The Battle of Sidi Barrani began as British forces launched an offensive to retake the Egyptian port of Sidi Barrani. British mechanized forces, cutting through Italian positions and communications lines in the Egyptian desert, were reported tonight to have trapped part of two Fascist divisions after the capture of 4,000 prisoners. Unofficial reports said the large Italian force was marooned at Sidi Barrani, most advanced position of the 75-mile-deep Invasion of Egypt by Marshal Rodolfo Graziani’s forces.
Desert Force commanded by Major General Richard O’Connor, is delayed by a sandstorm. General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, in the meantime withdraws the Indian 4th Division and sends it to the Sudan where he expects an attack. At first light the Coldstream Guards assault the Italian positions at Mersa Matruh, supported by heavy fire from the sea. Fighting continues all day and by 2200 hours local the Coldstream battalion headquarters signals that it was impossible to count the number of prisoners, but that “there were about five acres (2 hectares) of officers and 200 acres (81 hectares) of other ranks.”
Operation Compass, the British attack on advanced Italian positions in Egypt, continues on 10 December 1940. Thousands of Italian troops of the Italian 4th Blackshirt Division and some Libyan formations have been pushed northward from their desert camps — place inland in part due to Royal Navy bombardments — to a 16×8 km pocket near Sidi Barrani. The British 16th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Division comes forward to hem them in. The attack beings at 16:00, and by nightfall a couple of hours later, the British have taken Sidi Barrani itself.
With Selby Force blocking any retreat, the Italian 4th Blackshirt Division 3 Gennaio and two Italian Libyan Divisions must while away another night in the pocket without any food, water or shelter. The British troops are held up more by a sudden sandstorm than by anything the enemy is doing. The British don’t even know how many Italian prisoners they have caught: the Coldstream Guards report simply that there are hundreds of acres of prisoners. General Wavell in Cairo, satisfied that the Italians no longer pose a threat, begins withdrawing troops to send south to Sudan. There, he hopes to terminate the endless back-and-forth around the border outpost of Kassala.
The Royal Navy sends the Mediterranean Fleet to sea from Alexandria in order to assist operations in the Western Desert. Force C (led by battleships HMS Barham and Valiant) and D (led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious) sail to bombard Sollum and Tobruk, respectively. The fleet also will come in handy if the Italians attempt a seaborne rescue. Overnight, monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and Aphis shell the Italian base at Maktila and causes the Italians there to abandon it.
The RAF also is very active today, particularly in harassing Italians retreating along the coast road to Libya. Force H sails from Gibraltar to help out as well.
Hitler issued Directive No. 19 on the German occupation of Vichy France, codenamed Operation ATTILA. Hitler issues a directive for the seizure of French military resources and the future occupation of Vichy France, and cancels plans to invade Gibraltar via Spain (Operation FELIX).
The Supreme Commander Of The Armed Forces.
The Führer’s Headquarters. 10th December, 1940. 12 copies
Directive — Undertaking ATTILA
- In case those parts of the French colonial empire now controlled by General Weygand should show signs of revolt, preparations will be made for the rapid occupation of the still unoccupied territory of continental France (Undertaking ATTILA). At the same time it will be necessary to lay hands on the French home fleet and on those parts of the French air force in home bases, or at least to prevent their going over to the enemy. For military as well as political reasons, preparations for this operation will be camouflaged so as to avoid alarming the French.
- The occupation, if necessary, will be carried out as follows: (a) Strong motorized forces with adequate air cover will thrust rapidly along the valleys of the Garonne and Rhone to the Mediterranean Sea, will occupy ports as quickly as possible (especially the important Toulon naval base), and will seal off France from the sea. (b) Formations stationed on the demarcation line will move forward along the whole front. The time which will elapse between the receipt of orders for the operation and the forward movement of troops will be kept as short as possible. Individual formations and units may be moved up now, so long as the purpose of this movement is not obvious. Organized resistance by French forces is unlikely. Should resistance be offered locally it will be ruthlessly suppressed. Bomber formations of the Air force, especially dive bombers, will be employed for this purpose and against possible centers of disturbance.
- In order to take steps to prevent the sailing of the French fleet and its going over to the enemy, all possible information will be obtained of the position, state of readiness, possibility of capture, and so on, of each ship. Commander In Chief Navy will issue the appropriate orders, in collaboration with the Armed Forces Intelligence Division, using the opportunities afforded by the Armistice Commission. Commanders In Chief Navy and Air force will consider, in conjunction with the occupying forces of the Army, how the French fleet can best be captured. Particular attention will be paid to:
Blocking exits of ports (especially Toulon)
Airborne landings
Sabotage
Submarine and air attacks on ships putting to sea.
Commander In Chief Navy will decide whether, and to what extent, units of the French fleet are to be excluded from the concessions granted to them under the Armistice Agreement.
I reserve to myself the right to decide how this operation will be carried out. Offensive action will be authorized only if French Armed Forces offer resistance or parts of the fleet put to sea in spite of German orders.
- Measures to seize French airports and the aircraft on them will be concerted directly between the Air force and Army. Other possibilities (for example, airborne operations) are to be exploited.
- Commanders In Chief will inform me (in writing through the High Command Of The Armed Forces) of their plans for Undertaking ATTILA. In the case of the Army this has already been done. The time needed between the receipt of orders and the beginning of the operation is to be indicated.
- Preparations for Undertaking ATTILA must be kept the closest secret. The Italians will be given no information about our preparations and intentions.
[signed] Adolf Hitler.
Separately — and not in Hitler’s Directive — General Wilhelm Keitel issues an order announcing that Operation FELIX, the planned subjugation of Gibraltar, is suspended indefinitely. Hitler, having read Admiral Canaris’ negative report about his meeting with Franco on 7 December, has decided that Operation FELIX cannot be pursued due to Spanish unwillingness to cooperate.
Taken in conjunction, this order and the Fuhrer Directive show how much things have changed since October when Hitler was hopeful that Petain and Franco would join in his war against England. Now, there appears to be no hope of that. Backroom planning for Operation Felix remains alive, however, until 1944.
Italian forces today were reported evacuating the southern Albanian defense point at Tepelini as Greek and Fascist forces were locked in a battle on a strategic mountain known as the “gateway” to the village. Tepelini is 18 miles northwest of the former Italian base at Argirocastro and the next object in the Epirus sector. Reports from the fighting front said that the Greek warriors were advancing beyond both Argirocastro and Premeti, to the northeast, in what appeared to be a two-pronged drive on Tepelini. Earlier reports had said that the Italians were installing artillery batteries and machine-gun nests on the 6,000-foot height dominating Tepelini, where they had established an advance outpost of the central defense line they sought to form. Flushed with repeated successes, the Greeks were said to be driving on unremittingly in hope of totally disrupting the Italian detachments before the expected arrival of 80,000 Fascist reinforcements.
The Greeks continue slogging through the snow in the mountains, with Greek II Corps capturing the high ground northwest of PograDecember The RAF raids the port of Valona (Vlorë).
Herbert Hoover’s plan for feeding the civil population in German-occupied countries was rejected by the British government tonight with an announcement here that it would refuse permission “for the passage of food through the blockade.” The statement by the Marquess of Lothian, British ambassador, apparently ended the prospect of any extensive American food relief to German conquered nations, including France. Lord Lothian, however, expressed his government’s willingness to facilitate the passage of “medical supplies destined for distribution in territories occupied by Germany and in unoccupied France by approved bodies.”
Hitler made a speech to munitions workers in Berlin. Even during 1940, which many consider the peak of German military success, Adolf Hitler repeatedly adopts a defensive tone. Today, he gives a speech at a Berlin munitions plant and says:
“I am not a man who, once he is engaged in a fight, breaks it off to his own, disfavor…. [T]here will be no defeat of Germany, either by military or economic means, or by time.”
It is a remarkable statement, full of foreboding, and sounds as if it were made in 1945, not 1940.
Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, receiving foreign newspaper correspondents from Nazi-held Paris a few hours after Adolf Hitler’s speech today, said a final “great lightning offensive against Britain” was imminent and would surpass in fury any blow struck thus far.
Georg von Bismarck was named the commanding officer of the 20th Rifle Brigade.
A shell fired randomly across the English Channel from one of Germany’s massive 280mm rail guns fell within a few feet of the British 13.5in “Peacemaker” rail gun at Martin Mill, England, United Kingdom severely damaging one of its bogies ((wheels) and mortally wounding one of the Royal Marine gunners. This may be the only military fatality on English soil caused by German ground fire in two world wars.
Two Nazi spies, Jose Waldberg and Carl Meier, are the first people to be executed in Britain since the start of the war. They were hanged today in Pentonville jail in London. The pair landed in this country several weeks ago with a radio transmitter, English money and some iron rations. They planned to spend the nights hiding in the woods, and their days collecting information — from the unwary public in trains, pubs and buffets, and by observation of military bases. An anti-espionage officer reported that, though Waldberg had been motivated by patriotism, his companion, Meier, was only interested in the money.
Marshal Rydz-Smigly escapes from captivity in Rumania and heads for Hungary to join the Polish underground there.
In the Gulf of Aden, Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Southampton bombards Kismayo, Somalia. Japanese 5028-ton freighter Yamayuri Maru is damaged. This may be the first Japanese ship damaged by a western power during World War II.
RAF Bomber Command sends a small raid of four Blenheims against the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen. The RAF also bombs several invasion ports along the Channel coast. The Luftwaffe sends a few desultory raids into East Kent and Esses.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 62 aircraft overnight to many targets; only 6 reached their primaries. 1 Blenheim and 1 Hampden lost. 5 Hampdens minelaying in the River Gironde; 1 was lost.
Fliegerkorps X transfers from Norway to Sicily and southern Italy. This force includes Junkers Ju 87 Stukas and is under the command of General Hans Ferdinand Geisler. His first priority, according to Hitler: “Illustrious mussen sinken” (“Sink HMS Illustrious”). The force will include about 100 aircraft, most based at Comiso and Catania.
Tory Member of Parliament John Rathbone, serving in the RAF as a Flight Lieutenant, is killed in the Bristol Blenheim Mark IV bomber he is piloting on a mission over Antwerp. He is buried at Schoonselhof cemetery, Antwerp, Belgium. Rathbone is the sixth MP to be KIA during the conflict.
Battlecruiser HMS Repulse with destroyers HMS Somali, HMS Mashona, HMS Bedouin, and HMS Eskimo arrived at Scapa Flow at 1450 from the SN.10A covering operation.
Light cruiser HMS Nigeria arrived at Scapa Flow after repairing defects at Devonport since 1 November.
Light cruiser HMS Kenya departed Scapa Flow for Devonport to correct defects similar to those of cruiser HMS Nigeria. The cruiser was taken in hand for repairs on the 13th.
Destroyer HMS Cotswold departed Scapa Flow at 1200 to meet British steamer Ben My Chree and escort her to Lerwick. Following disembarkation at Lerwick, the steamer was escorted to Aberdeen.
Destroyers HMS Southdown, HMS Brilliant, HMS Exmoor, and HMS Pytchley departed Scapa Flow at 2200 to rendezvous with Battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth in 52-28N, 5-28W. The destroyers relieved the escorts under Captain D.5 at 1600/12th and escorted the battleship to Rosyth.
After a crossing of M.3 Loop at 2016, destroyer HMS Tynedale departed Scapa Flow to patrol Nevi Kerry Boom. Destroyer HMS Escapade was brought to one half hour notice. At 2310, destroyer HMS Tynedale was withdrawn from the patrol and destroyer HMS Escapade returned to one hour notice.
Submarine HMS Upholder departed Portsmouth for patrol in Biscay. After the patrol, the submarine arrived at Gibraltar on the 23rd.
Submarine HMS Tribune attacked a German tanker off Ile de Yeu in the Bay of Biscay, without success.
Faroes trawler Tor I (287grt) was sunk on a mine in 65-20N, 12-40W.
German coastal steamer Thor (109grt) was sunk by gunfire near Cherbourg.
Force C of battleships HMS Barham and HMS Valiant, anti-aircraft ship HMS Coventry, and destroyers HMS Gallant, HMAS Vampire, HMAS Vendetta, HMAS Voyager, HMS Wryneck, HMS Dainty, and HMS Juno departed Alexandria to bombard Sollum.
Force D of aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious with cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS York and destroyers HMS Ilex, HMS Hero, and HMS Hasty departed Alexandria to attack El Adem airdrome at Tobruk.
Destroyer HMS Hereward departed Alexandria and joined destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Nubian, and HMS Janus forming Force B.
Destroyers HMS Hyperion, HMS Mohawk, and HMS Diamond departed Alexandria on the 11th to join Force C.
On the 12th, Forces C and D sailed for Alexandria leaving destroyers HMS Hyperion, HMS Mohawk, and HMS Diamond to patrol between Ras el Melh and Mersa Matruh. Anti-aircraft ship HMS Coventry remained to search for an X lighter reported in distress between Mersa Matruh and Barrani. On the 13th, Forces C and D arrived at Alexandria.
Organizational changes in the Italian Naval Staff were made. Naval Chief of Staff, Admiral Cavagnari was replaced by Admiral Riccardi. The Commander of the Italian Fleet became Admiral Iachino, former commander of the 2nd Squadron. His predecessor Admiral Campioni became Deputy Chief of Staff, replacing Admiral Somigli.
Battleship Veneto with two destroyer divisions: Admiral Iachino
5th Division — battleships Cesare and Doria with one destroyer division: Admiral Bruto Brivonesi
1st Cruiser Division — heavy cruisers Zara, Pola, Fiume, and Gorizia with two destroyer divisions: Admiral Cattaneo
3rd Cruiser Division — heavy cruisers Trieste, Trento, and Bolzano with one destroyer division: Admiral Sansonetti
7th Cruiser Division — light cruisers Eugenio, Aosta, and Montecuccoli with two destroyer divisions: Admiral Casardi
8th Cruiser Division — light cruisers Abruzzi, Garibaldi, and Attendolo with one destroyer division: Admiral Legnani
9th Cruiser Division — light cruisers Bande Nere and Diaz with two destroyer divisions: Admiral Marenco
Light cruiser HMS Southampton, en route from Aden to meet Troop Convoy WS.4B, bombarded Kismayu. Japanese steamer Yamayuri Maru (5028grt) was damaged.
Light cruiser HMS Newcastle departed Freetown for patrol in the Rio area.
Italian steamer Marangona (5257grt) was sunk twenty seven miles south of Pantelleria in 36-13N, 11-59E on an Italian mine.
German freighter Marburg hits a mine and sinks northeast of Ithaca, Greece in the Ionian Sea.
Convoy FN.356 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers HMS Valorous and HMS Versatile. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 12th.
Convoy FS.358 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers HMS Broadway, HMS Verdun, and HMS Wolsey. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 12th.
Convoy HX.95 departed Halifax at 1401 escorted by Canadian destroyer HMCS Restigouche and auxiliary patrol vessel HMCS French. At 1700, patrol vessel French departed the convoy and at 1555/11th, destroyer HMCS Assiniboine departed the convoy. Ocean escort was armed merchant cruiser HMS Ausonia, which was detached on the 22nd. Destroyer HMS Veteran, sloop HMS Aberdeen, and corvettes HMS Arbutus and HMS Camellia joined on the 24th. Destroyer HMS Wolverine joined on the 25th. The sloop and corvette Arbutus were detached on the 26th. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 27th.
President Roosevelt declared today that “equitable distribution” of wealth to help the underprivileged and provide security for workers and farmers was an essential part of the nation’s program of rearming “to preserve freedom.” Mobilization of men and munitions alone, the chief executive said, would not effectively arm the country. “It (effective preparedness) means,” Mr. Roosevelt said, “an equitable distribution of the wealth from our unparalleled material resources, help for the underprivileged, security for workers and farmers and whatever else that Is necessary to keep democracy a dynamic force.” In a message read last night at a dinner of the Economic Club of New York President Roosevelt assigned roles of partnership to government and private enterprise in preserving American freedom by meeting the emergency that confronts the nation.
U.S. President Roosevelt expands the list of items that cannot be exported without a license — which currently includes oil and scrap metal — to encompass steel and iron. President Roosevelt applied increased economic pressure against Japan today through a proclamation placing iron ore, pig iron, ferro alloys and certain iron and steel manufactures and semi-manufactures under export license requirements, effective December 30.
Herbert Hoover’s plan for feeding the civil population in German-occupied countries was rejected by the British Government tonight with an announcement here that it would refuse permission “for the passage of food through the blockade.”
A request for a defense deficiency appropriation which will be not less than $1,000,000,000 is in preparation to be sent to Congress January 3, according to reports current today. The report reached the House Appropriations Committee unofficially. Some of the members who will pass on the request indicated that it would be the first of two huge deficiencies expected to come before Congress early in the new session. The first, according to the report, will include the following items:
- About $300,000,000 for modernizing the anti-aircraft devices of the fleet.
- Upward of $100,000,000 for work on new naval and air bases in the Atlantic and Pacific, and further strengthening of existing bases.
- Sums of an undetermined amount to expedite present rearmament plans.
- Sums needed to complete defense contracts, the amount of which has been increased by higher material and labor costs.
Secretary Knox announced Saturday that the Navy should request money for naval aircraft defense, and Admiral Harold B. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, has indicated there would be a request for more money for Navy bases. Most of the money so far made available for naval base acquisition and construction has come from President Roosevelt’s $200,000,000 emergency fund. House economy advocates, who have announced that they would not attempt to trim any funds needed for defenses, expressed privately their disappointment over the Budget Bureau’s relatively small recommendations for savings in non-defense items.
An inventor exhibited a rocket motor at New York University today. He said it may revolutionize warplane speeds and give the United States world air supremacy. The army has accepted the device as a subject for further experimentation. The engineer-inventor, 50-year-old E. B. Myers of New York, whose work has been supervised by Dr. Alexander Klemin, head of the university’s School of Aeronautics, said he would “not be surprised” to see an American warplane equipped with such a motor within a year. He talked freely about the possibilities of rocket propulsion for airplanes which would permit much greater speeds and carrying power, but conceded that his motor had not actually been tested in flight.
The Duke of Windsor arrived in Miami with his wife today, four years nearly to the hour from the time he handed to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin the document announcing his final and irrevocable decision to renounce the British throne.
The Benjamin Fitzpatrick Bridge opens, connecting Tallassee and East Tallassee, Florida.
Submarine USS R-1 departed Groton, Connecticut, United States with Submarine Squadron 3 of Submarine Division 42.
Submarine USS R-5 departed New London, Connecticut, United States for Cocos Solo, Panama Canal Zone.
Naval Air Station, Tongue Point, Oregon, is established; although incomplete when placed in operation, it is being prepared for operation of patrol planes.
In Chicago, a curious rule that was designed to “break up the Yankees” is continued by the American League, a rule which prohibits the team winning the championship from trading with any other club. The rule was voted in at the December, 1939 meetings by the 7 other American League owners after the Yankees won 4 straight World Series. The major and minor leagues agree that players taken into the military will not count against roster limits.
The sac fly rule, reinstituted last year, is eliminated for the 1941 season. Though he would hit .400 without the rule change, Ted Williams will have 6 flies that score runners from third base in 1941.
The Giants purchase Morrie Arnovich from the Reds and send shortstop Wayne Ambler to the Reds for pitcher Milt Shoffner.
Umpire Bill Klem retires and is appointed National League chief of staff. He’ll ump in 11 games in 1941 before thumbing himself out.
The 1941 NFL draft was held. The Chicago Bears selected Tom Harmon of the University of Michigan as the number one overall pick.
While the German commerce raiders Atlantis and Pinguin rendezvoused in the Indian Ocean with the captured Norwegian tanker Storstad a signal was received from Berlin announcing the awarding of the Ritterkreuz, the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, to Captain Bernhard Rogge of the Atlantis. The Atlantis and Pinguin were using the Storstad’s cargo of diesel oil to refuel. After refueling the three ships went their separate ways. The Atlantis set course for the remote Kerguelen Islands, where there were countless inlets and bays in which they could lay up unobserved to give the crew leave and to take on a supply of fresh water. The Pinguin headed south and would capture a Norwegian whaling fleet including 3 whale factories and 11 whale catchers in a single day in the Antarctic Ocean. The Storstad set sail for France.
The British government extends a $40 million loan to China. This is quite generous, as the British themselves are running out of money. Britain swung into line with the United States today by announcing that she would grant sterling credits of 10,000,000 pounds sterling to China.
Central News, a Chinese agency, reported today that severe fighting was proceeding in subzero weather between Japanese and Chinese forces in Suiyuan Province, Northern China. A large Japanese force, it said, launched a drive four days ago westward from Paotow, terminus of the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway, but hard-fighting Chinese were stemming attacks. Central News reported that in Southeast China meanwhile Chinese guerrillas had carried out a bold raid against the island of Amoy, crossing from the mainland during the night of November 29. They succeeded in slaying Japanese sentries at an observation post, it said, and then raided a number of buildings, killing the officer who commanded the Japanese gendarmerie, the Japanese-sponsored Chinese Chief of Police and a number of soldiers, Chinese and Japanese. The guerrillas returned to the mainland with two Japanese prisoners, Central News added.
Seemingly reliable reports indicated today that the Japanese were concentrating troops on or near Spratly Island, midway between North Borneo and the French Indo-China naval base at Cam Ranh Bay.
Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura, Japan’s newly named Ambassador to the United States, has selected Kaname Wakasugi, former consul general in New York, as an adviser to the Japanese Embassy in Washington during his ambassadorship. Wakasugi is considered somewhat pro-American.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 131.37 (-0.09)
Born:
Jerry Lawson, American electronic engineer, considered to be the father of the video game cartridge, in Brooklyn, New York, New York (d. 2011).
William Fred Dempster, crew member (Biosphere 2), in Berkeley, California.
Dave Fedor, NBA forward (San Francisco Warriors), in Zephyrhills, Florida.
Weldon Bowlin, MLB third baseman (Kansas City A’s), in Paragould, Arkansas (d. 2019).
Died:
John Rathbone, 30, British politician and fighter pilot (killed in action).
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy Bar-class boom defense vessel HMS Barbridge (Z 222) is laid down by Lobnitz & Co. Ltd. (Renfrew, Scotland).
The Royal Navy Bangor-class (Turbine-engined) minesweeper HMS Harwich (J 190) is laid down by William Hamilton & Co. (Port Glasgow, Scotland); completed by Parsons. She is transferred to the Royal Indian Navy before completion, and commissions as HMIS Khyber (J 190).
The U.S. Navy 77-foot Elco patrol motor torpedo boat USS PT-22 is laid down by the Electric Launch Company Ltd. (Elco), (Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The Royal Navy LCT (Mk 1) class landing craft tank HMS LCT 14 is launched by the John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland).
The Royal Australian Navy Bathurst-class minesweeper-corvette HMAS Ballarat (J 184) is launched by the Williamstown Dockyard (Williamstown, Victoria, Australia).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-125 is launched by AG Weser, Bremen (werk 988).
The Royal Navy Fairmile B-class motor launch HMS ML 148 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy Fairmile B-class motor launch HMS ML 165 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy White 73 foot-class motor torpedo boat HMS MTB 42 is commissioned.
History Diaries 