June 21, 1942: Rommel Takes Tobruk, Allies Stunned

 Sunday 21 June 1942

German generals Erwin Rommel and Fritz Bayerlein, Afrika Corps Chief of Staff, in Tobruk ca. 21 June 1942 (Moosmuller, Federal Archive Picture 101I-785-0299-08A).

Battle of the Mediterranean: South African Major General Hendrik Klopper, commander of all Allied forces at Tobruk, spends the early hours of 21 June 1942 trying to figure out a strategy following the German breakthrough at the port perimeter. Klopper sends a message to Eighth Army Headquarters, "Am holding out but I do not know for how long." Army headquarters responds by suggesting a breakout on the night of the 21st/22nd. Eighth Army commander General Ritchie orders his 7th Armored Division to attempt a relief mission from the south. At 02:00, Klopper signals that he agrees with the breakout but somewhat cryptically adds that the garrison would "fight to the last man and the last round."

At dawn, though, Klopper reviews the situation and changes his mind. After Klopper informs HQ of this, Ritchie replies, "I cannot tell tactical situation and therefore leave you to act on your own judgment regarding capitulation. With this clearance, Klopper quickly invites some German staff officers to his headquarters in Tobruk to discuss terms. Klopper then orders a surrender which some units do not honor, and scattered fighting by holdouts continues in various places into the 22nd, but the surrender effectively ends the battle for the port. The Germans claim 25,000-33,000 (19,000 British) prisoners (sources differ) of the British 30,000-troop garrison. The Germans only suffer 3360 casualties.

It is a brilliant lightning attack, as the Axis forces only surrounded Tobruk on the 18th. Most German generals would have settled in and built up forces over a long period of time for a set-piece attack against such a formidable target, as Erich von Manstein has done in Crimea regarding Sevastopol. However, Rommel proves here that speed of attack and strategy is sometimes more important than weight of numbers.

Italian medium tank of the Ariete Division advancing on Tobruk, ca. 2 June 1942.

In the United States, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt when an aide come in with a message for the President. FDR then passes the note to Churchill, who has his own military aide confirm the news from London. Churchill later writes that this is the greatest shock he receives during the entire war. He says to FDR, "Give us as many Sherman tanks as you can spare and ship them to the Middle East as quickly as possible." These tanks will prove important - perhaps decisive - at El Alamein in October and November.

On the German side, there is tempered joy., as noted below with General Halder's official reaction. Theater Commander Field Marshal Albert Kesselring visits Rommel's headquarters in the afternoon and reminds him of a previous understanding that an invasion of Malta would follow. To that end, Kesselring informs Rommel that he is withdrawing Luftwaffe units from North Africa to Italy.

British POWs marched out of Tobruk ca. 21 June 1942.

German E-boats are operating off Tobruk to forestall an evacuation by sea and they claim 250-ton South African Navy auxiliary minesweeper HMSAS Parktown. There is one death.

RAF bombers attack and sink 7744-ton German freighter Reichenfels, which is bringing supplies for Rommel's panzers, north of Tripoli. 

British submarine Turbulent torpedoes and destroys Italian destroyer Strale. The Italian ship had run aground due to attacks by Royal Navy Fairey Swordfish) at Ras el Amar on 21 March 1942. There are one dead and 221 survivors. There are alternate dates for all of these events at various places online (this sinking is sometimes fixed on 6 August), but the basic facts are confirmed.

 A Soviet commander of a Cossack unit in the Kharkov sector of the Eastern Front, 21 June 1942 (AP Photo).

Eastern Front: The German 24th Infantry Division continues clearing the north side of Severnaya Bay at Sevastopol. At 11:20, the Soviet North Fort falls and about 182 Soviet prisoners surrender. The Soviet holdouts at the Maxim Gorki fort also have surrendered. There remains scattered Soviet resistance in the area that takes a couple of days to overcome. Holdouts that attempt to escape across the 1000-meter wide bay in small boats become target practice for German artillery.

To the south and east of Sevastopol, the Axis forces remain stuck. The Romanian 18th Infantry, 1st, and 4th Mountain Divisions are advancing slowly up the Chernaya River toward Severnaya Bay, with LIV Corps on its left providing flank protection. Soviet artillery on Sapun Ridge provides good counter-battery fire that destroys Axis artillery pieces.

The Germans are preparing Operation Fridericus II, a shallow envelopment by Sixth Army and First Panzer Army near Kupyansk, to begin on the 22nd. It is one of a series of small preliminary operations to Operation Blau. Heavy rains in this portion of the front have delayed German operations.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Franz Halder barely mentions the fall of Tobruk, or indeed North Africa at all. There is only a succinct "Tobruk taken" at the bottom of his summary. This is more evidence that the General Staff doesn't think much of the North African campaign or, for that matter, of Rommel. They view him as a loose cannon  who "rushes around frittering away his forces." Rommel was not their first choice for command there and he is viewed as a prima donna. That Rommel has succeeded is thus not a cause for joy there. However, Hitler does like Rommel, and the general is considered somewhat of a Fuhrer favorite - another cause for resentment by the other staff officers.

Halder does provide a brief update on the Major Reichel incident:

Major Reichel's plane has been found. He probably is dead. The documents, filled with vital information, must by now be in enemy hands.

Halder is absolutely correct: Stalin has the Blau plans sitting on his desk. However, the Soviet premier believes the plans are faked by the Germans to lead him in the wrong direction and thus completely disregards them.

Italian medium tank M13/40 of the Italian 132nd Panzer Division "Ariete" at Tobruk Harbor ca.  21 June 1942.

The German generals, though, naturally don't know about Stalin's reaction. Halder and his staff's attention is completely preoccupied with the upcoming Operation Blau. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, whose troops will carry out Blau, fears the worst and urges Halder to tell the Fuhrer - who apparently is still on holiday at the Berghof - about the Reichel incident (about which apparently Hitler does not yet know).  Hitler predictably is shocked and arranges to fly back to East Prussia immediately.

Halder does have a lot to say about Sevastopol, though, which arguably is a lot less important to the overall war effort than North Africa:

At Sevastopol, the Battery Headland peninsula is in our hands and consequently we are now controlling almost the entire north shore (LIV Corps). Good progress by 30 Corps. The enemy appears to be abandoning the front opposite the Romanians in order to concentrate his forces against 30 Corps. On the Volkhov, heavy attacks supported by tanks, which were repelled with difficulty. Otherwise, no change.

The war at sea off Sevastopol remains hot as well. Luftwaffe attacks sink two Soviet patrol boats, CKA-125 and CKA-155, off Musketeer's Bay near Sevastopol.  

Shell crater at Fort Stevens from I-25 shelling, 21 June 1942 (National Archives 299678).

Battle of the Pacific: For the second day in a row, a Japanese submarine bombards North America. Yesterday, it was HIJMS I-26 shelling Estevan Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Today, it is I-25 (Meiji Tagami), which follows some fishing vessels coming home after a day's work through minefields to the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon. It then fires 17 14 cm shells from its deck gun at Battery Russell, an artillery installation within Fort Stevens, Washington.

The failure to return fire or take any other action causes a scandal. The commander, Colonel Doney, forbids any counterfire despite numerous requests from the batteries. The reason why is a bit of a mystery, but Doney - who is only in temporary command of the post while the real commander is away - may be trying to assert his authority and "show who is boss" to his troops.

No counter-fire is attempted because the defenders are unable to spot the submarine in the dark. The shells only create craters and destroy power/telephone lines and a baseball field, but this marks the first time during the war that an enemy shells a military installation in the United States.

US Navy submarine USS S-44 torpedoes and sinks 2626-ton Japanese auxiliary gunboat Keijo Maru south of Guadalcanal (a dozen miles west of Gavutu) in the Solomon Islands. There are 63 deaths and 62 survivors, rescued by the Japanese minesweeper W-20.

Two men from Torpedo Squadron Six off of USS Enterprise who have been adrift in a liferaft since 4 June are rescued by a USN PBY-5A 360 miles north of Midway. They had ditched their TBD Devastator during the battle.

German sentries inspecting the Stirling bomber downed on 21 June 1942 near Hoorn, The Netherlands (COR KOOMEN).

European Air Operations: A Stirling bomber flying out of Norfolk on a raid to Emden is downed over the Netherlands by a night fighter in the early morning hours, killing three of the eight crewmen. Flight Lt. Alan Green is briefly hidden by Dutch farmers before being captured and sent to Stalag Luft 3. The three dead crewmen are buried near Hoorn.

NF Oblt. R. Sigmund of II/NJG 2 shoots down another Stirling I bomber, No. W7472, in the North Sea about 3 km west of Bergen aan Zee. All 8 crewmen perish.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-128 (Kptlt. Ulrich Heyse) torpedoes and sinks 5681-ton U.S. freighter West Ira southeast of Barbados.  The ship sinks in 15 minutes after the U-boat stalks it for about six hours. There are one death and 48 survivors. Some survivors are picked up by the Dutch freighter Macuba, others reach shore in their lifeboats.

Royal Navy submarine HMS P.514 - formerly U.S. submarine R-19 that had been transferred under Lend-lease - is sailing on the surface off St. Johns, Newfoundland, when it is mistaken for a U-boat and rammed by a Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper, HMCS Georgian. P.514 sinks with all hands.

Yugoslavian (Croatian) 2317-ton freighter S.S. Lina Matkovic hits a mine and sinks about 1000 yards north of the Cristobal East Breakwater Light near the Panama Canal. The craneship U.S. Atlas salvages the valuable parts of the cargo. This sinking is sometimes listed on the 20th.

Swedish 1847-ton ore freighter SS Eknö hits a mine and sinks in the Weser River.

U.S. 4823-ton freighter Alcoa Cadet hits a mine and sinks in the Kola Inlet near Murmansk. Everyone survives.

Generals Rommel and Bayerlein survey the port of Tobruk ca. 21 June 1942. That appears to be a Type 40 medium off-road passenger car with an inside spare. (Moosmuller, Federal Archive Picture 101I-785-0299-22A).

Partisan Stuff: Following the German victory against the Belov partisans south of Vyazma on the 20th, Germany Fourth Army commander General Kluge ends the ongoing Hannover II anti-partisan operation. Meanwhile, German Second Army winds up Operation Vogelsang, which began on 6 June, near Kirov. It does not discontinue its operations, though, and will begin Vogelsang II on the 22nd. An upcoming anti-partisan operation will be Ninth Army's Operation Seydlitz that begins on 2 July near Rzhev. These anti-partisan operations usually produce little and occupy a lot of troops throughout the summer.

US Military: The War Department elevates the Alaskan Provisional Service Command to XI Air Force Services Command. It will maintain and supply all of 11th Air Force's bases. 

Israel Homefront: Israel records its highest temperature to date at Tirat Avi, 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit (54 Celsius).

American Homefront: President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill travel to Washington, D.C., from FDR's Hyde Park, New York residence. There, they continue their talks during the Second Washington Conference. King Peter II of Yugoslavia also is visiting the United States.

German light tank Pz. Kpfw. I Ausf. A enters Tobruk ca. 21 June 1942.

2022

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.

2021

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

Wednesday 13 May 1942

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) steaming in the Coral Sea area, 13 May 1942. Photographed from USS Enterprise (CV-6). Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-16430.

Battle of the Pacific: Admiral William "Bull" Halsey turns his Task Force 16 north at Efate on 13 May 1942 to defend Nauru and Ocean Island, which the US knows from intercepted Japanese communications are the next Japanese objective. The Japanese have postponed Operation RY, the invasion of those two islands, until 17 May and have no aircraft carriers of their own to cover the landings due to losses at the Battle of the Coral Sea. It is Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz's hope that simply seeing US carriers USS Enterprise and Hornet there will convince the Japanese to abandon the invasions altogether, at least for the time being.

USS Drum (SS-228), on her first patrol out of Pearl Harbor, torpedoes and sinks 5356-ton Japanese freighter Shonan Maru northeast of Mikimoto, Honshu, Japan.

RAAF Hudson bombs attack and sink naval auxiliary ship Taifoku Maru off Ambon, Maluku Islands, Dutch West Indies (Indonesia). 

Japanese 5268-ton ocean liner Nagasaki Maru hits a mine and sinks off Nagasaki. There are 39 deaths.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Chinese 6th Division retreats across the Salwen River and proceeds to Kengtun in Burma.

Colonel-General Erich von Manstein, Luftwaffe Colonel-General Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, and Colonel Torsten Christ in the trenches/observation post at a briefing in the Crimea, May 1942 (Federal Archive Image 141-0227).

Eastern Front: The Red Army advance north and south of Kharkov slows dramatically on 13 May. German General Paulus of Sixth Army receives three full-strength divisions as reserves and they are enough to prevent a Soviet breakthrough to Kharkov itself. The Red Army thrust to the south of the city gains some ground, but those troops have no strategic objectives except closing the pincer west of Kharkov - and that can't happen if the northern advance stalls, and that advance is lagging. The Red Army units all along the front lines are taking heavy casualties and losing strength rapidly, but Stalin is pouring fresh troops into the breakout attempts to maintain momentum.

Hitler is watching the situations in Crimea and around Kharkov closely. The situation becomes a great opportunity for Hitler to play warlord with the Luftwaffe, which is a little unusual for him since he prefers to control army units. While the two battles are close geographically, they are separated by the Sea of Azov and may as well be at opposite ends of the 2000-mile front. Hitler finetunes the Luftwaffe's impact in both theaters. He moves ground-attack units from Crimea to Kharkov, but refuses to move the bulk of 8th Air Corps (Fliegerkorps VIII) until victory at Kerch is assured.

At Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia, General Franz Halder writes in his war diary:

In Sixth Army sector, heavy attacks south and northeast of Kharkov, supported by several hundred tanks. Serious penetrations. Counter attack by 23rd (Panzer) and Third (Panzer) Divisions east of Kharkov. Grave crisis south of Kharkov (131st Division).

As Halder notes, the real danger is south of Kharkov, with the northern Red Army thrust gaining much less ground.

The Indian Express of 13 May 1942 headlines the German offensive in Crimea.

Here we get into subtleties of strategy that can be difficult to convey, but this is very important for what it reveals about how the war is being conducted at Fuhrer Headquarters. In effect, the Luftwaffe now is tasked with serving as mobile artillery for Fliegerkorps IV at Kharkov while maintaining its overpowering bombing and air-superiority roles for Fliegerkorps VIII in Crimea. Its strength is split between the two battles along tactical lines, or more accurately put, skewed. The Luftwaffe generals believe that the air effort should be more balanced between the two battles at all levels to establish dominance and not bifurcated as Hitler has done. Given a choice between the two, the Kharkov battle is more critical and should be the one with a heavy Luftwaffe presence, not Crimea. Hitler, though, thinks he knows best and always has the last word. Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richthofen in particular has some choice words to say about this.

It's dangerous to try to read someone else's mind, but Hitler has his reasons for wanting Crimea absolutely secured before switching to the more pressing situation at Kharkov. He has somewhat of an obsession with Crimea, which he sees as a future tourist/retirement spot for the Third Reich. Manstein also is one of his favored generals due to the successes in France and Hitler wants him to succeed. Hitler also has been thinking about Crimea all winter long while Kharkov is a new situation, just part of the endless back-and-forth on the main front. Crimea was one of the major unresolved situations from 1941 and Hitler just wants that off the table permanently.

Due to Hitler's interference, the Luftwaffe remains outnumbered around Kharkov at this time despite the piecemeal reinforcements from Crimea. This is somewhat bizarre since the Kharkov battle is absolutely critical to winning the war while Crimea is not (winning at Kharkov and advancing to the Caucasus automatically would win the Crimea campaign as a minor side effect). The Crimea battle is in a subsidiary zone and already is basically won, so why keep the majority of the Luftwaffe effort there? This is the question the Luftwaffe generals are asking.

However, the situation is not drastically affected by Hitler's choices. The Luftwaffe still maintains air superiority in the key Kharkov areas because self-sacrificing fighter crews fly ten or more missions apiece every day (two or three would be a normal full day). Thus, Hitler's misplaced strategy kind of works because of the dedication and exertions of the Luftwaffe pilots (it is well known as the most National Socialist of the three main service branches and its members are willing to go to extreme lengths to make Hitler's projects succeed at its own expense). There are no "Union rules" in the Luftwaffe and it does have the best equipment even if it is overused.

Some Luftwaffe units from other areas of the front also are being sent to Kharkov, but that will take a few days. It is worth pointing out that while Hitler's counterproductive choices can be overcome at this point of the war because of the Wehrmacht's innate strength and dedication, they would not work if the margin of overall power were to alter to the Wehrmacht's disfavor. And we all know how that works out, but let's stick with the here and now.

In Crimea, Soviet opposition is collapsing in the face of General Erich von Manstein's overpowering Operation Trappenjagd. The Red Army hoped to make a stand at a second line (the "Sultanovka Line"), but the German 132nd and 170th Infantry Divisions blow through it in the morning of the 13th with the 22nd Panzer Division close behind. There remains little standing between them and Kerch. Halder notes approvingly in his war diary:

On the Kerch peninsula, the battle appears to have been decided in our favor (more than 40,000 prisoners). What resistance the enemy will able to put up in this eastern part of the peninsula cannot yet be estimated.

It has been a brilliant victory for 11th Army and Manstein.

European Air Operations: Activity remains light on the Channel Front. Four RAF Wellington bombers attempt a raid on Essen, but the target is covered by clouds and no attack is made there. Three of the bombers choose secondary targets such as Mulheim. There are no losses.

The Halifax Herald of 13 May 1942 is full of news about U-boat attacks in the St. Lawrence River.

Battle of the Atlantic: German auxiliary cruiser/raider Stier (formerly freighter Cairo) has been sailing down the English Channel since 10 May in order to break out into the Atlantic. The British watch the Channel closely, so this is always a trickier route than sailing north around Scotland. The Royal Navy catches wind of the breakout attempt and sends motor torpedo boats (MTBs) to intercept it. A ferocious small-boat action ensues during which the Germans lose two torpedo boats (932-ton Iltis with 118 dead and 923-ton Seeadler with 85 dead) and the British one MTB (32-ton HM MTB 220).

Wolfpack attacks on convoy ON 92 about 675 nautical miles (1250 km)southeast of Cape race continue. U-94 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks two ships. The first is 4399-ton freighter Batna. There are one death and 41 survivors, who are rescued by British freighter Bury.

U-94 also torpedoes and sinks 4471-ton Swedish freighter Tolken. All 34 crewmen survive, rescued by British freighter Bury.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 6630-ton British freighter City of Melbourne west of Barbados. There is one death and 86 survivors.

Dutch freighter Koenjit (formerly Stjerneborg), one of two ships sunk by U-156 on 13 May 1942.

U-156 also torpedoes and sinks Dutch freighter Koenjit 300 nautical miles (560 km) northeast of Barbados. All 37 crewmen survive. A motor launch (15-ton Letitia Portia) is being carried by Koenjit and also sinks.

U-128 (Kptlt. Ulrich Heyse), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 3491-ton British freighter Denpark far off the coast of Mauretania. There are 21 deaths and 25 survivors, who are rescued by British freighter City of Windsor.

U-162 (FrgKpt. Jürgen Wattenberg), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7699-ton US tanker Esso Houston 150 nautical miles (280 km) east of Barbados. There are one death and 41 survivors, who are rescued by Norwegian freighter Havprins or reach land in lifeboats.

U-69 (Oblt. Ulrich Gräf), on its eighth patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 2606-ton US freighter Norlantic northeast of Caracas, Venezuela. There are seven deaths and 22 survivors, who are rescued by Dutch freighters India and Mississippi and Norwegian freighter Marpesia.

U-506 (Kptlt. Erich Würdemann), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 8862-ton US tanker Gulfpenn in the Gulf of Mexico six miles off the coast of Louisiana. There are 13 deaths and 38 survivors, who are rescued by Honduran freighter Teide.

U-156 torpedoes and sinks British freighter City of Melbourne on 13 May 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Norwegian 5062-ton freighter Hav hits a mine and is badly damaged off Port Said, Egypt. The ship is taken in tow and beached, but ultimately is written off. There are two deaths and 36 survivors.

Two separate civilians on Malta report that Axis pilots threw grenades at them. The main current Axis target is Hal Far airfield.

Partisans: An Axis ant-partisan operation in the Balkans, Operation Trio, officially concludes today. The operation is moderately successful in achieving its objectives of clearing out eastern Bosnia of partisans and relieving a besieged Croatian garrison at Rogatica. This operation settles nothing any finality, so it becomes just one in a series of similar actions against the partisans.

Perhaps inevitably, Operation Trio has revealed fundamental divisions within both the Axis and partisan forces. The two sides have begun fighting within themselves along ideological as well as nationalistic, lines. On the Axis side, the Italians complain that their participation has been limited by the Germans in order to prevent them from expanding their zone of influence. On the partisan side, the royalist Chetnik forces have refused to cooperate with the largely communist main partisan forces and have mounted several "coups" in mixed units. The Chetnik coups have resulted in numerous deaths of communists in those units and stoked antagonism within the partisan movement. 

The Ustaše are suspicious of a land grab by the Italians, while the Chetniks avoid combat against the Germans but delight in fighting the Ustaše. Many Chetniks join the Italian forces as auxiliaries, while the partisan main forces avoid fighting the Ustaše but have no problem fighting their supposed Chetnik allies. It is all very confusing to outsiders, and reports in the western media reveal a complete misunderstanding of what is actually going on. War correspondents tend to lavish praise on the Chetniks as a powerful anti-Axis force when their role is much murkier, while the communism of the main partisan forces is downplayed.

The end result has been that many partisans have been killed by both the Axis forces and at the hand of other partisans. The Axis have temporarily "recovered" some cities and territory, but the true significance has been the deterioration of internal relations on both sides. A follow-up attack, Trio II, already is in progress. However, it achieves little because the partisans have evacuated the area.

President Manuel Quezon visits President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., 13 May 1942.

US/Vichy France Relations: The United States and France reach a tentative agreement regarding aircraft carrier Béarn, light cruiser Emile Bertin, and training cruiser Jeanne D'Arc at Martinique, French West Indies. Amiral (Admiral) Georges Robert, High Commissioner of the Republic to the Antilles, agrees to immobilize the ships. As part of the agreement, the Béarn transfers two-thirds of her fuel to a tanker and disables four of her six boilers. The ship also disables some of its weapons. The Vichy government prefers that the ships be sabotaged, but this is not done, at least now.

German Military: Hitler instructs Armaments Ministers Albert Speer to convert three ships (Europa, Potsdam, and Gneisenau) into auxiliary aircraft carriers. He says that it is "entirely out of the question" for surface forces to operate with air protection. The stumbling block is raw materials, which are in short supply. Once those are obtained, the conversions can be completed within a year.

US Military: US troops replace New Zealand troops in Fiji.

The Bureau of Navigation becomes the Bureau of Naval Personnel.

Ford shows the first M4A3 medium tank, later to become famous as the Sherman Tank.

British Military: King George VI is named the Commander in Chief of the British Home Guard.

American Homefront: Boston Braves lefthanded pitcher Jim Tobin hits three consecutive home runs and pitches a complete game to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5, at Braves Field. He is the first Major League pitcher to hit three home runs in a game since 1886.

The prototype M4A3 Sherman tank, first rolled out by Ford on 13 May 1942.

May 1942

May 1, 1942: Japanese Take Mandalay

May 2, 1942: Cruiser Edinburgh Sunk

May 3, 1942: Japanese Take Tulagi

May 4, 1942: Fletcher Attacks at Tulagi

May 5, 1942: British Invade Madagascar

May 6, 1942: Corregidor Falls to Japan

May 7, 1942: Scratch One Flattop!

May 8, 1942: Lexington Sunk in the Coral Sea

May 9, 1942: Manstein on the Attack in Crimea

May 10, 1942: Spitfires Rule Over Malta

May 11, 1942: First Japanese Retreat at Deboyne

May 12, 1942: Soviets Attack At Kharkov

May 13, 1942: Crisis at Kharkov

May 14, 1942: Where in the World is AF

May 15, 1942: Germans Take Kerch

May 16, 1942: Sobibor Begins Operation

May 17, 1942: Germans Counterattack at Kharkov

May 18, 1942: Soviet Command Confusion 

May 19, 1942: Soviet Panic at Kharkov

May 20, 1942: Churchill and Molotov Negotiate

May 21, 1942: U-106 Sinks the Wrong Tanker

May 22, 1942: AF is Midway!

May 23, 1942: German Forces Surround Soviet Armies at Kharkov

May 24, 1942: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Full Swing

May 25, 1942: Soviet Breakout at Kharkov Fails

May 26, 1942: Rommel Pounces in North Africa

May 27, 1942: Heydrich Fatally Wounded in Prague

May 28, 1942: German Victory At Kharkov

May 29, 1942: Japanese at Madagascar

May 30, 1942: First RAF Thousand-Plane Raid

May 31, 1942: The Attack on Sydney Harbour

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