military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (01/14/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 14 January, 1941 The German raider Pinguin scores a success in the Antarctic Ocean, capturing a Norwegian whaling fleet; 3 factory ships and 11 whale catchers are taken as prizes and are taken to occupied France. General Wavell and Air Marshal Longmore arrive in Athens to discuss the situation with General Papagos and Premier Metaxas. Greece now has 12 divisions on the Albanian front with 4 more opposite Bulgaria. With 12 German divisions reported in Rumania and rumors of disguised German officers making preparations for troop movements into Bulgaria, Greece requests 9 British divisions as reinforcements. Wavell replies that he can provide no more than a regiment each of artillery, anti-aircraft, and anti-tank units, together with about 60 tanks, though more should be available in the future. President Roosevelt denounces a statement by Senator Wheeler that the Lend-Lease proposal represents "another New Deal triple-A foreign policy -- plow under every fourth American boy." He terms Wheeler's statement, "the most dastardly, unpatriotic thing that has ever been said." -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "Nothing could be more unpatriotic than to try to fan the passions of the American people to the point where they will accept a program that will eventually send American boys to be killed upon foreign battlefields." - Senator Wheeler