Yesterday Tomorrow
December 7th, 1940 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Fighter Command: No. 263 becomes the first Squadron to be operational with the
Westland Whirlwind single-seat twin-engined fighter. They are used at first on convoy
patrol.
GERMANY:
The RAF tonight bombs the industrial city of Dusseldorf.
LIBYA:
RAF Wellingtons based in Malta bombed Castel Benito in Libya and destroyed 29 Italian
aeroplanes.
During the night a British and Commonwealth force of 30,000 men and 275 tanks under Maj.
Gen Richard O'Connor sets forth on a 70-mile march around the Italian minefield's flank
and take the enemy from the rear.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Off Nauru Island, a 21 square
kilometer (8 square mile) island in the South Pacific Ocean, located about
halfway between the Gilbert and Solomon Islands, the German auxiliary cruisers
HK Komet and Orion intercept two freighters
and the German crew board them. Explosive charges are placed aboard both ships,
the 5,180 ton Norwegian SS Vinni and 3,900 ton British SS Komata, by the crew of
HK Orion and both ships are sunk. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and
both ships were about to load a cargo of phosphate.U.S.A.:
The American Federation of Labor reports that there are 8,130,000 registered unemployed
in the United States.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German
heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper breaks into the North Atlantic through the Denmark
Straits. This is part of Operation NORDSEETOUR.
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