Posted on 09/13/2010 4:57:05 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour
Thomas E. Griess, Series Editor, The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterranean
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/sep40/f13sep40.htm
Italians invade Egypt
Friday, September 13, 1940 www.onwar.com
In North Africa... The Italian forces begin a cautious offensive from Libya into Egypt. They have five divisions in the attack with another eight in rear areas in Libya. Marshal Graziani is in command. The British Western Desert Force of two divisions is led by General O’Connor. On the first day the Italians occupy Sollum as the British pull back. During the months since the Italian declaration of war there have been no actions of any size, but the Italian numerical superiority has been morally undermined by much offensive patrolling by the British forces. These harassing tactics are now employed to good effect against the Italian offensive.
In Britain... The British bring heavy units of the Royal Navy nearer to the likely invasion area. The battleships Nelson and Rodney join the Hood at Rosyth and the Revenge is at Plymouth. There are, of course, strong cruiser and destroyer forces in relevant positions.
In East Africa... Italian troops from Ethiopia penetrate up to 20 miles into Kenya in a tentative advance.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/13.htm
September 13th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - invasion fleet at Calais and Dunkirk.
58 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Dunkirk. All bombed, causing large fires.
77 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Calais and Dunkirk. All bombed with good results.
All forces of Bomber Command, day and night, attack invasion ports and continue during the next fortnight.
Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Small daylight raids on London, causing little damage. At night London is raided.
Buckingham Palace is again hit. At 11:10 building is straddled by a stick of six bombs dropped by a low-flying aircraft. Two of these burst in the Quadrangle, some eighty yards from the window behind which the King and Queen were discussing the day’s arrangements with the King’s secretary, Sir Alexander Hardinge. The blast showered them with broken glass.
Two other bombs fell in the forecourt. One wrecked the Royal Chapel and one exploded harmlessly in the garden.
Other raids include one on Belfast Loch and incendiaries are dropped on Bangor, NI.
Ten bombs dropped on Eastbourne’s centre start large fires and cause 20 casualties.
At West Ham (London) the Ravenshill School where homeless were being accommodated is hit mid-morning and 50 casualties result.
The main eight-hour raid on London commences at 20:45. Although only five night fighter sorties are flown, Flg Off M.J. Herrick in ZK-A of 25 Squadron manages to bring down a He-111H 5J+BL of 3/KG 4 near North Weald.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 4; RAF, 1.
The battleships HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson at Rosyth in Scotland, and HMS Revenge at Plymouth move to likely invasion sites. HMS Hood is at Rosyth.
Luxury liner SS City of Benares leaves Liverpool with British children being evacuated to Canada to escape World War II. The ship is torpedoed by U-boat during the night about 600 miles out to sea; only 13 of the over 90 children survive. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORTH AFRICA:
An Italian offensive starts at Sollum, on the border of Libya and Egypt.
After months of prodding by a Mussolini hungry for victory, Marshal Graziani’s army is making a ponderous advance in North Africa and has finally crossed the barbed-wire fence that marks the Egyptian border with Libya. Bells are being rung in Rome to celebrate the capture of Sollum, a tiny settlement of mud huts.
Graziani has insisted on “digging in” at frequent points along the coastal road, harassed continually by British defenders.
The attack on British forces in Egypt was to coincide with Operation Sealion (the invasion of England by Germany). When it became apparent to Benito Mussolini that “Sealion” was postponed indefinitely, he orders Marshal Graziani, Governor-General of Libya and Commander in Chief North Africa, to launch an attack into Egypt by the seven divisions of his 10th Army. British tanks and armored cars make bold attacks into Libya, forcing the Italians to transfer troops from the 5th Army to the 10th and acquiring 2,500 motor vehicles and gaining the delivery of 70 M-11 medium tanks from Italy. The British retreat to buy time and receive reinforcements. After four days and a 60 mile (97 kilometer) advance into Egypt, Graziani halts his attack due to logistics. Graziani was now 80 miles (129 kilometres) west of the British defenses in Mersa Matruh; to risk going any farther, Graziani said, would risk being defeated until supplies were available. Mussolini, angered over the sudden stop of the 10th Army, urges Graziani to continue 300 miles (483 kilometres) into the port of Alexandria. Graziani is appalled. Eventually Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Chief of the Supreme General Staff, promises 1,000 tanks to Graziani but this promise is never kept. The recent military operations in Ethiopia and Spain drained Italy of many needed supplies and equipment and Graziani is forced to change his attack plan and he cannot penetrate further than Sidi Barrani. (Jack McKillop)
EAST AFRICA:
Italian troops from Ethiopia advance 20 miles into the British colony of Kenya.
CHINA:
Pre-production Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 11s, assigned to the 12th Rengo Kokutai (12th Combined Naval Air Corps), are flown in combat for the first time over Chungking, China. The Japanese pilots destroy 99 Chinese aircraft for the loss of two A6M2s to ground fire. (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Kearny commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 379 September 13, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 66. Bad weather again restricts German attacks during the day, with single bombers coming across at a rate of about 7 per hour to drop bombs on London and RAF airfields. Bombs land in front of Buckingham Palace, slightly damaging the Victoria Memorial, and in the Palace courtyard where much damage is done. The Royal Family is at the Palace at the time but they are not injured. Luftwaffe has 3 aircraft shot down. RAF loses 2 Blenheims (1 does not return from a reconnaissance flight over Norway; the crew bales out of another near Calais and are taken prisoner). Bombing of London overnight is more widespread than previously (Westminster, Battersea, Mitcham, Clapham Junction, Wembley and Hammersmith). Cardiff is also bombed. With tides the next few nights favouring invasion by Germany, Royal Navy moves battleships HMS Nelson & Rodney to Rosyth and HMS Revenge to Plymouth, to support cruisers and destroyers defending the English Channel. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/6200463/Queen-Mothers-biography-on-bombing-raid-on-Buckingham-Palace.html
North Africa. Italian 1st Blackshirt Division (23 Marzo, in honour of the founding of the Italian Fascist Party on 23 March 1919) recapture Fort Capuzzo, taken by the British in June, just inside Libya on the border with Egypt. Soon after, Italian troops cut the barbed wire on the Libyan/Egyptian border and begin the invasion of Egypt.
Vichy French steamers carrying demilitarized troops home from North Africa to France hit mines west of Sardinia (SS Ginette Le Borgne and SS Cassidaigne are sunk and SS Cap Tourane is damaged). German minesweeping trawler Hermann Krone hits a mine and sinks off Hanstholm, Denmark.
British steam passenger ship SS City of Benares departs Liverpool bound for Quebec and Montreal, carrying 90 British children being evacuated to Canada. She is the flagship of the convoy commodore Rear Admiral Mackinnon and the first ship in the center column of convoy OB-213.
PACIFIC
English-Speaking
Nations
FORECAST IN U.S.
NEW YORK, Thursday.
“Japan must prepare to face an early entente, ii not an out-Fix this text right alliance, of the English speaking nations, according to apparently Government inspired Japanese sources,” writes William Simms, foreign editor of the Scripps-Howard newspapers, in a story from Washington published here,
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/608895?zoomLevel=1
Date: 13th September 1940
Enemy action by day
Enemy activity was on a light scale, but during the morning small raids were continuously active over Kent and the London area. Bad visibility hindered interception by our fighters, but one enemy aircraft was destroyed and three others were damaged.
East
As a result of an SOS a fighter sweep was carried out 20 miles North-east of Kinnairds Head, but no reports of interception have been received.
South East
From 0730 hours, a number of raids, mostly by single aircraft, crossed the Coast between Hastings and Beachy Head and penetrated to the Thames Estuary and London area. Up to 0930 hours some six such raids were reported, but thereafter a steady stream of raids developed, most of which originated from the Dieppe area. It was reported that enemy aircraft crossed the Coast at the rate of one about every 8 minutes. One raid penetrated to
Chelmsford, but practically all the others proceeded to the South London area, returning to Dieppe.
Between 1300 and 1500 hours, these scattered raids continued and appeared to have as their objectives, Biggin Hill and targets in mid Kent. One raid was plotted towards Rochford, and one raid, reported to be a long-nosed Blenheim, attacked Dover Harbour.
From 1500 hours until night operations began, enemy activity consisted chiefly of reconnaissance flights between North Foreland and Beachy Head.
South and South West
In the early morning, one raid flew parallel to the Coast from 15 miles South of Selsey Bill, westwards into Lyme Bay.
Between 1300 and 1500 hours, three raids were active from Selsey Bill to Tangmere, and there were three reconnaissances in the Straits between Dungeness and Foreness.
At 1800 hours, one reconnaissance was made from Boulogne along the Coast to the Isle of Wight.
West
A vessel was attacked off Copeland Light (Near Belfast) at 0650 hours, by an aircraft reported to be a four-engined bomber.
By night
Enemy activity commences at about 2045 hours when hostile raids were plotted leaving the Cherbourg area. From 2100 to 0030 hours, raids originated from the Cherbourg, Dieppe and Calais/Boulogne areas. The main objective was London but a few raids were active over East Anglia and Duxford area. One raid was plotted in the Firth of Forth.
Between 2300 and 0100 hours, about four raids from the Channel Islands flew to Bristol Channel and South Wales.
By 0130 hours, activity had practically ceased, but at 0200 hours a second wave originating from the Dutch Islands approached London from the North-east, having crossed the Coast between Clacton and Harwich. Enemy activity continued over London and North of the Thames Estuary until 0525 hours when all raids had finally withdrawn.
One enemy aircraft was destroyed by a Blenheim of No 25 Squadron near North Weald, and another was shot down by AA near Hendon.
________________________________________
Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 13th September 1940
Casualties:
| Enemy Losses | ||
| By Fighters | ||
| 1 He111 | 1 He111 | |
| 1 E/A | 2 Ju88 | |
| 2 | Nil | 3 |
| By Anti-Aircraft | ||
| 1 E/A | ||
| 1 | Nil | Nil |
Patrols:
Balloons:
Aerodromes:
Organisation:
Home Security Reports
"Knowing from colleagues that the old censorship had been pretty liberal until it was abolished in March, 1939, by Premier Vyacheslaff Molotoff -- in all its history the Soviet Union has felt able to allow the unfettered transmission of news for only nine months -- I gave the new censorship a 'good review' saying that, if run on the lines of the old, it should be possible for newspaper men to do honest work on Moscow.
I was quite wrong.
It wasn't and it isn't."
And you were going to say what, Homer? ;-)
Oh, brother.
I was going to say that, as you can see from the end of the article, it is third of a series. (Whether it is a hugh series or just a normal series is not indicated.) I was going to say further that I did not notice parts I and II of the series, and had no special plans to look for part IV and beyond. Then I realized that it would serve no purpose to go into all that and it would be better to just cut off the last part of the article and no one would be the wiser. But then I forgot to cut off the revealing line and delete the incriminating asterisk.
But I'm glad you are paying such close attention to my ping replies.
;-)
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