U. S. DESTROYER SUNK, 44 OF 120 CREW RESCUED; GERMANS GAIN IN DRIVE SOUTHWEST OF MOSCOW (11/1/41)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 11/1/41 | Charles Hurd

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Advance on Moscow – Operations, 26 August-5 December 1941
The Mediterranean Basin
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – Major Japanese War Objectives and Planned Opening Attacks

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Billboard Top Ten for the Week of November 1, 1941

#1 - “Piano Concerto in B Flat” (“Tonight we Love”) - Freddy Martin, with Jack Fina
#2 - “Chattanooga Choo Choo” - Glenn Miller, with Tex Beneke and the Modernaires
#3 - “I Don’t Want to Set the World On Fire”” - Horace Heidt, with Larry Cotton and Donna & Her Don Juans
#4 – “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” - The Ink Spots
#5 - “Jim” - Jimmy Dorsey, with Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell
#6 – “I Don’t Want to Set the World On Fire” – Tommy Tucker, with Amy Arnell and Voices 3
#7 – “This Love of Mine” - Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra
#8 - “You Made Me Love You,” Harry James
#9 - “You and I” - Bing Crosby
#10 - “Jim” – Dinah Shore

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The index by author at the bottom of Homer’s profile is now updated through October 31, 1941. There is one line-up change to report. We haven’t heard from C. Brooks Peters since September 30. He has been reassigned or is otherwise indisposed, so beginning this month our man in Berlin will be George Axelsson. He has an interesting history, as you can see from the index.

Reuben James Hit – 2-3
Nazis Call Sinking Justified by Law – 3
47 Killed in 2 Fires in United Kingdom – 3
Tula Battle Rages – 3-4
The International Situation – 4
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the War – 5-6

Editorials – 6-7
Open War in the Atlantic
A Disappointing Campaign
The Little Red Door
Gowanus Parkway
An Unfit Nomination
Athletes of Industry
Not Two Fronts, but Four
Topics of The Times
Shadows

U.S. and Jersey City Close Pier Site Deal – 7

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/nov41/f01nov41.htm

Germans take Simferopol
Saturday, November 1, 1941 www.onwar.com

On the Eastern Front... German forces of the 11th Army capture Simferopol, in the Crimea, an important communications center and the capital of the region.

In Moscow... Stalin appoints Marshal Shaposhnikov Chief of Staff of the Soviet forces.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/01.htm

November 1st, 1941

UNITED KINGDOM:

Destroyer HMS Grenville laid down.

Submarine USS Hake laid down.

Corvettes HMS Fritillary and Coltsfoot commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY:

U-166 launched.

U-214 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

FINLAND: The last Finnish offensive commences in the Kestenga sector. The Finns encircle two Soviet regiments and destroy them. (Jack McKillop)

The interesting thing about this offensive is that it resulted from the local Finnish and German commanders’ own initiative, quite against the orders of their superiors.

Finnish forces had taken Kiestinki (Kestenga) in August 1941, but late in the month the Finnish Infantry Regiment 53 had been encircled by the Soviet forces. The regiment finally managed to break out in early September, taking heavy losses (among them regiment commander Lt. Col.

Jussi Turtola, posthumously promoted to full colonel). Finns fought together with the Germans of SS Division ‘Nord’, which performance had been less than stellar. The division was subordinated to Maj. Gen.

Hjalmar Siilasvuo’s Finnish III Army Corps (which in turn was subordinated to Gen. Falkenhorst’s German Gebirgsarmee Norwegen) — apparently the only time during the whole war when an SS division fought under non-German command. In September Hitler ordered Falkenhorst to stop attempts to advance and assume defensive stance all along his army’s front.

However, Falkenhorst and Siilasvuo both wanted to have another go. They believed that chances of cutting the Murmansk Railway at Louhi (Loukhi) were reasonably good. While Falkenhorst was held back by Führer’s orders, Siilasvuo was reined in by Finnish leadership. USA was making threatening noises about the consequences if Finland cut the Murmansk railway, and neither President Risto Ryti nor Marshal Mannerheim wanted to aggravate relations with the Western Allies. While Siilasvuo was subordinated to Germans, in practice he validated all his operational orders with Mannerheim before executing them. But now both Falkenhorst and Siilasvuo decided to attack despite their respective superiors.

Finnish Division J (Col. Väinö Palojärvi) and German SS Division ‘Nord’

(SS-Brigf. Karl-Maria Demelhuber) were to attack towards Louhi under Siilasvuo’s command. Officially the attack was disguised as a tactical operation to shorten Finnish III Army Corps’s front line. But Siilasvuo informed the Finnish GHQ about the offensive.

The operation commenced on 1 November 1941. Finnish-German forces broke into the Soviet defenses, but 88th Rifle Division (Maj. Gen. Vladimir

Solovev) fought back with skill, and Soviets sent reinforcements. After initial difficulties the attack began to make good progress and the defending Red Army forces were encircled. On 11 November Red Army launched an unsuccessful counterattack to reach their encircled comrades, but without result. However, by 15 November majority of the encircled troops managed to infiltrate to safety in small groups — claim that Finns destroyed two Soviet regiments appear to be over-optimistic.

But on 11 November Siilasvuo ordered his forces to start preparing defensive positions. Soviet resistance was stiffening, and the Finnish GHQ was worried about the heavy losses Finnish troops were taking.

President Ryti was also concerned about the political implications, and on 5 November wrote to Mannerheim, asking what was the purpose of the operation was. On the next day Mannerheim gave an order to stop Finnish offensive operations, stating that they interfered with the ongoing reorganization of the Finnish Army. Also on 11 November OKH sent a message to Falkenhorst reminding him of the orders to stay in defense and of Mannerheim’s order to stop Finnish attacks. There also were tensions between Siilasvuo and Germans. SS Division ‘Nord’ wanted to act independently of the Finns and have a larger share of the operation.

Siilasvuo wouldn’t allow that, because he had a low opinion of the SS soldiers and particularly of the quality of their officers. Siilasvuo accused the Germans of failing to reach their objectives and Germans in turn accused Siilasvuo of passivity when he stopped the offensive.

Around 18 November the Finnish-German offensive was brought to halt, and by the end of the month Soviet counterattacks had brought the front line back where it was at the beginning of November. (Mikko Härmeinen)

U.S.S.R.: The German 11th Army captures Simferopol in the Crimea.

Marshal Shaposhnikov becomes Chief of Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces.

German forces launch a major offensive aimed at Rostov-on-Don and the Caucasus, and clear up the last remnants of resistance at Simferopol, a vital communications centre in the Crimea.
JAPAN: Japanese Combined Fleet Operational Order Number 1 - the plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies is issued.

Tokyo: Joseph C Grew, the US ambassador, sends a second telegram to President Roosevelt warning that the Japanese may be planning an attack on an American target.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bunbury laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

CANADA:

Corvettes HMCS Kitchener renamed Vancouver and Fort William renamed Fredericton

Schooner HMCS Venture commissioned as guard ship Tuft’s Cove, Bedford Basin (Halifax), Nova Scotia.

U.S.A.: War Department reluctantly opens a secret language school at Crissey Field under the 4th Army at the Presidio of San Francisco, with four Nisei instructors and 60 students, 58 of which are Nisei. This was the first class of the Military Intelligence Language School. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) (Gene Hanson)

The Second Joint Training Force of the US Navy is formed. (Gordon Rottman)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt places Coast Guard under jurisdiction of Department of the Navy for duration of national emergency.

Submarine USS Drum commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-68 sank SS Bradford City. (Dave Shirlaw)

[Redleg Duke]

“The Ballad of the Reuben James”

[iowamark]

Note the shocking speech by FDR’s second Ambassador to Stalin Joseph E. Davies. His book Mission to Moscow would be made into a Stalinist propaganda film in 1943.

[iowamark]

Here is longer “Chattanooga Choo Choo” clip from “Sun Valley Serenade.” Note the young Milton Berle.

This scene begins in the practice studio with the Glenn Miller Orchestra practicing “Chattanooga Choo Choo”. The scene includes two choruses of the song, first by Tex Beneke with The Modernaires, then Dorothy Dandridge and The Nicholas Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2aj0zhXlLA

[abb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reuben_James_%28DD-245%29

[iowamark]

Milton Berle, Lynn Bari, and Glenn Miller

[magslinger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7jBbCQwJ0g

[Mr. Silverback]

The motto of the current Reuben James (an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate) is "Back With A Vengeance."

[CougarGA7]

• Arthur Compton sends draft copies of the National Academy of Sciences report to Vannevar Bush and Frank Jewett which clearly defines the possibility of creating a bomb out of U235.

• The Japanese Navy changes all their call signs for its ships and shore installations.

• The Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front has accumulated 686,000 casualties and is now fielding 2.7 million men on the front.

• Though German intelligence had the Red Army at a strength of 160 divisions and 40 brigades below 50%, in reality they were fielding 269 divisions and 65 brigades, plus the Stavka reserves totaling 2.2 million men.

  Other items for the month of November:

• Dunning and Booth have made considerable progress in developing a gaseous diffusion process by using brass barriers with the zinc etched out making the material porous. With this process they were able to enrich a considerable amount of uranium.

• "Modern war is a war of motors. The war will be won by the one who produces the most motors. The combined motor production of the USA, Britain and USSR is at least three times that of Germany" - Joseph Stalin

• By the end of November, 65,000 men defend Moscow with the bulk of that force consisting of people's militia and destroyer detachments.

• Eberhard Schöngarth introduces the Schiessbefehl which calls for the shooting of all Jews found outside the ghetto area.

• Reinhard Heydrich sends out invitations for a meeting to be held to organize "a comprehensive solution for the Jewish question". This conference was originally scheduled to be held on December 9th, 1941 at 16 Am Kleinen Wannsee but was changed on December 4th to an SD guest house at 56-58 Am Grossen Wannsee.

• Robert Shivers of the FBI discovers that there is a line from the cooks quarters in the Japanese Council General's office that is not being tapped. The Navy had been tapping all other lines for the last two years. Shivers taps this one missed phone line.

• The Army determines that the leak in the White House has been plugged and agrees to begin giving the White House Magic information again, but by this time Roosevelt is agitated with the Army to the point that he insists that the Navy be the only service that provides him with intelligence debriefings.