Thursday 8 May 1941

Merseyside Bomb Damage, Stanley Road Bridge, Bootle, May 1941.

European Air Operations: In a long war, there are often small changes that some like to call "inflection points." In one small area, May 8, 1941, could be called an inflection point in the air war. For the first week of May 1941, the Luftwaffe absolutely pounded several British cities. Liverpool, the critical gateway to North American supplies, has been reduced to 25% of capacity, and many other industrial cities in the north also have been ravaged. London, the most worthless target of the German air campaign, has been spared. In essence, the first week of May 1941 has shown what the Luftwaffe is capable of achieving given proper focus and target selection.

However, now it is the second week of May 1941, and things begin to change. Tonight, RAF Bomber Command launches a massive 359-aircraft raid on Hamburg, Bremen and diversionary targets, its largest effort of the war to date (317 against Hamburg and Bremen alone, with 19 sent against the Kiel Canal). The Luftwaffe gives up on Liverpool - right when the port is reeling - and shifts to the Rolls Royce works at Derby (which, of course, manufactures the all-important aircraft engines that some say are war-winning material). The British institute radio countermeasures that they have been refining for months, and this appears to have the desired effect of confusing the German navigators. Bombs fall all across the countryside in the Peak District, Nottingham, the agricultural Vale of Belvoir and nearby locations.

The Luftwaffe, which finally has figured out how to make its city raids pay real dividends by destroying port infrastructure, now shifts back to attacking 20 airfields during the night. While much damage is still being wrought in England, the air battle never again will be as one-sided in favor of the Luftwaffe as it was from 1-7 May 1941.

The Luftwaffe raids the Clyde, setting back construction of destroyer HMS Pakenham and monitor Roberts. An attack on the Tyne damages destroyers Vivacious and Whaddon, but nobody is aboard them because they are under repair.

The Luftwaffe raids Hull for the second consecutive (and last) night. The military helps with rescue work. The Germans hit Alexandra Dock and sink:

• 89-ton barge Delite
• 91-ton barge Ladore
• 48-ton barge Whitakers No. II
• 38-ton ketch (lighter) Welcome Home

Portsmouth also receives attention. The Germans sink 99-ton tug Irishman and 83-ton dredger F.W. No. 20. There are 8 deaths total, five on the Irishman and three on the dredger.

Damage to Liverpool continues to be assessed. In the final raid on the 7th, which crept into the early hours of the 8th, the following ships were hit:

• 4969-ton British freighter Marton (sunk)
• 143-ton barge Rose (sunk)
• 3079-ton freighter Trentino (sunk)
• 127-ton barge Burmah (sunk)
• 591-ton freighter Royal Daffodil (damaged)
• 2544-ton Finnish freighter Annenberg (damaged)
• 2902-ton Belgian freighter Leopold II (damaged)
• 1376-ton Norwegian freighter Stromboli (damaged)
• 652-ton British crane Hercules (damaged).

The Hercules crane, very important to operations, is sunk but later raised and returned to service.

Kommodore Moelders of JG 51 claims a Spitfire from RAF No. 92 Squadron in his brand new Bf 109F. It is his third victory in the last few days in the new version of the Reich's front-line fighter, a good omen for future use of the plane by the rest of the Luftwaffe.

"Arab Legionnaires guard the landing ground at H4 pumping station on the Iraq Petroleum Company pipeline in Transjordan, as Gloster Gladiators of No. 94 Squadron RAF Detachment refuel during their journey from Ismailia, Egypt, to reinforce the besieged garrison at Habbaniyah, Iraq. On arrival at Habbaniyah, these aircraft formed No. 1 Flight of 'A' Squadron for operations against the Iraqi rebels." 8 May 1941. © IWM (CM 774).

Anglo/Iraq War: The war in Iraq itself is going well for the British, but Prime Minister Winston Churchill remains a troubled man. It is clear that the Germans have designs on the oil of the Middle East, and the Vichy French in Syria appear to hold the key. Churchill writes to General Ismay:

I must have the advice of the Staffs upon the Syrian business available for Cabinet this morning. A supreme effort must be made to prevent the Germans getting a foothold in Syria with small forces and then using Syria as a jumping-off ground for the air domination of Iraq and Persia. ... We ought to help in every way without minding what happens at Vichy.

While it is not clear what Churchill means by "a supreme effort" against Syria, that is the subject of the evening's War Cabinet meeting.

The British and Transjordanian forces crossing the desert from Palestine arrive at Rutbah Fort. They find it occupied by Iraqi forces under Rashid Ali, but the defenders are mostly just local policemen. The RAF sends four Blenheim bombers of No. 203 Squadron to bomb the fort while the British troops wait outside.

East African Campaign: After an opening attack by Indian troops at Amba Alagi that proved unsuccessful, fighting largely has died down at the Italian stronghold of Amba Alagi. An Indian 9th Infantry Brigade diversionary attack through the Falagi Pass to the east makes some progress and essentially clears the pass. However, the Italians counterattack and recover Centre and Khaki Hills. The British Army has reinforcements on the march only days away.

HMS Sickle (P224). Laid down: 8 May 1941. Launched: 27 August 1942. Commissioned: 1 December 1942. Fate: Sunk June 1944.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, is operating off of Cape Farewell on 7 May when it spots two freighters that have been dispersed from convoy OB-317. After missing in its first try and having to engage in a long chase, U-97 finally catches and sinks 4553-ton freighter Ramilles. There are 29 deaths and 12 survivors, who are rescued by freighter Geddington Court and taken to Halifax.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 521-ton anti-submarine yacht HMY Viva II about 13 miles west of Trevose Head. There are 22 deaths and ten survivors.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 93-ton naval drifter Uberty at Lowestoft. There are 13 deaths.

Royal Navy 79-ton drifter Thistle V hits a mine off Lowestoft and sinks. There are nine deaths and one survivor.

British 16-ton smack Thistle hits a mine and sinks off Clacton-on-Sea. Everyone survives.

Spanish 106-ton fishing trawler Luis Puebla hits a mine and sinks 160 miles northeast of Gijon. All nine aboard the ship survive.

Royal Navy patrol sloop Puffin has an accident with depth charges during exercises off the Humber. It requires two days of repairs.

Convoy OB 320 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sickle is laid down.

U-569 (Kptlt. Hans-Peter Hinsch) is commissioned, U-515 is laid down.

German raider Pinguin (Ship No. 33), sunk 8 May 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin, which is operating in the Arabian Sea and has been cruising since 15 June 1940, added to its phenomenal victory string on 7 May by sinking 3663-ton British freighter British Emperor. However, before being silenced, the radio operator on the British Emperor managed to get off a radio signal. The British have been searching fruitlessly for the Pinguin for months, and once again they send out an assortment of vessels to track it down. Heretofore the effects have failed, but today is different.

British cruiser HMS Cornwall, which had been 500 nautical miles (930 km) to the south of Pinguin, heads north and intercepts the German raider 400 miles off Somaliland. The Pinguin spots the Royal Navy ship first and tries to run away to the southwest at flank speed, but the Cornwall's Supermarine Walrus search plane spots the fleeing ship. The Cornwall is cautious: there are a lot of innocent ships in the vicinity, and Cmdr. Ernst-Felix Krüder of the Pinguin has disguised his ship carefully as Norwegian freighter Tamerlane. After returning to the Cornwall, the Walrus returns for a closer look. Once again the Walrus returns to the Cornwall, but then the decision is made to look over the suspicious ship a third time, and the captain of the Cornwall decides to take a look himself.

Ernst-Felix Krüder (6 December 1897 – 8 May 1941).

The Cornwall approaches and fires a warning shot, but the Pinguin attempts to flee. After numerous warning messages, the Pinguin finally runs up her battle flag and opens fire, straddling the Cornwall. It scores a hit in the cruiser's stern, causing one sailor to perish and wounding three, and the Cornwall has to retire. However, the damage is quickly dealt with and the Cornwall returns to the attack and begins to score hits. Within 27 minutes, the Pinguin receives a direct hit that triggers the 130 high-explosive mines stored in its hold, blowing the Pinguin apart. Cornwall then heads to Durban for repairs which take about one month.

There are 60 survivors of the Pinguin (Krüder goes down with his ship), and 24 of 238 prisoners held on the ship survive. In total, 214 prisoners and 341 crew of the Pinguin perish in the encounter. In total, during its 59,000-mile cruise, the Pinguin sank or captured 28 ships for a total of 136,642 gross register tons, and it has laid mines that have sunk an additional four ships of 18,068 tons. The biggest prize of all was the Pinguin's capture of the entire Norwegian Antarctic Whaling fleet, including two factory ships, eleven whalers, and a tanker.  That is all over now, though, and the Pinguin has the additional distinction of becoming the first German raider to be sunk.

Minesweeper HMAS Warrnambool is launched.

Warrnambool slides down the slipway at Mort's Dock, Sydney, 8 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Tobruk is quiet, but the sea war in the Mediterranean is becoming ferocious. The Tiger Convoy bound from Gibraltar to Alexandria has come within the reach of the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe, and today the first attacks on the critical convoy occur. Italian planes based on Sardinia are the first to attack, but Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sends up its dozen Fairy Fulmars and they drive off the attacking 50+ aircraft at the cost of one of their own. The loss, however, is felt deeply, because the dead pilot is Admiral Somerville's nephew. Another Fulmar also is lost, but the crew is picked up.

General Friedrich Paulus, who has been in North Africa on an "inspection tour" since being sent there on 24 April, flies to Rome for a meeting with Benito Mussolini. This leaves General Rommel in sole command of the Afrika Korps. Paulus is of the view, shared (perhaps not coincidentally) by his superiors at OKW, that Rommel is too headstrong and prone to over-extending his forces. However, neither Mussolini nor Hitler are dissatisfied with Rommel's handling of the Afrika Korps, so they do not act on Paulus' recommendations.

Winston Churchill keeps the pressure on his staff regarding the Takoradi route, which shuttles planes from the west coast of Africa to Cairo. He tells the War Cabinet that "greater efforts" are necessary, and that "It was evident that inadequate steps had been taken to secure American aid in erecting American aircraft."

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant is proceeding from Malta to Gibraltar for repairs when it spots and captures 1775 ton French freighter Gallium. The Truant takes the Gallium as a prize and continues with it toward Gibraltar. However, the Gallium has alerted the Vichy French of its situation, and the French decide to dispatch ships from Oran to recover it. This continues the very murky pattern of naval incidents between the Royal and French Navies during this period.

Bf 109E3B of 9.JG27 Brown 8, Gela, Sicily, May 1941.

The Luftwaffe mines the Suez Canal, as it has in the past, during the night.

Royal Navy submarine Cachalot arrives in Malta from Alexandria. It carries badly needed supplies. The bombing has become so regular at the island that the government there decides to relocate facilities underground. There is only one problem: everyone is in the military and there aren't enough miners to do the job. Governor Dobbie requests that miners be sent from Gibraltar for the job. Dobbie also bans the dissemination of all printed material, including newspapers such as the Government Gazette.

German/Spanish Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs an agreement with his Spanish counterpart by which Spanish workers will head north to work in German war plants.

The Strawberry Festival Parade in Humboldt, Tennessee. May 8, 1941.

Anglo-US Relations: Winston Churchill keeps a very close eye on political developments in the United States and is quick to react. He notices an article in the London Times quoting isolationist US Senator Vandenberg on 6 May that Churchill interprets as representing "efforts to belittle our losses." He tells his staff to publish actual shipping losses. While this may provide useful information to the Germans, Churchill views "the present state of American opinion" as more important. By the evening War Cabinet meeting, Churchill has a telegram ready to send to Harry Hopkins containing the true figures, which goes out before midnight. The telegram states:

Our shipping losses for April amount to  just under 500,000 tons sunk and 285,000 damaged. Of tonnage lost, over 300,000 were incurred in the Atlantic and the rest in the Mediterranean fighting. Besides the loss in ships sunk and damaged at sea we are losing very heavily in the bombing of our western ports when cargoes are destroyed or damaged.

Churchill adds that he will publish the figures on "this very bad month" on 15 May.

Australian/US Relations: Having met with Malcolm Macdonald in the morning, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies boards a train from Ottawa to Toronto and then flies down to Washington. He notes in his diary that "the French Canadians... are OK," an allusion to worries that they may choose to align with Vichy France rather than the Allies.

British Military: Vice Admiral L. E. Holland, CB, formerly Vice Admiral 18th Cruiser Squadron, is named temporary commander of the 18th Cruiser Squadron, replacing Vice-Admiral W.J. Whitworth. Holland will raise his flag on HMS Hood on 12 May.

Bomb damage at the bottom of Friar Lane, Nottingham, the night of 8-9 May 1941 (Photo courtesy of John Beckett, 1990. Book of Nottingham. 1st Edition. Barracuda Bks).

Italian Government: The Italians have been given large swathes of Dalmatia to govern by the Germans (the thinking being that the Italian military at least will be a match for the partisan movement already developing there), and the issue of who is to govern Croatia has become a subject of debate. The Duke of Aosta is considered the best choice, but he is hunkered down in Abyssinia with no way to get out and, besides, the King doesn't really like him. Essentially by a process of elimination of everyone the royal court can't stand, the choice is made today. Benito Mussolini, Foreign Minister Count Ciano and Anton Pavelic' meet at Monfalcone and confirm the lucky man: Prince Aimone, the trapped Duke of Aosta's brother.

It is not a popular choice - Mussolini can't stand the prince - but he is acceptable to the King and everyone else, so that is that. There's only one problem: nobody can find the prince. The rest of the day is spent searching for the lucky 41-year-old to tell him he has just been made king of the independent State of Croatia. Prince Aimone, however, is hiding out with his mistress and, quite frankly, doesn't want to be found. As Ciano writes in his diary:

When we looked for him, to give him the news, we managed to find him, only after twenty-four hours, in a Milan Hotel, where he was hiding in the company of a young girl.

When finally found, the prince laughs it off and says his proposed royal name, Tomislav II, sounds like "the name of a ruler in an operetta or that of a music-hall comedian." Finally, the King himself has to announce the selection for Prince Aimone to realize it is a serious proposition and accept the decision.

P-35As of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, photo taken from USAT Washington as it arrives in Manila on 8 May 1941 (Walter Hinkle via Clyde Childress).

Philippines: USAT Washington arrives at Pier 7 in Manila, carrying Philippine Department officers, including 39 Class 41-B graduates who are recent flying school graduates. The pilots will be divided between the 17th Pursuit Squadron and the 3rd Pursuit Squadron. Washington will spend six days in Manila, then head back to the States carrying officers' wives and other dependents. Commanding Brig. Gen. Henry B. Clagett, who himself only arrived in the Philippines on 4 May along with his chief of staff Col. Harold Huston George, greets the pilots and several staff forces for his new command, including Captain Charles Sprague, who will serve as an operations officer.

Serbia: The Sanski Most revolt continues, and the Germans respond today with extreme force. General Rudolf Sintzenich sends the 3rd Battalion of the 436 Infantry Regiment by train from Banja Luka to Sanksi Most via Prijedor. Other troops arrive from Bosanski Novi and Prijedor. The German counterattack opens at 8 a.m., and by 11 a.m. the Serb revolt is crushed. The Wehrmacht troops sweep the area of revolt with the local Ustaše troops, with most of the rebels throwing down their weapons and surrendering but dozens perishing in the fighting. The Germans have difficulty distinguishing rebels from the rest of the population, so they wind up capturing many civilians who had nothing to do with the fighting. Reprisal executions are planned for the 9th.

China: The Japanese offensive by the North China Front Army called the Battle of Southern Shansi (Chungyuan Operation) gathers steam. They attack Tungfeng and capture Tsiyuan, Menghsien, Fulochen, and Yuanchu. The Chinese Nationalist forces in the area are in trouble and call on nearby Communist forces for help, but the communists are slow to respond due to previous incidents with the Kuomintang.

A Marmon-Herrington Mk II armored car armed with an Italian Breda 20mm gun, near Tobruk, 8 May 1941." © IWM (E 2872).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Tuesday 6 May 1941

Australian 6th Division Troops landing at Suda Bay, Crete after their evacuation from Greece (Australian War Memorial).

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 6 May 1941 gradually have been pushing the Iraqis back from their stronghold at Habbaniyah Airfield west of Baghdad. Today, they clear the plateau to the south which overlooks the airfield from which the Iraqis have been shelling the airfield with 28 artillery pieces. The Iraqis flee in disarray after taking 1000 casualties, falling back on Baghdad with the rag-tag British troops (chiefly the King's Own Royal Regiment) in pursuit in armoured cars. The British catch up to the Iraqis at Sinn El Dhibban, taking 433 prisoners while losing 7 killed and 14 wounded.

Hitler still wants to send troops and planes to Iraq. His representative in Paris, Otto Abetz, receives tentative permission from Admiral Darlan, the Foreign Minister of Vichy France under Petain, to do so (in exchange for cutting the French indemnity owed to Germany from 20 million to 15 million Reichsmarks per day). Of course, there is the little matter of getting German troops to Syria in the first place, which is a tricky proposition given Royal Navy command of the eastern Mediterranean. The British already have two columns of troops of their own on their way across the desert from their possessions in Palestine and today receive the 21st Indian Brigade at the port of Basra, so the possibility of a remote battle between Axis and Allied troops in the desert looms.

Hermann Goering is eager to increase his prestige with operations in Iraq. He organizes Fliegerführer Irak with 12 Messerschmitt Bf110 fighters and 12 Heinkel He111 bombers under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel Werner Junck. Of course, this force also must find its way to Iraq.

In London, Winston Churchill writes an angry memo to General Ismay about a military appreciation he has received of the Iraq situation. The analysis by Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell and General Bernard Auchinleck of the Indian Command suggests that the British troops in Palestine, which are headed to relieve the British forces in Iraq, are insufficient to overcome the Iraqi Army. Wavell and Auchinleck are pessimistic and they project that the outnumbered British will be forced to surrender by the 12th of May. Churchill notes that British losses in Iraq "have been nominal as so far reported" and rejects the recommendation that negotiations with Iraqi leader Rashid Ali be planned. "We should treat the present situation like a rebellion," Churchill concludes, and the British Army has a century of experience in handling those.

Damage in Belfast, Ireland from the Belfast Blitz which concluded on 5 May 1941 (Belfast Telegraph).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks Liverpool again as part of the May Blitz. The bombing causes additional damage.

The Germans damage several ships. These include:

• 4861-ton British freighter Industria, but it manages to make it to Greenock for repairs
• 3874-ton Greek freighter Moscha D. Kydoniefs

The Germans also attack Greenock, Scotland. This is the first of two consecutive nightly attacks that collectively are known as the Greenock Blitz. The Luftwaffe loses at least two bombers during the night.

The RAF sends a Roadstead operation to Gravelines during the day. RAF Bomber Command sends 8 aircraft to attack shipping. After dark, it sends 16 bombers against Le Havre and 115 to attack Hamburg.

Kommodore Mölders of JG 51 shoots down an RAF No. 601 Squadron Hurricane for another victory in his new Bf 109F fighter.

East African Campaign: Indian Troops attacking at Amba Alagi are pinned down by withering Italian crossfire throughout the day. They retreat after dark.

HMS Camito, sunk on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-103 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 5529-ton British freighter Surat about 100 miles off Conakry, Guinea. There are three deaths. There is still an element of chivalry in the sea war, with the Germans helpfully righting a lifeboat for the struggling British crew.

U-103 also torpedoes and sinks 4752-ton British freighter Dunkwa in the same area. There are three deaths.

U-556 (Kptlt. Herbert Wohlfarth)  is on its first patrol out of Kiel when it uses its deck gun and sinks 166-ton Faroes fishing trawler Emanuel west of the Faroe Islands. There are three deaths.

U-105 (Kptlt. Georg Schewe) torpedoes and sinks 4255-ton British freighter Oakdene midway between Guinea-Bissau and Brazil. Everyone survives.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Camito southwest of Ireland. There are 28 deaths and a few survivors. U-97 also torpedoes and sinks 6466-ton Italian freighter Sango in the same area. The Camito has been escorting the recently captures blockade runner Sango to port in England - obviously ineffectively.

Convoy HG 61 departs Gibraltar bound for Liverpool, Convoys HX 125A and B departs from Halifax also bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sea Nymph is laid down.

U-613 and U-614 are laid down.

Igor Sikorsky, wearing his customary homburg, at the time of his record-breaking helicopter flight in VS-300 on 6 May 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The battle on land at Tobruk has subsided for the moment, so attention turns to the war at sea. Both sides depend completely on supplies from their home countries, with the Axis troops favored by the short but somewhat risky route from Naples to Tripoli. The Allies have a relatively clear supply route - setting aside the omnipresent threat of U-boats - around Cape Horn and up toward Suez. However, that passage takes several weeks, time that the Allies cannot spare. So, with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as the main instigator, the decision has been made to send a convoy "up the gut" from Gibraltar all the way across the Mediterranean to Malta and Alexandria. This is the Tiger Convoy.

Tiger leaves Gibraltar today. It is composed of five large troop transports escorted by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleships Renown and Queen Elizabeth, cruisers Fiji, Gloucester, Naiad and Sheffield, and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla. Ark Royal has a new commander, Captain Loben Maund, as Captain Holland has been relieved due to "stress." The convoy is limited in speed by its slowest ship, as all convoys are, and travels at a still-brisk 14 knots (26 km/h). Italian aircraft quickly spot it, and the Luftwaffe readies its forces on Sardinia and Sicily to intercept it. Curiously, the Italian Navy remains in port.

Winston Churchill, who apparently is in a foul mood throughout the day, sends an angry memo to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal which includes in relevant part:

Here is another shocking week at Takoradi. Only 18 aircraft have been despatched, whereas I think a programme of nearly double the number was promised. I am afraid it must be realized that this is a very great failure in our arrangements, which may play its part in a disastrous result to the great battle proceeding in the Nile Valley [by which Churchill apparently means North Africa in general].

Takoradi is the airfield in the British colony of the Gold Coast (Ghana) which serves as the key transit hub for flights to Cairo (a 3700-mile air route) aka the West African Reinforcement Route (WARR). Churchill wishes more planes to be shuttled from Takoradi to Cairo to help in the defense of North Africa. Bemoaning the "complete breakdown," Churchill demands an accounting.

Churchill also sends a sarcastic memo to General Sir John Dill, asking that the suitability and supply of maps by Allied forces in Crete be determined, "Otherwise we shall soon find that any German arrivals will be better informed about the island than our men."

In another memo, Churchill demands of Admiral Pound an inquiry into a "lapse of Staff work" over problems transporting a mobile naval base defense organization to Suda Bay, Crete. The base took 12 weeks to arrive and was packed in a disorganized fashion, he notes.

British military intelligence is hardening that Crete will be the next German objective in the Mediterranean. This is largely based on Ultra decrypts of coded Wehrmacht transmissions. However, Churchill is desperate to not let the Ultra secret out, so he allows commanding General Bernard Freyberg to believe that the Germans will arrive in ships rather than by air.

The German 8th Panzerregiment arrives at Tripoli aboard a convoy to Tripoli.

The RAF (830 Squadron) attacks Tripoli, losing a plane. Two crewmen are made prisoner and one perishes.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku torpedoes and sinks 2322 ton Italian freighter Cagliari about three miles (5 km) off Fuscaldo, southern Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant torpedoes and sinks 1716 ton Italian freighter Bengasi a few miles off Cavoli, Elba, Italy.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triumph spots a German convoy heading north from Tripoli. It attacks but misses.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Cachalot arrives at Gibraltar from England loaded with supplies for Malta. It will continue toward the island on the 8th.

At Malta, the air defense is refined to alternate defense by fighters and anti-aircraft fire. During a large 36-plane Luftwaffe raid in the evening on Grand Harbour, the fighters shoot down one or two raiders and damage another. In addition, anti-aircraft fire shoots down two Junkers Ju 88s.

Convoy AN 30, composed of four freighters, departs from Haifa and Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete.

Joseph Stalin, 1941.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Convoy US 10B departs from Colombo. It includes three large liners - 44,786 ton Aquitania, 43,450 ton Ile De France, and 35,739 ton Mauretania. It is escorted by New Zealand light cruiser Leander.

War Crimes: Churchill sends a memo to General Ismay which states in relevant part:

Surely I gave directions that the C-in-C was to have full liberty to capture enemy hospital ships in retaliation for their brutality.

On its face, this memo is evidence of Churchill authorizing war crimes (Churchill asks for previous correspondence on the matter to be found, but it is unclear if such exists).

Attacking or capturing hospital ships is against the rules of war. There have been many instances on both sides of attacks on hospital ships, though, so it is open to interpretation how much of a breach of international law Churchill's stance really is. Certainly, whoever wins the will is likely to hide their own breaches of the rules of warfare and prosecute the other side's transgressions, this is known sardonically on both sides as "victor's justice."

Ernest Hemingway with Madame Chiang Kai-shek (left) and Martha Gellhorn in provisional capital Chungking (Chongqing), China.

Spy Stuff: Soviet spy Richard Sorge, posing as a hard-partying newspaperman in Tokyo, warns Stalin of German plans to invade the Soviet Union. In his dispatch today, he writes:

Possibility of outbreak of war at any moment is very high…. German generals estimate the Red Army’s fighting capacity is so low…[it] will be destroyed in the course of a few weeks.

This information, of course, is extremely accurate and jibes with more general warnings coming from various other sources, such as his military attache in Berlin. However, Stalin does not think much of Sorge - viewing him as a sort of ne'er-do-well more interested in partying than providing useful information. Accordingly, Stalin does not change his own dispositions to any great extent.

Separately and coincidentally, Ernest Hemingway, who many think serves as a US spy (this is only hypothetical and never proven) and who accurately predicts the eventual outbreak of war between the National and Communist Chinese, departs today from Hong Kong aboard a Pan Am Clipper to return to the United States. Hemingway has been in Asia for 100 days on a very curious trip accompanying his new bride, Martha Gellhorn. Hemingway has led a hard-partying lifestyle (which seems to have been common among expatriates in Asia at the time). Hemingway, in fact, has spent much of the trip alone - or, shall we say discreetly, without his wife - and his solo departure is commonly seen as marking the end of his brief marriage. Gellhorn, who actually may have been the spy in the couple (all of this is conjecture), will carry a grudge against Hemingway for the rest of her life. Hemingway will have many more direct interactions with World War II over the next few years.

US/Australian Relations: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, aboard a Clipper flying boat, arrives safely in Bermuda. He has breakfast, then departs immediately for New York aboard a Douglas DC-3. He is ensconced in the Ritz-Carlton by dinnertime.

Vichy French/Japanese Relations: The Japanese conclude a trade agreement with French Indochina.

Republic XP-47B Thunderbolt prototype, 40-3051, at Farmingdale, New York, 1941. (Republic Aviation Corporation).

US Military: First flight of the Republic XP-47B (40-3051), with Lowry P. Brabham as the pilot, at Republic Field in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. The aircraft performs well, and the US Army Air Corps approves further development. Designed by Alexander Kartveli, the large all-metal fighter with elliptical wings has had several redesigns, but this one sticks. After much further development, the design will become the famous P-47 Thunderbolt, of which 15, 579 will be built.

Igor Sikorsky continues working on his helicopter design, the VS-300, which has been the designation for a constantly changing design. Today, he scores a major success when he flies the experimental chopper (hovering) for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds, which is a new record, beating that of the Luftwaffe's Focke-Wulf Fw 61.

The Douglas Aircraft Company begins taxiing tests of its new XB-19 four-engine bomber at Santa Monica Airport. The plane is the largest in the world and is so heavy (86,000 lbs or 39,009 kg) that it breaks through the airport pavement. The U. S. Government has paid $1,400,064 for it and Douglas itself has spent almost $4,000,000 in company funds to complete it.

Looking ahead, the XB-19 is remembered as the B-19, but after a long period of development (which aided the development of other planes) was not accepted for production and was scrapped. Two of its enormous main tires will be saved and put on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, though apparently, they are no longer there. Of course, the Germans would love to have any effective four-engine bomber, while the Americans have the luxury of testing out different kinds, keeping some and rejecting others.

Radio star Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope does a rare personal appearance at March Field in Riverside, California, broadcasting his Pepsodent show from there. Hope unexpectedly finds that he enjoys performing before a live audience, particularly servicemen who are not too demanding about the quality of the show. This will lead to Hope's long association with the USO during World War II and thereafter. Hope is a US citizen, naturalized at the age of 17 in 1920 after having immigrated from the United Kingdom, but is well past draft age and is not compelled to participate in the war. Hope will be a leading figure among a select group of celebrities including Hemingway and John Wayne who will work with the US military to provide various specialized services without actually mustering in.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV 5) is transiting the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal at night when it scrapes the side and sustains slight damage.

A postcard of the B-19. It receives a lot of attention in the media throughout its unsuccessful life.

Soviet Government: In a decision approved several days ago, Stalin officially succeeds Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Thus, Stalin becomes the de jure as well as the de facto leader of the Soviet Union - but there never at any time has been any doubt whatsoever that he is the boss. This ruling-from-behind-the-scenes strategy is a recurring theme in Russian politics.

The change is noted by the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Werner von der Schulenburg. Schulenburg opposes any military action against the Soviet Union, though he has not officially been made aware of the plans for Operation Barbarossa (though he may at this time be aware through rumors and personal observations). Ambassador Schulenburg reports the change in Soviet leadership to Berlin but passes it off as nothing but a public rebuke of Molotov for allowing German/Soviet relations to wither. The reasons for the change, in fact, are murky and subject to interpretation, especially considering that on the 5th of May, Stalin had given two bellicose secret speeches to graduating military officers in the Kremlin which strongly suggested that he, too, was contemplating beginning a war with Germany. Molotov, in any event, is not out of favor. Stalin may, viewing the change in that context, be preparing his leadership role for the war he himself intends to start.

Wehrmacht soldiers chatting with Dutch kids, May 1941.

Philippines: Newly arrived Brigadier General Henry B. Clagett assumes command of the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. His chief of staff is Colonel Harold Huston George.

Poland: A Polish doctor, Zygmunt Klukowski, observes the Germans conscripting local civilians to build military installations. Klukowski finds this curious as he notes it in his diary since there seems little need to do so in peacetime conditions.

Yugoslavia: Serbs in Kijevo and Tramošnja villages are celebrating Đurđevdan slava, an Eastern Orthodox holy day in honor of Saint George when the Ustaše do something that provokes them. This develops into a massive revolt called the May 1941 Sanski Most revolt, or alternatively the Đurđevdan uprising or the revolt of the Sana peasants. The Serbs generally were pro-British before the war, and there is an element of baiting going on by the Ustaše regime. The revolt quickly spreads, and the Serbs chase the Ustaše out of town. The escaping Ustaše request German military aid from the garrison at Prijedor.

American Homefront: US Secretary for War Henry L. Stimson makes a radio broadcast in which he announces his support for using US warships to protect British freighters. He says that Americans must sacrifice in defense of freedom. According to Stimson:

The world is facing so great a crisis that all of our efforts must be turned toward the defense of our nation's safety. . . . our own self-defense requires that limits should be put to lawless aggression on the ocean. The President has said that we must not allow the steps which we have already taken to become ineffective.

USS Grayback during a shakedown cruise in Long Island Sound, 6 May 1941 (United States National Archives and Records Administration).

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk
May 2, 1941: Anglo-Iraq War
May 3, 1941: Liverpool Hammered
May 4, 1941: Hitler Victory Speech
May 5, 1941: Patriots Day
May 6, 1941: Stalin In Command
May 7, 1941: May Blitz
May 8, 1941: Pinguin Sunk
May 9, 1941: U-110 Captured
May 10, 1941: Hess Flies Into History
May 11, 1941: The Hess Peace Plan
May 12, 1941: Tiger Arrives Safely
May 13, 1941: Keitel's Illegal Order
May 14, 1941: Holocaust in Paris
May 15, 1941: Operation Brevity
May 16, 1941: Blitz Ends
May 17, 1941: Habbaniya Relieved
May 18, 1941: Croatia Partitioned
May 19, 1941: Bismarck at Sea
May 20, 1941: Invasion of Crete
May 21, 1941: Robin Moore Sinking
May 22, 1941: Royal Navy Destruction Off Crete
May 23, 1941: Crete Must Be Won
May 24, 1941: Bismarck Sinks Hood
May 25, 1941: Lütjens' Brilliant Maneuver
May 26, 1941: Bismarck Stopped
May 27, 1941: Bismarck Sunk
May 28, 1941: Crete Lost
May 29, 1941: Royal Navy Mauled Off Crete
May 30, 1941: Sorge Warns, Stalin Ignores
May 31, 1941: British Take Baghdad

2020

Friday 4 April 1941

"A formation of Supermarine Spitfire Mark IIAs of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron dip their wings as they pass the saluting base during a visit by Władysław Raczkiewicz, the President of Poland, to RAF Northolt, 4 April 1941." © IWM (CH 2442).

Italian/Greek Campaign: On 4 April 1941, Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 27, which is not given a formal title, only a day after No. 26. Unlike the elaborate planning being undertaken for Operation Barbarossa, Operation Marita is being improvised at the last minute.

While a shot has yet to be fired, the Directive opens with the sentence, "The Yugoslav forces are in process of disintegration." The Directive enumerates the following "aims" for each country:

1. The aim of the operation is to destroy the remaining Yugoslav forces and to clean up and occupy the country. 
2. As soon as adequate forces have been concentrated in the area of the Florina and the Salonika Basin, the decisive attack against the Anglo-Greek forces in northern Greece will be launched. The object of this operation will be, by a quick breakthrough in the direction of Larissa, to encircle and annihilate the enemy forces there, and to prevent the establishment of a new defensive front.

The ultimate goal in Greece is "occupying the rest of the Greek mainland including the Peloponnese." The operation is considered so easy that Hitler even includes how many occupation forces will be left after the entire country is occupied.

Convoy ASF 23 (three supply ships) departs from Piraeus bound for Alexandria with a lavish escort that outnumbers the ships being protected.

East African Campaign: Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham's forces approach Addis Ababa after an advance averaging 35 miles a day over a thousand miles. The Italians hurriedly evacuate the city. The British take 50,000 prisoners around the city at a cost of only 135 men killed. Taking the capital gives British control over 360,000 square miles of jungle and mountains. Italian commander the Duke of Aosta withdraws with his remaining forces. Aosta's forces are suffering from malaria and other maladies, and he himself has tuberculosis.

The game is almost up at Massawa. The Indian 5th Infantry Division arrives at the outskirts of the city to see the Italians and Germans in the harbor furiously at work scuttling their ships. Among those that sink there:
Italian torpedo boat Acerbi

• 8045-ton tanker Crefeld
• 7487-ton tanker Frauenfels (salvaged as Empire Niger)
• 5155-ton freighter Gera (salvaged as Empire Indus)
• 7566-ton freighter Lichtenfels (salvaged as Empire Nile)
• 7885-ton freighter Oliva
• 3564-ton freighter Adua
• 5400-ton freighter Brenta
• 5943-ton freighter Arabia
• 5148-ton freighter Romolo Gessi
• 4880-ton freighter Impero
• 5430-ton freighter Vesuvio (salvaged)
• 5006-ton freighter XXIII Marzo

The War Illustrated, No. 83, 4 April 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe returns to Bristol and Avonmouth during the night with 83 planes from KG 77, KG 27, KG 54 and KGr 806, led by pathfinders from KG 26 and KGr 100. There are ten Heinkel He 111s equipped with X-Verfahren radio direction finders and a Y-Verfahren-equipped Heinkel from III,/KG 26 which crashes near Hewish, Somerset. The attack lasts from 21:00 to 01:30. The Germans attack Falmouth and sink Free French sloops Suippe and Conquerant.

The British try a new tactic to disrupt the Luftwaffe attacks. The civil defense authorities use Haslar Smoke Generators at Newcastle to obscure the city. This is the beginning of a ten-day period in which Newcastle and nearby towns are protected by this method. The Luftwaffe does not attack the towns while they are obscured by smoke, but there is no indication that they intended to do so in the first place.

RAF Bomber Command sends 54 bombers to attack Brest (see below). Luftwaffe night fighter pilot Lt. Hans Hahn downs two Hampden bombers for his fifth and sixth victories, making him an ace.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzie visits Dublin and notes, "In Dublin life goes on and there is no blackout - it seems queer!"

Battle of the Atlantic: The RAF knows that German heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock in Brest, so it sends a second mission (the first was on 30-31 March) against the two ships. While there are no direct hits, a 500 lb (227 kg) armor-piercing bomb just misses Gneisenau. The local authorities decide that the ships are too vulnerable in the dry dock and decide to move them out into the harbor for safety.

The "Action of 4 April 1941" takes place. German raider Thor is on its way back to Germany when it comes across Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Voltaire, a converted passenger liner. As the two ships approach head-on, Captain Otto Kähler of the Thor orders his men to open fire. The first salvo destroys Voltaire's generator and radio room, meaning the ship is unable to radio its position. Only two of Voltaire's six six-inch guns are able to return fire, and they manage only one hit that destroys its radio aerial. Thor has trouble with its guns, which overheat and force it to cease firing, but at that moment the Voltaire raises the white flag. Thor stands off and rescues Voltaire's crew, taking off 196 of 296 men. After this incident, Thor continues heading north. This is the second armed merchant cruiser that Thor has beaten, the other being HMS Carnarvon Castle on 5 December (which made it to Montevideo).

The attacks on Convoy SC-26 in the mid-Atlantic continue today, as more fully described in the entry for the 3rd:

• 2467-ton Norwegian freighter Helle (sunk by U-98, all survive)
• 5122-ton British freighter Welcombe (sunk by U-98, 20 perish)
• 5414-ton British freighter Harbledown (sunk by U-94, 16 perish)
• 8132-ton British tanker Conus (sunk by U-97, all perish)
• 5351-ton British freighter Athenic (part of Convoy SC-26, but traveling independently by choice; torpedoed and damaged, sinks on the 5th).

U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Whilhelm Schulz), operating far to the south, also gets a victory north of the Cape Verde Islands. It sinks 6507-ton British tanker Marlene. There are 13 deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 4815-ton British freighter Salvus off Cromer. There are four deaths.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sink 164-ton British trawler Whitby a few miles from Blackwater Light Vessel off the east coast of Wexford.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 6914-ton British tanker Cape Verde in the middle of St. George's Channel off Wexford. Cape Verde makes it to port.

The first steps of Operation Principal take place. This is a projected attack on French battleship Dunkerque. The force is led by battlecruiser HMS Renown and aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Furious. This operation is based on spy information that the French ship is about to leave port.

German 8820 ton Dithmarschen-class fleet-replenishment tanker ("trosschiff," combining the roles fulfilled by tanker, a repair ship, ammunition ship, and dry cargo ship) Ermland completes its long journey from Japan, arriving at Bordeaux.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Cromer (J 128, Lt. Commander Arthur E. Coles) is commissioned.

General Rommel's troops advancing in Libya, Spring 1941 (Eric Borchert, Federal Archive).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Afrika Korp's reconnaissance observes the last British (Australian 20th Infantry Brigade) retreating east from Benghazi, with the main force retreating east from Barce. The British are at Msus by 11:00. The Germans surmise that the British will hold Mechili for flank protection of Tobruk. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's headquarters radios Lt. Colonel Graf Schwerin of the 3rd Recon Battalion to:

push to the coast and carry out Operation Tmimi... prevent move of English to the east. Push forward to Tobruk with forward detachment.

Rommel also orders the Italian Ariete Division to take Mechili. Schwerin's unit takes the abandoned Benghazi without any issues by about midday. Rommel drives to Benghazi and tells Schwerin to join the attack on Mechili as soon as the Italian Brescia Division arrives to garrison Benghazi. The Germans duly head east to the Green Mountain, but run into a British minefield protected by artillery and tanks. The Germans lose several tanks and abandon the pursuit for the moment. However, the Luftwaffe is active and destroys a British column of 21 trucks, splashing 1600 tons of gasoline onto the desert.

The fast and unexpected pace of the offensive also is causing the Germans logistical problems. In addition, the Germans follow numerous British vehicle tracks into the desert which only cause their vehicles to bog down in the sand. In addition, sand often drifts across the roads during times of heavy winds, completely obscuring them and causing German vehicles to drive off of them and get bogged down. The 5th Light Division requests that all further supplies be sent only by 4-wheel-drive trucks.

The Regia Aeronautica attacks shipping off Corfu and sinks Greek torpedo boat Prousa and 932 ton Greek freighter Sussanna.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Rorqual makes port in Malta after a minelaying operation west of Sicily.

An incident takes place in Malta that shows the mixed feelings on the island about the war. Some conscripts from the local population are refusing service because they claim that their enlistment notices are out of date and thus unenforceable. Governor Dobbie requests instructions from Whitehall on how to proceed.

Battle of the Pacific: British mooring vessel HMS Buffalo hits a mine and sinks off Singapore. There are 32 killed. The only ones laying mines in the area are the British themselves.

British freighter Salvus during its trials in 1928; sunk 4 April 1941 by the Luftwaffe in the English Channel.

Anglo/US Relations: Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends President Roosevelt a telegram giving an update on the Battle of the Atlantic. He notes that, because the Royal Navy has been able to "strengthen our escorts" - presumably as a result of the destroyers-for-bases agreement of September 1940 - the U-boats "have now moved further west." He requests "ten cutters" for operations out of Iceland because "our losses are increasingly serious."

Separately, President Roosevelt agrees to Churchill's request that British warships can be repaired in US shipyards. He goes further and orders that Royal Navy warships on combat missions can be refueled there, too. Naturally, the same courtesies are not extended to German warships.

US/Bulgarian Relations: The Roosevelt Administration orders that all Bulgarian assets in the United States be frozen.

US/Italian Relations: Due to a report that Italian Admiral Alberto Lais, the Naval Attache to the Italian Embassy, has been tied to "the commission by certain persons of acts in violation of the laws of the United States," President Roosevelt demands Admiral Lais' withdrawal. These "acts" were the orders to sabotage Italian ships interned in US waters (and since seized by the US government).

German/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka wrangles a meeting with Adolf Hitler and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. Hitler obviously places great priority on Germany's relationship with Japan to schedule the meeting at this time, with preparations for Operation Marita revving into high gear. Germany would "strike without delay" if a Japanese attack on British Asian possessions should cause the United States to declare war on Japan. Note that Hitler continues the Ribbentrop line of urging an attack on Great Britain, but not on the United States.

Matsuoka, for his part, asks that Germany provide Japan, via the Technical Military Commission of the Tripartite Pact, with submarine blueprints and cutting edge U-boat technology. This, Matsuoka says, would be necessary for an attack on Singapore, which is music to Hitler's ears. In addition, Matsuoka adds that Japan would be at war with the United States at some point and that the Japanese intent to attack Singapore should be kept quiet and not mentioned in cables to Tokyo lest it leak out to the Allies, suggesting that the Japanese are beginning to worry that at least some of their communications are being intercepted. Ambassador Oshima is to serve as the conduit of the technical information.

Naoki Hoshino.

Japanese Government: Chief Cabinet Secretary Naoki Hoshino, chief of the "Project Department" inside the Finance Ministry, is elevated to the House of Peers. He is replaced by Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki, who is named President of the Planning Board and Minister without Portfolio. This is a subtle preparation for war; while it appears that Hoshino is being promoted, in fact, he is being removed at the behest of the military. Hoshino has been warning that, while there is sufficient oil in Japanese storage tanks to tide the military over until the Netherlands East Indies can be seized, that will only be the case if those stocks are carefully managed. Imperial Headquarters now wants someone it trusts - one might say "controls" - in charge of those stocks. Essentially, the Japanese economy now is going on a war footing.

Yugoslavian Government: Deputy Prime Minister Vladko Maček, leader of the Croatian Peasant Party, had been in Zagreb on 27 March. At that time, he had counseled Prince Paul to fight to retain his regency. However, under the new Simović government, his fate had been unclear. Today, Maček decides to accept Simović's request that he continue on as Deputy Prime Minister and arrives in Belgrade. He requires, among other things, that the new government respects the Cvetković–Maček Agreement and affirm the Tripartite Agreement. This all apparently is satisfactory to Simović.

Separately, exiled Croatian politician and Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić, broadcasting from Florence, Italy, uses his Radio Velebit program to call for an uprising against the Yugoslavian government by the pro-German Croatian people.

Frank Etherton, a member of the Blackfriars at the University of Chicago, puts on a show as Frankie Etherton in "Typical Miss Campus 1941," April 1941 (University of Chicago Archival Photographic Files).

US Military: The US Navy orders many units transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic Fleets. These include:

• Battleship USS Idaho
• Battleship USS Mississippi
• Battleship USS New Mexico
• The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown
• Light cruiser USS Philadelphia
• Light cruiser USS Brooklyn
• Light cruiser USS Savannah
• Light cruiser USS Nashville
• Nine destroyers of the 8th and 9th Destroyer Squadrons.

Departing Pearl Harbor within the next 60 days for their new ports in the Atlantic will be the Idaho, Yorktown, Mississippi, New Mexico, Brooklyn, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Savannah, among others.

General George S. Patton, Jr. takes command of the 2nd Armored Division with the temporary rank of Major General.

Swedish Military: Commander-in-chief General Olof Thörnell issues a memorandum recommending participation in a war against the Soviet Union in order, among other reasons, to aid sister nation Finland. This is an interesting position to take, seeing as how Sweden did not help Finland during the Winter War despite repeated pleas from the Finnish government. The real reason is buried in the text, "so that the land war can be held at a distance from our borders."

Canadian Government: Order in Council PC 2385, The Merchant Seamen Order, provides that authorities may detain unruly sailors from all ships in Canadian ports of any nationality.

German Homefront: Ohm Krüger (English: Uncle Krüger) opens. It stars Emil Jannings, winner of the first Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1929. Ohm Krüger is a biographical treatment of Paul Krüger, President of the Transvaal Free State during the time of the Boer War. As with other wartime films out of Germany, it is full of anti-British themes and pro-German undercurrents. So, Queen Victoria is portrayed as a lush, while Krüger bears obvious character similarities to how the Ministry of Propaganda would like the German public to think of Adolf Hitler. The British as greedy, obsessed with gold, while the Boers are hardworking peasants who only want to work the land. A major theme is how horrible the British concentration camps were. Gisela Uhlen co-stars as Petra Krüger, the strong Aryan wife, and Ferdinand Marian plays Cecil Rhodes. The film concludes with the Boers losing, of course, but also a "hopeful" (and certainly wishful) statement from the Krüger character about how someday things will be set right:

We were just a small and weak folk. Big and powerful folks will stand up against the British tyranny. They will beat England to the ground. God will be with them. Then the way is free for a better world. 

American Homefront: There is a major America's First Committee meeting at the Manhattan Center. The featured speakers are Colonel Charles Lindbergh, author Kathleen Norris, and isolationist Massachusetts Senator David Walsh. Walsh supported James Farley for President in 1940 and runs the key Naval Affairs Committee. The affair is extremely well attended.

As will become a matter of some controversy in the future, it is alleged by some that Walsh at around this time is patronizing a "house of degradation" (male prostitution) in Brooklyn during this time. This "house" in question also is patronized by three foreign agents. However, these charges are never proven and Walsh may, in fact, have nothing to do with it. It is true, though, that many fear Walsh's political views and are looking for any dirt they can find to smear and discredit him. The "homosexual" label is considered extremely toxic during this time and is a favorite weapon used to destroy political careers (as we will see with Sumner Welles). The charges are usually composed of extremely flimsy evidence. They are worth mentioning, however, to illustrate the polarized political climate developing in the United States, of which these America's First rallies are both a beneficiary and a cause.

Students learn how to bandage patients at Camp Roosevelt, Ocala, Florida, 4 April 1941 (Charles Foster, Florida Memory).

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020