SOUTH CAROLINA MILITARY MUSEUM 
- WORLD WAR II 1941-
Amercia Gets Involved
1941
January 1, 1941 - Field Marshall Sir Harold Alexander is appointed Commander of the British I Corps, Burma.
January 10, 1941 - The Lend-Lease bill is introduced in the U.S. Congress.
- Heavy German attacks by dive-bombers on British convoys to Malta (in Sicilian channel) results in loss of 'Southampton' and damage to 'Illustrious'..January 20 - May 18, 1941 - After successfull fight in North-Africa, British troops were sent to East-Africa with Indian and South Afican (from Kenya) forces invade Abessinie, Eritrea and Somaliland and dislodge the Italians.
January 20 - 23, 1941 - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini hold a conference at Berghof.
February 10, 1941 - England breaks-off diplomatic relations with Romania.
- Successive victories for Allies with 130.000 Italians captured in two month offensive.February 12, 1941 - Erwin Rommel arrives in North Africa to command the Afrika Corps. The German Africa Corps (Rommel) to Tripoli, Libye (N.Afica) and Tobruk, called "Operation Sonneblume".
February 16 , 1941 - Bulgaria and Turkey sign a non-aggression pact.
- 10.000 Jews in Vienna deport to Polen.
March 1, 1941 - Nazi extermination camps begin full operation. These include Auschwitz, Bamberg, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Chelmno, Jena, Sobibor and Treblinka. Over 2.600.000 Polish Jews are among those killed during the course of the war. Over 12.000 people would be killed daily at Auschwitz alone. By 1945 nearly 6 million Jews and more than 3 million Communists, gypsies, socialists and other dissidents will be exterminated.
- Concentration camps fell into varous categories. There were death or extermination camps, where the inmates were slaughtered on arrival or soon afterwards. There were labour camps, where they were fed the minimum and worked to death; and experimental camps where 'scientific' and 'medical' experiments were carried out on the hapless prisoners. There were sick camps for those who were to die when the guards decided and not before, and training camps where the SS passed on the techniques of brutality and mass murder. There were even recuperation camps, where Jews were kept in case they were needed as hostages or for exchange or sale.
- Bulgaria joins the Axis Tripartite Pact.
March 7, 1941 - The German U-Boat U47, which sank the British Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak, is sunk by allied destroyers, with its entire crew aboard.
March 9, 1941 - New Italian offensive against Greece and run aground at 16 March.
March 11 , 1941 - The Lend-Lease Act becomes law. Three months after the invasion, the United States extended assistance to the Soviet Union through this Lend-Lease Act..
March 25 , 1941 - Yugoslavia joins the Axis Tripartite Pact.
March 27 , 1941 - A military coup in Yugoslavia over throws Paul, Regent of Yugoslavia and replaces him with King Peter II.
March 28, 1941 - Italian Navy ships attacks British convoys to Greece.
- British Royal Navy ships defeat the Italian Navy at Cape Matapan, the Mediterranean.
March 30 - May 30, 1941 - The German Africa Corps (Rommel) launches a counteroffensive at El-Agheila in the Cyrenaica (Libya) against British forces in Egypt.
- All German and Italian merchantman-ships seized in the USA.
March 31 , 1941 - Scharnhorst and Gneisenau bombed at Brest..
April 4, 1941 -Addis Abeda (Ethiopia) capture by the British, a month later Emperor Haile Selassi returnes to his city.
Coup d'état in Irak: man in Power is General Rasch Ali Gailani; anti-British, pro-As.April 6, 1941 -"Operation Marita" the Balkan States campaign: Germany invades Yugoslavia (untill 17 April) and Greece (untill 30 April). Italian troops to from Albania.
- Molotov Cocktail: A simple petrol bomb reputedly used by partisans against German forces in Russia and the Balkans, named after Vyacheslav Molotov.
- (untill 9 April)No co-operation by Yugoslavia, Hitler's reprimand: 3 days heavily bombardment of Belgrado (17.000 people died).
April 10 , 1941 -Greenland is placed under U.S. control.
- Tobruk surrounds by German troops.
April 13 , 1941 - German troops capture Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
- Japan and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact.
April 16 , 1941 - 460 German bombers attack London.
Begin Japanese treat with the United States.
April 18 , 1941 - The Yugoslav Army surrenders to German forces in Belgrado. King Peter II flees.
April 24 , 1941 - King George of Greece flees the country. Operation "Demon": Nearly 50,000 men rescued from little beaches and harbors of South-Greece, these action took part till 29 April.
April 27, 1941 -German forces capture Athens, Greece.
April 30 , 1941 - Germany occupation of Greece (in Saloniki) a fact: 223.000 Greece and 21.900 British prisoners of war. German losses; 2.559 dead, 5.820 wounded and 3.169 missing.
May 1, 1941 - The British force in Iraq comes under attack by Iraqis.
May 7, 1941 - Joseph Stalin becomes the Premier of the Soviet Union.
May 8 - 9, 1941 - The greatest RAF Air attacks on Germany: total 359 bombers, of which 317 to Hamburg and Bremen.
The career of the most successful German raider Pinguin comes to an end near the Seychelles when she is sunk by fire from the heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall. The raider has sunk or captured 32 ships.- The Mediterranean convoys come under air attack and engage the Italian aîrcraft.
May 9 - 30, 1941 - Great Britain takes control of Iraq and are reinforced by the arrival of 21st Indian Division at Basra.
May 10 , 1941 - General Draja Mihailowitsj, leader of the Chetniks, begin his organized resistance against the Germans in Rawna Gora.
- Rudolf Hess parachutes from a Messerschmit-110, after 1200 km into Scotland on a "peace mission".
May 10, 1941 - German bombers assault London in what tums out to be the final heavy mission of the Battle of Britain. More than 500 aircraft drop highexplosive and incendiary bombs which result in many fires and cause more than 3,000 casualties induding many dead. Some 27 German aircraft are lost. In the preceding ten months approximately 50.000 metric tons of bombs have been dropped on the UK, but the Battle of Britain has heen lost, and with it has gone Germany's chance of winning the war. Partly because of their lack of long-range fighters and heavy bombers, but also because of the eventual mastery of the RAF fighter squadrons and their tactics, the Germans will regard this as first significant turningpoint in World War Two.
May 15, 1941 -British planned some attacks in the desert (N-Africa) against the Africa Corps (Rommel), but failed it was a great loss of material and soldiers: Operations "Tiger","Brevity", "Battle-Axe" and "Crusader".
May 16, 1941 - Duke Amadeo of Aosta, Governor of Italian East Africa, Commander in Chief of the Italian Armies in Eritea and Ethiopia surrenders forces under his command to the British Army at Amba Alagi, Ethiopia.
May 18, 1941 -Admiral Lutjens sails the battleship Bismarck from Gdynia in consort with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Two supply ships and 5 tankers are stationed in Atlantic, and scouting ships are sent out in advance of the main vessels to search for suitable prey.
- The Kingdom of Croatia is created under Italian Prince from part of Yugoslavia.
May 20, 1941 -"Operation Merkur": German troops invade the British-held island of Crete.
- The full German assault on Crete commences with air attacks followed by paratroops dropped on the four airfields. They suffer heavy losses. Some 23.000 troops and 600 aircraft are deployed. The British and Greek forces are short of equipment and firepower but know the Germans are coming; they will outnumber them considerably. The Mediterranean fleet is offshore preventing any German arrivals by sea. The German side of the mission begins well but is then hit by delays in the flights of the aircraft bringing more troops, by heavy ground fire against those who do land and loss of communication between many of the constituent parts of the invasion. Towards the end of the day, the withdrawal of New Zealand units from Maleme airfield gives the Germans an unexpected foothold.
- Walter Schellenberg of the RSHA tells the German military commander in France that further Jewish emigration should be prevented in view of transportation problems and the fact that a "Final Solution [Endloesung] of the Jewish question" is foreseeable.
May 21, 1941 - In Crete the Germans develop their position at Maleme, enabling troops to be flown in.
May 24, 1941 - The German battleship Bismarck sunk the British Royal Navy battle cruiser HMS Hood.
May 26 - July 4, 1941 - Africa Corps (Erwin Rommel) march Tobruk to El-Alamein
May 27, 1941 - A flying-boat locates Battleship 'Bismarck' on his way to Brest. Force-H and the aircraft from Ark Royal, have the best chance of preventing the Bismarck from reaching that port. However in bad weather these aircraft first attack the cruiser HMS Sheffield in error, but later a flight of Swordfish score 2 hits on the 'Bismarck', which affect her steering gear and bring her almost to a stop. Further attacks that night by torpedo and from the British battleships finished the job.June 1, 1941 - British forces surrender the island of Crete. About 18.000 Allied troops have been taken off the beaches, but 17.000 men were taken prisoner; the Germans record 7,000 casualties including many dead. The cruiser HMS Calcutta is sunk while assisting the Crete evacuation. It has proved a hollow victory; its significance in the overall war plan is minimal and it turns Hitler against large-scale airborne actions which could have helped his cause in other theatres.
- In Iraq, the British enter Baghdad.
June 4, 1941 - Kaiser William II dies in exile at Doorn, The Netherlands.
June 8 - July 12, 1941 - British and Free-French troops invade Libanon and Syria (both from Vichy, government Petain), leaders are General Maitland, Wilson and Catroux.
June 14, 1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt order all German assets frozen. The Department of States also closes all German consul and propaganda offices in the United States.
- Italian troops invade France and bomb Malta for the first time. Malta is used as a bomber base for raids against Italy and Lybia, the aircraft used were Wellingtons.
June 15, 1941 - Operation Battleaxe fails to relieve Tobruk.
June 13, 1941 - Paul Reynaud, the Premier of France broadcasts a final appeal for American intervention.
June 21, 1941 - Damascus, Syria is captured by British and Free-French troops.
Hitler convinces Mussolini to allow Rommel to invade Egypt and set aside the invasion of Malta, named "Operation Hercules". Mussolini accepts the proposal after heavy consideration.- Malta was a strategic point for British convoys which supplied Commonwealth forces in Africa. The invasion of Malta would take form in the landing of three Italian parachute battalions and one German parachute division and bombarded by both Italian and German aircraft. After the capture of Malta, Rommel would drive the Axis forces into Egypt.
June 22, 1941 - Operation "Barbarossa": Germany declares war on and begins (3.15u) an invasion of the Soviet Union. The Eastern Front quickly becomes 2,000-miles wide. Italy (60,000 men to Ukraine), Finland, and Romania also joined the German battle against the Soviet Union and declare war.
June 26, 1941 - Finland and Hungaria declare war to Russia.
July 7, 1941 - American troops join British troops in the occupation of Iceland.
July 13, 1941 - Syria is completely captured by Allied troops (Russian and British).
July 14, 1941 - At a meeting in Berlin, Himmer reveals the plan for the Final Solution to his subordinate, Höss, and puts him in charge of developing a large-scale killing center at Auschwitz.
July 21, 1941 - First Air attack (200 bombers) by the Luftwaffe on Moskow.
July 24, 1941 - The Japanese occupy French Indo-China with the consent of the Vichy French Government.
July 26 , 1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders all Japanese assets frozen. He also orders the suspension of all trade with Japan and lay an embargo on oil, give rise to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
July 31 , 1941 - Göring's orders Heydrich to "evacuate" all European jews; The formal order for the planning of a coordinated Final Solution of the Jewish problem throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, already drafted by Eichmann, is signed by Goering.
August 1, 1941 - USA puts complete oil embargo on Japan.
August 2, 1941 - The American agreed the Lend-Lease plan to the Soviet Union.
August 3, 1941 - The British CAM ships claim their first success when a Hurricane from HMS Maplin shot down an Fw 200 Kondor in the North Atlantic. Such aircraft would normally try to make for land after a flight, but could go alongside the mother vessel and be hoisted aboard.
August 6, 1941 - American and British governments warn Japan not to invade Siam (Thailand).
August 9 - 13, 1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet at Placentia Bay, off the coast of Newfoundland, and sign the Atlantic Charter, a document outlining the Allied war aims.The Origin of the "United Nations" come into.
August 25, 1941 - British and Soviet troops invade Persia (Iran), to save the oilfields of Abadan and the important railways and ways to Russia for the supply of war material for Russia.
September 3, 1941 - The efficacy of Zyklon B (prussic acid) is tested on 600 Russian POWs and 298 sick prisoners at Auschwitz. General deportation of German Jews begins.
September 7 - 8, 1941 - The first British raid on Berlin, 1700 km.
In the early years of the war, bombing Germany was the only means of striking directly at the enemy's homeland and war production. Plans for a major bombing offensive, known as the strategic air offensive, were ambitious, but limited by technical difficulties in the early stages.September 8, 1941 - German forces encircle Leningrad, the Soviet Union and take the 90-day offensive against the city
September 11, 1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a shoot-on-sight order against all German and Italian shipping.
September 16, 1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Service bill, which begins America's first peace-time draft.
September 18, 1941 - Japanese Commander order for preperation of actions in the Pacific.
September 19, 1941 - German forces capture Kiev, after six weeks of fighting, the capital of the Soviet Ukraine. German High Command releases 650.000 russian soldiers prisoners of war have been taken, 884 tanks and 3.718 guns. Soviet loss of life reached half a million, Germany lost 100.000 men.
- "Grossaktion" in Kiev: Wehrmacht kills 52.000 men and women, 34.000 are jews.
- "Einsatzgruppen" im Osten kills ca. 1.000.000 people (September, October and November).
September 20, 1941 - Conference at Moskow; Stalin, Harriman (United States) and Beaverbrook (United Kingdom).
- The United States extended assistance to the Soviet Union through its Lend-Lease Act of March 1941.
October 2, 1941 - Begin of Operation "Typhoon": attack on Moskow (Von Bock).
October 14, 1941 - German forces are within 60 miles of Moscow.
October 16, 1941 - The Soviets set-up a temporary capital at Kuibyshev.
- Begin of systematic deportation of jews to Polen and East-Europe.
October 17, 1941 - General Hideki Tojo becomes Prime Minister of Japan, gone is Konoye. Formation of Cabinet Todjo.
October 20 - December 5, 1941 - German offensive for Moskow, "Unternehmen Taifun".
October 31, 1941 - A German U-boat, U-552 (Type VIIC, the "Red Devil" boat) commanded by Erich Topp, accidently sank the first WW II U.S. warship to be lost in war, the Navy destroyer Reuben James. Over 100 U.S. sailors were killed.
November 2, 1941 - Begin of the furious battle between the "Chetniks" of Mihailowitsj and the partisans of Tito. Tito was the Communist partisan leader of Yugoslavia and later the President.
November 5, 1941 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected for the third time as President.
November 7, 1941 - The greatest combine British Air-Operation, during WW II, 387 Bombers on there way to different targets at the other side of the North Sea, also to Berlin ( 1700 km): Whitleys, Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxs.
November 12, 1941 - The successful German raider Atlantis is sunk by the cruiser German raider HMS Devonshire off the coast of West Africa. The Royal Navy is increasingly effective in its pursuit of German shipping because of improved code-breaking techniques.
- The Germans have a numerical superiority, in respect of tank strength, over the Allies in North Africa. After a day of heavy fighting around Sidi Rezegh, the 4th, 7th and 22nd Armoured Brigades coming out of the confrontations badly. New Zealand troops have joined the Allies in the area, as part of XIII Corps
November 14, 1941 - U-boat 81 sunk Britisch career "Ark Royal" near Gibraltar.
- U.S. and Japanese (Koeroesoe and Nomoera) representative begin talks in Washington, D.C., to try to ease tensions between the two countries.
November 18 - December 30, 1941 - British troops (Claude Auchinleck) launch an offensive (Operation Crusader relieves Tobruk) in Libya, Africa (Bardia-El-Agheila).
December 6 - January 31, 1941 - Soviet troops counter-attack at the whole front. Radio Moskow: Moskow would be defend till the last man died.
December 7 , 1941 - Japanese aircraft launch a surprise attack on American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Imperial Government of Japan declares war to Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States. Losses United States: 8 American battleships, 3 Cruisers and 3 Destroyers destroyed; 2344 killed, 876 wounded, 966 missing. 1 O'clock: Koeroesoe and Nomoera ask for a conversation with Cordell Hull.
December 8, 1941 - Gassing of Jews begins at Chelmno (Kulmhof). Other death camps come "on line" later: Belzec (March 1942); Sobibor (April-May 1942); Treblinka (July 1942).
December 10, 1941 -Japanese aircraft sink the British Royal Navy ships Prince of Wales and Repulse off the coast of Malaya. Japanese troops landed at Luzon (The Philippines).
December 11, 1941 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States and sign new military alliance with Japan.
December 13, 1941 - Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
December 14, 1941 -Convoy HG-76 sails from Gibraltar to the UK, covered by the carrier HMS Audacity and twelve other escorts. The group will be attacked by 12 U-boats but will sink 5 and bring down 2 German bombers; the carrier, a destroyer and 2 of the merchantmen will be lost.
December 19, 1941 - Hitler take up Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, Von Brauchitsch retire.
December 19 - June 4, 1941 - In this period Chennault destroys with his "Flying Tigers" 247 Japanese planes, 300 damage and 1500 Japanese killed.
December 22, 1941 - January 12, 1942 - Conference of Washington (Arcade), U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet in Washington, D.C.
- Japanese troops land on Mindano and Wake island. Wake island is bombed from the air, a invasion mounted. About 200 men get ashore and after heavy fight with the garrison, they secure a surrender.
December 24, 1941 - Japanese troops land in the Philippines near Luzon with about 7.000 men. MacArthur formed his troops in defensive lines to the north, but knew reinforcements will not arrive in time.
December 25, 1941 - Japanese troops land in the Philippines near Luzon with about 7.000 men. MacArthur formed his troops in defensive lines to the north, but knew reinforcements will not arrive in time.
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