Dashed left edge = started before November 1941 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond November 1941
Events in November 1941 11
1864 – 1941Walther Nernst (1864-1941)Died 18 November 1941, aged 77Walther Nernst was a German physical chemist who formulated the third law of thermodynamics and the Nernst equation. He won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1896 – 1941Ernst Udet (1896-1941)Died 17 November 1941, aged 45Ernst Udet was a First World War flying ace who later became head of Luftwaffe aircraft procurement. He shot himself in Berlin after being blamed for failures in aircraft production, and the regime announced his death as an accident.
1941Siege of TobrukAllied garrison holds out against RommelMostly Australian troops, nicknamed the "Rats of Tobruk", held the Libyan port against Axis forces for 241 days. The siege was lifted during Operation Crusader.
1941The army orders helmetsUnited KingdomWithin weeks of the paper, crash helmets became compulsory for all British Army motorcyclists. Cairns later showed that despatch rider deaths fell sharply once they were worn.
1941The army orders helmetsUnited KingdomWithin weeks of the paper, crash helmets became compulsory for every British Army motorcyclist. Cairns immediately began measuring what difference it made.
1941Bruce Welch bornBognor RegisBruce Cripps — later Bruce Welch — was born on 2 November 1941 in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England. He would become the band's rhythm guitarist and, alongside Marvin, its longest-serving core member.
1941Red Square parade of 7 NovemberSoviet troops march from parade to front lineWith German forces close to Moscow, the Soviet leadership held the anniversary parade for the October Revolution on Red Square, and Stalin addressed the troops. Many units marched straight on to the front.
1941Sinking of HMS Ark RoyalFamous British carrier lost off GibraltarHMS Ark Royal was torpedoed by U-81 on 13 November and sank the next day under tow, with only one man killed. Her aircraft had crippled the Bismarck six months earlier.
1941Operation CrusaderBritish Eighth Army relieves TobrukThe British Eighth Army launched an offensive in the Western Desert, and after costly tank battles it relieved Tobruk. Rommel was forced back to El Agheila.
1941Battle between HMAS Sydney and KormoranAustralia's worst naval lossThe cruiser HMAS Sydney and the disguised German raider Kormoran destroyed each other off Western Australia. All 645 men aboard Sydney were lost, while most of Kormoran's crew survived.
1941Rumbula massacreAbout 25,000 Jews shot in a forest near RigaGerman Einsatzgruppe A and Latvian auxiliaries marched the Jews of the Riga ghetto to Rumbula forest and shot them over two days. Around 25,000 people were killed.