Posted on 12/16/2010 4:58:51 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour
Coup d’Etat Sought – 2-3
The International Situation – 3
Border is Crossed – 3-4
Greeks Gain Anew in Northern Drive – 4-5
Petain to Create Advisory Council – 5
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Europe and Africa – 6-7
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/dec40/f16dec40.htm
British begin “area bombing”
Monday, December 16, 1940 www.onwar.com
Over Germany... The first “area bombing” raid on a German city is carried out: Mannheim is attacked by 134 RAF bombers during the night (December 16-17). Large fires are started on both banks of the Rhine River. Other targets include Speyer-am-Rhein and Heilbronn.
Over Switzerland... Basle is accidentally bombed by the British aircraft, killing 4 persons.
In the Mediterranean... There are further British and Italian fleet operations over the next week. The British carrier Illustrious attacks airfields on Rhodes and sends strikes against Italian convoys.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/16.htm
December 16th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: Aircraft attempt the area bombing of Mannheim as revenge for recent German raids on Coventry and other cities, but little damage is done. 134 aircraft drop 80 tonnes of HE and 14,000 incendiaries, for the loss of 10 aircraft. Other raids on Berlin hit a subway line and an elevated railway. Berlin reports that squads of labourers are working overtime to repair the damage.
Churchill telegrams to Wavell:
The Army of the Nile has rendered glorious service to the Empire and to our cause, and we are already reaping rewards in every quarter. ... Your first objective now must be to maul the Italian army and rip them off the African shore to the utmost possible extent.
GERMANY:
U-761 laid down.
U-401 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORTH AFRICA:
7 Armoured Division re-capture Sollum in Egypt. This formation now crosses the border into Libya and occupies Fort Capuzzo, south of Bardia.
The Italian position at Sidi Omar is captured by the 7th Hussars and the 2nd Royal Tanks, supported by the guns of 4th RHA, where Captain Hobart of 2 RTR was seen ‘steel helmet on, shooting away over the top of his turret cupola with a pistol’.
An S79 is shot down by 274 Sqn. (RAF).
Reinforcements arriving from Italy include 23 S79s and 23 CR42s.
Associated Press reports:
The Italian army is broken into bits, harassed by unending air attacks, and a speedy retreat from Egyptian territory.
Wavell to CIGS:
Immediate problem is how to deal with Bardia.
1. Try to induce garrison to surrender.
2. Cut it off from Tobruk and lay siege.
3. Leave road to Tobruk open and if enemy withdraws by it attack him in the open.
If 1 fails then course 3 is favoured as we are not strong enough for 2. Supply is the problem and also Bardia as a landing place and source of water are more valuable than the bodies in it. ... transport is the chief anxiety, these desert operations at such distances are throwing very heavy strain on all vehicles. Am already using captured Italian vehicles and have most urgent request from Greek C-in-C for transport.
KENYA
The frontier post of El Wak, near the border with Italian Somaliland, had been occupied by the Italians during their advance into Kenya during the summer, together with the fort and well of Wajir, to the south-west. Today Wajir is retaken and El Wak raided, by a South African force under Maj Gen Goodwin Austin, who render it unusable by the Italians, capturing a number of prisoners, with guns, ammunition, and food stores. West African troops from the Gold Coast played a major part by the side of the South African soldiers. They are supported by 5 fighters, 3 bombers and 9 Hartbeest Army Co-operation aircraft.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Rodman laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
SS Bic Island (4,000 GRT) Canadian Government merchantman, formerly the Italian Capo Noli, captured on 10 Jun 40 by HMCS Brad D’Or, was damaged in the North Atlantic in position 54.12N, 17.45W, by bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft. The ship was able to reach port, was repaired and returned to service. BIC ISLAND was sunk in 1942 in the North Atlantic by U-624, KptLt. Ulrich Graf Von SODEN-FRAUNHOFEN, CO. (Dave Shirlaw)
U-37 sank SS San Carlos. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 473 December 16, 1940
Operation Compass. 4th Armoured Brigade captures the Italian camp at Sidi Omar, which was leapfrogged in the rush into Libya to surround Bardia. They attack from the South and West, while the Italian artillery is facing East. The battle lasts 10 minutes (50 Italians killed, 900 taken prisoner).
At 7.50 PM off Cape Juby, Morocco, U-37 stops wooden Spanish steamer San Carlos with 1 torpedo and then tries to sink her with 21 rounds from the deck gun (1 killed). German sailors, rowing over to place scuttling charges, notice that the shells did not penetrate the wooden hull. 15 crew and 13 passengers abandon ship in 2 lifeboats.
British submarine HMS Truant sinks Italian tanker Bonzo in the Ionian Sea 2 miles off the coast of Calabria in the toe of Italy.
Overnight, RAF drops 100 tons of high explosive bombs and 14,000 incendiary canisters on Mannheim, Germany, in retaliation for the firebombing of Coventry on November 14. 8 pathfinder bombers miss the city center with incendiary canisters, causing most of the other bombers to miss the target (34 civilians killed, 81 injured). Learning from this failure, RAF develops the concept of “bomber stream” to drop the maximum amount of bombs in the smallest area over the shortest time.
Unfortunately, this would not be the end of Laval’s collaborationist career. The Nazis would force his return.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.