Day 536 February 17, 1941

Just after midnight, U-101 sinks British SS Gairsoppa (carrying pig iron, tea, silver ingots and general cargo) 370 miles West of Cornwall, England. 82 crew and 2 gunners are killed (1 survivor makes landfall near The Lizard, Cornwall, on March 1). British tanker MV Edwy R. Brown (carrying fuel from Aruba) is left burning and sinking 100 miles South of Iceland after U-103 hits her with 5 torpedoes between 6.33 and 8.33 AM. 48 crew and 2 gunners abandon ship in 2 lifeboats but they are never found. At 10.12 PM, U-69 sinks British MV Siamese Prince, 200 miles northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland. She is 1 day from reaching Liverpool, sailing from New York, USA, via Nassau, Bahamas. A notable passenger is Roy Widdicombe, who has been recuperating in Nassau from 70 days in an open boat after the sinking of SS Anglo Saxon on August 21, 1940. The 48 crew, 1 gunner and 8 passengers take to the lifeboats but all are lost in rough seas.

Free French led by Philippe Leclerc advance on the Italian base at Kufra oasis in the Sahara Desert, Southeastern Libya (consisting of the Buma airfield, a radio station, and the El Tag fort). Italians send out 70 men and 10 AS37 armoured personnel carriers, “Saharan company” motorized infantry, to intercept but Leclerc’s forces brush them aside and lay siege to El Tag fort.

Turkey and Bulgaria sign a friendship agreement in Sofia, Bulgaria. Under pressure from Hitler, Turkey accepts that the movement of German troops through Bulgaria is not an act of war, allowing Germany to prepare for an invasion of Greece. This also blocks any potential British-Turkish alliance, on which Churchill has been relying to control the Balkans.

Day 535 February 16, 1941

British cruiser HMS Neptune is damaged again by German bombing at Chatham (in dock to repair bomb damage sustained at Plymouth on February 9). The scheduled refit and the repairs will be completed on May 1.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Ormonde is bombed and sunk by German aircraft 25 miles East of Aberdeen, Scotland (19 killed).

5 miles off Chebba, Tunisia, a Fairey Swordfish from 830 Squadron, Malta, sinks Italian steamer Juventus.

Day 534 February 15, 1941

At 0.38 AM 600 miles West of Ireland, U-123 sinks British SS Alnmoor (all 55 hands lost).

German cruiser Admiral Hipper returns to Brest, France, after a short but successful cruise (8 ships sunk, 34,000 tons), despite efforts to intercept her by British destroyers HMS Kelly, Kipling, Kashmir and Jackal.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. General Platt suspends the piecemeal attacks on the Dongolaas Gorge, the gateway to Keren, to regroup and reinforce his troops and prepare for a set piece battle.

Day 533 February 14, 1941

Operation Canvas, Italian Somaliland, East Africa. General Cunningham’s African forces attack the port of Kismayu where the Juba River flows into the Indian Ocean, supported by shelling from British cruisers HMS Shropshire, Hawkins, Ceres and Capetown. They capture Kismayu, opening the way to the main Italian position at Jilib and the road to Mogadishu.

At midday in the Indian Ocean, German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis, prize ships Ketty Brøvig & Speybank and supply ship Tannenfels (sent from Italian Somaliland) rendezvous with cruiser Admiral Scheer (the largest group of German ships outside European waters during WWII). Despite stormy seas, the ships resupply each other and tanker Ketty Brøvig refuels Admiral Scheer.

400 miles West of Ireland, U-101 sinks British steamer Holystone at 10.57 PM (36 crew, 2 gunners and 2 passengers lost) and Italian submarine Bianchi sinks British SS Belcrest.

British motor torpedo boat MTB.41 sinks on a mine in the North Sea (8 killed).

Day 532 February 13, 1941

U-96 and U-103 attack convoy HX-106 225 miles South of Iceland, sinking 2 British tankers carrying fuel from Aruba. U-96 sinks MV Clea at 3.08 PM (all 59 hands lost). At 4.25 PM, MV Arthur F. Corwin is stopped and set on fire by 2 torpedoes from U-103 and then finished off by U-96 at 7.50 PM (all 44 crew and 2 gunners lost).

Eritrea, East Africa. Fighting continues in the mountains near Keren while Royal Navy attacks the Red Sea port of Massawa (Operation Composition). British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable (on the way to the Mediterranean to replace HMS Illustrious) launches 14 Fairey Albacore biplanes to bomb Massawa harbour, sinking Italian steamer Moncalieri and causing minor damage to Italian warships. 2 Albacore are shot down and the 6 aircrew taken prisoner (only until April, when Massawa is captured by Allied forces).

British antisubmarine trawler HMT Rubens is bombed and sunk by a German FW200 aircraft 275 miles Southwest of Ireland (all 21 hands lost).

At Plymouth, England, anti-submarine trawler Notre Dame De France collides with British destroyers HMS Ripley and HMS Burwell during their seatrials after refitting (both are ex-US Navy, transferred under the destroyers for bases agreement). HMS Ripley is damaged requiring repairs at Devonport, Plymouth, until March 3.

Day 531 February 12, 1941

The balance of power changes in North Africa. Operation Compass is stopped. Following the previous pattern, General O'Connor sends Colonel Dorman-Smith to Cairo to get British Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Wavell’s permission for the next advance. Wavell is under instructions from Churchill to divert troops from Libya to Greece and when Dorman-Smith arrives, he finds maps of the Balkans replacing maps of North Africa on the wall at Wavell’s HQ. British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and CIGS Sir John Dill leave London for Cairo to coordinate military assistance to Greece. Operation Sonnenblume begins. Rommel arrives in Tripoli. Another convoy of Afrika Korps troops leaves Naples aboard steamers Adana, Aegina, Kybfels & Ruhr, escorted by Italian destroyer Camicia Nera and torpedo boat Procione, and will reach Tripoli on February 14.

At 6.18 AM 800 miles West of Gibraltar, German cruiser Admiral Hipper attacks convoy SLS64, sinking 7 steamers (British Warlaby, Westbury, Oswestry Grange, Shrewsbury, Derrynane plus Norwegian Borgestad and Greek Perseus, 116 crew killed). At 7.40 AM, Hipper breaks off, almost out of 203mm shells, as rain and fog hide the scattering ships.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. There is fighting again around Cameron Ridge on the North side of Dongolaas Gorge and in Happy Valley on the South side (Subadar Richhpal Ram of the 6th Rajputana Rifles wins the Victoria Cross posthumously for leading assaults on Acqua Col at the end of the valley on February 7 and 12).

Day 530 February 11, 1941

Operation Colossus. At 0.30 AM, British paratroops of X Troop blow up the Tragino aqueduct, Southern Italy. They head West towards the coast to meet submarine HMS Triumph, but they are soon captured (remaining POWs until 1943, except Lieutenant Deane–Drummond who escapes, returns to England in 1942 and joins 1st Airborne Division). Although water supplies are temporarily interrupted, the aqueduct is quickly repaired and no harm is done to the Italian war effort or morale.

At 1 AM, British monitor HMS Erebus bombards Ostend, Belgium, for 40 minutes escorted by destroyers HMS Quorn and HMS Eglinton.

Convoy carrying the first German troops arrives at Tripoli, despite an unsuccessful attack by British submarine HMS Unique.

Another submarine HMS Snapper disappears en route from the Clyde to the Bay of Biscay (all 41 hands lost), either lost on a German minefield or depthcharged 70 miles Southwest of Brest, France, by German minesweepers M-2, M-13 and M-25.

East Africa. In the Dongolaas Gorge near Keren, Eritrea, Indian 3rd Batt/1st Punjab Regiment advances and takes the next peak, Sanchil. Italians respond with shell and mortar fire all day and a counterattack by Savoia Grenadiers. Indian troops are forced off both Sanchil and Brig's Peak, retreating back to Cameron Ridge. Further South in Italian Somaliland, Cunningham’s forces from Kenya take the road junction at Afmadow, at the North end of the Juba River.

800 miles West of Gibraltar, German cruiser Admiral Hipper (which left Brest, France, on February 1) sinks British SS Iceland carrying 962 tons of oranges from Seville, Spain, to Britain. Hipper picks up all 23 crew who are taken prisoner. SS Iceland is a straggler from convoy HX53. Just before midnight, Hipper locates the convoy on radar at 15km and shadows it all night.

Day 529 February 10, 1941

600 miles West of Gibraltar, U-37 attacks convoy HG-53 again at 6.33 AM sinking British SS Brandenburg (all 23 hands lost plus 26 of the 27 survivors rescued from SS Courland yesterday, 1 survivor picked up by destroyer HMS Velox and landed at Gibraltar). At 2.35 PM 200 miles West of Ireland, U-52 sinks British SS Canford Chine (all 35 hands killed).

Churchill orders General Wavell to prioritise helping Greece over continued operations in North Africa. In addition to honouring British commitments to Greece, Churchill hopes to sway American opinion and establish a Balkan coalition against Hitler.

German convoy carrying troops to Libya (steamers Ankara, Arcturus & Alicante, escorted by Italian destroyer Turbine and 3 torpedo boats) leaves Palermo, Sicily, on the final leg to Tripoli.

East Africa. Battle resumes in the Dongolaas Gorge near Keren, Eritrea. Indian 3rd Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment retakes Brig's Peak. Further South, British General Cunningham launches Operation Canvas against Italian positions on the Juba River in Italian Somaliland.

Overnight, RAF Short Stirlings of No.7 Squadron bomb oil storage tanks at Rotterdam, Holland, and another 222 aircraft bomb Hannover, Germany.

Operation Colossus. 38 paratroops of No. 11 Special Air Service Battalion, known as X Troop, fly from Malta in 6 RAF Whitley bombers of No. 91 Squadron. At 10 PM, they parachute near the Tragino aqueduct, Southern Italy (which supplies fresh water to many Italian civilians and military facilities) and plant explosives on one of the columns.

Day 528 February 9, 1941

At 8.15 AM, British Force H from Gibraltar (battleships HMS Malaya & HMS Renown and cruiser HMS Sheffield, escorted by aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal & 10 destroyers) bombards Genoa, Italy, with 273 15-inch, 782 6-inch and 400 4.5-inch shells. Only 4 merchant ships and a training vessel are sunk and 18 ships damaged of 55 ships in Genoa harbour. Docks and industrial areas are also damaged and the cathedral is hit with a 15-inch shell that does not explode (144 Italians killed, mainly civilians). 1 Swordfish from Ark Royal is shot down. Italian fleet (battleships Vittorio Veneto, Cesare & Doria, cruisers Trento, Trieste & Bolzano and 10 destroyers) attempts to intercept the British warships returning to Gibraltar but fails due to lack of air reconnaissance, poor visibility and confusion over a French merchant convoy of 6 ships heading to Corsica.

Operation Compass. British and Australian troops reach El Agheila, 100 miles along the coast from Beda Fomm but this is as far as they will advance. While General Wavell is supportive of O’Connor’s plans to move on Tripoli, Churchill has already decided to send troops to Greece from North Africa.

At 8.30 AM off Newfoundland, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau spot Allied convoy HX-106. Under orders not to engage British capital ships, they withdraw at 10 AM on discovering British battleship HMS Ramilies in the convoy escort.

At 4.30 AM 435 miles West of Gibraltar, U-37 attacks convoy HG-53 sinking British steamers SS Estrellano (5 killed, 20 crew and 1 gunner picked up by sloop HMS Deptford although cabin boy John McIntyre dies the next day) and SS Courland (3 killed, 27 survivors picked up by British SS Brandenburg). U-37 calls in an air strike. 5 Focke Wulf 200 bombers from Bordeaux sink British SS Jura, SS Dagmar I, SS Brittanic & Norwegian SS Tejo (and damage British SS Varna which sinks on February 15).

Cruiser HMS Neptune is damaged by German bombing at Plymouth, after arriving yesterday for a refit following duty in the South Atlantic.

Day 527 February 8, 1941

General O’Connor has plans for Operation Compass to push onwards to Tripoli, Libya, and drive Italian forces from North Africa. However, Hitler has already decided to provide assistance to his ally Mussolini. The first Afrikakorps troops sail for Tripoli from Naples, Italy, aboard German steamers Ankara, Arcturus & Alicante (escorted by Italian destroyer Turbine and 3 torpedo boats). They dock at Palermo, Sicily, for 2 days to avoid British Force H from Gibraltar which is at sea in the central Mediterranean (bound for Genoa).

Stalemate continues between Greeks and Italians in the deep mid-Winter of the mountains in Southern Albania.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. There is a lull in the fighting between Allied and Italian troops.

Day 526 February 7, 1941

Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, North Africa. At dawn, 20 Italian medium tanks break the British cordon but are stopped by artillery fire. Out of tanks and options, the Italians surrender. British take 25,000 Italian POWs, including the elusive General “Electric Whiskers” Bergonzoli, plus 200 guns and 120 tanks. Since the start of the ‘5 day raid’ two months ago, Operation Compass has destroyed 10 Italian divisions, 400 tanks and 1290 artillery pieces with a mixed force of British, Indian and Australian troops never more than 2 divisions strong. Allied losses for the whole campaign are 555 dead and missing, plus 1,373 wounded, while taking 130,000 POWs (including 22 Italian Generals). General O’Connor signals his victory to British Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Wavell in Cairo using a hunting metaphor (both are fox hunters) “Fox killed in the open”.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. British and Indian troops continue to hold Cameron Ridge. On the other side of the Gorge, 4th Indian Division tries to flank the Italian stronghold at Dologorodoc Fort, by moving through the Scescilembi Valley (known as “Happy Valley” by the Indian troops).

Day 525 February 6, 1941

Operation Compass. Libya. A column of Italian 20,000 troops, 160 tanks and 200 field guns is strung out along 7 miles of the coast road. They are contained by Combe Force’s roadblock at Sidi Saleh and 4th Armoured Brigade at Beda Fomm, despite a series of uncoordinated attacks all day. Australian 6th Division captures Benghazi while 7th Support Group (another part of 7th Armoured Division) captures Sceleidima inland; both groups now close the trap on the Italians from the North.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders hold Cameron Ridge and are reinforced by Indian 6th Rajputana Rifles. Indian 3rd Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment advances past them and onto Brig's Peak but they are pushed back by Italian 65th Infantry Division "Savoia Grenadiers" (Granatieri di Savoia).

German Motor Torpedo Boats S.30, S.54, S.58, S.59 raid the East coast of England, sinking British SS Angularity (2 crew killed, 1 taken prisoner by S.30).

At 5.52 PM 250 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-107 sinks Canadian SS Maplecourt carrying 3604 tons cargo including 1540 tons of steel from USA to Britain (all 37 hands lost).

Day 524 February 5, 1941

Operation Compass. At noon, after crossing 150 miles of desert in 30 hours, Combe Force’s armoured cars cut the coast road at the hamlet of Sidi Saleh. 30 minutes later, retreating Italians begin arriving from Benghazi but they cannot break through the British roadblock. By evening, 4th Armoured Brigade reaches the road 10 miles North at Beda Fomm and attacks the Italian column with tanks.

Battle of Keren, Eritrea, East Africa. British and Indian troops launch an attack through the hills on the left side of Dongolaas Gorge on the approach to Keren. 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders fight to the top of 1616 meter high ridge, which will become known as Cameron Ridge. Although fighting in the Gorge will swing back and forth for almost 2 months, Allied forces will not relinquish Cameron Ridge.

British anti-submarine trawler HMT Tourmaline is bombed and sunk by German aircraft off North Foreland, Kent.

British submarine HMS Sealion sinks Norwegian SS Ryfylke 2 miles off the Norwegian coast near Stadlandet.

Day 523 February 4, 1941

Operation Compass. Italians begin evacuating Benghazi, Libya. At dawn, 7th Armoured Division leaves Mechili to cross 150 miles of desert South of the lush, hilly Jebel El Akhdar (“Green Mountains”) and cut off the Italian retreat. The tanks make slow progress so General Creagh sends ahead a mobile group of infantry in armoured cars towing artillery under Colonel John Combe (Combe Force).

At 4.40 AM, U-93 finishes off British SS Dione II with the deck gun and antiaircraft gun (27 crew and 1 gunner killed, 5 crew rescued by British steamer Flowergate). At 8.38 AM 500 miles West of Ireland, U-52 sinks Norwegian SS Ringhorn carrying 1300 tons of coal from Britain to USA (14 crew die but corvette HMS Camellia picks up 5 survivors on rafts after 6 hours in heavy seas). At 4.44 PM, U-123 sinks British SS Empire Engineer carrying 7047 tons of steel from USA to Britain, in the middle of the Atlantic 1000 miles West of Ireland (all 39 hands lost, although the crew is seen to abandon ship on rafts).

RAF bombs Düsseldorf.

German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau break out undetected into the Atlantic Ocean via the Denmark Strait.

Day 522 February 3, 1941

Eritrea, East Africa. Italians withdraw into the mountains that run down the middle of Eritrea, where they will make their stand at the town of Keren. The road and railway, leading to the capital city Asmara and the Red Sea ports, pass through the narrow and heavily-defended Dongolaas Gorge.

Hitler appoints Erwin Rommel to command the newly-created Deutsches Afrikakorps which will soon be sent to Libya. Hitler considers Erich von Manstein before deciding on Rommel to replace Hans von Funck who is already in Libya making preparations but lacks attacking spirit.

300 miles South of Iceland, U-107 sinks British SS Empire Citizen at 2.23 AM (64 crew, 1 gunner and 12 passengers lost, 4 crew and 1 gunner picked up by corvette HMS Clarkia) and British ocean boarding vessel HMS Crispin at 11.33 PM (20 crew lost, 8 survivors picked up by rescue ship Copeland and 113 rescued by destroyer HMS Harvester).

At 2.10 PM 50 miles off the Northwest coast of Ireland, U-93 fires a torpedo that misses British SS Dione II, carrying 2650 tons of iron ore from USA to Britain. Later, Dione II is bombed and damaged by a German Fw200. At 11 PM, U-93 and Dione II engage in a brief gun duel in very rough seas.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Arctic Trapper is sunk by German bombing off Ramsgate (17 killed, 3 wounded survivors).

Day 521 February 2, 1941

East Africa. 5th Indian Division captures Italian fortifications defended by 8,000 troops and 32 field guns at Barentu, Eritrea. Indian troops have advanced over 100 miles from Sudan since January 19, capturing 6,000 Italian POWs, 80 field guns, 26 tanks and 400 trucks.

In the Indian Ocean, British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable (escorted by cruiser HMS Hawkins to the Suez Canal, to replace HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean) launches aircraft to drop mines in the harbour and attack shore installations at Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland (Operation Breach).

Operation Compass. Australian troops advance on the coast road West of Derna, Libya, and find Italians forces have withdrawn. General O'Connor receives permission from General Wavell in Cairo to send elements of 7th Armored Division across the desert to cut off the Italian retreat.

British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (escorted by battleships HMS Renown & HMS Malaya and cruiser HMS Sheffield) launches 8 torpedo bombers which unsuccessfully attack the hydroelectric Santa Chiara Dam on Tirso River, Sardinia. 1 Swordfish of 810 Squadron is shot down and all 3 crew are taken prisoner.

Naval trawler HMT Almond hits a mine and sinks off Falmouth (19 killed).

Overnight, in the Indian Ocean, German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis stops Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig (carrying 6370 tons of fuel oil and 4125 tons of diesel oil from Bahrain) with shellfire. Ketty Brøvig is taken as a prize ship (all 52 crew taken prisoner) and will refuel cruiser Admiral Scheer and several other raiders.

Day 520 February 1, 1941

East Africa. 4th Indian Division captures Agordat, Eritrea. 5th Indian Division crosses the border from Sudan into Northern Ethiopia & occupies Metemma. 2nd Lieutenant Premindra Singh Bhagat of the Royal Bombay Sappers & Miners wins the first Victoria Cross for the British Indian Army in WWII for a "...continuous feat of sheer cold courage" clearing 15 minefields & 55 miles of roads in 48 hours.

At 10.15 PM 200 miles South of Iceland, U-48 sinks Greek SS Nicolas Angelos with a torpedo and the deck gun (all hands lost). The crew abandons ship in the lifeboat but they were never found.

Day 519 January 31, 1941

Sahara Desert, Southeastern Libya. Free French forces have advanced from Chad to attack the Italian garrison at Kufra in the Sahara Desert. British Long Range Desert Group (attached to Free French) sends “T patrol” (30 men in 11 trucks) forward to reconnoiter but they are spotted by Italian aircraft at Bishara, 80 miles Southwest of Kufra. T patrol hides in a small wadi at Gebel Sherif where they are ambushed by Italian “Saharan company” motorized infantry (3 trucks destroyed, 1 man killed, 3 taken prisoner, 4 walk back across the desert).

Eritrea, East Africa. 4th Indian Division flanks Agordat, held by 4 Italian infantry brigades & 2 companies of tanks. Some defenders try to retreat under cover of darkness but 1,000 are taken prisoner and 43 field guns captured.

In the Adriatic Sea off Fiume, Croatia, Italian torpedo boat Francesco Stocco breaks in 2 after hitting a mine laid 3 days ago by British submarine HMS Rorqual. The 2 halves remain afloat and are salvaged.

After dark, 350 miles Southwest of Ireland, Italian submarine Dandolo sinks British tanker Pizarro with torpedoes (23 crew killed, 6 rescued).

Overnight, in the Indian Ocean, German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis stops British SS Speybank (carrying manganese, monazite, ilesite, carpets, tea and shellac from Cochin, India, to New York) with shellfire. Undamaged, SS Speybank is taken as a prize ship and sailed to Bordeaux, France, where she will be converted into an auxiliary minelayer and renamed Schiff 53/Doggerbank.

Day 518 January 30, 1941

Operation Compass. Australian 6th Division enters the town of Derna unopposed.

At 3.10 AM, U-94 concludes the attack on convoy SC-19 sinking British SS Rushpool (all 40 crew picked up by destroyer HMS Antelope). 6 ships (total of 33,723 tons) have been sunk in less than 24 hours.

30 miles North of Zavia, Libya, British submarine HMS Upholder unsuccessfully attacks Italian steamers Motia & Delfin and is counter-attacked by convoy escort torpedo boat Aldebaran.

Day 517 January 29, 1941

Operation Compass. Derna, Libya. There is heavy fighting along Wadi Derna as elements of British 7th Armoured Division (brought North from Mechili) outflank Italian artillery overlooking the town. Italian commander at Derna General "Electric Whiskers" Bergonzoli, who recently escaped on foot from Bardia, withdraws his troops and artillery overnight.

Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, who declined British offers of assistance, dies of throat cancer. His replacement Alexandros Koryzis will quickly accept British help against Italy.

200 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-93 U-94 U-101and U-106 attack convoy SC-19 from Nova Scotia to Britain. Between 3.48 and 4.05 AM, U-93 sinks British SS King Robert, British tanker W.B. Walker and Greek SS Aikaterini (which tries to ram U-93). At 6.29 AM, U-94 sinks British SS West Wales. At 7.15 AM, U-106 sinks Egyptian SS Sesostris. Destroyers HMS Anthony & HMS Antelope and antisubmarine trawler HMS Lady Madeleine rescue most of the crewmen. U-101 is chased off with gunfire and 3 depth charges from the destroyers.

600 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran sinks British SS Afric Star carrying 5,790 tons of meat from Argentina to Britain (72 crew and 3 passengers taken prisoner, including 2 sunbathing British women) and liner Eurylochus carrying 16 crated British bombers without engines from Liverpool to Takoradi, to be flown to Egypt (11 crew killed, 43 taken prisoner, 28 survivors picked up by next day Spanish SS Monte Teide).

Day 516 January 28, 1941

At 6.49 AM, British cruiser HMS Naiad (part of Admiral Tovey’s task force searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) spots the German warships in the Iceland-Faroes passage, heading for the Atlantic. Under strict orders not to engage superior British forces, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau turn around to go North of Iceland through the Denmark Strait.

Operation Compass. Italian artillery on top of Wadi Derna keep Australian 6th Division pinned down outside the coastal town of Derna, 100 miles Northwest of Tobruk.

250 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Luigi Torelli sinks British SS Urla (all 42 crew rescued). In the same area, British corvette HMS Bluebell and destroyer HMS Westcott collide (HMS Bluebell under repair at Liverpool until March 4).

Off Cape Bon, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upholder damages German steamer Duisberg, which is towed into Tripoli and repaired. Italian torpedo boat Orione, carrying survivors from steamer Ingo, stands by.

Day 515 January 27, 1941

Operation Compass. The harbour at Tobruk, Libya, is cleared of wrecks and opened to British ships. The first vessels in are troopship Ulster Prince (which takes Italian POWs back to Alexandria, Egypt) and supply ships Cingalese Prince, Rosaura and Chakla which unload men and supplies in a severe sandstorm. Tobruk will become an important supply point for the continued Allied advance across Libya. 100 miles Northwest along the coast from Tobruk, Australian 6th Division takes Fort Rudero overlooking the small town of Derna (capturing 290 Italian prisoners and 5 field guns). However, they meet stiff resistance from Italian troops and artillery dug in the far side of Wadi Derna (a steep ravine, a mile wide and 700 feet deep).

100 miles North of Tripoli, Libya, Fairey Swordfish of Fleet Air Arm 830 Squadron from Malta sink German steamer Ingo (crew rescued by Italian torpedo boat Orione).

Minesweeping trawler HMT Darogah sinks on a mine in the Thames Estuary.

Day 514 January 26, 1941

Operation Compass. 80 miles West of Tobruk, Italians troops and tanks pull out of Mechili, evading British 4th Armored Brigade (7th Armored Division) which has engaged them since January 24. With Italians in full flight West along the coastal road pursued by the advancing Australians, the failure at Mechili convinces British General O’Connor that a more decisive flanking move is required. O’Connor will order 7th Armored Division commander General O'Moore Creagh “you are going to cut the coast road South of Benghazi, and you are going now!”

200 miles West of Ireland, British corvette HMS Arabis is escorting British SS Lurigethan which is burning after being bombed 3 days ago. U-105 misses HMS Arabis with 2 torpedoes. At 2.12 AM, U-105 sinks SS Lurigethan instead (15 crew and 1 gunner killed, HMS Arabis picks up 35 crew).

Day 513 January 25, 1941

General Alan Cunningham launches the Southern front in Italian East Africa. He sends Nigerian, Ghanaian, East African and South African troops of 11th African Division (commanded by British General Harry Edward de Robillard Wetherall) and 12th African Division (commanded by British General Reade Godwin-Austen) into Italian Somaliland from British-held Kenya. They meet little resistance from Italian forces who have withdrawn 100 miles behind the Juba River.

Following damage in a Stuka attack on January 10 and initial repairs at Malta, British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious arrives for further repairs at Alexandria, Egypt. This is beyond the range of German X. Fliegerkorps bombers operating from Sicily.

At 11.20 PM, British Admiral Sir John Tovey departs Scapa Flow to intercept German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the Iceland-Faroes passage. His flotilla comprises battleships HMS Nelson, Repulse & Rodney, cruisers HMS Arethusa, Galatea, Aurora, Mauritius, Naiad, Phoebe, Edinburgh & Birmingham plus destroyers HMS Bedouin, Matabele, Tartar, Punjabi, Escapade, Echo, Electra, Beagle, Brilliant, Keppel & Piorun.

Day 512 January 24, 1941

Operation Compass. 80 miles West of Tobruk, British tanks attack an Italian fort at Mechili in the Libyan desert. However, the British expect a speedy capitulation and are surprised by vigorous defense by Italian tanks of the Babini Armor Group. Losses are about equal on both sides and the British withdraw.

In the Indian Ocean 300 miles East of the Seychelles, a Heinkel He114 seaplane from German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis bombs and strafes British SS Mandasor (carrying 2,000 tons of pig iron & 1,800 tons of tea from Calcutta, India). As Mandasor steams away radioing for help, Atlantis stops her with shellfire (6 crew killed). Atlantis’ launch rescues 82 survivors, driving off circling sharks with machinegun fire, and then sends Mandasor to the bottom with scuttling charges. The He114 seaplane capsizes in choppy water and has to be sunk, robbing Atlantis of spotting capabilities. 4 Allied cruisers search the area without success.

New British Ambassador to USA Lord Halifax, previously British Foreign Secretary, arrives in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, aboard battleship HMS King George V.

At 9.48 PM 200 miles West of Ireland, U-123 sinks Norwegian steamer Vespasian with 1 torpedo (all 18 hands lost).

Day 511 January 23, 1941

British SS Lurigethan is bombed and set on fire by a German Fw200 aircraft 200 miles West of Ireland (15 crew and 1 gunner killed, 35 crew rescued by corvette HMS Arabis). Lurigethan will be sunk by U-105 on January 26.

British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, damaged by Stukas on January 10, is repaired enough to sail with much of her heavy equipment removed. She leaves Malta for Alexandria, Egypt, escorted by destroyers HMS Jervis, Juno, Janus and Greyhound.

German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are spotted in the Great Belt (between mainland Denmark and the island of Zealand) by a British agent who alerts the Admiralty in London.

Operation Compass. British minesweeping trawlers HMT Arthur Cavanagh and HMT Milford Countess begin clearing sunken Italian ships from the harbour at Tobruk.

Day 510 January 22, 1941

Operation Compass. Italian resistance at Tobruk collapses. At 4.15 AM, cruiser San Giorgio (used as a floating battery in the harbour) is scuttled. General Vincenzo della Mura surrenders Italian 61 Infantry Division “Sirte” in the morning, precipitating a widespread capitulation. Allied troops capture the remaining gun posts with sporadic resistance. Monitor HMS Terror and gunboats Gnat and Ladybird continue shelling. Italian liner Liguria is sunk by British bombing. Australian infantry drive into the town unopposed and take the surrender of Tobruk from Admiral Massimilian Vietina. Australian losses are 49 dead, 306 wounded. In all, 25,000 Italian prisoners are captured along with 236 field guns and medium guns, 23 medium tanks and 200 other vehicles. Tobruk’s sheltered harbour is intact as are wells and pumps to produce 40,000 gallons of fresh (if brackish) water per day.

Eritrea, East Africa. 4th Indian Division attacks Italian position at Keru, which were flanked yesterday by 5th Indian Division. The Italians at Keru, who were expected to hold out for several weeks, surrender (General Fongoli, his staff, 1200 men and several field guns are captured).

Minesweeping trawler HMT Luda Lady sinks on a mine in the Humber (no casualties).

Operation Berlin. German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sail from Kiel in a second attempt to break out into the Atlantic for convoy raiding operations.

Day 509 January 21, 1941

Operation Compass. Assault on Tobruk, Libya, opens at 5.40 AM with an artillery barrage. Australian 6th Division sappers blast through the perimeter wire with Bangalore torpedoes and fill in antitank ditches, allowing 18 Matilda tanks and some captured Italian M11 and M13 medium tanks to move through. As at Bardia, Allied infantry and tanks pick off Italian machinegun posts, artillery batteries and dug-in tanks from within the defensive perimeter. They reach within 2 miles of the town of Tobruk and shell Italian cruiser San Giorgio from cliffs overlooking the harbour. 3 squadrons of RAF Blenheims bomb the defenses continually. 8000 Italians are captured including the commander at Tobruk, General Petassi Manella, who refuses to surrender the garrison. Overnight, Italian bombers attack but only succeed in hitting a POW compound and killing 50-300 Italian prisoners.

Italian East Africa. 5th Indian Infantry Division, under British General Lewis Heath, advances 50 miles into Italian Eritrea from Kassala on the border with Sudan and captures the town of Aicota unopposed. General Heath sends part of 10th Indian Infantry Brigade, including 2nd battalion Highland Light Infantry, North to get behind well dug in Italian position at Keru.

Rescue tug HMS Englishman is sunk by German bombing 50 miles off the coast of County Donegal, Northwest Ireland (all 18 hands lost).

Day 508 January 20, 1941

At 00.42 AM 200 miles Southeast of Iceland, U-94 torpedoes British steamer Florian, which sinks in 42 seconds (all 41 hands lost). West of Ireland, Italian submarine Luigi fires a spread of 3 torpedoes at a group of 3 Allied destroyers but none hit. Italian submarine Marcello, returning to base at Bordeaux for repairs, sinks Belgian SS Portugal with the deck gun.

Kriegsmarine orders the construction of 75 new U-boats.

1000 miles off the coast of Angola, German cruiser Admiral Scheer sinks British steamer Stanpark and captures Dutch steamer Barneveld (sunk the following day). Among the prisoners taken from the 2 vessels are 3 Royal Navy officers on their way to take up appointments on warships the Mediterranean.

Minesweeping trawler HMT Relonzo sinks on a mine off Liverpool (19 killed).

Overnight, Italian positions at Tobruk, Libya, are bombarded from the air by RAF Wellington and Blenheim bombers and from the sea by monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Gnat & Ladybird (escorted by Australian destroyers HMAS Stuart, Vampire & Voyager). Australian infantry and British tanks & artillery move into position to start the land attack on the Italian defenses.

Day 507 January 19, 1941

British Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Wavell opens a 3-pronged offensive to drive the Italians from East Africa. 4th Indian Infantry Division (fresh from the success of Operation Compass in Egypt) and 5th Indian Infantry Division capture the railway junction at Kassala, Sudan, on the border with Italian Eritrea. Led by British General William Platt, they plan to advance South from Sudan, through Eritrea into Ethiopia. In addition, General Cunningham will swing Northeast from Kenya, through Italian Somaliland into Ethiopia. A planned amphibious assault will retake British Somaliland and all 3 forces aim to converge on the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Emperor Haile Selassie crosses the border from Sudan, returning to Ethiopia whence he fled in May 1936 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

At 8 AM, British transport ships Clan Cumming, Clan MacDonald & Empire Song leave Pireaus, Greece, for Alexandria, Egypt, escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta and destroyers HMS Greyhound, Defender & Janus. At 11.53 AM 25 miles South of Pireaus, Italian submarine Neghelli damages Clan Cumming with a torpedo. HMS Greyhound sinks Neghelli with depth charges (all 46 hands killed). HMS Janus escorts Clan Cumming back to Pireaus.

Luftwaffe Stukas dive bomb Valletta Harbour, Malta. British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and destroyers HMS Imperial and HMS Decoy are damaged by near misses (no serious damage is done). A Fairey Fulmar from HMS Illustrious shoots down a Stuka and is then itself shot down (pilot and navigator are both rescued).

Hitler meets Mussolini at the Berghof, to offer German help to Italian efforts in North Africa (which is accepted) and in Albania (which Mussolini rejects). Hitler says that he will attack Greece if a British presence there threatens the oil refining at Ploieşti, Romania.

Day 506 January 18, 1941

1000 miles off the coast of Angola, German cruiser Admiral Scheer captures Norwegian tanker Sandefjord (carrying 11,000 tons of crude oil) which is taken as prize. Sandefjord is sent to occupied France, arriving on February 27 and renamed Monsun under the German flag.

700 miles West of the Canary Islands, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran sinks British tanker British Union (10 killed, 28 crew and a pet monkey rescued from 2 lifeboats and taken prisoner, 7 crew in another lifeboat rescued next day by British auxiliary cruiser HMS Arawa).

Destroyer HMS Castleton is damaged by German bombing while under repair at Portsmouth (repairs finally completed February 22).

Luftwaffe Stukas again bomb Malta, destroying 6 RAF aircraft and damaging many more at the Luqa and Hal Far airfields.

Day 505 January 17, 1941

At 7.45 AM, 200 miles West of Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, U-96 attacks British liner SS Almeda Star with 4 torpedoes and the deck gun. 4 lifeboats are launched but 7 destroyers search the area and find no survivors. 137 crew, 29 gunners and 194 passengers are lost including 142 Fleet Air Arm personnel going to RNAS station at Piarco Airfield, Trinidad.

In the same area, Italian submarine Marcello approaches a convoy but is attacked by an escort destroyer with 5 depth charges (damaging the forward trim tank and causing Marcello to abort the mission and return to base) and U-106 sinks British MV Zealandic with 3 torpedoes (65 crew, 2 gunners and 6 passengers abandon ship in 3 lifeboats but are never found).

British corvette HMS Rhododendron is damaged on a mine in Liverpool Harbour (under repair for 3 months at Liverpool).

Luftwaffe Stukas bomb Malta again.

Day 504 January 16, 1941

80 Luftwaffe Stuka dive-bombers attack Valletta Harbour, Malta, trying to finish off British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which was badly damaged by Stukas while escorting the Excess convoy on January 10. HMS Illustrious, destroyer HMS Decoy (on the day when repairs from bomb damage in November 1940 are completed) and Australian cruiser HMAS Perth are hit or damaged by splinters from near misses, but none sink. British steamer Essex is also damaged. 10 Stukas are shot down.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Desiree hits a mine and sinks in the Thames estuary.

At 6.16 AM 150 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-96 sinks British troopship SS Oropesa with 3 torpedoes (99 crew, 1 gunner and 6 passengers killed). 109 crew, 1 gunner and 33 passengers in 5 lifeboats are picked up by destroyer HMS Westcott and tugs HMS Superman and HMS Tenacity and landed at Liverpool. Another lifeboat is launched but never found. Italian submarine Luigi Torelli continues the attack on a small convoy West of Ireland, sinking Greek SS Nicolas Filinis (3 crew killed, 26 rescued).

Day 503 January 15, 1941

Minelaying cruiser HMS Adventure is damaged on a mine for the second time, in Liverpool Bay en route from Milford Haven, Wales. She is towed into Liverpool (under repair until May when she is further damaged in an air raid,finally returning to service on June 27).

350 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Luigi Torelli attacks a small convoy of 6-7 merchant ships, sinking Norwegian SS Brask (12 crew killed, 20 rescued) and Greek SS Nemea (17 crew killed, 14 rescued).

Overnight, 76 RAF bombers raid the naval base at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Wellington bombers of No. 57 Squadron attack Emden, Germany.

Day 502 January 14, 1941

British Commander-in-Chief Middle East General Wavell meets Greek Dictator Metaxas and CIC General Papagos in Athens to discuss military aid to Greece. Papagos asks for 9 divisions and air support. Wavell offers only 2 or 3 divisions. The Greeks refuse, not wanting a British presence that will prompt a German invasion but be too small to help stop it. Wavell, Churchill and British War Cabinet are relieved to have fulfilled the obligation to assist Greece while still maintaining forces in Libya.

In the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin captures almost an entire Norwegian whaling fleet (whale oil tanker Solglimt, factory ships Ole Wegger & Pelagos and 11 of their attendant whalers). 20,000 tons of whale oil (worth 4 million US dollars) and 10,000 tons of fuel oil are captured without a shot and with no casualties. 3 whalers escape and warn another factory ship, Thorshammer, which departs with its flotilla of whalers.

100 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Italian submarine Cappellini loses 3 men in a 2 hour gun duel with British auxiliary cruiser Eumaeus carrying troops to Egypt around the Cape. Eumaeus finally sinks (12 crew and 15 naval ratings lost). A Supermarine Walrus from seaplane carrier HMS Albatross responds to distress calls from Eumaeus, dropping life rafts to the survivors and bombing Cappellini (which is badly damaged, requiring 3 days of repairs in the Canary Islands and a return to base at Bordeaux).

Day 501 January 13, 1941

Overnight, Luftwaffe aircraft drop 106 high explosive bombs on Plymouth damaging Sherwell Congregational Church in Tavistock Road, City Hospital at Freedom Fields, gas works at Coxside and Corporation electricity works at Prince Rock (26 civilians killed, 117 wounded). Electricity will be restored next day but Plymouth is without gas for 3 weeks. Patrol Officer George Wright and Leading Fireman Cyril Lidstone of Auxiliary Fire Service win George Medals for putting out a fire on an oil tank that would otherwise have exploded.

RAF bombs the U-boat base at Lorient during the night.

Day 500 January 12, 1941

Operation Compass. As the Italian defenses at Tobruk are the same as Bardia, Australian 6th Division plans to use the same tactics to pierce the wire and anti-tank ditches at a weak point and peel back the lines of gun pits from the inside. However, they have to wait while British 7th Armoured Division repairs as many Matilda tanks as possible and for fuel and ammunition to be brought up. Matildas are moved forward on heavy artillery tractors to preserve their tracks and engines. HMS Protector lays anti-torpedo nets at Bardia and departs for Alexandria with 1058 Italian POWs.

British aircraft based on Malta attack the airbase at Catania, Sicily, to prevent German and Italian bombers from attacking British shipping in the Mediterranean and the island of Malta. They are trying to protect damaged British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which limped into Valletta, Malta, for repairs due to Stuka attack.

Day 499 January 11, 1941

At 3.22 PM, 35 Ju87 dive bombers led by Oberst Werner Ennecerus attack British cruisers HMS Gloucester & Southampton 120 miles East of Sicily. HMS Gloucester is hit by a 500kg bomb which goes through 5 decks and out through the hull without exploding (9 killed, 13 wounded). HMS Southampton is hit by two 500kg bombs (98 killed) which start fires, knocking out the controls to flood the magazines and threatening a devastating explosion. 727 crew abandon ship at 7 PM and are rescued by HMS Gloucester and destroyer HMS Diamond. HMS Southampton is finally sunk at 8 PM by a torpedo from cruiser HMS Orion. The Excess convoy reaches Malta and Alexandria safely but carrier HMS Illustrious is badly damaged and 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer have been destroyed. Lack of air cover means the Mediterranean is no longer controlled by Royal Navy (or the Italian Navy) but by the Luftwaffe.

Albania. Italian 7th Infantry Lupi di Toscana ("Wolves of Tuscany") Division and the remnants of 3rd Alpine Julia Division launch a counterattack on Klisura Pass, captured yesterday by the Greeks. They are beaten back with heavy casualties including a battalion of Lupi di Toscana which is encircled.

Hitler issues Führer Directive 22 sending German troops to Libya and Albania, to prevent Italian collapse and frustrate British ambitions in those regions. Along with operational orders from Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel on January 13, this creates the Deutsches Afrikakorps.

Day 498 January 10, 1941

Albania. Greek infantry captures the Klisura Pass after 4 days of fighting, led by the 5th Division just arrived from Crete. The presence here of Cretan 5th Division will cause controversy in a few months when Allied troops fail to protect Crete.

Italian torpedo boats Vega and Circe attack Excess convoy at dawn in the Strait of Sicily but Vega is sunk by shellfire from cruiser HMS Bonaventure and a torpedo from destroyer HMS Hereward. At 8.15 AM, the convoy meets Admiral Cunningham's Mediterranean Fleet (battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant, aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and 7 destroyers) from Alexandria but destroyer HMS Gallant hits a mine and will be towed to Malta (58 killed, 25 wounded). At 12.35 PM, German Ju87 Stuka dive bombers from X Fliegerkorps (which has just arrived on Sicily) attack HMS Illustrious, hitting her with 6 bombs. Most do not penetrate the thick deck armour but 2 bombs go down an aircraft elevator shaft, turning the hangar deck into an inferno of burning aviation fuel and destroying the steering gear (124 killed). Only the armoured flight deck saves Illustrious from total destruction and she struggles into Malta escorted by destroyers HMS Hasty and Jaguar.

Overnight, 300 Luftwaffe bombers attack Portsmouth, England, with high explosive and incendiary bombs (171 civilians killed, 430 injured). Incendiary bombs land in the roof of the Guildhall which burns green as the copper cupola melts. Guildhall is gutted and will not reopen until 1959.

Day 497 January 9, 1941

Operation Compass. Australian 6th Division and British 7th Armoured Division complete the encirclement of Tobruk, Libya. 25,000 Italian troops are now trapped.

Transfer of the Excess convoy from Force H (Gibraltar) to the Mediterranean Fleet (Alexandria, Egypt). Cruisers HMS Gloucester & Southampton and destroyer HMS Janus from Alexandria (via Malta) meet the convoy off Cape Bon, Tunisia. As usual for convoys in this area, they are attacked inaccurately by Italian SM79 bombers. Most of Force H (battlecruiser HMS Renown, battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruiser HMS Sheffield and 7 destroyers) reverses course at nightfall and returns to Gibraltar but cruiser HMS Bonaventure and destroyers HMS Hereward, Jaguar, Hasty & Hero continue on with the convoy.

British submarine HMS Pandora sinks Italian SS Palma and SS Valdivagna off Cape Carbonara, Sardinia. Submarine HMS Parthian sinks Italian SS Carlo Martinolich off Calabria, Southern Italy.

Italian destroyers Ascari, Carabiniere, Folgore and Fulmine shell Greek positions on the Albanian coast at Porto Palmermo.

At 6.14 PM 300 miles South of Iceland, U-105 sinks British SS Bassano carrying 5000 tons of iron and steel and 600 tons of grain from USA to Britain (1 killed; 49 crew, 2 gunners and 5 passengers picked up by destroyer HMS Wild Swan and armed merchant cruiser Esperance Bay).

Day 496 January 8, 1941

British Wellington bombers from Malta attack Italian battleships Guilio Cesare and Vittorio Veneto moored in Naples harbour. Guilio Cesare is badly damaged by 3 near misses but Vittorio Veneto is hit without serious damage. Both ships will be moved to La Spezia and repaired, out of the range of the Malta bombers.

Operation Compass. Australian 6th Division begins reconnaissance patrols around Tobruk. Overnight, a patrol reaches the Italian defensive perimeter. As at Bardia, Italian defenses consist of an antitank ditch and barbed wire fences in front of 2 concentric lines of open concrete gun pits (posts).

British cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS Southampton arrive at Malta to disembark 510 Army & RAF personnel, escorted by destroyers HMS Ilex and Janus. HMS Gloucester, Southampton and Ilex continue West towards Gibraltar to meet the Excess convoy.

Day 495 January 7, 1941

Operation Compass. Australian 6th Division and British 7th Armoured Division nearly surround Tobruk. They occupy Acroma, overlooking the coastal road 10 miles West of Tobruk. British submarine HMS Rover attacks an Italian convoy off the coast of Libya, 25 miles West of Tobruk. Italian torpedo boats Clio and Castore counterattack, damaging HMS Rover (repairs take 13 days at Malta).

Admiral Somerville’s Force H (battlecruiser HMS Renown, battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruiser HMS Sheffield and 7 destroyers) leaves Gibraltar to cover the Excess convoy which left Gibraltar yesterday. Meanwhile, Admiral Cunningham’s Mediterranean Fleet (battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant, aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and 7 destroyers) departs Alexandria, Egypt, to meet the Excess convoy.

German torpedo boats Kondor and Wolf lay a minefield off Dover but Wolf sinks in a British minefield North of Dunkirk on the way home.

200 miles South of Iceland, Italian submarine Giacomo Nani attacks convoy HX.99 without success. British corvette HMS Anemone and French corvette La Malouine counterattack, sinking Nani (all 58 crew rescued and taken prisoner).

Day 494 January 6, 1941

Albania. Overnight, Greek destroyers shell the Albanian port of Vlorë. 20 miles South, Italian destroyers Alfieri, Carducci, Fulmine and Gioberti plus torpedo boats Partenope, Pallade, Romeda and Altair shell Greek positions on the Albanian coast at Porto Palmermo. The Greek offensive against Italian positions in the mountains of Albania reaches the strategically important Klisura Pass on the river Vjosë, which will allow Greek forces in the center of the front to link up with troops on the coast. They meet stiff Italian resistance, including the new Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 tanks which are devastated by Greek artillery.

Operation Compass. British 4th Armoured Division advances 50 miles from Bardia to take Belhamed to the East of Tobruk and the airfield at El Adem (8 miles South of Tobruk) unopposed. They also probe another 10 miles further to Acroma, West of Tobruk.

At 11.37 AM, U-124 sinks British SS Empire Thunder 200 miles Northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland (9 killed, 30 crew picked up by British armed boarding vessel HMS Kingston Onyx). British destroyers HMS Mashona and Sikh collide in the naval base at Scapa Flow, Scotland.

Convoy Excess (British steamers Essex, Clan Cumming, Clan Macdonald & Empire Song) leaves Gibraltar bound for Malta and Greece, escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Bonaventure (carrying 400 troops) and destroyers HMS Hereward, Jaguar, Hasty & Hero. British cruisers HMS Gloucester & Southampton, escorted by destroyers HMS Ilex & Janus, depart Alexandria, Egypt, at 1.15 PM to carry 510 Army & RAF personnel to Malta and to meet Excess convoy.

German raider Kormoran stops Greek steamer Antonis in the Atlantic, 200 miles Northwest of Cape Verde Islands. Antonis is scuttled when 4,800 tons of British coal is found on board. All 29 crew and 7 sheep are taken on board Kormoran. The sheep are cooked and the crew taken prisoner.

Day 493 January 5, 1941

Operation Compass. Italian garrison at Bardia surrenders. Having split the fortress in half yesterday, Australian 6th Division moves North and South with the 6 remaining Matilda tanks to capture the last Italian gun ‘posts’. In all, Italians casualties are 1,000 killed, 3,000 wounded, 36,000 taken prisoner and only 2000 escape to Tobruk on foot or in boats. Allies capture 26 coastal artillery pieces, 7 medium guns, 216 field guns, 26 anti-aircraft guns, 41 cannone da 65/17 infantry guns, 146 antitank guns, 12 medium tanks, 115 L3 tankettes and 708 trucks plus wells and pumps to produce 400 tons fresh water per day and enough fuel for 4 weeks pumping. Australian losses are 130 dead, 326 wounded. British mines sink Italian coastal steamer Vulcano off Tobruk.

At 10.45 AM 100 miles Northeast of the Cape Verde Islands, Italian submarine Cappellini opens fire on British steamer Shakespeare from 3 km with both 100 mm deck guns. Shakespeare returns fire hitting Cappellini‘s aft gun and killing gunner Sergeant Ferruccio Azzolin. Cappellini finally sinks Shakespeare (18 crew and 2 gunners killed) and rescues 22 survivors clinging to wreckage, taking them to Sal Island, Cape Verde. Cappellini‘s captain Salvatore Todaro will be honoured for his chivalry in March 2006, by the naming of an Italian U212-class submarine after him.

Sloop HMS Lowestoft, arriving with convoy FS.378, is damaged on a mine in the Thames Estuary (under repair at Chatham until October 3).

Day 492 January 4, 1941

Operation Compass. Battle of Bardia Day 2. Amid heavy fighting all day in the Italian defensive perimeter posts to the North and South, a mixed force of Allied infantry plus Bren gun carriers and a few tanks pushes forward the final mile to the town of Bardia at 4 PM. Reaching the sea, they split the Italian defenses in two and resistance begins to collapse. 8 Australian infantry take 500 prisoners. A single company of Aussies captures 2,000 Italians from rearguard units, including 60 officers. A squadron of Bren gun carriers takes 3000 POWs, while 1 Bren gun carrier attacks an artillery battery from the rear and 1,000 surrender. The number of POWs exceeds 10,000. Italian commander at Bardia, General Bergonzoli and his staff escape towards Tobruk on foot. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden quips "Never has so much been surrendered by so many, to so few."

Off Cape Bon, Tunisia, British torpedo bombers unsuccessfully attack Italian supply convoy returning from Tripoli (freighters Ezilda Croce and Pallade, escorted by torpedo boat Pegaso).

Day 491 January 3, 1941

Operation Compass. Assault on Bardia, Libya, begins at 5.30 AM with an artillery barrage. At 6 AM, Australian 6th Division infantry attacks from the West, blasting through the perimeter wire with Bangalore torpedoes and filling in antitank ditches. At 6.50 AM, 23 Matilda tanks of British 7th Royal Tank Regiment sweep in, North and South, helping the infantry flank a succession of Italian ‘posts’ (open concrete machinegun and antitank gun pits). Allies drive a wedge 2 miles deep & 7 miles wide into the Italian defenses, taking 8,000 Italian prisoners. From 8.10 to 8.55 AM, battleships HMS Warspite, Valiant & Barham and escort destroyers fire 244 15-inch, 270 6-inch and 240 4.5-inch shells at the ‘posts’, spotted by aircraft from HMS Illustrious. Monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird & Aphis continue the bombardment, collapsing a cliff with emplaced Italian artillery. Picking off the ‘posts’ continues all night with heavy fighting. MAP

RAF bombs Bremen and the Kiel Canal, Germany, scoring a direct hit on the Kiel Canal Bridge which collapses on Finnish steamer Yrsa.

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Bristol for 12 hours, targeting the docks and railway station (149 civilians killed, 351 injured), destroying a granary on Princes Wharf containing 8,000 tons of grain. A 4,000 lb bomb which fails to explode is nicknamed ‘Satan’ by the people of Bristol and will be displayed in the victory parade in London in 1945.

Day 490 January 2, 1941

Operation Compass. British air, land and sea forces prepare for the assault on Bardia. Overnight (Jan 1-2), artillery moves into position in a depression 450 m from the Western edge of the Italian defenses. During the day, monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird & HMS Aphis, screened by destroyer HMS Dainty and HMAS Voyager, bombard Bardia. The flotilla is unsuccessfully attacked by Italian aircraft. Overnight (Jan 2-3), RAF Wellingtons of 70 Squadron and Bristol Bombays of 216 Squadron bomb Italian positions as the Australian 6th Division moves forward to their starting points.

At 10.07 PM 250 miles West of Port-Étienne, Mauritania (part of French West Africa), U-65 sinks British SS Nalgora carrying equipment to General Wavell’s Middle East Command. 102 crew and 3 passengers take to the lifeboats. 19 crew in 1 lifeboat make land on Cape Verde Islands. 86 survivors are picked up by British freighters Nolisement and Umgeni after 8 days adrift. This completes a successful patrol for U-65, sinking 8 ships (47,800 tons) in 49 days off the coast of West Africa and becoming the first U-boat to cross the Equator.

300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-38 is depth charged by a convoy escort. U-38 is slightly damaged but able to continue with the patrol.

Day 489 January 1, 1941

Operation Compass. General O’Connor’s Western Desert Force becomes 13th Corps. RAF continues bombing Bardia and Italian airfields at Tobruk, Derna and Benina.

In the Gibraltar Straits, British destroyers HMS Duncan, Firedrake, Foxhound, Jaguar & Hero stop a French convoy returning from Casablanca (steamer Chantilly, tankers Octane and Suroit plus Danish steamer Sally Maersk). HMS Jaguar shells Chantilly (2 killed, 4 wounded). The convoy is captured and taken to Gibraltar.

Day 488 December 31, 1940

As the year ends, Germany controls Europe from the English Channel to the Russian border and from the Arctic in Norway to the shores of the Mediterranean (with allies Italy, Vichy France and Balkan states). Italian and Vichy French colonies cover the North coast of Africa.

Greek submarine Katsonis sinks Italian tanker Quinto with the deck gun off the major Albanian port of Vlorë, directly across the Adriatic Sea from Brindisi, Italy. Vlorë is also bombed by RAF.

RAF mounts daylight bombing raids on Dutch ports of Rotterdam & Ijmuiden, the Rhine bridge at Emmerich, Germany (just across the border from Netherlands) and Köln, Germany.

Overnight, destroyer HMS Dainty captures Italian schooners Tiberio and Maria Giovanni between Bardia and Tobruk, Libya. HMS Dainty escorts the schooners to Sollum, Egypt.

Happy New Year! All 33 crew and 2 passengers drown in the freezing water 200 miles South of Iceland when U-38 sinks Swedish MV Valparaiso at 11.12 PM. Around the same time 200 miles off Dakar, Senegal, U-65 hits British tanker British Zeal with 2 torpedoes (she is in ballast and does not explode). The crew abandons ship, then reboards and takes British Zeal safely to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Day 487 December 30, 1940

Operation Compass. Australian 6th Division continues perfecting tactics to breach Italian defenses at Bardia while RAF bombs these positions as well as Italian airbases at Tobruk, Derna & Benina. British anti-submarine trawler HMT Bandolero sinks in a collision with Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen off Sollum, Egypt (no casualties). HMAS Waterhen is repaired at Port Taufiq on the Suez Canal (completed in January 1941). Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager captures Italian ketch Zingarella, transporting British POWs from Bardia to Tobruk. Zingarella will serve in the Royal Navy as a store carrier for the rest of the war.

Destroyer HMS Venomous hits a mine off Liverpool (under repair at Liverpool until February 18 1941).

British steamers Calcium and Sodium collide in the North Sea after Calcium hits a mine (1 killed). Calcium ultimately sinks.

Day 486 December 29, 1940

Greek submarine Proteus attacks Italian steamers Sardegna, Italia and Piemonte, 40 miles East of Brindisi, Italy, sinking Sardegna. Escort torpedo boat Antares drops 11 depth charges, forcing Proteus to the surface. Proteus is rammed and sunk by Antares (all 48 hands killed).

Operation Compass. British aircraft bomb Bardia and Italian airbases at Tobruk, Derna & Benina. Italian defensive perimeter at Bardia consists of a continuous antitank ditch and barbed wire fences in front of 2 lines of ‘posts’ (open concrete pits with 1-2 antitank guns and 2-4 machineguns, 800 yards apart and protected to the South by lines of barbed wire, antitank ditches and sometimes mines - the expected British line of attack from Egypt). However, the posts can be picked off individually from the rear by a breakthrough. Australian 6th Division rehearses storming these defenses. Engineers practice blowing the wire with Bangalore torpedoes and knocking down antitank ditches & stone obstacles while Infantrymen and tankers learn to neutralise the posts and artillery batteries.

President Roosevelt broadcasts a ‘fireside chat’, putting the manufacturing capacity of USA on a war footing but pledging to keep the country out of the European war. The goal is to be the “great arsenal of democracy” to supply the material needs of Britain and her allies, specifically Greece.

Overnight, 244 German bombers drop incendiary bombs on London’s ancient center, the City of London, starting 1500 fires and creating a firestorm among the old wooden buildings. Many historical buildings are destroyed but St Paul's Cathedral is saved by clergymen who prevent flames on the roof from spreading.

Day 485 December 28, 1940

Operation Compass. Monitor HMS Terror bombards Bardia, keeping up pressure on the 40,000 beseiged Italian troops.

Luftwaffe bombing badly damages 2 destroyers under construction at Southampton (to be called Norseman and Opportune). Norseman is almost blown in half but will be repaired and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Nepal on May 29 1942 (launched May 29 1942).

Destroyer HMS Valorous collides with minesweeping trawler HMT Libyan in Sheerness Harbour in the Thames Estuary. HMS Valorous will be repaired at Chatham until January 11 1941.

Day 484 December 27, 1940

In the South Pacific, Kapitän zur See Robert Eyssen brings German armed merchant cruiser Komet (now separated from cruiser Orion) back to British island of Nauru to destroy the phosphate export facility. Eyssen warns dock personnel to evacuate and not send distress signals. As no signals are sent, Komet waits before shelling the loading platforms, cranes and oil tanks (torching 13,000 tons of oil). Nauru’s dock will be rebuilt in 10 weeks but will not return to full capacity during the war.

200 miles South of Iceland, Italian submarine Tazzoli sinks British SS Ardanbhan (all 37 crew lost).

German cruiser Admiral Hipper returns to Brest, France, after an unsuccessful patrol lasting 1 month and sinking only 1 ship.

At 11.31 PM 300 miles off Senegal, U-65 uses a torpedo and 70 rounds from the deck gun to sink Norwegian SS Risanger (carrying coal and vehicles to British forces at Alexandria, Egypt, around the Cape of Good Hope rather than going through the Mediterranean). All 29 crew take to the lifeboats and are picked up after a few days by Norwegian tanker MV Belinda and landed in Capetown on Jan 10 1941.

Day 483 December 26, 1940

In the Mediterranean, Australian destroyer HMAS Waterhen sinks Italian schooner Tireremo Diritto, carrying supplies to Bardia from Tobruk, after taking off the crew.

500 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain, British cruiser HMS Bonaventure intercepts German steamer Baden which is returning from Teneriffe to Germany. The crew abandons ship and scuttles Baden, which is then finished off by a torpedo from HMS Bonaventure.

At 8.03 PM 300 miles South of Iceland, U-95 stops British MV Waiotira with 2 torpedoes. U-95 leaves due to 3 destroyers in the area. However, Waiotira is sunk by U-38 at 1.46 AM next day (1 passenger killed, 79 crew and 10 passengers picked up by destroyer HMS Mashona).

Day 482 December 25, 1940

Admiral Wilhelm Meisel commanding German cruiser Admiral Hipper blows the chance to disrupt British troop convoy WS.5 to the Middle East. Attacking out of the mist and rain at 8.08 AM, Hipper shells troopship Empire Trooper (16 soldiers killed) and freighter Arabistan (just missing a munitions store) but is chased off by corvette HMS Clematis firing her single 4 inch gun and then by cruisers HMS Berwick, Bonaventure & Dunedin. Hipper hits Berwick’s rear gun turret (killing 4 of the gun crew) and escapes into the mist undamaged, heading for Brest, France. Aircraft from British carriers HMS Argus & Furious search in vain for Hipper in the bad weather. Later in the day, 150 miles to the East, Hipper sinks unescorted British steamer Jumna with shellfire and 2 torpedoes. Admiral Wilhelm Meisel caps a bad day by steaming away, leaving 111 men to drown including 44 Indian lascar sailors returning home to Calcutta after surviving a previous sinking.

Day 481 December 24, 1940

At 4.41 PM, U-65 sinks British tanker British Premier carrying 8000 tons of crude oil (31 crew & 1 gunner killed) 50 miles off Sierra Leone. 9 survivors in 1 lifeboat are picked up by cruiser HMS Hawkins on Jan 3 1941. 4 survivors are rescued by destroyer HMS Faulknor on Feb 3 1941, after 41 days in an open boat (25 days without food).

German 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron attacks a British convoy in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, England, and S-28 sinks British minesweeping trawler HMT Pelton (20 killed). Destroyer HMS Verdun reports sinking one of the S-boats.

Greek submarine Papanicolis sinks Italian steamer Firenze in the Southern Adriatic Sea between the heel of Italy and Albania.

Late in the afternoon 700 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain, German cruiser Admiral Hipper spots convoy WS.5 (19 troopships and freighters carrying 40,000 troops and 150,000 tons of supplies including several squadrons of fighters to reinforce General Wavell in the Middle East, escorted by aircraft carriers HMS Argus & Furious and cruisers HMS Berwick, Bonaventure & Dunedin plus 4 corvettes). Hipper’s captain Admiral Wilhelm Meisel mistakes this for a regular merchant convoy and maintains radar contact overnight to attack in the morning.

Day 480 December 23, 1940

In Albania, Greek forces push back Italian troops another 20 miles up the Ionian coast, taking the small town of Himarra.

In Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa General Rodolfo Graziani removes General Mario Berti from command of Italian 10th Army after the collapse in the initial stages of Operation Compass. Graziani appoints his Chief of Staff General Giuseppe Tellera to take over 10th Army.

Destroyer HMS Havock collides with battleship HMS Valiant during gunnery practice. HMS Havock will be repaired at Malta until February 20 1941.

Lord Haw Haw warns of a second night of bombing for Manchester. From 7.15 PM until 1.29 AM, 171 aircraft home in on the still-burning city and drop 195 tons of high explosive bombs plus 893 incendiary canisters. In 2 nights, 363 civilians are killed and 1183 wounded.

Day 479 December 22, 1940

Overnight, convoy MG1 (including destroyers HMS Hyperion, Ilex & Janus) runs the Strait of Sicily under cover of darkness. At 1.56 AM 24 miles East of Cape Bon, Tunisia, Italian submarine Serpente torpedoes HMS Hyperion (2 killed, 14 injured). Hyperion sustains major structural damage and cannot be towed despite 2 attempts. Ilex takes off the survivors and Janus scuttles Hyperion before dawn, to prevent her falling into Italian hands.

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs the industrial city of Manchester in the English Midlands. Following the usual pattern, pathfinder aircraft drop incendiary canisters to start fires, which act as beacons for the following waves of bombers. In all, 270 aircraft drop 1,032 incendiary canisters and 272 tons of high explosive bombs. The Piccadilly area is set ablaze and many shelters collapse. The Gibsons shelter, part of Hulme Town Hall, receives a direct hit trapping 450 people but all are rescued alive. Liverpool is also bombed again but less than the last 2 nights.

Day 478 December 21, 1940

German raiders Komet & Orion and support ship Kulmerland release 514 prisoners captured from various ships, mainly women, children and the injured. They are handed over with some provisions to 2 English families on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. They will be picked up on December 29 by British SS Nellore and landed at Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, and provide Allied Intelligence with information on the raiders, including refuelling points, disguises and their use of Japanese facilities. 150 male prisoners are kept onboard Orion.

250 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-65 hits Panamian tanker Charles Pratt with 2 torpedoes at 4 PM, exploding the cargo of 96,069 barrels of fuel oil (2 killed, 40 survivors abandon ship in 2 lifeboats and are rescued 4-5 days later by British MV Gascony & SS Langleegorse and landed at Freetown).

At noon, convoy MG1 leaves Malta bound for Gibraltar (empty merchant ships Clan Fraser, Clan Forbes & Ulster Prince with battleship HMS Malaya and 8 destroyers).

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Liverpool again. RAF bombers flying from Britain attack docks and oil tanks at Porto Marghera, near Venice. Venice itself is not damaged.

Day 477 December 20, 1940

Between 5.15 and 6.15 AM off Kerkennah islands, Tunisia, 15 aircraft from British carrier HMS Illustrious sink 2 out of 3 ships in an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli, Libya.

300 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Calvi sinks British SS Carlton (30 crew and 1 gunner killed).

British Hunt class escort destroyer HMS Berkeley is damaged on a mine in the River Medway (repaired at nearby Chatham naval dockyards in 6 days).

Luftwaffe bombs Liverpool overnight. 42 civilians are killed when a single bomb destroys 2 air raid shelters (48 others in the shelters survive). Another 42 die in an unofficial shelter on Bentinck Street, under railway arches which are hit by bombs. 72 civilians are killed when bombs destroy a shelter in the Blackstock Gardens tenement.

Day 476 December 19, 1940

Overnight, British battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Warspite shell Italian positions at Valona, Albania, in support of Greek advances.

7 miles North of Cape Juby, Morocco, U-37 mistakenly torpedoes and sinks submarine Sfax (4 killed, 69 survivors) and the support ship Rhône (11 dead) belonging to her ally Vichy France. U-37’s log does not record this incident, stating “Nothing to see”.

Operation Compass. Gunboat HMS Aphis continues the bombardment of Bardia. General O’Connor reports that Western Desert Force’s casualties in the first 10 days of the campaign are 141 killed and missing plus 387 wounded.

200 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Bagnolini sinks British SS Amicus (all hands lost). British convoy escort destroyers HMS Veteran and HMS Verity collide in Lough Foyle near the Royal Navy base at Londonderry, flooding HMS Verity's engine room (under repair at Londonderry and Belfast until March 5 1941).

Day 475 December 18, 1940

In the Bay of Biscay, 40 miles off the Gironde Estuary, British submarine HMS Tuna sinks French tug Chassiron and attacks Italian submarines Brin and Bianchi without success. British submarine HMS Triton sinks in the Otranto Strait off Taranto, Italy (cause unknown). Italian cruisers Eugenio & Montecuccoli and destroyers Pigafetta, Da Recco, Pessagno & Riboty shell Greek forces on the Albanian coast near Corfu.

South Atlantic. 800 miles South of Cape Verde Islands, German cruiser Admiral Scheer captures British SS Duquesna carrying 3,500 tons of frozen beef and 15 million eggs from Argentina to Britain (91 crew and 8 passengers taken prisoner). Admiral Scheer’s captain Theodor Krancke allows Duquesna to radio for help before stopping her with shots across the bow, to distract Royal Navy from cruiser Admiral Hipper’s breakout from the Denmark Strait. Duquesna is held near Brazil to supply food to German raiders until scuttled on February 18 1941.

North Atlantic. Italian submarine Veniero stops Greek steamer Anastassia with a torpedo (18 crew killed). The wreck of Anastassia is allowed to drift away after 10 survivors are taken prisoner. U-100 sinks British SS Napier Star at 8.20 AM (59 crew & 12 passengers lost; 9 crew, 1 gunner & 4 passengers picked up by Swedish MV Vaalaren and landed at Liverpool on 23 December). U-96 hits Dutch tanker Pendrecht with 1 torpedo at 4.15 PM, tearing a 14m hole (the crew abandons ship but reboards when 2 other armed tankers arrive and keep U-96 at bay). British destroyer HMS Legion escorts Pendrecht to the Clyde for temporary repairs, arriving on 21 December, before going to USA for permanent repairs.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Refundo hits a mine and is taken under tow but sinks 1 mile off the coast of Suffolk, England, near Felixstowe (2 killed).

Hitler issues Führer Directive 21 for the invasion of Soviet Russia, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. The goal: "The German Wehrmacht must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign."

Day 474 December 17, 1940

At 6.40 AM, in darkness and heavy seas 5 miles Southwest of the Isle of Wight, British destroyer HMS Acheron hits a mine while running sea trials following repairs. Acheron sinks within 4 minutes, killing 153 crew and 22 shipyard workers (13 crew and 3 shipyard workers survive).

Operation Compass. British capture the coastal village of Sollum and have forced all Italian troops out of Egypt after 7 days of fighting. The unexpected success of this “5 day raid”, including surrounding the major port of Bardia in Libya, persuades General Wavell (Commander in Chief, Middle East) to continue the operation and 6th Australian Division replaces 4th Indian Division which has been sent to defend Sudan. British monitor HMS Terror and gunboat HMS Ladybird bombard Bardia, escorted by Australian destroyers HMAS Voyager and Vendetta. They sink Italian steamers Galata, Vincenzino and Giuseppina D. in Bardia habour.

At a press conference in Washington, President Roosevelt outlines a scheme for USA to provide munitions and equipment to Britain without requiring payment. It will become known as “Lend-Lease”.

Day 473 December 16, 1940

Operation Compass. 4th Armoured Brigade captures the Italian camp at Sidi Omar, which was leapfrogged in the rush into Libya to surround Bardia. They attack from the South and West, while the Italian artillery is facing East. The battle lasts 10 minutes (50 Italians killed, 900 taken prisoner).

At 7.50 PM off Cape Juby, Morocco, U-37 stops wooden Spanish steamer San Carlos with 1 torpedo and then tries to sink her with 21 rounds from the deck gun (1 killed). German sailors, rowing over to place scuttling charges, notice that the shells did not penetrate the wooden hull. 15 crew and 13 passengers abandon ship in 2 lifeboats.

British submarine HMS Truant sinks Italian tanker Bonzo in the Ionian Sea 2 miles off the coast of Calabria in the toe of Italy.

Overnight, RAF drops 100 tons of high explosive bombs and 14,000 incendiary canisters on Mannheim, Germany, in retaliation for the firebombing of Coventry on November 14. 8 pathfinder bombers miss the city center with incendiary canisters, causing most of the other bombers to miss the target (34 civilians killed, 81 injured). Learning from this failure, RAF develops the concept of "bomber stream" to drop the maximum amount of bombs in the smallest area over the shortest time.

Day 472 December 15, 1940

Operation Compass. British attention now focuses on the port of Bardia, Libya, which they have surrounded. From 12.20 to 5.17 PM, monitor HMS Terror begins the bombardment of Bardia which is defended by 40,000 Italians commanded by General Annibale Bergonzoli, known as 'Electric Whiskers' due to his flaming red beard (now white) worn parted in the middle.

In the Bay of Biscay, 2 miles offshore near the Gironde Estuary, British submarine HMS Thunderbolt sinks Italian submarine Tarantini which is returning from patrol in the North Sea (all 58 hands lost). Free French submarine Narval sinks on a mine in the Mediterranean 40 miles Northeast of Sfax, Tunisia (all 54 hands lost). German motor torpedo boat S.58 sinks Danish steamer N. C. Monberg just off Yarmouth, England (8 crew, 1 gunner lost).

Day 471 December 14, 1940

Operation Compass. A Vickers light tank (3rd The King's Own Hussars, 7th Armored Brigade) captures Fort Capuzzo, in Libya just across the border with Egypt. Royal Navy starts shuttling Italian POWs back to Alexandria, Egypt. Armed boarding vessel Fiona and auxiliary schooners Farouk and Fawzia deliver 3100 POWs from Mersa Matruh and then return. Italian submarine Naiade, sent out yesterday to harass British warships, is detected by destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Hyperion 20 miles Northeast of Bardia, Libya, and brought to the surface with depth charges. Naiade is scuttled and all 41 crew are rescued by HMS Hereward. 8 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from 830 Naval Air Squadron at Malta attack the harbour at Tripoli, Libya.

RAF bombs Italian naval base at Naples, damaging Italian cruiser Pola.

400 miles West of Ireland, U-100 sinks British steamers SS Kyleglen at 8.16 AM (all 36 hands lost) and SS Euphorbia at 7.55 PM (all 34 hands lost). At 8.55 AM, 200 miles South of Iceland, U-96 stops British liner Western Prince with a torpedo (14 killed). After allowing 100 crew and 55 passengers to abandon ship in lifeboats, U-96 sinks Western Prince at 10.21 AM. 154 survivors are picked up by British steamer Baron Kinnaird and 1 by destroyer HMS Active.

HMS Branlebas, a torpedo boat captured from the French off Portsmouth on July 3 1940, sinks in rough weather in the English Channel 30 miles Southwest of Plymouth (97 hands lost, Free French destroyer Mistral rescues 3 survivors).

Day 470 December 13, 1940

Operation Compass. Repeating yesterday’s successful manoeuver by 7th Armored Brigade, it is 4th Armored Brigade’s turn to cross the desert (between Halfaya and Sidi Omar) to outflank the important Italian position at Bardia and cut the road to Tobruk. Italians deploy submarines Naiade, Narvalo and Neghelli against the British warships shelling the coastal road and forts. At 8.42 PM, Neghelli torpedoes British anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry 40 miles Northeast of Sidi Barrani. Coventry loses most of her bow below the waterline and steams stern first to Alexandria, escorted by destroyers HMS Jervis and Janus (under repair until January 20 1941).

In response to the possibility of British air bases in Greece which would threaten Germany’s oil supply from the Ploieşti oilfields in Romania, Hitler issues Directive 20 for the invasion of Greece by German troops (Operation Marita).

British submarine HMS Truant sinks Italian steamer Sebastino Bianchi 20 miles off the Southern tip of Italy. At 8.46 PM 450 miles West of Lands End, England, U-43 damages British MV Orari (carrying 10,908 tons of food and general cargo) with the last 2 torpedoes. Orari is patched up and sails to the Clyde for repairs lasting until March 1941.

Day 469 December 12, 1940

Operation Compass. British 7th Armored Brigade moves through the desert to outflank Sollum and cut the road to Bardia, across the border in Libya. Sollum is strategically important, having a small bay and jetty which will allow Royal Navy to bring supplies to O’Connor’s forces. Italian prisoners of war start arriving by truck back at the British headquarters at Mersa Matruh and 650 are evacuated to Alexandria by destroyers HMS Janus and Juno. Aircraft from British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious attack Italian forward supply base at Bardia, Libya, bombing barges in the harbour.

12 miles South of the tiny Scottish island of St.Kilda, Outer Hebrides, U-96 continues its attack on convoy HX-92 overnight. U-96 sinks Swedish MV Stureholm at 1.56 AM (4 lifeboats launch but all 32 hands are lost) and Belgian SS Macedonier at 4.31 hours (4 dead, 2 lifeboats are spotted by an aircraft leading to 37 survivors picked up by Icelandic ship Súlan).

Day 468 December 11, 1940

Operation Compass. British 7th Armored Brigade (7th Armored Division) charges Northwest to the Egyptian coast at Buq Buq & takes the surrender of Italian 64th Infantry Division. Battleships HMS Barham & HMS Valiant, escorted by anti-aircraft ship HMS Coventry & 7 destroyers, bombard Italian positions further West at Sollum, Egypt, to prevent reinforcements being sent forward. Aircraft from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, escorted by 2 cruisers & 3 destroyers, attack Italian-held El Adem airfield at Tobruk, Libya. In 3 days, British have captured 237 guns, 73 tanks & about 38,000 Italian prisoners (as famously put by a Coldstream Guards officer “5 acres of officers & 200 acres of other ranks”). However, the British advance begins to lose steam; Indian 4th Infantry Division is ordered to Sudan by General Wavell, to take part in offensives against Italian forces in East Africa. They will be replaced by raw The Australian 6th Division.

U-96 attacks convoy HX-92 125 miles Northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland. At 3.12 PM, U-96 sinks British liner Rotorua (16 crew, 2 gunners, convoy HX-92 commodore Rear-Admiral Fitzgerald and 3 service personnel passengers killed). 108 survivors are picked up by British armed trawlers HMT Varanga, HMT Ebor Wyke & HMT Alsey. 2 crew are taken prisoner by the U-boat and landed at Lorient on 29 December. At 10.42 PM, U-96 sinks Norwegian SS Towa carrying 7778 tons of grain and 48 trucks (18 killed, 19 survivors picked up by destroyer HMS Matabele). At 7.12 PM, U-94 sinks British MV Empire Statesman carrying iron ore (all 31 hands lost) 225 miles West of Ireland.

278 German aircraft bomb Birmingham, dropping 277 tons of high explosive bombs and 685 incendiary canisters.

Day 467 December 10, 1940

Operation Compass. British and Indian troops overrun the last 2 Italian camps on the coastal plain. Overnight, the isolated forward base at Maktila is abandoned by 1st Libyan Division (colonial troops fighting for Italy) after shelling from British monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird & Aphis. In the afternoon, Indian 4th Infantry Division and British 7th Royal Tank Regiment again combine to capture the camp at Sidi Barrani, forcing the Italian 4th Blackshirt Division and another Libyan colonial Division into the desert where they and 1st Libyan Division will surrender the next day.

Day 466 December 9, 1940

Operation Compass. British artillery and bombers bombard Italian fort Nibeiwa from 5 to 7 AM. At 7.15 AM, Western Desert Force moves forward and turns North to attack the Italian forts from the rear. They are quickly spotted by Colonel Vittorio Revetra, commander of Italian fighter forces in Libya flying a Fiat CR-42 between airfields, but it is too late. Indian 4th Infantry Division and British 7th Royal Tank Regiment take the camp at Nibeiwa at 8.30 AM, Tummar West at 4 PM and Tummar East by nightfall. 4th Armoured Brigade (part of 7th Armoured Division) drives to the coast, preventing an Italian withdrawal by cutting the only road. British monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird & HMS Aphis shell forts at Sidi Barrani and Maktila from the Mediterranean to clear out the coastal defenses and further frustrate any retreat. British take 4,000 prisoners.

At 1.32 AM, U-103 sinks SS Empire Jaguar 250 miles west of Ireland (all 37 hands lost).

Day 465 December 8, 1940

Operation Compass. General O'Connor’s Western Desert Force moves forward all day and into the night, covering the remaining 35 miles to the line of Italian forts. They move undetected through the gap between camps Nibeiwa and Sofafi and stop at 1 AM next day to rest for a few hours.

At 8.58 PM 295 miles West of Ireland, U-103 sinks British liner Calabria (carrying 4000 tons of iron, 3050 tons of tea and 1870 tons of oilcake from India to Britain) killing 129 crew, 1 gunner and 230 Indian sailors being brought to Britain to crew other ships. 21 crew members are picked up by destroyer HMS Sikh and landed at Londonderry. 75 miles West of Ireland, U-140 sinks Finnish barque Penang at 12.26 PM (all 18 hands lost). Penang is a 3-masted steel sailing ship, built in 1905, carrying 3250 tons of grain from Australia to Ireland. U-140 also sinks British SS Ashcrest at 8.25 PM (all 37 crew lost).

Destroyer HMS Windsor hits a mine off Aldeburgh, Surrey, on the east coast of England. She is towed to Harwich by destroyer HMS Garth and repaired to Chatham until April 24 1941.

Stormy weather prevents German armed merchant cruisers Komet and Orion from landing on the island of Nauru to raid phosphate mining facilities and drop off their prisoners as planned. However, they sink 3 freighters waiting offshore. Orion sinks Triadic (1 killed, 11 crew taken prisoner) and Triaster (64 crew taken prisoner) and Komet sinks Komata (2 killed, 33 crew taken prisoner). The German raiders and their support vessel Kulmerland now have 675 prisoners including 52 women and 8 children.

Day 464 December 7, 1940

Operation Compass. General O'Connor’s Western Desert Force (30,000 troops, artillery, trucks and 275 tanks including 48 Matilda slow but heavily armoured “infantry” tanks) hides out all day and night in No-Man's Land. Windshields are removed from all vehicles to prevent sunglare. O'Connor’s luck holds and they are not spotted by Italian reconnaissance aircraft. They recuperate and prepare for the advance to the Italian forts using supplies hidden in advance (Forward Supply Depots hold enough fuel, food, water and ammunition for the planned 5 day raid). AfricaMap1.jpg

At 10.39 PM, U-99 sinks Dutch SS Farmsum 500 miles West of Ireland (16 killed). 19 crew abandon ship in lifeboats. 4 more die of exposure and 15 are eventually rescued with severe frostbite by destroyer HMS Ambuscade.

2 British minesweeping trawlers sink. HMT Capricornus hits a mine near the Nore Light Vessel in the Thames Estuary. HMT Cortina sinks after a collision in the Humber Estuary.

As German armed merchant cruisers and Orion prepare to raid Allied phosphate mining island of Nauru in the South Pacific, Komet stops Norwegian MV Vinni with shellfire and scuttles her after all 32 crew are taken prisoner. Germans_attacks_on_Nauru-en.svg

Day 463 December 6, 1940

Since September, 80,000 Italian troops have fortified a line of 7 camps to protect their forward supply line at the port of Sidi Barrani (running Southwest from Maktila on the Egyptian coast). However, British forces in Egypt have received Matilda tanks and Hurricanes fighters sent at Churchill’s request from England. Middle East Commander-in-Chief General Wavell plans a 5 day raid (Operation Compass) through a 15 mile gap in the Italian camps between Nibeiwa on the coastal plain and Sofafi on the escarpment inland. British 7th Armoured Division, British 16th Infantry Brigade and Indian 4th Infantry Division (Western Desert Force under General Richard O'Connor) leave Mersa Matruh at 7 AM, traveling all day and night to cover half the 70 miles to the Italian camps.

British submarines are active in the busy Straits of Otranto between Italy and Greece. HMS Regulus hits a mine and sinks (all 55 hands lost). 40 miles off Brindisi, HMS Triton damages Italian steamer Olimpia and is counterattacked by Italian torpedo boats Altair and Andromeda without damage.

German armed merchant cruisers Komet and Orion intend to raid phosphate mining operations and drop prisoners on the Allied-run island of Nauru in the South Pacific (a German colony until WWI). 200 miles South of Nauru, they stop phosphate freighter Triona with shellfire (3 crew killed). 54 crew, 6 women passengers and 1 child are taken prisoner before Orion torpedoes Triona.

At 10.48 PM 400 miles West of Ireland, U-43 sinks Norwegian SS Skrim (all 23 hands lost).

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Bristol again. In the last 4 days, 256 people have been killed and 229 injured.

Day 462 December 5, 1940

British destroyer HMS Cameron, one of the first 8 destroyers transferred from the US Navy in September, is bombed and badly damaged while refitting in drydock at Portsmouth (14 killed). The dock floods and HMS Cameron capsizes. She will be refloated in February 1941 and repaired by April 1942 but never see active service again.

German armed merchant cruiser Thor and British armed merchant cruiser HMS Carnarvon Castle exchange 6-inch shellfire 300 miles South of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Thor is not hit and leaves the area quickly to avoid Allied hunting groups. HMS Carnarvon Castle is hit 27 times (4 dead, 32 wounded) and will be repaired at Montevideo, Uruguay, using steel plates from German pocket battleship Graf Spee which had been sunk there in December 1939.

British submarine HMS Sunfish sinks Finnish steamer Oscar Midling (no survivors) off the Stadlandet peninsula, Norway.

British motor torpedo boats MTB.32, MTB.29 and MTB.31 sweep the coast of Holland near the mouth of River Scheldt, sinking German steamer Paranagua.

250 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Argo sinks British steamer Silverpine (35 killed).

6 miles off Cape Misurata, Libya, Italian torpedo boat Calipso sinks on a mine (laid by British submarine HMS Rorqual on August 16).

Day 461 December 4, 1940

Greek forces advance to Përmet 10 miles across the Albanian border, taking 500 Italian prisoners. They now occupy a line from Sarandë on the Ionian Sea, via Përmet and Korçë, to Pogradec on Ohrid Lake in the East.

At 4.57 AM, U-37 sinks Swedish SS Daphne, 15 miles Southwest of Cabo Espichel, Portugal (18 dead and 1 survivor). This vessel was also torpedoed in WWI (at the time known as SS Naparima) off Hartlepool, England, by UB-107 on May 10 1918.

Birmingham is bombed again. 62 aircraft dropped 77 tons of high explosive bombs and 184 incendiary canisters.

Day 460 December 3, 1940

The attack on convoy HX-90 continues despite escort vessels. At 10.58 AM, U-99 sinks the abandoned hulk of British MV Conch, damaged yesterday morning by torpedoes from U-47 & U-95. British SS W. Hendrik, stopped by her captain who believes she had been hit by a torpedo, is bombed & sunk by a Focke-Wulf Fw-200 (5 killed). The final victim in convoy HX-90 is British SS Victoria City, sunk by U-140 at 9.42 PM (all 43 hands lost).

Greeks push Italians back 15 miles along the Ionian coast past the archeological site at Butrint & capture the Albanian Riviera town of Sarandë. Suda Bay is now an active British naval base for the defense of Crete & as a staging post for movements through the Mediterranean. At 3.40 PM, Italian torpedo bombers attack Suda Bay, badly damaging British cruiser HMS Glasgow with 2 torpedoes (3 killed, 3 wounded). HMS Glasgow will be patched up at Alexandria, Egypt, until February 1941 but not fully repaired until August 1942 in New York, USA.

Destroyer HMS Campbeltown, one of the first 8 destroyers transferred from the US Navy in September, is damaged in collision with British tanker Conus off Liverpool (repaired at Liverpool until March 28 1941).

German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran departs Gotenhafen to raid Allied shipping in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Germany’s largest raider, she carries provisions for 12 months, 280 moored mines & 40 ground mines plus spare parts & torpedoes for U-boats.

51 German aircraft bomb Birmingham, dropping 55 tons of high explosive bombs and 448 incendiary canisters.

Day 459 December 2, 1940

British armed merchant cruiser HMS Forfar, which has just left convoy HX-90, is sunk by U-99 with 5 torpedoes between 5.46 and 6.57 AM (172 crew killed, 21 survivors rescued later in the day by Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent, British destroyer HMS Viscount and British SS Dunsley). Between 4-7.30 AM 300 miles West of Ireland, U-47 U-52 U-94 U-99 and U-101 attack convoy HX-90 (which is still unescorted) with good visibility from the Northern Lights, sinking 5 ships (22,868 tons of shipping) and damaging 2 more (119 lives lost). Destroyer HMS Viscount rescues 79 survivors and Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent rescues 106. U-94 finds the convoy after the coastal escort vessels arrive and sinks 2 more ships after dark (5 killed, survivors rescued by British SS Empire Puma from the same convoy and corvette HMS Gentian).

In other U-boat actions, U-37 sinks Swedish SS Gwalia at 4.18 AM (16 killed, 4 survivors on a raft picked up after 11 days by a British destroyer) and British Jeanne M. at 4.46 AM (7 killed, 19 picked up by antisubmarine trawler HMT Erin) 230 miles north of Cape Roca, Portugal. West of Ireland, U-43 sinks British MV Pacific President at 9.01 AM (all 50 hands lost) and British tanker Victor Ross at 9.41 AM (all 44 hands lost) and U-99 sinks Norwegian SS Samnanger at 8.50 PM (all 30 hands lost).

Admiral of the Fleet, Earl of Cork and Orrery, arrives at Gibraltar aboard destroyer HMS Jersey to conduct a Board of Inquiry into Admiral Somerville’s handling of Battle of Spartivento. Somerville’s decision to disengage in the face of superior forces will be upheld and no disciplinary action taken.

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Bristol.