General Guderian’s recent decision to combine all of his remaining panzers from the 2nd Panzer Army into one brigade, Kampfgruppe Eberbach, pays off on 29 October 1941 when the brigade reaches Tula after a speedy advance. Starting off from Mtsensk just a few days ago, the brigade has covered the 140 km in lightning speed for slow-moving armored vehicles. Oberst (Colonel) Heinrich Eberbach, commander of the 5th Panzer Brigade within 4th Panzer Division, sends a scouting party to Tula itself to see if it can be taken by a coup de main, but it is beaten off by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners firing over open sights. Tula is defended only by scratch forces of a few regular units and some local volunteer battalions, but they are committed to the defense of the town. Soviet reinforcements are arriving since the Kremlin is beginning to grasp the importance of this new danger from a different direction. After this classic Blitzkrieg advance, Colonel Eberbach camps for the night outside of Tula and prepares a set-piece assault in the morning.
The other major movement of the day is in the Crimea. General von Manstein’s 11th Army spreads out through the peninsula. The standard defense of the Crimea once the “bottleneck” at Perekop is breached is to defend the port of Sevastopol in the southwest and the Kerch Peninsula in the east. Both are important to the Germans, because they want the port of Sevastopol for supply purposes and because it is a major naval base for the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, while the Kerch Peninsula is a bridge (over the intervening strait) to the oil-rich Caucasus. The Kremlin places the entire Crimea under a state of siege, meaning that Lavrentiy Beria’s NKVD can use whatever methods it feels appropriate — and the NKVD has some pretty extreme methods.
A bit further north, the Soviet 12th Army launches fierce counterattacks against Italian troops defending Stalino that are beaten off with great difficulty. Far to the north, around Leningrad, the Soviets call off counterattacks that have accomplished nothing. The weather in the Army Group North sector has turned sour, as indicated by a report around this time from 8th Panzer division on the Tikhvin front:
“Due to the actions of previous weeks, especially of the last few days, the combat troops’ health has turned considerably unfavorable. The troops show they are not ready for the conditions of future fast marches due to the weight of the equipment they must carry. Foot disease and respiratory problems are numerous.”
The Wehrmacht never prepared for operations this late in the year, thinking that Operation BARBAROSSA would conclude before the winter. The OKW chooses not to react by halting operations and sending winter supplies because it fears losing the initiative and feels an admission that operations must continue through the winter would be bad for morale. Still, the German advance on Tikhvin continues despite the increasingly unfavorable weather conditions.
The Soviet line west of Moscow receives a division from Siberia, the first of these reserve divisions.
The Germans took Volokolamsk northwest of Moscow, but expended many resources in the process and had to halt for resupply.
Aleksandr Vasilevsky was slightly wounded by a German bomb while working at his office in Moscow, Russia.
Defying President Roosevelt’s warning of 25 October 1941 about the massacres being perpetrated on the Eastern Front, another takes place on 29 October 1941. This is the Kaunas Massacre. There has been a continuing pogrom at Kaunas, Lithuania ever since the Wehrmacht occupied the city, but today it reaches a climax. SS-Standartenführer Karl Jäger and SS-Rottenführer Helmut Rauca order SS-Obersturmführer Joachim Hamann to use men from Einsatzkommando 3 to perpetrate a massacre at the Ninth Fort. This is done in the standard fashion of digging pits and then having the victims stand on the edges so that they will fall in once they are shot. Hamann has SS-Rottenführer Helmut Rauca of the Kaunas Gestapo assemble the Kaunas Ghetto’s inhabitants in the community’s central square late on the 28th, and from them, Rauca selects about one-third of the group. This group of about 9200 Jewish inhabitants (2007 men, 2920 women, 4273 children) is taken out to the Ninth Fort on 29 October and murdered.
That morning, German police and Lithuanian partisans forced the Jews who had spent the night in the former small ghetto to leave the Ghetto and march uphill to the Ninth Fort, a Czarist-era fortress on the outskirts of Kaunas. Kaunas Ghetto survivor Alex Faitelson described the morning of October 29th:
“I was one of the Jews who ran to see what was happening in Paneriu Street in the small ghetto. I witnessed how the Jews were being expelled from the houses, aligned in columns, and brought to the Ninth Fort. Any illusions they may have had that they would continue to live in the small ghetto vanished. It was clear that they could not expect to live.”
The forced march of Jews to the Ninth Fort lasted from dawn until noon, while Lithuanian spectators watched from the sides of the road. At the Ninth Fort, hundreds of Soviet prisoners of war had been forced to dig enormous pits. On October 29, Gestapo agents led by SS Colonel Karl Jaeger, and Lithuanian policemen, occupied machine gun positions alongside the pits and guarded the fort’s perimeter. Kaunas Ghetto inmate and survivor Abraham Tory described the massacre that followed, as 9,200 of Kaunas’ Jews were forced into the fort:
“In the fort, the wretched people were immediately set upon by the Lithuanian killers, who stripped them of every valuable article — gold rings, earrings, bracelets. They forced them to strip naked, pushed them into pits which had been prepared in advance, and fired into each pit with machine guns which had been positioned there in advance…Villagers living in the vicinity of the fort told stories of horrors they had seen from a distance, and of the heartrending cries that emanated from the fort…”
Vytautas Petkevičius, a Lithuanian who, during the Nazi occupation, witnessed Jews being marched to the Ninth Fort and heard the sound of gunshots, recalled that idling tractors without mufflers were used to try to drown out the sound of gunfire during the mass shootings.
Ignas Veliavicius-Vylius, a Lithuanian commander, described the massacre on October 29th:
“People were lined up in columns of four abreast and taken from the gate of the fort towards the pits. At a certain distance from the pits, they were told to take off their outer clothing and go towards the pits. They were then pushed into the pits and forced to lie down while being shot…Throughout the day one could hear the sound of the victims’ groans and shouting as well as the weeping of women and the cries of little children…At the same time, there was a sort of rally in the courtyard. Speeches were addressed to the waiting Jews calling on them to go to their death upright, with heads held high. There were others who shouted slogans to activate a revolutionary struggle for freedom. These demonstrations helped me to keep order, as some of the people were listening to the speeches while others, that is the majority, prayed…”
On October 29th, all of these people were shot at the Ninth Fort in huge pits dug in advance.
Heinrich Himmler, head of the German police, arrived in Prague today for a brief visit about the time nine more Czechs were shot at Bruenn for “preparation for high treason and sabotage.” The summary court at Bruenn, which condemned the nine, transferred eight more cases to the Gestapo and acquitted one defendant. Those found guilty were shot immediately.
General Walter Kuntze was named the commanding officer of the German 12th Army.
As he likes to do, Winston Churchill visits his old school, the Harrow School in London, to give a speech. This turns into one of Churchill’s more memorable orations, almost a battle cry, and becomes known as the “Never Give In” speech. As he memorably puts it, “Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” It is a hopeful speech, reflecting on improvements in the war situation over the past year since the end of the Battle of Britain, full of determination and spirit.
The Turkish Republic celebrated its eighteenth anniversary today with in impressive display of military might in huge parades and marches-past in the Turkish capital and in Istanbul.
The young Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, said tonight in a private audience with a United Press correspondent that “dictatorships and autocracies are short-lived.” He added that dictatorships were “likely to be disastrous to any country because no one man always can make the proper decision,” while “democracy permits the pooling of ideas for checks and balances.”
RAF Bomber Command, Night of 29/30 October 1941
Schiphol Airfield
40 Hampdens and 5 Manchesters; the airfield was not identified because of cloud. 1 Hampden lost.
Brest
16 Wellingtons attacked Brest but could not identify the locations of the warship targets. No losses.
Destroyers HMS Offa and HMS Oribi departed Scapa Flow at 0800 for Loch Alsh to act under the orders of Rear Admiral Minelaying. Both destroyers arrived at 1630 that day.
Destroyer HMS Tartar departed London for Sheerness at 1015 on completion of long refitting. The destroyer arrived at 1415 that day to embark ammunition and fuel and carry out a tilt test at Chatham before proceeding to Scapa Flow. Destroyer Tartar departed Sheerness at 0755 on 1 November for Scapa Flow.
Minesweepers HMS Salamander and HMS Halcyon departed Scapa Flow for Aberdeen at 1700 to carry out boiler cleaning and fit for Arctic service. Both minesweepers arrived at 0800/30th.
Free French submarine Minerve made an unsuccessful attack on a Norwegian steamer off the Norwegian coast.
British naval trawler HMS Flotta (530grt, T/Sub Lt A. Smith RNVR) ran aground off Buchanness. The trawler foundered on 6 November.
British steamer Sarastone (2473grt) was sunk by German bombing in 37-05-10N, 6-48-30W. One crewman was lost on the steamer.
British steamer Roslea (642grt) was captured when she ran aground on the 28th during a storm on the Belgian coast. The crewmen were taken prisoner and this ship was salved.
German steamer Barcelona (3101grt) was lost near Aalesund to British bombing attack.
Convoy SC.52 departed Sydney CB, escorted by corvettes HMCS Battleford, HMCS Dunvegan, and HMCS Sorel. Destroyer HMS Broadway and corvettes FS Aconit, HMCS Buctouche, HMCS Galt, and HMCS Windflower joined on 1 November when corvettes HMCS Battleford, HMCS Dunvegan, and HMCS Sorel were detached. Destroyer HMS Burwell and corvette HMCS Cobalt joined on 2 November. The escorts, less corvette Aconit, were detached on 3 November. Corvette Aconit was detached on 4 November before the convoy arrived back at Sydney CB on 5 November.
The German commerce raider Atlantis rounded Cape Horn and entering the South Atlantic. The Atlantis had returned from the Indian and South Pacific Oceans having spent several fairly fruitless months spent searching for targets having captured only one ship. The Atlantis was now scheduled to return to Germany.
President Roosevelt conferred today in Washington with John L. Lewis, Myron C. Taylor and William H. Davis on the captive coal mine strike, following which Mr. Lewis called district leaders of the U.M.W.A. here for a conference tomorrow. The President also nominated Charles Fahy as Solicitor General. His callers included Representative Luther Johnson, Governor Murray D. Van Wagoner of Michigan, Senator Prentiss Brown and Donald Kennedy. Michigan Highway Commissioner; Governor J. M. Broughton of North Carolina and John D. Biggers.
The Senate debated Neutrality Act changes, confirmed Clifford J. Durr as FCC Commissioner; heard criticism of John L. Lewis and recessed at 4:47 PM until noon tomorrow. The Defense Investigating Committee heard Nathan Straus of the Defense Housing program.
The House was in recess. The Immigration Committee deferred action on the bill to eliminate dual citizenship; the Agriculture Committee heard endorsement of present farm credit interest rates; the Special Committee Investigating Labor Migration received a WPA report on employment dislocation.
The Administration resolution repealing the vital portions of the Neutrality Act of 1939 was declared a “war measure” time and again in the Senate this afternoon, as critics of President Roosevelt’s foreign policy attempted to win new votes against it. As Senators Nye of North Dakota and La Follette of Wisconsin sought to draw the issue as one between peace and war, Administration leaders sat by in comparative silence and in apparent confidence that they had the votes to pass the resolution under which American merchant vessels would be permitted to go anywhere on the high seas under the protection of their own guns. The critics, on the other hand, asserted that they had thirty-nine “sure” votes to restrict the resolution to the removal of the ban on arming American vessels, as it originally was passed by the House. Senator Nye quoted “a clever word from the West” that betting odds there were ten to one that if the neutrality repeal were passed “the United States will be in the war before Britain is in the war.” Senator La Follette wound up his address with the warning that the democracy of the whole world would be threatened if the United States took this “fateful step toward war.” The Administration leaders presented no speakers today, but plan to do so tomorrow, when Senator Thomas of Utah, regarded as a Senate scholar on international affairs, is scheduled to speak.
In the same chamber where as a youth of 22 he watched his late white-haired father lead the successful fight against Woodrow Wilson’s armed ship bill, Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Wisconsin Progressive, rose today and condemned a similar proposal as an administration invitation to World War II. Young LaFollette, his jet black hair neatly parted in the middle and his black eyes blazing reminiscently, recalled that Wilson had branded his father and 11 other senators as “a little group of willful men” because they filibustered the 1917 armed ship bill into defeat. He recalled that despite the efforts of his father and the others, the United States plunged into World War I a month later. He warned of the consequences that would follow if the nation goes into this war. “Hanging Hitler will not solve the problems that created him,” he continued. “War will create more teeming millions dedicated to poverty and starvation. War will sow the seeds of communism, fascism and Nazism in our own land.”
In a surprise White House conference, President Roosevelt made a new proposal for reopening strikebound captive coal mines today, and John L. Lewis promised a quick answer. The plan, set before the United Mine workers leader and Myron C. Taylor, former chairman of United States Steel Corp., is that the pits be reopened immediately with the understanding that the defense mediation board would resume consideration of the dispute and make final recommendations.
John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, was declared a “traitor to our American ideals, and a menace to the peace and prosperity of our nation,” by Senator Ellender in a statement today in the Senate, where Administration leaders were using every precaution to prevent drastic anti-strike legislation being appended to the resolution repealing part of the Neutrality Act.
Federal defense and labor spokesmen decided tonight to give officials of Air Associates, Inc., at Bendix, New Jersey, one last opportunity to comply with the letter and spirit of the National Defense Mediation Board’s recommendations for ending its month-old strike, and the plain indications were that the plant would be commandeered if the company did not cooperate fully.
Two C.I.O. strikes in Michigan defense Industries today halted production of eight subchasers and mine sweepers in a Bay City shipyard and closed a Detroit suburban plant producing machine guns for aircraft.
A powerful new economy committee went into action today with a request for data that will aid it in cutting non-defense spending. Senator Byrd, Virginia Democrat, announced the move a few minutes after he had been elected chairman of the group, composed of six senators, six representatives, the secretary of the treasury and the budget director. “This Is the first attempt of Its kind in the history of our government,” Byrd said, referring to the committee set up in accordance with a provision of the recently-enacted tax bill.
President Roosevelt asked for a “mighty effort to repel the wave of degenerate barbarity which has temporarily engulfed so many countries,” in a message sent today to the convention of Hadassah, Women’s Zionist organization of America.
The destroyer USS Kearny was actively engaged in combat with a submarine, after responding to distress signals from a convoy under attack by a pack of submarines, when a torpedo exploded in her side and killed eleven men on the night of October 16-17, Secretary Knox said today in a formal report on the first engagement by the Atlantic patrol to result in the death of naval personnel.
USN Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) receives the first of a planned full complement of Lockheed PBO-1 Hudsons at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. Assignment of these aircraft, actually destined for the British and painted with British markings, is the beginning of what becomes an extensive use of land planes by patrol squadrons during the war and, although it is not yet apparent, is the first move toward the eventual elimination of the flying boat from patrol aviation.
TU 4.1.3 (Commander Richard E. Webb) escorts convoy HX 156; destroyer USS Hilary P. Jones (DD-427) carries out depth charge attack on suspicious contact.
TU 4.1.6 (Commander George W. Johnson) screens convoy ON 28. During the day, destroyers USS Lea (DD-118), USS DuPont (DD-152), USS MacLeish (DD-220), and USS Sampson (DD-394) depth charge suspected U-boat contacts.
The Atlantic Amphibious Force, consisted of both U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps units and commanded by Major General Holland M. Smith, was redesignated Amphibious Force of the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet.
McDonnell Aircraft is awarded a contract to build the XP-67 fighter. The XP-67 is a very futuristic looking design but will be vexed by engine overheating problems and ultimately the P-67 will not be produced.
Michael William Etzel, 22, a painter in the Glenn E. Martin airplane plant in Baltimore, admitted that he had cut vital wires on Martin B-26 bombers, but refused today to plead to a warrant charging him with damaging the wires specifically July 12.
The Cole Porter musical “Let’s Face It!” had its Broadway premiere at the Imperial Theatre and runs for 547 performances.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Mackenzie King of Canada are expected to discuss at a meeting next week-end at Hyde Park the possibility of coordinating Canadian and American price controls to some extent. They are expected to delve also into the problem of whether further steps shall be taken to make dollar exchange available to Canada, or whether lend-lease aid shall be extended. The Dominion recently established a ceiling on all prices, but this government, thus far, has dealt with the problem of price control on a sporadic basis. The Canadians are represented in diplomatic circles here as believing that the economies of Canada and the United States are so closely related that inflation here would have a strong effect in Canada. The Canadian dollar exchange situation was somewhat relieved by the economic understanding announced at Hyde Park April 20, under which this government agreed to pay Canada $200,000,000 to $300,000,000 for supplies to be obtained in the Dominion. The agreement, diplomatic circles assert, has worked fairly well, but the needs of Canada for dollar exchange with which to buy goods in this country have not been fully solved. While the Ottawa government is reported to be reluctant to accept lend-lease aid, the possibility that it will be requested is not completely discounted in Washington.
The Japanese ambassador in Washington, D.C., Wakasugi Kaname, sends the following message to the Foreign Office in Tokyo: “U. S.-Japanese relations are now fast approaching a critical crossroad. In view of the fact that the times are indeed grave, I am waiving formality and, though it may seem very presumptuous of me, am reporting to you my views on the general attitude of the United States after coming in contact with its representatives on several occasions.” The last paragraph of the message is, “The United States has expressed its interest in continuing with the talks after she has been advised of the attitude and policy of the newly formed Cabinet of Japan. I urge, therefore, that the new Cabinet establish its basic policy as speedily as possible, so that we may lay our cards on the table for them to see. I sincerely believe that would be to our best interests.”
The United States and Japan must at least arrange a truce in their economic war if “a very dangerous situation is to be avoided,” a high Japanese spokesman said today. “The present situation cannot continue unchanged,” this spokesman said. “Our relations must not be allowed to drift. They must get better or worse. I hope they get better because 99 percent of the Japanese people want peace with the United States.” There is real danger that the Japanese Government will be forced to take “drastic action” to get cil and other materials denied to Japan by the United States-British-Netherland embargo, this spokesman said.
The Intelligence Branch of the War Department issues a memorandum based on “information received from the Orient” stating: “Mr. Hirota, a presiding officer at directors’ meeting of the Black Dragon Society, told of an order issued by War Minister Tojo (now premier) “to complete full preparation to meet any emergency with United States in the Pacific. All guns to be mounted in the islands of the Pacific under Japanese mandate. The full preparation to be completed in November.” Hirota and others are said to have stated: “War with United States would best begin in December or in February.” “Very soon,” they say, “the Cabinet will be changed. The new Cabinet would likely start war within sixty days.”
President Roosevelt’s Navy Day speech in the opinion of most responsible quarters in Hawaii, not only makes American participation in a shooting war inevitable, but puts the date of such participation earlier than had been anticipated.
The United States embassy charged today the wounding of an American marine on sentry duty at the embassy in Peiping (now Beijing) early yesterday was the work of a Japanese soldier and a strong protest was presented Japanese authorities here. The protest, handed to the Japanese by Richard P. Butrick, counselor of the embassy, requested that prompt and effective measures be taken to apprehend the assailant.
Colonel H. George, A-4 (supply) under Major General Lewis H. Brereton, submits a request to Hugh Casey (MacArthur’s engineer) to devise plans as soon as possible for the construction of housing for 339 officers and 2,743 enlisted men at Del Monte airfield, Mindanao.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 119.37 (-0.23)
Born:
Andy Russell, NFL linebacker (Super Bowl IX, 1974; X, 1975; Pro Bowl, 1968, 1970–1975; Pittsburgh Steelers), in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2024).
Ernie Accorsi, NFL executive (GM Baltimore Colts 1982-83, Cleveland Browns 1985-92, New York Giants), in Hershey, Pennsylvania (d. 2026).
Died:
Alexander Afinogenov, 37, Russian playwright (killed in a German air raid).
Harvey Hendrick, 43, American baseball player (suicide).
Chester Crocker, American diplomat (Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs , 1981-1989), in New York, New York.
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy Isles-class minesweeping trawlers HMS Dochet (T 286) and HMS Flint (T 287) are laid down by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd. (Lauzon, Quebec, Canada).
The Royal Canadian Navy Bangor-class (VTE Reciprocating-engined) minesweeper HMCS Stratford (J 310) is laid down by the Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd. (Lauzon, Quebec, Canada).
The U.S. Navy SC-497-class (110-foot wooden hull) submarine chaser USS PC-672 (later SC-672) is laid down by the Thomas Knutson Shipbuilding Corp. (Halesite, Long Island, New York, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-822 is laid down by Oderwerke AG, Stettin (werk 822).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-513 is launched by Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg (werk 309).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-601 is launched by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 577).
The U.S. Navy Aloe-class net tender USS Chinquapin (YN-12; later AN-17) is placed in service. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Robert Donald Abernathy, USNR.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIC U-boat U-355 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Kapitänleutnant Günter La Baume.
