World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday January 17, 1941
Day 505

January 17, 1941: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top right: "Illustrious Bombed At Malta, Say Nazis"
(The report was true, HMS Illustrious was hit by one bomb during an air raid on Malta Jan. 16.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of the Birmingham Gazette, Birmingham, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the photo at center: "Guard Canal With Steel Umbrella"
(One of the more bizarre proposals of a desperate time in which there were many bizarre proposals.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 


January 17, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top right: "Wheeler Insists Congress Get Kennedy Report"
(The democrat Senator from Montana, wants the reports from former Ambassador Kennedy concerning his thoughts about Britain. This is because he is in opposition of the Lend-Lease agreement, which would give great assistance to Great Britain. Historically, the Lend-Lease agreement proved vital to saving Great Britain from destruction at the hands of the Germans.)
Also note the report in column 4: "Two Thailand Warships Sunk, French Claim"
(The French claim was true, but underestimated the results. Two (some sources indicate three) 318-ton torpedo boats were sunk and two others, 2,265-ton coast defense ships Sri Atuthia and Dhonburi were damaged and run aground in the engagement. The latter two ships were armed with four 8" guns, so were moderately powerful warships. One of them, Dhonburi, later sank while being towed to a repair facility. The other, Sri Ayuthia, was refloated by the Japanese and repaired. It was sunk by Siamese gunfire during a revolution in Siam on July 3, 1951. The torpedo boat Triad was also raised and repaired, it was scrapped in the mid 1970's. These were the only losses to the Siamese navy in World War II.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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January 17, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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January 17, 1941: Front page of The Montana Standard, Butte, Montana.
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January 17, 1941: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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January 17, 1941: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Deutsche Bomber über Malta.
(German bombers over Malta.)
2. Britischer 15 000-Tonner im Atlantic torpediert.
(British 15,000-tonner torpedoed in Atlantic.)
[In this case the report under estimated the incident. There were actually two large British ships sunk in the Atlantic on Jan. 16. The 10,578-ton Zealandic and the 14,118-ton Oropesa. Sunk by U-106 and U-96 respectively. Seventy-three lives were lost in Zealandic and 106 in Oropesa.]
3. Illustrious erneut schwer getroffen.
(Illustrious hit hard again.)


January 17, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Rollende Angriffe trotz ungünstiger Wetterlage.
(Rolling attacks despite unfavorable weather conditions.)
2. Kriegswichtige in London und einer Stadt Mittelenglands bombardiert.
(Important war targets in London and a city in central England bombed.)



   
Page published January 17, 2022