January 7th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Churchill requests that Wavell thinks twice before asking for more convoys of supplies as they are affecting the flow of supply to the British people: "Rations of heavy munitions workers are being cut down to levels of which British armies except in actual operations have never dreamed. Severe stringency in human rations and the slaughter of cattle through lack of feedstuffs lie before us. The voyage round the Cape imposes an almost prohibitive burden."GERMANY: Hitler places Luftwaffe I. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 40 (I./KG 40) with its FW-200 Kondor's based at Merignac Airfield, Bordeaux, directly under the command of Doenitz.
MEDITERRANEAN: The Italian torpedo boat Clio sinks Free French submarine Narval off the coast of Tobruk, Libya.
NORTH AFRICA: AOC-in-C, Middle East, Arthur Longmore, Air Officer Commanding In Chief, RAF Middle East, receives a signal from Churchill. "Greatly admire your brilliant support of Army operations. We shall soon be as usual torn between conflicting needs. Probably four or five squadrons will be required for Greece and yet you will have to carry the Army forward in Libya."
LIBYA: British forces capture Tobruk airport.
The Australian 19th Brigade reaches the perimeter defences on the eastern
side of Tobruk.
KENYA The Somali Camel Corps is dissolved, reorganised and equipped with
tanks from South Africa.
CANADA: A Special Committee of the Cabinet War Committee recommends that Japanese-Canadians not be allowed to volunteer for the armed services on the grounds that there is strong public opinion against them.
Corvette HMCS The Pas laid down Collingwood, Ontario.
U.S.A.: Richardson endorses report by Bloch on unpreparedness of both Hawaii and Pearl Harbor and forwards this to Stark. (Marc Small)
The Office of Production Management (OPM) is established within the Office for Emergency Management (OEM) by Executive Order to: "Formulate and execute in the public interest all measures needful and appropriate in order to (1) increase, accelerate, and regulate the production and supply of materials, articles and equipment and the provision of emergency plant facilities and services required for the national defence, and (2) to insure effective coordination of those activities of the several departments, corporations, and other agencies of the Government which are directly concerned therewith." The Council for this new organization is comprised of industrialist William S. Knudsen, labour leader Sidney Hillman, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.
The NBC Blue radio network presented the first instalment of “Inner Sanctum” hosted by “Raymond” and sponsored by Carter’s Pills. Remember the squeaking door?
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Italian submarine R. Smg. 'Nani' attacks a convoy west of North Channel and is sunk by corvette HMS Anemone (K 48) off the Faeroe Islands.
Pocket battleship 'Admiral Scheer' operates in the South Atlantic, while 'Scharnhorst ' and 'Gneisenau' in Germany and heavy cruiser 'Hipper' in Brest prepare to go out. At the end of the month the two battlecruisers head into the Atlantic for two months until their return to Brest.
Six raiders of the original seven are at sea. 'Orion' and 'Komet' in the Pacific, 'Atlantis' at Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, 'Kormoran' in the central and 'Thor' in the South Atlantic, and finally 'Pinguin' in the Antarctic. All move to different areas over the next few months.