http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/28.htm
January 28th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: In the House of Commons tonight, Herbert Morrison, the Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security, was given the overwhelming backing of MPs for his decision to shut down the Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain, because its anti-war stance was subversive and calculated to help the enemy.
Morrison, whose war responsibilities include censorship and the detention of potential enemies of the state, said the paper had conducted a sustained campaign of vilification, telling people that they were being killed and injured in enemy air-raids because the government wanted to make big profits for capitalists and imperialists. It was “cruel and cynical, sheer snivelling hypocrisy” to preach defeatism to people who were enduring great hardship.
Aneurin Bevan, the left-wing Labour MP, said that although he detested the Daily Worker’s propaganda, he believed the ban did a disservice to the cause of freedom. Despite his plea, MPs voted 297 to 11 to back the Home Secretary.
Corvettes HMS Mignonette and Myosotis launched.
Submarine HMS P-33 launched.
Destroyer HMS Pakenham launched.
Submarine HMS Urchin commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Hitler orders that the entry into Bulgaria must be delayed until the last possible moment.
U-411 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ITALY: The British submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines off the Adriatic coastal port of Ancona. (Jack McKillop)
LIBYA: Bad going, heavy rain, numerous mechanical breakdowns and a shortage of petrol have brought the advancing troops of O’Connor’s force to a halt, allowing the Italians under General Babini to escape from Mechili.
ALASKA: A survey of the eight proposed radar sites in Alaska determines that only three are acceptable and additional surveys are required for the other five. Continuing an effort to increase the defence of the territory, U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson approves the establishment of 12 radar stations. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA:
Minesweeper HMCS Courtenay laid down Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Minesweeper HMCS Georgian launched Toronto, Ontario. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sight the British cruiser Naiad in the Iceland-Faroe strait and turn around. (Navy News)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 516 January 28, 1941
At 6.49 AM, British cruiser HMS Naiad (part of Admiral Tovey’s task force searching for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau) spots the German warships in the Iceland-Faroes passage, heading for the Atlantic. Under strict orders not to engage superior British forces, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau turn around to go North of Iceland through the Denmark Strait.
Operation Compass. Italian artillery on top of Wadi Derna keep Australian 6th Division pinned down outside the coastal town of Derna, 100 miles Northwest of Tobruk.
250 miles West of Ireland, Italian submarine Luigi Torelli sinks British SS Urla (all 42 crew rescued). In the same area, British corvette HMS Bluebell and destroyer HMS Westcott collide (HMS Bluebell under repair at Liverpool until March 4).
Off Cape Bon, Tunisia, British submarine HMS Upholder damages German steamer Duisberg, which is towed into Tripoli and repaired. Italian torpedo boat Orione, carrying survivors from steamer Ingo, stands by.