Posted on 08/29/2011 4:40:27 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
In the following excerpt Churchill refers to Lord Beaverbrook’s mission to Moscow – Homer
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/aug41/f29aug41.htm
Finns capture Viipuri
Friday, August 29, 1941 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... Finnish forces take Viipuri.
In Iran... The fighting has come to an end.
In Yugoslavia... General Milan Nedic is appointed to lead the Serbian government sponsored by Germany.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/29.htm
August 29th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS Rockwood is laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: Paris: The Germans execute a naval officer, Comte Jean d’Estiennes d’Orves and two others who were amongst the first agents sent from London by de Gaulle, in reprisal for the assassination of a German naval cadet on the 21st.
FINLAND: Around noon the advance patrols of 4th and 8th IDs enter the center of Viipuri (today Vyborg in Russian Karelia), the second largest city of pre-1939 Finland. The Soviet units defending the city has been ordered to withdraw the day before, so there has been no fighting. The recapture of Viipuri marks the achievement of one of the main aims of the war. The men entering the city’s medieval castle intend to raise a Finnish flag to the castle’s main tower, but failing to find one a private’s white shirt is raised.
This “flag”-raising has special symbolism attached to it: one of the most famous pictures taken during the Winter War was taken on 13 March 1940, just minutes before the end of the war, of a Finnish flag still defiantly flying from the highest tower of the Castle of Viipuri, soon to be given over to Soviet Union in the harsh peace that ended that war.
Soon after the recapture of the city that same flag that was lowered from the castle 1 years earlier is again raised to celebrate the moment (IIRC the flag is today in the central War Museum in Helsinki).
The news of the recapture causes great celebrations around the country. Flags are flying and special thanksgiving services are held in churches. Hitler awards Mannerheim the Knight’s Cross. Two days later a victory parade is staged in the recaptured city although fighting is still going on nearby and time bombs left by the retreating Soviets are being feverishly searched and defused by engineers. (Mikko Härmeinen)
Evacuation of Tallinn to Leningrad. Minefields cause heavy losses, 25 of 29 larger transports are lost. Baltic red fleet loses 5 destroyers, two corvettes, two submarines and two patrol boats. Finnish VMV patrol boats sink one sailing ship and capture two tugs. (Dave Shirlaw)
EASTERN FRONT: Kamenets-Podolski, Ukraine: After a two-day “special action”, SS troops have massacred 11,000 Jewish Hungarian forced labourers.
Mussolini has met Hitler at the Führer’s military headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia. After talks about military and political strategy, the dictators toured the recently-conquered territory in the Ukraine and visited the Italian units serving alongside the Germans. This, the seventh meeting between the two men since the start of the war, was a full-scale affair with Mussolini resplendent in uniform, striding past knocked-out tanks and blasted buildings.
YUGOSLAVIA: General Milan Nedic is appointed to lead the puppet Serbian government for Germany.
IRAN: Fighting here ends.
FRENCH INDOCHINA: Franco-Laotian Treaty of Protectorate signed by Vichy French Admiral Jean Decoux, Governor General of Indochina and King Sisavang Vong of Louangphrabang attaches the provinces of Vientiane, Xiangkhoang and Louang Namtha to the King’s domain recompensing the loss of Lao territories to Thailand and normalizing Laos status as a protectorate of Vichy.
AUSTRALIA: Following the resignation of prime minister Menzies, Artie Fadden (Country Party) becomes prime minister. Menzies is to be the minister for Defence Co-ordination. (Daniel Ross)
CANADA: HMCS Mayflower arrives in Liverpool, Nova Scotia for a refit. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The motion picture “Sun Valley Serenade” is released. This musical, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, stars Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, Lynn Bari, Joan Davis, the Nicholas Brothers, Dorothy Danridge and Glenn Miller and his Orchestra including Ray Anthony, Tex Beneke, Ray Eberle, Paula Kelly, Chummy MacGregor and Billy May. The plot has Payne, the pianist with Miller’s Orchestra, sponsoring a Norwegian war refuge who he thinks is a little girl but she is actually Henie. When the band soloist (Bari) quits, Henie puts on an ice skating show as a substitute. Miller’s Orchestra performs “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “It Happened in Sun Valley,” “At Last,” “Moonlight Serenade,” and “In The Mood.” The film is nominated for three Academy Awards. (Jack McKillop)
Submarine USS Kingfish is laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
I wonder what the Japanese wanted to see FDR about? :p
Sounds like a lovely time to be visiting France, doesn’t it?
Looks like Russia is a popular travel destination for the Germans.
I’ve really appreciate these posts. Very interesting to study.
"French Jews faced increasing restrictions during 1941, including arrest and search by police, as this episode from Paris illustrates.
Foreign Jews in France encountered even harsher measures, including detainment and deportation.
Beginning in August of that year, foreign Jews were sent to the Drancy transit camp, from which they were sent to labor and concentration camps."
Note the article says nothing about the plight of Jews in France, or anywhere else.
Little did we know what the ramifications of this would ultimately be.
The Japanese position, in their own minds was: if they did not receive enough concessions from the United States, they would attack the US fleet in Pearl Harbor.
The American position, in their own minds was: we cannot declare war until we have been seriously attacked, and we need to get into this war before it's too late to save Britain, Russia, China and the whole rest of the world.
Since Hitler won't attack us, let's see what squeezing on the Japanese results in.
There is no direct evidence that US leaders expected an attack on Pearl Harbor, but they certainly expected an attack somewhere.
There is ample evidence that people in our political structure and military expected attack and evidence they wanted one. Unless Nomura was a really naive by the 7th he would have realized such an attack was probably inevitable. Knowing such an event was likely to happen soon and knowing it would be an undeclared surprise attack are NOT the same thing. It was pretty clear that afternoon that he did not know an attack was in progress when he visited Hull. Also knowing an attack was likely does not mean he preferred war to peace. Prime Minister (Prince) Konoe (the reason Nomura is smiling in that picture) was well documented to be against war with the United States.
"Prime Minister Konoe argued for more negotiations and possible concessions to avert war.
However, military leaders like Sugiyama, Minister of War General Hideki Tojo, and Chief of the IJN General Staff Admiral Osami Nagano asserted that time had run out and that additional negotiations would be pointless.
They urged swift military actions against all American and European colonies in Southeast Asia and Hawaii.
Tojo opined yielding to the American demand to withdraw troops would wipe out all the fruits of the Second Sino-Japanese War, depress Army morale, endanger Manchukuo, and jeopardize control of Korea; hence, doing nothing was the same as defeat and a loss of face."On October 16, 1941, Konoe resigned and proposed Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who was also the choice of the Army and the Navy, as his successor.
Hirohito choose Hideki Tojo instead, worried (as he told Konoe) about having the Imperial House being held responsible for a war against Western powers.""On November 3, 1941, Nagano presented a complete plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor to Hirohito.[15]
At the Imperial Conference on 5 November, Hirohito approved the plan for a war against the United States, Great Britain and Holland, scheduled to start at the beginning of December if an acceptable diplomatic settlement were not achieved before then.[16]
The following weeks, the military regime of new Prime Minister Tojo offered a final deal to the United States.
They offered to leave only Indochina, but in return for large American economic aid.[citation needed]On 26 November, the Americans rejected the offer and demanded that in addition to them leaving Indochina they must leave China (without Manchoukuo) and agree to an Open Door Policy in the Far East. Japan refused.
"On 30 November 1941, Prince Nobuhito Takamatsu warned his brother, Hirohito, that the Navy felt the Empire could not fight more than two years against the United States and wished to avoid war.
After consulting with Koichi Kido (who advised him to take his time until he was convinced) and Tojo, the Emperor called Shigetaro Shimada and Nagano who reassured him war would be successful.[18]
On December 1, Hirohito finally approved a "war against United States, Great Britain and Holland", during another Imperial Conference, to commence with a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at its main forward base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
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