe Dahlgren contributed the triple and one of the doubles.
Boston’s battering Red Sox stormed five Tiger pitchers, among them Buck Newsom, for a 12–9 victory in a free-for-all slugging match today, but Detroit came out of the melee still the undisputed leader in the American League. Jimmy Foxx, Dom DiMaggio, and Joe Cronin homered for the Sox.
The St. Louis Browns blanked the Philadelphia Athletics today, 5–0. It was the first shutout of the year for a Browns pitcher. Walt Judnich and George McQuinn homered for the Browns.
Chicago Cubs 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 3
Cincinnati Reds 3, Boston Bees 10
Cincinnati Reds 3, Boston Bees 4
Washington Senators 2, Chicago White Sox 10
New York Yankees 10, Cleveland Indians 2
Boston Red Sox 12, Detroit Tigers 9
St. Louis Cardinals 4, New York Giants 5
St. Louis Cardinals 3, New York Giants 1
Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Philadelphia Phillies 2
Philadelphia Athletics 0, St. Louis Browns 5
With Shanghai newspapers already broadly hinting that Japanese authorities probably were responsible for this morning’s assassination of Charles Netzler, head of the White Russian Immigrants Committee in Shanghai, the Japanese Embassy spokesman this evening saw fit to issue a formal denial. “The embassy spokesman,” he said, “cannot believe the Japanese authorities are behind the murder. Mr. Netzler was always friendly to Japan and was held in high esteem in official Japanese circles. In our opinion rumors that ill feeling between the old and new White Russian organizations caused the assassination must be discarded.” When asked if Mr. Netzler in the last two days had complained to the Japanese authorities concerning the attitude of the Japanese-owned Russian daily newspaper here, the spokesman refused to give a direct reply, saying that while the newspaper had been printing articles on the history of the White Russian Committee it had not published anything accusing Mr. Netzler.
The Shanghai consular body urged the Shanghai Municipal Council today to “eradicate and suppress all forms of terrorism” in the city, where an assassination, an attempted slaying and a kidnapping occurred earlier in the day.
Friction may develop between the United States and Japan over the rich rubber resources of the Netherlands Indies, General Kuniaki Koiso, who is expected to head a Japanese mission to the Indies shortly, told Japanese reporters today.
South Seas areas are definitely included in the new “Greater East Asia” sphere in which Japan seeks to exert its influence, Yakichiro Suma, chief spokesman for the Foreign Office, said today. Mr. Suma declined to name the exact areas that Japan included in her sphere, and in answer to a question he specifically declined to say whether the Philippine Islands were included. “I must postpone enumeration of the areas to a later date,” he said. Questioned further, he said: “The Netherlands Indies do not make up all South Seas areas. There are other regions.”
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 126.37 (+0.24)
Born:
Steven Rosenberg, American cancer researcher (adoptive immunotherapy) and surgeon, in The Bronx, New York, New York.
Naval Construction:
Former U.S. Navy Clemson-class destroyer USS Hulbert (DD-342) is re-commissioned as seaplane tender, destroyer USS Hulbert (AVD-6). Her captain on re-commissioning is James Valentine Carney, USN.
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Peony (K 40) is commissioned. Her first commander is Lieutenant Commander (retired) Martyn Butt Sherwood, RN.
History Diaries 