June 3rd, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Three wounded German airmen owe their lives to the gallantry of the second officer of a British merchant vessel which they had tried to bomb. When their aircraft was shot into the sea by the ships gunners they scrambled on to a raft, and in a heavy swell the ship was manoeuvred alongside and ropes were thrown to the men, but they were too badly injured to help themselves.Though he knew the risk of being crushed against the ships side, the second officer climbed down a ladder, jumped on to the raft, and roped the three men so that they could be hoisted on board.
The Times.
HEAVY ATTACK ON MANCHESTER
A heavy raid was made on Manchester on Sunday night, when thousands of
incendiary bombs and many tons of high-explosive were dropped
indiscriminately. Present reports indicate that fatal casualties are
believed to be particularly heavy, considering the fierceness with which
the town was bombarded. Once again, churches, hospitals and the homes of
the people were among the buildings damaged. One of the worst incidents
occurred at a nurses' home, which was wrecked by a heavy bomb. Rescue
work was still going on yesterday and one of the workers said that it was
known that at least two f the people underneath were alive because some
of the men had spoken to them and had heard their faint reply. By dawn,
five bodies had been recovered, and a few hours later, after some
soldiers and an airman, together with civil defence workers, had dug and
torn their way through the heap of rubble, a doctor from the hospital was
able to crawl through an opening where it was found that one nurse was
trapped by her arm. With the light of miners' lamps he administered an
anaesthetic on the severely injured young woman and amputated her arm on
the spot. Soon afterwards she was got out but the shock and her injuries
proved too much, and she died within a few minutes. Another nurse was
extricated after being buried for nearly 12 hours. She is a first-year
probationer at the hospital and her home is in St Asaph. She was
unconscious when rescued and the matron told a reporter that she would
have an immediate blood transfusion. "She is suffering badly from shock,
the effect of many hours' [sic] buried under the heavy debris, and from
cuts and bruises," the matron added. Four of the missing are young nurses
who entered the hospital for preliminary training a few weeks ago. The
hospital to which the home is attached was not damaged, and there were no
casualties among patients. Two other hospitals received damage through
fire or explosive bombs, but fortunately the patients had been removed to
safety. Five [ARP] wardens were killed on patrol and a curate was killed
on shelter duty outside his church.
Belfast city hall was damaged in a recent air raid. Fire bombs fell on
the roof over the ballroom, and though the roof was damaged and some
portraits in the ballroom were destroyed, good work by firefighters saved
the main structure. Thirty Belfast churches have been wrecked or damaged.
FINLAND: From today until the 6th of June, the Finnish and German military leadership negotiate at Helsinki on co-operation in event of a Russo-German war. An agreement regarding the Finnish Army and Air Force is reached. Although formally the idea of a Russo-German war is hypothetical, the Finns have already understood that the Germans are in all probability about to invade the USSR.
IRAQ:
British Gurkha troops occupy Mosul.
Baghdad: Arab supporters of Rashid Ali riot, killing hundreds of Jews and looting Jewish shops.
NEWFOUNDLAND: City of Dieppe, RN stores ship, arrived St. John's and joined the NEF. Extremely limited naval facilities at St. John's could not support operations without extensive afloat resources. The RN provided both depot ships and stores ships to act as tenders for RCN and RN escorts. Fuel was provided by afloat support from commercial and naval auxiliary tankers berthed in the port. Canadian shore facilities were expanded throughout the WW.II, although some were not completed before hostilities were ended.
U.S.A.:
New York:
The American 'United Press Agency' reported:-
It is rumoured that an American air force unit has already arrived in Greenland, where it is conjectured that they are busy with the preparation of airfields.
Public Law 99 authorises enlisted pilots in the USAAF. (202)(W. Rinaman)