military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (01/15/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Wednesday, 15 January, 1941 Nearly 80 British bombers conduct a night raid on Wilhelmshaven, as German reconnaissance planes overfly Valetta, Malta to determine the location of the damaged carrier HMS Illustrious. Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, returns to his country. The US House Naval Affairs Committee approves a $300 million bill for improvements in fleet air defense. The funding would allow installation of 1.1-inch "pom-poms" and additional armor for protection from dive bombers, considered by experts to be the greatest aerial threat to warships. British patrols report hasty Italian efforts to fortify Derna, 90 miles west of Tobruk. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "There will be no peace in the world -- no peace for American citizens, no tranquillity in the Western Hemisphere -- unless the Axis powers are defeated -- and they will be defeated." - Lewis W. Douglas