Arctic

Over the next few weeks there are various British naval operations. The population of Spitsbergen is evacuated and the Norwegians are taken to Britain and the Soviets to the USSR. The first small supply convoy is sent from Iceland to the Soviet Union. Its code name is Dervish and leaves Reykjavik with 7 ships. They arrive in Archangel on August 31. The carrier Argus also brings a cargo of Hurricanes to the Soviet Union, complete with RAF pilots who will fly them in combat for the first few weeks.

Churchill in Iceland

The Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, being greeted by local people in Iceland after visiting the Regent in Reykjavik. With him is the British Minister, Sir Howard Smith, and behind him is Ensign Franklin D Roosevelt Junior, the son of the American President. Churchill visited Iceland in mid-August 1941, en route to England, following his Atlantic Conference with President Roosevelt.

Baltic Sea

The Soviet hospital ship Sibir (3767t) is sunk by German bombing in the Gulf of Finland. About 400 passengers are lost on the ship.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-204 sinks the Norwegian destroyer Bath traveling behind Convoy OG-71 southwest of Ireland. 81 on board the destroyer are lost. 39 survivors are picked up by the British corvette Hydrangea and 4 by the British destroyer Wanderer.
• U-559 sinks the British steamer Alva (1584t) of Convoy OG-71 600 miles west of Ushant with the loss of 1 crewman. 13 survivors are picked up by the Irish steamer Clonlara, 11 more by the British steam tug Empire Oak.
• U-201 sinks the British steamers Ciscar (1809t) and Aguila (3255t), both from the same Convoy OG-71, west-southwest of Fastnet Rock. Ciscar loses 13 crew members, 35 survivors are picked up by the British steamer Petrel. The Aguila loses 152 on board, 16 survivors are picked up by the British corvette Wallflower and the British steam tug Empire Oak.
• The Italian submarine Tazzoli sinks the Norwegian tanker Sildra west of Monrovia. The entire crew are rescued.

Eastern Front

The XXVI Corps opens the final assault upon Tallinn, artillery fire opening the battle. Heavy fighting erupts at Harku. North of Lake Ilmen, the I Corps makes progress at Novgorod, forcing 48th Army out of the city with serious losses.

Following his redeployment onto the flank of the X Corps, Manstein unleashes a ferocious attack against the 34th Army. Slicing through the thinly held Soviet flank, the 3rd Motorized and the SS Totenkopf divisions inflict heavy casualties as they push across the rear of those units fighting the X Corps. Simultaneously, the X Corps counterattacks and pins the 34th kArmy frontally, the entire attack taking the Soviets completely by surprise.

Elements of the 2nd Army fight their way into Gomel, while the XXIV Panzer Corps pushes south toward Starodub, into the rear of the 21st Army. The movement south compels Guderian to commit the XLVII Panzer Corps to protect the increasingly exposed eastern flank. The XLVII is immeadiately brought under sustained attack at Pochep. The attacks of the 2nd Army and the 2nd Panzer Group has successfully forced apart the Central and Southwest Fronts, severing the 21st Army from the Central Front. Bitter fighting rages at Unecha where the 13th Army is fighting isolation.

Potapov pulls out of positions in the Korosten sector. Reichenau's 6th Army spots the Soviet withdrawal and launches an immediate attack, inflicting heavy casualties upon the rear of the 5th Army.

The XIV Panzer Corps is involved in heavy fighting at Dnepropetrovsk, while other units of the corps reach Zaporozhe. Despite efforts to rush the Soviet defenses, the Germans are unable to capture the hydroelectric dams spanning the river. Fierce battles ensue as the Germans fight to gain a bridgehead on the eastern bank.

The Stavka alter its defensive plans in the Kiev region. Kirponos is ordered to pull the 5th Army back across the Dniepr, while Vlassov holds its strong bridgehead on the west bank at Kiev. To protect the weak right wing, Podlas' 40th Army is formed to fortify and hold the Desna near Novgorod Seversky, forming a link between the 21st and 13th Armies. Tyulenev is ordered back across the Dniepr.

German Raiders

The British steamer Devon (9036t) is sunk by the German raider Komet about 200 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands. The entire crew are rescued and made prisoners of war.