Before dawn, British artillery pieces moved into position near Bardia, Libya. Major General Iven Mackay readies his troops for an assault on Bardia at 05:30 on the 3rd. The 6th Australian Division has been practicing on a mock-up of the Italian defenses there, which essentially are composed of two main lines that include anti-tank ditches. The attack will be supported by the RAF, gunboats parked offshore, and artillery fire. The Australians, bayonets fixed, take up final assault positions during the night, along with “I” tanks and engineers that will follow to exploit the breakthrough.
During the day, British monitor HMS Terror and British gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Bardia; Italian aircraft responded without success. After sun down, Wellington bombers of No. 70 Squadron RAF and Bombay bombers of No. 216 Squadron RAF attacked Italian positions at Bardia. Troops of the Australian 6th Division began to prepare for the ground assault.
There is continued light fighting in the Klisura Pass in Albania on 2 January 1941. The key pass is contested by Greek II Corps and the Italian Julia Division. Other Greek forces are mounting local operations to improve their positions (they take the tiny village of Dobrenjë east of Berat and cross the scenic Bence River in the mountains southeast of Savona/Vlore), but there are no large operations in the works on either side. However, the Greek High Command has a large attack to capture Klisura Pass in the planning stages.
Despite bad weather and stiffening Italian resistance, Greek troops in the northern sector of the Albanian battle-front were reported tonight to be slowly continuing their advance. A government spokesman said conditions in this area “have not completely stopped our troops from pushing their lines forward after crushing stiff enemy resistance and occupying some villages.” On other parts of the front, the spokesman said, “Operations in the last few days were hampered by bad weather, above all torrential rains and stormy winds.”
The British offer the Greeks to send army troops to help in Albania. Already, RAF planes are operating out of airfields near Greece, but not too many British ground troops are in the country. The RAF raids Elbasan in the center of the country.
Italy announced officially today that a German flying corps has reinforced II Duce’s aviators on Italian soil, and indicated this massing of axis airmen will intensify the assault both on the Greeks in Albania and the British in North Africa. The Germans, said the announcement, will “help in the bitter air and naval fight now developing in the Mediterranean basin.”
The Luftwaffe is shifting planes to the Mediterranean, but they will not be there in time to affect present operations.
Anthony Eden informs de Gaulle of the arrest of Vice-Admiral Emile Muselier. de Gaulle is highly suspicious and rather indignant at the way the whole matter has been handled. Scotland Yard arrested the Free French naval forces Muselier. The British Intelligence Service had acquired four documents allegedly from the Vichy French Consulate in London concerning Muselier. One supposedly proved that Muselier had betrayed the plans of the Dakar expedition and sent them to Vichy through the intermediary of the Brazilian Embassy. Another showed that Muselier was plotting to hand over the submarine Surcouf to Vichy, and another showed that he had received £2000 for sabotaging the recruiting of sailors for the Free French naval forces.
The “Twenty Committee”, formed to co-ordinate the activities of double agents based in Britain, meets for the first time. Thus the XX or ‘double-cross’ tactic of using German agents in its service. A sub-committee of MI5, the XX Committee, is established. Its name is a sort of pun, as it is to focus on “double-crosses,” turning German spies into double-agents. Based on the Roman Number meaning of its name, this is formally called the “Twenty Committee.” Members of all the British intelligence services and other related organizations are participants. The Chairman is an MI5 agent and Oxford professor, J.C. Masterman. The process of turning Abwehr (German military intelligence) into British double-agents actually began in the 1930s (with Arthur Owens, who began as a British spy, became an Abwehr spy, and then was turned to be solely British again) and has been achieved during the war as well, but the XX Committee will continue and extend the process.
Lord Beaverbrook, British Minister of Aircraft Production, today announced that United States bombers are being flown across the Atlantic “in a steady stream.”
Tension noticeably increased in official Vichy circles tonight with the rumors of ruptured negotiations, and Adolf Hitler’s reply to the proposals of Chief of State Petain for limited French- German collaboration.
Banker Paul Baudouin resigns from the government. He has been the Vichy French Minister of Foreign Affairs since June and also briefly the Minister of Information (propaganda minister). It was he who initiated the communications with German, via the Spanish Ambassador, that led to the Armistice. Baudoin is a somewhat shadowy figure of mixed loyalties, a Monarchist who at some points in time is considered by Marshal Pétain to be his preferred successor. Baudouin was among those who pressured the Premier to excise Pierre Laval from the government. It is unclear exactly why Baudouin resigns at this time, but there are intense power struggles going on in French politics on both sides of the English Channel between Left and Right. To what extent Baudouin is an advocate of collaboration is unclear, but that is what he eventually is charged with (and convicted of) despite leaving the government at this early juncture. He returns to private banking.
The bread ration in France is cut to ten ounces a day.
German leaders Himmler and Heydrich categorized concentration camps into three categories for different types of prisoners. Reinhard Heydrich, the Head of the Security Police and the SD, issues a letter (styled as a “decree”) for internal distribution to the Security Police. It states that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler has approved new divisions within the concentration camp system. The new categories are:
Category I: prisoners “definitely capable of being reformed,” to be held at Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz I;
Category Ia: “old prisoners” to be held at Dachau;
Category II: prisoners facing “strong accusations” but still capable of reform, to be held at Buchenwald, Flossenburg, and Auschwitz II;
Category III: “asocial” prisoners with criminal convictions and “virtually incapable of correction,” to be held at Mauthausen.
While these classifications are quite vague, they do provide some hints for the future. The Category III camp, Mauthausen, will become renowned for its brutality and savagery as prisoners are worked to death and invariably do not survive their mistreatment (which smacks of punishment). The other camps will become outright extermination camps, without so much of the “work” or “punishment” aspect of Mauthausen.
Future inmates will be accorded a certain classification upon forwarding to the system, but, especially as the war progresses, assignment to any of the camps will be a death sentence and the categorizations essentially meaningless. Heydrich does require that recommendations for Category III prisoners be “justified” based upon previous convictions and related factors. It is unclear how many — if any — inmates at any of the camps are ever “reformed” sufficiently to exit the system altogether.
Kriegsmarine Admiral Doenitz meets with Jodl to ask for better air-submarine co-operation and more air reconnaissance over the North Atlantic. He gets a daily reconnaissance sweep by 12 Focke-Wulf Kondors of 40 Group based in Bordeaux.
While clashes between Rumanian and Soviet frontier guards reportedly have been increasing for a week, Soviet Minister M. Lavrentief left Bucharest tonight, officially liquidating the Russian legation, it was reported in Budapest. Closing of the elaborate embassy one of the most modern and beautiful in the Rumanian capital had been expected for more than a week. Coincident with the departure of M. Lavrentief, the Moscow radio launched a new and bitter attack on Rumania.
The Soviets being a major War Games exercise, with troops simulating an attack in the “northwest” direction, i.e., toward Stalingrad and Moscow. General Georgy Zhukov commands the attacking forces, i.e., the “Western/Blue” forces against “Eastern/Red” forces commanded by Colonel General D.G. Pavlov. This exercise will continue for the remainder of the week (accounts vary on exactly what happened with these exercises, but it is clear that war games were held). The assumption built into the exercise is that the “Eastern Forces” have a large numerical advantage and that hostility is initiated by the “Western/Blue” forces. This is a clear anticipation of an attack by the Wehrmacht.
German warplanes renewed their attack upon London about dawn today after a night marked by scattered bombings in London, East England, Liverpool and other Merseyside cities. The air raid sirens sounded in the London area about 5 a.m., some three hours after the second all-clear of the night had been given. It was the third warning signal of the New Year in London. No damage was reported immediately from fire bombs in the eastern England localities, and they were dealt with promptly by the fire-fighting service. Two high-explosive bombs dropped in one London district, causing damage and some casualties.
The Luftwaffe picks another city off the map — this time Cardiff, Wales — and sends 100+ bombers against it during the night. As in London, the Luftwaffe concentrates on incendiaries, starting numerous fires. Llandaff Cathedral is hit hard. This is considered the worst night of the Cardiff Blitz. A six-year-old boy sings “God Save the King” for six hours as workers dig him out from beneath his home’s staircase, where he hid because it was considered a safe spot (and he did survive, so it was).. He later explained that his father, a coal miner, had told him that when men were buried underground they kept singing to guide the rescuers, and this was the only tune to which he knew the words.
Once again, some Luftwaffe bombers go astray and bomb the Terenure district of Dublin. There are three deaths in the Shannon family, whose home is hit, with two others injured. Other counties along the Irish coast in a line stretching 100 miles to the south of Dublin also are bombed. The Germans blame the errant bombings on high winds, the British suspect a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Irish. It is thought that the bombings might have been intended to intimidate the Irish into remaining neutral in spite of Anglo-American pressure for the use of Irish bases to protect convoys.
The Italian Aereo Italiano (CAI) stages its last raid against England, attacking Ipswich with five bombers.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 1 Blenheim to Dortmund-Ems Canal during daylight which turned back.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 47 Hampdens, Wellingtons and Whitleys overnight to Bremen and small raids to Emden and Amsterdam. 1 Whitley lost 2 0.T.U. sorties. This raid was not as effective as that of the previous night. About 15 bomb loads hit Bremen, mainly in the town center and harbor area, where a store of 50,000 new jute sacks was burnt out. Reinforcement fire units were called in over icy roads and through snow showers from as far away as Hannover and Hamburg. 7 houses were destroyed and 576 damaged, mostly lightly. 8 people were killed and 44 injured.
Luftwaffe night fighters, which are somewhat ahead of their RAF counterparts, continue to confront the RAF bombers. Both Uffz. Arnold (1,/NJG 2) and Lt. Hans Hahn (3,/NJG 2) score victories, a Wellington and a Whitley, respectively.
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors have been a bright spot in the German blockade of Great Britain. However, they have been “freelancing,” attacking shipping themselves when they find targets, rather than focusing on helping the U-boats (with scattered success). All planes in Germany are under the control of the Luftwaffe, and there may be inter-service rivalries at play. In any event, today U-boat commander Admiral Doenitz asks the OKW operations chief, General Jodl, for better coordination between the Condors and the Kriegsmarine, to serve as the “eyes” of the U-boats. Reichsmarschall Göring apparently has no objection — he has final say over any Luftwaffe deployments — so a dozen Condors of KG 40 based in Bordeaux soon begin daily reconnaissance sweeps.
U-65, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen, sank British steamer Nalgora (6579grt) in 22-24N, 21-11W. At 2207 hours the Nalgora (Master Aubrey Devereux Davies), dispersed from convoy OB.261 on 22 December, was hit by one stern torpedo from U-65 about 350 miles north of the Cape Verde Islands and sunk 20 minutes later by 70 rounds from the deck gun. The master, 101 crew members and three passengers were rescued after eight days adrift in lifeboats. 52 survivors were picked up by the British merchant Nolisement and landed at Freetown, while 34 survivors were picked up by the British merchant Umgeni in 21°35N/20°59W and landed in Glasgow on 13 January. 19 crew members in a lifeboat reached shore at San Antonio, Cape Verde Islands. The 6,579-ton Nalgora was carrying boom defense equipment and was bound for Alexandria, Egypt.
German U-boat U-38 was attacked by an escort with depth charges and suffered slight damage.
The 1st Minelaying Squadron, escorted by destroyers HMS Douglas, HMS Keppel, and Ouragan (French destroyer with a Polish crew), which had arrived at Loch Alsh on the 1st, departed Loch Alsh to lay mines in SN 6 and SN 65. Destroyer HMS Beagle departed Scapa Flow at 0900 to join the destroyer escort. The operation was screened by light cruiser HMS Edinburgh, which departed Scapa Flow at 1000/2nd. Battlecruiser HMS Hood and destroyers HMS Echo, HMS Electra, HMS Sikh, and HMS Eskimo departed Scapa Flow at 1600/2ndand provided cover for the operation. The minefield was laid and the minelayers returned to Loch Alsh on the 5th. The battlecruiser force arrived back at Scapa Flow at 0930/5th. Destroyer Ouragan arrived at Scapa Flow at 1300/5th after being detached from the minelayers due to a shortage of fuel. Destroyer Beagle and the minelayers arrived at Loch Alsh at 1700/5th. Destroyer Beagle was then sailed for Greenock to join the escort of convoy WS.5B. Light cruiser Edinburgh arrived at 1801 on the 5th at Scapa Flow. At 2345/5th, destroyers Douglas and Keppel arrived at Scapa Flow after escorting the minelayers to the Minches.
Light cruiser HMS Naiad departed Scapa Flow and relieved light cruiser HMS Phoebe at Oban on guard duties. Light cruiser Phoebe had been at Oban on anti-aircraft guard duties since 24 December. On relief, light cruiser Phoebe proceeded to Scapa Flow.
Minelaying cruiser HMS Adventure laid mines in minefield ZME.10 in St Georges Channel.
Light cruiser HMS Emerald was recommissioned at Devonport after a refit lasting from October to the end of December.
Destroyer HMS Somali departed Scapa Flow at 1530 for Rosyth to carry out repairs to a damaged gun shield. The destroyer arrived at Rosyth at 0630/3rd.
British P/T/Midshipman J. E. R. Rainford RNVR, was killed when his Fulmar of 807 Squadron collided with another Fulmar at Yeovilton. The other Fulmar safely landed.
German tanker Nordmark (15,000grt) refueled German raider Thor. The tanker also embarked diesel oil from captured Norwegian tanker Storstad (8998grt).
British steamer Loch Dee (5252grt) was struck by a German delayed action bomb at Cardiff. The bomb exploded at 0150/3rd. One crewman was killed.
The British fleet departed Alexandria to cover ground operations in Libya for operation MC.5. Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, escorted by destroyers HMS Greyhound, HMS Griffin, HMS Ilex, and HMS Juno departed in the morning to embark aircraft. Battleships HMS Warspite, HMS Barham, and HMS Valiant, light cruiser HMS Gloucester and heavy cruiser HMS York of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta, and destroyers HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, HMS Mohawk, HMS Wryneck, HMS Diamond, HMAS Vendetta, and HMS Gallant departed Alexandria at 1830.
Monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Bardia. Destroyer HMAS Voyager and monitor Terror were unsuccessfully attacked by aircraft.
Italian steamer Albano (2364grt) was sunk on a mine one mile east of Cape Laghi, Albania.
Convoy SC.18 departed Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser HMS Laconia, which was detached on the 14th. On the 14th, destroyer HMS Westcott and corvettes HMS Candytuft and HMS Honeysuckle joined the escort. Ocean boarding vessel HMS Crispin and sloop HMS Wellington joined on the 15th. Destroyer Westcott was detached on the 17th and the remainder of the escort on the 18th, and arrived at Liverpool on the 19th.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt conferred with Secretary Stimson on defense problems, and with Vice President Garner, Harold D. Smith, director of the Budget, and Sumner Welles, Under-Secretary of State.
The Senate confirmed the nomination of J. Warren Madden to be a judge of the United States Court of Claims, heard Senator Lee defend the Administration’s program of Aid to Great Britain, and Senator Holt criticize the Administration’s foreign policy, heard Senator Ashurst’s farewell speech, and Senator Townsend urge repeal of the gold and silver purchase program in his last address as a Senator and recessed at 5:35 PM until 11:30 AM tomorrow.
The House heard Representative Woodruff criticize President Roosevelt’s Aid-to-Britain program, and Representative Cox defend it and adjourned sine die at 1:31 PM.
The United States announced plans to build 200 utilitarian freighters. These would come to be known as Liberty ships. President Roosevelt announces the beginning of the Liberty Ship program, 200 merchant ships of a standardized design.
The new session of Congress will convene tomorrow at noon with President Roosevelt reported ready to ask $10,000,000,000 more for defense, and important questions of foreign policy, taxation, the budget and anti-inflation legislation awaiting its disposition. For the house, the old session, one which saw the neutrality act revised, the defense program begun and conscription voted ended offcially today. But senate leaders found it necessary to call a meeting for tomorrow morning so that last minute business might be attended to. To end the old and start the new session, Vice-President Garner returned to town today, to speak admiringly to reporters of his new “dude hat,” a gray fedora, and confer briefly with President Roosevelt.
The Army prepared today to ask the new Congress for an additional $3,000,000,000 to further its armament program. The amounts to be asked after the new session opens tomorrow were reported to be as follows:
$1,000,000,000 for the production of 3,600 more bombing planes from parts made largely in existing automobile factories and assembled in four Midwestern plants operated by aircraft companies.
$1,600,000,000 for guns, tanks, planes and other matériel to round out equipment for an Army of 2,000,000 men.
$400,000,000 for the construction of additional munitions plants to give the country sufficient reserve capacity to supply land forces of 4,000,000 men in an emergency.
Plans call for maintenance of the munitions factories on a stand-by basis, similar to the role of Britain’s “shadow plants” before the start of war with Germany. These new plants would be in addition to the eighty-four factories or special facilities provided for under the $800,000,000 appropriation which Congress voted for the purpose last Summer. Roughly 75 percent of the total of $6,600,000,000 appropriated for the Army last year has been obligated to date and, in so far as new munitions facilities are concerned, all but 5 percent of available funds are obligated. The first of the new powder plants built under this program is scheduled to come into production in June, or possibly sooner. The $3,000,000,000 to be requested of the new Congress would raise beyond $20,000,000,000 the total national defense expenditures authorized since the beginning of 1940.
In addition, more than $5,000,000,000 of production for the British is pending or in prospect, part of it for British cash, part under President Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease plan. Congress also must make regular appropriations for Army and Navy salaries and the other routine expenses of the next fiscal year. Furthermore, there has been speculation that the Navy might ask authority to expand its current destroyer construction program. Altogether, the armament outlays already authorized by Congress or to be submitted to that body total about a third as much as the estimated national income for 1940. Some of the authorized expenditures, such as that for the two-ocean navy, however, will be paid out over a period of four or five years.
Robert P. Patterson, Undersecretary of War, said at a press conference today that work by the Ordnance Corp. was already beginning to turn this country into the “arsenal of democracy” which President Roosevelt demanded in his radio address Sunday night. At the same time the War Department announced that the President and the National Defense Advisory Commission had approved projects to expand airplane building facilities at a cost of about $70,000,000. The projects included a contract with the Buick Motor Company to build a plant at Grand Blanc, Michigan to produce Pratt & Whitney “1830” engines. The cost is put at $24,313,150.
While plans were being completed for conferences between Walter P. Reuther, divisional chief of the United Automobile Workers of America (Congress of Industrial Organizations), and government officials in connection with the union’s proposal for mass production of airplanes in automobile plants, some management engineers and economists attached to the National Defense Advisory Commission said today that they differed with criticisms of the Reuther plan made yesterday by other Defense Commission attaches.
Construction of a $6,000,000 vehicular tunnel connecting Long Beach with Terminal island, vital defense and Industrial center, was proposed today by Ward Johnson, representative-elect from California. Johnson said rapid development of the island, together with the fact that the navy was building a $19,000,000 base there, made “imperative” the provision of adequate traffic facilities. A small bridge now is the only link with the island.
Vice President Garner returned today to the capital minus his wide-brimmed sombrero and went almost immediately to see President Roosevelt. The White House said the meeting was arranged by request of both the President and Mr. Garner.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers charged yesterday the initial infringement of its catalogue by the broadcasters. It alleged that on the regular Wednesday night program of Fred Allen, comedian, the song entitled “Wintergreen for President,” with music by the late George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, had been used at the start and finish of the broadcast over the Columbia Broadcasting System.
The singing Andrews Sisters (Maxene, Patty, and LaVerne) record iconic “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince) at Decca’s Hollywood Studios. Beyond its initial success, the tune goes on to become ranked No. 6 on the Songs of the Century list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. The song is recorded during the latter stages of the filming of Abbott and Costello film “Buck Privates.” The song’s introduction during that film featuring the Andrews Sisters is considered by many to be a classic music video (and arguably one of the first, though there’s a lot of competition for that title).
“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” was nominated that year for an Academy Award for Best Song. It lost out to “The Last Time I Saw Paris” in “Lady Be Good.” If you want to talk about ridiculous Academy decisions, start here. Hollywood was very traditional with its song awards in those days, and perhaps the voters felt that “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” was a bit too “modern” compared with the “Paris” ballad. Plus, comedies did not get too much respect in those days (and still don’t).
An apology by the Japanese gendarmerie for their “unlawful arrest” of five United States Marines in a cabaret incident last Monday was demanded tonight by Colonel Allen H. Turnage, the Marine commander in Peiping. The Japanese Army command was informed that, failing to receive such satisfaction, the Americans would refuse to make a local settlement of the affair and would carry it to higher authority. Colonel Turnage also demanded that the Japanese promise to take steps to prevent a repetition of such incidents and that those responsible for the arrests be punished. He presented these three requirements in an interview with a representative of Lieutenant General Hayao Tada, the Japanese Army commander for North China. The representative appeared at Colonel Turnage’s office at his invitation.
Negotiations between Thailand (Siam) and French Indo-China, over whose border differences there have been sporadic incidents for several months, are now in progress, it was announced officially today. The announcement said the negotiations were being carried on principally through Thailand’s Minister in Vichy.
Four more frontier skirmishes between Thai regulars and French and Indo-Chinese forces took place along the Mekong River yesterday and the day before, it was announced today. None of the skirmishes was of great importance, according to a communiqué forwarded by the Governor General of Indo-China, Admiral Jean Decoux. Sporadic fighting was continuing around Thakek, Poipet and Sanannakhet. It was noteworthy that aerial bombing, which caused considerable damage for a time, apparently had been stopped by both sides.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 130.57 (-0.56)
Born:
Mischa Levitzki, 42, Russian-born American pianist and composer (“The Enchanted Nymph”), of a heart attack.
Naval Construction:
The U.S. Navy Accentor-class coastal minesweeper USS Skimmer (AMc-53) is laid down by Snow Shipyards Inc. (Rockland, Maine, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-174 is laid down by AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1014).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type XIV U-boat U-462 is laid down by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 293).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-707 is laid down by H C Stülcken Sohn, Hamburg (werk 771).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-762 is laid down by Kriegsmarinewerft (KMW), Wilhelmshaven (werk 145).
The Royal Navy Dance-class ASW trawler HMS Sarabande (T 125) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Skipper Lieutenant (retired) Laurence Frederick Scarlett, DSC, DSC, RD, RNR.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-66 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Kapitänleutnant Richard Zapp.
The U.S. Navy Tambor-class submarine USS Tuna (SS-203) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander John Jarvis Crane, USN.
History Diaries 