Posted on 06/15/2011 4:32:27 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
The News of the Week in Review
The Chief Weapon of the Nazi Counter-Blockade (photos) – 11
Twenty News Questions – 12
Ship Sinking Highlights Nazi-American Clash (by Arthur Krock) – 13
Labor’s Communist Issues Brought into Open (by Louis Stark) – 15-16
Neutrality Act is Severely Tried (by Bertram D. Hulen) – 16-17
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 17
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/jun41/f15jun41.htm
British attacking toward Tobruk
Sunday, June 15, 1941 www.onwar.com
In North Africa... A major British offensive, Operation Battleaxe, begins. The aim is to relieve Tobruk. Wavell is still reluctant to attack, largely because the tanks which recently arrived on the Operation Tiger convoy have had many mechanical faults and the time taken for repairs means that the troops have had a very short training period. Although the two divisions involved, 4th Indian and 7th Armored, are both experience formations, they are not at full strength and have been further weakened by changes in command. General Noel Beresford-Pierse is in charge of the attack. Three columns are sent forward, one to Halfaya Pass, one to Fort Capuzzo along the edge of the escarpment and one inland to Hafid Ridge. The attack of Matilda tanks is beaten off at Halfaya by the emplaced 88mm guns, and without tank support the infantry there can achieve nothing. A force of lighter cruiser tanks similarly loses heavily at Hafid Ridge. Some success is achieved at Capuzzo, however. The German radio intelligence gives them excellent tactical information and their dispositions of 5th Light forward and 15th Panzer watching Tobruk are more than adequate. On the whole Rommel is content to defend on the first day and, indeed, by the end of the day the British tank losses already leave them at a disadvantage.
In Syria... A counterattack by the Vichy French forces succeeds in retaking part of the town of Marjayoun and some nearby positions. However, both to the west on the coast, where Sidon is taken by Austrialian forces and to the east in the approaches to Damascus, where Kiswe falls, the Allied advance is still going well.
6/15/41 Only one week until Operation Barbarossa begins!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/15.htm
June 15th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 35 aircraft are sent to bomb the oil refinery at Hamburg, 26 claim to attack.
Evelyn Underhill, the English poet and mystic, dies at Hampstead. She was 65. (Jack McKillop)
Churchill telegrams FDR opining that the Japanese seem intent on war in the next several months. He suggests that the Japanese will content themselves with occupying strategic points in the NEI and will not invest the troops to besiege Singapore. Churchill requests that FDR station USN heavy units in Singapore as a deterrent. (Marc Small)
Whilst operating with the North Atlantic Escort Force, HMS THUNDERBOLT attacks but misses U-557 with a six torpedo salvo. This interception is one of the first resulting from Ultra intelligence. Shortly after the 2nd Submarine Flotilla is disbanded and HMS THUNDERBOLT is sent to the Mediterranean theatre, as is U-557 who sinks her on 15th December. (Alex Gordon)
GERMANY: Berlin: German warships are ordered to annihilate Soviet submarines.
Croatia signed Axis protocol respecting its interests.
MALTA: Valetta:
43 Hurricane fighters were delivered to the beleaguered island of Malta yesterday, greatly strengthening the RAF’s air defences in what has become a key battle in the struggle for control of the Mediterranean, and, indirectly, the battlefields of North Africa.
Both Britain and the Axis powers recognize the prime startegic importance of Malta. On the day of Italy’s entry into the war it made eight air attacks on the island, and since the Luftwaffe moved into Sicily and southern Italy last January these attacks have shown a marked increase. The Royal Navy has devoted much effort to keeping Malta supplied so that Malta-based forces can continue to operate against Axis targets.
Malta sits astride the main Axis supply route to North Africa, especially to the Libyan port of Tripoli. If the overall Axis aim of securing the Suez Canal is to be achieved, this supply route must be made secure. On the other hand, in order to prevent an Axis build-up in North Africa the British must hang on to the island.
LIBYA: British forces suffer setbacks during Operation Battleaxe, launched yesterday to relieve Tobruk.
The dawn attack by the right-hand column on the Halfaya Pass, made along the top of the escarpment was stopped when “C” Squadron, 4 RTR, supporting the 2nd Cameron Highlanders, ran against the entrenched 88mms which were in stone-built sangars, with only their muzzles visible.
The “C” Squadron commander, Major Miles, was last heard on the radio reporting, “They are tearing my tanks apart.”
The fight at Halfaya went on until about 1000 hrs when “C” Squadron was down to one Matilda and one light tank, and the Camerons were then forced to withdraw by infantry counter-attacks covered by machine-gun fire, and retreated down the pass with great loss. Other squadrons of 4 RTR engaged the enemy along the wire to keep the enemy busy while, further south, advancing along the escarpment, the centre column, led by 7th Royal Tanks, captured Fort Capuzzo, losing five tanks in the process.
Meanwhile the main force of 7th Armoured Division was preparing to hook round the German southern flank, led by 7th Armoured Brigade, which hd been re-equipped with the new Crusaders. To keep these tanks a surprise, the column was led 2nd RTR in A9 and A10 cruisers. The first phase of this advance, to capture the Hafid Ridge, went well, but prior reconnaissance had failed to reveal that the Hafid Ridge was actually three ridges. One Squadron moving forward was decimated with only two tanks surviving an encounter with a line of anti-tank guns concealed behind dummy vehicles.
The Germans counter-attacked with about 35 tanks coming up from the south-east. The British with only 20 tanks left that were fit for action were ordered to hold this force, but they were outgunned and by nightfall five tanks were lost.
LEBANON: Allied troops capture Sidon.
In the early hours HMS JERVIS and HMS KIMBERLEY had a short engagement with Vichy French destroyers GUEPARD and VALMY with the latter again using their superior speed to retire after having straddled HMS JERVIS several times. (Peter Beeston)
SYRIA: Eastern axis: Lloyd’s 5 Indian Brigade capture Kiswe, breaking 5-day deadlock. French counter-attack begins. French mobile column captures Ezraa, cutting Lloyd’s communications with Transjordan. Another column threaten Kuneitra and remaining communications with Palestine. Lloyd detaches Free French infantry and British artillery to the rear to hold Sheikh Meskine.
Central Axis: French infantry regiment with tanks and artillery attack Australian holding force at Merdjayoun (2/33 Battalion, 2/2 Pioneers, battery 2/5 Field Arty, Scots Greys and part of 6 Aust Cav). Australians are forced out of Merdjayoun, however many French tanks are knocked out by 25-pdrs and French cannot advance further.
On coastal axis 21 Aust Brigade enters Sidon. French forces counter-attack at Jezzine but are stopped by divisional artillery. Six Gladiators of X Flight are patrolling over Kissoue at 8,000ft when they are bounced by Dewotine D520’s. Fl-Off J N Craigie is shot down and killed in the first pass. Another Gladiator is badly damaged. One Dewoitine crashes in British territory. The pilot is captured. The other, flown by French ace Sous-Lt Le Gloan, crash-lands at Rayak airfield and is written off. (Michael Alexander)
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Saigon:
A Vietnam Independence League (Viet Minh) has been formed to be an army of liberation aimed at eliminating not only Japanese but also French control of Indochina. The League held its first meeting last month under the auspices of the Communist Party at Pao Bo. Although led by the Communists, the Viet Minh aims to provide a united front for all parties who want to end foreign domination of Vietnam. Its driving force is the founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Van Thanh - better known as Ho Chi Minh, meaning “He Who Enlightens”
CHINA: Japanese aircraft bomb Chunking and some bombs land near the river gunboat USS Tutuila (PR-4), the US military attaches’ office and the US Navy canteen. Japanese Admiral Shimada Shigetaro expresses regret and tells the Americans that the bombing was “wholly unintentional.” (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Submarine HM S/M Talisman departed Halifax as escort for convoy to St. John’s Newfoundland.
Two gate vessels ordered for RCN from Marine Industries Sorel, Province of Quebec.
Floating dock ordered for RCN from EA Chappelle Summerside, Prince Edward Island. (Dave Shirlaw)
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: Naval Air Station Kodiak on Kodiak Island, Aleutian Islands is established. (Jack McKillop)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-654-june-15-1941.html
Day 654 June 15, 1941
Operation Battleaxe. At 2 AM, British troops (including 11th Indian Infantry Brigade) in armoured cars, 100 infantry tanks & 90 cruiser tanks move forward from Egypt. They attack German/Italian defenses on the Libyan border at 6 AM, moving along the coast and across the desert covered by RAF Hurricane fighters. By noon, they recapture Fort Capuzzo (has now changed hands 9 times since June 1940). However, British tanks are decimated by dug-in 88mm anti-tank guns firing over open sights at Halfaya Pass and Hafid Ridge. At Halfaya Pass (named Hellfire Pass by the British) 15 heavy Matilda infantry tanks are quickly destroyed. At Hafid Ridge, Germans fake a retreat to lure the British tanks over a ridge into a trap (the first of many times Rommel will use this tactic). Although the race to bring reinforcing armour to North Africa has been a tie, Germans take the first round due to superior anti-tank weapons.
Operation Exporter. British destroyers shelling Sidon, Lebanon, in support of Australian 7th Division, are attacked again by Luftwaffe Ju88s, hitting destroyers HMS Jackal, Ilex and Isis. Jackal suffers minor damage from a bomb passing through the upper deck and into the sea. Both HMS Ilex and Isis go to Haifa for temporary repairs. Isis will go to Bombay and Singapore where she is further damaged by Japanese bombing on January 17 1942. Ilex will go to Aden, Mombassa, Durban and USA for repairs, completed in October 1942. In Syria at 4 AM, Indian and Free French troops (Gentforce, now under the command of British Brigadier Lloyd French as General Paul Legentilhomme has been wounded) launch an attack the city of Kissoué, 8 miles South of the capital Damascus on the road from Deera. They capture Kissoué by 9 AM but Vichy troops outflank them along a parallel road 5 miles to West and threaten Allied troops holding Quneitra, well behind Gentforce.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Krock
Arthur Krock (November 16, 1886–April 12, 1974) was a journalist and received the nickname “Dean of Washington newsmen”
I guess the object was to alert the troops to the types of physical landscape features that would be traversed once the attack began. I happen to have obtained a German copy in pdf format and have to admit I found it interesting.
I thought a few people might be interested in a sample of the content.
That looks like really nice country for a hiking vacation. As long as you’re not in a hurry. I’ll bet the weather is nice and warm too. No need to drag along a bunch of cold weather gear. And leave the car home in the garage. It wouldn’t like those roads.
It’s been a while since I said Thank You for your diligence in this.
It is wonderful to be able to follow the war day by day, IN THE MOMENT, when no one knew what would happen next.
Again, Thank You very much for your efforts. They are deeply appreciated!
STATE SECRET
VENICE,
June 15, 1941-9:40 p. m. Received Berlin, June 15, 1941-10:15 p. m. No. 552 of June 10 Transmitted to Budapest under No. 1021 For the Minister personally.
Please inform the Hungarian Minister President as follows: In view of the heavy concentration of Russian troops at the German eastern border, the Führer will probably be compelled, by the beginning of July at the latest, to clarify German-Russian relations and in this connection to make certain demands. Since it is difficult to foretell the outcome of these negotiations, the German Government considers it necessary for Hungary to take steps to secure its frontiers. The above order is of a strictly confidential nature. Please also mention this fact to the Hungarian Minister President.
RIBBENTROP
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.