http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/05.htm
August 5th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - oil plant at Sterkrade and Dornier aircraft factory at Wismar.
10 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Wismar. Six bombed primary. Two damaged by Flak.
51 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Wismar. Six bombed primary, one damaged by Flak and force landed at Spurn Point (East Yorkshire) on return.
102 Sqn. Six aircraft to Sterkrade. Four bombed primary, one bombed an alternative target.
RAF Fighter Command: Weather, fine. Luftwaffe attacks shipping in the Straits of Dover.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 6; RAF 2.
Six Spitfires of 64 Sqn. fought with Bf109s of JG 54, two Spitfires are shot down and one Bf109 crashes in France. Later Ju88s seeking Channel shipping are attacked off Dover by 151 Sqn. who claim another 109.
London: Britain today responded to the recent arrests of seven British subjects in Tokyo by detaining leading Japanese businessmen in London, Rangoon, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Japan has protested at the arrests and the British ambassador, Sir Robert Craigie, has been summoned by Mr. Matsuoka, the Japanese Foreign Minister, who described the arrests as “unwarrantable”. Among the detainees is the manager of the London branch of Mitsubishi Trading. Seven officials of the Salvation Army in Japan have been arrested on espionage charges.
Sloop HMS Erne launched.
Minesweeping trawler HMS River Clyde mined and sunk off Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
At 2138, U-56 fired a spread of two torpedoes at Convoy OB-193 NW of Malin Head and observed that one missed and the other detonated at the end of the run after 7 minutes 25 seconds. However, the Boma was hit in this attack and sank the next day. Three crewmembers were lost.
The master, 47 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the Norwegian tanker Vilja, transferred to destroyer HMS Viscount and landed at Liverpool. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Bad weather conditions force the postponement of the air offensive against Britain.
U-208, U-760 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
General Halder receives the first operations plans for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, by General Marcks.
BRITISH SOMALILAND: The Somali town of Hargeisa fell to the Italian army this afternoon, assaulted by infantry and tanks after a three-hour bombardment. It was defended by two battalions of Indian and East African troops plus some of the Somali Camel Corps - most of whom got away.
Any serious defence of Somaliland lost all chance of success when the pro-Allied governor of neighbouring French Somaliland, General Legentilhomme resigned today and was replaced by General Germain, who is under heavy Vichy pressure to obey the terms of the Franco-Italian armistice.
Elsewhere, on the borders of Ethiopia, Italy’s 300,000 man army seems reluctant to act aggressively, content with the symbolic occupation of a few border towns, such as Moyale in Kenya and Kassala in the Sudan, and in harassing the British in northern Kenya with some remarkably effective guerrilla columns. It is so short of petrol that it can do nothing else.
CANADA: Camillien Houde, the isolationist mayor of Montreal, is detained under the Defence of Canada Regulations, for making an anti-conscription speech on the 2nd August. He is ‘invited’ to correct his remarks, refuses, and will be detained until mid-1944. (Dave Hornford)
Armed yacht HMCS Wolf commissioned.
Corvettes HMCS Lethbridge and Sherbrooke laid down Montreal. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: In Washington, D.C., Lord Lothian, the British Ambassador to the U.S., provides President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a note concerning the facilities which the British were prepared to “extend to the United States Government...” This will be part of the “destroyers-for-bases” agreement between the U.K. and U.S. that will be announced in September. (Jack McKillop)
In the U.S., Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade, USN, and French Vice Admiral Georges A.M.J. Robert conclude an agreement concerning the status of Vichy French warships and aircraft in the French West Indies. Ships in question are the aircraft carrier Bearn, light cruiser Emile Bertin, training
cruiser Jeanne d’Arc and auxiliary cruisers Esterelle, Quercy, and Barfleur; aircraft are 44 Curtiss SBC-4 Helldivers, 15 Curtiss H75-A4 Hawks (export version of USAAC P-36) and 6 Brewster Model B-339 fighters (export version of USN F2A Buffalo) delivered to Belgium. The basic agreement is that the French ships and aircraft will remain in Martinique throughout the war. (Jack McKillop)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 340 August 5, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 27. Despite fine weather, it is another quiet day. Large Luftwaffe formations patrol the Dover Straits and attack convoys off the East and Southeast coast of England. RAF fighters go up to intercept (4 Messerschmitt Bf109s and 1 Spitfire are shot down). Several other raids approach the coast and convoys but turn back before engaging. There is little activity overnight, with some minelaying. The number of serviceable British fighters has increased by 55 in the last 2 days.
British Somaliland. Italians take the port of Zeila on the coast near the border with French Somaliland, effectively isolating the British colonial forces and advance on Berbera from the West. The main Italian force, going across the mountains towards Berbera, is held up at Hargeisa. Italian light tanks push back Somaliland Camel Corps and other unarmoured British units.
At 9.38 PM 20 miles North of Ireland, U-56 hits British steamer Boma carrying 10,000 tons of coal from Cardiff (3 crew lost). 48 crew and 2 gunners are picked up by Norwegian tanker Vilja, transferred to destroyer HMS and landed at Liverpool. Boma sinks next day. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/453.html
British steamer Cape St. George hits the wreck of steamer Rad (sunk by German submarine UA on August 3) and sinks. All 65 crew are rescued by British steamer Grodno (which already has the Rad’s crew on board) and landed at Freetown, Sierra Leone. British minesweeping trawler HMT River Clyde hits a mine and sinks off Aldeburgh, Suffolk, on the English East coast (12 crew killed, captain J. Grant wounded).
Securing Soviet grip on the Baltic States, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic is incorporated into the Soviet Union.