military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (07/31/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Wednesday, 31 July, 1940 Hitler calls a meeting of his top advisors to consider operation Sea Lion. Admiral Raeder, CinC of the Kriegsmarine, reiterates the German Navy's inability to support the proposed operation and encourages that it be postponed until late September or, preferable, the spring of 1941. French agents report that heavy artillery is being emplaced along the Channel coast to support Sea Lion. President Roosevelt orders an embargo of aviation gasoline to all nations outside of the Western Hemisphere, reserving allowances for small quantities for use by American aircraft operation in foreign countries. Canada may purchase fuel for internal use, but not for re-export. Britain takes the news calmly, but Japanese sources hint that Tokyo will take the issue very seriously. Totals for the month of July: In the battle over the English Channel, 18 small steamers have been sunk, along with four destroyers. 52 British fighters have been destroyed, at a cost of 139 Luftwaffe aircraft. British fighter production exceeds the month's goal by about 50%, with some 1200 completed since 1 May; this means Britain is outproducing Germany in this area, and decreasing the Luftwaffe's fighter superiority. At sea, 105 Allied ships have been sunk, 38 to U-boats, and 23 new U-boats are now in training. Civilian casualties from German air raids amount to 258 killed, 321 wounded. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The war against England could not be lightning, spectacular and massive like the conquest of France. It must be a process of hammering and wearing down." - Virginio Gayda, in an editorial in Giornale d'Italia.