This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

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10 December 1941

BRAZIL: USN PBY Catalinas of Patrol Squadron Fifty Two (VP 52) supported by seaplane tender (destroyer) USS 'Greene' (AVD-13) and small seaplane tender USS 'Thrush' (AVP-3), begin antisubmarine patrols over the south Atlantic from Natal, and thus inaugurate operations from Brazilian waters.

NORTH AFRICA: British General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in- Chief Middle East Command, tells British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: "Enemy is in full retreat."
.....The siege of Tobruk is lifted after eight months as the Polish garrison breaks out of town early in the morning and joins other British Eighth Army forces in the Acroma area. A forward supply base is soon organized at Tobruk.


EDIT: Contributions by members will be marked with name of the contributor in parenthesis, like this: (Njaco).

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I will sticky this thread. I also have a really good book in German called the Day by Day Chronicals of WW2 as well as the Complete War diaries of the OKW so I will add to this thread whenever possible.

[Hunter368]

I like this idea, very cool guys.

[syscom3]

Come on you guys..... start posting. I'm busy with the Pacific thread





NORTH AFRICA: 5 NZ Infantry Brigade starts the attack on Gazala.
.....A quote from one of the solidiers who had been through Greece and Crete. Sergeant Hargreaves,44 who was on the left flank of the advancing company, has also left a stirring account: ‘… So steady was the advance that the gunners could not range quickly enough with the result that the shells were bursting behind our line, though to me it seemed that several direct hits were made on the right flank but the boys came out of the smoke and dust still in line, never faltering. It was a magnificent sight to see that thin line moving steadily forward into a hail of lead, with shells of all sizes … bursting all around…. the fact that the ground was sandy saved more casualties…. One more dash brought us to within bayonet reach. We crossed the ground swiftly, some of the boys shouting encouragement to each other. From my position on the left flank, I could see our line, straight enough to bring joy to any bayonet instructor, stretching away to the right flank. Roaring “Forward!”, I came up ready for the final dash. It made the blood sing to see the boys leap forward, a steady line of gleaming steel backed by grim faces. Nothing short of death could stop them now.’ (posted by kiwi)

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

UNITED STATES: The United States declares war on Germany and Italy. Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador soon follow.

GERMANY: Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slowakia announce they are at war with the US and England with Germany. Romania and Hungary declare war on the USA.

WESTERN FRONT: In Paris the Germans begin searching door to door for Jewish residents.

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NORTH AFRICA: XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, opens an attack on the German's Gazala line and meet firm resistance. Both sides suffer heavy losses.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: On 11 December, the British destroyers HMS 'Legion' (G 74), Maori F 24) and 'Sikh' (F 82) and the Dutch destroyer 'Isaac Sweers' leaves Gibraltar for the Eastern Mediterranean. During the night, they receive a radio message from a patrolling RAF Wellington about two Italian light cruiser steaming southwards. These ships are carrying a cargo of fuel for German forces in North The destroyers steam at 30 knots through the Skerki-channel and spot several light flashes and vague silhouettes near Cape Bon, Tunisia, at about 0200 hours. The flotilla rounds the Cape and sights the two approaching Italian light cruisers R.N. 'Alberto da Barbiano' and 'Alberico di Giussano'. HMS 'Sikh' is leading the group, then HMS 'Legion', HMS 'Maori' and finally HNMS 'Isaac Sweers'. Two of the four fire torpedoes; topredoes from HMS 'Sikh' strike the first cruiser, which is also hit by one torpedo of and gunfire from HMS Legion and another torpedo from HMS 'Maori'. The cruiser is ablaze and quickly starts to sink. The second cruiser opens fire but misses and is then sunk by one torpedo from HMS 'Legion' and the concentrated gunfire by all destroyers. HNMS 'Isaac Sweers' then encounters the Italian torpedo boat 'Cigno', which is attacked by gunfire and missed with four torpedoes. The destroyer reports also the sinking of an Italian motor torpedo boat, but this is not confirmed by the Italian Admiralty. The Allied destroyers arrive at Malta on 13 December.
......In the Ionian Sea, the Italians begin a major convoy to Benghazi, Libya, using their main fleet, with battleships, as escort. Two of the transports are sunk today by the British submarine HMS/M 'Upright' (N 89) about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) east-southeast of the Italian naval base at Taranto, Italy, in position 40.10N, 18.00E.
....While returning from a plane ferry mission the British Aircraft Carrier HMS 'Ark Royal' was was hit by one torpedo from the German submarine 'U-81'. Progressive flooding choked the boiler uptakes; since she had no diesel backups, all power was lost, including power to the pumps. HMS 'Legion' was ordered to take aboard 1487 officers and crew to transport to Gibraltar. After several hours, already listing heavily while under tow towards Gibraltar, the carrier capsized to starboard and sank on 14 November 1941.[1] Only one crewman was lost during the evacuation of the ship. (posted by DerAdler ist Gelandet)

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army launches a counter-offensive from the Kalinin area toward besieged Leningrad. German forces of Heeresgruppe Mitte evacuate Tula.

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EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet 114th Division attacks in the Svir sectorin Finland and takes the village of Gora. Battles continue for nearly a month.
.... German forces evacuate Kalinin 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Moscow.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: While escorting a troop convoy, the Italian battleship R.N. 'Vittorio Veneto' is torpedoed by the British submarine HMS/M 'Urge' (N 17) about 17 nautical miles (32 kilometers) south-southwest of Messina, Sicily, in position 37.53N, 15.29E. The convoy is recalled and the battleship returns to base for repairs.
.....While escorting a convoy, the British light cruiser HMS 'Galatea' (71) is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine 'U-557' about 36 nautical miles (67 kilometers) west of Alexandria, Egypt, in position 31.17N, 29.13E. Four hundred sixty nine of the crew are lost and about 100 survivors are picked up by two destroyers. (Jack McKillop)

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EGYPT: The Government breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary and Romania.
....A British supply convoy bound for Malta leaves Alexandria.

EASTERN FRONT: On the central front north of Moscow, the Red Army takes Klin, on the rail line to Leningrad.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-127' is sunk about 170 nautical miles (315 kilometers) west-northwest of the Tangier Zone in position 36.28N, 09.12W, by depth charges from the Australian destroyer HMAS 'Nestor' (G 02) which is escorting the 32 ships in convoy HG-76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); all 51 crewmen are lost.

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NORTH AFRICA: Rommel begins the withdrawal from Gazala to El Agheila. A second Italian supply convoy for Rommel sails from Italy. Covered by 4 battleships, 5 cruisers and 21 destroyers, this convoy is commanded by Admiral Iachino.

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ALBANIA: The Government declares war on the U.S.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-131' is sunk about 191 nautical miles (353 kilometers) east-northeast of the Madeira Islands in position 34.12N, 13.35W, by depth charges and gunfire from the British destroyers HMS 'Exmoor' (L 0, 'Blankney' (L 30) and 'Stanley' (I 73), the corvette HMS 'Pentstemon' (K 61) and the sloop HMS 'Stork' (L 81), and by depth charges from a British (F4F) Martlet of No. 802 Squadron in the escort carrier HMS 'Audacity' (D 10) all of which are escorting the convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); all 47 U-boat crewmen are lost. HMS 'Stanley' is the former USN destroyer USS 'McCalla' (DD-253) which was commissioned as HMS 'Stanley' (I-73) on 23 October 1940, as part of the destroyers-for-bases deal.

BLACK SEA: The Soviet submarine M-59 is sunk by depth charge by Romanian destroyer 'Ferdinand'.

MEDITERRANEAN: Yesterday, a large Italian convoy left Naples, Italy, and by the time it had reached Sicily, it was escorted by the battleship R.N. 'Caio Duilio', the light cruisers R.N. 'Emanuele Filiberto Duca'd'Aosta', 'Raimondo Montecuccoli' and 'Muzio Attendolo' and a few destroyers. Not too far away, a second group, composed of the battleships R.N. 'Littorio', 'Andrea Doria' and 'Giulio Cesare', the heavy cruisers R.N. 'Trento' and 'Gorizia' and several destroyers, provided additional support. Such a display of force is unnecessarily caused by the mistaken spotting of two British battleships in Malta. Today, a Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane spots a British formation proceeding from Alexandria, Egypt, toward the central Mediterranean. A battleship, identified as part of the group, is actually a tanker, but the faulty identification is repeated several times. During the day British naval Force K, composed of the light cruisers HMS 'Neptune' (20), 'Aurora' (12), 'Penelope' (97) and destroyers HMS 'Kandahar' (F 2, 'Lance' (G 87), 'Lively' (G 40) and 'Havock' (H 43), joins Admiral Vian's Force B from Alexandria. Tonight this British force meets the Italian convoy escort. The action, the First Battle of Sirte, is spent protecting the convoy and is therefore indecisive. Both navies are simply escorting their convoys, but each thinks of the other as in pursuit of a naval engagement. The British are actually trying a double convoy attempt, one eastbound and one westbound. While the British commander Admiral Cunningham orders the convoy commander Admiral Sir Philip Vian to avoid direct contact, Italian Admiral Angelo Iachino was in active pursuit of a direct confrontation. The distance between the two groups, and some British avoidance maneuvers, did not allow the battleship R.N. 'Littorio' group to sight the British until almost dusk. The sighting is aided by the antiaircraft guns of the British forces which are actively trying to repulse an Axis aerial attack. The 'Littorio' opens fire at about 32 kilometers (17.3 nautical miles) from the British force; too far a distance for the British unit to reply. Admiral Vian immediately attempts a retreating maneuver with the aid of a smoke screen. British units receive some direct hits, but they were able to disappear into the darkness of the night. The British ships run into a newly-laid Italian minefield; the light cruiser HMS 'Neptune' (20) hits four mines and is sunk and there is only one survivor from a crew of 767 and the destroyer HMS 'Kandahar is sunk but all of her crew are taken off first. The light cruiser HMS Aurora is badly damaged and destroyer HMS 'Penelope' is slightly damaged.

ENGLAND: Major General James E Chaney, Chief Special Observer Group, U.S. Army (SPOBS), writes to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army on the "Construction Program of U.S. Forces in UK," which indicates a shortage of accommodations for proposed U.S. forces in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

EASTERN FRONT: In the Crimea, German attacks by the 54.Korps of the German Heeresgruppe Sud begin against the city of Sevastopol despite continuing Soviet offensives in other areas.

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ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-434' is sunk about 225 nautical miles (416 kilometers) north-northwest of the Madeira Islands in position 36.15N, 15.48W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS 'Blankney' (L30) and 'Stanley' (I73) which are escorting Convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); 42 of the 44 crewmen survive.

WESTERN FRONT: The first German submarine involved in Unternehmen DRUMBEAT (Paukenschlag) , 'U-125', sails from Lorient. Unternehmen DRUMBEAT is an attack on shipping along the North American coast by five U-boats. During the day, RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Brest and the crews reported that, at long last, the German battleship 'Gneisenau', still harbored in the port, is hit during an attack by 47 aircraft.

GERMANY: Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander in Chief of the Army, resigns his post due to ill health .

UNITED STATES: Censorship is imposed with the passage of the first American War Powers Act. This act is passed by Congress, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permits him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price takes no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they do. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remains just that. The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 8984 that provides that the Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet will take supreme command of the operating forces of all Navy fleets and coastal frontier commands, and be directly responsible to the President.The State Department announces that Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, French West Indies, have reached an agreement neutralizing French Caribbean possessions.

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WESTERN FRONT: The British destroyer HMS 'Stanley' [I 73, ex-USN USS 'McCalla' (DD-253)] is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-574' about 336 nautical miles (622 kilometers) north of the Madeira Islands in position 38.12N, 17.23W. 'Stanley' is escorting about 30 ships in convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.); only 25 of her 161 man crew survive. Within 12-minutes, 'U-574' is sunk by ramming and depth charges from another escort, the British sloop HMS 'Stork' (U 81); 16 of the 44 crewmen on the sub survive.

NORTH AFRICA: During the night of 18/19 December, the Italian submarine R. Smg. Scir launches three SLC (Slow Moving Torpedo) human torpedoes off the British naval base at Alexandria. The SLCs are a 21-inch (53 centimeter) torpedo fitted with an electric motor powered by batteries with an explosive charge in the detachable head. The weapon is manned by two operators using breathing apparatus. After release the SLCs, the submarine returns to La Spezia, Italy. Anticipating the return of the British Force B to Alexandria, the harbor nets are left open allowing the three SLCs to slip in and direct their weapons toward the designated targets. Since the expected aircraft carrier HMS 'Eagle' (94) is no longer in the harbor, the three attach their explosive charges to the battleships HMS 'Valiant' (02) and 'Queen Elizabeth' (00) and the large tanker SS 'Sagona'. Two Italian frogmen are captured, Lieutenants Luigi Durand de la Penne and Bianchi. They refuse to divulge any information until moments before the explosion (because they are being interrogated right above the area of the keel where the explosion is to occur). At 0600 hours local, the first charge detonates under the tanker SS 'Sagona' and badly damages both the tanker and the destroyer HMS 'Jervis' (F 00), which is moored alongside for refueling. The charge under HMS 'Valiant' detonates at 0620 hours, and the one under HMS 'Queen Elizabeth' at 0624 hours. The depth of water is 15 to 50 feet (4,6 to 15 meters) and the charges weighed about 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Both battleships were severely damaged and remained out of the war for a period of time. The Italians are interned in a POW camp for the rest of the war. This attack, which neutralizes the ability of the British to oppose the Italian Regia Marina with its battleships, allows deeply needed convoys to supply Axis forces in Africa. Additionally, de la Penne and Bianchi are awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour in 1945 by Vice-Admiral Charles Morgan, the 'Valiant's' skipper at the time.
....Axis forces continue their retreat in Cyrenaica. The XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, continues to follow the withdrawing Axis forces, the Indian 4th Division advancing along the coast to Derna and the British 7th Armoured Division across the desert. Dictator Benito Mussolini requests German assistance for his hard-pressed troops in the Cyrenaica region of Libya in the form of a Panzer Division and various logistical support.

GERMANY: With the retirement of Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander in Chief of the Army yesterday, Chancellor Adolf Hitler himself assumes personal command of the Army, especially of its operations on the Eastern front. Initial success leads Hitler to a hypnotic belief in his ability. When the success turns, Hitler remains convinced and therefore believes that the efforts of others is at fault.

INTERNATIONAL: Colombia breaks relations with Germany and Italy; Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary and Nicaragua declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

MEDITERRANEAN: While on their way to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli the British Force K [light cruisers HMS 'Neptune' (20), 'Aurora'(12), 'Penelope' (97) and the destroyers HMS 'Kandahar' (F 2, 'Lance' (G 87), 'Lively' (G 40) and 'Havock' (H 43)] run into a newly laid Italian minefield. HMS 'Neptune' sinks while HMS 'Aurora' and 'Kandahar' are badly damaged and HMS 'Penelope' is lightly damaged. HMS 'Aurora' is patched up at Malta before returning home for repairs at Liverpool from April to June 1942. HMS 'Penelope' is repaired at Malta but is bombed on 26 March 1942 while still under repair. She leaves Malta on 8 April 1942 for full repairs at the New York Navy Yard in the U.S. These repairs are completed in September 1942.

UNITED STATES: The US Selective Service (draft) Act is amended requiring the registration of all males 18-64. The age for those subject to military service is 20-44. Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, recommends to the War Department to round up "all alien subjects 14 years of age or over, of enemy nations and remove them to the Zone of the Interior (ZI)," because the West Coast had become a wartime Theater of Operations. DeWitt also writes, "...that there are approximately 40,000 of such enemy aliens and it is believed that they constitute an immediate and potential menace to vital measures of defense."
....Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs relieves Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
....The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.

EASTERN FRONT: The Germans continue their attack on Sevastopol, while the Soviets bring 14,000 men and supplies into the area as reinforcements.

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WESTERN FRONT: The German submarine 'U-751' puts three torpedoes into British escort aircraft carrier HMS 'Audacity' (D 10) causing her to sink about 441 nautical miles (817 kilometers) northeast of Lagens Field, Azores Islands, in position 43.45N, 19.54W. In the general counter-attack, German submarine 'U-567' is detected and sunk by depth charges from the British sloop HMS 'Deptford '(U 53) and corvette HMS 'Samphire' (K 12 about 444 nautical miles (822 kilometers) northeast of Lagens Field in position 44.02N, 20.10W; all 47 crewmen on the U-boat are lost. All of the British vessels are escorting convoy HG76 (Gibraltar to the U.K.).
....German submarine 'U-451' is sunk about 18 nautical miles (33 kilometers) west-northwest of the Tangier Zone in position 35.55N, 06.08W, by depth charges from a British Fleet Air Arm Swordfish Mk. I, aircraft of No. 812 Squadron based at Gibraltar. The Swordfish is equipped with air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radar. This is the first submarine to be destroyed by an aircraft at night. Only one of the 45 man crew in the U-boat survives.
....The USN light cruiser USS 'Omaha' (CL-4) and destroyer USS 'Somers' (DD-381), operating out of Recife, Brazil, encounter a darkened ship that acts suspicious and evasive when challenged. USS 'Omaha' fires a starshell and illuminates the stranger; USS 'Somers' sends an armed boarding party that learns that the merchantman nearly fired upon is the Soviet freighter SS 'Nevastroi'.

GERMANY: Chancellor Adolf Hitler issues a proclamation to the armed forces after taking over as Commander-in- Chief of the Army, saying, "After fifteen years of work I have achieved, as a common German soldier and merely with my fanatical will-power, the unity of the German nation, and have freed it from the death sentence of Versailles."

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WESTERN FRONT: The second German submarine involved in Operation Drumbeat, 'U-123', sets sail from Lorient for North America.
....Free French forces seize control of the colony of St. Pierre and Miquelon, two islands off the coast of Newfoundland. These islands had been governed by pro-Vichy French officials.

NORTH AFRICA: Because of supply difficulties, which increase as pursuit progresses westward, elements of XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, are forced to remain in place. However, the Indian 4th Division seizes Barce, on the coast, and forward elements of the 7th Armoured Division force the Germans to retire from Antelat to Agedabia.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine 'U-79' is sunk about 69 nautical miles (129 kilometers) east of Tobruk, Libya, in position 32.15N, 25.19E,, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS 'Hasty' (H 24) and 'Hotspur' (H 01); all 44 crewmen survive.

EASTERN FRONT: The outer ring of Russian forts around Sevastopol is finally captured by the Germans.

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WESTERN FRONT: The third German submarine involved in Operation Drumbeat, 'U-66', sets sail from Lorient for North America.
.... Free French Naval Forces take possession of the two islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast of Newfoundland without firing a shot. A strong protest is lodged by U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull but after several weeks of bickering between U.S., Canadian and British diplomats and "the so called Free French" as Hull describes them the coup remains a fait accompli.

NORTH AFRICA: A detachment of the 7th Armoured Division, XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, enters Benghazi and finds that the Germans have withdrawn.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine 'U-568' torpedoes and sinks the British corvette HMS 'Salvia' (K 97) about 104 nautical miles (193 kilometers) west-northwest of Alexandria, Egypt, in position 31.46N, 28.00E. All 106 crewmen on the corvette are killed.

ENGLAND: The Avro Lancaster Mk. I enters service with No. 44 Squadron at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England. The Lancaster does not make its operational debut until 3 March 1942.

UNITED STATES: The USN commissions the light cruiser USS 'Atlanta'(CL-51) at the New York, New York Naval Shipyard. The USN now has 20 light cruisers in commission.