WHATS HAPPENING AROUND THIS DATE 

20: Under the directives of the United States Department of War, the bulk of the personnel of what had been known as the United States Army Air Corps up to this date are brought into what becomes the United States Army Air Forces from this date forward, with General Henry H. Arnold as its first commander. As part of the reorganization, General Headquarters Air Force is renamed Air Force Combat Command; the new Army Air Forces organization consists of Air Force Combat Command (its combat element), with the existing logistics and training element retaining the older "United States Army Air Corps" designation.[5]

22: Germany invades the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa, a three-pronged operation aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, and the southern oil fields of the Caucasus, ending the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Romania invades south-western border areas of the Soviet Union in Europe on the side of Germany.

: British general in Libya/Egypt Wavell is replaced by General Auchinleck.