October 7th, 1940 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:Battle of Britain: There are occasional showers but the visibility is fair with variable clouds. Most of the Luftwaffe raids today come in formations of 50 and 100 aircraft, but in spite of these numbers comparatively few bombs are dropped. So far as London is concerned Dockland receives the most attention, and a fire is started at Rotherhithe, and there is also a certain amount of bombing done at Tidal Basin. During the afternoon a number of raiders appear in the West Country, and bombs are dropped in Yeovil. At night the raiding is fairly widespread over the country, with special attention being paid to the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
Heavier raids by Ju88s of II/KG 51 escorted by Bf110s of ZG 26 on Westland Factory at Yeovil. Little damage is done and 7 Bf110s and 2 Ju88s are shot down.
Small daylight raids on London cause fires in dockland and Rotherhithe.
Losses: Luftwaffe, 21; RAF, 17.
RAF Bomber Command: 30 Wellington's of 3 Group and 12 Whitley's of 4 Group attack Berlin at night. This is the heaviest raid on Berlin so far, 50 tons of HEs are dropped. 25 are left dead and 50 wounded. Two aircraft failed to return.
FRANCE: All Jews in occupied France are ordered
by the Germans, to register immediately with authorities.
ALGERIA: Algerian Jews are deprived of their French citizenship.
ROMANIA: Bucharest: The Axis Powers have marched into Romania. Two divisions of German troops, totalling 30,000 men, along with token Italian units today passed through Hungary to take control of the oilfields and the harbours from which the oil is shipped. The German claim that their soldiers have been sent to Romania "in accordance with an agreement with the Romanian government for training and reorganising the Romanian army with all the equipment essential for modern warfare". In another announcement, however, the Germans claim that their action was taken to protect Romania from British plans to sabotage the oilfields. certainly the oilfields, developed largely by British capital, are the prime reason for the invasion.
Last week the government of the dictator Ion Antonescu arrested British officials on allegations that they were plotting to set fire to the oilfields. Some of these officials have been subject to ill-treatment. It is apparent that the entry of the Germans has been made with the consent and co-operation of the Antonescu regime. Barracks in the capital have been evacuated by the Romanian army to make way for the Germans. An expeditionary force GHQ has been set up and contact established with the Romanian General Staff.
The invasion is seen as resulting from the meeting between Hitler and Mussolini at the Brenner Pass last Friday, although Mussolini is reported to have been surprised by the move especially as it undercuts Italian attempts to purchase in interest in Romanian oil production facilities to shore up their own fuel supplies. The German coup undercuts these efforts and leaving Italy totally dependent upon Germany for oil supplies. (Mike Yaklich)
JAPAN: Tokyo: Japan is to become a one-party state with the inauguration next week of the ultra-nationalistic Imperial Rule Assistance Association, which will replace all existing political parties. The two leading parties, Rikken Seiyukai and Rikken Minseito, which dominate Japan's parliament, will be voluntarily dissolved.
The new organisation, the brainchild of Prince Konoye, is intended to capitalise on the growing patriotic fervour among the Japanese and mobilise mass political support for land-hungry Japan's plans to expand its territorial borders in China and south-east Asia.
The IRAA, with offices in every prefecture, will mirror precisely Japan's current legislative structure. Discussions on the IRAA began in July, with moderate and nationalists battling over how closely it would imitate the totalitarian aspects of Europe's Nazi and Communist parties.
U.S.A.: Baseball!
Washington: The Japanese ambassador to the U.S., HORINOUCHI Kensuke, protests the refusal of export licenses for aviation gasoline (petrol) and machine tools, and impending prohibition of export of iron and steel scraps to Japan stating, "In view of the fact that Japan has been for some years the principal buyer of American iron and steel scrap, the announcement of the administrative policy, as well as the regulations establishing a license system in iron and steel scrap cannot fail to be regarded as directed against Japan, and, as suck, to be an unfriendly act." He also states that "The discriminatory feature of the announcement, that licenses will be issued to permit shipments to the countries of the Western Hemisphere and Great Britain only, has created a widespread impression in Japan that it was motivated by a desire to bring pressure upon her."
* Artie Shaw and his Orchestra record Hoagy Carmichael's classic song "Stardust" for Victor Records. This version of "Stardust" was voted the Number 1 all-time favorite record in "Billboard's" 1956 Disc Jockey poll.
* On the radio, two new daily 15-minute soap operas debut today: - "Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy," sponsored by Maxwell House coffee, debuts on CBS at 1645 hours Eastern. Tom Hopkins, Kate's husband, was played by eventual "Beat the Clock" host Clayton 'Bud' Collyer; one of the writers was Gertrude Berg (writer and Emmy Award-winning actress of "The Goldbergs", a popular radio and TV series in the 1940s and 1950s); and the announcer was Ralph Edwards of future "This is Your Life" fame. The show remained on the air until April 1942.
- "Portia Faces Life," sponsored by Post Flakes and Post Bran, debuts on CBS at 1600 hours Eastern. The show centred around Portia Blake, a young woman attorney who battled corruption in the small town of Parkerstown. The show remained on the air until June 1951.
Destroyer USS Livermore is commissioned.
PANAMA: The first US Army operational radar, a lab-built SCR-270 goes on air atop Fort Sherman. (Will O'Neil) (157,158,159,160,161 and 162)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-59 sinks the SS Touraine.