U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt announced anembargo on the export of oil and aviation fuel to anywhere outside the Western Hemisphere with the exception of the British Empire. This action was aimed at Japan.[1]
The German Catholic BishopClemens August Graf von Galen gave a sermon condemning the Nazi practice of euthanasia. Thousands of copies of the sermon were distributed throughout Germany, breaking the secrecy that surrounded the euthanasia programme known asAktion T4.[6][7]
German submarineU-401 was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by depth charges from Allied warships.
Adolf Hitler met withFedor von Bock,Heinz Guderian andHermann Hoth. All three generals agreed that a drive onMoscow should be top priority and could commence as early as August 20, but Hitler favoured other objectives such as the elimination of enemy pockets.[9]
In the British House of Commons, British Foreign SecretaryAnthony Eden warned Japan that any action threatening the independence and integrity ofThailand would be "of immediate concern" to the British government.[11] U.S. Secretary of StateCordell Hull mirrored those statements that same day when he said at a press conference that any move by Japan into Thailand would be a matter of concern to the United States.[12]
Winston Churchill arrived at Placentia Bay aboard the battleshipHMS Prince of Wales and ferried over to Roosevelt's ship for their first meeting.[19]
British fighter aceDouglas Bader was forced to bail out of his damagedSpitfire Mk VA over northern France in controversial circumstances and was captured. Some accounts have his plane being involved in a mid-air collision with aBf 109, but it is also possible he was shot down or was a victim of friendly fire.[20]
Charles Lindbergh made a speech inCleveland in which he accused American interventionists of plotting to create "incidents and situations" that would plunge the United States into war "under the guise of defending America."[21]
The Soviet patrol boatTuman was sunk by shellfire off theKola Peninsula by German destroyers.
President Roosevelt and his representatives came aboard thePrince of Wales for a Sunday prayer service with Churchill, who later recalled the event as "a deeply moving expression of the unity of faith of our two peoples." Churchill selected the hymns himself, ending with "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past".[22]
A famouspin-up photo ofRita Hayworth appeared in this week's issue ofLife magazine, showing Hayworth perched on her bed wearing anegligee. The iconic picture was the second-most popular among US servicemen during World War II. OnlyBetty Grable's over-the-shoulder photo from 1943 was bigger.[23]
Vichy French Vice-PremierFrançois Darlan was made theMinister of Defence.[24] PresidentPhilippe Pétain made an address announcing the appointment in which he also announced a series of harsh new measures including the dissolution all political parties, the creation of a Council of Justice to judge "those responsible for our disaster," and the new requirement that all ministers and high officials swear an oath of loyalty directly to him. "In 1917 I put an end to mutiny," Pétain said. "In 1940 I put an end to rout. Today I wish to save you from yourselves."[25]
The Placentia Bay meetings between Roosevelt and Churchill concluded. TheAtlantic Charter was signed but not made public until two days later.[19]
TheRoyal Air Force conducted the heaviest daylight bombing raid against Germany since the war began.[26] The Germans could not offer as much opposition as they once did because many of their planes had been diverted to the Eastern Front.[2]
The Roosevelt Administration issued an executive order suspending the eight-hour day for mechanics and laborers employed by the War Department on public works projects such as airfields, troop housing units and fortifications so as to hasten their construction.[29]
Ostland ReichkommissarHinrich Lohse ordered that all property belonging to Jews was to be confiscated and registered, and all money and valuables in their possession handed over immediately.[30]
Roosevelt and Churchill sent a joint message of assistance to the Soviet Union. "We realize fully how vitally important to the defeat of Hitlerism is the brave and steadfast resistance of the Soviet Union and we feel therefore that we must not in any circumstances fail to act quickly and immediately in this matter on planning the program for the future allocation of our joint resources," the statement concluded.[36]
The Germans captured the Estonian city ofNarva.[4]
The Spanish freighterNavemar leftLisbon with 1,180 refugees, mostly Jewish, bound for Cuba and New York. The ship was very overcrowded as it was built to carry only 15 passengers, and it soon acquired the nickname "the floating concentration camp".[37][38][39]
The British submarineHMS P32 was sunk by a naval mine ofTripoli.
The British submarineHMS P33 was lost to enemy action in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nazis arrested over 300Swing Kids inHamburg. Most were sent home and some had their long hair cut as punishment, but the suspected leaders of the swing youth were imprisoned in concentration camps or sent to the front lines.[41][42]
Radio Belgrade played an obscure two-year-old German song called "Lili Marleen" sung byLale Andersen. The song was an instant hit and became one of the most popular songs of the war among Axis and Allied troops alike fighting in North Africa.[4]
The second mass round-up of Jews in Paris began at the request of the Gestapo's Jewish Affairs Department. Over the next five days a total of 4,232 Jews were arrested.[44]
The Germans captured the Ukrainian port city ofKherson.[10]
Hitler orderedArmy Group North to encircleLeningrad, believing that the loss of the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution would deal a crushing blow to Soviet morale.[45]
In revenge for the execution two days earlier of theFrench Resistance memberSamuel Tyszelman, communist activistPierre Georges assassinated German naval cadet Alfons Moser at theBarbès – Rochechouart metro station in Paris by shooting him in the back. This marked the beginning of a cycle of assassinations by Resistance fighters and retribution from authorities that would claim hundreds of lives.[46]
German submarinesU-376 andU-584 were commissioned.
A German order signed byOtto von Stülpnagel decreed that in response to the previous day's assassination of a member of the German Armed Forces, all Frenchmen detained by or on behalf of German authorities would be considered as hostages. If any further incident occurred, a number of these hostages were to be shot.[47][48]
Joseph Stalin decreed that every Soviet soldier should receive 100 grams ofvodka per day.[49]
Heinz Guderian met with Hitler at theWolf's Lair with a large number of other officers present. Guderian was allowed to present his reasons for continuing to advance on Moscow, but after he finished Hitler gave his own reasons for concentrating on the south untilKiev was in German hands. The other officers nodded in agreement with each of Hitler's points, and it became obvious to Guderian that the decision had already been made.[citation needed]
Canadian Prime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King made a speech to 10,000 Canadian troops inAldershot, England. Some of the soldiers, tired of endless training exercises and anxious to see some action, booed and heckled the Prime Minister.[50][51]
The British corvetteHMS Zinnia of convoy OG 71 was sunk by German submarineU-564.
Marshal Pétain established Vichy military courts with the authority to impose the death penalty for acts of terrorism and sabotage.[52]
Hitler ordered the cancellation of Aktion T4 due to public backlash.[10]
Winston Churchill broadcast a message to the world about his recent meeting with President Roosevelt and the signing of the Atlantic Charter. Churchill explained that the Charter differed from the attitude adopted by the Allies in the latter part ofWorld War I because it did not assume that there would never be any war again, and "that instead of trying to ruin German trade by all kinds of additional trade barriers and hindrances, as was the mood of 1917, we have definitely adopted the view that it is not in the interests of the world and of our two countries that any large nation should be unprosperous or shut out from the means of making a decent living for itself and its people by its industry and enterprise."[53]
Soviet cargo shipVT-532 was bombed by the Luftwaffe during the evacuation of Tallinn and was grounded nearPrangli Island. 44 passengers and crew were killed in the bombardment.
Pierre Laval narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a student as he was seeing off French volunteers going to fight alongside the Germans in Russia. One of the four bullets that struck him missed his heart by about an inch.[4]
Benito Mussolini visited theWolf's Lair for the first time.[54] Mussolini would stay in the area until August 29 - his longest visit of the war - touring battle sites, reviewing troops and meeting with German officials.[55]
German submarineU-452 was sunk in the North Atlantic with depth charges by British aircraft and the anti-submarine trawler HMSVascama.
South of Iceland, the German U-boatU-570 was attacked, damaged and captured by the British on her first patrol. The submarine would be put back into service by the Royal Navy asHMS Graph.
During a flight fromUman toLvov carrying Hitler, Mussolini,Himmler,Ribbentrop and others, Mussolini asked to pilot the aircraft himself. Hitler was so surprised that he said nothing and managed only an awkward smile. Since no one was willing to voice an objection, Mussolini took the controls and flew the plane himself for over an hour while everyone else on board was made extremely nervous.[56][57]
The German submarineU-570 was beached and captured atÞorlákshöfn,Iceland after being forced to the surface by depth charges from aLockheed Hudson of269 Squadron the day before. The British later put the submarine back into service as HMSGraph.
Charles Lindbergh said at anAmerica First Committee rally inOklahoma City that Britain might turn against the United States "as she has turned against France and Finland." Montana SenatorBurton K. Wheeler spoke next and said, "If our interventionists want to free a country from the dominion of another country, we ought to declare war on Great Britain to freeIndia. I have never seen such slavery as I saw in India a few years ago."[58] Many Americans started turning against Lindbergh at this time, as Gallup polling showed that the public favored the president's specific interventionist moves.[59][60]
TheBattle of Loznica was fought in Serbia between the German occupiers and theChetniks. The Chetniks capturedLoznica and established a command post in the town.
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