military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (08/08/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Thursday, 8 August, 1940 After an attack by torpedo boats sinks 3 vessels, large numbers of Stukas dive-bomb an 18-ship convoy in the English Channel, damaging 7 and sinking an additional 2 ships. Including other activities, the Luftwaffe loses 31 aircraft today, the RAF, 19. An unusual air battle takes place over Libya, in which both Italian and British pilots fly biplane fighters. Victories favor Britain by 7 to 2. The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, offers to quickly enact limited constitutional reform, and promises that Indian independence will be considered upon the war's conclusion. The US Senate passes the Guard Service Bill, empowering the President to call out, for a period of one year, National Guardsmen who have no dependents. The soldiers may be sent to training or for service in the Western Hemisphere or US possessions. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "To insure the further indispensable successes of the Soviet Union we must always bear in mind Stalin's words that we must keep our entire people in a state of mobilization and preparedness in the face of the danger of a military attack." - Premier Molotoff