October 4th, 1941 (SATURDAY)
VICHY FRANCE: Petain commutes the death sentence on Paul Colette, who attempted to assassinate Pierre Laval and Marcel Deat into Life imprisonment.
Petain also makes a single trade union compulsory for all workers.
GERMANY:
U-159 and
U-252 commissioned.
U-457 and
U-458 launched.
NORWAY: Oslo: The Nazi regime warns the Norwegian people to co-operate or face starvation, after growing unrest and street riots.
FINLAND: This night a Finnish attempt to cross the River Syväri (Svir) by Battlegroup Kuistio fails, as the men of the attacking battalion refuse to follow orders. On the next night, another attempt by a different battalion fails for the same reason. Crossing of Syväri finally succeeds on 6 Oct after the troops had rested and Col. Kuistio arranged fire-support for the operation.
The troops had been continuously in offensive for three months now, and signs of war-weariness are showing. The general opinion among the soldiers is that the war is fought to reconquer the lands lost in the Winter War, and the continuation of the offensive past the pre-1939 borders had already caused cases of insubordination and desertion. Also the offensive operations after the capture of Petrozavodsk (which was rumoured to be the final goal) came as a nasty surprise. It was thought that River Syväri would be the point were the rifles will be changed into spades. However, serious incidents of insubordination are few, usually a short period of rest combined with stern speeches by commanding officers are enough to restore the situation.
U.S.S.R.: Panzer Group Hoeppner attacks near Vyazma from the south. Hoth attacks between Vyazma and Rzhev. Guderian attacks Orel and Bryansk. These German attacks threaten large numbers of Soviet troops west of Bryansk and Vyazma.
The organisation of the marauding partisan bands operating against the Germans deep behind the front line is becoming formalised under the control of the Stavka.
Formed from pockets of Russian soldiers cut off by the Germans; often frightened of being punished if they returned to their own lines, they took to the forests and live by raiding German supply lines. They are a potent guerrilla force, harassing the Heer and sending back intelligence to regular Red Army formations.
Officers, political commissars, radio transmitters and weapons are parachuted to the bands and a rigid discipline imposed. Some even operate as cavalry. They tie up thousands of Germans in protection duties; if they are caught, they are killed with great brutality, their bodies left hanging from the gallows as a warning to others.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The first group of U-boats attacked the British Alexandria-Tobruk shipping supply line in the Mediterranean, a shipping link vital to the British troops fighting in North Africa.
A German aircraft dropped three bombs on U-559 in the Mediterranean, mistaking it for an enemy submarine, but the U-boat suffered no damage.
JAPAN: The Foreign Ministry sends the following message to the consulate in Manila, "I want you to make a reconnaissance of the new defence works along the east, west and southern coasts of the Island of Luzon, reporting on their progress, strength, etc. Also please investigate anything else which may seems of interest."
CANADA: Corvette
HMCS Halifax launched Collingwood,
Ontario.
Corvette HMCS Kamsack commissioned.
Washington: Britain and the US agree to send planes and tanks to the USSR every month.
Lend-lease agreements are concluded with Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Paraguay.
"Piano Concerto In B Flat" by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. This song, which debuted on the charts on 9 August 1941, was charted for 24 weeks, was Number 1 for 8 weeks and was ranked Number 3 for the year 1941.
A 20-minute short, colour movie is released. THE TANKS ARE COMING was filmed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and stars George Tobias (as a former cab driver) and Gig Young. This is one of many pre-WWII short films that try to make the public aware of how good the military is.
Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character
debuts on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Willie_Gillis_Food_Package.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Willie_Gillis_Home_on_Leave.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Willie_Gillis_in_Convoy.jpg
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-111 (Type IXB) is sunk southwest of Tenerife, at position 27.15N, 20.27W, by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler Lady Shirley, following a gunnery dual with the German submarine. 8 dead, 44 survivors. (Alex Gordon)
