military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (08/05/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Monday, 5 August, 1940 Italian troops in British Somaliland capture the towns of Zeila and Hargeisa. The beginning of the Luftwaffe effort against Britain is delayed due to inclement weather. General Halder, German Army Chief of Staff, is presented with the first draft of the plan to invade the USSR. It features a two-pronged drive on Moscow and Kiev, with the main effort in the north. Based on reports by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, President Roosevelt proposes new laws to prevent fifth-column activities with the USA. France announces a change in public education; young women will now receive instruction in home economics and child care instead of academic courses such as Latin and mathematics. The goal is to increase the nation's birthrate. Senator Pittman (Nevada) suggests that concerns over the legality of the proposed sale of destroyers to Great Britain can be overcome if the vessels are instead traded to Britain for battleships. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The mistake should not be made of assuming that the war can be won merely by withholding supplies from Germany." Sir Louis Beale.