FLEEING ITALIANS FIRE BASES (12/6/40)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 12/6/40 | C.L. Sulzberger, Hanson W. Baldwin

[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
Marcks’ Plan, August 5, 1940
The Mediterranean Basin (Map 33)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/dec40/f06dec40.htm

Italian commander in chief replaced

Friday, December 6, 1940 www.onwar.com

From Rome... Marshal Badoglio resigns his post as Italian Commander in Chief. His successor is General Count Cavallero.

In the Balkans... The Greek advance north along the coast continues to go well. Sarande is taken.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/06.htm

December 6th, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM: The War Cabinet refuses to allow relief measures in Metropolitan France.
The Canadian Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Shipping Co. merchantman Watkins F Nisbet (1,747 GRT) ran aground and was wrecked in the Bristol Channel. She was later salvaged and her engines were used in the construction of a new ship. The remainder of the hulk was scrapped. There is no record of casualties in this incident. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: U-166 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

AUSTRIA: One of the thousands of victims of the Nazi programme of killing the mentally ill known only as Aloisia V (aged 49), was gassed today. She was a relative of Adolf Hitler. (Julian Gomez)

ITALY: Marshal Pietro Badoglio resigns (although it is rumoured that Mussolini forced him) as Chief of the Italian General Staff - a post he has held since 1925. He is succeeded by Ugo Cavallero.

ALBANIA: Greek forces occupy Sarande on the Adriatic, pushing north along the coast.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The submarine HMS Regulus is sunk. Believed lost in the Straits of Otranto with all 53 of her crew. It is presumed that she must have been mined or suffered an accident after leaving Alexandria. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Submarine HMS Triton is lost in the lower Adriatic with all 62 crew. Her loss remains a mystery but it is believed that she might have been mined or suffered an accident. Her last action took place when she successfully attacked and sank the freighter Olimpia on this date. (Alex Gordon)(108)

NORTH AFRICA:
Operation Compass:
25,000 British and Commonwealth troops advance more than 40 miles into the Italian occupied desert, before hiding themselves and their equipment from the Italian Air Force.

FAR EAST: Japan and Thailand sign a treaty of friendship.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Bathurst commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

PACIFIC OCEAN: German auxiliary cruisers KM Komet and KM Orion sink the merchantman Triona. (Mark Horan)

CANADA: Corvette HMS Spikenard commissioned Quebec City, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMS Windflower departed Halifax with Convoy HX-94 to UK. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Flying Fish laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-43 sank SS Skrim. (Dave Shirlaw)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 463 December 6, 1940

Since September, 80,000 Italian troops have fortified a line of 7 camps to protect their forward supply line at the port of Sidi Barrani (running Southwest from Maktila on the Egyptian coast). However, British forces in Egypt have received Matilda tanks and Hurricanes fighters sent at Churchill’s request from England. Middle East Commander-in-Chief General Wavell plans a 5 day raid (Operation Compass) through a 15 mile gap in the Italian camps between Nibeiwa on the coastal plain and Sofafi on the escarpment inland. British 7th Armoured Division, British 16th Infantry Brigade and Indian 4th Infantry Division (Western Desert Force under General Richard O’Connor) leave Mersa Matruh at 7 AM, traveling all day and night to cover half the 70 miles to the Italian camps.

British submarines are active in the busy Straits of Otranto between Italy and Greece. HMS Regulus hits a mine and sinks (all 55 hands lost). 40 miles off Brindisi, HMS Triton damages Italian steamer Olimpia and is counterattacked by Italian torpedo boats Altair and Andromeda without damage.

German armed merchant cruisers Komet and Orion intend to raid phosphate mining operations and drop prisoners on the Allied-run island of Nauru in the South Pacific (a German colony until WWI). 200 miles South of Nauru, they stop phosphate freighter Triona with shellfire (3 crew killed). 54 crew, 6 women passengers and 1 child are taken prisoner before Orion torpedoes Triona.

At 10.48 PM 400 miles West of Ireland, U-43 sinks Norwegian SS Skrim (all 23 hands lost).

Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Bristol again. In the last 4 days, 256 people have been killed and 229 injured.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Greeks at Cities – 2-3
Italy’s Farm Output Not up to Nazi Speed – 3
The International Situation – 3
Belgium’s Damage at a Huge Figure – 3
Nazis Envisage Chattel Slavery for People of Conquered Nations – 4-5
Roosevelt to Ask Fund be Replaced – 5
Knox Flies to Canal on Caribbean Tour – 5
The Amazing Greeks – 5
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 6-7

[GeronL]

The Secretary of Commerce Jones wanting subsidized loans sounds like Willie Green, heh.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I gotta believe tomorrow’s paper is going to get a lot of attention.

[BroJoeK]

"The Amazing Greeks – 5"

Interesting -- that Mussolini is having as much trouble in Greece as Stalin did in Finland.