July 21st, 1940 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - marshalling yards at Hamm and Soest and aircraft factory at Kassel.51 Sqn. Three aircraft to Hamm. One bombed - direct hits. Opposition heavy.
77 Sqn. Ten aircraft to Kassel. Nine bombed. Eight fighters sighted but none attacked.
78 Sqn. Five aircraft to Hamm and Soest. Four bombed, one FTR
102 Sqn. Ten a/ to Kassel. One returned early, nine bombed. Two fighters seen but none attacked.
2 Group ( Blenheim). 107 Sqn. Bombing - Caen, Morlaix and Querqueville.
GERMANY: Hitler again brings up the attack in the East in an OKH conference. Planning for troop movements east will begin later this month.
BALTIC STATES: The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania today succumbed to Russian pressure and "unanimously" decided to become Soviet Republics and join the Soviet Union.
The newly-elected parliaments of the three countries met to announce their decision, but the Soviet influence was easy to see under the facade of democracy. Estonia’s parliamentary session was attended by Stalin’s representative, Mr Zhdanov, and the hall was decorated with Soviet flags. The Baltic peoples are bitter at losing their hard-won freedom from Russia, but there is nothing they can do in the face of Soviet might.
CHINA: The IJN assigns 15 A6M2 fighters to the 12th Reno Kokutai (12th Combined Naval Air Corps) or combat in China.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2239, the unescorted Ellaroy was torpedoed and sunk by gunfire by U-30 about 180 miles west of Cape Finisterre. The master and 15 crewmembers landed at Vigo, Spain.