July 1941
The following events occurred in July 1941:
July 1, 1941 (Tuesday)
- The Battle of Palmyra was fought in Syria, resulting in Allied victory.
- German and Finnish forces launched Operation Arctic Fox, aimed at capturing Salla.
- German forces captured Riga.[1]
- German cruiser Prinz Eugen was bombed in Brest harbour by the Royal Air Force and severely damaged.[2]
- The Vichy government froze Soviet assets in France.[3]
- The Massacre of Lviv professors began.
- Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees tied the 44-year old hitting streak record of Wee Willie Keeler by hitting safely in both games of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, extending the streak to 44 consecutive games.[4]
- Full U.S. commercial television service began from the NBC station WNBT in New York City. The first official paid television advertisement was for Bulova watches and cost the advertiser $9.[5]
- German submarine U-131 was commissioned.
- Born: Alfred G. Gilman, pharmacologist, biochemist and Nobel laureate, in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2015); Rod Gilbert, ice hockey player, in Montreal, Canada; Myron Scholes, financial economist and Nobel laureate, in Timmins, Ontario, Canada
July 2, 1941 (Wednesday)
- The Germans and Romanians launched Operation München on the Eastern Front.
- The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was damaged while in the dock in Brest, France during an Allied air raid.[6]
- China broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy.[7]
- Joe DiMaggio hit a home run off Dick Newsome of the Boston Red Sox to extend his hitting streak to 45 consecutive games and take sole possession of the major league record.[4][8]
- The biographical film Sergeant York about the life of Alvin C. York was released, starring Gary Cooper in the title role.
- The television show CBS Television Quiz premiered on the fledgling CBS Television network. It was the first live TV game show ever to be broadcast regularly.
July 3, 1941 (Thursday)
- The Battle of Białystok–Minsk ended in German victory. 290,000 Soviet troops with 2,500 tanks surrendered in the Białystok pocket.[1]
- The Battle of Deir ez-Zor was fought in Syria, resulting in Allied victory.
- Italian General Pietro Gazzera surrendered to Belgian Congolese forces after his stronghold at Saio in the Ethiopian Highlands was surrounded.[9]
- Joseph Stalin made a broadcast calling on the people of the Soviet Union to pursue a scorched earth policy and conduct guerrilla warfare against the invaders.[10]
- German submarine U-577 was commissioned.
- Born: Gloria Allred, civil rights lawyer, in Philadelphia; Adoor Gopalakrishnan, filmmaker, in Pallickal, Adoor, British India
- Died: Friedrich Akel, 69, Estonian diplomat (executed)
July 4, 1941 (Friday)
July 5, 1941 (Saturday)
July 6, 1941 (Sunday)
July 7, 1941 (Monday)
- The 13th Panzer Division reached Berdychiv.[11]
- The U.S. 1st Marine Brigade arrived in Iceland and relieved the British garrison there.[6] President Roosevelt sent Congress a message explaining that the United States could not allow Germany to occupy Iceland because it would constitute a threat to Greenland, to shipping in the North Atlantic and to the steady flow of munitions to Britain which Congress had already freely approved as a matter of broad policy.[15]
- Winston Churchill sent a letter to Stalin saying that there was "genuine admiration" in Britain for the "bravery and tenacity of the soldiers and the people" of the Soviet Union. Churchill also pledged, "We shall do everything to help you that time, geography and our growing resources allow."[16] Stalin was unimpressed by the vagueness of the letter and responded by asking for a formal agreement, since he wanted to ensure that Britain would not stand aside while Germany and the Soviet Union destroyed each other.[17]
- The Uprising in Serbia began when Žikica Jovanović Španac urged a crowd in the village of Bela Crkva to resistance, then shot two policemen and escaped.[18]
- The uprising in eastern Herzogovina was suppressed after two weeks.
- On the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek sent a message to friendly nations asking for "close co-operation with one another" to fight the Axis because "the war in the Far East is no longer to be viewed as merely a conflict between two nations, for the European and Asiatic Wars have now become closely interrelated. Scarcely a single country remains unaffected because this predatory group of powers excludes no country from the scope of its design to dominate the world by force."[19]
- Born: Michael Howard, politician, in Gorseinon, Wales; Bill Oddie, musician, orthinologist and member of The Goodies comedy troupe, in Rochdale, England
July 8, 1941 (Tuesday)
July 9, 1941 (Wednesday)
- The Battle of Damour ended in Australian victory.
- The German 13th Panzer Division took the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr.[21]
- A brief discussion was held in the British House of Commons about the arrangement by the Nazis for P. G. Wodehouse to give weekly radio broadcasts from Germany to the United States. Foreign Affairs Secretary Anthony Eden said he would take into consideration the suggestion from Geoffrey Mander "to bring to the attention of Mr. Wodehouse and others the grave peril in which they place themselves by playing the Nazi game during the war."[22]
- Born: Robert J. Frankel, horse trainer, in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2009)
July 10, 1941 (Thursday)
July 11, 1941 (Friday)
- German forces captured Vitebsk.[23]
- The British destroyer HMS Defender was bombed and subsequently scuttled off Sidi Barrani by a Junkers Ju 88 dive bomber piloted by Gerhard Stamp.
- Hitler issued Directive No. 32, Plans following defeat of the Soviet Union.
- The Office of the Coordinator of Information was created in the United States. William J. Donovan was made its first head.
- Born: Wayne Bickerton, songwriter, record producer and music business executive, in Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales (d. 2015); Tommy Vance, radio broadcaster, in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, England
- Died: Arthur Evans, 90, English archaeologist
July 12, 1941 (Saturday)
July 13, 1941 (Sunday)
July 14, 1941 (Monday)
July 15, 1941 (Tuesday)
July 16, 1941 (Wednesday)
July 17, 1941 (Thursday)
July 18, 1941 (Friday)
- The Twin Pimples raid ended in British victory.
- Stalin wrote to Churchill again saying, "It seems to me that the military position of the Soviet Union, as well as that of Great Britain, would be considerably improved if there could be established a front against Hitler in the West- Northern France, and in the North- the Arctic."[33]
- Yōsuke Matsuoka was replaced as Japanese Foreign Minister and replaced by Teijirō Toyoda.
July 19, 1941 (Saturday)
July 20, 1941 (Sunday)
- Just after midnight a message from Churchill was read over the air by a mysterious "Col. V. Britton" (actually BBC news editor Douglas Ritchie) calling upon the people of Nazi-occupied Europe to mobilize under the V for Victory campaign. Citizens of occupied Europe within the broadcast's range were urged to chalk letter V's in public places and tap out the Morse Code version of the letter – three dots and a dash – to make known their confidence in Allied victory.[35]
- 10th Panzer Division occupied Yelnya.[11]
- Churchill wrote back to Stalin explaining that opening a new front in the west was presently out of the question. "To attempt a landing in force would be to encounter a bloody repulse, and petty raids would only lead to fiascos doing far more harm than good to both of us", Churchill wrote. "You must remember that we have been fighting alone for more than a year, and that, though our resources are growing, and will grow fast from now on, we are at the utmost strain both at home and in the Middle East by land and air, and also that the Battle of the Atlantic, on which our life depends, and the movement of all our convoys in the teeth of the U-boat and Fokke-Wulf blockade, strains our naval resources, great though they may be, to the utmost limit." Churchill did agree to conduct air and sea operations in the north to attack enemy shipping.[33]
- The British submarine HMS Union was sunk in the Mediterranean southwest of Pantelleria by the Italian torpedo boat Circe.
- Died: Lew Fields, 73 or 74, American vaudeville performer, theatre manager and producer
July 21, 1941 (Monday)
July 22, 1941 (Tuesday)
July 23, 1941 (Wednesday)
July 24, 1941 (Thursday)
- On the Eastern Front, Operation München ended in Axis victory.
- Some 700 employees of the Alcan aluminum company went on strike in Arvida, Quebec, Canada. Since the industry had been classified as essential to the war effort, the strike was illegal.[40]
- German submarines U-454 and U-580 were commissioned.
- Died: Rudolf Ramek, 60, 6th Chancellor of Austria
July 25, 1941 (Friday)
- An executive order by President Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the United States. At Chiang Kai-shek's request, the order was extended to Chinese assets as well.[41]
- The Nazi occupation regime in the Baltic states called the Reichskommissariat Ostland was established.
- Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox notched his 300th career win in a 10-6 victory at Fenway Park over the Cleveland Indians.[42]
- Born: Manny Charlton, rock guitarist for Nazareth, in La Línea, Andalusia, Spain; Nate Thurmond, basketball player, in Akron, Ohio
- Died: Allan Forrest, 55, American silent film actor
July 26, 1941 (Saturday)
- Britain followed the United States in imposing economic sanctions on Japan and freezing all Japanese assets in areas under their control.[27] Japan retaliated by freezing all U.S. and British assets in return.[43]
- Douglas MacArthur was appointed to command U.S. forces in the Far East.[43]
- The Nazis began to set up the Białystok Ghetto.
- Frustrated by the need for provincial approval to deploy troops to end the Arvida strike, Canadian Munitions and Supply Minister C. D. Howe submitted his resignation to Prime Minister King. At a subsequent cabinet meeting Howe agreed to withdraw his resignation on the condition that he be granted powers to deal with such emergency situations.[44]
- German submarines U-116 and U-134 were commissioned.
- Died: Henri Lebesgue, 66, French mathematician
July 27, 1941 (Sunday)
July 28, 1941 (Monday)
July 29, 1941 (Tuesday)
- Japan and Vichy France pledged military co-operation for joint defense of French Indochina.[47]
- The Arvida strike ended when the Canadian government amended the Defence of Canada Regulations to allow the Minister of National Defence to call out troops to deal with labour disputes without requiring permission from municipal or provincial authorities. A subsequent royal commission concluded that while the strike was illegal, it was caused by workers' frustrations over salaries and working conditions rather than subversives as Munitions and Supply Minister C. D. Howe had claimed.[40][44]
- Photographs of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich as a firefighter were taken in Leningrad. The photographs were published around the world as a symbol of Soviet determination.[27]
- Born: Jennifer Dunn, politician, in Seattle, Washington (d. 2007); David Warner, actor, in Manchester, England
- Died: James Stephenson, 52, British actor
July 30, 1941 (Wednesday)
July 31, 1941 (Thursday)
References
- 1 2 Evans, A. A.; Gibbons, David (2012). The Illustrated Timeline of World War II. Rosen Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 9781448847952.
- 1 2 Davidson, Edward; Manning, Dale (1999). Chronology of World War II. London: Cassell & Co. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0-304-35309-4.
- ↑ Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938–1945. Research Publications. 1990. p. 64. ISBN 9780887365683.
- 1 2 Frommer, Harvey; Frommer, Frederic J. (2005). Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC. p. 180. ISBN 9781596700581.
- ↑ "Chronomedia: 1941". Terra Media. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1941". World War II Database. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 Doody, Richard. "A Timeline of Diplomatic Ruptures, Unannounced Invasions, Declarations of War, Armistices and Surrenders". The World at War. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "July 2 1941 Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Weller, George. "The Belgian Campaign in Ethiopia". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Stalin, Soviet Premier, Broadcast to the People of the Soviet Union". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kirchubel, Robert (2013). Operation Barbarossa: The German Invasion of Soviet Russia. Botley, Oxfordshire: Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9781782004080.
- ↑ "Franklin D. Roosevelt's Broadcast on Independence Day". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Saturday, June 21, 1941". WW2Timelines.com. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Solomon, Burt (1997). The Baseball Timeline: The Day-By-Day History of Baseball, from Valley Forge to the Present Day. Avon Books. p. 412. ISBN 9780380782918.
- ↑ "Franklin D. Roosevelt's Message to Congress on U.S. Occupation of Iceland". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Brown, Anthony Cave; MacDonald, Charles Brown (1981). On a Field of Red: The Communist International and the Coming of World War II. G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 585.
- 1 2 Berthon, Simon; Potts, Joanna (2006). Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-Creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Da Capo Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 9780306816505.
- ↑ Matanle, Ivor (1995). World War II. Colour Library Books Ltd. p. 87. ISBN 1-85833-333-4.
- ↑ "Chiang Kai-shek's Message to Friendly Nations". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Hottelet, Richard C. (August 2, 1941). "Hottelet Often Cold, Hungry in Nazi Jail, But Got $1.80 Pay". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). p. 1.
- ↑ Kurowski, Franz (2005). Infantry Aces: The German Soldier in Combat in World War II. Stackpole Books. ISBN 9780811732024.
- ↑ "Mr. P. G. Wodehouse (Broadcasts, Germany)". Hansard. July 9, 1941. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Rozett, Robert; Spector, Schmuel (2013). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Oxon: Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 9781135969509.
- ↑ "Events occurring on Saturday, July 12, 1941". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Kirchubel, p. 186.
- ↑ Houseman, Victoria (1991). Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Bonus Books. p. 148.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1941". MusicAndHistory. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Martin Bormann's Minutes of a Meeting at Hitler's Headquarters (July 16, 1941)". German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Was war am 16. Juli 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Klarsfeld, Serge (1996). French Children of the Holocaust: A Memorial. New York University Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780814726624.
- ↑ Peters, Gerbhard; Woolley, John T. "Proclamation 2497 – Blacklisting 1,800 Latin American Firms for Aiding Germany or Italy". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Joe DiMaggio ends 56-game hitting streak". History. A&E Networks. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 Churchill, Winston (2002). The Grand Alliance: The Second World War, Volume 3. RosettaBooks. pp. 342–344. ISBN 9780795311444.
- ↑ Sutherland, Jonathan (2004). African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 409. ISBN 9781576077467.
- ↑ "Britain Bid's Europe's Conquered Millions Rise Against Hitler in Huge 'V' Intrigue Plot". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). July 20, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ Overy, Richard (1998). Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941–1945. Penguin Books. ISBN 9781101503188.
- ↑ "Peril Grows, F. D. R. Warns; Wants Draft Limits Lifted". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). July 21, 1941. p. 1.
- ↑ Arad, Yitzhak (2009). The Holocaust in the Soviet Union. University of Nebraska Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780803222700.
- ↑ "Was war am 22. Juli 1941". chroniknet. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 "Arvida Strike". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order Freezing Japanese and Chinese Assets in the United States". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Moore, Gerry (July 26, 1941). "Lefty Grove notches 300th win at Fenway Park". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- 1 2 Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 552. ISBN 9-780582-039193.
- 1 2 Fudge, Judy; Tucker, Eric (2004). Labour Before the Law: The Regulation of Workers' Collective Action in Canada, 1900-1948. University of Toronto Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN 9780802037930.
- ↑ Wettstein, Adrian E. "Urban Warfare Doctrine on the Eastern Front." Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. Eds. Alex J. Kay, Jeff Rutherford, and David Stahel. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 2012. p. 52. ISBN 9781580464079.
- ↑ "USSE Smely". uboat.net. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Agreement Between Japan and France Pledging Military Co-Operation in Defense of Indo-China". ibiblio. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ↑ "Reinhard Heydrich". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved December 31, 2015.