Day 564 March 17, 1941

Overnight 250 miles Southeast of Iceland, U-99 & U-100 attack convoy HX-112. U-99 sinks 2 freighters & 3 tankers and damages another tanker but then withdraws, out of torpedoes. At 3.18 AM, U-100 is depth charged by destroyers HMS Walker & HMS Vanoc and then rammed and sunk by HMS Vanoc (38 dead including U-boat ace Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke). At 3.43 AM, HMS Walker drops 6 depth charges on U-99 which surfaces and the crew abandons ship (3 dead). 6 crewmen from U-100 and 40 from U-99, including Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer (WWII’s top U-boat ace), are rescued by HMS Walker & HMS Vanoc and go into captivity.

In mid-Atlantic 1150 miles Southwest of Cape Verde Islands, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran and U-124 meet cruiser Admiral Scheer. U-124 sends replacement quartz for the radar to Admiral Scheer but again the sea is too rough to transfer torpedoes from Kormoran to U-124.

Operation Canvas. 11th African Division captures Jijiga, Eastern Ethiopia, unopposed. They have covered 500 miles in 15 days from Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland, mainly along the Italian-built "Imperial Road".

U-106 has stalked convoy SL-68 for 2 days. At 9.07 PM 250 miles West of Dakar, Senegal, U-106 sinks British SS Andalusian (40 crew and 2 gunners reach Boa Vista, Cape Verde) and Dutch SS Tapanoeli (all 75 crew survive). U-106 & U-105 will prey on this convoy for the next 4 days.

Day 563 March 16, 1941

East Africa.
Battle of Keren, Eritrea. Overnight, 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment creep up the steep mountainside to attack the concrete trenches of Fort Dologorodoc. Unaware, Italian troops sally forth from the Fort at 4 AM to counterattack 5th Mahratta Light Infantry holding the foothills. West Yorkshires capture Fort Dologorodoc in hand-to-hand combat at 6.30 AM (taking 400 Italians prisoners).
Operation Appearance; reconquest of British Somaliland. 2 Indian battalions cross the Red Sea from Aden in 2 troop transports (escorted by British cruisers HMS Glasgow & Caledon, destroyers HMS Kandahar & Kingston) and land at Berbera. The Italian garrison is only 60 strong and riddled with malaria; they line up on the beach to surrender without a fight. 200 Allied POWs are released. The port at Berbera will be used to supply the advance of General Cunningham’s African troops into Ethiopia.

Between 4.28 AM and 3.50 PM 950 miles East of Nova Scotia, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink another 10 unescorted freighters (most crewmen rescued). Danish MV Chilean Reefer bravely fires her tiny deck gun at Gneisenau, which destroys Chilean Reefer with 73 11-inch shells (9 crew killed, 3 taken prisoner). British battleship HMS Rodney responds to distress signals from Chilean Reefer but cannot get close enough to fire her guns before the faster cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst race away. HMS Rodney picks up a lifeboat with survivors from Chilean Reefer.

Albania. Italians have not broken the Greek defenses in the Trebeshinë heights, although they have made some local gains. Primavera Offensive is called off after 8 days with 12,000 Italians killed and wounded.

85 miles West of Ireland, German bombers sink British anti-submarine trawler HMT Lady Lilian and damage HMT Angle.

50 miles east of Malta, British submarine HMS Parthian damages Italian steamer Giovanni Boccaccio.

At 4.36 PM 220 miles off the coast of Gambia, West Africa, U-106 sinks Dutch MV Almkerk (carrying 7087 tons of wheat from Australia). All 66 crew abandon ship in 2 lifeboats (1 picked up by the British steamer Martand on March 18). 1 lifeboat lands in Vichy French Guinea but is allowed to proceed to Sierra Leone, arriving at Freetown on March 30.

Overnight, 162 Luftwaffe bombers attack Bristol targeting the docks at Avonmouth and the city center (257 civilians killed, 391 injured).

Day 562 March 15, 1941

950 miles East of Nova Scotia, German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst encounter an unescorted convoy of empty merchant ships returning to USA, sinking 3 tankers (6 crew and 1 gunner killed, most rescued). Gneisenau also captures 3 tankers which will sail with prize crews for France (only Norwegian tanker Polykarb will reach Bordeaux).

Battle of Keren, Eritrea. Since February, Italian defenses in the Dongolaas Gorge have been reinforced to 25,000 troops. 4th and 5th Indian Divisions (13,000 men) resume the attack at 7 AM, taking hilltops either side of the Gorge during heavy fighting all day and night. Ground changing hands several times and there are heavy casualties on both sides. Italians still hold the dominating position in Fort Dologordoc.

In mid-Atlantic 650 miles Southwest of Cape Verde Islands, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran meets U-124 to resupply her with provisions and 7 torpedoes. The sea is too rough so they head South looking for calmer waters.

South of Iceland, U-110 spots convoy HX-112 (41 merchant ships, escorted by 5 destroyers and 2 corvettes) and summons U-37, U-74, U-99 & U-100. Overnight, U-110 torpedoes British tanker Erodona, setting her cargo of fuel oils from Aruba on fire (32 crew and 4 gunners lost). Convoy escorts drop 24 depth charges and chase off U-110, which is not damaged. MV Erodona’s burnt out hulk will be towed to Iceland and repaired (returning to service in February 1944).

Day 561 March 14, 1941

Albania. Greeks have repelled Italian combined armour and infantry attacks for 6 days. Chief of the Italian Supreme Command, General Ugo Cavallero, advises Mussolini to halt the Primavera Offensive. 5 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF 815 Squadron flying from Paramythia, Greece, attack the Albanian port of Vlorë sink Italian hospital ship Po and steamer Santa Maria. 1 Swordfish is shot down (3 aircrew picked up by Italian MAS boat and taken POW).

250 miles South of Iceland, Italian submarine Emo sinks British SS Western Chief (22 crew lost).

Overnight, 203 Luftwaffe bombers return to Glasgow and Clydebank, Scotland, guided by fires from yesterday’s raid. They bomb shipyards and the Rolls Royce aircraft engine factory.

Day 560 March 13, 1941

Libya. Rommel moves his headquarter to Sirte, to launch offensive operations to recapture Eastern Libya and attack into Egypt using the 5th Light Division which is now at full strength after receiving 150 tanks just arrived from Italy. He orders the capture of the unoccupied oasis at Marada, 75 miles South of Allied forward positions at El Agheila, to secure his Southern flank from any possible Allied counterattack through the desert.

400 miles North of The Azores, British sloop HMS Scarborough intercepts Norwegian whalers Star XIX and Star XXIV (captured by German raider Pinguin on January 15). German prize crews are rescued by HMS Scarborough after scuttling both whalers.

Overnight, 236 Luftwaffe bombers attack Glasgow, Scotland, targeting munitions factories and docks on the River Clyde (3 steamers are sunk and destroyers HMS Goathland and HMS Haldon, under construction, are damaged). In addition, Luftwaffe bombs Liverpool again hitting an air raid shelter on Adlington Street (65 civilians killed).

Day 559 March 12, 1941

At 6.05 PM 300 miles South of Iceland, U-37 sinks tiny Icelandic trawler Pétursey with the deck gun and anti-aircraft gun. All 10 crew abandon ship in a lifeboat but they are never seen again.

Overnight, Luftwaffe aircraft bomb Liverpool and Merseyside docks, sinking 8 merchant ships and a floating crane. The town of Wallasey, in the Wirral on the other side of the River Mersey, is badly hit with 174 people killed. A baby girl will be rescued unhurt from the rubble in Wallesey on March 16, after almost 4 days (both her parents have been killed). Raids tonight and the following night kill 500 civilians in Liverpool area and another 500 are wounded.

Day 558 March 11, 1941

At 8 AM, U-74 shells Icelandic trawler Frodi with the deck gun 192 miles Southeast of Iceland. Frodi is badly damaged (5 killed) but reaches the island of Vestmannaeyjar next day.

At 3.46 PM 200 miles West of Senegal, U-106 sinks British MV Memnon (3 crew and 2 RAF personnel killed). 69 survivors in lifeboats meet varied fates. 4 are taken prisoner by German battlecruiser Gneisenau. 43 land at Bathurst, Sierra Leone, on March 24. 22 make land in Senegal on March 21, are imprisoned by Vichy French but then put back in their lifeboat and sent to Sierra Leone.

President Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease Bill into law allowing Britain (and other countries) to get weapons and munitions from America on credit instead of paying in gold under "cash and carry", as required by the Neutrality Acts. This is just in time, as Britain is beginning to run out of gold.

Rommel’s armour arrives in Libya. 5th Light Division’s Panzer Regiment completes unloading from freighters at Tripoli, parades through the town (they go around several times to create the illusion of greater strength) and then heads East to Sirte.

Overnight, 135 Luftwaffe aircraft drop 122 tons high explosive bombs and 830 incendiary canisters on Birmingham in the English Midlands. 6 Handley Page Halifax bombers of 35 Squadron raid Le Havre, France, from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire (operational debut of the Halifax).

Day 557 March 10, 1941

At midnight 460 miles Southeast of Iceland, U-552 sinks Icelandic trawler Reykjaborg with the deck gun and anti-aircraft gun (12 killed). 3 survivors escape on a raft (1 dies, 2 picked up by British corvette HMS Pimpernel on March 14).

British submarine HMS H.28 is damaged in a collision with a freighter in the Irish Sea (under repair at Belfast until April 14).

Operation Canvas. General Platt's Nigerian Brigade has advance 450 miles North from Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland, into Ethiopia. They meet Italian resistance at Degehabur, on the road 100 miles South of Jijiga. Known as the "Hindenburg Wall", these old trenches and gun pits were built by the Ethiopians in 1936 against the Italian invasion during the 2nd Italo-Abyssinian War.

Continuing the attack on Italian convoy from Palermo, British submarine HMS Unique sinks SS Fenicia 100 miles Northwest of Tripoli, Libya.

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs town of Portsmouth and Royal Navy docks, damaging destroyers HMS Sherwood, HMS Witherington (under repair at Portsmouth for 5 months) & HMS Tynedale (repaired in 9 days), training ship HMS Marshal Soult (ex-monitor with 15-inch guns removed) and 4 minesweeping trawlers. Minesweeping trawler HMT Revello is sunk (1 killed, Revello will be raised, repaired and recommissioned). 10 shore-based Naval personnel are also killed.

Day 556 March 9, 1941

Overnight, Germans bombing of London damages Buckingham Palace and destroys the underground nightclub Café De Paris, where a bomb comes down a ventilation shaft and explodes on the dance floor (80 people killed including performer Ken 'Snakehips' Johnston who is decapitated onstage). An hour later the club would have been packed with much higher casualties.

Mussolini is desperate for success in the Albanian mountains before the impending German invasion of Greece, after stalemate during the Winter months. He is in the Albanian capital Tiranë, having announced on the radio that he will personally command a “Primavera Offensive”. Following artillery and aerial bombardment, 11 infantry divisions plus 131st “Centauro” armoured Division attack through the Trebeshinë heights between the River Osum and River Vjosë. Pre-warned by the propaganda, well dug in Greek defenders repel the attack. This will continue for a week.

British submarines HMS Unique, Upholder, Upright and Utmost locate an Italian convoy from Palermo, Sicily, to Tripoli (freighters Fenicia and Capo Vita escorted by torpedo boat Papa and armed merchant cruiser Deffenu). HMS Utmost makes an unsuccessful attack on AMC Deffenu but sinks SS Capo in the Gulf of Hammanet, 35 miles off the coast of Tunisia.

The Suez Canal is clear of mines and British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable sails through from the Red Sea escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle and sloop HMS Grimsby.

250 miles North of Cape Verde Islands, German cruiser Scharnhorst sinks Greek SS Marathon (carrying coal to Alexandria around the Cape of Good Hope), taking the entire crew prisoner.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Gulfoss hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel 3 miles South of Dungeness, Kent (10 killed).

Day 555 March 8, 1941

At 1.19 AM 150 miles South of Iceland, German submarine UA sinks British SS Dunaff Head in convoy OB-293 (5 killed, 34 crew and 4 gunners picked up by destroyer HMS Verity). UA is counterattacked and badly damaged by depth charges from destroyer HMS Wolverine.

A German wolf-pack (U-105, U-106 & U-124) now patrols the coast of West Africa. Reports from cruisers Scharnhorst & Gneisenau guide U-124 & U-105 to British convoy SL-67 but they do not locate the escorting battleship HMS Malaya. At 3.41 AM, U-105 sinks SS Harmodius but is then depth charged by convoy escorts. Between 5.47 and 6.08 AM, U-124 sinks 4 more British steamers and is then driven off. 62 merchant seamen are killed but destroyers HMS Faulknor and HMS Forester rescue over 300 survivors.

As Allied troops sail North from Egypt to Greece, the first tanks for Rommel’s Afrika Korps head South from Italy to Libya. 5th Light Division’s Panzer Regiment departs Naples in freighters Alicante, Arcturus, Wachtfels and Rialto bound for Tripoli, arriving safely on March 10 escorted by Italian destroyers Fulmine, Baleno and Turbine. Remarkably, these parallel convoys of troops and equipment are mostly unmolested by the British and Italian submarines patrolling the Western Mediterranean.

Day 554 March 7, 1941

2 German submarines are lost when U-47 U-70 U-90 & UA attack convoy OB-293, 320 miles Northwest of Scotland. They sink British SS Terje Viken (largest whaling factory ship in the world, 4th largest merchant ship sunk in WWII) & British tanker MV Athelbeach (and damage 2 other merchant ships). U-47 is lost by unknown causes (all 48 hands lost). U-70 is rammed by Dutch tanker Mijdrecht (after torpedoing her). 4 hours of depth charging by British corvettes HMS Camellia and HMS Arbutus forces U-70 to the surface and the crew abandons ship (20 killed, 25 picked up and taken prisoner). 200 miles further West, U-37 sinks Greek steamer Mentor. In the same area, British submarine HMS Porpoise unsuccessfully attacks a German submarine.

German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau find a convoy of 12 freighters 550 miles Northwest of Dakar, Senegal, but it is escorted by British battleship HMS Malaya. Under orders not to engage British capital ships, they do not attack the convoy but instead report its position to German submarines in the area.

British motor torpedo boat MTB.28 is destroyed by fire at Portsmouth.

Overnight, 5 British steamers are sunk (52 merchant seamen and 4 gunners killed) in attacks on convoys FN.426 and FS.429 by 12 German motor torpedo boats off East Anglia, England. Another steamer, SS Dotterel, is damaged and runs aground (8 killed, patrol sloop HMS Sheldrake takes off 19 survivors but 1 officer and 2 ratings from Sheldrake are lost in the process).

Day 553 March 6, 1941

Operation Lustre. British cruisers HMS York, HMS Bonaventure and HMS Gloucester leave Alexandria, Egypt, carrying troops to Piraeus, Greece (arriving March 7). Separately, freighters Clan Macauley and Cingalese leave Alexandria carrying tanks and equipment, escorted by destroyers HMS Nubian, HMS Mohawk and HMS Wryneck Prince (arriving Piraeus March 8). This pattern of troops on fast warships and freight carried by escorted steamers will be repeated every 3 days. Italian submarines Ondina, Beilul, Galatea, Malachite, Smeraldo, Nereide, Ascianghi, Ambra, Dagabur and Onice will patrol the convoy routes around Crete with little success against the convoys.

At 7.15 AM in Kaso Strait, East of Crete, Italian submarine Anfitrite approaches a convoy of emtpy freighters returning to Alexandria. Anfitrite is brought to the surface by depth charges from British destroyer HMS Greyhound, shelled by destroyers HMS Greyhound and HMS Havoc and then scuttled (39 crew taken prisoner). Convoy is then unsuccesfully attacked by Italian bombers.

British minesweeping trawler HMT Keryado hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel (9 killed but the Captain survives).

Day 552 March 5, 1941

The British government breaks off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria in response to their alliance with Germany.

Reichsmarschall Göring meets with Romanian dictator General Antonescu in Vienna, demanding Romanian participation in the upcoming German invasion of USSR.

20 miles East of Catania, Sicily, British submarine HMS Triumph sinks Italian steamers Marzamemi and Colombo Lo Faro.

Swedish MV Murjek is sailing from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Gothenburg, Sweden, with lights on and transmitting radio messages identifying herself. At 5.25 AM, 200 miles South of Iceland, U-95 sinks the friendly, neutral merchant vessel with 5 torpedoes (all 31 hands lost).

Day 551 March 4, 1941

Greece.
As German troops move into Bulgaria, Yugoslavia becomes the key to the invasion of Greece. Hitler meets Prince Paul of Yugoslavia at Berchtesgaden to pressure him into joining the Tripartite Pact, offering the Greek Agean port of Salonika in return. Britain also seeks Yugoslavian assurances denying Germany access to Greece. Prince Paul must decide soon.

Transport of Allied troops and equipment from North Africa begins (Operation Lustre). 4 freighters depart Alexandria and Port Said, Egypt, escorted by destroyers HMS Hereward and HMS Stuart.

British General Wilson arrives in Athens to take command of Allied ground forces. He discovers confusion over the planned defense against German attack. Greek troops still hold the Metaxas line facing Bulgaria instead of withdrawing to the Aliakmon Line (as had been agreed, or so the British thought).

In Albania, Italian warships shell Greek coastal positions in preparation for a renewed Italian ground offensive.

Operation Claymore. At dawn, landing ships HMS Queen Emma and HMS Princess Beatrix land 500 British Commandos at 4 ports in the Lofoten Islands, Norway (escorted by destroyers HMS Somali, Bedouin, Tartar, Eskimo and Legion). They destroy fish oil factories and 3600 tons of fish oil (Germany extracts glycerine from fish oil, a vital ingredient in high explosives). 9 merchant ships are blown up by the Commandos or sunk by shellfire from the destroyers. Enigma cypher machine rotor wheels and code books are captured from German armed trawler Krebs, allowing cryoptographers at Bletchley Park to read the German naval codes (Krebs is then sunk). At 1 PM, the landing ships leave with all the Commandos, 228 German POWs and 314 Norwegian volunteers.

In the Indian Ocean South of the Seychelles, a Walrus seaplane from Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra spots German steamer Coburg and captured Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig (supply ships for German armed merchant cruisers). HMAS Canberra tries to intercept, but Coburg and Ketty Brøvig are scuttled to avoid capture.

Day 550 March 3, 1941

Rommel moves German 5th Light Division along the Libyan coast road from Sirte to hold a narrow pass 17 miles West of the Allied forward positions at El Agheila. This will block any Allied advances towards Tripoli and serve as a base for offensive operations. Germans also construct defenses in the desert to prevent the Allies from bypassing this position.

Italian aircraft bomb Larissa in central Greece (devastated 2 days ago by 6.3 magnitude earthquake) but 5 Cant bombers are shot down over Corfu by RAF Hurricane fighters.

German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrive off the West coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands, threatening convoy routes to Britain.

440 miles West of Ireland, Bootsmannsmaat (Petty Officer) Artur Mei falls overboard from U-97 and is lost.

Day 549 March 2, 1941

U-552 U-95 and U-147 attack convoy HX-109, 170 miles Northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Around midnight, U-552 sinks tanker SS Cadillac carrying 17,000 tons of aviation spirit from Aruba (37 killed, 4 crew and 1 passenger picked up by destroyer HMS Malcolm) and U-95 sinks SS Pacific carrying 9000 tons of steel and scrap metal from USA (34 crew lost, 1 survivor picked up by Icelandic trawler Dora). At 10.12 PM, U-147 sinks Norwegian SS Augvald (29 crew killed, Able seaman Rasmus Kolstø survives 11 days on a raft and is rescued by corvette HMS Pimpernel).

The day after Bulgaria joins the Tripartite Pact, German 12th Army crosses the River Danube from Romania into Bulgaria, moving troops forward to attack Greece.

Operation Canvas; Italian Somaliland/Ethiopia, East Africa. 11th African Division sets out from Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland, resupplied by Royal Navy and using fuel left behind by the Italians. They head 500 miles North for Jijiga, Eastern Ethiopia, to pursue retreating Italian forces. Allied efforts on the ground are aided by RAF aircraft flying across the Red Sea from Aden, which attack Italian airfields in Somaliland, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

At the Kufra oasis, Southeastern Libya, Free French Major Philippe Leclerc makes an oath (serment de Koufra), pledging not to lay down his weapons until the French flag flies over the cathedral at Strasbourg.

Day 548 March 1, 1941

Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler inspects the concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland (population 10,900). He orders it expanded to hold 30,000 prisoners and a new camp built 4 km away, at the village of Birkenau, for an expected 100,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan Filov signs the Tripartite Pact allowing Germany to attack Greece through Bulgaria. In return, Hitler offers Bulgarian Tsar Boris III all the territory lost in WWI to Serbia and Greece.

US Navy forms Support Force, Atlantic Fleet, comprising destroyers and patrol plane squadrons to protect convoys on the American side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Italian garrison (29 Italian officers & NCOs, 273 Libyan soldiers) surrenders El Tag fort and Kufra oasis in Southeastern Libya to Free French troops. Italian casualties are 3 Libyan soldiers killed & 4 wounded, while French have 4 dead & 21 wounded.

Eritrea, East Africa. 2 battalions from 4th Indian Division and 2 Free French battalions (under British Brigadier Rawdon Briggs) reach Mescelit Pass 15 miles Northeast of Keren. “Briggs Force” lacks artillery for a major offensive but will distract the garrison at Keren and cause Italian reserves to remain at port of Massawa instead of reinforcing Keren. As German mining of the Suez Canal keeps British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable at anchor in Port Sudan, she launches 5 Fairey Albacore biplanes to bomb Massawa harbour, but they do little damage. Italian submarines Gauleo Ferraras, Perla and Archimede begin escaping from Massawa. They will go around the Cape of Good Hope, refuel from German vessels and arrive at Bordeaux, France, between May 7-20.

British minesweeping trawler HMT St. Donats sinks in a collision with escort destroyer HMS Cotswold 45 miles East of Grimsby, England.

Day 547 February 28, 1941

At 11.30 AM, British liner SS Anchises (damaged yesterday by a Fw200 from I./KG 40) is slowly sinking in 40 foot seas. The remaining 33 crew abandon ship in a lifeboat after corvette HMS Kingcup arrives to rescue them but the lifeboat is sucked under Kingcup’s bow (12 killed). In the afternoon, SS Anchises is sunk in another bombing attack.

Operation Abstention is abandoned. HMS Decoy and HMS Hereward land 200 more British troops on the island of Castelorizo but Italians have 2 torpedo boats (Lupo and Lince), 2 destroyers (Crispi and Sella) and 2 MAS torpedo motorboats in the area with more soldiers on board. British decide to evacuate the island but 40 Commandos are left behind and captured by Italians. The disastrous operation is described by Admiral Cunningham as "a rotten business and reflected little credit to everyone".

Kufra oasis, Sahara Desert, Southeastern Libya. After 10 days besieged by Free French forces, the Italian garrison at El Tag fort begins negotiating terms for surrender.

1 squadron of RAF Hurricanes and 1 squadron of RAF Gladiators shoot down 27 Italian aircraft over the Albanian mountains, in support of Greek troops on the ground.

At 11.32 PM 200 miles South of Iceland, U-108 sinks British SS Effna (all 33 hands lost).

Overnight, 23 RAF Hampden bombers from Waddington, England, unsuccessfully attack German battleship Tirpitz at dock in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. This is the 16th raid in 7 months but Tirpitz has suffered no serious damage.

Day 546 February 27, 1941

Operation Abstention. Overnight, Italian torpedo boats Lupo and Lince from Rhodes land 240 soldiers on the island of Castelorizo at daybreak and shell British positions with 4-inch guns (3 British commandos killed, 7 injured). British destroyers HMS Decoy and HMS Hereward fail to engage the torpedo boats and yield control of the area to the Italians (for which they are criticized in the after-action report). Instead, they return to Alexandria, Egypt, to embark more troops.

Indian Ocean, 200 miles West of the Maldives. New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander intercepts Italian armed merchant cruiser Ramb I which has just left Massawa, Eritrea. Ramb I sinks after a brief exchange of gunfire (113 survivors in lifeboats picked up by HMNZS Leander and taken to Addu Atoll, Maldives).

British minesweeping trawler HMT Remillo sinks on a mine in the Humber Estuary (17 killed).

Atlantic Ocean. West of Ireland, Italian submarine Bianchi sinks British SS Baltistan (51 killed, 18 survivors). Overnight, U-47 sinks British SS Holmelea in the same area (27 killed, 11 escape in a lifeboat and are rescued by Icelandic trawler Baldur on March 5). 1000 miles West of the Azores, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refuel from tankers Ermland & Friedrich Breme and transfer 180 prisoners from ships sunk on February 22.

Day 545 February 26, 1941

Operation Abstention. Before dawn, British destroyers HMS Decoy and HMS Hereward and gunboat HMS Ladybird land 200 commandos and 24 Royal Marines on the Italian-held Dodecanese island of Castelorizo, off the coast of Turkey. They rapidly capture the small Italian garrison but the defenders radio for help and Italian aircraft arrive quickly from Rhodes. HMS Ladybird is bombed, then re-embarks the 24 Royal Marines and leaves for Cyprus.

190 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-47 attacks convoy OB-290 sinking 3 merchant ships and damaging 1 more before dawn. U-47 is depth charged by convoy escorts. Signals from U-47 bring in Fw200 bombers (I. Gruppe KG 40 from Bordeaux, France) which attack at 9 AM and 6.45 PM from low level (100-200 feet) sinking 8 more ships. Elsewhere around the British coast, German bombers sink 4 merchant ships and German motor torpedo boat sinks 1 more. U-70 sinks Swedish SS Goteborg South of Iceland.

Allied Middle East command reorganises forces in North Africa, not expecting aggressive action from Italian and German forces in Tripoli. Battle-hardened Australian 6th Division, conquerors of Libya from Bardia to Benghazi, will be sent to Greece to face the expected German invasion. They will be replaced by newly-formed Australian 9th Division, scraped together from partially-equipped infantry brigades currently training in Palestine, leaving the defense of Eastern Libya to troops “selected by the test that they are the least trained or most recently enlisted”. As Benghazi cannot be used as a supply port due to Luftwaffe bombing, troops and supplies have to travel 400 miles by road from Tobruk.

Day 544 February 25, 1941

Overnight, the German-held port of Brest, France, is bombed by Avro Manchesters of RAF Bomber Command 207 Squadron from Waddington, Lincolnshire. This is the operational debut of the Manchester, the forerunner to the better-known Avro Lancaster.

At 3.43 AM, 45 miles off Sfax, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upright locates an Italian convoy from Naples to Tripoli, Libya (4 troopships, 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 1 torpedo boat). HMS Upright sinks Italian cruiser Armando Diaz (464 killed, 147 rescued) and unsuccessfully attacks a destroyer.

Operation Canvas. Nigerian Brigade of the 11th African Division has advanced 220 miles along the coast road from Jilib in 2 days. They take Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, unopposed and capture 400,000 gallons of fuel and other stores left behind by the fleeing Italians.

British destroyer HMS Exmoor (escorting convoy FN417 from the Thames estuary to Methil, Scotland) hits a mine or is torpedoed by German motor torpedo boat S-30. A fuel line ruptures, igniting HMS Exmoor which sinks 12 miles off Lowestoft on the East coast of England (105 killed, 32 survivors picked up by sloop HMS Shearwater and trawler Commander Evans).

Day 543 February 24, 1941

At 7.58 AM 300 miles south of Iceland, U-107 finally sinks British ocean boarding vessel HMS Manistee (all 141 hands lost). U-95, U-96 and Italian submarine Bianchi attack convoy OB-288 (now dispersed & unescorted), sinking 7 merchant ships before dawn. Most crews drown, although all 41 men from SS Waynegate take to the lifeboats and are picked up by Free French destroyer Léopard. In the same area, U-97 sinks 3 British steamers in convoy OB-289 (most crews rescued by corvette HMS Petunia) and damages Norwegian tanker G.C. Brøvig, which loses its bow but is towed to Stornoway by HMS Petunia.

Rommel has deployed 3 Italian divisions and part of German 5th Light Division to Sirte on the Libyan coast, 150 West of the Allied defenses at El Agheila, to block any further Allied advances and conduct reconnaissance raids “to acquaint the British with the arrival of the German force”. A German patrol with tanks, armoured cars and motorcycles ambushes a British and Australian patrol, taking 3 prisoners, near El Agheila.

At 7 PM, 3 Heinkel He111 bombers attack British destroyers HMS Dainty and HMS Hasty in Tobruk harbor. HMS Dainty is hit by a 500kg bomb which explodes in the Captain's cabin detonating the magazine (16 killed). HMS Hasty comes alongside Dainty and takes off 140 survivors (including 18 wounded) before Dainty sinks.

British submarine HMS Regent sinks damaged Italian steamer Sabbia (torpedoed by HMS Ursula 3 days ago) off Tripoli.

Day 542 February 23, 1941

Operation Canvas. General Cunningham splits his force in Italian Somaliland. He sends 12th African Division North up the Juba River towards the Ethiopian border while the motorized Nigerian Brigade of the 11th African Division races up the coast road towards Mogadishu.

A German Focke-Wulf Fw200 Kondor leads U-69, U-73, U-96, U-107, U-123 and Italian submarines Bianchi and Barbarigo to convoy OB-288, 300 miles South of Iceland. Just before midnight, U-69 sinks British SS Marslew (13 killed, 23 rescued) and U-96 sinks British SS Anglo-Peruvian (29 lost, 17 rescued). U-107 and Bianchi hit British ocean boarding vessel HMS Manistee which keeps moving, leading to an all night chase.

50 miles off Sfax, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upright sinks Italian steamer Silvia Tripcovich.

In Athens, there is confusion among Greek and British commanders as to the best defense against a German invasion from Bulgaria. The Greeks insist on holding the fortified Metaxas Line along their Eastern border with Bulgaria, while the British propose a line further Southwest along the Vermion Mountains and the Haliacmon River. The meeting breaks up without agreement.

Day 541 February 22, 1941

300 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-48, U-69, U-73, U-96, U-107 and Italian submarines Bianchi, Marcello and Barbarigo attack convoy OB-287. Just after midnight, U-96 sinks British tanker MV Scottish Standard (which was bombed and damaged yesterday by German aircraft). U-96 is counterattacked and depth charged by escort destroyers. British destroyer HMS Montgomery (recently transferred from the US Navy in the ‘destroyers for bases’ deal) sinks Italian submarine Marcello.

Operation Canvas, Italian Somaliland, East Africa. 11th and 12th African Divisions attack Italian defenses at Jilib from Kismayu (South) and Afmadow (West). They defeat 30,000 Italian and colonial troops (many colonials down arms and disappear into the bush) to capture the road junction and open the way to Mogadishu.

Greek King George II and Commander-in-Chief General Papagos meet British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and General Wavell in Athens. Eden offers more troops than are in reality available. Confounding matters, they plan a defense against German invasion from Bulgaria that relies upon Yugoslav neutrality.

British monitor HMS Terror is spotted at midday by a German Ju-88. 5 Ju-88s take off from Sicily at 3.33 PM. At 6.30 PM 10 miles North of Derna, Libya, HMS Terror is holed by splinters from near misses. HMS Terror is abandoned at 10 PM and will sink at 4.20 AM next day after failed towing attempts by minesweeper HMS Fareham and corvette HMS Salvia.

Off the East coast of Africa, German cruiser Admiral Scheer sinks Dutch collier Rantau Pandjang. Distress signals are received by British cruiser HMS Glasgow which sends out an aircraft that spots Admiral Scheer. British warships will search the area fruitlessly until February 25 while Admiral Scheer slips away to the South around the Cape of Good Hope, reaching the South Atlantic on March 1.

500 miles East of Newfoundland, German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attack an unescorted convoy of empty vessels returning to USA. They sink 3 British cargo ships and 2 tankers totaling 25,431 tons (10 merchant seamen killed, 180 taken prisoner).

Day 540 February 21, 1941

Luftwaffe bombs Swansea for 5 hours starting at 7.50 PM. In 3 nights, 70 German bombers have dropped 35,000 incendiary canisters and 800 high explosive bombs, destroying much of the city center and killing 230 (409 wounded). The docks are almost unscathed, despite being the main target.

575 miles West of the Seychelles, German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer attacks British steamer Canadian Cruiser. Canadian Cruiser manages to radio distress signals (which are received by British cruiser HMS Glasgow) before she is sunk and the crew taken prisoner.

British antisubmarine trawler HMT Lincoln City shoots down a German bomber but is then bombed and sunk at Tórshavn, Faroe Islands (8 killed).

British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable is stuck in the Red Sea due to closure of the Suez Canal by German mines. She launches 7 Albacore aircraft to dive bomb the harbour at Massawa, Eritrea, but they do little damage.

16 miles North of Chebba, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Ursula attacks an Italian convoy from Trapani on the toe of Italy to Tripoli, Libya, damaging Italian steamer Sabbia. Italian torpedo boat Montanari counterattacks damaging HMS Ursula and then escorts steamer Sabbia to Tripoli, arriving February 24.

Day 539 February 20, 1941

Libya, North Africa. Africa Korps patrols make contact with British patrols for the first time in the desert, near Allied forward positions at El Agheila between Benghazi and Tripoli. British submarine HMS Regent attacks German ships Arta, Heraklea, Menes & Martiza carrying Afrika Korps troops from Naples to Tripoli escorted by Italian destroyers Freccia, Saetta & Turbine. Transport ship Menes is torpedoed but stays afloat and is towed into Tripoli. Italian destroyer Saetta counterattacks HMS Regent causing some damage (Regent returns to Malta on March 1). Minesweeping trawler HMT Ouse hits a mine and sinks off Tobruk, Lybia (12 killed with 9 survivors, all wounded).

Italian sloop Eritrea, Italian armed merchant cruisers Ramb I & Ramb II and German supply ship Coburg break out of Massawa, Eritrea, and sail into the Indian Ocean. Ramb I is sent to raid shipping off the Dutch East Indies while Ramb II will sail to Japan to raid in the Pacific.

West of the Seychelles, German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer sinks Greek steamer Grigorios C II (27 crew taken prisoner) and captures British tanker British Advocate which is sent to France as a prize ship.

Luftwaffe bombs Swansea, Wales, for the second night.

Day 538 February 19, 1941

Docks at Swansea, Wales, are important for unloading food, fuel and raw materials coming into Britain and for coal exports. At 7.30 PM, Luftwaffe begins a unique raid for 3 consecutive days (known locally as the “3 Day Blitz”). While the city is bombed, mainly with incendiary canisters, the docks are almost unscathed and nearby oil refineries at Llandarcy are not targeted.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden & Chief of the General Staff (CIGS) Sir John Dill meet CIC Middle East General Wavell & Mediterranean Fleet commander Admiral Cunningham in Cairo to discuss sending aid to Greece. Under pressure from Eden, General Wavell agrees it can be done while maintaining efforts in Italian East Africa and holding gains made in Libya. Meanwhile, Rommel’s Africa Korps patrols are moving out of Tripoli looking for forward Allied positions in the desert.

German Motor Torpedo Boats S.28, S.101, S.102 raid the coast of Norfolk, England, sinking British SS Algarve off Sheringham (all hands lost). British submarine HMS Tigris sinks French steamers Jacobsen and Guilvinec 60 miles west of Bayonne, France.

At 8.18 AM West of Scotland, U-69 sinks British SS Empire Blanda (36 crew and 3 gunners lost). The U-boat is almost hit by falling debris. At 10.22 PM 360 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-103 torpedoes Norwegian MV Benjamin Franklin in the engine room. All 36 crew abandon ship (7 picked up 7 days later by corvette HMS Pimpernel, 28 picked up by Egyptian steamer Memphis but die when she sinks in bad weather 100 miles from the British coast on February 28, 1 picked up by another ship which is then torpedoed). A second torpedo detonates 1700 barrels of acetone, disintegrating the ship.

Day 537 February 18, 1941

Since mid-January, South African 1st Division has advanced into Southern Ethiopia from Kenya, as a diversion from General Cunningham’s main attack into Italian Somaliland. After a 3 day battle, they capture the Italian fort of Mega 70 miles inside Ethiopia protecting the main road to the capital Addis Ababa (taking 1000 Italian prisoners).

Free French besiege El Tag fort at Kufra oasis in the Sahara Desert, Libya. They fire 20 shells per day from a 75mm field gun at 3 km, out of range of the defenses, as well as lobbing in 81 mm mortar rounds from 1.5 km. This will wear down the Italian defenders over the next few days.

German aircraft drop mines in the Suez Canal, which is temporarily closed to shipping. This delays the arrival of British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable in the Mediterranean.

At 2.27 AM 140 miles South of Iceland, U-96 sinks British SS Black Osprey carrying 4500 tons of steel and trucks from USA to Britain (25 killed, 11 survivors picked up by Norwegian steamer Mosdale). At 9.33 PM 330 miles South of Iceland, U-103 sinks British MV Seaforth carrying produce from West Africa to Britain (47 crew, 2 gunners and 10 passengers abandon ship in lifeboats but are never found).

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.