June 13, 1942: British Disaster in North Africa

Saturday 13 June 1942

The Bf-109F4Trop of Luftwaffe ace Hans Joachim Marseilles (WNr 10137) of 3.JG27 near Bir Hackeim in North Africa, 13 June 1942. Note planes taking off in the background (Optiz, Richard, Federal Archive Picture 101I-443-1567-19).

Eastern Front: The Germans continue grinding forward toward the port of Sevastopol on 13 June 1942. In the northeast sector, the German 22nd Infantry Division attacks at 03:00 with the goal of taking the important Soviet fortress Fort Stalin. The Soviets have just 200 men to hold it. After brutal hand-to-hand fighting, the Germans take the critical fort, which controls the way to Severnaya Bay.

The Soviets counterattack, but the Germans, now in possession of the fort, hold it and wipe out a company of Soviet soldiers. The Germans lose 32 dead, two missing, and 126 wounded and now have a clear path into the port of Sevastopol. At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Halder notes with satisfaction that "According to reports from frontline commands, the enemy is beginning to soften." This is a good thing for 11th Army Commander General Erich von Manstein (undoubtedly the source of this "news") because Hitler has been threatening to withdraw attack forces and convert the battle into a siege due to its slow progress. This would rob Manstein and the 11th Army of the glory of a quick, victorious campaign, so he needs results soon.

Local Luftwaffe commander Wolfram Von Richtofen, though, is more concerned about turf wars. His flak guns (primarily 88mm) are also useful against ground targets, so the army keeps "borrowing" them without asking his permission. This has been a constant source of friction throughout the campaign that has reached the highest levels of local leadership. He vents his frustration in his diary today:

I keep all flak guns subordinate and deploy them together in great concentration at Schwepunkte [the point of attack] against ground targets. The army wants formally to control them and spread them throughout divisions and, therefore - as always, like last time at Kerch - fritter them away. The most basic reason: the competitive jealousy of the army's artillery [soldiers], to whom I cannot give my flak guns because they have obsolete ideas and want to deploy them according to the tactical viewpoints of Wallenstein [from the 17th Century]. I remain stubborn, and the army continues to rage.

While this sort of thing may seem minor, it is a vivid illustration of the inter-service rivalries and jealousies that characterize the Wehrmacht (and other armies to one extent or another).

In general, the Luftwaffe is having a great time over Crimea. The front is so confined that Richtofen can actually see the remaining Soviet airfields from his observation tower. He personally can see when they are preparing to take off (dust clouds erupt when the engines start) and alerts his own fighter units, which can shoot them down as they take off. "Destroyed 18 Russian [aircraft] in this manner today," he writes today in his diary, "four by bombing. It is great fun!"

P-40 "Aleutian Warhawk," 13 June 1942. This 11th Fighter Squadron Curtiss P-40E, ship #19 and named "Ruthie Babe," taxis out on Umnak's steel matting to takeoff for patrol duty in the Aleutian Islands.

Farther north on the front, the Germans have been trying to corner a large partisan force led by Soviet General Mayor Belov in the vicinity of Bryansk. Operating in a heavily wood area, Belov has a heterogeneous force composed of partisans, airborne troops, regular army soldiers, trucks, wagons, and tanks. The weak link in the German effort is a thinly held road on the east (the Rollbahn) which Belov's forces have been able to cross basically at will because the Germans do not have enough troops to close it. The Germans finally succeed in building a screening line along the entire road about this date and await a breakout attempt.

The main concern among German leadership, though, is not these minor operations, but the looming main offensive on the southern front. General Halder notes with satisfaction success in one of the preliminary operations for Operation Blau. Operation Wilhelm is a shallow pincer operation launched by the Sixth Army on June 10th east of Kharkov by VIII Corps in the north near Volchansk and III Panzer Corps in the south near Chuguyev. The aim was to cross the Donetsk River and meet near Belyy Koloez. Today the pincers meet after III Panzer Corps fights through several lines of Soviet tanks. Halder notes with satisfaction, "Operation Volchansk has scored a fine success. Large enemy bodies encircled, 20,000 PWs [prisoners] so far." The total POW count after all the counting is done comes to 24,800. Another preliminary attack, Operation Fridericus II, is planned to begin in about a week.

Not everything is rosy in Rastenburg, however. Halder records a meeting with General Quartermaster (supply chief) Eduard Wagner regarding Blau. "Fuel problems. Computations indicate that the fuel reserve for 'Blau' will last only until mid-September." He also has a meeting with General Blumentritt about "Preparations for next winter," though nobody has any idea where the front will be then.

A more ominous entry is a meeting that Halder has with General Ochsner about the Crimean campaign. "Approach to chemical warfare of the part of the enemy powers (increasing interest)," Halder writes,  and the conversation then turns to "Conditions for gas warfare on the Volkhov river." The implication here is that Allied preparations for chemical warfare (some is being manufactured in Canada, for instance) may be used by the Germans as a pretext for actually using gas on the battlefield.

Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance of Sevastopol (Karantinna Bay, Artilleryskaya Bay, scale 1:8000), 13 June 1942 (Federal Archive Picture 168-278-020).

Battle of the Pacific: The victorious U.S. Navy carriers of Task Force 11 from the Battle of Midway return to Pearl Harbor, now commanded by Admiral Frank Fletcher aboard USS Saratoga. Fletcher's command is short-lived, however, as he disembarks today and is soon replaced. The Japanese fleet - what remains of it - is still a day away from a safe anchorage at Hashirajima.

The Japanese send 27 "Betty" bombers against the RAAF airfield at Port Darwin. Led by Lieutenant Commander Goro Katsumi of the Takao Ku, the bombers leave Koepang at 08:12, escorted by 45 "Zeke" fighters of the 3rd Ku. They are intercepted by 36 P-40 Warhawks of the 49th Fighter Group. The Americans lose three planes in the encounter, while the Japanese lose two Zekes. There are multiple accusations by American pilots that the Japanese strafed U.S. pilots in parachutes, though everyone survived. The bombers do get through and drop 19,980 kgs of bombs on the airfield, damaging the runways, water pipeline, fuel dum, and telephone poles. One Lockheed Hudson is damaged on the ground.

In Alaska, the USAAF 11th Air Force continues to harass the new Japanese presence on Kiska Island. Despite bad weather, it sends five B-17s three B-24 Liberators, and PBY Catalinas to bomb shipping there.

US submarine USS Sargo torpedoes and sinks Japanese troopship Konan Maru off Yap, Caroline Islands.

US Submarine Drum (SS-228) torpedoes and sinks Japanese freighter Shonan Maru northeast of Mikimoto, Honshu.

Japanese freighter Nagasaki Maru hits a Japanese mine and sinks off Nagasaki, Japan.

RAAF Hudsons attack Japanese shipping off Ambon, NEI (Indonesia), sinking auxiliary patrol boat Taifoku Maru and damaging gunboat Taiko Maru.

The USAAF 5th Air Force once again sends B-17 bombers to attack Lakunai Airfield at Rabaul.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: An unidentified Japanese submarine torpedoes and sinks 3748-ton Yugoslavian freighter Supetar in the Mozambique Channel about 100 nautical miles (190 km) south of Beira, Mozambique.

A downed P-40 after the 13 June 1942 Japanese raid on Port Darwin (Credit: "49th Fighter Group: Aces of the Pacific" by William N Hess).

European Air Operations: The weather continues to be poor on the Channel Front ("10/10ths" in pilot-speak). Many RAF units occupy themselves throughout the day with practice bombing, gas drills, aerobatics and formation flying, and similar exercises. There are some convoy patrols that do not find any enemy ships. 

Luftwaffe planes find 345-ton Dutch freighter Brabant off the coast of north Cornwall and sink it. there are no known casualties.

Battle of the Baltic: Soviet submarine Shch-405 has hit a mine and sinks in the Gulf of Finland off Someri Island, and today the Soviet Navy writes it off. The wreck is found in 2018. The Finns have an observation post on the island and the Soviets are considering sending a force to occupy it.

Battle of the Atlantic: US Coast Guard cutter USS Thetis drops depth charges on U-157 (KrvKpt. Wolf Henne), on its second patrol out of Lorient, northeast of Havana, Cuba, sinking it with all hands. All 52 aboard perish. U-157 ends its career with one victory of 6401 tons.

Italian submarine Leonardo Da Vinci torpedoes and uses its deck gun to sink 6438-ton British freighter Clan Macquarrie in the general vicinity of Freetown. There is one death, the Chief Engineer.

Before dawn, U-159 (Kptlt. Helmut Friedrich Witte), on its second patrol out of Lorient, pumps two torpedoes into 4693-ton US passenger ship / freighter Sixaola 50 miles off Bocas Del Toro, Panama. There are 29 deaths and 172 survivors. Most of the survivors are picked up by American gunboat USS Niagara (PG-52) and US Army tug Shasta, while 42 make landfall in a lifeboat.

U-159 gets another victim at sunset when it sends another two torpedoes into 6762-ton American freighter Solon Turman 100 miles north of Cristobal, Canal Zone. There are one death and 52 survivors. In both of these sinkings, the U-boat surfaces and offers assistance to the survivors before departing.

U.S. tanker Gulfprince has a close call six miles south of the Ship Shoals Sea Buoy off the coast of Louisiana when U-506 attacks it. The tanker evades two torpedoes, then evades a third. A fourth hits it but does not explode. Gulfprince scoots into New Orleans.

The Vichy French agree to immobilize aircraft carrier Béarn, light cruiser Emile Bertin, and training cruiser Jeanne D'Arc at Martinique, French West Indies.

An Allied convoy forms up to cross the Atlantic Ocean, 13 June 1942. (Naval Supply Corps Newsletter/Library of Congress).

Battle of the Mediterranean: German General Erwin Rommel's forces break out of the "Cauldon," routing British and South African forces trying to hold the Gazala Line. This becomes known as "Black Saturday" in the British Army.

The breakout begins when the 21st Panzer Division uses the cover of a sandstorm to attack the 2nd Scots Guards and 6th South African Anti-tank battery (eight guns) at Rigel Ridge, a key defensive position on the "Knightsbridge Box." The Guards Brigade is forced to withdraw after dark. Ultimately, the South African artillery unit is overrun, with the gunners firing at the approaching panzers over open sights. The Germans capture over 3000 prisoners and destroy 138 Allied tanks. 

British 8th Army now has only 75 armored vehicles remaining. This disaster compels British commander General Auchinleck to order a general retreat from the Gazala Line. This once again exposes Tobruk to attack. Auchinleck also is quickly falling out of favor with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

At sea, Axis forces continue their attacks on two Royal Navy convoys converging on Malta from opposite ends of the Mediterranean. The convoy heading from Gibraltar is Operation Harpoon, while that from Palestine and Egypt is Operation Julius.

The three separate convoys of Operation Julius assemble off of Mersa Matruh, Egypt, during the afternoon as the weather deteriorates. As a side effort, a submarine accompanying the convoy lands five commandos on Crete, and they destroy about 20 Luftwaffe aircraft at Maleme Airfield. This does not stop Axis air attacks, however, which begin after dark and last through the night, with the convoys illuminated by flares.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), on its eighth patrol out of Salamis, while patrolling off Al-Ramkin Island, Lebanon, uses its deck gun to sink 91-ton British schooner HMS Farouk. There are nine deaths and nine survivors.

Scene from one of the convoys to Malta on or about 13 June 1942 (© IWM A 10853).

Battle of the Black Sea: The Luftwaffe, which is once again permitted to operate over the Black Sea due to a secret deal between the local Luftwaffe commander and the head of local naval forces (and contrary to a standing order of overall Luftwaffe commander Wolfram von Richthofen), bombs and sinks Soviet transports Gruzyia and TSch-27, patrol boat SKA-092 and minesweeper T-413 off Cape Fiolent, motor ship SP-40, five barges, and a floating crane, most in Sevastopol Harbor.

The Soviets get one back with a pre-dawn attack on the German naval base at Yalta. Bombers hit the port while a Soviet MTB slips in and fires three torpedoes at the crowded port. It sinks the Italian mini-submarine CB-5 and causes damage to other vessels. This attack alarms local naval commander Konteradmiral Schweinitz and causes the Germans to send additional flak batteries to the port and for the Kriegsmarine to install anti-torpedo nets.

Spy Stuff: The four German saboteurs landed by U-2020 on Amagansett Beach (Operation Pastorius) on 12 June arrive in New York City and book hotel rooms in Manhattan. Up to now, they have strictly followed protocol and assumed that everyone else in their unit is devoted to the Third Reich. However, during the evening two of the men have a heart-to-heart and confess to each other that they oppose the regime and the mission.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guardsman who spotted the Germans during his normal foot patrol as they arrived, Seaman 2nd Class John C. Cullen, alerts his superiors. A search of the beach reveals their buried uniforms and equipment. The Coast Guard alerts the FBI and the White House. This begins a manhunt, but the authorities have no idea where to look. The incident is kept secret so as to not alarm the public.

The OSS, the predecessor of the CIA, is created on 13 June 1942.

Applied Science: The US Navy uses non-rigid airship K-2 to test the Long Range Navigation (LORAN) system from the airship base at Lakehurst, New Jersey. This first airborne test is a success, as the equipment guides the airship from 50-75 miles offshore to, as the pilot says, "the middle of the hangar." 

US Military: The first issue of Yank magazine is published, dated 17 June 1942. The final issue is 28 December 1945.

The US 1st Armored Division in Northern Ireland receives the last of its tanks. The Americans hold a parade through town, and Sir Archibald Sinclair gives a speech. The US presence in Ireland is intended not just to build up an American military presence in the British Isles, but also to play on Irish sympathies for America. Americans, for instance, financed much of the Irish fight for independence and there are many Irish-Americans in the U.S. armed forces.

The Bureau of Navigation is renamed the Bureau of Naval Personnel.

German Military: Munitions Minister Albert Speer, General Adolf Galland, and General Erhard Milch visit Peenemunde to observe a test flight of the Me 163A. Three aircraft take off at once in a formation takeoff. The Me 163 Komet is a revolutionary rocket plane already has set a new world speed record (on 2 October 1941). While very fast, the plane still has some issues, such as a jettisonable undercarriage that makes landing an adventure.

US Government: President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9182, creating the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Office of War Information (OWI). The former, which coordinates overseas espionage activities, is ultimately succeeded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The latter is a major propaganda initiative that results in the Voice of America (VOA), numerous patriotic radio programs that glorify the new U.S. ally Russia (such as "An American in Russia,"), and pro-war effort films and documentaries (such as "This is Our Enemy").  

Advertisement in The New Yorker, June 13, 1942 p. 9.

American Homefront: In her syndicated "My Day" column, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt writes:

In the morning paper I read that, not satisfied with wiping out the village of Lidice, the Germans have gone further and killed 34 more people in the cities of Prague and Bruenn ‘in reprisal.’ It does not seem to cross their minds that they are imprinting the name of this village on the minds of the people of the world. None of us will ever forget a little village named Lidice. Reprisals of this kind only bring more reprisals, so that it is an unending spiral of murder.

Roosevelt is correct that the name of Lidice will be long-remembered. The Germans have placed a bounty on the assassins of Reinhard Heydrich and given local communities until 18 June to turn them in.

Future History: Abdulsalami Abubakar is born in Minna, Northern Region, British Nigeria. He joins the new Nigerian Air Force in 1964, later transfers to the Nigerian Army, and becomes the 11th President of Nigeria in 1998 due to the military coup of 1983.

The Saturday Evening Post of 13 June 1942.

2022

June 9, 1942: Nimitz Changes Strategy

Tuesday 9 June 1942

Adolf Hitler at Reinhard Heydrich's funeral (Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, sygn. 2-13241).

Battle of the Pacific: Learning of the Japanese capture of Kiska on 9 June 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz cancels his orders to Admiral Jack Fletcher to take his three aircraft carriers (USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Saratoga) north to the Aleutians. Nimitz now does not want them exposed to Japanese land bombers operating from Kiska and Attu. This unknowingly frustrates a Japanese plan to ambush them with the reinforced fleet of Admiral Boshirō Hosogaya.

Nimitz now is thinking offensively (as is General Douglas MacArthur in Melbourne, who submitted his own proposal for an advance led by the Army on 8 June 1942). He wants to keep his carrier force intact for a thrust due west across the central Pacific. This Nimitz and his team in Hawaii see as the main Allied strategy from now on. This is contrary to MacArthur's proposal to advance north from Australia, setting up a classic "turf war" between the US Army and Navy.

The Japanese high command, despite the minor successes in the Aleutians, is reeling from the early June results at Midway. The solution is denial and a coverup. The Imperial Japanese Navy prepares a vague and unrealistic summary of the battle to the military liaison conference. Admiral Chūichi Nagumo takes his time preparing an accurate summary of Japanese losses. He remains completely unaware that the Americans knew his complete battle plan in May and thinks his force was only discovered on the 5th. The Japanese public is kept completely in the dark, with media focusing entirely on the Aleutians.

Artwork depicting "The Swoose" on the B-17D aircraft that carried Lyndon Baines Johnson to Port Moresby on 8 June 1942. The aircraft is currently being restored in Dayton, Ohio (U.S. Air Force photo courtesy of the National Museum of the United States Air Force).

Navy Reserve Lieutenant Lyndon B. Johnson, the future President, makes an aerial inspection tour from his location in Townsville, Australia. Johnson already has had an interesting time Down Under, having helped to quell a mutiny by African-African troops on 22 May 1942. The B-26 Marauder flying the mission has engine trouble after departing from Port Moresby and has to return to base, but the USAAF 19th Bombardment Squadron of the 22nd Bomber Group completes its mission (flying from Townsville to Port Moresby for refueling) to bomb Lae, New Guinea. The Port Moresby stage of the mission has to be delayed for an hour to accommodate LBJ, who arrives from Townsville in General Brett's VIP B-17D "The Swoose." 

The mission is hazardous even though Johnson misses out on the actual bombing run. LBJ narrowly escapes death because he switches bombers at the last minute due to a pilot change, and the plane he leaves crashes into the sea off Salamaua, killing everyone on board. LBJ then also escapes potential harm when the B-17 on the flight back to Townsville gets lost and almost runs out of fuel. It has to make an emergency landing at remote Carisbrooke Station near Winton. This B-17D, incidentally, survives and is the property of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The strange sequence of events results in General MacArthur awarding Johnson a Silver Star, the Army's third-highest decoration. Johnson soon after heads back to D.C. in accordance with FDR's requirement that all members of Congress return to their legislative duties. He remains in the US Naval Reserve until January 1964.

The Japanese complete their occupation of the Philippines and declare it secure.

US 24-ton freighter Husky founders two miles off Cape Constantine in Nushagak Bay, Aleutian Islands. Everyone survives.

US submarine USS Trout (SS-202) picks up two survivors of the sunken Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma.

There is fierce fighting near the town of Chuhsien, China. Both sides take heavy casualties.

Crash site of a B-17 near Whenuapai Aerodrome, Auckland, New Zealand, 9 June 1942. All 11 men on board are killed (Archives New Zealand Reference: ADQA 17211 AIR1 572 25/2/588).

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Japanese Divine Dragon Operation No. 2 submarine force, in which the Japanese high command placed high hopes, remains operational in the Mozambique Channel. However,  it is now clear to the local commanders that the operation now has turned into a standard submarine patrol and that initial plans to target the British Far Eastern Fleet are obsolete. Accordingly, Lieutenant Commander Otani Kiyonori of I-18 has his men destroy and jettison mini-submarine M-18b, effectively ending the operation.

Around this time, British divers discover the remains of M-20b, which carried out the most successful attack at Diego Suarez. It is sitting upright on a reef in heavy surf (remnants remain there to this day). They salvage the propellers, now on display at the gravesite of its occupants, Lieutenant (j.g.) Akieda Saburo and POIC Takemoto Masami. They were killed on 2 June 1942 by a British patrol on the mainland while attempting to rendezvous with I-20.

The Japanese have not given up on the Indian Ocean by any means. On 5 June 1942, auxiliary cruisers Aikoku Maru and Hokoko Maru caught 6757-ton British passenger ship Elysia 350 miles northeast of Durban. They torpedoed it, and today it sinks, causing 22 deaths. 

Battleship HMS Ramillies, previously damaged by a Japanese mini-submarine in late May 1942, arrives in Durban for repairs accompanied by light cruiser Emerald and three destroyers. The damage ultimately will require a return to the UK at Portsmouth on 8 September that will last until the summer of 1943.

A new recruit, age 62, joins the Royal Navy, 9 June 1942. ""Owd Bob" drawing his petty officer's rig on board the Armed Merchant Cruiser Depot ship HMS MERSEY. Behind him is Tommy Harding, age 18, another new entry who volunteered for this special naval service." © IWM A 8807.

Eastern Front: German General Erich von Manstein's assault on Sevastopol has shown signs of turning into a battle of attrition, exactly what he didn't want. The priority is to take Sevastopol before the Case Blue offensive on the main front begins, and that now is looking doubtful. Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richtofen begins changing attack priorities from assisting the front-line troops to attacking Soviet supply lines, a bad sign that the plan is faltering. The Luftwaffe is fully committed, flying 1044 sorties and dropping 954 tons of bombs, putting a strain on men, equipment, and logistics.

However, the German offensive is not dead, not by any means. General Franz Halder, remaining in East Prussia while the Fuhrer attends the Reinhard Heydrich funeral (see below), comments:

At Sevastopol, good progress despite strong enemy counter-attacks. Otherwise, all quiet. Army Group Center reports breakout of Cavalry Corps Belov to the south.

Halder does have his own grips about the Storfang operation. Writing about a meeting during the day with General Buhle, he comments acidly, "Report on Sevastopol. My suspicion that the Artillery Command is not of the best is confirmed."

The Red Navy is doing what it can to help its comrades ashore. Early in the morning, Soviet destroyers spot Axis mini-submarines operating from Yalta on their radar screens and unsuccessfully attack them. This new development induces Vice-Admiral Oktyabrskii to order his naval captains to concentrate less on offshore gunfire support of the army and more on keeping the sea lanes to Sevastopol clear. He also tells them to switch to area fire rather than targeted fire and cuts back on the number of surface vessel supply missions. This forces an increase in submarine supply missions. While they don't know it, the Axis mini-submariners thus achieve a tactical victory without sinking a single ship.

LIV Corps continues to make slow progress in the north, assisted greatly by an intense artillery bombardment laid down by the biggest guns ever used in combat. The 132nd Infantry clears a key obstacle, the Haccius Ridge, and the 22nd Infantry Division destroys the elite Soviet 79th Naval Infantry Brigade.

General Paulus' Sixth Army counterattacks against Red Army forces in the Kharkov sector. Paulus has plenty of troops because Sixth Army is fated to lead the Case Blue offensive toward Stalingrad. During this attack, Uffz. Wilhelm Crinius of 3./JG 53 shoots down two Soviet Il-2 Shturmovik ground-attack planes for his first two victories.

European Air Operations: Weather is poor on the Channel Front, with 10/10ths cloud cover down to 1500 feet and getting worse as the day proceeds.

A Polish squadron raids Essen. British Wellington IV R1725 crashes into the North Sea, 20 km west of Texel, Netherlands, while en route to bomb Essen. All six crewmen perish. Another Wellington targeting Essen, IV Z1412, is shot down by the nightfighter pilot Oblt. L.Fellerer of II/NJG 2. it crashlands on the beach 2 km west of St. Maartensvlotbrug. The five crewmen survive. A Wellington manages to make it back for a crashlanding after being attacked three times by Me-110 night fighters from below and astern, and the odds of survival are so iffy that the copilot bails out 20 miles west of Essen after the bombing run.

"36th Bombardment Squadron LB-30 Liberator and a Boeing B-17E Fortress (41-9126) at Fort Glenn Army Air Base, Alaska, June 1942. 9126 was lost Aug 28, 1942." USAAF photo via Chloe, John Hale, (1984), Top Cover for America. the Air Force in Alaska. 1920–1983, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, ISBN 0-933126-47-6.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-124 (Kptlt. Johann Mohr), on its ninth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 940-ton French corvette FFL Mimosa (K11, Captain Roger R.L. Birot) 600 miles southeast of Cape Farewell in the British Isles. The Mimosa is an escort for Convoy ONS-100 and sinks within three minutes because the depth charges falling off the ship explode. The other escorts don't even notice the ship is missing until dawn breaks. There are 65-67 deaths and only four surviving French sailors, who are picked up by HMCS Assiniboine.

U-502 (Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel), on its fourth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 6589-ton US tanker Franklin K. Lane 35-40 miles (65 km) northeast of La Guiara and Cape Blanco, Venezuela. It is scuttled by the British destroyer HMS Churchill. The ship, a member of Convoy TO-5, is carrying 73,000 barrels of crude oil to Aruba for processing. There are four deaths and 37 survivors.

U-502 also gets another victim from the same convoy today, 5085-ton Belgian freighter Bruxelles. The ship manages to evade two torpedoes, but a third one blows a seven-meter (yard) hole in the side and the ship sinks within four minutes. The crew acts quickly and manages to launch lifeboats. Destroyer Churchill picks them up quickly. There are 53 survivors and one death.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze), on its fifth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and damages 7073-ton Norwegian freighter Kronprinsen of Convoy BX-23A south of Cape Sable. The ship is taken in tow and beached at West Pubnico, Nova Scotia. Ultimately, the ship is repaired and returned to service.

U-432 also damages 8593-ton British freighter Malayan Prince with a torpedo that misses the Kronprinsen. The ship manages to remain with the convoy and is later repaired and returned to service in July 1942.

Four-stack destroyer USS Southard (DMS-10), Mare Island, 9 June 1942. She has just been converted into a minesweeper (Rickard, J (15 September 2018), USS Southard (DMS-10), Mare Island, 9 June 1942).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Early in the morning, the Luftwaffe sends 20 Junkers Ju 88 and 40 Ju 87 Stukas escorted by 50 Bf 109 and Me 110 fighters against the Free French in Bir Hakeim. However, thick smoke and dust force them to turn back. A second attack around noontime by 124 Stukas and 76 Ju 88s, escorted by 168 Bf 109s, has more luck. During this attack, Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseilles of 3./JG 27 downs four RAF planes.

German artillery also opens up on the fortifications in the morning as General Erwin Rommel readies a final assault. After the planes and big guns have softened up the defenses, units of the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions, the 90th Light Division, and Italian infantry launch a two-pronged attack.

Rommel's objective is the "high ground" near the fortress, a small rise called Point 186. The Italian Trieste Division makes good progress, overrunning a reinforced French force that is hampered by supply issues. The German advance gains steam in the afternoon when the 15th Panzer breaches the French line in the center, forcing a desperate counterattack with Bren Carriers that succeeds. Oberstleutnant Ernst-Günther Baade leads the Rifle Regiment 115 to within 200 meters (yards) of the fortress by dusk.

Overhead, the Luftwaffe establishes dominance due to previous losses in the RAF Desert Air Force despite frantic pleas for cover from French General Kœnig. The French are low on supplies and everyone can see the writing on the wall. British Major-General Frank Messervy, commander of the 7th Armoured Division, reports that a breakout should be attempted, and at 23:00 Kœnig signals for permission to evacuate the fortress. Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie, commander of the 8th Army, replies that he'll prepare a thrust from the south but the fortress will have to hold out for another day or two. 

With water and ammunition running out and casualties mounting, Kœnig orders a breakout anyway. The French formation quickly loses coherence in the darkness and the Axis forces react quickly. The retreat turns into desperate hand-to-hand combat but does make progress into the early morning hours of the 10th.

Italian Caproni bombers catch 1584-ton Swedish freighter Stureborg in the eastern Mediterranean and sink it with torpedoes and bombs. There are 20 deaths and only one survivor, whose raft reaches land near Gaza. Ten men in total started out on the raft but nine perished because it drifted for 19 days and they had no food or water.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), on its eighth patrol out of Salamis, shells and sinks 175-ton Palestinian sailing ship Typhoon four miles southeast of Sidon, Lebanon. Everyone survives.

RAF Catalinas of No. 240 Squadron sinks Italian submarine Zaffiro in the western Mediterranean southeast of Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands. There are no survivors.

Survivors of the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412), torpedoed and sunk on 6 June 1942 at the Battle of Midway, are brought ashore at Pearl Harbor, 9 June 1942 (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-312064).

Joint Allied Planning: The United States and British governments form the Combined Production and Resources Board. The purpose is to plan and coordinate production in each country to best serve war needs. It operates independently and competes with the Combined Munitions Assignment Board, which is under the jurisdiction of the Combined Chiefs of Staff. President Roosevelt's crony Harry Hopkins is the American leader behind the scenes, though Donald Nelson is the chair. 

While sometimes criticized as ineffective, the Board changes the military procurement process based on statistical analysis and perceived priorities. It provides some order to the former chaotic ordering system directly to industry used by the militaries of the respective countries. British representatives tend to feel the Board favors the US and prefer to exert their influence through the Munitions Board because they feel the Combined Chiefs give them more of an equal say. Canada feels left out and eventually is admitted to the Board as an equal partner. 

The real weakness of the Board is that its leaders don't really have much of an idea themselves of what the war effort needs or where the war is going until it is really too far along to matter. As the military strategy and objectives change - sometimes at the last minute - the Board must follow along and thus always is a step behind actual needs. Its findings also have to be implemented by the respective governments which may not necessarily agree completely with its decisions and thus may not treat them with a sense of urgency.

US Military: The Navy establishes a naval operating base at Kodiak, Alaska.

Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler leads the procession at Reinhard Heydrich's Berlin funeral on 9 June 1942. Visible in the front row from left are Robert Ley, Karl-Hermann Frank, Erhard Milch, Sepp Dietrich, Sergeant Heinz Heydrich (Reinhard's younger brother), police chief Kurt Daluege (Heydrich's successor in Bohemia and Moravia), and Wilhelm Frick (Federal Archive Picture 121-1344).

German Homefront: The government holds the second funeral for Reinhard Heydrich, who was shot by British agents on 27 May 1942. This second funeral is in Berlin (the first, on 7 June, was in Prague). All of the top Reich officials attend, including Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering. Hitler awards Heydrich the German Order, the highest honor in the Third Reich, posthumously. After the ceremony, Heinrich Himmler tells his subordinates to ramp up the Holocaust.

Heydrich is interred in a plot at the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin. The location, once well known, since the war has become secret to prevent fascist gatherings.

Privately, Hitler blames Heydrich's own lax security precautions on his demise. He tells his cronies that a man as important to the war effort as Heydrich never should have been driving in an unguarded open-air car through streets filled with people. Hitler, of course, is (rightly) paranoid about his own personal security and routinely changes his routes and timing to frustrate would-be assassins. This already has saved his life at least once, when he evaded a bomb planted at the Munich Brown House (Braunes Haus) on 8 November 1939.

Due to the Gestapo's mistaken belief that the Heydrich assassins operated from the town of Lidice, the local German authorities begin to obliterate it today. Today and tomorrow, they kill 199 men and deport 195 women to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. There are 95 children in the town, 81 of whom later perish at the Chelmno camp. Eight are adopted by German families. The German security forces also prepare to destroy the town of Ležáky.

The two agents who assassinated Heydrich, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, remain at large despite a massive German manhunt. The local authorities make it clear to the Czech people that if they are not turned over, more blood will be spilled. They also promise a bounty of a million Reichsmarks. Since everyone knows the German threats are not just empty words and Lidice is the proof, this reaches some receptive ears.

Platforms 2 and 3 of Paddington Station, London, UK, 9 June 1942 (Science & Society 10442395).

American Homefront: Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of the British Commandos, arrived in Washington for tactical conversations with US officers. Also returning from London are Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry "Hap" Arnold, and Mark Clark.

Ronald Reagan, who enlisted in the USAAF on 15 May 1942 as a private, receives a transfer to become the public relations officer for the First Motion Picture Unit in Burbank, California, under director John Ford. In this role, Reagan will be instrumental in "discovering" a young aviation worker in Burbank who will turn into film star Marilyn Monroe. He ends the war with the rank of Captain.

Future History: Heydrich's death leads to a series of prolonged court cases in the 1950s by his widow, Lina. She successfully argues to the West German government that she is entitled to a full pension as she widow of a German general. She writes a 1976 memoir, Leben mit einem Kriegsverbrecher (Living With a War Criminal), remarries, and passes away in 1985. Three of their four children survive the war.

Raymond "Ossie" Clark is born in Warrington, Lancashire, England. He becomes a top fashion designer during the "Carnaby Street" height of British fashion in the Swinging Sixties. He passes away on 6 August 1996 after being stabbed by a former lover.

Adolf Hitler gives a memorial address at the funeral of Reinhard Heydrich in the New Reich Chancellery, 9 June 1942 (Federal Archive Image 146-1969-052-69).

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June 8, 1942: Japanese Submarines Shell Australia

Monday 8 June 1942

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli lying beached near Santander, Spain, on 8 June 1942. The submarine commander beached it after suffering damage from Allied aircraft on 6 June 1942 using Leigh Lights. It is ultimately repaired and restored to service.

Battle of the Pacific: In a coordinated attack in the early morning hours of 8 June 1942, two Japanese submarines fire their 140 mm deck guns at Sydney and Newcastle, Australia. The purpose is more symbolic than militarily effective, but it certainly catches the attention of a lot of people.

I-24 opens the attack by firing ten shells targeting the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They land in the suburbs of Bellevue Hill, Rose Bay, and Woollahra, with one shell landing in the harbor. One person is injured by falling masonry and debris even though only one of the ten shells explodes. There is no response from shore batteries due to the brevity of the attack.

Two hours later, Japanese submarine I-21 (Cdr Matsumura Kanji) shells the Australian city of Newcastle, New South Wales, on 8 June 1942 from a distance of 9 km (5.6 miles) northeast of Stockton Beach. The target this time is the BHP steelworks. It fires 34 shells, including 8 illumination rounds, but once again only one shell detonates. The attack does no significant damage, aside from destroying a house on Parnell Place. Fort On the alert due to the previous Sydney attack, Scratchley gunners respond with four shells but have little chance of scoring a hit on the submarine in the dark.

The only fatality from these attacks is a US Army Air Force pilot, Lieutenant Georg Cantello, who disobeys orders and takes off from Bankstown airport in a P-39 Aircobra to attack the submarines. He perishes when his plane crashes due to mechanical issues in Hammondville paddock. There is a memorial park, Lt. Cantello Reserve, in the City of Liverpool with a monument in his honor.

Australian "Action" magazine, the Official Journal of the National Emergency Services, has photos and a description of the 8 June 1942 shelling of Sydney in its July issue.

In response to the Japanese offensive in Australian waters that began with the attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, the Australian government begins convoy operations on the east coast. Today, the first one, Convoy CO 1, departs from Newcastle bound for Whyalla.

The crew of a US Navy PBY-5A Catalina based at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, spots two destroyers and four transport ships in Kiska Harbor. The crew then fly on to Attu and spot the Japanese presence there, too. This is the first news that the Japanese have invaded Alaska. An LB-30 of 11th Air Force also spots the Japanese.

In Hawaii, Admiral Chester Nimitz has ordered USS Enterprise and Hornet, now free due to the victory at Midway, to sail north to the Aleutian Islands in response to the attacks on Dutch Harbor. However, he quickly countermands this order when informed of the invasions at Attu and Kiska, fearing attacks on his carriers by land-based aircraft. The Japanese, meanwhile, are digging in on the islands and building airfields. Admiral Frank Fletcher, now aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, resumes command of the three-carrier task force northwest of Hawaii from Raymond Spruance. His carriers and the 11th Air Force in Alaska search for the remaining Japanese fleet but the planes spot only open water.

General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) in Melbourne, submits his first proposal for an Allied counteroffensive in the Pacific. He lists New Guinea, New Ireland, and New Britain as the initial objectives. It receives immediate opposition from Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH), and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), who, among other objections, does not like the idea of an Army general commanding an amphibious force. Negotiations over a compromise plan begin shortly. Another issue is that the Japanese remain on the offensive despite their recent defeat at Midway and that will affect operational choices.

The Boston Daily Globe of 8 June 1942 is full of cheery news about the US victory at the Battle of Midway. The very careful wartime manipulation of war news is evident in the header "American Destroyer Is Sunk, Crew Saved." That is absolutely true, but there is no mention of the far more consequential sinking of the USS Yorktown. 

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Japanese submarine I-16 uses its deck gun to sink 4847-ton Greek freighter Aghios Georgios IV between Aden and Table Bay in the Mozambique Channel. There are seven deaths.

I-20 torpeoes and sinks 5209-ton Greek freighter Christos Markettos off Mombassa. There are two deaths.

I-10 (Cdr Otani) torpedoes and sinks 5224-ton British freighter King Lud in the Mozambique Channel 350 miles east of Beira. All 39 people on board perish. This is I-10's third victory in the vicinity.

I-10 also uses its deck gun to sink 2158-ton Norwegian freighter Wilford in the Mozambique Channel in the same general vicinity east of Beira. There are nine deaths. Some sources place this sinking on 7 June 1942.

Norwegian freighter Wilford, sunk by I-10 in the Mozambique Channel on 8 June 1942.

Eastern Front: German General Erich von Manstein's 11th Army continues its attack on Sevastopol in Crimea but makes little progress. Soviet counterattacks also fail, leading to a virtual stalemate. The German LIV Corps, aided by strong artillery fire and furious Luftwaffe attacks, do make some progress in the northern sector where the largest artillery batteries are located. Already the corps has lost 1700 casualties in exchange for a shallow bulge into the Red Army lines that is 3 km deep and 5 km wide. German 30 Corps in the south has suffered 496 casualties for minor penetrations into the out Soviet defensive line.

There are fierce dogfights over Sevastopol, with both sides represented by veteran ace fighter pilots. The Luftwaffe gets the better of the encounters. Lt. Ludwig-Wilhelm Burckhardt of 6./JG 77 downs 2 Soviet fighters and Oblt. Anton Hackl of 5./JG 77 destroys three Russian planes to bring his score to 57 victories. Hptm. Kurt Ubben of Stab III./JG 77 brings his score to 70 victories after he downs a Russian fighter.

There is growing frustration in Manstein's headquarters with the pace of the offensive. Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richtofen observes that his planes fly 1200 sorties during the day without achieving much and lamely explains, "We hope gradually to beat down the enemy by mass bombing."  He complains that flying so many missions is 'extremely strenuous." Conditions are made worse on both men and equipment by sweltering  105° Fahrenheit (40° Celsius) heat.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Halder is okay with the progress, but there is a hint of concern in his diary entry:

Assault of Sevastopol makes satisfactory progress on the first day against stiff opposition; high ammunition expenditures and severe losses. All other fronts quiet. Successful counterattacks at Kirishi.  

Kirishi, meanwhile is a town 115 kilometers (71 mi) southeast of St. Petersburg on the Volkhov River that defends Lyuban. The front has stayed stagnant there since the fall of 1941, a sign of the stalled German offensive into the USSR.

European Air Operations: The weather remains unsettled throughout the day, getting worse as time goes by. During RAF air patrols along the continent coast, they sink 7003-ton German patrol boat Sperrbrecher 15 Taronga off Scharhörn. The ship makes port but is a complete loss and written off.

Polish teacher Władysław Dobija, executed at Auschwitz on 8 June 1942 (Auschwitz Memorial). 

Battle of the Atlantic: U-135 (Kptlt. Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius), on its third patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks 4549-ton Norwegian freighter Pleasantville 200 miles northwest of Bermuda. There are two dead and 45 survivors, 10 of whom who are picked up about 24 hours later by freighter Chickasaw City while the remaining 35 are picked up by freighter Paderewski on 11 June.

U-504 (KrvKpt. Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske), on its third patrol out of Lorient, uses its deck gun to sink 3901-ton Honduran freighter Tela in the Gulf of Mexico near Rio Bravo. The ship sinks by the stern within five minutes There are 11 dead and 43 survivors, who abandon ship in two lifeboats and two rafts and are picked up twelve hours later by freighter Port of Montreal. Their adventure is not over, as U-68 sinks Port of Montreal in turn on 10 June 1942, during which two of the Tela survivors perish.

U-504 also uses its deck gun to sink 1512-ton British freighter Rosenborg in the same general area east of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is after Poske misses with two torpedoes. He must use 60 shots to sink the ship. There are four dead and 23 survivors, who are picked up by Norwegian freighter Geisha.

U-172 (Kptlt. Carl Emmermann), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 1654-ton US freighter Sicilien 10 miles south of Cape Beata, Dominican Republic. There are 46 dead and 31 survivors, who get in rafts and make it to Barahona, Dominican Republic.

U-128 (Kptlt. Ulrich Heyse), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 9234-ton Norwegian tanker South Africa 400 miles east of Trinidad. The ship breaks in two and sinks within two minutes. Survival is made difficult due to the tanker's full load of 9614 tons of lube distillate and 4146 tons of diesel oil. Heyse surfaces and points out a man in the water that the lifeboats then pick up, gives the men some cans of bread and two bottles of rum, and directs them toward land. There are six dead and 36 survivors in two lifeboats. The subsequent sequence of events almost defies belief. One lifeboat (14 men) is spotted by freighter Plaudit, but the men refuse rescue after getting some supplies because it is heading to Pernambuco on 12 June and sail on toward Trinidad. They then decline another rescue offer from sailing vessel Minnie M. Mosher before making landfall at Galara Light (Toko Bay) on 16 June. The other lifeboat (25 men) is spotted by tanker Acastra on 12 June, but the men also refuse rescue after taking on supplies because it is heading for Freetown. They also decline an offer on the 13th from Argentinian tanker 13 de Diciembre after taking on supplies. They are picked up by an American seaplane tender on 14 June 45 miles east of Trinidad.

U-107 torpedoes and sinks 3249-ton US freighter Suwied 140 miles southeast of Cozumel Island. the ship sinks within three minutes, preventing a distress call. There are six dead and 33 survivors, who are picked up by USCGC Nemesis (WPC 111) after 19 hours. Some sources place this sinking on 7 June 1942, where I also discuss this sinking.

British patrol boat HMT Catherine founders off Scapa Flow. Casualties are unknown.

Admiral Chester Nimitz (second from left) and his party await the arrival of survivors of USS Yorktown aboard Fulton (As-11), 8 June 1942. Also visible are Rear Admiral William L. Calhoun in the right front and Rear Admiral Lloyd J. Wiltse, of Nimitz' staff, in the center background (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-312025).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The situation in Libya remains unchanged today. The Germans continue their attack on the fortress of Bir Hakeim but make no progress, while the British 7th Motor Brigade and 29th Indian Infantry Brigade attempt raids on the Axis supply lines.

Time is on General Erwin Rommel's side because the Free French at Bir Hakeim cannot be resupplied and they are running low on everything. Today, Rommel personally leads an attack on the fortress from the north beginning at 10:00, supported by a massive Luftwaffe assault by 45 Ju 87 Stukas, 3 Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers, and ten Messerschmidt Me-110 fighter-bombers escorted by 54 Bf-109 fighters (3 losses two German and one Italian).

While the attack continues throughout the afternoon supported by another attack by 60 Stukas, the defenses hold. The British Desert Air Force (DAF) flies 478 sorties (8 fighter losses) during the day and drops supplies to the garrison after dark. The Italian Macchi C 202 fighters are particularly effective, shooting down three RAF planes.

In a friendly fire incident, the Italian submarine Alagi (Cdr Serio Puccini) spots a convoy 20 nautical miles north of Cape Bon, Tunisia. Captain Puccini assumes it is an Allied one, but it is a typical Axis convoy from Naples to Tripoli. Puccini fires three torpedoes and sinks 5085-ton Italian destroyer Antoniotto Usodimare. There are 141 killed and 165 survivors. This sinking is sometimes listed as occurring on 8 August 1942.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), on its eighth patrol out of Salamis, gets two victories today. First, it uses its deck gun to sink 100-ton Palestinian sailing ship Esther six miles northwest of Sidon, Lebanon. There are no survivors.

U-83 then uses its deck gun to sink 231-ton Egyptian freighter Said 15 miles southwest of Jaffa. This is after U-83 missed with two torpedoes, and it takes 50 rounds to sink the ship. There are five dead and nine survivors.

US Navy blimp L-1. This is of the same class as L-2, which crashed in a fatal accident on 8 June 1942. It is shown above Panamanian freighter Musa.

US/Soviet Relations:  Soviet Ambassador to the United States Maxim M. Litvinov informs Harry Hopkins that the Soviet Union is agreeable to the establishment of a Lend-Lease air corridor between Alaska and Siberia. Since Japan is not at war with the USSR, it could not interfere with such flights without instigating a conflict with the Soviets.

US Military: The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) is formed by the Department of War, though it doesn't begin operation officially until 4 July 1942. Its organizational divisions are Army Ground Forces (AGF), United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and Army Service Forces (ASF) operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. It replaces United States Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) and its first commander for a brief period of time is Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney. The AGF currently has the 34th Infantry Division in Northern Island, which has released British troops from duties by patrolling the border between British Northern Ireland and the neutral Irish Free State.

Brigadier General Howard C Davidson, commander of VII Fighter Command, is promoted to Commanding General, 7th Air Force.

Canadian Military: Royal Canadian Air Force's No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron flies its Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters to Elmendorf Field, Alaska. This is part of the RCAF effort to reinforce Allied defenses on its western flank.

German Homefront: Following the elaborate funeral of Reinhard Heydrich on 7 June 1942, the Prague authorities embark on vicious reprisals. The Gestapo, with little to go on, receives a spurious report that the small town of Lidice is the hiding place of Heydrich's assassins and plans an operation to destroy it. This report is based on nothing but the town's reputation as the home of some Czech army officers who are now in hiding in Great Britain. A radio transmitter belonging to the Silver A team (a three-man Allied infiltration team that supported Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Heydrich) is found in the village of Ležáky and so it, too, is targeted. Heydrich's two assassins, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, remain at large shuttling between safe houses in Prague. A second Heydrich funeral is scheduled for Berlin on 9 June.

"Mountbatten of the Commandos" is on the cover of the 8 June 1942 Time magazine (cover credit: Ernest Hamlin Baker).

British Homefront: The Guardian publishes an editorial today noting increasingly harsh living conditions in the Reich "since last winter." Its main theme is that "since last autumn’s clear failure to “annihilate” the Russians, the German civilian front has been increasingly tired and dispirited." This reflects the wishful thinking of RAF Bomber Command led by General Arthur"Bomber" Harris, who believes that his forces can crush the Reich from the air by destroying its people's will to fight. In this sole and strict sense, the Allied bombing campaign is proving to be a massive failure, as people in Germany may be down but the bombing is not making them demand surrender as they did in 1918.

US Navy Airship G-1, involved in a fatal crash on 8 June 1942. It is shown dropping a parachutist.

American Homefront: During the night, two U.S. Navy airships (G-1 and L-2) collide five miles north of Manasquan, New Jersey, while performing experimental visual and photographic reconnaissance at 400 feet. Twelve men, naval personnel and civilian technicians, perish. The blimps fall into the sea and only the co-pilot of L-2, Ensign Howard Fahey, survives. Only three bodies are recovered.

Due to the victory at the Battle of Midway, the US government cancels the invasion alert for the West Coast.

Bing Crosby makes a new recording of "Silent Night," which he first recorded on 21 February 1935, for his holiday compilation album "Merry Christmas." This is one of four recordings Bing makes of the "Silent Night." One of the reasons Crosby keeps returning to the song is that the recordings are so popular that the music label, Decca, complains that repeated stampings quickly wear out the master tapes.

Model Jane Greer models women's uniforms in the 8 June 1942 issue of Life magazine (see below), posing in a "Nurse's Aide" uniform on the cover. Movie producer and inventor Howard Hughes spots her and decides to make her an actress. He signs her to a personal services contract, which was somewhat customary for actresses at the time but gave him inordinate control over her career which he fully exploited. This begins Greer's decades-long Hollywood acting career and a very turbulent relationship with Hughes wherein he alternately helps and hurts her career and personal relationships. Greer is best known for film noirs, particularly with RKO, such as "Out of the Past" (1947), "The Big Steal" (1949), "Run for the Sun" (1956), and "Man of a Thousand Faces" (1957). Greer passes away on 24 August 2001.

Future History: Peter Grimwade is born in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. he becomes a noted television director, particularly on the Doctor Who series in the early 1980s. He passes away on 15 May 1990.

Life magazine, 8 June 1942, features a "Nurse's Aid" on the cover. It is actually model Jane Greer, who parleys this break into a memorable acting career.

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