September 2nd, 1941 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: London: It is announced in the London Gazette that OS Albert Howarth (d. 1976) of HMS FORESIGHT was blown into the sea when a ship exploded, but helped another man before being saved himself; it was then seen he had lost a foot. (Albert Medal)
Submarine HMS Umbra commissioned.
GERMANY: U-175 is launched.
FINLAND: In Karelian Isthmus the Finnish troops have reached the pre-1939 border, and are crossing it. Units have received orders to cross the old border to reach the shortest line across the Isthmus some distance behind it.
All along the Eastern Front, Red Army withdraws from use its so-called five number code. This code was used in communications between divisions and armies, and the Soviets had become aware that it is compromised. After a week a new version of the code is introduced.
For the Finnish codebreakers this marks an end of a golden era. Thanks to hard work, good luck, help from the Japanese and Soviet blunders, Finns had been able to read some 80% of the Soviet five-number code traffic from the beginning of the Continuation War in June. The significance of this intelligence for the Finnish offensive can be imagined. Major-General Taavetti Laatikainen, commander of the Finnish II Corps, once told to Lieutenant-Colonel Reino Hallamaa, chief of the radio intelligence, that thanks to the intelligence reports he received, Laatikainen often knew the enemy troop dispositions better than his own.
U.S.S.R.: Leningrad: A desperate battle is raging at Gatchina, some 20 miles south-west of Leningrad, as the defenders try to halt the German advance. The guns of the naval squadron on the river Neva have joined in the battle, pounding the German positions with heavy shells.
To the south-west the railway town of Mga has fallen to the Germans after a see-saw battle lasting three days. This means that Leningrad's rail links with the rest of Russia have been severed and the German ring around the city is almost complete. There is, however, little left here except people. While the Red Army has been holding up the Germans nearly 300 trains have carried the machine tools of 90 factories, including two heavy tank works, to safety behind the Urals where they are being reassembled.
The major problem which is emerging is food. Leningrad's population of 2,500,000, with 100,000 refugees and the armed forces, must all be fed if a siege is mounted. Lack of bread, not bombs, may bring about Leningrad's capitulation.
Thornycroft boat Syöksy sinks Soviet transport Meero south from Koivisto Sound.
JAPAN: Tokyo: The government sets up the Air Defence Bureau, which will organize air-raid precautions throughout Japan.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE
PHILIPPINES:
MacArthur ">
MacArthur
informs Hart that there was “plenty
of time” to prepare for war with Japan. (Marc Small)
EAST INDIES: The Japanese consulate in Batavia, Netherlands East Indies, sends a message to Tokyo, Japan, stating that "conditioned by our military invasion of French Indo-China, it was a fact that the government of these islands had drastically stepped up their anti-Japanese tendencies and very evidently assumed an attitude of aid to China."
CANADA: Corvette
HMCS Fredericton launched Sorel, Province
of Quebec.
Patrol craft HMCS Ehkoli launched New
Westminster, British Columbia.
Minesweeper HMCS Miramichi launched North
Vancouver, British Columbia.
U.S.A.: The government grants a large loan to Mexico for cooperation for military and economic defence of the hemisphere. The U.S. also negotiates currency stabilization agreements with Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Coincident with the Japanese Ambassador's call on President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the morning of 28 August 1941, Major General ISODA Saburo, Japanese Military Attaché, called by appointment on Colonel R. S. Bratton, Chief of the Far Eastern Section, Intelligence Branch. The following were notes of Colonel Bratton on the visit: (1) Due to restrictions imposed by the U.S. export control, the Japanese have begun to use a portion of their war reserve of petroleum; (2) Japan made a great mistake in joining the Axis; (3) the Army frequently gets out from under control of the Civilian Government and had to be restrained by Imperial Command; and (4) Japan had her back to the wall. She can be pushed just so far, then will have to fight us to save her national honor and integrity, though war with the United States was the last thing desired by Japan.
Submarine USS Gurnard laid down.