German tanks near Brest-Litovsk in 1941.
By: Phil Kohn. Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who have answered the country’s call in time of need. Phil can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.
On June 20, 1941, the U.S. Army Air Forces is established as the successor to the U.S. Army Air Corps. In the North Atlantic, German submarine U-206 sights the battleship USS Texas in waters that Germany has declared its U-boat operational area. After checking with U-boat Command for guidance, U-206 allows Texas to go on its way without attacking. Finland mobilizes all reservists under the age of 45.
British troops take Damascus, Syria, on June 21, when the Vichy French garrison evacuates the city. In East Africa, British forces capture Jimma, Ethiopia, southwest of Addis Ababa, taking some 15,000 Italian prisoners. King Peter II of Yugoslavia and his government-in-exile arrive in London. Prime Minister Churchill decides to replace Gen. Wavell as Commander, Middle East at least in part due to the failure of “Operation Battleaxe” to relieve Tobruk.
Abrogating the treaty signed earlier in the year, Germany at 3:00 a.m. on June 22 initiates “Operation Barbarossa,” invading the Soviet Union with over 3 million men, 7,100 guns, 3,300 tanks and 2,770 aircraft. By noon, the Soviet Air Force has lost over 1,200 planes. Winston Churchill promises all possible British assistance to the Soviet Union in a worldwide broadcast: “Any man or state who fights against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe.” Italy and Romania declare war on the Soviet Union. Finland enters the war against the Soviet Union on the side of Germany. It will fight in what is called the “Continuation War” to win back territory lost to the Soviets in the so-called Winter War fought between the two from 1939 to 1940. In Yugoslavia, the First Sisak Partisan Brigade — the first anti-fascist armed-resistance unit in occupied Europe — is founded at Sisak, Croatia.
On June 23, Hungary and Slovakia declare war on the Soviet Union. On the Eastern Front itself, the Germans, spearheaded by armored and motorized troops, are advancing as much as 50 miles per day. In Yugoslavia, Serbs in eastern Herzegovina rebel against authorities of the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet, overrunning gendarmerie posts and ambushing police and military vehicles.
The German onslaught continues, with Kaunas, Lithuania, captured on June 24, as is the capital, Vilnius, yet farther east. In Washington, D.C., President Roosevelt announces at a press conference that he intends to send aid to the Soviet Union.
On June 25, the Swedish government announces that it will allow the Germans to move forces as large as one division at a time through neutral Sweden from Occupied Norway to Finland. President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802 which bars discrimination in the employment of workers in the U.S. defense industries and in the government because of race, creed, color or national origin. A Fair Employment Practice Committee is to enforce the order.
By midday on June 26, elements of German Panzer Group 3 are within 18 miles of Minsk, the capital of Belorussia. In Spain, the Franco government begins officially organizing a volunteer unit to fight along with Axis troops on the Eastern Front.
