Churchill Takes Test Cruise in New Tank

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Globalization41
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Churchill Takes Test Cruise in New Tank

#1

Post by Globalization41 » 01 Apr 2004, 11:13

London, Special Cable to The New York
Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Prime Minister
Winston Churchill's name has been given to a
new type of heavy infantry tank, the Ministry
of Supply announced today. The tank is now
in mass production in British factories. ...
Details cannot be given out, but an official
statement does say the tanks embody "the ideas
of the greatest brains in engineering industry
and of tank officers who have seen service in
France, Libya, and Greece." ... "The
Churchills are probably the most formidable
fighting instrument possessed by any army
in
the world," the statement continues. "They are
heavily armored, giving maximum protection to
their crews, but despite their weight they are
able to move over any kind of ground at
startling speed. Terrific gun power is
concentrated in a minimum of space, and it is
unlikely that any enemy machines exist which
could stand up for long against their
devastating power. If for any reason the
Churchills were brought to a standstill, the
thickness of their armor would enable them to
be used as small fortresses or strong points.
[The Churchill IV tank: 39 tons, crew 5,
armament -- 57mm cannon with 84 rounds and
two 7.92mm machine guns with 4950 rounds,
speed 17 mph, range 90 miles, length 25'2",
width 10'8", and height 8'.5". ... Already in
use by the Soviets was the T-34 tank: 26.3
tons, crew 4, armament -- 76.2mm cannon with
77 rounds and two 7.62mm machine guns with
2,898 rounds, speed 32 mph, range 280 miles,
length 21'7", width 9'10", and height 8'. ...
The best German tank in 1941 was the Pzkw
IV: 20 tons, crew 5, armament -- 75mm
cannon with 80 rounds and two 7.62mm
machine guns with 2,700 rounds, speed 25
mph, range 125 miles, length 19'8.5", width
9'6.5", height 8'11".]
... ... London,
Associated Press, The New York Times,

Sunday, July 20: The Ministry of Supply, in
a statement about the new Churchill tank said:
"The Prime Minister is one of the very few
civilians who have ridden in the type of tank
which has been named after him. He took his
seat at the control lever and was astonished at
the ease with which the machine could be
manoeuvred. Despite its great bulk, it turns
round almost with the ease of a taxicab." ...
[Later in the war the Germans introduced the
Tiger I tank: 56 tons, crew 5, armament --
88mm cannon with 92 rounds and two 7.92mm
machine guns with 5,700 rounds, speed 23 mph
on roads and 12 mph cross country, range 73
miles on roads and 42 miles cross country,
length 27'9", width 12'3", and height 9'4.75".
... The Americans fielded the Sherman II tank:
30.2 tons; crew 5; armament -- 75mm cannon
with 89 rounds, .50 caliber machine gun with
6,250 rounds, and two .30 caliber machine
guns with 7,750 rounds; speed 25 mph; range
115 miles; length 19'7"; width 8'9"; height
9'9"]
... ... Moscow, Associated Press, The
New York Times,
Sunday, July 20: The Soviet
Information Bureau issued this communique
today on the behalf of the Red Army: In the
course of last night intense fighting continued
in the Polotsk-Nevel [360 miles west of
Moscow],
Smolensk [230 miles west and
slightly south of Moscow],
and Novograd
Volynsk [95 miles south and slightly east of
Leningrad]
directions. Nothing substantial
occurred on other sectors of the front. ...
In the course of last night our air force
continued operations for the destruction of
enemy tanks and motorized troops. ... ...
London, Special Cable to The New York
Times,
By James MacDonald, Monday, July
21, 1941:
[Late Sunday, U.S. time] Britain's
newly launched "V of Victory" war of nerves
against Germany -- formally declared at the
zero hour of midnight, Saturday -- proved a
tremendous success on the German-occupied
Continent in the first day of the propaganda
offensive,
according to London officials. ...
From all parts of the world reports streamed in
to London telling of the appearance and
sounding of the "V" everywhere. [Britain
wanted the "V" graffitied throughout occupied
Europe to sow anti-Nazi dissension.]
... ...
Berlin, United Press, The New York Times,
Monday, July 21, 1941: [Late Sunday, U.S.
time]
Germany heralded her own "V for
Victoria"
campaign today, the press depicting
it as a symbol of united Europe's support of
the war against Russia.
... ... The New York
Times,
Late Sunday, July 20, 1941: The "V
for Victory" slogan of the British will be
brought to the United States in a big way by
Bundles for Britain, that organization
announced [Sunday]. ... Posters, windshield
stickers, window cards, and lapel pins and
buttons will be utilized to make America as
conscious of the British psychological
campaign as in Europe. A million volunteer
workers, said a statement from Bundles for
Britain, "will be asked to encourage Americans
everywhere
to start tapping out the three dots
and a dash, international Morse characters for
the letter V, to induce people to whistle or sing
the first notes of the opening bar of
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which are the
same cadence, and to develop new devices to
attract widespread moral support in America

for the subjugated peoples of Europe."

Shanghai, Associated Press, The New York
Times,
Monday, July 21, 1941: [Sunday, U.S.
time]
Japanese authorities have detained the
British ship Hilda Moller for the announced
purpose of examining her cargo, which was
intended for Rangoon, Burma, it was learned
today. ... The Hilda Moller was detained after
the Japanese Army released the British ship
Kwantung after two weeks' detention during
which they removed 600 tons of textile
machinery
consigned to the British port of
Singapore but which the Japanese declare
belonged to the Chinese Government at
Chungking.

Instanbul, Turkey, United Press, The New
York Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Russian
bombers have demolished the Rumanian Unirea
oil refinery at Ploesti, north of Bucharest,
formally the property of the British Phoenix
Oil Company
and one of the largest refineries
in Rumania, according to diplomatic reports
from Rumania. ... The refinery, producing
high-grade lubricants vital to the German and
Rumanian mechanized forces was said to have
been destroyed on July 13. The Phoenix
Company's tank installations at Constanta on
the Black Sea previously had been destroyed.

Hong Kong, Wireless to The New York
Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Informed
Chinese quarters interpret the recent
withdrawals of Japanese troops from occupied
areas of Kwangtung Province, including Canton,
as connected with the stronger garrisoning of all
naval and air stations in South China, especially
on [the island of] Hainan [less than 200 miles
east of French Indo-China].
... [Indo-China
later became Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
But in 1941 the French government in Indo-
China had remained loyal to France, defeated
by Germany in 1940. The Japanese, allied
with Germany as a deterrent to the United
States, coveted bases in Indo-China to
facilitate a complete occupation. From there
they could grab Thailand and proceed down
the Malaysian peninsula toward Singapore, a
British possession and the best geographical
land base to flank a naval assault on the
Netherland Indies, whose oil, in the Tokyo
view, could sustain Japan's self-sufficiency. ...
The Japanese move into Indo-China would
begin in a few days, which Roosevelt
countered with an oil embargo, leaving Japan
with a dwindling strategic reserve.
]
... The
regrouping of Japanese naval squadrons with
the chief concentration at Hainan and Formosa
is reported. It is thought significant that a large
area of the Formosan south coast has been
prohibited to foreign shipping, while Formosan
newspapers [Japanese controlled] have
resumed vehement criticism of Russia and
Communism. ... ... Chungking, China,
Wireless to The New York Times,
Sunday,
July 20, 1941:
The role of the reorganized
Konoye cabinet in Japan will be to lay the
foundation of further Japanese aggression in
the Far East
and prepare the country for a
Pacific war, Chinese officials and press agreed.
... Official commentators believed the moderate
front of the new government cloaks moves to
attack the Netherlands Indies,
Malaya, and
Russia. It is expected that the first steps will
materialize in a few weeks in the form of a
consolidation of military and political domination
of Indo-China and Siam [Thailand] and
completion of military dispositions for an
invasion of Siberia. ... Shao Yulin, Foreign
Office spokesman, compared Prince Konoye to
Rudolph Hess by saying that each had received
the role of convincing a foreign country of the
homeland's peaceful intentions. "The only
difference is that Hess is a prisoner
abroad and Konoye is a prisoner of his own
militarists," Mr. Shao stated. [Civilian prime
ministers in Japan were not immune from
assassination attempts by hotheaded
militarists.]
... ... Johannesburg, Union of
South Africa, Associated Press, The New
York Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Japanese
in the Union of South Africa were reported
today to be packing in preparation for a rush
home. ... Officials at the Japanese Legation
would make no statement about reports from
usually reliable sources that the preparations
were the result of advice from Japan for her
nationals to return. ... No Japanese ships are
known to be en route to the Union of South
Africa to pick up Japanese, but the Japanese
steamer Manila Maru is scheduled to sail from
Durban on Saturday. There were some
indications that the Japanese here, numbering
several hundred, might leave on that boat. ...
... Washington, United Press, The New York
Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Senator Elbert
B. Thomas of Utah, member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, predicted tonight
that Japan would shy away from the Axis

powers and return to her traditional policy of
cooperation with the United States and Britain.
... ... Tokyo, United Press, The New York
Times,
Monday, July 21, 1941: [Sunday, U.S.
time]
The Sunday magazine section of The New
York Times
for June 8 was banned in Japan
today. ... ... The New York Times, Sunday,
July 20, 1941:
The supplement contained a
page of Chinese woodcuts portraying the
Chinese Army and the effects of Japanese
bombing on villages.
One cut of refugees
fleeing a burning village was entitled "Homeless
After a Japanese Raid."

Washington, Special to The New York
Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: With military
ceremony, the first of the Army's 55 chapels
now under construction at troop centers
throughout the country, will be formally
opened next Sunday at Arlington Cantonment.
General George C. Marshal, Chief of Staff;
Major General Edmund B. Gregory,
Quartermaster General; and Chief Chaplain
William R. Arnold
will participate in the
ceremony which will be broadcast over
Columbia's national network. The chapels will
be used for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish
services.

Cairo, Egypt, United Press, The New York
Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: Today's British
communique said there had been artillery
action
around Tobruk, Libya, and that British
patrols had seized a German armored car
damaged in fighting near the Libyan-Egyptian
border.

London, United Press, The New York Times,
Sunday, July 20, 1941: A vast "sea of fire,"
apparently set by the Russians, is barring the
advance of Finnish troops striking toward
Leningrad across the Karelian Isthmus and
around Lake Ladoga, the German radio
reported tonight. ... Finnish reconnaissance
planes were said to have reported that the fires
covered huge areas of forest.
The Russians, it
was stated, had evacuated all localities thus far
occupied by the Finns.

[Stay tuned for late breaking war bulletins.
... Globalization41.]

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