June 13th, 1941 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Invernessshire: Cpl James Hendry (b. 1911), Royal Canadian Engineers, died when a burning magazine blew up; he had warned others off but stayed to fight the blaze himself. (George Cross)Sloop HMS Crane laid down.
NORTH SEA: The German pocket battleship Lutzow is attacked by an RAF Beaufort off the Norwegian coast at Lindesnes. She is hit by one torpedo and only just makes it back to Germany.
VICHY FRANCE: The excuse that 12,000 Jews were involved with an "anti German/French coup plot" is used by the Vichy government to justify authorizing various Anti-Semitic laws. These laws now restrict Jews in Vichy France as they have in Hitler controlled countries.
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: The official news agency TASS says "rumours of a German intention to attack the USSR are without foundation."
SYRIA: Damascus: The Free French and British have invaded Vichy Syria. So stretched are General Wavell's men and materials that some of the invading army are riding to war on horseback.
German penetration of Syria has been going on for months. The German consul, von Hentig, is Germany's finest Orientalist, and organised anti-British riots in the Middle East in the 1914-18 War. Lately a steady stream of Luftwaffe aircraft have used Syrian aerodromes as staging posts while flying supplies to Rashid Ali in Iraq.
Bowing to political pressure from Churchill and de Gaulle, Britain's long-suffering commander in the Middle East scraped together what he could spare from the pressures of Libya, Crete, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and East Africa. As well as two Free French brigades under General Legentilhomme, there are 7th Australian Division (less one brigade), a corps troop from 1 Australian Corps and extra divisional cavalry regiment for a total of two mechanised, the 5th Indian Brigade from the 4th Indian Division under Brigadier Lloyd and one brigade from the 1st Cavalry Division, some dragoons, a commando from Cyprus, Glubb Pasha's Arab Legion, and several thousand Druze tribesmen under the gay and flamboyant Colonel Gerald de Guary - one of the Lawrence generation. In all 18,000 Australians, 9,000 British, 5,000 Free French and 2,000 Indians.
On 8 June, while the 21st Australian Brigade crossed the Litani on the coast road heading for Beirut, two columns advanced from Jordan, aiming for Damascus.
All three columns encountered bitter resistance, with the Free French fighting what resembles a civil war between Frenchmen with every olive grove being fought over.
Against them - and inflicting heavy casualties on them - are the men under General Dentz, the majority colonial troops and Foreign Legionaires, unlikely to listen to appeals from loud-speaker vans to "wash out the shame of Vichy's capitulation."
Dentz has 35,000 French colonial troops - mainly Senegalese, Algerian and Moroccan, but including 3,000 Foreign Legionaires of 6th Regiment FFL. There are French, German, Spanish, Russian and Irish.
Dentz also has 25,000 Syrans, Circassians and White Russians. He has 90
tanks, generally of better quality than the British and Australian light
armour. Wavell has 70 aircraft against 100 French. There are evenly matched.
Hurricanes and Tomahawks against Dewoitine 520s with Gladiators against
Potez 63s.
Australian troops attack around Sidan.
Armoured cars and lorried infantry of 1st Spahis (Vichy) probe Kuneitra.
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Noranda launched Levis, Province of Quebec.
L. W. Murray heads new Canadian convoy escort force based on Newfoundland; NW Atlantic Canada's responsibility.
U.S.A.: Motion pictures released in the U.S. today include:
- "Man Hunt." This thriller based on Geoffrey Household's novel "Rogue Male," is directed by Fritz Lang and stars Walter Pidegeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, Roddy McDowall and John Carradine. The farfetched plot has hunter Pidgeon attempting to shoot Hitler but ends up in more trouble than he can image.
- "Tom Dick and Harry." This romantic comedy, directed by Garson Kanin and starring Ginger Rogers, George Murphy, Alan Marshal, Burgess Meredith and Phil Silvers, has telephone operator Rogers, pursued by a down-to-earth fellow (Murphy), a rich man (Marshal) and a nonconformist (Meredith). She dreams what life would be life married to each of them before choosing one.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1157, the unescorted Pandias was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-107 and sank by the stern. The U-boat surfaced and provided the survivors in the lifeboats with cigarettes, water and rum.
SS Tresillian sunk by U-77 at 44.40N, 45.30W.