Posted on 06/23/2011 5:06:46 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
Editorials – 16-17
Hitler Invades Russia
The End of the O-9
Pat Harrison
Damascus
Dressing Up Brooklyn
Topics of the Times
New York Times...
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/jun41/f23jun41.htm
Germans record advances of 50 miles
Monday, June 23, 1941 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... The German offensive continues to make astonishing progress, spearheaded by the armored and motorized forces. In the north Panzer Group 4 (Hoeppner) has advanced almost 50 miles. Panzer Group 3 (Hoth) forces have captured bridges over the Niemen River. Panzer Group 2 (Guderian) tanks have made deep penetrations on either side of Brest Litovsk. Panzer Group 1 (Kleist) has made some ground also but the Soviet defense in their southern front is stronger. The Luftwaffe continues to batter the Red Air Force and disrupt the already exiguous Soviet communications.
In Syria... The advance of the British force from Iraq reaches Palmyra but the Vichy French garrison holds out.
In the North Atlantic... The largest convoy battle to date begins around HX-133. Ten U-boats are concentrated to attack the convoy, which at first has four escorts.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/23.htm
June 23rd, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill states:
The Russian danger is our danger and the danger of the United States, just as the cause of any Russian fighting for his hearth and home is the cause of free men and free people in every country of the globe.
Destroyers HMS Eggesford, Melbreak and Tantaside laid down.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Nogi bombed and sunk off Cromer. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: The Germans have unleashed a massive war machine on the USSR. The three million troops (including those held in reserve) have the support of 3,350 tanks, 7,184 guns and 2,815 aircraft. In addition, eight divisions have been deployed to Finland.
This leaves Hitler with just 61 divisions (amounting to 600,000 men) to cover the rest of Europe and North Africa, but divisions from Finland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, plus some Italian forces, should leave for the USSR in a the near future, as it seems likely that those countries will declare war on the USSR.
The USSR has about 132 divisions including 34 armoured divisions (2,500,000 men) in the border districts of the west, a further 20 facing Finland, and 133 divisions in the interior and Far East. This will more than double once mobilisation is complete. The Russian tank armoury has some 20,000 machines, although many are obsolete, with new, more powerful, types only just being introduced. First line fuel, ammunition and tank radios are in short supply. The Red Air Force has 18,000 aircraft, of which well over half are in the west. Most are obsolete, and over 3,500 have already been lost. Even more serious are Stalin’s refusal to prepare for an invasion, his unfinished reorganisation of the Red Army, and his purge of many of his best commanders before the war.
Berlin: The German News Office announced:-
Early Sunday morning 9 Russian Glenn Martin bombers flew into East Prussia and 7 of them were shot down by German fighter planes. In another attempted raid on military installations in the General Government of Poland close behind the front lines, all but 2 out of 35 Russian bombers were destroyed by German fighter planes.
The Wehrmacht High Command announced:-
In the east the struggles of the German army and the Luftwaffe against the Red Army are proceeding successfully according to schedule. Very weak forces of the Red Air Force dropped bombs in East Prussia without notable effect. [German ace] Lt. Col. Molders won his 72nd air victory yesterday.
U-519 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
BALTIC SEA:
Soviet destroyer Gnevny mined and sunk in Baltic.
Soviet submarine M-78 sunk by U-144 west of Widawa in Baltic Sea. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Communiqué No. 1 of the Red Army High Command stated:-
Early in the morning of June 22, the troops of the German-Fascist Wehrmacht attacked our border forces along the entire line extending from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The enemy Luftwaffe bombed a number of our airfields and villages, but everywhere it encountered energetic resistance from our fighter planes and ground defences, which inflicted heavy losses on the Hitlerite Fascists. Sixty-five German aircraft were shot down.
Moscow is attacked by 115 bombers
German attacks on the Eastern Front continue to make progress. In the north Fourth Panzergruppe has advanced almost 50 miles. The Russian defence in the south is somewhat stronger and the First Panzer Group is not making progress as well as those of the north. Luftwaffe attacks on the Red Airforce have been very effective.
The following Soviet submarines are lost:
M-78 Baltic Fleet Ventspils area (sunk by U-144)
S-1 Baltic Fleet Liepaja (scuttled at Libau)
Ronis Baltic Fleet Liepaja (scuttled at Libau)
Spidola Baltic Fleet Liepaja (scuttled at Libau)
M-71 Baltic Fleet Liepaja (scuttled at Libau)
M-80 Baltic Fleet Liepaja (scuttled at Libau)
(Mike Yared)(146 and 147)
LITHUANIA: Vilnius and Kaunas are liberated by Lithuanian freedom fighters, a declaration of the restoration of independence is broadcast on the radio. A national government will operate from June 24 to August 5 without German recognition. (Henrik Krog)
LIBYA: The Italian and German air forces bombard Tobruk.
SYRIA: The British forces from Iraq advance to Palmyra, Syria, with the Vichy garrison still holding.
RAF Blenheims of 11 Sqn. raid the Vichy French airbase at El Qusseif where French LeO 451 bombers are stationed.
2/33 Bn with strong artillery support captures Ibeles Saki, outflanking Merdjayoun. Patrols discover French withdrawn from Merdjayoun. A small Vichy French Foreign Legion force in Palmyra continues spirited resistance against attacks by four allied cavalry regiments (including the Arab Legion) and an infantry battalion. Despite numbering less than three companies, they will not surrender until 3 July, continuing the FFL’s tradition of defence against hopeless odds. On the coastal axis, Brig Stevens complains personally to Gen Wavell that he cannot get ammunition for his battalions’ 3-inch mortars. Next day 320 bombs arrive for each battalion. (Michael Alexander)
On this flank the 2/33rd had been patrolling and had discovered not only that the impetus of the enemy’s drive had been exhausted but that he was abandoning some of his gains. On the night of the 20th a patrol found that Fort Khiam was unoccupied, and on the night of the 21st that the French had abandoned Khiam village and Bmeriq. On the eve of the planned attack on Ibeles Saki, Berryman ordered that a troop of horsed cavalry be formed by the 6th Cavalry to patrol the rugged hills of the Anti-Lebanon and protect his right. It will be recalled that, on the 16th, Captain Bennett’s roving company of the 2/33rd had captured thirty-two good cavalry horses at Rachaya. In the ranks of the 6th Cavalry were many countrymen and some who had served at home in light horse regiments of the militia. From such men was formed a cavalry troop, at first of eighteen men but in a few days increased to forty, when saddles and packs arrived from Palestine; its unofficial title was the “Kelly Gang”. On the night of the 22nd, a few hours after the horses had been taken over, Lieutenant Burt (a dairy farmer in civil life) led the force to Bmeriq and patrolled the area beyond; and, in the following days, the cavalrymen, then under Lieutenant Millard, rode through the country bounded by Bmeriq, Kafr Hammam, Kafr Chebaa and Mazraat Islamiye in the tangled mountains overlooking the Merdjayoun valley from the east. (Daniel Ross)(197)
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Snowberry arrived Halifax with convoy OB.332. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: The Convoy HX-133, in the North Atlantic, begins a concentrated fight against a U-Boat wolfpack. During the next 6 days and nights, as the largest convoy to date crosses the Atlantic, the battle will rage. Ten U-boats will ultimately join the wolfpack. Initially there are 4 escorts assigned. The escort will be strengthen by nine additional escorts from other convoys. The convoy will lose five ships. As part of the loss from this battle the two merchants from other convoys must be included.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-662-june-23-1941.html
Day 662 June 23, 1941
Operation Barbarossa. German Panzers penetrate 40-50 miles into Soviet territory while Luftwaffe destroys another 1200 Soviet aircraft, mainly on the ground.
At 6.54 AM, U-144 sinks Soviet submarine M-78 in the Baltic Sea 9 miles West of Vindava, Latvia (all 15 crew lost including commander of the 4th Submarine-Division, Klt Matveev Stepan Ionovich). 3 other Soviet submarines (Ronis, Spidola and S-1) are scuttled at in the Latvian port of Libau to prevent capture by the Germans. 2 Soviet destroyers hit mines and sink (Gnevniy in the Baltic Sea off Estonian island of Hiiumaa, Bystry in the Black Sea off Sevastopol).
Also from my notes today:
Lost in the news of the German invasion of the Soviet Union there is also some news on the atomic development front. G. P. Thompson drafts a final report on the MAUD Committee's determination of the possibility of a fast neutron bomb.
But enough of that, back to the war in Russia.
L.Z. Mekhlis is appointed Chief of the Red Army's Main Political Directorate, a position of political watchdog over the Soviet officer corps.
Lieutenant-General K.D. Golubev's 10th Army tries to make a counter attack against German forces, but to no avail. Within days, the 10th Army would no longer exist.
Major-General Karpezo's 15th Mechanized Corps manages to commit only a weak forward detachment from his 10th Tank Division to attempt to counterattack Kleist’s forces.
Upon war with Germany, the Soviets quickly formed a wartime national command structure from its existing Peoples' Commissariat of Defense [Narodnyi komissariat oborony - NKO] and the Red Army General Staff [General'nyi shtab Krasnoi Armii - GshKA] by forming headquarters [Stavka] of the Main Command [ Stavka Glavnogo Komandovaniia - SGK].
A sub killing another sub was rare enough to look up.
In three patrols U-144 sank one submarine for a total of 206 tons. The Soviet submarine M-78 was torpedoed and sunk, west of Widawa in position 57°28′N 21°17′E.
Seems though it wasn't however quite rare enough for the Germans. "U-144 was sunk on 10 August 1941 in the Gulf of Finland north of Dagö, in approximate position 59°N 23° Coordinates: 59°N 23°E, by torpedoes from the Soviet submarine SC-307. All 28 men inside were killed"
M Class
I don't want to give away Cougar's secret destination, and I am not a big Lyle Lovett fan, but I always kind of liked this number.
i wonder if the germans really believed they would just be in russia “a matter of weeks” and not “make the mistake napoleon made”.
its also amazing to thin that while this is going on the Japanese are well along in the planning for pearl harbor.
PS: I guess the “Slenderator” didnt work out.
New York Times...
I wouldn't fault the times for spreading propaganda on this one. I believe Tolischus is just reporting on the attitude in Japan as he finds it. He doesn't identify who belongs to this "school of thought," but I'm sure his sources in Tokyo are understandably reluctant to be identified as giving their opinion on this explosive issue to an American reporter.
ARMY GROUP SOUTH
Army Group South was a huge organization, initially consisting of 797,000 men in occupied Poland and 175,000 men in Rumania.
On Barbarossatag von Rundstedt's command numbered 46-1/2 German and allied divisions. Manpower and material shortages throughout the Third Reich meant that units varied according to when they were created. While most of Army Group South consisted of only German units on 22June, the Eleventh Army had a11 German corps and corps with Rumanians under command.
During Barbarossa corps and armies' tables of organizations changed at a confusing rate. All of the Ostheer can be divided into two groups; a motorized elite and the vast bulk of marching and horse-drawn troops. When, after the victory in France, Hitler doubled the number of Panzer divisions he robbed the German infantry of much of its motor transport. Lessons learned in that campaign, for example the benefits of motorizing both anti-tank guns and artillery forward observers, could not be applied to Barbarossa.
The greatest burden of the fighting fell on von Rundstedt's infantrymen - the Landser. Even the bulk of the Panzer divisions' combat soldiers rode to battle in trucks but dismounted to fight. As early as 22 June it became obvious that war in the USSR would be much harder than that in Poland or France. The 111th Infantry Division noted roads rendered impassible by rain as early as 24 June, while clouds of dust rose from the bone-dry steppe a day later. One company commander wrote: "the roads and the day belonged to the Germans. But the forests and the night belonged to the Russians."
Army Group South's armored formations were concentrated in the First Panzer Group. As a "group" it did not have the engineer, artillery, signals and other support units associated with an "army". After von Kleist's Panzer group became a Panzer Army on 5 October it gained these assets. All of his Panzers were of German manufacture. The Germans hoped that newer Panzer III and IV would compensate for the smaller number of tanks in the reorganized Panzer divisions. In modern warfare artillery usually causes the most destruction. At Army Group South's lowest level infantry platoons were equipped with 50 mm and 82 mm mortars. The campaign in the west had made clear that the former were too small to be effective. Larger formations had 105mm infantry guns and 150 mm howitzers. Higher echelons fielded Nebelwerfer ("smoke projector") rocket launchers. These 150mm weapons threw an anti-personnel round over 7,600 yards. Von Rundstedt had four 280mm K5 railroad guns transferred from the English Channel. Each required two trains to move and operate and could send a 561 lb projectile up to 37.5 miles.
Flak guns were critical to von Rundstedt's success, but when the Royal Air Force stepped up attacks on Germany Hitler ordered 15,000 army Flak guns held back to guard the Reich. Anti-tank artillery ("PAK") was stretched to the limit. Gennan 37mm guns were useless against the new Soviet tank models, the 50mm gun only slightly better. Large-bore guns, normally used for indirect fire, operated against tanks over open sights. Luftwaffe Flak pieces, most notably the 88mm, were the Landser's best hope of defeating Soviet armor. Germany never adopted the infantry-support tank used by other nations and instead employed the Sturmgeschulz ("assault gun"), which was employed in the infantry support role.
Shot up Soviet transport east of Brest.
Curious German troops during first days of the war.
Wounded near city of Brest-no date given.
Photo taken inside the city of Brest-date appears to be 6/24
By the end of June, 1941, the Japanese Navy is well into planning and training for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
At the same time, Japanese diplomats are working to negotiate a solution without war against the US.
Plus the Japanese Army will advocate attacks on Russia, to support their ally Hitler's invasion.
But in July President Roosevelt will cut off oil exports to Japan, and numerous other indications of US hostility will, on November 5, persuade Japan's emperor to finally approve the Pearl Harbor operation.
Meaning that as of June 23, 1941, there may have been still time, if peace was the object, to reach terms with Japan -- Japanese terms, of course, "Co-prosperity sphere," etc.
President Roosevelt was never going to agree to such things.
His views were entirely different.
First ad I’ve seen for a room air conditioner.
Lol. Had some time to get caught up on my reading. Loved the video. Thanks.
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