Posted on 11/19/2011 6:16:49 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
Interesting piece about diplomatic talks with Japan, just a few weeks before Pearl Harbor.
another miscalc on a grand scale
Looks like Udet really did kill himself:
On 17 November 1941 Udet committed suicide, shooting himself in the head while on the phone with his girlfriend. Evidence indicates that his unhappy relationship with Göring, Erhard Milch, and the Nazi Party in general was the cause of his mental breakdown.
According to Udet’s biography, The Fall of an Eagle, he wrote a suicide note in red pencil which included: “Ingelein, why have you left me?” and “Iron One, you are responsible for my death.” “Ingelein” referred to his girlfriend, Inge Bleyle, and “Iron One” to Hermann Göring. The book The Luftwaffe War Diaries states something similar, that Udet wrote “Reichsmarschall, why have you deserted me?” in red on the headboard of his bed.
It is possible that an affair Udet had with Martha Dodd,[10] daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Germany and Soviet sympathizer, during the 1930s might have had some importance in these events. Records made public in the 1990s confirm Soviet security involvement with Dodd’s activities.
Udet’s suicide was concealed from the public, and at his funeral he was lauded as a hero who had died in flight while testing a new weapon. On his way to attend Udet’s funeral, the World War II fighter ace Werner Mölders died in a plane crash in Breslau. Udet was buried in the Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery in Berlin. Mölders was buried next to Ernst Udet and Manfred von Richthofen at the Invalidenfriedhof.
The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/nov41/f19nov41.htm
Australians sink German raider
Wednesday, November 19, 1940 www.onwar.com
HMAS SydneyIn the Pacific... 170 miles off the coast of western Australia, the Australian light cruiser Sydney discovers the German raider ship Kormoran. The Sydney approached to hail and was fired upon with both deck guns and torpedoes. The Kormoran has been responsible for sinking 11 ships during its tour. The Sydney returns fire and after a brief battle both ships sink. News of the battle comes from survivors from the Kormoran, no one survives from the Sydney.
In North Africa... The British 7th Armoured Brigade reaches Sidi Rezegh as part of the advances planned in Operation Crusader. However, other portions of the 7th Armoured Division are heavily engaged. The 4th Armoured Brigade engages part of the German 21st Panzer Division and loses heavily. The 22nd Armoured Brigade engages the Italian Ariete Division at Bir el Gubi and also suffers heavy loses.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/19.htm
November 19th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS Unruly laid down.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Stroma launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: Paris: Gare du Nord: Dr. Michel congratulates the 100,000th French worker to volunteer for a job in Germany. The man, a truck driver, has been presented with a travel kit and a watch.
GERMANY:
U-257 launched.
U-89, U-408 commissioned.
U-641, U-642 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
LIBYA: Units of the British 7th Armoured Brigade easily reach Sidi Rezegh, while other units are held up by stiff German defenses. The British 4th Armored Brigade looses heavily to the 21 Panzer Division. The British 22nd Armoured Brigade meets the Italian Ariete Division at Bir el Gubi and also loses heavily.
JAPAN: The Japanese Foreign Ministry sends the following message to their embassy in Washington, D.C.: “When our diplomatic relations are becoming dangerous, we will add the following at the beginning and end of our general intelligence broadcasts: (1) If it is Japan-U. S. relations, “HIGASHI;” (2) Japan-Russia relations, “KITA;” (3) Japan-British relations, (including Thai, Malaya and N. E. I.); “NISHI.” The above will be repeated five times and included at beginning and end. Relay to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, San Francisco.” (Jack McKillop)
One submarine of the Support Group, Advance Group, Pearl Harbor Strike Force, HIJMS I-26, departs Yokosuka. On 7 December, HIJMS I-26 is underway between the Hawaiian Islands and California. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Hart informed senior officers of Asiatic Fleet that the war would be fought from Manila. (Marc Small)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Shark Bay, in Western Australia. Modified Leander class light cruiser HMAS Sydney D 48) and German raider, the auxiliary cruiser, HK Kormoran exchange gunfire, about 409 nautical miles (758 kilometres) northwest of Perth in position 26.32.34S, 111.00E.
The Kormoran with 11 ships and 68,300 tons to her credit, and Sydney both sink. 320 crew from Kormoran survive to tell the story, with 78 dead about 20 killed in action and the rest when an overloaded raft capsizes, there are no survivors of Sydney’s 644 man crew.
The Kormoran was flying the Dutch flag and going under the name Streat Malakka.
After escorting the troopship Zealandia to the Sunda Strait, the Sydney encountered Kormoran on the return passage to Fremantle, 130 miles off Carnarvon, Western Australia. It was not until the ships were within a mile of each other that the Kormoran hoisted the Swastika ensign and opened fire.
The Sydney was hit, her bridge and gunnery director tower badly damaged with the result that (possibly from flooding magazines in response to the turret penetration) SYDNEY’s firepower was reduced to half. KORMORAN also hit SYDNEY with a torpedo. For the next half hour the ships exchanged fire. The Kormoran, holed and badly damaged is forced to scuttle.
KORMORAN’s survivors reported that a couple of hours or so (IIRC) after SYDNEY had disappeared from their sight there was a bright flash on the horizon in the direction of her disappearance. The implication of course is that SYDNEY may have suffered a magazine explosion from uncontrolled fires. If the majority of her surviving crew were still aboard at this time, that might go far to explain why no survivors were found. (Brooks Rowlett, Alex Gordon and Ric Pelvin)(198)
The official version is: At about 1600 hours local, the German auxiliary cruiser HK Kormoran, ship 41 also known to the British as Raider G, sights the HMAS Sydney and turns away. HMAS Sydney follows, approaches to within 1,500 yards (1 372 meters) and requests Kormoran to identify herself, which she does as the Dutch freighter SS Straat Malakka. When asked for her secret call sign Kormoran drops her camouflage, hoists the German ensign and opens fire which apparently knocks out Sydney’s fire control system and forward turrets, and probably killed her captain and many others on the bridge. The battle lasts from approximately 1730 to 1825 hours Both ships are crippled and on fire. HMAS Sydney steams slowly south-southeast, still ablaze, and is never seen again; all 645 crewmen are lost. German survivors later say that they saw a glow on the southern horizon followed by a bright flash around 2400 hours; this could possibly be caused by the cruiser’s magazines exploding. HK Kormoran drifts for approximately five hours before being scuttled by her crew with explosive charges; 85 crewmen are lost but 315 make it to Australia where they are held as POWs. This is a controversial subject in Australia with some believing the government is covering up the sinking. The truth and fate of HMAS Sydney will probably never be known. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Patrol vessel HMCS Caribou damaged by serious galley fire Lunenburg , Nova Scotia.
U.S.A.: The Office of Public Opinion Research (OPOR) asked: “If our present leaders and military advisors say that the only way to defeat Germany is for this country to go into the war, would you be in favor of this country’s going into war against Germany?” Yes - 70%, No - 24%, No opinion - 6%. (Will O’Neil) (135)
Destroyer USS Bache laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Cruiser HMS Dunedin is torpedoed and sunk by U-124 in the Atlantic 900 miles off of Freetown, at 03N 26W. There are 420 casualties, but 72 survivors are found by the US Nishama on 6 Carley floats. (Alex Gordon)(108)
USN destroyer USS Destroyer Leary (DD-158), with Task Unit 4.1.5, escorting convoy HX-160 (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to U.K.), depth charges a sound contact. (Jack McKillop)
Lots more news from the Pacific!
I believe they found HMAS SYDNEY this year or last year.
yea... By this time, you know they'd already made preparations for the Pearl attack and have already started putting the pieces in the right places..
So, when I read, "our position is fixed"... I believe them.
Yes they did find Sydney last year. The new thinking is that it was not an explosion but a bow seperation while underway that caused the sinking.
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