1880: Ludwig Beck, ‘moderate’ Fascist, was born.
1895: Hartwig von Ludwiger, Axis major‐general, existed.
1934: Adolf Schicklgruber visited NSDAP camps in Westphalia, and Generalleutnant Ewald von Kleis flew to Berlin to warn General Werner von Fritsch of the impending violence between the NSDAP’s SS and SA organizations. When Fritsch informed Walther von Reichenau at the Defence Ministry the latter simply replied that it was ‘too late now.’
1935: The Third Reich commissioned its first submarine, U‐1, into service under Klaus Ewerth’s command.
1936: Cruiser Köln completed operations off Spain as Nachi completed her first reconstruction at Sasebo Naval Arsenal and the Kriegsmarine laid down the keel of torpedo boat T10 at the F. Schichau yard in Elbing.
1937: Kamoi began a period of maneuvres.
1938: Imperial repair ship Akashi launched.
1939: Berlin suddenly ordered a pause to Soviet–German trade talks for uncertain reasons.
1940: Fascist submarine U‐99 experienced friendly fire again! Upon leaving Wilhelmshaven, Fascist aircraft assaulted her with three bombs. She dove under the surface to avoid them, but sustained minor damage when she hit the sea floor. Fascist submarine U‐47 torpedoed and sank British ship Empire Toucan southwest of Ireland, which broke in half; three died but thirty‐one lived. (Destroyer HMS Hurricane scuttled the aft portion of the ship which remained afloat.) Likewise, Fascist submarine U‐51 sank British decoy ship HMS Edgehill with three torpedoes southwest of Ireland, and U‐26 sank Greek steamer Frangoula B. Goulandris southwest of Ireland, massacring six folk but leaving thirty‐two alive. Chancellor Schicklgruber arrived at his headquarters at Tannenberg in southern Germany.
1941: The Axis conducted a pogrom against Jews in the town of Jassy, exterminating ten thousand… sigh… additionally, the 20.Gebirgsarmee began advancing on Murmansk in northern Russia, and Axis bombers attacked Chongqing, China; among the property damaged were the British Embassy in the city and American gunboat USS Tutuila at Lungmenhao lagoon. Alessandro Malaspina was ordered by her base to patrol a new area in the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, ex‐President Herbert Hoover warned against aiding the Soviet Union. ‘If we go further and join the war and we win, then we have won for Stalin the grip of communism on Russia… [I]f we join the war and Stalin wins, we have aided him to impose more communism on Europe and the world.’
1942: Troops of Wehrmacht’s 16th Infantry Regiment and 65th Infantry Regiment crossed Severnaya Bay north of Sevastopol in one hundred thirty rubber boats, landing behind Soviet defenses at 0100 hours, establishing a bridgehead. Axis submarine U‐67 sank British tanker Empire Mica southwest of Cape St. George, Florida at 0750 hours, leaving thirty‐three dead but fourteen alive. The Axis’s 90th Light Division reached Sidi Abdel Rahman, and Benito Mussolini flew to Libya, with his white horse, coincidentally to prepare for a victory parade through Cairo. Manchukuo transferred destroyer Haiwei to the Empire of Japan. The ship became reclassified as an auxiliary escort and was renamed Kari. Lastly, the Axis’s 4th Panzer Army threatened to surround the Soviet 40th Army as the Axis advanced toward Voronezh in southern Russia.