Compulsory Civil Defence service will apply equally to those registered "conditionally" as Conscientious Objectors - those required to continue their present jobs or work on the land, in hospitals or with the ambulance service. They can now be directed into Civil Defence but not into the Police War Reserve, which sometimes carries arms.

Some have refused to take up the work imposed on them by the tribunals, Michael Tippett was sentenced to three months in jail for refusing to do full-time work for Civil Defence whereas Benjamin Britten, his fellow composer, was granted unconditional exemption from service. Since the call-up began, 31,000 men out of two million have registered as objectors.

London:

Churchill outlines the Import Programme for the next year, with an estimated 31 million tons of imports of which no less than 15 million tons shall be food.

The army plans to increase its number to 59.3 "equivalent divisions" with 12 armoured divisions and 9 Army tank brigades.

The Naval Programme retains the remaining King George V battleships, being completed at full speed, but with HMS Vanguard being the only ship that can be completed in 1943, and definitely in service by 1945.

London:

Churchill to Wavell:

We are naturally concerned at rapid German advances to Agheila. It is their habit to push on whenever they are not resisted. I presume you are only waiting for the tortoise to stick his head out far enough before chopping it off. It seems extremely important to give them an early taste of our quality. What is the state and location of 7th Armoured Division? Pray give me your appreciation.

GERMANY: The German war zone extended beyond Iceland.

Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief

Take care how you report world reaction to Yugoslavia joining the Tripartite Pact. Emphasize the opinions of the British and Americans who, on the one hand, do not hide their disappointment and on the other hand, are still desirous of stirring up trouble in Yugoslavia.

GREECE: CRETE: Five Italian Navy M.T.M. (modified tourism motorboats) enter the harbor in Suda Bay to attack Royal Navy ships. These boats have an explosive charge in the bow and are crewed by one man who aims the boat at the target and then jumps overboard about 100 yards (91 meters) away before the boat hits the target. One of the M.T.M.s sinks a Norwegian freighter while a second severally damages the British heavy cruiser HMS York at 0516 hours. The damage causes both boiler rooms and the forward engine room to fit is hit by three bombs, including two 1102 pound (500 kilogram) bombs, causing her finally to be abandoned on 22 May 1941. The wreck was scrapped in 1952. 

Two Italian supply ships sink on mines laid by HMS Rorqual.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Battle of Cape Matapan. Following the claims by the Luftwaffe to have sunk two of the British Mediterranean Fleet's battleships and with the promise of German air support and reconnaissance, Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino leads the Italian Fleet on a sortie into the Aegean Sea to disrupt the British convoys to Greece. He has the battleship Vittorio Veneto, the heavy cruisers Bolzano, Fiume, Pola, Trento, Trieste and Zara, the light cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi and 17 destroyers.  They were promised full aerial support by both the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe but neither Air Force provided these ships with air cover. 

ETHIOPIA: Italian troops at Harrar surrender to the British. The Italian forces and their local allies begin an attack on Major Orde Wingate's Gideon force but they are beaten off despite their superior strength.

CANADA: An accidental explosion and fire destroy the armed yacht HMCS Otter off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Two officers and 17 men are lost. 

U.S.A.: The New York Times reports on the racketeering during the construction of the new army camp at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. (The figures in brackets are year 2000 US dollars provided by Jack McKillop)

"...the 'take' for two unions alone, carpenters and common laborers, was estimated at $400,000 ($4,705,882)... Meade is 91% completed. The original estimate of its cost totals $18,882,128 ($222,142,682). The final cost will be around $23 million ($270 million). Overtime to date totals $1,808,320 ($21,274,353).

At the peak of the building operation, 30% of the money spent for labor 'didn't drive a nail'. That is, it was a premium payment for overtime.

...great numbers of 'Sears Roebuck carpenters' got jobs. (They were called that because they get a Sears Roebuck outfit of tools for five dollars [$58.82] and instantly become carpenters.) ...labor efficiency is estimated between 50% and 65%." (38)

Marc Small adds: Camp Meade, as it was then, wasn't actually "new" -- it was a WW1 Camp; Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur was slated to raise a brigade of the 11th Division there in July 1918, though the vehement protests of Menoher kept him in France with the Rainbow Division. After the Armistice, it served as the US Army's "home of armor" -- Col. Patton had the First Tank Brigade there, with Lt-Col. Dwight Eisenhower as his XO, from 1919 to 1921.