Posted on 11/12/2010 4:41:06 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/nov40/f12nov40.htm
Molotov visits Berlin
Tuesday, November 12, 1940 www.onwar.com
From Berlin... The Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Molotov arrives in Berlin discussions with the German leadership. Although talks are being conducted with the Soviets, German planning for the attack on the Soviet Union continues as are the preparations for the attack, code named Marita, on Greece, and Felix, the advance through Spain to Gibraltar. Hitler issues Directive 18.
In Batavia... Agreements are concluded (today and tomorrow) between the Japanese and the principal oil companies whereby the Japanese are to receive 1,800,000 tons of oil annually from the Dutch East Indies.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/12.htm
November 12th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: While piloting a Whitley V (P 5005) of 102 Sqn. in a night raid on Cologne, Leonard Cheshire displays such gallantry that he is awarded an immediate D.S.O.
ASW trawler HMS Rumba commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Berlin: Molotov arrives in Berlin. He has a two and-a-half hour conversation with von Ribbentrop. He expounds yet again on the imminent collapse of England. But this collapse may need to be accelerated by invasion.
After lunch Molotov met with Hitler. The Fuhrer said that he had reached several conclusions:
1. Germany was not seeking to obtain military aid from Russia.
2. Because of the tremendous extension of the war, Germany had been forced, in order to oppose England, to penetrate into territories remote from her and in which she was not basically interested politically or economically.
3. There were nevertheless certain requirements, the full importance of which had only become apparent during the war, but which were vital to Germany. Among them were certain sources of raw materials.
Molotov for his part gives a non-committal assent but enquires about the Tripartite Pact. What is the meaning of the New Order in Europe and the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and where does the USSR fit in it? Issues regarding Russia’s Balkan and Black Sea interests must be clarified.
Meanwhile Hitler issues his 18th war directive, ordering political measures to bring Spain into the war and death by slow strangulation for Britain.
The meeting disturbs the Turks who are confident that the stage has been reached when she will be obliged to join the Axis or remain a non-belligerent ally of Britain.
U-91 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ITALY: The Italian High Command announced:
Last night enemy aircraft raided the Italian naval port of Taranto. The anti-aircraft artillery in the harbour and on the ships anchored there, emitted strong defensive fire. Only one shipping unit was severely hit. Six enemy aircraft were shot down and a portion of their crews taken prisoner. We can count on 3 more machines being lost [later from damage].
In fact, three battleships were sunk at their berths (two of the three were raised, repaired, and back in action within six months).
British losses were two planes shot down (two aircrew taken prisoner when one Swordfish splashed down safely in the harbor) and two damaged by Italian fire, which was impressive in volume but obviously less so in accuracy. (Mike Yaklich)
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Quesnel launched.
Corvette HMS Hepatica commissioned with Canadian crew Quebec City, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Stark drafts a memo to Knox advocating “Plan Dog”, a defensive posture in the Pacific and a full-court press in the Atlantic. This was shared with the Army, the White House, and the British. (Marc Small)
Submarine USS Greenling laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
After declassification it was shared with the world.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 439 November 12, 1940
Operation Judgement. The 3 undamaged Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto, Andrea Doria and Giulio Cesare and most of the cruisers depart Taranto for the safety of Naples further North. The British bombers plan to return to Taranto and follow up yesterday’s attack but Admiral Cunningham cancels the raid at 6 PM due to bad weather. Consequently, damage to the Italian fleet is not as decisive as hoped. Battleships Littorio and Caio Duilio will be repaired and returned to service by Spring 1941 and only Conte di Cavour is unsalvageable. For a full analysis
Worried by the speedy German victory over France plus German moves into Romania and Finland, Stalin guesses (correctly) that Germany plans to invade USSR. At 11.05 AM, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrives in Berlin to probe German intentions and to assert Soviet interests in the Balkans and the Dardanelles. He meets with German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop and, after lunch, with Hitler. They both assure Molotov that the war against Britain is going smoothly and that Germany has no interests in Soviet territory. As a distraction, they encourage USSR to invade Iran to gain access to the Persian Gulf and, thus, the Indian Ocean.
The last Vichy forces in Gabon surrender at Port Gentil on the coast 70 miles South of Libreville. Former Vichy Governor of Gabon, Georges Pierre Masson, helps negotiate the surrender and then commits suicide fearing the consequences of his own indecision. On August 29, Masson had publicly declared loyalty to DeGaulle’s Free French, only to switch back immediately to Vichy under pressure from the Naval commander at Libreville.
This has got to be one of the coolest threads ever. Thanks!
Ditto that.
Sometime this week Molotov was forced to hide in a bunker from British bombers, subtly undermining Hitler’s insistence that the war was already won.
GREAT STUFF
One of the focal points of this first letter from Stark to Admiral Richardson concerns the status of the war plan RAINBOW III. Those familiar with the war plans know that RAINBOW V was the plan that was in effect at the time the U.S. entered the war, but at this time it was still up in the air as to which of the plans would be the primary plan moving forward. In fact, at first there were only a request for 4 RAINBOW plans based on the expected scenarios and it was only after the Navy suggested the possibility of a “Pacific First” conflict with the assumption that Britain and France (at the time) would completely control things in the Atlantic that the 5th plan was put on the table (numbered 2 moving 2 through 4 to 3 through 5). RAINBOW III was the plan to control the western Pacific as fast as possible for the defense of North America.
The second one I find a bit humorous. It takes a couple jabs at the British and in an off handed way accuses them of intentionally trying to pull the U.S. into the war. Not to say that this in fact is not true. Churchill went so far as to tell his son Randolph only 8 days after becoming Prime Minister that drawing the U.S. in was how he could defeat the Nazis. Further in this letter from Stark to Admiral Hart, who is in charge of the Asiatic Fleet, is some insight on what the Navy leadership thinks will happen in the western Pacific in the event of war with Japan.
The name “Molotov cocktail” is derived from Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, who was the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars (i.e. Soviet Prime Minister) and the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union during World War II. The soldiers of the Finnish Army successfully used Molotov cocktails against Red Army tanks in the two conflicts (Winter War and Continuation War) between Finland and the Soviet Union, and coined the term to mock Molotov. Molotov cocktails were even mass-produced by the Finnish military, bundled with matches to light them. They had already been used in the Spanish Civil War, sometimes propelled by a sling.
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