19 Jan 1941 | World War II Database

19 Jan 1941

Abyssinia

Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia crossed the border between Sudan and Italian Eritrea, traveling toward his home country behind advancing British and Commonwealth troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Haile Selassie | CPC]

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

British and Commonwealth troops attacked Italian Eritrea. 4th and 5th Indian Infantry Divisions captured the railway junction at Kassala, Sudan, on the border with Italian Eritrea. This allowed the column led by British General William Platt to march south. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Kassala | CPC]

Germany

Benito Mussolini visited Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden in Germany, accepting German assistance in North Africa, but not Albania. Hitler noted that he would launch an invasion of Greece if British troops there began to threaten the oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | Berchtesgaden, München-Oberbayern | TH]

Greece

British transport ships Clan Cumming, Clan MacDonald, and Empire Song departed Pireaus, Greece for Alexandria, Egypt at 0800 hours. At 1153 hours, 25 miles south of Pireaus, Italian submarine Neghelli attacked, damaging Clan Cumming with a torpedo. Escorting destroyer HMS Greyhound sank Neghelli with depth charges, killing the entire crew of 46. Escorting destroyer HMS Janus escorted Clan Cumming back to Pireaus while the rest of the convoy sailed on. ww2dbase [Pireaus, Attica | CPC]

Malta

German Luftwaffe Stuka dive bombers attacked Valletta Harbour, Malta for the fourth consecutive day in their attempt to finish off the damaged British carrier HMS Illustrious, which was only further damaged with near missed. Destroyers HMS Imperial and HMS Decoy were also damaged by the attack. One Stuka aircraft was shot down by a Fulmar aircraft, which was also shot down later in the battle. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | Valletta | CPC]

United Kingdom

German Luftwaffe aircraft bombed RAF Feltwell in England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Norfolk, England | 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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