Project 60: A Day-by-Day Diary of WWII, July 29-August 4, 1941, BartCop.com

July 29, 1941

Japan and the Vichy French government sign an agreement which, in essence transfers responsibility for the defense of Indochina over to the Japanese.

Japanese troops take ownership of the naval base at Camranh Bay.

Washington denounces the occupation of Indochina saying the occupation of bases was "for the purpose of further and more obvious movements of conquest in adjacent areas." and these actions "jeopardize the procurement by the United States of essential materials ... for the normal economy of this country ..."

Forces of Army Group South, unable to make a direct assault on Kiev, veer to the south. Resistance is stiff as the Soviet 6 and 12th Armies give ground toward Uman.

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July 30, 1941

The Germans pocket a small group Soviet troops east of Smolensk. The encirclement was not tight and the troops inside were shattered remnants of formations ground up in the German advance. Many escaped.

Hitler decides to suspend the drive on Moscow in favor of clearing the flanks at Leningrad and Kiev. Once jump off positions for the final attack on Moscow were secured, the Panzer forces would be diverted north and south of the Moscow axis. Editors Note: Many popular historians view this as a flawed decision. This is primarily based on testimony of the surviving German generals (the losers in the war) who blamed a dead guy (Hitler) for every mistake in the war. In more recent times, serious military historians have concluded that the move on Kiev was necessary as the Soviets had nearly a million men on that flank ready to drive into the Germans rear. This had to be eliminated. The diversion of resources to Leningrad had less justification.

The Japanese bomb Chungking and manage to hit the US Navy Gunboat Tutuila. The Japanese said it was an accident (kind of like when we bombed the French embassy during the raid on Lybia).

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July 31, 1941

In written instructions to Reinhard Heydrich, Goering at the behest of Hitler orders the creation of "... a general plan showing the measures for and organization for action necessary to carry out the desired final solution of the Jewish question." (emphasis added). This was the first time the term endlosung or "final solution" was used as a written state policy of Nazi Germany.

Two weeks of rioting in Kishinev ends with the death of 10,000 Jews.

Guderian's tankers (Panzer Group 2, Army Group Center), open their attacks south of Smolensk. Initially they met minimal resistance.

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August 1, 1941

The US announces the embargo of all aviation fuel to Japan. Japan responds by halting all silk to the US.

Guderian's attacks meet and defeat the Soviet 4 Airborne Corp, but those troops buy the Russians enough time to bring up reinforcements.

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August 2, 1941

Harry Hopkins, representing FDR in Moscow, announces that the US and the USSR have come to agreement on an aide package which will assist the Soviets in recouping some of their material losses to date.

Russian forces launch massive counter-attacks against German troops defending the "Yelna salient", east of Smolensk. Guedarian, further to the south is stopped in his attacks and ordered to withdraw his panzer forces from the front in preparations for redeployment.

Tanks from 1st Panzer Group and Infantry from 17th Army make contact in their advance against Uman. The Soviet 6th and 12th Armies are nearly surrounded.

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August 3, 1941

Tanks from Panzer Group I (Army Group South) break through Russian defenses and threaten to surround a large body of Russian defenders in the Uman area.

The Bishop of Munster, Count Clemens von Galen, delivers a scathing sermon, denouncing the German euthanasia program.

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August 4, 1941

While visiting Army Group Center's HQ, Hitler was told that his armies had destroyed of captured 12,000 tanks since the start of the invasion (actually a fairly accurate number). He was stunned and said, "Had I known they had as many tanks as that, I'd have thought twice before invading."

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Editor's Corner

The items found in this section are comments from the editors of Project 60 and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of bartcop.

Arguing Victory

People, and historians in particular, love to argue. They love to argue politics, and religion, and conspiracies, and, well, just about anything else. Wars, by their nature, bring out the absolute best and worst in humans. This provides the most fertile of ground for controversy and argument.

World War II is certainly no exception. People love to argue about its causes, who won, who lost, which country was most important to victory and so on. Although these discussions can be enjoyable, most devolve into nationalistic fervor which tends to obscure the really important element of that war.

That one important and universal element is that a very small number of fascist, in a handful of countries, were utterly and mercilessly destroyed by an alliance of most of the rest of the world. The important fact is that the world joined together to destroy an evil that knew no bounds. All other arguments pale when compared to that reality.

To argue whether the Australians at Tobruk were braver than the Marines at Guadalcanal, or whether the citizens of Leningrad suffered more than those of London is folly. All those who fought and died to stop tyranny were brave and suffered. But they did it together, in coalition against a common enemy.

So long as I am involved with this project, that factor will always be at the fore. Each nation who fought against fascist tyranny in WWII brought with it part of whole needed to defeat that evil. No one nation alone could have won this great victory. That is where the true victory lies - in our ability to come together to destroy an evil. Perhaps that is the lesson that we need to take to heart today.

D.A. Friedrichs

War, Glory, Honor and Remembrance

War is a brutal and savage insult on human society. For nations it is the destruction of the resources needed for the enrichment of its citizens. For families, it is the loss of loved ones and the horrors held by the survivors. For the individual, it is the loss of precious time and ultimately, life itself.

There is no honor or glory in war. The sacrifice of a generation of humans cannot be seen in anyway to be glorious. Platitudes like "just cause" and "noble purpose" are meaningless to the person whose body has been blown to bits. If there is honor, it is in survival. If there is glory it is returning to your families, friends and community.

What we, the people who did not have to experience war, must do, is remember those who gave so much for our freedom. We must redouble our efforts so that their sacrifice is not in vane, so tyranny will not threaten our world again, so no more young men and women of any nation, need be surrendered to the insanity of war again.

D. A. Friedrichs

Germany and Italy order U.S. diplomats out of their countries by July 15. This was in retaliation to a similar action by the Americans (anybody remember those Russian diplomats Shrub ditched).

Heavy fighting continues in the Middle East as Vichy French forces stop Allied advances on Damascus (the players change but the fighting never seems to end).

U.S. stops authorizing visas for aliens with relatives in the German occupied territories.

German forces continue their concentration of forces on the Soviet border in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Heavy artillery begins moving into firing positions and bridging equipment begins to arrive. German U-boats proceed to war stations in the Baltic while mine laying operations commence. Stalin still insists that the invasion is not immanent.

British forces continue their retreat back into Egypt after Rommel defeats Operation Battleax.

President Roosevelt calls Germany an "outlaw nation" because of the sinking of the Robin Moore by a German U-Boat on May 21.

The USS Texas , while on a "neutrality patrol," is dogged by the German submarine U-203 between Newfoundland and Greenland. The German skipper thought the Texas was a lend lease vessel and therefore fair game for his attack.

General Wavell having utterly failed to relieve Tobruk in Operation Battleax, is sacked by Churchill as commanding officer of the Commonwealth troops in the Middle East.

Commonwealth forces enter Iraq in order to secure oil supplies for the war effort (things really never do change do they?).

Hitler signals to his eastern troops that the invasion of the Soviet Union is on for the next day.

German commandos, the Brandenburgers, begin operations, infiltrating across the border, move to secure bridges and other important facilities in the Russian rear area in preparation for the invasion.

At 3:00 A.M., three million battle hardened soldiers of German Wehrmacht, struck the ill-prepared Soviet army, starting one of the single most devastating and titanic struggles in history. Three German Army Groups, North, Center and South, struck for their respective goals of Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev.

German aircraft pounded targets deep in Russia. Airfields were a primary target and by days end, 500 Soviet planes were destroyed, mostly on the ground. Russian border forces were quickly overrun after brief but vicious fights. One notable exception, the fortress of Brest-Litovsk on the Bug River, holds against ferocious German attacks. Efforts to mobilize defensive countermeasures were chaotic as reinforcing columns are harassed by constant air attacks. By days end, German ground forces advance 15-25 miles.

Hitler declared that when he unleashed his armies to the east, "The world will hold its breath". This was one of the few statements he made that was absolutely correct.

Churchill declares Britain will assist the Soviets saying, "Any man or State who fights against Nazism will have our aid. Any man or State who marches with Hitler is our foe." One hopes these words would be remembered today.

Hungry joins Germany, Rumania, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia by declaring war on the Soviet Union.

The relentless advance in Russia continues as shattered Soviet forces flood east pursued by the German invaders. German panzer units begin to meet Soviet tank formations rushing to the front. The Soviet columns are badly organized and depleted because of constant air attacks. On the approaches to Vilnius, German tank columns bypass pockets of resistance and drive deep into the Soviet rear areas. Further to the south, German forces are met by strong resistance and a fierce tank battle develops around Dubno.

British forces advance to Palmyra in Syria against strong Vichy French resistance.

The Germans continue to advance in pursuit of the retreating Russian forces. In the north, the destruction of the Soviet armored reserves is completed and the German columns begin to break into the clear. In the center, Soviet resistance is shattered as German tank columns enter Vilnius. Heavy fighting is still reported in the south as German forces make marginal gains toward Kiev. The Germans gain air superiority over the front as 2000 Russian planes have now been destroyed since hostilities started.

Roosevelt orders all Soviet assets released and promises aid to the beleaguered nation.

German troops confront the Soviet KV-I and KV-II heavy tanks in battle. The German anti-tank guns and panzers are unable to cope with these behemoths and resort to using the 88mm anti-aircraft gun and 100mm field artillery to stop the beasts. This was a very rude surprise to the Germans.

Forces of Army Group Center (3rd Panzer Group) capture Vilnius. Army Group South meets stiff opposition as the Soviet Southwest Front concentrates large tank formations in front of the advancing 1st Panzer Group. Soviet counter attacks around Grodno continue but begin to falter. In the far north, Soviet defenses stiffen around Murmansk, stopping the Germans short of their goal. The Germans would never capture the vital supply port.

Sweden, although technically neutral, allows armed German troops to move through their nation on the way to Russia.

Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802 which calls for the " Full Participation In The Defense Program By All Persons, Regardless Of Race, Creed, Color, Or National Origin" (he knew he'd need everybody's help to crush fascism). Also, the (thrice elected in an honest vote) president, declared that the Siberian port Vladivostok, would be exempt from the neutrality statutes so supplies could flow to Russia.

Organized Soviet resistance in the fortress town of Brest-Litovsk comes to an end after four days of extremely heavy fighting. The Germans finally pummeled the defenders into submission with massive air strikes and heavy artillery bombardment.

In Army Group North, tanks of von Manstein's 4th Panzer Group capture the Dvina River bridges at Daugavipils intact. Hitler orders these forces to stop, consolidate, gather supplies and wait for the infantry forces, far to the rear, to catch up. Many "historians" have indicated that this decision was fatal for the swift capture of Leningrad. This opinion, however, ignores the terrain on the approach, the Red army, and the appalling logistics situation for the Germans.

In Army Group Center, the 7th Panzer Division (Rommel's old unit from France) driving north of Minsk, cuts the Minsk-Moscow highway, the main supply route for the Soviet West Front. Further to the south, Guderian's 2 Panzer Group is driving hard to complete the encirclement of the Soviet forces around Minsk.

In Army Group South, the Soviets launch fresh and very strong counterattacks against the German spearheads. These attacks fall particularly hard on the 16th Panzer Division in the area around Ostrov. Further to the north, 11th Panzer Division is blocked in it's advance at Dubno. The advance of the this army group is temporarily stopped.

In Army Group Center, Guderian's Panzer Group 2 and Hoth's Panzer Group 3 meet east of Minsk, completing the first major encirclement of soviet forces. Some 200,000 men from the Russian 3^rd, 10^th and 13^th Armies are cut off in the west of Minsk.

In Army Group South's sector, Soviet counter attacks north of Dubno begin to sputter as uncoordinated Soviet battle groups are destroyed by the more coordinated German efforts. However, the attacks approaching from south of Dubno are more successful and create some confusion in the German attacks. Meanwhile, 11 Panzer division drives east of Dubno, breaking through the Soviet defenses and capturing Ostrog, 30 kilometers in the Soviet's rear.

Rioting breaks out in the newly "liberated" city of Kaunas. The German military authorities stand by as 3800 Jews are killed by the angry mobs.

Soviet counter-attacks in the Dubno region collapse. Russian forces are now withdrawing on all fronts.

The Germans capture Minsk as the death grip on the encircled Soviet armies tightens. The Gestapo also enters the city, ordering all men from 15 to 45 years of age to appear at the registration point. Thousands obey and are marched off to Drozdy camp.

The Soviet government tells the people to leave nothing for the Germans, ordering " the removal of all rolling stock, leaving not a single locomotive, not a truck, not a kilogram of bread, not a liter of fuel. Collective farms must drive away their cattle . All property of value, any, including ferrous metals, bread and fuel which cannot be taken away, must, without exceptions be destroyed." This was the famous "Scorched Earth" policy.

Soviet marines and elements of the 67^th Rifle Division defending the Libau naval base far to the rear of the Germans run out of ammunition and time. The city and base are surrendered after inflicting heavy losses on the Germans.

German troops attempted to take Riga by storming the railroad bridge over the Dvina River. They were successful in establishing a foothold on the eastern bank, but counter-attacking Russian forces destroyed the invaders.

The German advance out of Norway, directed at the vital northern port of Murmansk is stopped by determined Soviet defenses.

The Finns under Mannerheim begin a major offensive on the Karelian Isthmus north of Leningrad.

Forces of Army Group South eliminate pockets of resistance, consolidate their forces, regroup for the continued advance toward Kiev.

In heavy fighting, Army Group South captures (the formerly Polish city of) Lvov.

Stalin begins executions of the commanders who failed to stop the invasion (conveniently forgetting that he was the one who kept on ignoring reports from the frontier and his own spies that the invasion was coming). Pavlov, commander of the Western Front was most notable among those who "lost their jobs".

Vichy France decides to break diplomatic ties with the USSR (a mortal body blow to the Russians - ha).

The Axis nations of Japan, Germany and Italy recognize the pro-Japanese government of Henry P'u Yi (remember the movie "The Last Emperor"). They would be the only ones who would.

The U.S. Army strength reaches 1.4 million men, up from 250,000 just one year before.

RAF planes attack Brest, France. In the raid the German cruiser Printz Eugen is severely damaged.

Stalin, after not being seen or heard in public since the beginning of the German invasion, makes an address to his nation. He calls for patriotic fervor and fanatic resistance to the Nazi invaders. He also reiterates the "Scorched Earth" policy announced on June 29.

German General Franz Halder, echoing the opinion of most German commanders writes in his diary, "... I assert that the Russian campaign will be won within 14 days." German intelligence reports indicate the the Soviets are down to 30 effective divisions. The euphoria of victory infects the German high command.

Soviet strength continues to build after the disasters on the frontier. Despite loosing scores of divisions and tons of supplies and equipment, the Russians have 180 divisions at or in the immediate vicinity of the front. I guess the Germans were a tad overconfident.

Josip Broz, better known as Tito, general secretary of the Yugoslav Communist Party announces that he would lead a resistance movement in his country.

Ostrov falls to the panzer forces of Army Group North. The Germans are now less than 200 miles from their goal of Leningrad as they advance across the 1939 Polish-USSR border.

The Soviets launch a major counter attack between Ostrov and Pskov on the approach to Leningrad. The attacking force is heavily reinforced with heavy KV-I and KV-II tanks. The defending Germans of the 1st and 6th Panzer Divisions are hard pressed.

3rd Panzer Group (Army Group Center) establishes a bridgehead over the Dvina River.

RAF Bomber Command starts a three day terror bombing of Munster, Germany. In the end, a quarter of the city would be gutted.

Soviet forces counter-attack the 3rd Panzer Group bridgehead over the Dvina. The attacks would end in three days, with heavy losses to both sides.

U.S. Marines occupy Iceland, Trinidad and British Guiana. This action by the U.S. was intended to safeguard these important naval and air staging areas to prevent "the occupation by Germany ... for eventual attack against the Western Hemisphere" . It also just happened to free up British troops for use in defense of England and in the Middle East.

Churchill sends his first personal note to Stalin offering to forge an alliance between Britain and Russia.

In Army Group South, 11 Panzer Division takes Berdichev. The Germans are now less than 100 miles from Kiev.

Jews in the recently occupied Baltic States were ordered to wear the Star of David.

The Minsk and Vitebsk pockets were declared officially eliminated today. Although some 300,000 men were trapped in these pockets, some 100,000 escaped. However, the loss of tanks, trucks and artillery was severe.

In Army Group North, Pskov falls to the 36 Motorized Infantry Division. The Germans are 150 miles from Leningrad.

Soviet attacks against Army Group Center's 3rd Panzer Group collapse, but the heavy losses taken by the Germans force a temporary halt to their advance.

In Army Group south, Zhitomir falls and elements of the 13th Panzer Division, racing for Kiev, reach the Iprev River. The Germans are now 10 miles from the capital of the Ukraine.

Elements of the 20th Panzer Division take Vitebsk and are now only 250 miles from Moscow.

Stalin relieves Timoshenko as commander of the Red Army, taking the job for himself. Timoshenko is placed in command of the forces opposing the German drives on the Moscow axis.

The Soviets launch heavy counter-attacks in the Korosten-Malin area against the advancing forces of Army Group South.

Relations between the Germans and Japanese become strained as, after many requests by the Germans to attack Russia from their positions in China, the Japanese inform their allies that they will not be attacking the Soviet Union.

The Russian 3rd Mechanized Corp joins in the strong counterattacks on the approaches to Kiev. The Red Army uses a large body of its new T-34 main battle tank for the first time. The Germans are stunned by the effectiveness of the new tank and tactics.

A treaty of mutual assistance is signed between the British and Russians in Moscow. Britain no longer stands alone against Nazi Germany.

The Vichy French government fails to gain Turkish permission to send military supports to their forces in Syria. With this last hope gone, the forces still in Syria seek a truce with the Allied forces.

Fourth Panzer Group, attempting to advance beyond Pskov toward Leningrad, calls a halt to their advance to allow the infantry to catch up. Since taking Pskov three days ago, the German tankers have made less than 10 miles of advance into the dismal swamp land of northern Russia against an ever strengthening Red Army.

RAF Bomber Command continues its raids on German ports. Over 100 bombers attempted to hit Bremen.

The Nazi government seized the property of all Christian Science churches in Germany.

Vichy forces in Syria and Lebanon surrender leaving the two Arab states occupied by British and Free French forces. Most of the Vichy forces were allowed to leave as part of the armistice agreement.

The Red Army uses the Katyusha Rocket launcher for the first time in combat in a counter-attack at Orsha. This turned out to be a remarkable effective weapon in delivering 320 132mm rockets on target in 25 seconds. The weapon became known as "Stalin's Organ". The modern day equivalent of this system is the US Army MLRS.

Heavy city fighting erupts in Smolensk as German infantry attempt to storm the city.

The Red Army officially gave the responsibility for "preventing panic, and dealing with cowardice and treachery" to the political commissars. This gave these Communist party apparatchik the power to summarily execute anyone in their command.

Smolensk falls to the Germans. The Germans are now 200 miles from Moscow. However, Soviet resistance is becoming more fierce and supplies of fuel and ammunition for the far flung panzer divisions are becoming scarce.

Stalin's son, fighting as a lieutenant in the Red Army is captured by the Germans in the fighting around Smolensk.

The Japanese government falls as hard-liners insist on not dealing with Washington.

The peculiar pre-war practice by the Red Army of "dual command" was reestablished. This scheme placed political commissars and field commanders on an equal command level, in effect each formation had two leaders - military and political. Red Army officers now not only had to deal with Germans to his front but the Commissar to his back.

Panzer forces from 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups meet east of the city, surrounding nearly 300,000 men from in several small pockets. However, the ring around the surrounded troops was so full of holes that the bulk of the troops were able to escape in reasonably good order.

A new Japanese government is formed, which is nearly identical to the last hard-line government.

The counter-attack near Sotsy by the Russians against Manstein's 56 Panzer Corp (Army Group North) ends. Although the Germans did escape from a small encirclement, their 8th Panzer Division did take serious losses in the four-day battle.

Stalin makes his first (of many) requests to open up a second front against the Germans. In this case he asks for a combined operation (naval and ground forces) to be used in the Artic and an immediate invasion of northern France. Either action is, of course, pure fantasy, but Churchill does dispatch a sizable naval force from Scapa Flow to harass the Germans in Norway.

Stalin orders all units to "purge unreliable elements". Part of this order was to detain any officers and men who escaped German encirclements so that they could be interrogated by the NKVD (early version of the KGB) to weed out "German spies". So after defying death at the hands of the Germans, these lucky few would be turned over to the no so tender mercies of their own countrymen.

The Vichy government, completely unable to do anything about it, gives the Japanese permission to occupy military bases in French Indochina. The Japanese now have air bases capable of staging bombers in range of Singapore.

German bombers hit Moscow for the first time in the war. The attack is a fiasco as Moscow had one of the most extensive anti-aircraft defense systems of any city in the world at that time. The raid also showed a severe weakness in the German arsenal - they had no long range, heavy, four engine strategic bomber. They were completely unable to stage the kind of mass destruction the British and, later the Americans could with their massive bombers.

US authorities temporarily stopped shipping through the Panama Canal today as "maintenance work" was needed. Interestingly enough, several Japanese ships were forced to divert around South America because of the action. Coincidence, I'm sure.

For the first time in a month, the exhausted Germans temporarily halt offensive operations having driven over 400 miles into Russia in many areas during the last month. They stand at the gates of Kiev and are fighting along the last defense line before Leningrad. To date, the Germans have captured over 720,000 square miles of territory.

The Soviets, badly mauled in the attack, still field a massive army and despite losing a great deal of territory and cities has been successful in moving (literally picking up factories, putting them on rail cars) most of its industrial might into the Urals, outside the reach of German bombers and ground troops.

The US declares its intent to break talks with Japan over the occupation of Indochina, declaring that talks would be fruitless since the "Japanese government intended to pursue the policy of force and of conquest."

RAF Bombers hit the German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and cruiser Prinz Eugen. Scharnhorst is damaged and forced to return to Brest for repairs. Seventeen bombers are lost in the raid.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toyoda informed Ambassador Grew that Japan felt that it was being surrounded by hostile forces and its occupation of Indochina was simply a defensive action similar to that of the British in the occupation of Syria.

Roosevelt seizes Japanese assets in the United States in retaliation for the Japanese strong arming the Vichy government to allow IJA forces to occupy formerly French military bases in Indochina. Roosevelt also announces an oil embargo. These actions are quickly followed up by Britain and the Netherlands. Suddenly, Japan has been denied 90% of their oil imports.

The Italians launch an attack against the port of Valetta, in Malta, using small craft in a daring raid. All attackers are sunk or captured before they can inflict any damage.

Three days of rioting begin in Lvov as locals murder 2000 Jews. in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 120 civilians (mostly Jews), are rounded up and executed in retaliation for an attack on a military truck convoy.

Mogilev falls to the Germans after 5 days of heavy fighting. Upon entering the industrial area of the city, the Germans noted a brownish frothing liquid running down the streets and into the Dniepr River. Upon further examination it was found that the mean spirited Soviet defenders of the city had destroyed the vats at the local brewery and thousands of gallons of beer were destroyed. Now that is Scorched Earth.

Propaganda minister Ari Fliesher, errr, pardon me, just a bit confused, Joseph Goebbels declares the "Kremlin is a heap of ruin" from the "devastating" air raids over Moscow. In reality, the only bomb to come close put a hole in the street outside the building.

A notation in the German War Diary says, "The mass of the operationally effective Russian Army has been destroyed." Seems the Germans were a tad over optimistic.

After ten weeks of calm, German bombers started nightly raids against London again.

Kingisepp is abandoned as German Panzers drive in the Leningrad defenses west of the Luga River (which is still holding firm for the Russians).