This Date in History: July 6

 

The U-47 returned to Kiel on July 6, 1940.  On June 4, 1940, with repairs completed, the U-47 had left Kiel under the command of Günther Prien for her sixth war patrol southwest of Ireland.  This patrol was much more successful than the foray to Norway; Günther Prien would sink eight ships.  Prien calculated in the logbook that the U-47 sailed 5,150 sea-miles on the surface and 184 sea-miles submerged on the patrol.  (Dönitz’s Crews: Germany’s U-Boat Sailors in World War II)

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Ernst Busch, Army Field Marshal, born July 6, 1885 in Essen, winner Pour le mérite and wounded twice in World War I, commander Army Group Center and Army Group Northwest, winner Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, died July 17, 1945, buried at the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, England, on retreat:

“Any voluntary abandonment of parts of the main line still intact is out of the question.”  (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)