11 Jan 1941 | World War II Database

11 Jan 1941

During the night 16 British aircraft from Scampton, Lincolnshire attacked battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven, Germany to little effect. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | CPC]
Italian 7th Infantry Division Lupi di Toscana and the remnants of Italian 3rd Alpine Division Julia launched a failed counterattack on Klisura Pass in Albania, which was captured by the Greeks on the previous day. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]

Germany

Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive 22, which called for Operation Alpine Violets, which was to deploy German units in North Africa and Albania to aid Italian war efforts. ww2dbase [Operation Sonnenblume | TH]

Mediterranean Sea

German Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Ennecerus led a dive bomber attack on British cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS Southampton 120 miles east of Sicily, Italy, hitting Gloucester with one 500kg bomb that failed to explode (9 killed, 13 wounded) and Southampton with two 500kg bombs (98 killed). Southampton was abandoned by the 727 survivors at 1900 hours, then was scuttled by a torpedo from cruiser HMS Orion at 2000 hours. Further east, the Allied convoy Excess, which the cruisers were protecting, reached their destinations of Malta, Egypt, and Greece. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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