World war II timeline - July 1941

1 July 1941	52 British Wellington bombers attack the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen at Brest, with one hit doing serious damage.
2 July 1941	An Imperial conference is held in Japan. Leaders decide to try to settle the conflict in China, advance into southern regions, and prepare for war with England and America, if diplomacy fails. Japan will not enter the German-Russian war now, but if the conflict develops to its advantage, it will use its military strength to secure its northern borders.
3 July 1941	Soviet President Josef Stalin tells the Soviet people to "scorch the earth" in their retreat from advancing German forces.
4 July 1941	Twelve British Blenheim bombers attack Bremen, bombing an aircraft factory and a minesweeper. Four planes are shot down.
7 July 1941	Anthony Eden recommends to the War Cabinet that Britain increase the Malaya defences, send Australian troops to Dutch Timor and Ambon, and renounce the trade treaty with Japan. US forces land in Iceland to defend the mid-Atlantic base.
8 July 1941	British Bomber Command makes its first attack with American Fortress bombers, against docks at Wilhelmshaven. German forces outside Soviet town of Kishinev abandon that target, switching their attack northward.
9 July 1941	The British Defence Committee issues a new directive to Bomber Command: to concentrate on the German transportation system, and to demoralize the German civilian population. A large pocket of Soviet forces surrender in Minsk.
10 July 1941	At Jedwabne, Poland, hundreds of Jews are massacred by Poles. German forces launch an attack on Novgorod.
11 July 1941	In the Soviet Union, Voroshilov, Timoshenko, and Budenny are appointed commanders of the north-west, west, and south-west sectors, respectively, of the war front. In the USA, the Co-ordinator of Intelligence (COI) is created. (The organization is later renamed Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and later again renamed to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).)
12 July 1941	An Anglo-Soviet mutual assistance agreement is signed.
13 July 1941	Spanish volunteer troops, called the Blue Division, leave for Germany to fight on the Eastern Front.
14 July 1941	Adolf Hitler issues a supplement to Directive No. 32, planning for substantial reductions of Army strength following the overthrow of Russia. The Air Force is to be expanded as the top priority.
15 July 1941	In the Soviet Union, Smolensk falls to German Army Group Centre.
16 July 1941	A large pocket of about 300,000 Soviet forces surrender in Smolensk. Canada receives its first shipment of mustard gas and phosgene shells from Britain. British Major General A.E. Grasett meets with Canadian Chief of General Staff Major General Harry Crerar in Ottawa, Canada. Grasett convinces Crerar that Hong Kong could be adequately defended with an additional two battalions. Great Britain, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies freeze all Japanese assets and halt most trade. Germany threatens to invade Göteburg, Sweden, if any ship leaves the harbor for Britain. (German Intelligence in Sweden learned that ships with special steels were preparing to leave for Britain.)   36 British Blenheim bombers attack Rotterdam port, hitting 22 ships. Four planes are shot down. In Japan, Prince Fumimaro Konoye resigns the cabinet, to remove foreign minister Matsuoka.
17 July 1941	First Spanish troops arrive in Bavaria, Germany, to begin training with the Wehrmacht for fighting against Soviet forces.
18 July 1941	In Japan, Prince Fumimaro Konoye returns as premier, with same cabinet members except with Admiral Teijiro Toyoda as foreign minister. Josef Stalin sends an urgent appeal for help to Winston Churchill, suggesting opening a war front in the West (Northern France) and North (the Arctic). (Churchill replies that landings now would be repulsed.)
19 July 1941	Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 33: Continuation of the war in the East. Hitler directs that Russian armies must be wiped out before they can retreat. Hoth's panzer group is ordered to turn north to assist in the advance on Leningrad. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill starts the "V for Victory" campaign as BBC Radio broadcasts to the world. The first four notes of Ludwig von Beethoven's Fifth Symphony match the Morse code for the letter "V": dot dot dot dash. Listeners are instructed to tap the code, and to paint the "V" in occupied territories. General Olof Thörnell, commander of Swedish forces, suggests Sweden should contribute to the defeat of the Soviet Union.
21 July 1941	France yields to Japanese demands on Indochina.
22 July 1941	German warship Scharnhorst moves from Brest to La Pallice.
23 July 1941	Wilhelm Keitel issues a supplement to Directive No. 33, with further directions for Eastern Front actions. Six British Stirling bombers attack the German warship Scharnhorst at La Pallice, doing some damage.
24 July 1941	British Bomber Command attempts a massive daylight aerial attack on German warships Prinz Eugen and Gneisenau at Brest, and the Scharnhorst at La Pallice. 36 Blenheim bombers make a diversionary raid on Cherbourg docks. Nine are shot down. Three Fortress bombers fly high toward Brest, while 18 Hampden bombers with Spitfire escort come in below. Two Hampdens are shot down. Then 79 Wellington bombers arrive in a second wave. Ten are shot down. 15 Halifax bombers attack the Scharnhorst at La Pallice, making five hits on the battle cruiser, doing serious damage. Five planes are shot down, the others are all damaged. The Japanese government demands of Vichy France permission to occupy airbases in southern Indochina, and use the naval base at Camranh Bay. Vichy France reluctantly signs a Treaty for the Defence of Indochina. Japanese forces enter Saigon and occupy key positions throughout Indo-China.
25 July 1941	German battle cruiser Scharnhorst limps back to Brest for repairs. Italian forces attempt to penetrate the Grand Harbor of Malta. They are not successful.
26 July 1941	US President Franklin Roosevelt orders the freezing of Japanese assets in the US, and orders an embargo of all petroleum exports to Japan. British and Dutch governments also declare trade embargos and freezing of Japanese assets. Japanese forces bomb US gunboat Tutuila in the Yangtze river.
29 July 1941	In Canada, Minister of defence James Ralston proposes to the Cabinet War Committee that the army overseas force be extended from four divisions to six. The committee turns it down.
30 July 1941	Poland and the Soviet Union sign an agreement, in which the government of the USSR recognizes that German-Soviet treaties of 1939 regarding Polish territories are now invalid. Diplomatic relations are restored. The USSR consents to a Polish army forming on Soviet territory. Britain issues a Note to the Polish Government, saying it does not recognize changes to its territory by Germany or the Soviet Union since August 1939. Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 34, postponing for now the objectives of Directive 33 due to strong resistance in the center of the Russian front, where Guderian is involved in a delaying operation fighting for the town of Roslaul. The northern sector is to press on to surround Leningrad. The centre group is to go on the defensive. The south-east is to destroy forces west of the Dnieper river.
31 July 1941	German Field Marshal Hermann Göring orders Reinhard Heydrich to draft a plan for "a complete solution of the Jewish question within the German sphere of influence in Europe". The United States begins an oil embargo of Japan.