Historical
Göring’s strategy of “Kanalkampf”, harassing shipping and bombing coastal facilities to bring the RAF out over the English Channel, continued. Coastal fog prevented flying for most of the morning. Convoy CW5 was attacked leaving Dover by German bombers. The Escort destroyer HMS Vanessa was damaged by near misses and towed by destroyer HMS Griffin to Sheerness for repairs. Convoy “Bread” was again attacked off the Dorset coast. Hurricanes and Spitfires responded and shot down six German bombers. Several British fighters were shot down and three pilots were killed.
While U-boats prowled the busy sea lanes around Britain and the Mediterranean, armed merchant cruisers, known as surface raiders, were more effective in the wide open Ocean spaces using lookout to spot the smoke trails of their victims. In the Indian Ocean south of Ceylon, the German raider Atlantis sank the British SS Kemmendine bound for Burma filled with whisky. The crew and passengers were taken prisoner. Northeast of Antigua, the raider Widder sank the British SS King John, taking prisoner five crew and twenty-one survivors from the Panamanian ship Santa Margarita sunk by U-29 on 2nd July. Widder now had a hundred prisoners, so most were put into King John’s lifeboats and set off towards the West Indies.
Italian forces crossed the border from Ethiopia into Kenya and attacked the British garrison at Moyale. Their air force raided British bases in Malta and Aden.
Hitler issued directive No. 15, ordering the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force, preparatory to an invasion of Britain. The first Free Polish squadron was formed in the RAF.
Game day 317. Japan
Japanese infantry moved westwards through China towards Sinkiang. The industrial area in China was occupied and put into a state of defence. In Kwangtung a large infantry force moved westwards from Shanghai to meet the invading Chinese.
Back on the home island armoured forces moved towards the ports for embarkation to Kwangtung.
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 