Posted on 05/13/2011 5:28:41 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Editorials 8-9
Nazi Number 3
Convoys: The Time Factor
Reprisal
Another Needless Strike
Bishop Manning
Nazi Censors in France
Lucky Boy
The Non-Playing Dodgers
Topics of the Times
Plea for Draft Army Rejected in Canada 9
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/may41/f13may41.htm
Bormann appointed to replace Hess
Tuesday, May 13, 1941 www.onwar.com
In Berlin... Martin Bormann is appointed to take Hess’ former position. He is given the title of party chancellor, an important step in his rise to power.
In Iraq... The exiled Mufti of Jerusalem broadcasts from Baghdad summoning all Islamic countries to join the fight against Britain.
In later years he ran a chain of gas stations out of Spandau prison.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/13.htm
May 13th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
Westminster: Homeless members of the House of Commons met today in Church House, Westminster, normally the assembly hall of the Church of England. Their own chamber is a heap of rubble. Only the scorched walls remain - the Speaker’s chair, the table and its despatch boxes all perished. A small bomb struck Big Ben, denting and blackening the clock face, but is it still chiming the hours.
The hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall (built c.1100) was saved, but the member’s lobby lost its roof.
‘Parliamentary business will not be interrupted by enemy action,” Churchill declared at Question Time in the subsitute chamber.
Other London landmarks that are casualties of the great raid include Westminster Abbey, whose lantern roof collapsed in stream of molten lead - lack of water made the Abbey firewatch powerless.
The Deanery was destroyed. Lambeth Palace, Scotland Yard, the War Office, St James’s Palace, Victoria Station, the Law Courts, Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn were damaged. At the Royal College of Surgeons, pickled bodies were rescued from the debris. Fire destroyed 250,000 books at the British Museum. the Tower of London was hit by 100 incendiaries and Tower Pier was demolished, taking a naval vessel with it.
The luckiest escape was at the London Palladium Theatre, where a parachute mine fell through the roof and dangled from the ropes of the flies above the stage until it could be safely removed and exploded. St Thomas’s and Charing Cross were among 15 hospitals hit.
London:
Churchill decrees that Hess should be treated as a prisoner of war but, “...This man ... is potentially a war criminal, and he ... may well be decalred outlaw at the close of the war...”
Destroyer HMS Lance commissioned.
Corvette HMS Clover commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY:
Martin Bormann is appointed to the position formerly held by Rudolf Hess.
The media depict Hess as a true idealist wanting to further the Fuhrer’s sincere desire for peace.
General Keital issues the following directive on behalf of the Fuhrer:
‘Persons [Russian civilians] suspected of criminal action will be brought at once before an officer. This officer will decide whether they are to be shot.
With regard to offences committed against enemy civilians by members of the Wehrmacht, prosecution is not obligatory...’
IRAQ: Baghdad: The exiled mufti of Jerusalem urges Islamic nations to rise up against Britain.
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Townsville launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
CANADA:
Patrol vessel HMCS Elk arrived Halifax from RN America and West Indies Station Bermuda.
Patrol vessel HMCS Vison returned to Halifax from operations in Trinidad. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The British motion picture “Dangerous Moonlight” is released in the U.S. Directed by Brian Desmond Horst, the film is about an American newswoman who falls in love with a Polish concert pianist serving as an RAF fighter pilot. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Armed merchant cruiser HMS Salopian on passage to Halifax after escorting convoy SC30 is torpedoed a total of six times by U-98 at 56 43N, 38 57E. She remains afloat for over three hours after the first hit. Eventually she goes down southeast of Cape Farewell, the southern tip of Greenland. There are 278 survivors. The explosion also damages the submarine. (Alex Gordon)(108)
At 0748, the Benvrackie, dispersed from Convoy OB-312, was torpedoed and sunk by U-105 about 700 miles SW of Freetown. On 9 May, the ship had picked up 25 survivors from the Lassell, which had been sunk by U-107 on 30 April. 13 crewmembers and 15 survivors were lost. The master, 40 crewmembers, four gunners and ten survivors were rescued after 13 days in lifeboats by HMHS Oxfordshire and landed at Freetown. The master, William Edward Rawlings Eyton-Jones, was awarded the Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea.
SS Sombersby sunk by U-111 at 60.39N, 26.13W in Convoy SC-30. (Dave Shirlaw)
lol....
I remember all of the conspiracy theories in mid 80s that the person in Spandau Prison was not the real Hess. I think 60 minutes even ran a story on that. I cannot remember but I thought Aleister Crowley was going to meet with up him at some point at the request of Ian Fleming.
Hess’ solo-flight to Britain was one of the more interesting little episodes of the 20th century. Lots of gaps. You can paint it any which way.
OBUMMER, DESERTING HOLDER, FLIES TO IRELAND; TRUMP REPORTS HIM MISSING AND INSANE (5/23/11)
Always thought Hess got a bad deal; he spent years in prison but it took courage to flee Germany as he did...
Thanks for today’s lesson! I did not know all these details, only knew Hess was tried and sent to Spandau where he died.
For once, it was true: “This Fokker was in a Messerschmidt...”
(actually this is a fascinating read on a major event of the War)
Read the editorial “REPRISAL” — replace “Nazi” with “Muslim” and it could have been written yesterday (except such an editorial would never be published in today’s NYT).
Also in today’s news:
Hitler released the Barbarossa Directive (Document No. 97) which calls for the army to execute all civilians who ‘attack’ German soldiers. This order includes those who commit acts like distributing leaflets or refusing to follow German orders.
This order sets the stage for some of the more violent acts against the Soviet civilians committed by the Wehrmacht.
The order was also used to condemn Sophie Scholl and the other members of The White Rose.
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