It was a speech of praise and encouragement for both the forces and the civilians. "We have stood our ground and faced the two dictators in the hour of what seemed their overwhelming triumph, and we have shown ourselves capable, so far, of standing up against them alone." The Prime Minister reserved particular praise for the victory two months ago over the Italians in Libya:  "In barely eight weeks a campaign which will long be studied as a model of the military art, an advance of over 400 miles has been made."

He went on to speak of the vital importance of American aid, concluding: "We shall not fail, or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we shall finish the job."

VICHY FRANCE: Marshal Philippe Petain today announced that he had appointed Admiral Francois Darlan as not only vice-premier, but also minister for foreign affairs, replacing Pierre-Etienne Flandin. And to underline Darlan's triumph in the backstairs conflict with the former vice-premier, Pierre Laval, the marshal designated the admiral as his successor.

A year ago Darlan seemed the cheerful ally of the Royal Navy. Born into a family that has held commissions in the French navy since Trafalgar, Darlan was head of the officer's training school, and in the 1930s helped to re-equip the fleet with new ships, including Strasbourg and Dunkerque. However, he was embittered by the British sinking of "his" ships at Oran last July.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Force H with HMS Ark Royal, HMS Renown and HMS Malaya sails into the Gulf of Genoa. The big ships bombard the city of Genoa firing 300 tons of shells onto dock installations, warehouses and the Ansaldo Electric works, while carrier aircraft bomb Leghorn, a major railway junction at Pisa and other rail connections, and lay mines off Spezia. An Italian battlefleet sorties but fails to make contact.

LIBYA: The British advance comes to a halt at El Agheila. There is little Italian opposition to prevent a further move, but General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, is being compelled to withdraw troops which will be sent to Greece. He is also responsible for the campaign in East Africa and for making some provision for the defence of Palestine. In the near future, this will demand more of his attention because of German activity in Iraq and Syria. 

ETHIOPIA: Italian ace Mario Visintini dies when he crashes into a mountain. (Mike Yared)(284)

CANADA: HMS Mayflower and Snowberry (with Canadian COs) departed Halifax as local escort for the 47-ship convoy HX-108, bound for Liverpool. Both ships were Flower-class corvettes. Both ships had recently been delivered from Canadian shipyards and were subsequently completed in British yards on the Tyne River. Mayflower was fitted with a ‘dummy’ 4-inch gun built of wood for the transit to the U.K., an infamous example of the inferior condition of the early wartime Emergency Expansion Plan warships of the RCN. Although guns were acquired later, technological inferiority plagued the RCN until relatively late in the war.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0430, U-37 fired torpedoes at the convoy HG-53 about 160 miles southwest of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal and sank two ships, Courland and Estrellano. At 0545 another attack was made in grid CG 7554, but the torpedo missed the ships in station #61 and #31 and did not hit a ship beyond them, as thought. The master and 25 crewmembers from Courland (Master Robert Cecil Smith) were lost. Two crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by sloop HMS Deptford and landed at Liverpool. The master, 19 crewmembers and one gunner from Estrellano (Master Fred Bird) were picked up by the Brandenburg, transferred to HMS Deptford and landed at Liverpool. Six crewmembers were lost.