Baltic States

Following resolutions of the Communist-dominated parliaments in each of the Baltic states, the Soviet Union formally annexes all 3 states and they become autonomous republics of the USSR.

Battle of Britain

Day 12

Weather - Fine during early morning. Cloudy late morning and afternoon, but clearing later with the chance of thunderstorms.

Combat - This Sunday is quiet with only a few reconnaissance raids reported early on. About 1030hrs, Hurricanes of No: 238 Squadron intercept and shoot down a Me-110 near Goodwood. The same Red Section of Hurricanes also shoot down a Do-17 over Dorset at about 1430hrs. At the same time, Hurricanes of No: 43 Squadron, along with another section of No: 238 Squadron, are in action against a large raid on a convoy south of the Isle of Wight by Do-17's of KG3 with Me-109 and Me-110 escorts. Me-110's from LG1 are used as fighter-bombers for the first time.

Later in the afternoon, the weather closes in as storms develop across the south of England. Enemy activity subsides until during the night when raids dropping mines are reported in the Plymouth area and the Thames Estuary. Bombs are dropped near Derby, Tyneside and Driffield.

R.A.F. Losses: 4 aircraft damaged or destroyed with 1 pilot killed.

Luftwaffe Losses: 14 aircraft damaged or destroyed, 18 pilots and aircrew killed or missing and 6 wounded.

NOTE: Losses include non-combat patrols and accidents.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-30 sinks the British steamer Ellaroy (712t) 180 miles west of Cape Finisterre. The 16 crewmen are rescued by the Spanish trawler Feliz Montenegro.
• The British steamer Terlings (2318t) is sunk by German bombing 10 miles southwest of St Catherine's Point with the loss of 10 of her crew. The British destroyer Scimitar rescues 18 of the crew.

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Diplomatic Relations

Rumania cedes the southern Dobrudja area to Bulgaria.

Germany, Planning

In an OKH conference Hitler again says that Germany must prepare to attack the Soviet Union. Although the generals would prefer to deal with Britain first, they raise no objections. Later in the month Jodl tells an OKW planning section that Germany will attack in the east in the spring of 1941 and that planning for the movement of the armed forces to Eastern Europe should be begun.

Gen Franz Halder, Chief of the Army General Staff, begins to study the problems of an offensive against the Soviet Union. He favors a simple, direct attack: an assault concentrated on narrow fronts and launched from assembly areas in East Prussia and northern Poland toward Moscow. After destroying the Soviet armies defending Moscow and seizing the city, the attacking German field armies would destroy Soviet formations trapped in the Ukraine. The stalemate with Britain has brought the problem of the USSR to the forefront of the Führer's mind. He believes an attack against the Soviet Union will remove the last barrier to German hegemony on the continent and will secure the Lebensraum for which the war is being fought.