August 12th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The Canadian Hall Corporation merchantman Eaglescliffe Hall (1,900 GRT) was damaged by bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft in the North Sea, off Sunderland. There is no record of casualties in this incident.
Minesweeper HMS Shippigan launched.
Destroyers HMS Airedale and Tetcott launched.
VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Petain, responding to what he called an "evil wind" of
discontent, has introduced what is, in effect, a fascist constitution for France. All
political activity has been suspended, and political meetings are banned.
The powers of the police and of the departmental prefects have been increased, and a
council for political justice will be set up to punish those responsible for the collapse
of France last year. Commissioners will be appointed to root out secret societies and
action will be taken immediately against Freemasons in particular. All ministers and high
officials will be required to take an oath of allegiance to Marshal Petain.
The marshal acknowledged that his "national revolution" was proving more
difficult than he had expected, and that the collaboration "offered with great
courtesy" by Hitler was slow. Minds were falling prey to anxiety, he conceded; he
even admitted that this unease was in part caused by "insidious propaganda", an
apparent admission of the widespread popularity of the BBC news broadcasts from London.
In effect, the Marshal proposes to replace "Petainism by persuasion" with
"Petainism by discipline," thus imposing on the French people a conservative
revolution which they have refused to adopt of their own free will.
GERMANY:
In one of the biggest daylight raids on the war Cologne has been hit by 54 Blenheims and
four US made Flying Fortresses, setting fire to two power stations. Thirteen planes were
lost.
The attack follows a bombing directive by Air Vice-Marshal Norman Bottomley, the deputy
chief of the air staff, claiming that strikes on industrial towns undermine civilian
morale. Last month he wrote: "Destroy the morale of the civilian population as a
whole and the industrial workers in particular."
The air ministry says that the raiders had a fighter escort to Antwerp. Then "the
bombers went on alone, ..., on their 150 mile penetration of the German air defence
system. The power stations were attacked at point blank range."
Last night 24 Wellington bombers attacked a railway target at Monchen-Gladbach, on the
edge of the Ruhr. All the bombers returned safely. Although cloud covered the target, the
raid was noteworthy in that two aircraft, from 115 Squadron, were equipped with a new
navigation device codenamed "Gee".
Until now British bombers have had to reckon on dead reckoning and astro-navigation to
find their way to targets by night. The result has been that up to 90 per cent of bombs
have missed their target. Robert Dippy, a scientist working at the Telecommunications
Research Establishment (TRE) at Worth Matravers in Dorset, has produced a radio navigation
system known as TR 1335. This is based on three radio transmitters, situated on a 200 mile
baseline, sending signals to the aircraft. These are observed by the navigator on a
cathode-ray tube and can tell him his position to within a mile.
The initial results are very encouraging. The only drawback are that the system is
line-of-sight and limited to a range of 400 miles, and that it can be jammed. As yet there
are only 12 sets available, and it is planned to carry out further operational trials with
these this month before TR 1335 is cleared for production.
U-657 is launched.
Berlin: The Finnish Ambassador in
Berlin, T. M. Kivimäki informs the German Foreign Ministry that Finland doesn't think it
necessary to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, because 'the Finnish attitude towards communism
is already clear'.
ROMANIA: All Jews are forced to register for forced labour.
U.S.S.R.: In a supplement to his war directive no. 34, Hitler
orders increased efforts by Army Group North to capture Leningrad and a new offensive
by Army Group South to take
Kharkov, the Donets Industrial Basin and the Crimea, suspending military activity
by Army Group Centre in the central front
around Moscow. Instead it is to aid the other Army Groups.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Apprentice John Sedgwick
Gregson (b. 1924) helped free a gunner on the sinking MV DEUCALIAN, then swam
600 yards with the helpless man to another ship. He is later awarded the Albert
Medal.
TURKEY: Ankara: Britain and Russia have assured neutral
Turkey that they will come to its aid in the event of an attack by any European power. In
identically-worded statements presented to the Turkish foreign office by their
ambassadors, the two Allies have also pledged themselves to "respect the territorial
integrity of the Turkish Republic."
The statements are seen as counters to German propaganda claiming that Russia would take
advantage of Turkey and invade should the latter enter the war.
AUSTRALIA: Corvette HMAS Meadowsweet laid down.
CANADA: Japanese Canadians are required to carry registration cards that have their thumbprint and photo.
Fairmile "B" patrol craft ordered in Canada - USS SC 1466 (ex HM ML 392), USS SC 1467 (ex HM ML 393), USS SC 1468 (ex HM ML 394), USS SC 1469 (ex HM ML 395), USS SC 1470 (ex HM ML 396), USS SC 1471 (ex HM ML 397), USS SC 1472 (ex HM ML 398), USS SC 1473 (ex HM ML 399).
NEWFOUNDLAND: The final conference between US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Placentia Bay, Argentia, Newfoundland, is held in the US heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31). The two men have discussed the needs of the British for support, a joint strategy and the political character of the post-war world. At the end, The Atlantic Charter, which outlines goals in the war against Germany and emphasizes the principles of freedom, self-determination, peace and co-operation, is issued. After the last meeting, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and her escort depart Newfoundland for England while USS Augusta, with USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and 5 destroyers, sail fro Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where the presidential yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) and her tender, USS Calypso (AG-35), are anchored.
U.S.A.: The manoeuvres held at New River, North Carolina, since 3 August involving the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 1st Division, end.
US Navy Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 is commissioned and sent to the Philippines.
Two motion pictures are released:
1. "Dive Bomber," a drama directed by Michael Curtiz, stars Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Belamy, Alexis Smith, Regis Toomey and Craig Stevens; Alan Hale, Jr., George Meeker and Gig Young appear in uncredited roles. The plot involves Navy flight surgeons attempting to solve the problem of blackouts experienced by dive bomber pilots but of course, the real stars are the Navy aircraft in their pre-war markings. The film is nominated for one technical Academy Award.
2. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," a horror drama based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," is directed by Victor Fleming and stars Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp and Barton MacLane; Hillary Brooke appears in an uncredited role. The plot involves the good Dr. Jekyll and his other half, the evil Mr. Hyde. The film is nominated for three technical Academy Awards.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: During the night
of 11/12 August, the British Flower class corvette
HMS Picotee (K 63) is
sunk about 206 nautical miles (382 kilometres) southeast of Reykjavik, Iceland,
(62.00N, 16.01W) after being hit by with one torpedo from
U-568. The corvette
was escorting slow convoy ON(S)-4 from the U.K. to North America. Picotee sinks
almost immediately and there are no survivors. (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)(108)