Allied resistance on mainland Greece ended at 0530 hours when 8,000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek, and Yugoslavian troops surrendered at Kalamata, Greece. The climax is at hand on the Greek mainland on 29 April 1941, and this is considered the “end” of the British evacuation, Operation DEMON. Resistance ceases at 05:30. The New Zealanders continue to form the vital rearguard as the main Allied forces embark at various ports for transport to Crete and North Africa. While the process may seem fairly perfunctory — get the troops to the ships and get them out — the delaying actions involve desperate fighting at times. Today, Sergeant John Daniel Hinton of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force leads a charge that takes a German-held house, a mortar, and three machine guns. Sgt. Hinton receives the Victoria Cross for his pains, which are very real as he is wounded in the action and taken prisoner.
The 5th Panzer Division reaches the south coast of the Peloponnese, joined there by SS troops coming from Pyrgos.
A small force of 33 men is rescued from Kalamata. However, 8,000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek and Yugoslavian men are left behind there to surrender.
Convoy GA.15 takes off troops from the mainland, under heavy escort. Five destroyers are dispatched to rescue any men stranded on Greek islands. The Luftwaffe attacks the departing convoy and scores a near-miss on destroyer HMS Nubian and sinks 125 ton Greek ship Aetos.
The Luftwaffe also attacks Suda Bay in Crete. They sink Greek freighters 1433 ton Elsi and 3537 ton Konistra. The Germans later raise them and return them to service.
On the same day, British intelligence picked up positive information about the German invasion of Crete; in response, most British troopships at Suda Bay in Crete were dispatched to Alexandria, Egypt to prevent being attacked by German aircraft.
Units from the 5th Panzer Division reached the south coast of Peloponnese, where they are joined by SS troops arriving from Pyrgos.
Major General Bernard Freyberg arrives at Suda Bay to assume command there. Overall, 50,000 troops evacuate today, but 223,000 men are left behind to become POWs. Fortunately for future British operations, only 12,000 of them are Tommies, but the ANZAC forces lose all their heavy equipment. The Germans lose 2,559 men dead in the campaign, 5820 wounded, and 3,169 missing. With the mainland cleared, the only significant part of Greece left to conquer is Crete.
Meanwhile, Yugoslav Serb General Dragoljub “Draža” Mihailović crosses into Serbia to form a resistance. He grandly styles it the “Command of Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army.” He heads toward Ravna Gora. Accompanying him are seven officers and 24 others. He does not find much help during his journey.
The victory in Greece does not come a minute too soon for the Germans. They now have their Twelfth Army out of position for Operation Barbarossa, and there is not enough time to redirect it in time for the proposed operations in the East. This will have major implications on the strategic options available to Army Group South.
Count Ciano writes: “The Croatian affair has taken many steps forward. The crown is offered to a prince of the house of Savoy.”
General Erwin Rommel has planned a major attack on British forces in the south of the Tobruk perimeter on 30 April. However, he is no longer the supreme authority in North Africa: recently arrived Major-General Friedrich Paulus a Deputy Chief of the General Staff officially has been sent to “observe” and, informally, put the brakes on Rommel’s wild pace of operations. After conferring with Italian leader Gariboldi and studying the situation, Paulus allows the operation to proceed. The German and Italian forces plan to proceed to their take-off spots.
Winston Churchill informs Air Chief Marshal Longmore in the Middle East that the Royal Navy is planning another operation to send “up to 140 Hurricanes” to Malta “by the 25th May.”
Indian 20th Infantry Brigade arrived at Basra, Iraq from Bombay, India.
While there is no real ground fighting in Iraq, the clinch between the two sides — British and Iraqis — intensifies when the latter army surrounds the British airbase at Habbaniya (80 km west of Baghdad). The British are in no imminent danger, as they have unimpeded contact with their other bases by air — but their overland communications are cut. British civilians in Baghdad seek asylum at the US embassy.
The main Iraqi force is on a plateau overlooking the airfield and comprises both infantry and artillery brigades, a dozen armored cars and some tanks. The Iraqis command the British to cease all movement in and out of the base, including by land and air. The British, nonplussed, ask the Iraqis to leave the area. Neither side does what the other wants, and there is a stalemate. The RAF launches some strikes against the encroaching Iraqi forces.
The British in London are kept well-informed of the brewing situation and already have landed troops at the port of Basra, with more on the way. However, those troops are far away, and the strain on British resources is growing just as the Greek situation is falling apart and the East African campaign is reaching its climax. Fortunately for the British, they have extensive resources reasonably close at hand in their colony of India, and the Italians in East Africa are not putting up much of a fight. More troops from the British 10th Indian Division land at Basra today despite Iraq’s prohibition.
While there is no possibility of supporting Iraq with ground forces (which is what they really need), the Germans are contemplating support for the Iraqis by air. However, such efforts are hampered by the extreme distances involved from the nearest bases in Greece and North Africa and Allied control over much of the intervening territory. The Germans also have no ground facilities in Iraq. The Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon, however, have offered the use of their airfields, and Hermann Göring is anxious to curry favor with Hitler by showing the reach of his Luftwaffe.
Adolf Hitler addresses 9,000 officer candidates in the Berlin Sportpalast. Following his discussion with Count Schulenburg the previous evening, he is more determined than ever to invade the Soviet Union, and he loves to drop hints in his speeches:
“If you ask me, ‘Führer, how long will the war last?’ I can only say as long as it takes to emerge victorious! Whatever may come! As a National Socialist during the struggle for power I never knew the word ‘capitulation.’ And there is one word I will never know as leader of the German people and your Supreme Commander, and again it is ‘capitulation’— that is, to submit to the will of another. Never, never! And you too have to think like that.”
It is around this time that he decides to launch Operation Barbarossa on Sunday, 22 June 1941.
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop meets with Subhas Chandra Bose in Vienna.
German authorized quarters again today sharply attacked the Swiss press and individuals for anti-German statements and warned that “one day our patience will come to an end.”
In reply to a British warning of a possible German airborne attack against Syria, General Dentz replies that his orders are to resist all aggression. The always murky relations between the British and French become murkier today when the British warn the Vichy French — who are not actually British Allies — that they fear a Luftwaffe airborne landing in Syria. Commander in Chief of the Army of the Levant (Armée du Levant) and High Commissioner of the Levant General Henri Dentz replies simply that he intends to repel all aggression — an ambiguous statement that seems to apply as much to the British as the Wehrmacht. Dentz commands 45,000 men and the vital (at the moment) bridge to Iraq. The British, not operating in the best faith, decide to attack Dentz’ Vichy airfields and contemplate invading Syria and Lebanon — though that would increase the strain on their Mediterranean resources.
Winston Churchill faces some disquiet in the House of Commons. He brusquely dismisses questions that aim to clarify British war and peace aims and a proposal to appoint a supreme War Cabinet composed of ministers with no other responsibilities “as in the last war,” and including visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies. The clear implication is that Churchill’s one-man show running the entire war effort needs to be reined in a bit.
For his part, Menzies, who has come to be seen as almost a savior by the anti-Churchill faction within the government (and there indeed is one), in fact, is winding up his time in London. This is his second anniversary as Prime Minister of Australia, a fact he proudly notes in his diary. He expresses frustration that he is the only member of the Defence Committee who questions Churchill’s decisions.
The British Admiralty issued a request for six C-3 Liberty hulls to be converted to fighter aircraft carriers. Five of these (HMS Archer, Avenger, Biter, Dasher and Tracker) would enter service in 1943 equipped with Martlet and Swordfish aircraft.
The British passenger ship City of Nagpur was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by the German submarine U-75.
The Luftwaffe raids Devonport, damaging light cruiser HMS Trinidad, under construction. It also raids Plymouth with 162 planes, sinking Lighter C. 293 and sinking 775-ton auxiliary patrol vessel Pessac (later raised and repaired) and British ship Moncousu.
Channel Stop: Three Blenheims from 101 Sqn. attack two 1,500-ton ships off Nieuport. One Blenheim is shot up.
RAF Bomber Command: Day of 29 April 1941
Coastal Raids
39 aircraft — 36 Blenheims, 2 Hampdens, 1 Stirling — operated over a wide area. Many attacks were made and 1 cargo ship was hit in a convoy off Norway, but 2 Blenheims attacking the convoy were shot down.
RAF Bomber Command: Night of 29/30 April 1941
Mannheim
71 aircraft — 42 Wellingtons, 15 Whitleys, 14 Hampdens. 1 Wellington was lost. A report from Mannheim shows that approximately 15 aircraft bomb loads fell in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. 4 houses were destroyed and 59 other buildings damaged but most of this was light damage. 2 small industrial premises were affected and suffered production loss of between 3 and 15 days. 4 people were killed and 4 injured.
Rotterdam
31 aircraft — 12 Hampdens, 11 Wellingtons, 8 Whitleys — to attack the oil depot. Fires were started but not in the oil depot. No losses.
The RAF attacks Benghazi.
At Malta, six Junkers Ju 88s raid Valletta Harbor at dusk and lose one plane.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks convoy service ship 3081 ton HMS Chakla in Tobruk Harbor. Two men are wounded, none lost.
U-75, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Helmuth Ringelmann, sank British steamer City of Nagpur (10,146grt) in 52-30N, 26W. At 0229 hours on 29 April 1941 the unescorted City of Nagpur (Master David Llewellyn Lloyd) was hit on the starboard side by one G7e torpedo from U-75 about 600 miles west of Valentia Island, Ireland. The U-boat had spotted this ship and another merchant one day earlier, but then missed her with a first G7e torpedo at 0608 hours and the other ship with a G7e torpedo at 1314 hours. The City of Nagpur sent radio messages after being hit, but stopped when the Germans fired at her with machine guns. At 0252 hours, the U-boat fired a stern torpedo, which was a dud. An attempt to set the ship on fire by gunfire was not successful, so a coup de grâce was fired at 0333 hours, which hit on the port side and caused a list. The City of Nagpur sank by the stern one minute after being hit aft by a second coup de grâce at 0600 hours. 15 crew members and one passenger were lost. The master, 170 crew members, eight gunners and 273 passengers were picked up by HMS Hurricane (H 06) (LtCdr H.C. Simms, RN) and landed at Greenock, where one crew member died of wounds in a hospital. The 10,146-ton City of Nagpur was carrying general cargo and passengers and was bound for Karachi, India via Glasgow, Scotland.
In German air raids during the night of 29/30 April, light cruiser HMS Trinidad under construction at Devonport was hit by a bomb. There was some damage to offices and cabins.
Auxiliary patrol vessel HMS Pessac (775grt) was damaged by German bombing at Plymouth. The ship sank with heavy bottom damage. The vessel was repaired in 1942.
Lighter C293 was sunk by German bombing at Plymouth.
Minelayer HMS Agamemnon departed Rosyth after repairs escorted by destroyers HMS Eskimo and HMS Brocklesby for Loch Alsh. The destroyers arrived back at Scapa Flow at 0600 on 1 May after the escort.
Destroyer HMS Arrow departed Scapa Flow at 1100 for Chatham to refitting and arrived at 1530/30th.
Anti-aircraft ship HMS Alynbank departed Scapa Flow at 2000 to meet convoy WN.20 in the Pentland Firth and provide escort until meeting convoy EC.13. The ship met convoy EC.13 at 0930 on 1 May in Pentland Firth and escorted it to Methil, arriving at 1030 on 2 May.
British steamer Kalua (722grt) was sunk by German bombing one half mile north, northeast of T2 Buoy, mouth of Tyne. The entire crew was rescued.
British steamer Prowess (207grt) was damaged by mine off Projector Buoy, Humber.
The German 1st MTB Flotilla of S.26, S.27, S.29, and S.55 sortie against Convoy EC.13 of fifty seven ships off Cromer.
British steamer Ambrose Fleming (1555grt) was sunk by S.29 in 53-14N, 1-08E. Ten crew and one gunner was lost on the steamer.
Destroyers HMS Worcester, HMS Eglinton, HMS Whitshed, and HMS Wallace engaged the S-boats.
Harbour Launch ML278 was sunk on a mine at Portsmouth. The entire crew was lost.
British steamer Corglen (2822grt) and Norwegian steamer Askeladden (2498grt) were damaged by German bombing off T2 Buoy, Tyne. Both ships were towed back to port.
During the night of 29/30 April, DEMON continued. Destroyers HMS Isis, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hero embarked on 16 officers and seventeen other ranks from Kalamata.
Destroyers HMS Havock and HMS Hotspur moved a battalion of troops from Suda Bay to Heraklion.
Convoy service ship HMS Chakla (3081grt) was sunk by German bombers inside Tobruk Harbor. Only two ratings were wounded in the sinking of the ship.
Greek steamer Aetos (125grt) was sunk by German bombing in Greek waters.
Greek steamers Elsi (1433grt) and Konistra (3537grt) were damaged by German bombing at Suda Bay. Both were raised and repaired by the Germans for their use.
Corvettes HMS Gardenia and HMS Columbine arrived at Gibraltar from the UK after escort duty with convoy OG.59.
Submarine HMS Pandora departed Gibraltar for patrol off Naples.
Convoy GA.15 departed the Aegean with troopships Delane 6054grt), Thurland Castle (6372grt), Comliebank (5149grt), Corinthia (3701grt), Itria (6854grt), and Ionia (1936grt) and oiler RFA Brambleleaf. The convoy was escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle, destroyers HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston, and sloop HMS Auckland. The convoy was covered by Vice Admiral, Light Forces in light cruiser HMS Orion which departed Suda Bay and joined the aborted Kalamata force cruisers HMAS Perth and HMS Phoebe and the Monemvasia cruiser HMS Ajax north of Crete. Destroyers HMS Decoy, HMS Defender, HMS Nubian, HMS Hasty, and HMS Hereward covered the convoy. Destroyers HMS Hotspur, HMS Havock, HMS Isis, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hero were left behind to collect stragglers from the islands. Rawlings departed Alexandria with battleships HMS Barham and HMS Valiant, aircraft carrier HMS Formidable and destroyers HMAS Stuart, HMAS Vendetta, HMAS Vampire, HMAS Waterhen, HMAS Voyager, and HMS Greyhound to support the convoy. Rawlings met Pridham Wipple south of Kaso Strait on the 30th. Light cruisers Phoebe and Perth and destroyer Nubian joined Rawlings and the rest of the force was sent on to Alexandria, arriving on the 30th. Rawlings was also joined by destroyer HMS Ilex from Alexandria and destroyers HMS Juno and HMS Jaguar from Malta about this time. Rawlings contacted convoy GA.15 shortly after and light cruiser Perth and destroyer Nubian were detached to the convoy for close support. Destroyer Nubian was damaged by the near miss of German bombing. The destroyer spent no time out of service, but required docking on arrival. After leaving the convoy, Rawlings then turned north to support the Melos and Kalamata forces, and arrived at Alexandria on 1 May. Destroyers Decoy and Defender continued on to Port Said with two steamers. The Mediterranean Fleet arrived at Alexandria on 3 May.
Convoy SC.30 departed Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian, corvettes HMCS Cobalt and HMCS Collingwood, and submarine HMS Thunderbolt. The corvettes were detached the next day and the submarine on 10 May. On 12 May, destroyer HMS Watchman, corvette HMS Violet, and anti-submarine trawlers HMS St Kenan, HMS St Zeno, and HMS Vizalma joined the convoy. Corvette HMS Abelia joined the convoy on 14 May. Destroyer Watchman was detached on 15 May. Catapult ship HMS Ariguani, destroyers HMS Eridge, HMS Leamington, and HMS Roxborough, and minesweepers HMS Hussar and HMS Niger joined on 15 May and were detached on 18 May. Armed merchant cruiser Salopian was detached on 17 May. Destroyer HMS Burwell and corvettes HMS Anemone and HMS Veronica joined on 18 May. The remainder of the escort was detached when the convoy arrived at Liverpool on 20 May.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt saw Dr. Isaac Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Palestine; Dr. Quo Tai-chi, Foreign Minister of China; William S. Knudsen and Leon Henderson. He lunched with Bernard Baruch and held a press conference at 4 PM.
The Senate received the Nye Anti-Convoy Resolution and heard Senator Tobey of New Hampshire demand that the Senate debate. the convoy question. The $234,805,863 War Department Civil Functions Bill was passed and the Senate recessed at 3:44 PM until noon Thursday. The special committee investigating revenues and expenditures introduced three bills designed to achieve an automatically balanced budget. The Finance Committee deferred consideration of the tax bill. The Commerce Committee postponed action on a resolution for acquiring foreign-owned ships.
The House passed the Agricultural Marketing Bill; approved the conference report on the $3,415,521,750 Naval Appropriations Bill; received the Scrugham report urging unified Army-Navy air force command, and adjourned at 5:23 PM until noon tomorrow. The Rules Committee gave right of way to the bill for the acquisition of foreign-owned ships and considered the Vinson Mediation. Bill, while the Ways and Means Committee heard additional recommendations for new taxes.
Straight from General George Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, the House Appropriations Subcommittee learned that the War Department has no present intention of asking Congress to change the 21-35 draft ages, or extend the one year training period for selectees. Chairman Snyder, Pennsylvania Democrat, of the War Department Appropriations Subcommittee today disclosed this testimony which he said Marshall had given in a brief discussion of the operation of the selective service law.
The War Department accepted Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh’s resignation from the air corps reserve today and the White House simultaneously took two more thrusts at the famous aviator and critic of administration foreign policy. Stephen Early, the president’s secretary, said the resignation made him wonder whether Lindbergh returned “to Mr. Hitler” a German decoration conferred upon him several years ago. Early also took the flier to task for issuing his letter of resignation to the press before it had been received by the president. The resignation followed a press conference statement by Mr. Roosevelt grouping Lindbergh with appeasers of the Revolutionary war and the Copperheads of the Civil war period.
Winston Churchill sends a cable to President Roosevelt which begins “At this moment much hangs in the balance.” He makes the following points:
— Turkey is the key to protecting British forces in Egypt and may help the Germans in small ways;
— The Germans are eyeing attacks on Syria, by airborne troops using Rhodes as their jump-off point, and also Crete. He seems much more concerned about Syria than Crete, however;
— Spain is “most critical” and Franco may grant the Germans transit rights;
— The U.S. should force Vichy France to “break with” the Germans.
Churchill concludes the message by saying that “I feel Hitler may quite easily now gain vast advantages very cheaply, and we are so fully engaged that we can do little or nothing to stop him spreading himself.”
An indication that Senator James F. Byrnes of South Carolina would soon be appointed to the Supreme Court was given at the White House today. When a South Carolina correspondent told the President that the people of his State were curious about the choice for the vacancy, Mr. Roosevelt said that now that the soft coal strike was out of the way he might be able to turn his attention to a few questions like the Supreme Court appointment. He added that, even if he had to delay the matter, he hoped the people of South Carolina would not be disappointed. There have been only eight Justices on the highest bench since James Clark McReynolds resigned January 31.
The United States is likely to deliver a substantial number of transport airplanes now in the possession of commercial airlines to countries fighting the Axis, it was revealed today by President Roosevelt. They would be delivered under the Lend-Lease program. The President said that he had written a letter to Jesse H. Jones, Secretary of Commerce, suggesting that he make a survey of civilian airlines to ascertain how many transport planes it would be possible to buy from them and turn over to the defense of democracy. Mr. Roosevelt said that there was a real need for such planes and that the government hoped to get a substantial number of them for transfer to the people who were fighting for democracy. Those opposed to the Axis in a military way were in great need of the planes. and every known type was sought, the President added.
With the object of obtaining a permanently balanced Federal budget, except in certain emergencies, a special Senate committee today offered a bill and two constitutional amendment proposals which would enforce the automatic imposition of taxes to meet annual appropriations. In introducing the proposals, Senator Millard E. Tydings, Democrat, of Maryland, the committee chairman, said they were preliminary suggestions and asked that they be studied by Senators and others, looking to improvement of the plan. Hearings on this and other plans to the same end may be held later, he added. The Senator described the proposals as essential to an adequate national defense and said they should be considered without delay, holding that if the defense effort resulted in a breakdown of the ration’s fiscal set-up, its objective would be lost.
The House today approved the conference report on the $3,415,521,750 naval appropriation bill. In accepting Senate changes in the big Navy supply bill by voice vote, the House acceded to a Senate compromise amendment in the controversy over Argentine beef and Australian wool.
Resumption of mining will begin in the Northern Appalachian bituminous fields tomorrow after a 28-day strike shutdown, but efforts to arrange details for resumption in the Southern fields have thus far failed.
The House Ways and Means Committee was asked today to let the individual taxpayer have that same deductible business expenses that are accorded the “gambling houses” of Reno, Nevada.
President Roosevelt has refused to reappoint Hugh S. Johnson, who headed the National Recovery Administration, the New Deal’s first major spearhead against the depression, as a brigadier general in the Army Reserve Corps, it was learned today. General Johnson, who through his newspaper column and speaking engagements has been severely critical of phases of the President’s policy, recently was asked by the War Department to apply for the fourth renewal of his commission. it was said. The War Department sent his name with those of three other applicants to the President. General Johnson was the only one of the four rejected.
The battle cry of the army’s new 501st parachute battalion is “Geronimo,” a word that puzzled many until it was explained. On the day of the first jump, Aubrey Eberhardt, a jumper, and Leo Brown of the ground crew, arranged to test Eberhardt’s nerve. He was to shout a certain word if unafraid. It was assumed he’d forget it if he was scared. That’s right, his yell of “Geronimo!” made it the battalion’s battle cry.
Major League Baseball:
At their stockholders meeting, the new owners of the Boston National League team abandons the Bees nickname in favor of the Braves. Bob Quinn, retained as president, instituted the name change in January 1936, by appealing the public for suggestions.
For three innings the Dodgers and Reds were locked in a tense duel at Ebbets Field yesterday. A first-inning homer by Lonnie Fray sent Cincinnati off to a 1–0 edge and excitement was in the warm Flatbush air. After that, however, all the tenseness vanished, though the excitement did not. Shelling five Red hurlers, the Brooklyn team came from behind and, to the complete satisfaction of 17,046 partisan fans, notched their eighth straight victory by a top-heavy 13–2 margin. Luke Hamlin, the Hot Potato Man, went all the way and recorded his third straight triumph, allowing only four hits, the last of which was a round-tripper by Frank McCormick in the ninth. By that time it didn’t matter, and if it is true that Brooklyn must beat Cincinnati to win the pennant there is ample food for thought in Flatbush at the moment.
Sebby Sisti’s first home run of the season, a drive over the left-field fence with two on base, today enabled the Bees to gain an eleven-inning victory over the Cubs, 6–3. Sisti’s blow came after Eddie Miller had doubled off relief pitcher Tot Pressnell with one out and Babe Dahlgren was purposely passed. Previously the Bees had lost the lead twice. After working Starter Claude Passeau for single runs in the first and second innings, the Bees found themselves in a 2–2 tie in the first of the fourth, when Bill Nicholson blasted his fifth homer of the campaign with Dom Dallessandro on base.
The White Sox rolled into second place in the American League today on Thornton Lee’s seven-hit, 3–2 victory over the Senators before a scant crowd of 2,994. The Senators went ahead in the second on Jimmy Bloodworth’s double and George Archie’s triple, but Joe Kuhel tied the score in the fourth with his second homer of the year. The Sox took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth.
The league-leading Indians finally broke out with the hits they’ve been hunting for two weeks and downed the Athletics in the series opener today, 8–3, for their fifth straight triumph. Lou Boudreau’s homer and a brace of doubles from the bat of Ken Keltner led the Indians’ 15-hit attack. A seventh-inning rally did it, breaking a 3–3 tie between Chubby Dean, the A’s starter, who permitted all but one of the Tribe blows, and Cleveland’s Al Smith, another southpaw.
Lefty Grove’s charm over the Tigers, whom he has beaten sixty-odd times over a stretch of fifteen years, failed to operate today and the Red Sox went down, 5–3, in the series opener. Johnny Gorsica held the Sox well in hand for his first victory of the season while his teammates found Grove for all their runs in the first three innings. Mickey Harris’s fancy job of relief pitching for Boston was wasted. The Tigers put together four hits for two rung in the first and three runs in the third to finish Grove. Home runs by Ted Williams and Jim Tabor along with a combination of Williams’s double and Joe Cronin’s single gave the Sox their runs in the late innings.
The New York Giants, opening their home stand against the West, bowed before Billy Southworth’s Cardinals, 5–4. The result sent the St. Louisans bounding into a first-place tie with the Dodgers while dropping the dazed Giants to a distance of two and a half lengths behind the front runners. Facing his former St. Louis colleagues for the first time this season, Bob Bowman, despite a gaudy three-run lead which the Giants handed him by polishing off Bill McGee in two rounds, went into a disastrous tailspin in the fourth. Five hits, one of them a three-base smash by Marty Marion, sank Bob for four runs in this inning.
The Phillies climbed out of the National League cellar today by defeating the Pirates, 6–2, as Bill Crouch turned in a four-hitter in his first start of the season. The setback dropped Pittsburgh from seventh to last place.
The Yankees got off in reverse today at Sportsman’s Park, where they began their first Western trip of the season. The Browns, who had dropped six straight, beat them, 3–2. A home run by Chet Laabs won the ball game for the St. Louis club and placed the first blot on the 1941 pitching record of Lefty Vernon Gomez. Laabs’s homer arrived in the eighth inning, erasing a two-run cluster by which Joe McCarthy’s boys had tied the score in the seventh, and providing the appropriate touch for a pitching performance in which Bob Harris outflipped Gomez. Harris thus bagged his first victory of the campaign on a day when the Yankee port-sider was seeking his third straight.
Cincinnati Reds 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 13
Chicago Cubs 3, Boston Bees 6
Washington Senators 2, Chicago White Sox 3
Philadelphia Athletics 3, Cleveland Indians 8
Boston Red Sox 3, Detroit Tigers 5
St. Louis Cardinals 5, New York Giants 4
Pittsburgh Pirates 2, Philadelphia Phillies 6
New York Yankees 2, St. Louis Browns 3
To meet an estimated total war and normal expenditure during 1941-42 of $1,768,000,000, Canada’s 12,000,000 citizens were told today by Finance Minister J.L. Ilsley, when he introduced the budget, that they would have to pay a more than doubled national defense tax and a more than doubled income tax in addition to many other levies.
New Zealand Division light cruiser HMS Leander departed Colombo to search for German raider Pinguin six hundred miles west of the Maldives.
A crowded day of formal calls and social engagements, highlighted by an air raid alarm, was passed here yesterday by Captain James Roosevelt following his arrival in Chungking in the morning by plane for a four-day stay in China en route to fill an assignment as military observer in Africa and the Near East.
With special emphasis on Emperor Hirohito’s glorious reign and military power, 100,000,000 Japanese subjects throughout the empire today celebrated his fortieth birthday with prayers and parades and with enthusiasm that was not dampened by heavy rain.
In Tokyo, Koh Ishii, director of the official board of information, described today the new Atlantic patrol system of the United States as “but one step from war.”
General Percival in Singapore appoints a new commander of Malaya.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 116.73 (+0.1)
Born:
Jonah Barrington, British world champion squash player (1966–1973), in Morwenstow, England, United Kingdom.
Died:
Bob McCowan, 66, Australian rugby union player.
Naval Construction:
The U.S. Navy Accentor-class coastal minesweeper USS Exultant (AMc-79) is laid down by W.A. Robinson Inc. (Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy Accentor-class coastal minesweeper USS Security (AMc-103) is laid down by H.G. Marr (Damariscotta, Maine, U.S.A.).
The Royal Navy Bangor-class (Reciprocating-engined) minesweeper HMS Wedgeport (J 139) is laid down by the Dufferin Shipbuilding Co. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada); completed by Montreal-Loco.
The U.S. Navy SC-497-class (110-foot wooden hull) submarine chaser USS PC-501 (later SC-501) is laid down by the Seabrook Yacht Corp. (Houston, Texas, U.S.A.).
The U.S. Navy SC-497-class (110-foot wooden hull) submarine chasers USS PC-536 (later SC-536) and USS PC-537 (later SC-537) are laid down by the Peterson Boat Works (Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-514 is laid down by Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg (werk 310).
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Hildasay (T 173) is launched by Cook, Welton & Gemmill (Beverley, U.K.); completed by Amos & Smith.
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvettes HMCS Shediac (K 110) and HMCS Brandon (K 149) are launched by the Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd. (Lauzon, Quebec, Canada).
The Royal Navy rescue tug HMS Freebooter (W 01) is commissioned.
The Royal Navy MMS I-class motor minesweeper HMS MMS 12 (J 512) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Francis Philip Usborne, RNR.
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawler HMS Arran (T 06) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is T/S. Lieutenant Arthur James Dickason, RNVR.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIB U-boat U-84 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Oberleutnant zur See Horst Uphoff.
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette HMCS Pictou (K 146) is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander John Lewis Diver, RCNR.
History Diaries 