Monday 14 April 1941

"The For'ard 14" guns of HMS KING GEORGE V firing during practice." April 1941. © IWM (A 3888).

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The German 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still only brigade-size during the battle for Greece) is through the Klidi and Kleisoura Passes by 14 April 1941. It now is pursuing the retreating British and Greek armies south. The German 9th Panzer Division comes up against the new Allied blocking position at Siatista Pass, but such is the disarray on the Allied side that only one battalion of the 82nd Regiment of the 12th Greek Division is in place to delay them.

The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani in northern Greece, which was the first main objective following the XL Panzer Corps' turn south. In addition, the Germans send some units across the Aliakmon River near Thessaloniki and take Katerini, which is only 6 km from the coastline. The British have pulled back slightly there, but remain in the vicinity to prevent further German advances.

The British strategy right now still is to stop the Germans, not to evacuate. They put forces into three main zones: the Olympus Pass, the Servia Pass, and the Platamon tunnel sector west of Olympus. In effect, the British have abandoned the Aliakmon Line even though they still have scattered units trying to hold it. The British organize "Savige Force" under Brigadier S. G. Savige with 1st Armored Brigade and 17th Australian Brigade to defend their left flank.

The Yugoslavian Zetska Division had been leading the advance to the west against the Italian positions in Albania, but the sudden appearance of German forces on its flank has compelled it to retreat. Today, it sits on the Pronisat River, watched carefully by the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Because of this withdrawal, the Greek forces in Albania are now completely cut off. However, the Italians in Albania are very quiet.

The RAF bombs the Italian port of Valona (Vlore) with Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Squadron. They sink 3329-ton Italian freighter Luciano and 1228 ton Italian freighter Stampalia. The British lose a Swordfish, with one man killed and two becoming prisoners.

King Peter arrives at a secret British airbase in northwest Greece at Paramythia. That is an Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparrowhawk. Peter is fourth from the left facing the camera, bare-headed and in a tweed jacket. (R.J. Dudman via Serbianna).

King Peter II abandons Yugoslavia and flees to Athens. He departs from Kopino Polje airport in Niksic, Montenegro, thence to Paramythia, the site of a top-secret RAF airfield (near the Yugoslav/Albanian border) previously used (in February) by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. Prime Minister (and Yugoslav Chief of Staff) Dusan Simovic and other top military and government leaders also flee separately. The Yugoslav gold reserves also are flown out. Peter flies from here to Athens, then to Alexandria, then to Jerusalem, then to Cairo.

The Yugoslav government is under no illusions. It is considering asking the Germans for a ceasefire. Some accounts state that they request one late today.

British Col. Oakley-Hill, an old Albanian hand, has been trying to organize the Albanian resistance. With the situation rapidly changing, he is recalled. Resistance efforts, however, will continue.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7264-ton transport Clan Cummin at sea, then it hits a mine and sinks in Eleusis Bay northwest of Athens. While 36 men are rescued by the Allies, 77 become German prisoners.

Time Magazine, 14 April 1941 - Adolf Hitler - "Spring is Here."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Dutch power stations with 14 bombers and coastal targets with another 14 bombers during the day. Then, after dark, the RAF sends 94 bombers to attack the French port of Brest, where German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock.

The RAF has a tragic accident when a Halifax bomber crashes at Tollerton, near RAF Linton on Ouse. The engineer apparently shuts off the engines accidentally. Two of the crew are injured.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its 8th and final patrol, torpedoes and sinks 6563-ton Belgian freighter Ville de Liège about 810 miles (1300 km) east of Cape Farewell, off southern Greenland. There are ten survivors. This is U-52's final victory, it will return to port after this and spend its remaining years as a training boat. During its eight patrols, it sank 13 Allied ships.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping at Falmouth and bombs and sinks Free French Naval Forces gunboat Conquérante. Also sunk is French gunboat Suippe, which is later refloated.

German guard ship H 453 Gretchen sinks of unknown causes.

USS Gar (Lieutenant D. McGregor) is commissioned at New London, Connecticut.

The Des Moines Register, 14 April 1941. The big news is yesterday's Russia/Japan nonaggression pact.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies is concerned, and he notes the situation tersely in his diary:

The position in Libya becomes worse, and Egypt is threatened. In Balkans, the Jugo-Slavs are going to collapse, and as the Greeks have not withdrawn their Albanian divisions, the Aliakhmon line will probably be turned and our Greek position rendered untenable.

At the War Cabinet meeting, Menzies disagrees with Churchill's strategy to hold Tobruk as a rallying point. Menzies views the War Cabinet as "deplorable" and Churchill as a "dictator" who cows his ministers into submission. Menzies, who has been planning to leave for several decides, decides to remain for a couple more weeks to participate in "grave decisions" that will be made about his homeland's troops.

Today is the first coordinated German attack on Tobruk, and it is a complete flop. It starts well enough when German sappers cut defensive wires and fill in the Italian-built anti-tank ditch at 02:30. Then, supported by heavy machine-gun fire, they advance. At 04:30/05:20, 38 Afrika Korps tanks break through the first line of fortifications and into the Tobruk perimeter. Supported by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, they make good progress at first. The Australian defenders, though, have been told to let the tanks pass so they can trap the accompanying infantry.

The British have artillery sited on the spot and knock out 17 of his 5th Panzer Regiment tanks of Group Olbrich (General Olbrich). The remaining panzers withdraw at 07:30 into the desert in disarray, but the 8th Machine Gun Battalion which follows them in is trapped. The 8th loses about 900 men to death or capture, leaving it with a strength of only about 300 men (casualty estimates for this action vary widely, but those figures are from the Germans themselves, though they may include some earlier casualties, too). General Rommel is furious at the failure to capitalize on the initial breakthrough and will sack General Streich, commander of the 5th Light Division, as a result.

The German prepare for a siege. They bring up the Italian Trento Division and put it under the command of the Brescia Division. They also put Detachment Schwerin in the line, along with most of the 5th Light Division. A second attack scheduled for 18:00 is canceled, an indication of the depth of the fiasco in the morning. The Afrika Korps also goes over to the defense of Bardia/Sollum/Sidi Oma. The RAF has complete air superiority, and forward Detachment Knabe is bombarded by Royal Navy gunboat HMS Gnat and its accompanying two destroyers in the Bay of Sollum. Royal Navy gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Bardia.

The Luftwaffe is doing what it can. It attacks the Gnat in the Bay of Sollum and badly damages it, killing one sailor. The Gnat makes it to port in Mersa Matruh, then proceeds to Port Said. Lieutenant General Rommel requests control over Luftwaffe operations in Libya by X Fliegerkorps.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2485-ton Turkish freighter Trabzon off Laurium/Lavrio/Lavrium (about 60 km southeast of Athens and north of Cape Sounio).

Royal Navy auxiliary tanker RFA Pericles, which had been damaged during the Luftwaffe bombing of Suda Bay, Crete, sinks (it breaks in half) while en route to Alexandria. Everyone aboard survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku is proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta, along with fellow submarines Torbay and Undaunted, when a torpedo - apparently launched by an Italian submarine - is spotted coming toward it. Taku takes evasive action and avoids the torpedo. Apparently, because of this incident, the Admiralty (CinC Mediterranean) orders Taku and Torbay back to Gibraltar for other missions.

Convoy AN 27 (four British and six Greek ships) departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete. The ships carry reinforcements and supplies for the troops in Greece.

Australian Corporal John Hurst Edmondson earns a posthumous VC when, while badly wounded during a bayonet charge in the morning darkness, he saves the life of his commanding officer.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: British ammunition ship Fort Stikine catches fire and in Bombay Harbor and explodes in a massive fireball. The blast wave destroys the docks, sinks four nearby ships, and damages 11 others. It explodes again half an hour later. A total of 231 men are killed in the explosion, with another 476 men injured, but the devastation is far worse: an estimated 1000 people simply vanish and 2000 are hospitalized. The Fort Stikine was carrying 124 gold bars, of which all but one remain unrecovered.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Marines garrison Palmyra Atoll (due south of the Hawaiian Islands) with the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion. Legally, this is the southernmost point in the United States because it is an incorporated territory. It operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Navy and is the center of the Palmyra Island Naval Defensive Sea Area established by President Roosevelt on 14 February 1941.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D22) towing the damaged hospital ship HMHS Vita 400 miles (650 km) to Tobruk following her bombing. Judge for yourself - do you think that the Vita appears different from other ships? Can you spot the huge red crosses on her side and funnel? Do you think that is sufficient marking for an attacking plane to know enough not to attack it?

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4691-ton British hospital ship HMHS Vita off Tobruk. Reports indicate that 8 German planes attack it and that a bomb deflects off her rear mast (with very high-resolution pictures you can see that it is bent backward slightly) and explodes just off her side, opening her plates and flooding her engine room (thus no damage is visible above water). The Vita, carrying 430 patients, makes it to Tobruk, where it sinks on 22 April 1941. While mistakes happen in war, committed by both sides, hospital ships are clearly marked and off-limits to all attacks. No, these are not especially famous incidents, but if you attack a hospital ship, that's a war crime whether it gets a lot of media attention or not.

German/Egyptian Relations: Today, Farouk sends Hitler a personal note through his ambassador in Tehran. Farouk states that ''he was filled with admiration for the Fuhrer'' and was ''certain that the Germans are coming as liberators" and would "soon liberate Egypt from the British yoke." But Egypt was not the only goal, important as it was. The Grand Mufti also met with Hitler around this time and wished "the elimination of the Jewish national home in Palestine."

Egypt is the cornerstone of the British position in the Mediterranean. It is more important than Gibraltar. The Suez Canal enables them to bring in troops from their dominions in India, Australia, New Zealand and their other holdings in Asia to counter the German and Italian positions in North Africa and the Balkans. It also is a potential British escape route for their massive forces in Greece and North Africa. In fact, seizing Egypt is the fundamental goal of German military policy in the Mediterranean, the heart of Adolf Hitler's "Peripheral Strategy."

Hitler has been cultivating his ties to the Arab world for years. For instance, he gave King Farouk of Egypt a Mercedes Benz 540k sports cabriolet for the king's wedding in 1938. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem also is on close personal ties with Hitler, while Rashid Ali in Iraq is eyeing the British at the Habbaniyah airbase near Baghdad and wishing them to be gone. King Farouk without question is the monarch in position to help further Hitler's war aims in the Mediterranean Basin.

The mere fact that Farouk feels confident enough to send this (top secret) sign of dissatisfaction with British hegemony over his country is telling. It suggests that the British hold on Egypt - and elsewhere in the Arab world - may be weakening.

Life Magazine, April 14, 1941 - New York Harbor.

US/Icelandic Relations: Fresh off its agreement to occupy Greenland, the US begins talking with the Icelandic government to see if a similar arrangement can be made there.

US/Chinese Relations: Author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Martha Gellhorn, ostensibly in Asia as tourists (there's a war on!), meet with Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

Australian/British Relations: Australian delegates to the ABDA Conference being held in Singapore later in the month embark on Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Attending will be representatives of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies.

German Military: Australian soldiers at Tobruk report seeing what almost certainly are German 88-mm antiaircraft ("8.8 cm Flak 41") guns (they call them "long-barrelled guns on strange carriages"). The guns are not used and are there to exploit the expected breakthrough into Tobruk (German 88's, as they are routinely called, also are used as ground artillery and even, in a dire emergency, as anti-tank weapons). General Rommel used the guns in an anti-tank role at Arras in May 1940, so he is well aware of their versatility. They are sort of a halfway ground between tanks and artillery, with many mounted on vehicles. Their chief drawback, however, is that they have no armor protection and are vulnerable not just to artillery and tanks, but even to rifle fire.

April 14, 1941, Old Gold Cigarettes ad.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places an order for 2000 Model 74 (BT-13A) Vultee (Stinson) L-1 Valiant observation planes. These planes will bear the designation O-49 and perform various auxiliary services such as towing, artillery spotting and espionage flights.

Holocaust: The Vichy French undertake a mass arrest of Jews in Paris.

Future History: Peter Edward Rose is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes one of the top baseball players in history, accumulating numerous records which still stand, including but not limited to:

• Most hits (4256)
• Most career winning games played (1972)
• Most career games played (3562)
• At bats (14,053)
• Singles (3215)
• Most Outs (10,328).

Rose stars for the Cincinnati Reds during the prime years of his career, playing from 1963 to 1986. He also manages the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1989, becomes a 17x All-Star, is a member of three World Series championship teams, and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is barred from the Major League Hall of Fame due to allegations that he bet on baseball games while a player-manager of the Reds. Many consider Pete Rose, if not the greatest baseball player of all time, certainly worthy of being on an all-star team composed of the greatest players of all time.

Pete Rose circa 1963.

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

Sunday 12 May 1940

German tanks in the Ardennes, May 1940 (Blucher Federal Archive).

Allied Headquarters: General Gamelin, the Commander-in-Chief of the French forces, has his headquarters at Vincennes on 12 May 1940. He has no radio and notes that he does not even have a radio - so he has "no idea" where the front lies.

German Headquarters: Heinz Guderian is in command of German XIX Armeekorps (as he was during the Polish campaign) at Sedan. He favors an aggressive stance and proposes enlarging his bridgehead across the Meuse (he has 3 intact bridges) to 20 km (12 miles) deep. His superior, General Ewald von Kleist, orders him to be more cautious and limit his penetration to 8 km (5 miles). Hitler is wary of the tanks outrunning the infantry and seems to envisage a static campaign with a definite, unchanging front forming - as in his own experiences during World War I.

Western Front: The Dutch are making valiant defensive efforts at key points, but overall are being pushed back into their Fortress Holland defensive zone between Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

The Germans advancing near Tilburg run into the French 7th Army and there is heavy fighting. The German advance continues.

The German Army Group A, led by Panzer Group Kleist, advances through the Ardennes and reaches Sedan without serious opposition. The column of military vehicles stretches back to the German border. This is the first German intrusion on French soil.

The French form up on the opposite bank with artillery support. The artillery shells Sedan during the night. The importance of Sedan is not the city itself, but the entry it provides to the heart of France. Its capture in 1870 essentially decided the Franco-Prussian war.

North of Sedan, the Germans are on the Meuse at Dinant. General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division is on the riverbank and he personally scouts out a way to cross it.

The Germans send a three-man scouting part to see if Fort Kornwerderzand at the Afsluitdijk is defended. The fort opens fire and kills two of the three men. The Germans decide to take the fort, beginning with Luftwaffe strikes.

The first tank battle of the campaign erupts between General René Prioux’s 2d French armored divisions (confusingly, Corps de Cavalerie) and the 3d and 4th Panzer Divisions at the Gembloux Gap. The 4th Panzer Division assaults toward Hannut, which protects the 6th Army's flank. They engage 25 French tanks and destroy 7 of them for no losses. The Germans probe toward Tirlemont, drawing Allied forces there while continuing toward Hannut. The French attempt a flank attack, which fails, and the German panzers run into a French strongpoint at Crehen.

The French are forced to retreat to Medorp after breaking out of an encirclement. They also abandon Hannut. In the evening, the Germans renew the attack and force the French strongpoint at Wansin to withdraw, but the rest of the French line holds. The outcome is a tentative French victory for having stopped the German advance, even if only temporarily. The French Somua S35 and Hotchkiss H35 tanks are good equipment, though they have their faults. They outclass the German Panzer Is and IIs, though the Panzer IIIs are more of a match.

The German 18th Army captures Eindhoven and continues pushing forward.

At Grebbeberg, the German 207th Infantry Division, supported by the SS Brigade Der Fuhrer, directly attacks the hill that dominates the defense. After an artillery barrage of several hours, the SS Brigade attacks. The SS men take an 18th Century fort, the Hoornwerk. This provides a wedge into the Dutch battle line, whose other guns cannot fire sideways. Dutch counterattacks fail. Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Hilmar Wäckerle, contrary to orders, moves his battalion forward, penetrates the Dutch line, and gets surrounded - but holds on. The Dutch bring up reinforcements and plan a flank attack on the Germans. It is a confusing situation, but the Germans have the initiative - if they can rescue the impetuous Wäckerle.

German 6th Army pushes across the Albert Canal toward Gembloux.

The German 9th Panzer division is heading to the Moerdijk bridges over Hollands Diep estuary. They are still held by German paratroopers. These bridges, 10 miles south of Rotterdam, prevent the Allies from reinforcing Rotterdam.

The Allies have occupied the Dyle Line with the French 1st Army, 7th Army, 9th Army, and the British Expeditionary Force. The BEF is in position in Belgium.

The Allies hold a conference near Mons, including French Defense Minister Daladier, General Georges, General Billotte, British General Pownall, and Belgian King Leopold.

Fokker C.5RR 645 of III-2 LvR at Middenmeer after an emergency landing on 12 May 1940 (Photo: collection Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie).

European Air Operations: Fairey Battle light bombers of No. 12 Squadron attack the Veldwezelt bridge over the Albert Canal. The Germans have brought up anti-aircraft batteries to protect the bridge, which survives with damage.

The RAF sends 38 bombers over Hannut to support the defense of that town, losing 22, and the Arme de l'air sends over 18 new Breguet 693 bombers, losing 8. The Luftwaffe supports the ground operation there with 85 Bf 109s of JG 26, flying 340 sorties during the day. They claim 26 Allied planes for 4 of their own numbers. German anti-aircraft there also claims 25 planes.

The Allies send every available light bomber - some called from Hannut, which thereby loses air support - to attack the Meuse bridges at Sedan. They fail to make any hits and lose 44 percent of their number.

There are Luftwaffe air raids on Rotterdam, including incendiary bombs.

The Luftwaffe attacks and heavily damages Dutch gunboat Friso. It also performs minelaying operations in Belgian waters.

A French pilot, Capt. René Gavoille, reports miles-long Wehrmacht columns in the Ardennes. His superiors are dismissive, calling them "night phantoms." He has spotted Panzer Group Kleist and its 41,140 vehicles on narrow two-lane roads. When he takes off again and takes pictures, they call them "obvious fake tanks."

Adolph Galland, a veteran Luftwaffe ground-attack pilot from the Spanish Civil War, is now a fighter pilot and gains his first aerial victories of the war, destroying three Hurricanes.

Battle of the Atlantic: British ship Roek hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea.

Convoy OA 147 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 147 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 30F departs from Gibraltar, Convoy OG 29 forms at Gibraltar, and Convoy HX 42 departs from Halifax.

Norway: The British reinforce Mo i Rana with the British Scots Guards battalion from Harstad. The Germans have troops near Hamnesberget brought in by the seized Norwegian vessel Nord Norge, which the British have sunk (while empty).

Holland: The Dutch Crown Princess, her two daughters Irene and Beatrice, and Prince Bernharddeparts for the UK aboard destroyer HMS Codrington.

Spain: Francisco Franco reaffirms Spain's neutrality.

British Government: The new Chancellor of the Exchequer is Sir Kingsley Wood.

American Homefront: Shirley Temple cancels her film contract with 20th Century Fox and retires (temporarily) - at age 11.

German bicycle troops prepare to cross a river in Belgium by first removing their pants, 11/12 May, 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2019

Saturday 11 May 1940

Belgian soldiers surrender to German paratroopers at the bridge at Veldwezelt, 11 May 1940 (Ang, Federal Archive).

Western Front: The German offensive continues rolling on 11 May 1940. William Shirer, a US journalist, notes that there are "Great headlines today in Berlin papers over 'shameful' protests of the Low Countries against being invaded."

The 9th Panzer Division crosses the Meuse and finds an undefended bridge over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal 50 miles from Rotterdam, enabling it to continue rolling westward.

The trapped Belgian troops at fortress Eben Emael surrender to the German 7th Flieger Division, clearing the pathway for the 6th Army to proceed over the Maas Canal and completing one of the most brilliant aerial assaults in history. German 6th Army pulls up to the Albert Canal below the fortress and sends tank spearheads across, which requires rushed reinforcements from further south - where the Germans are quietly rolling their main force through the Ardennes.
The Battle of the Grebbeberg gets rolling. This is the main defense line forward of "Fortress Holland" in the west. The Grebbeberg is a hill near Rhenen which offers panoramic views (a zoo which is a major tourist attraction is on the hill). German artillery of the 18th Army opens fire before dawn on the line's outposts, disabling Dutch communications. At first light, the SS brigade attacks. The Germans breach the right side of the line, which enables the attackers to surround the rest of the line. The entire outpost line falls. However, the hill itself - protected by a 47 mm (1.85 inches) gun) remains inviolate. The Dutch counterattack, but it degenerates into a chaotic disaster with Dutch units firing on each other - but it does forestall the Germans' own night attack.

The German columns pushing through the Ardennes face logistical issues on the forest roads, but no significant defenders. General Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division is in the lead of Army Group A and disperses a French Cavalry Unit guarding the road. Allied bombers are noticeably absent, partly due to Luftwaffe air superiority.

The French 1st Army, 7th Army, 9th Army, and British Expeditionary Force execute the "Dyle Plan," advancing to take up defensive positions on the Dyle River line. The German main assault does not lie there. Retreating Belgian troops join them. Hitler, when informed of his classic decoy move producing the desired results, says "I could weep for joy!"

The Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) operation at The Hague is one of the few blemishes on the Fall Gelb offensive. Generalleutnant Hans Graf von Sponeck's paratroops are scattered across dunes and do not control any of the airports they were dropped to capture. With his objective now impossible, von Sponeck receives orders to aid the assault on Rotterdam. In reality, he and his men now are hunted fugitives behind enemy lines, with hundreds of wounded and missing troops.

The paratroopers at Rotterdam are doing somewhat better. The 22nd Flieger Division holds bridges over the Niewe Maas River. The Dutch Marines launch furious attacks, but the paratroopers have nowhere to retreat to anyway, so a stalemate develops - which is to the Germans' benefit.

'The biggest traffic jam in history': German armor squeezes through the narrow gorges of the Ardennes on its way to France on 11 May 1940.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe is concentrating on ground support missions - a key element of "Blitzkrieg." The Allies are hampered by few airbases close to the scene of the battles and, quite frankly, often inferior equipment.

In terms of that equipment, the Fairey Battle light bomber is struggling. The RAF sends eight of them to attack German troops in Luxembourg and only one returns.

The Luftwaffe also is aggressively targeting Allied airfields. They make a low-level attack on the field of No. 114 Squadron and destroy its Bristol Blenheim bombers on the ground.

The Luftwaffe sinks Dutch liners Statendam and Veendam at Rotterdam.

The RAF sends 23 aircraft to attack bridges over the Maas at Maastricht, which the Germans captured on the 10th.

Overnight, the RAF sends 37 bombers to attack Monchengladbach - the first RAF bombing of a German town without military priority.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth) torpedoes and sinks 1,930-ton British freighter Tringa just off the West Hinder buoy at the mouth of the Scheldt River. There are 6 survivors and 17 perish.

U-9 also sinks 1,908-ton Estonian freighter Viiu. There are 5 survivors and 15 perish.

British submarine HMS Narwhal sinks Kriegsmarine vessel V-1109.

HMS Seal, the only British submarine captured during the war, arrives in Frederikshavn, Denmark, under tow by German "UJ 128" (Unterseebootsjäger 128). It is immediately investigated by German technicians.

Convoy OA 146 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 146 departs from Liverpool.

US Government: President Roosevelt fulfills various obligations under the Neutrality Laws, issuing executive orders :

1. Recognizing the state of war that exists between Germany and Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; 
2. Proclaiming American neutrality in the conflict; and 
3. Restricting belligerent submarines from using American ports and territorial waters, exclusive of the Panama Canal Zone.

War Crimes: The British Air Ministry takes the radical step of authorizing attacks on purely civilian targets in Germany. This is a clear violation of international law which the Germans have violated as well in Poland and Finland. While this particular decision is not considered a war crime by many historians and "they did it first"... if things had turned out differently, it would be. War can be unavoidably morally ambiguous.

Dutch Commander of 2nd Corps General Harberts at Grebbeberg impanels a summary court-martial of a sergeant, Chris Meijer, accused of abandoning his post. Meijer is shot by firing squad the same day. There are possible issues of undue influence of Harberts in the matter with murky motivations.

Norway: British General Claude Auchinleck is in command of the British-French ground forces of what has become a classic sideshow campaign. Even that is not going well for the Allies.

The two Independent Companies and accompanying British light anti-aircraft detachments (who have to abandon their equipment) at Mosjøen evacuate during the early morning hours on Norwegian vessel Erling Jarl. Lt. Col. Gubbins pays the owners 5000 kroner for their assistance. The accompanying Norwegians are forced to retreat by road after the Germans occupied Hemnesberget on the 10th by using the commandeered vessel Nordnorge.

The German 2nd Mountain Division troops at Hemnesberget attack toward Mo i Rana. Other troops from the division occupy the evacuated Mosjøen. Still, other units of the division continue their march north toward Narvik to relieve General Dietl's regiment there.

German/Swedish Relations: A Swedish delegation meets with Hermann Goering regarding German use of the Narvik railway which runs through Sweden.

Caribbean: British and French troops continue occupying Dutch islands such as Curaçao and Aruba. President Roosevelt states that these actions do not violate the Monroe Doctrine (no foreign military actions in the Americas).

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 5th War Area attacks the Japanese 11th Army around Tsaoyang, Tungpo, and Mingkang, but the Japanese break out of the encirclement and retreat eastward.

Belgian Homefront: The roads are clogged with refugees fleeing westward and southward. Most are on foot or on their bicycles. The Mayor of Bouillon, in a classic "business, is business" reaction to the war, refuses to quarter troops in hotels: "This is a resort town! Hotels are  reserved for tourists."

Dutch Homeland: Former Kaiser Wilhelm, living in exile in Holland, has had a somewhat dismissive opinion of Hitler. However, he refuses Winston Churchill's offer of sanctuary in the UK.

British Homefront: The  Manchester Guardian publishes an editorial stating that new Prime Minister Churchill "takes office with greater goodwill than any of our modern history."

"Contraband" starring Conrad Veidt hits the theatres. Veidt is a Lutheran German World War I veteran who fled Germany in 1933 due to the specter of Hitler's persecution of his Jewish wife.

The victors of Eben-Emael: Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch. (By Bundesarchiv, Billd 146-1971-011-27 / Büttner / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5441177)

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020