The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945
Page 47
Within twenty minutes after word had been received that the Sheffield was in touch, the Ark Royal launched another squadron of planes. They torpedoed the Bismarck amidships and also on the starboard quarter. It was reported that after this attack the Bismarck made two complete circles and her speed was reduced. The Germans said that one of these torpedoes had smashed the rudder and screws.
All the British forces were now converging on the doomed ship. British destroyers in the pursuit were determined not to let the big ships and the air forces have all the glory, and last night it was their turn.
DESTROYERS SCORE HITS
A squadron of Tribal-class destroyers made contact about 11 o’clock last night. Between 1:20 A.M. and 1:50 A.M. this morning they went in to attack. First the Zulu and then the Cossack and the Maori drove in on the Bismarck. The latter two destroyers scored hits with torpedoes. After the Maori’s attack the Bismarck’s forecastle was seen to be afire.
One hour after the attack the shadowers reported that the Bismarck had halted. She then was about 400 miles due west of Brest. Subsequently she started out again, but the trap had clamped shut and she could only crawl away, making only eight miles in one hour. Her armament apparently was not damaged.
A cloudy dawn broke over the Atlantic this morning as the last phase of action developed. The Bismarck could not get away. It only remained to be seen what damage she could do before she ended the briefest and most adventurous career of almost any ship in naval history, with the possible exception of the Merrimac.
At dawn the Ark Royal tried again with another squadron of torpedo planes, but visibility was so poor that the attack had to be broken off. The trapped ship then struck back at the hovering destroyers with gunfire. But by now the main British battle line was pounding up to the scene and by poetic justice it was the Norfolk, which had borne the brunt of the chase, that first opened fire. Soon afterward 16 and 15-inch salvos from the biggest British ships were pounding the Bismarck.
Details of the kill are not known here, but it is known that the cruiser Dorsetshire was ordered to sink the Bismarck with torpedoes. By then she must have been a helpless, blazing wreck. The long battle was over at 11:01 o’clock this morning.
MAY 28, 1941
A CALL TO NATION
President Takes Step Permitted Only When War Threatens
STRIKES MUST END
By FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, May 27—President Roosevelt tonight proclaimed that “an unlimited national emergency exists,” a step which, under the law, the Chief Executive can take only when he believes war to be “imminent.”
The President himself made the announcement in a radio address to the nation.
The United States, he declared, will not permit Germany to dominate the high seas and thus make ready for an attack on the Western Hemisphere.
President Roosevelt declares an ‘unlimited’ national state of emergency over the radio in response to German aggression on May 27, 1941.
The United States was prepared to take any steps necessary to assure the delivery of war materials and supplies to Great Britain and the eventual defeat of the Axis powers.
Declaring in so many words that the aim of the Nazis and their leader, Adolf Hitler, was world dominance, the President called upon all Americans to join in the defense effort and warned management and labor that the government is prepared to use all of its power to assure the production of armaments.
TO TAKE A HAND ON BASES
The President made it clear that the United States would not permit Germany and her allies to get bases, such as Dakar, the Azores, the Cape Verdes, Iceland and Greenland for a possible attack on the New World, and stated that, with further American naval units transferred, and to be transferred, to the Atlantic, this government intended to assure war supplies reaching Britain.
“The delivery of needed supplies to Britain is imperative,” he declared. “This can be done; it must be done; it will be done.”
At another point he said the nation was placing its armed forces in strategic military positions, and added:
“We will not hesitate to use our armed forces to repel attack.”
With this he warned the nation that because of the development of modern instruments of war attacks may be started from farther away than heretofore.
“With profound consciousness of my responsibilities to my countrymen and my country’s cause, I have tonight issued a proclamation that an unlimited national emergency exists and requires the strengthening of our defense to the extreme limit of our national power and authority,” the President said.
In his proclamation of the national emergency, made under the law of 1917, the President gave as his formal reasons:
That a succession of events made it clear that the Axis belligerents plan “overthrow throughout the world of existing democratic order,” accomplished by the destruction of all resistance on land, sea and in the air.
That indifference to this on the part of the United States would place the nation in peril, so that common prudence dictates a policy of passing beyond peacetime military measures to a basis which will permit instant repulse of aggression “as well as to repel the threat of predatory incursion by foreign agents into our territory and society.”
“Now therefore,” said the proclamation, “I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do proclaim that an unlimited national emergency confronts this country, which requires the use of its military, naval, air and civilian defenses to be put on the basis of readiness to repel any and all acts or threats of aggression directed toward any part of the Western Hemisphere.”
Paraphrasing Hitler’s own statement that there are today “two worlds,” the President declared that today the entire world is divided “between human slavery and human freedom.” He said that the United States chooses human freedom.
MAY 30, 1941
85% SEE US IN THE WAR, GALLUP SURVEY FINDS
Number Holding That Opinion Doubled Since Conflict Began
By GEORGE GALLUP
Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
These surveys are made by a system of highly selective samplings in each of the forty-eight States in proportion to voting populations; thereby, the American Institute of Public Opinion holds, is obtained a result which would not vary from that of a numerically much larger canvass.
PRINCETON, N.J., May 29—The number of American voters who think the United States will likely get into the European was some time before it is over has nearly doubled since the war began twenty months ago.
Although public opinion surveys by the American Institute of Public Opinion have repeatedly shown that the majority oppose entering the war at this time, a survey just completed indicates that more than eight voters in every ten hold the fatalistic belief that the United States will be drawn into the conflict.
This sentiment began to rise sharply at the beginning of the year—during the period of debate over the lease-lend bill and the period when British ship losses were mounting rapidly—and was accelerated by Hitler’s invasion of the Balkans in April.
The trend on the question whether the United States will go to war, as measured in twelve successive surveys since October, 1939, follows:
“Do you think the United States will go into the war in Europe sometime before it is over, or do you think we will stay out of the war?”
Think U.S. Will Go In
Think U.S. Will Stay Out
October, 1939 (outbreak of war)
46%
54%
February, 1940 (war’s quiet phase)
32
68
May, 1940 (invasion of France)
62
38
June, 1940
65
35
September, 1940
67
33
December, 1940 (Greek-British successes)
59
41
January, 1941
72
28
February, 1941
74
26
March, 1941
80
20
April, 1941 (Balkan invasion)
82
18
Today
85
15
MAY 30, 1941
NAZI TROOPS POURING TO RUSSIAN BORDERS
Forces Returning From Balkans Said to Be Sent to Frontier
Special Broadcast to The New York Times.
ANKARA, Turkey, May 29—Further confirmation was received from diplomatic sources today that the German High Command is withdrawing German troops from the Balkans and concentrating a formidable army on the Russian frontiers in Rumania and Poland.
The motorized assault divisions hurled against Yugoslavia and Greece and the vast reserves concentrated in Western Rumania and Bulgaria are being transported into Rumania’s Siret Valley and back through Budapest and across Slovakia to the Russo-German frontier in Poland, these reports said.
Though there is no accurate estimate of the German strength in Poland, this correspondent was reliably informed in Bucharest only recently that the concentrations in Rumania numbered upward of forty-one divisions. These are said to include two armored divisions and one parachute division.
JUNE 1, 1941
BRITISH IN BAGHDAD
German Fliers Reported Fleeing—Civil Group Rules The Capital
By DAVID ANDERSON
LONDON. May 31—An armistice signed in Baghdad late this afternoon brought to an end the rebellion in Iraq against Britain, London learned tonight. Indian fighters of the British forces took up positions in the outskirts of the capital city from which Premier Rashid Ali el Galiani, leader of the revolt and all his followers able to do so had fled.
The Emir Abdul Illah, the Regent deposed by Rashid Ali, will form a new government without delay. Apparently the sole damper on celebrations at these developments is the absence of 6-year-old King Feisal II who is said to have been kidnapped by Rashid Ali.
[An Associated Press dispatch from London said that a British motorized force had driven into Baghdad. The same dispatch contained a report that German airmen were fleeing from Iraq.]
A British armored car waits outside Baghdad, while negotiations for an armistice take place between British officials and the rebel government during the Iraqi Revolt, May 30, 1941.
MAYOR ASKS ARMISTICE
A request for armistice terms was made to the British by the Mayor of Baghdad after Rashid Ali had crossed the Iranian frontier at the town of Kasr-i-Shirin yesterday and British troops had closed in on Baghdad. A committee of four citizens, headed by the Mayor, took charge of Baghdad’s affairs first ordering all irregular military organizations to disband according to reports that reached London by way of Cairo.
An Iraqi officer carrying a white flag presented himself at the British headquarters before Baghdad as the first step in the armistice negotiations. Earlier the Mayor had seen Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, the British Ambassador to Iraq, who recommended parleys with British military commanders.
The terms of the armistice guarantee Iraq’s unity and independence. The people are asked to return to work at once. The blackout has been lifted in Baghdad but no traffic is permitted on the streets after nightfall. Without question the British will receive the right to use all highways, railroads, airports and other communication facilities in Iraq which figured in the treaty over which Rashid Ali started the dispute.
Archad el Omari Mohafez, president of the Iraqi Commission of Internal Security, said in a statement today:
“The hostilities for which there is no longer any reason, will be ended as soon as the commission has received assurances that the complete independence of the country and the honor of the army will be guaranteed.”
ITALIAN MINISTER HAS FLED
Significantly, among the reports received after the armistice was one that the Italian Minister at Baghdad and the legation staff had departed in haste. They are believed to have gone to Iran with Rashid Ali. It was through an Italian diplomatic outlet that Germany conducted a long and patient drive, utilizing propaganda and intrigue, against Britain In Iraq.
It is thought here that this German effort was supposed to blossom into revolt when Reichsfuehrer Hitler was ready to strike for the oil fields. However, fighting broke out in Iraq soon after Rashid Ali had seized the government on April 3. It probably would have suited Berlin better if this had occurred June 3 or even later, thus giving the Luftwaffe time to complete the Crete offensive first.
Authorized statements clarifying the situation in Iraq have been given out in London. They say that the trouble has been cleared up and that it now is plainly evident that the dispute was not between the British Government and the Arab peoples but between Britain and Germany. It is thought that the Nazi failure to go to the aid of Rashid Ali in force was due in large measure to the way the British troops fought tooth and nail in Crete, thereby tying up the German schedule.
Stress is laid in the fact that Rashid Ali fled to Iran instead of going to Mosul, where Germans still are to be found. The campaign against these German forces, mostly air units, will continue; the struggle in Iraq is over only as far as the Arabs are concerned.
FIELDS BOMBED BY R.A.F.
The British forces now operating at Baghdad advanced from Feluja, according to a communiqué issued in Cairo today. The Royal Air Force had bombed the Washwash and Rashid airports near the capital and raided Kazimain in support of the ground troops. If, as many observers in London assume, Syria is the next battleground, it will mean a race between the British and the Germans to determine who consolidates the position first. The British have gained an advantage by settling the Iraqi conflict before the Germans got control of Crete. Should the British sweep northward along the banks of the Tigris to Mosul and westward across the desert in the direction of Syria in sufficient force in the next few weeks, they may be able to forestall a German thrust.
Britain conducted the operations in Iraq with a small number of men, drawn mainly from India. She practiced economy there much as she did last Winter in the sensational exploits in Libya that culminated in the capture of Benghazi. This is one reason why it has taken so long to defeat the Iraqis, who at only one place—Habbania airport—threatened to score a telling blow.
Looking over the field from the viewpoint of General Sir Archibald P. Wavell, the British Commander in Chief in the Middle East, The Times of London will say tomorrow:
“One may distinguish two forward areas, Crete and the Western Desert and two rearward areas, Iraq and Abyssinia. In both of the former we are heavily pressed by the Germans. In both of the latter we have made a timely clearance of weaker but dangerously placed opponents. The news from Iraq is particularly gratifying. The success should confirm the faith placed in the US by the Arab world generally.”
JUNE 2, 1941
WAR IN IRAQ ENDS
Vital Oil Fields of Mosul Are Under Control of London’s Friends
ARMISTICE TERMS GIVEN
By DAVID ANDERSON
Special Cable to The New York Times.
LONDON, June 1—Hostilities ceased throughout Iraq today as Emir Abdul Illah, the Regent, entered Baghdad. Six-year-old King Feisal II, who had been reported kidnapped by Premier Rashid Ali el Gailani, who fled to Iran, is said unofficially to be safe.
A brief outline of the terms of the settlement of the Iraqi-British war reached here tonight. The British, it is stated, are certain to gain access to all highways, railroads, airports and all other communication facilities, as provided in the original Anglo-Iraqi treaty, which Rashid Ali broke two months ago. The Premier’s action brought about the war.
Iraqi troops are to be returned to their peacetime stations—including the Ramadi garrison, which threatened the Royal Air Force station at Habbania. British prisoners are to be released and Germans and Italians are to be interned. Iraqis
who were captured will be handed over to Abdul Illah, who will deal with them.
UNITED STATES ENVOY PRESENT
A large gathering of Baghdad’s prominent citizens joined Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, the British Ambassador to Iraq, in greeting Abdul Illah at the gates of the capital this morning. He received them a short time later at a reception. Among those present was Paul Knabenshue, the United States Minister.
Word has reached London from Cairo that the important Mosul oil fields in Northern Iraq are controlled by authorities friendly to Britain. This tempers anxiety over German activity there, as it is known that German agents have been entrenched there for months and have established air bases. The Iraqi Governor in Mosul is said to have long opposed Rashid Ali, so it is expected that he will take steps to counteract the German influence.
The British, taking stock of their month-long campaign in Iraq, have come to the conclusion that close cooperation between the ground and air forces played a decisive part. Air Vice Marshal John H. d’Albiac, who commanded the Royal Air Force in Iraq, was in hourly consultation with the General Staff of the Imperial troops from 6 o’clock each morning until midnight, working out a system for mutual support.
HABBANIA FORCE PRAISED
“The flying training school at Habbania did a fine job in handling the Iraqi revolt by taking on an operational task with the greatest success,” an R.A.F. spokesman said. He added that reinforcements of aircraft were pouring into the Middle East steadily.