80 Years Ago—Nov. 20, 1941: Japanese negotiators in Washington, DC, present their final proposal—they will withdraw from Indochina in exchange for a free hand in China and relaxed trade restrictions with US. Norwegian government-in-exile in London endorses the Norwegian resistance group Milorg. Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published. The United… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Nov. 19, 1941: West of Australia, German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sinks Australian light cruiser Sydney (all 643 killed); Kormoran also sinks (85 killed). In a North Atlantic convoy, destroyer USS Leary makes the first radar contact on a hostile ship by a US warship, leading to a depth-charge attack on a German U-boat.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 18, 1941: Operation Crusader begins as British launch offensive to relieve Tobruk, Libya. Gen. Sir Alan Brooke replaces Field Marshal John Dill as British Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 17, 1941: British commandos raid German Gen. Erwin Rommel’s headquarters near Tobruk, Libya, but Rommel is away; only two commandos escape. Japanese envoy Saburo Kurusu meets with US Secretary of State Cordell Hull in Washington, DC. Gen. Ernst Udet, German Director of Air Armament, commits suicide, the second-highest WWI ace after the… Read more »
80 Years Ago—Nov. 16, 1941: Germans take Kerch, Ukraine, securing the Crimea except for Sevastopol.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 15, 1941: Germans resume offensive on Moscow in -20 degree Celsius temperatures. First Grand National Rodeo is held in the new Cow Palace in San Francisco.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 14, 1941: US orders withdrawal of American gunboats and Marines from China to the Philippines. Movie premiere of Hitchcock’s Suspicion, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, who will win the Oscar for best actress.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 13, 1941: Hitler orders German Navy to refrain from attacking US ships except in self-defense. Near Gibraltar, German U-boat U-81 damages British carrier HMS Ark Royal, which sinks the next day (1 killed, 70 planes lost).
80 Years Ago—Nov. 12, 1941: FBI arrests 15 Japanese-American businessmen and community leaders in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Vichy French commander in chief of land forces, Gen. Charles Huntziger, dies in a plane crash in France.
80 Years Ago—Nov. 11, 1941: US Lend-Lease aid is expanded to include the Free French based in Britain. Manuel Quezon is elected to a second term as President of the Philippines. Australian War Memorial opens in Canberra.
