Hitler issued Directive No. 24, Co-operation with Japan. At Berchtesgaden, Adolf Hitler issues a directive calling for closer links with Japan, but insisting that Operation BARBAROSSA be kept a secret. Hitler issued the order to the German Foreign Ministry to try to draw Japan into the war by attacking British possessions in Asia, but felt it was still important to keep the United States out of the war at this point:
High Command Of The Armed Forces.
The Führer’s Headquarters. 5th March, 1941. 14 copies
Directive No. 24 — Cooperation With Japan
The Führer has issued the following orders for cooperation with Japan:
- The purpose of the cooperation based on the Three Power Pact must be to induce Japan to take action in the Far East as soon as possible. This will tie down strong English forces and will divert the main effort of the United States Of America to the Pacific Ocean. In view of the military unpreparedness of her enemies, the sooner Japan strikes, the greater her chances of success. Undertaking Barbarossa establishes particularly promising political and military conditions for this.
- In preparing for such cooperation it is important to strengthen Japanese fighting spirit by every means. For this purpose Commanders In Chief of the branches of the Armed Forces will respond generously and comprehensively to Japanese requests for information about German experience in the war, and for economic and technical assistance. Reciprocity is desirable but should not impede negotiation. In this respect, priority will naturally be given to those Japanese requests which could have an early effect upon the conduct of the war. The Führer reserves to himself the right to take decisions in special cases.
- The coordination of the operational plans of the two countries will be the task of the Naval High Command. The following principles will apply: (a) The common aim of strategy must be represented as the swift conquest of England in order to keep America out of the war. Apart from this, Germany has no political, military, or economic interests in the Far East which need in any way inhibit Japanese intentions. (b) The great success attained by Germany in war on merchant shipping makes it appear particularly desirable that powerful Japanese forces should be devoted to the same end. Any possibility of support for the German war on merchant shipping is to be exploited. (c) The position of the three pact powers in respect of raw materials demands that Japan should secure for itself those territories which it needs for the prosecution of the war, particularly if the United States is engaged. Deliveries of rubber must continue even after Japan’s entry into the war, since they are vital for Germany. (d) The seizure of Singapore, England’s key position in the Far East, would represent a decisive success in the combined strategy of the three powers. Attacks on other English bases — on American naval bases only if the United States Of America cannot be prevented from entering the war — are capable of destroying the system of enemy strongpoints in the area and thereby, like attacks on sea communications, of tying down significant forces of all kinds (Australia). A deadline for the opening of operational discussions cannot yet be laid down.
- The Military Commissions which will be constituted under the Three Power Pact will deal only with those matters which equally affect the three powers. This will apply in the first instance to war against the enemy economy. Details will be arranged by the Chief Commission in cooperation with the High Command Of The Armed Forces.
- No mention whatever of Undertaking BARBAROSSA will be made to the Japanese.
The Chief Of The High Command Of The Armed Forces.
Keitel.
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, still in Athens, sends a diplomatic note to regent Prince Paul on 5 March 1941. It requests that his country join the Allies. Eden sends the British ambassador at Belgrade back with a confidential note for the Yugoslavian Regent explaining British plans for Greece and saying that both Greece and Turkey planned to fight if attacked. If Yugoslavia joined the Allies she would have a British army to fight by her side. Eden also reports on the darkening mood of the Greeks who are reluctant to evacuate their forces from Albania if Yugoslavia does not attack from the north, and who are only offering the British 23 battalions of troops to delay any German advance into Salonika until British reinforcements arrive.
Eden does not know that Paul has just agreed to sign the Tripartite Pact with the Axis. Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies confides to his diary that:
“The Middle East Proposal is going bad. Why the devil should Eden purport to commit us on facts which he must know are most disturbing and which have an Empire significance?”
Menzies, as reflected in comments he has made to the British War Cabinet, thinks that the entire Greece expedition is questionable.
After this, Eden and CIGS John Dill wrap up their business in Athens and fly back to Cairo.
British troops of Lustreforce (Operation LUSTRE) begin arriving at Piraeus, Greece.
From Budapest, The British Exchange News Agency reported: “A telephone report from a British correspondent in Belgrade said that it Appears increasingly probable that Germany will issue an ultimatum to Greece demanding that the situation be decided immediately. Presumably this step will take place around March 15, when German forces in Bulgaria will have reached their full strength.”
The British government and the Belgian and Polish governments in exile severs diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. George Rendel, the British minister, today handed the Bulgarian government a strongly-worded note protesting against Bulgaria’s active co-operation with Germany which, it declared, constituted a grave threat to Britain’s ally, Greece, and was “incompatible with the maintenance of British diplomatic representation in Bulgaria. Mr Rendel added a verbal note in even more scathing terms. Alluding to the disappearance of one Mr Grenovich, a Bulgarian official at the British legation, he said: “It has poisoned affairs and put Bulgaria’s civilisation back 100 years. I tried for years to deal with the Bulgarians as a civilised western people. Now that appears to be impossible.”
The USSR has also condemned the entry of German troops into Bulgaria. “It cannot be regarded”, said the Kremlin, “as furthering peace possibilities in the Balkans.”
Italian prisoners, captured by Greek forces in Albania, report that 1500 Alpini troops were drowned in the sinking of the transport ship Liguria and that Allied bombing raids have caused heavy casualties and significant confusion behind Italian lines.
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, which has been waiting for the Suez Canal to be free of obstructions and mines relating to recent Luftwaffe minelaying there, finally gets the all-clear. It sets out from Port Sudan for Suez.
The Germans send a major troop convoy from Naples to Tripoli.
Some British commandos north of Keren are pushed out of their advanced position by a large force of Italians supported by mortar and machine fire. The British only leave because they are running out of ammunition (so their report states).
A referendum on the policies of Ion Antonescu was held in Rumania. The vote was recorded as 99.9% in favour.
Hermann Göring met with General Antonescu in Vienna, Austria, demanding Rumanian participation in the upcoming German invasion of the Soviet Union. Reichsmarschall Herman Göring has been touring southern Germany. Today, he arrives in Vienna, where he meets with visiting Romanian leader Ion Antonescu. He drops broad hints to Antonescu about what is planned in the East, without actually coming right out and revealing the plans for Operation BARBAROSSA. Romania is not considered vital by the Germans for its military participation — though that is expected — but rather for its oil production. Rumania essentially is Germany’s only continental source of oil. Göring opposes the operation in principle but has accepted that Hitler is bound and determined to execute it. He thus resolves to make it work as best as possible.
The British officially sever relations with Bulgaria. Menzies notes simply in his diary, “Germany has swallowed Bulgaria.”
General Maxime Weygand, commander of the French armies of Africa, arrived in Vichy tonight ahead of schedule. His airplane landed in the early evening. The French information office had said previously that the general would not arrive until tomorrow, and there were indications that not even the French government had expected him so soon. Attempts were made to keep his trip secret, in pursuit of a policy adopted ever since a plane carrying Jean Chiappe was shot down en route to Tunisia late in November. Chiappe had been named head of the French administration in Syria. Weygand, it was stated, saw Marshal Philippe Petain, chief of the French state, almost immediately upon his arrival, but was not seen to enter by the usual loungers at the marshal’s hotel. It was Weygand’s first visit to this provisional French capital since he resigned as war minister last September to assume the African command.
Former King Carol and his companion in exile from Rumania, Mme. Magda Lupescu, arrived safely in Portugal this afternoon after a dash from their hotel in Seville, Spain. They were met at the Portuguese border by Carol’s personal chamberlain, Ernest Urdareanu, who had escaped Spain last December. It was said the former king’s situation in Portugal was perfectly legal since the long-announced intention of Portuguese authorities to permit him to reside in Portugal until the end of the war was believed unchanged. Where the couple established their residence in Portugal was not disclosed.
RAF Bomber Command: Day of 5 March 1941
6 Blenheims on a Circus operation; they bombed Boulogne docks without loss.
The Luftwaffe in Northwestern Europe stays on the ground today.
The British Air Ministry announces: “A new contingent of fliers trained in Canada has arrived in the London area. They are the strongest aerial detachment to land in Great Britain so far.”
The Luftwaffe bombs Malta both in the morning and in the evening. The Germans are using their “lone raider” tactics during the day that they have been using over England recently. The evening raid is more serious, with 60 bombers and 40 fighters attacking the RAF airfields. They cause extensive damage to infrastructure and destroy four planes. Hal Far airfield is temporarily put out of action.
U-95, commanded by Gerd Schreiber, sank Swedish steamer Murjek (5070grt) in the North Atlantic.At 0525 hours on 5 March 1941 the unescorted and neutral Murjek was hit by one torpedo from U-95 west-northwest of Rockall. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo at 0506 hours and sank only after four additional hits at 0533, 0551, 0625 (dud) and 0655 hours. Schreiber reported that the ship was en route with lights set, but no nationality markings were visible and he thought of an Allied ship using its lights as a ruse, even after intercepting radio messages that identified the ship as Swedish Murjek. The 5,070-ton Murjek was carrying ballast and was bound for Gothenburg, Sweden.
U-106 refueled from the German supply ship Charlotte Schliemann at Las Palmas, Canary Islands.
German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sit astride the British convoy route from England to Freetown. This is Great Britain’s vital link not only with the Middle East but with India and the Far East. The ships have their floatplanes searching for targets. Scharnhorst’s plane develops engine trouble and has to ditch. After a four-hour search, the cruiser finds the plane — which simply ran out of gas.
Destroyer HMS Liddesdale arrived at Scapa Flow at 0100 from Rosyth to carry out working up exercises.
Battlecruiser HMS Repulse, aircraft carrier HMS Furious, armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara, and steamer Strathmore (23, 428grt) departed the Clyde for Gibraltar, escorted by destroyers HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Assiniboine, HMS Vansittart, and HMS Churchill. The aircraft carrier was carrying aircraft to Takoradi to be delivered on the 22nd in operation SUMMER. The aircraft carrier, light cruiser HMS Dragon, and destroyers HMS Duncan and HMS Foxhound departed Freetown on the 18th. The aircraft carrier arrived at Takoradi on the 22nd, escorted by light cruiser Dragon, which landed passengers and to refuel the destroyers. Light cruiser Dragon then proceeded to Lagos to refuel. The aircraft carrier and the destroyers arrived back at Freetown on the 25th.
Anti-aircraft ship HMS Curacoa departed Scapa Flow at 0900 and join convoy EN.81 off Aberdeen at 1600. The ship remained with the convoy until midnight. The ship arrived at Scapa Flow at 0730/6th.
Tug Silverstone (58grt) was sunk on a mine three miles above Rochester Bridge, Medway. Tug Silverstone was towing barges Rockstone (96grt), Sandstone (96grt), Stonecurb (96grt), and Cestone (96grt). Barges Rockstone and Sandstone were lost with the tug. The entire crew on the tug was lost.
German torpedo boats Iltis and Jaguar laid minefield AUGBURG off Eastbourne.
German steamer Stolzenfels (7512grt) was sunk by war cause near Schiermonnikoog.
After reports of shipping at sea, Submarines HMS Upright and HMS Utmost departed Malta for patrol on the Tripoli convoy routes. Submarine HMS Truant departed for a coastal patrol in the Gulf of Sirte.
Submarine HMS Triumph sank Italian steamers Marzamemi (958grt) and Colombo Lo Faro (897grt) in 37-54N, 15-46E off Calabria.
Aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, escorted by destroyers HMS Juno and HMS Griffin, departed Port Sudan for Suez.
Lt D. M. Cheeke DSC, Lt (A) R. S. Illingworth, and Leading Airman G. Mitchell of 700 Squadron from heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire were killed when their Walrus crashed into a hillside at Port Victoria in the Seychilles.
Light cruiser HMS Mauritius arrived at Freetown with convoy WS.6B.
Ocean boarding vessel HMS Corinthian captured French trawler Bijou Bihon (112grt) in 32-59N, 12-19W and sent her to Gibraltar.
Convoy OB.294 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers HMS Wanderer, HMS Witch, HMS Montgomery, and HMS Vivien and corvettes HMS Nasturtium, HMS Periwinkle, and HMS Primrose. When the convoy was dispersed on the 9th, the escorts proceeded to join convoy SL.66.
Convoy ANF.17 of six British and two other ships departed Alexandria escorted by destroyers HMS Ilex, HMS Hero, and HMS Hasty. Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta joined the convoy at noon on the 6th. The convoy arrived at Piraeus on the 8th with destroyer Hero. Cruiser Calcutta and destroyers Ilex and Hasty left the convoy to arrive at Suda Bay during the morning of 8 March.
An Italian convoy of steamers Castellon (2086grt), Ruhr (5954grt), and Maritza (2910grt) departed Tripoli escorted by Italian armed merchant cruiser Ramb III and torpedo boats Orione and Pegaso. The convoy arrived at Naples on the 7th.
Convoy HX.113 departed Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser HMS Alania and corvettes HMS Bittersweet and HMS Fennel.
Convoy BHX.113 departed Bermuda on the 3rd escorted by ocean escort armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince David. The convoy rendezvoused with convoy HX.113 on the 8th and the armed merchant cruiser was detached. Battleship HMS Royal Sovereign joined on the 15th and the armed merchant cruiser was detached on the 16th. The battleship was detached on the 16th. On 17 March, destroyers HMS Keppel, HMS Lincoln, HMS Sabre, HMS Venomous, and HMS Woolston, corvette HMS Sunflower, and anti-submarine trawler HMS Wellard joined the escort. Trawler Wellard was detached on the 19th and the escort, less the two corvettes which had departed at the start, on the 20th. The two corvettes were detached when the convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 21st.
Convoy BN.18 departed Aden, escorted by sloop HMS Yarra. Destroyer HMS Kingston joined for escort during 8 March. The convoy arrived at Suez on the 11th.
Today in Washington, President Roosevelt conferred separately with William S. Knudsen, director of the Office of Production Management, and Phillip Murray, President of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. He nominated Ray C. Wakefleld of California to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission.
The Senate completed general debate on the lease-lend bill, began consideration of amendments, and recessed at 5:29 PM until 11 AM tomorrow.
The House considered the Agriculture Department Appropriation Bill, rejecting amendments to provide increased funds for parity payments, and adjourned at 5:47 PM until noon tomorrow.
The Senate adopted seven amendments to the Lend-Lease bill today and reached the first controversial one, on which it is expected a vote will be reached tomorrow. The first real Senate battle on the Lend-Lease bill flared up today, with administration leaders backed by Secretary Hull strenuously opposing an amendment proposed by Senator Ellender to stipulate that the measure grants no new authority for sending American troops outside the western hemisphere. The secretary of state was quoted is having said that such a provision might encourage Japan to become more aggressive in pushing her expansion policy in the Far East. Leading proponents of the bill, who hitherto had spoken favorably of adopting some compromise amendment of this sort, suddenly closed ranks in opposition. Senator Barkley, the majority leader, and other Administration supporters believed that they had enough votes to defeat the proposal. All absentees are paired, so the Administration should display its maximum voting strength tomorrow, since it is conceded that the Ellender amendment probably will attract the most votes of any that will be offered from the floor.
Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt, mother of the President, and Mrs. William Howard Taft, widow of the President and mother of the Ohio Senator who is a leading opponent of the lease-lend bill, joined yesterday with twenty-nine other prominent women in protesting against “a filibuster — declared or undeclared — on the Lend-Lease bill or on any proposed amendments.”
Senator Downey of California, whose position on the Lend-Lease bill had not previously been stated publicly, released tonight a letter to his son, Richard Downey, 17, who had asked how he was going to vote. In the letter he explained why he intends to vote for the measure.
Chairman Dies, Texas Democrat, declared today the House committee on un-American activities had information indicating that Hitler plans to “invade South America from within” and already has German businessmen and others there organized into military units. The Texan told newsmen he had received word from “some of the most reliable sources In America” that there are more than 1,000,000 Germans in South America “upon whom the Third Reich can absolutely depend.” “If Hitler cannot secure sufficient raw materials in Europe,” Dies said, “the purpose of the Third Reich is to penetrate South America from within.” Asserting that Hitler had a complete system of espionage already developed below the Rio Grande, Dies said it was his personal belief that “if it becomes necessary to divert the United States” from its present aid-to-Britain and defense programs, the Germans would undertake a campaign in South America without waiting to determine definitely their chances for victory in Europe. “When the time comes for that move,” Dies predicted, “there will be an overthrow of some of the governments in South America.” He did not specify to which countries he referred but asserted belief that the Germans were “thoroughly organized” in South America.
A Gallup poll in the U.S. asked the question: If American merchant ships with American crews are used to carry war materials to Britain, and some of them are sunk by German submarines on the way over, would you be in favor of going to war against Germany?
Would favor war: 27 %
Would not favor war: 61%
Qualified and undecided: 12%
Recent polls have shown a sharply divided nation about entering the war unless the United States is somehow attacked or gravely threatened. This poll suggests that U-boat sinkings of US ships would, in the public’s eyes at least, not justify a US declaration of war on Germany. It appears from these results and an abundance of other data that the only thing that would unify the country would be a direct enemy attack on the United States’ lives and property.
Strikes were holding up production tonight at twenty-five defense industries plants and interfering with construction of experimental equipment important in air force development.
The Office of Production Management today settled several labor disputes affecting the defense program, obtained postponement for forty-eight hours of a strike order affecting a Michigan power company and had several mediators at conferences seeking settlement of other disputes.
Bipartisan attempts to increase farm parity payments by $425,000,000 and $875,000,000 were defeated in the House today after leaders on both sides, alarmed lest the privately expressed desires of the farm bloc to “get ours” might adversely affect the defense program and send the country into an era of inflation, worked strenuously among their colleagues.
The anthology drama radio series “Author’s Playhouse” premiered on the NBC Blue Network.
In baseball, Brooklyn Dodgers’ president Larry MacPhail issues instructions that all Dodger players must live in Brooklyn. MacPhail is also campaigning for visiting teams to stay in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan.
The Panamanian government gave the United States permission to extend American air defenses beyond the limits of the Panama Canal.
The Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke wired Japanese Ambassador to the United States Admiral Nomura Kichisaburō in Washington D.C.: “According to a fairly reliable source of information it appears almost certain that the United States government is reading your code messages. Please let me know whether you have any suspicion of the above.”
Japanese authorities said tonight their forces had landed at various points along 250-mile stretch of the south China coast in a surprise move which foreign quarters here believe is somehow linked with Japan’s new southward ambitions. The landings on the shores of Kwangtung province from Kwonghoi, 100 miles south of this British colony, to Pakhoi on the Gulf of Tonkin were reported to have occurred on Monday, but only late today were they disclosed by the Japanese. The main purpose, according to the Japanese, was to tighten the blockade against supplies flowing to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, but the Japanese army spokesman at Canton described the operation as “an epochal achievement unprecedented in the annals of war.” A significant feature was establishment in the entire Pakhoi area of the first Japanese military rule proclaimed in China since hostilities began in July, 1937. Heretofore, the Japanese have contented themselves with establishing puppet Chinese administrations in occupied areas. This time, however, they borrowed another leaf from the European book of war.
A basic understanding has been reached in the French Indo-China-Thailand peace negotiations, it was announced today. Some details remain to be settled, but these are expected to be cleared up shortly.
Although Japan will be faithful to the Three Power Pact [the Axis-Japanese alliance], the Japanese Government does not regard that agreement as constituting any reason for war against Britain. This assurance was conveyed to Prime Minister Winston Churchill by Japanese Ambassador Mamoru Shigemitsu in London yesterday, according to the Japanese press reports of Mr. Churchill’s second interview with the Japanese Ambassador.
Confiding his thoughts to his diary, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies (visiting London) expresses outrage that his policy of moderation toward Japan (recently expressed in a speech) is misconstrued by some as “appeasement.” In fact, he writes:
“Our true policy vis a vis Japan is firmness & friendliness; the two are not inconsistent.”
Menzies’ press statements are getting back to Australia, and his support there gradually is waning — though whether or not the statements themselves have anything to do with that is unclear. After the Neville Chamberlain experience, of course, appeasement is a dirty word for many within the British Empire.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 120.3 (-0.86)
Born:
Phil Roof, MLB catcher (Milwaukee Braves, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City-Oakland A’s, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays), in Paducah, Kentucky.
José María Merino, Spanish writer (“Las Lagrimas Del Sol” [“The Tears of the Sun”]), in A Coruña, Spain.
Died:
Ludwig Quidde, 82, German politician and pacifist (Nobel Peace Prize 1927).
Naval Construction:
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-451 is launched by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 282).
The Royal Navy Fairmile B-class motor launch HMS ML 206 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy Fairmile B-class motor launch HMS ML 212 is commissioned.
The U.S. Navy Childs-class seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Thornton (AVD-11, formerly the Clemson-class destroyer Thornton, DD-270) is recommissioned. Her commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander Wendell Fischer Kline, USN.
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Auricula (K 12) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is T/Lieutenant William Wilkinson White, RNR.
The U.S. Navy Gleaves-class destroyer USS Ludlow (DD-438) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander Claude Henry Bennett, Jr., USN.
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