military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (08/06/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 6 August, 1940 The Italian navy completes a dense minefield in the Sicilian Channel. Meanwhile, the Italian army continues to advance into British Somaliland, capturing Odweina. The first group of Rhodesian pilots arrives in Britian to bolster the RAF's strength. Reichsmarschal Goering sets 10 August as the opening date of the Luftwaffe's attack on the RAF. British code experts are able to decrypt the Luftwaffe's coded transmissions, so that Air Marshal Dowding is fully aware of this and subsequent changes. John, Cudahy, the US ambassador to Belgium warns that some 8 million Belgians would live in near-famine conditions through the upcoming winter. The USA and USSR renew their annual trade agreement, allowing the Soviet Union to purchase goods worth over $40 million in 1941. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "If you think the situation in Europe is a horrible hell now, I think for the Belgians during the Winter no words in English will be able to describe it." - Ambassador John Cudahy