November 22nd, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:Churchill to Sec. of State for War and CIGS:
...Wavell's telegram to CIGS does not answer the question I put. The last sentence but one leaves everything unsettled. ... It is not clear that he has made up his mind.
...Every day's delay endangers secrecy in Egypt...
...We must now call upon Turkey to come in, or face the consequences in the future. A British victory in Libya would probably turn the scale, and then we could shift our forces to the new theatre. How long before the Germans strike at Greece through Bulgaria?
Churchill to Sec. of State for the Colonies.
[Re:- Proposal to ship Mauritius Jewish refugees who had illegally emigrated to Palestine.]
As the action has been announced, it must proceed, but the conditions in Mauritius must not involve these people being caged up for the duration of the war. The Cabinet will require to be satisfied about this. Pray make me your proposals.
Churchill also discusses Admiral Stark's Plan D. This provides for all possible naval and military aid to go to the European theatre and only defensive measures to be adopted in the Far East against any Japanese aggression until the defeat of Germany.
GERMANY:
ITALY: RAF bombers attack Bari.
SICILY: An RAF Wellington Mk. IC of No. 214 Squadron based at RAF Stradishall, Suffolk, England, runs out of fuel because of a navigational error and lands in Sicily instead of Malta. Aboard is Air Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd, Deputy Air Officer Commanding, HQ RAF Middle East (designate) and three lower ranking officers. All are taken prisoner and Boyd is held in the Castle of Vincigliata near Florence. After several escape attempts, Boyd and two generals make another attempt and reach Switzerland in February 1944.
GREECE: Italian planes bomb Keffalonia, Corfu and Samos.
The air echelon of RAF No. 211 Squadron arrives at Menidi and Tatoi Airfields from Egypt with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers. This is the fourth and last RAF Squadron to arrive in Greece.
ALBANIA:
With bands playing and their blue and white flags held high, kilted Greek troops marched in triumph through the streets of Koritsa today as the last Italian invaders flee from Greek soil. Italian dictators Benito Mussolini's boast that "we will break Greece's back" has not taken into account the speed of Greek counter-attacks. Koritsa has been surrounded for several days before the Greeks finally storm the Italians' shallow trenches with bayonets and trench-knives. The Italians surrender in their hundreds, with retreat becoming a rout as they abandon a complete arsenal of heavy guns, anti-tank weapons, food and a huge stock of petrol (gasoline). Some reports speak of rape and other atrocities as Blackshirt divisions retreat through Albanian villages. As news of the fall of Italy's biggest base in occupied Albania is flashed to an electrified world, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill cables to General Prime Minister General Metaxas: "We are all inspired by the feat of Greek valour ... long live Greece!"
A unit of the Greek Army in
Albania issues the following dispatch:
To: IX division 17.50 hours, The Infantry Office. "I report that at 17:45 hours today
the detachment under my command entered Koritsa and liberated the city. Colonel
Begetis" (Steven Statharos)
TURKEY: Martial law is declared in European Turkey after the German ambassador, von Papen, delivers a virtual ultimatum to Turkey to join in the Axis-planned "new European order."
CANADA: Corvette HMCS Arrowhead commissioned.
U.S.A.: The motion picture The Letter opens at the Strand Theater in New York City. Directed by William Wyler, this murder drama, based on W. Somerset Maughams book, stars Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-123 sank SS Cree in Convoy SL-53.
Outward bound convoys OB-244 (Liverpool, England to North America) and UK-bound SC-11 (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, to U.K.) are attacked by two groups of German submarines west of North Channel. Fifteen merchant ships are sunk, including seven from SC-11 by Schepke's U-100 on the night of the 22nd/23rd. Important steps are taken in the air war when an RAF Sunderland equipped with 1.5 centimeter wavelength anti-surface vessel (ASV) radar locates a U-boat. This is the first success of its kind with a system that is mainly effective by day as contact is lost within 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) of the target.