1941 Laval declines Petain’s offer of Cabinet seat in the Vichy Government. The first convoy of the newly formed Afrika Korps under the command of Lieutenant General Rommel leaves Naples for Tripoli in Libya. Force H from Malta bombards Genoa, without hindrance from the Italian Navy or Air force. The House of Representatives passes H.R. …
Celebrated British actor David Niven (1910-1983), who played in about a hundred movies including A Matter of Life and Death, Around the World in 80 Days and Separate Tables,was born into a military family. His father served in World War I and died at Gallipoli when David was 5 years old. His maternal grandfather was an officer killed …
1940 British railroads are nationalized. 1941 The Italian troops stay between Agedabia and El-Agheila. In Libya, the British are victorious at Beda Fomm; 20,000 troops of the Italian Tenth Army surrender. General Graziani ask Mussolini for substitution as a commander of the Italian forces at North Africa, and as Libyan Governor. 1942 After just over …
Words At War “Lost Island“ Released July 25, 1944. Words At War, the series that brings you radio versions of the leading war book another adaptation of an important war book, “Lost Island”. Sponsored by: Johnson’s Wax. A troop ship arrives on a sleepy Pacific Island and completely ruins a tropical paradise. Take a …
1940 The Finnish 9th Division finally manages to encircle the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo. Finnish pilot Lt. Sarvanto, flying a Fokker, shoots down six out of seven Russian SB-2 bombers in just 5 minutes. The Russian 44th Division’s commander General Vinogradov, authorizes the remainder of his troops to try escape back to Russian lines. …
1940 British and French governments agree to land an expeditionary force in northern Norway without regard for Norway’s neutrality in order to aide Finland, although it was never carried out. First sinking of a U-boat by a lone British destroyer: in convoy OA-84 off Land’s End, HMS Antelope sinks U-41. 1941 An advanced column of armoured …
The ever-lovely, poised and vivacious blonde Anne Jeffreys was born Anne Carmichael on January 26, 1923 in 1923 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Firmly managed by her mother, she trained in voice at a fairly early age and received her first break in the entertainment field after signing with the John Robert Powers agency in New …
1941 The Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sail from the Baltic to the Atlantic, causing absolute havoc to shipping routes and timetables. RAF reconnaissance planes report that the Italians are beginning to evacuate Benghazi in a withdrawal towards El Agheila. The 7th Armoured Division is given immediate instructions to advance from Mechili across the desert in …
1941 33 Italian Fascist Party leaders are dispatched to bolster morale on the Albanian front. Hitler reviews the plans for Operation ‘Barbarossa’, as German intelligence estimates that 155 Red Army divisions are deployed in western Russia against just 116 German and Axis divisions. The starting date is again confirmed as the 15th May 1941. The …
1939 Hungary breaks relations with the Soviet Union. 1940 Big Russian offensive continues on the Karelia front. Italian Jews banned from serving as engineers, professors, or journalists, and from serving Gentiles as doctors or lawyers. 1941 5th Indian Division captures Barentu, forcing the Italians to withdraw towards the mountain fortress at Keren. Indian & British …
