Showing posts with label Admiral Horton. Show all posts

Sunday, May 22, 2016

April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes

Thursday 11 April 1940

11 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Neubaufahrzeuge

Three Neubaufahrzeuge experimental tanks arriving in Oslo Harbour, April 1940. They are the only three in the Wehrmacht and the only three that will ever be built. They are used in battle in Norway with minimal effect.

Operation Weserubung: General Otto Ruge replaces Major-General Laake as Commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces on 11 April 1940. Laake resigned after being accused of being a defeatist and failing to quickly act against the invasion (the mobilization orders after the German invasion were sent by mail). He establishes his headquarters at Lillehammer and orders the immediate mobilization of all forces. He also orders the destruction of infrastructure around Oslo - roads, bridges, telephone equipment - to delay the Germans.

The Norwegian government has settled in at Elverum for the time being. In a proclamation, Norwegian Premier Nygaardsvold reaffirms the country's determination to resist the German invasion.

German strategy is to link up their forces from Oslo to Trondheim. This is made possible by long mountain defiles that run the length of that section of the country. German 196th Division (General Richard Pellengahr) is to move north from Oslo up the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys, using air support to clear the way in an early form of Blitzkrieg.

The German 163rd Division and 196th Infantry Division attack the Norwegian 1st Infantry Division around Oslo. More Kriegsmarine transports arrive there carrying troops.

Northwest of Kristiansand, the German 310th Infantry Regiment moves inland and occupies Hægeland.

HMS Furious launches air attacks against shipping in Trondheimsfjord.

Late in the day at Narvik, Kriegsmarine destroyers SMS Erich Koellner (Z13) and SMS Wolfgang Zenker (Z9) both run aground. The Zenker can still move at 20 knots, but the Koellner is in bad shape and the Germans decide to convert it into a stationary defensive battery at the Tårstad, on the north shore of the fjord west of Narvik.

The British are focused on Narvik, which is so isolated in northern Norway that it may as well be an island. Basically, the entire battle in Norway is because of that one port, and whoever controls it basically wins. The British 146th Territorial Brigade re-embarks on transports and ships out of the Clyde, destination: Narvik.

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill announces to the House of Commons that the Royal Navy is occupying the Faroe Islands. They are a Danish possession, which cannot be ceded to German control:

We shall shield the Faroe Islands from all the severities of war and establish ourselves there conveniently by sea and air until the moment comes when they will be handed back to the Crown and people of a Denmark liberated from the foul thraldom in which they have been plunged by the German aggression.

While certainly unintentional, Churchill's justification sounds uncannily like the German offer of "protection" to Norway and Denmark. Previously, Iceland essentially seceded from Denmark to avoid German domination.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 6 bombers to attack Stavanger-Sola airfield. This is the first daylight attack by bomber command on a continental target. One of the bombers is lost.

RAF Coastal Command shoots down a Dornier flying boat in the North Sea.

RAF Bomber Command attacks German shipping around Norway during the night without causing damage.

Two Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes - a Heinkel and a Dornier - are shot down over the western front.

The British Air Ministry issues a report stating that 19 Luftwaffe planes had been shot down in the past four days, to 6 RAF losses.

11 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com German Panzerkampfwagen

Hauptmann Herbert Stemmer in front of a light PzKpfw in Norway April 1940. Stemmer passed away in 1974.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy submarine fleet is perfectly positioned around Norway and has plenty of targets, thanks to Admiral Horton and his hunch that something was about to happen there.

The Lützow is towed home after an attack by HMS Spearfish during the night in the Kattegat. While Spearfish fires 6 torpedoes and only one hit, that one torpedo nearly rips off her stern. In fact, it is a lucky break for the Kriegsmarine: Spearfish assumed there was an escort that would attack it, but the cruiser, in fact, was traveling without an escort.

British submarine HMS Triad sinks German troop transport Ionia.

British submarine HMS Sealion sinks German ship, August Leonhardt.

Kriegsmarine minelayers set mines in the Skagerrak.

Western Front: The British 42nd Infantry Division embarks for France.

Sweden: Stockholm radio reports that the country has mined its western coast.

Belgium: The country cancels all military leaves - again.

Soviet Union: General Pavel Batov becomes Deputy Commander in Chief of the Transcaucasus Military District.

Albania: Italy clamps down on civil disobedience, outlawing strikes, protests, rallies and the like.

Australia: General Thomas Blamey assumes command of the Australian I Corps.

US Navy: Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch replaces Rear Admiral Orin G. Murfin as Commandant Fourteenth Naval District and Navy Yard Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

China: With the Chinese Winter Offensive over, the Japanese turn to weeding out communist partisans in the central Hebei, Anhui, and Shanghai sectors.

Norwegian General Otto Ruge.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel

2020

April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper

Monday 8 April 1940

8 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Admiral Hipper HMS Glowworm

Famous shot taken from the Admiral Hipper of the HMS Glowworm turning to ram the Admiral Hipper off of Norway, 8 April 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Shortly after midnight on 8 April 1940, Kriegsmarine Marine Group 3 departs from Wilhelmshaven for Bergen. It includes cruisers Königsberg & Köln, transport Karl Peters, minelayer Bremse & 5 torpedo-boats carrying 1900 troops.

At dawn, Marine Group 4 and Marine Group 6 depart from Cuxhaven. They are carrying 1250 troops for the south coast of Norway.

Marine Group 5 departs Wilhelmshaven Swinemünde for Oslo. It includes cruisers Blücher, Lützow and Emden, 8 minesweepers & 3 torpedo-boats carrying 2000 troops.

Operation Wilfred, the British mining of Norwegian territorial waters, proceeds southwest of Narvik and northwest of Bodo at 05:00. Both British and French ships take part, and the entire operation only takes an hour. HMS Esk, Icarus, Impulsive & Ivanhoe lay mines in the Vestfjord, gateway to Narvik. The British government announces the mining operation publicly at 17:15 and also announces where the mines are being placed: Vest Fjord, Bud and Stadtland.

The British tell the Allies of Operation Wilfred at 06:00. They justify it as necessary to prevent passage of ships "carrying war contraband." The Norwegian government immediately protests to the British about their minelaying in Norwegian territorial waters.

8 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Captain Helmuth Heye

Captain Hellmuth Heye, in command of the Admiral Hipper.

At first light, destroyer HMS Glowworm, separated from the mining operation due to having had to search for a man overboard, calls off its search for the missing man. It then happens upon the German destroyers Bernd von Arnim (Z11) and Hans Ludemann (Z18), part of Marine Group 1 headed for Trondheim. Heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, 14,000 tons, accompanied by four destroyers, is heading for Trondheim. Glowworm, in one of those epics of the Royal Navy, battles the cruiser and its 8-inch shells. It misses with four torpedoes, then makes a smoke screen. Then, instead of running away, he turns and rams the cruiser before being sunk, inflicting major damage. Some 130 feet of her armoured belt is ripped away, with 500 tons of seawater entering.

There are 118 dead, with 31 crew being taken prisoner on the Admiral Hipper. Captain Heye spends an hour rescuing them. Rooper himself was found and was being pulled up on a rope when he lost his grip and fell back into the water, never to be seen again.

8 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Captain Roope

Captain Roope, V.C.

Captain Gerard Broadmead Roope earns the first Victoria Cross of World War II, but only after the war ends and the log of the Admiral Hipper is read by British authorities. He is killed in the engagement after helping survivors put on life jackets. Captain Hellmuth Heye of the Admiral Hipper supports the award by writing to the British authorities via the Red Cross giving a statement of Commander Roope’s courage and actually recommending the V.C. for the dead captain.

Roope manages to radio his position and situation before sinking to the HMS Renown, in charge of the Home Fleet. However, it is too late for the Home Fleet, which has sailed in the wrong direction, to intervene.

8 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com HMS Glowworm survivors

Survival in the oil-coated waters was virtually impossible except for those lucky enough to be near the Admiral Hipper. Here, oil-coated crew of the Glowworm try to climb aboard. Some make it, others cannot due to the slick oil.

HMS Ursula, Triad and Sterlet leave to patrol the Skagerrak. Placement of the British submarine fleet around Norway by Admiral Horton begins to bear fruit. Kriegsmarine transport Rio de Janeiro, on her way to Bergen, is sunk in the Skagerrak at 12:00 by the Polish submarine Orzeł under British command. This sends fully armed German troops into the water. About 150 are drowned, another 150 are pulled out of the water by Norwegian fishing boats. They freely tell their saviours that they were headed to Bergen. The Norwegians, thus alerted, do not inform the Admiralty.

German tanker Posidonia is sunk by Royal Navy submarine HMS Trident.

Convoy OA 125 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 125 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: Today is the first sortie by German long-range Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor four-engine reconnaissance bombers over the North Sea.

The Luftwaffe raids the British Home Fleet base at Scapa Flow and causes some slight damage on land. The British fleet is largely out to sea and suffers no damage. Two of the planes are shot down by Coastal Command, while a third is badly damaged.

RAF: The Civilian Repair Organisation (CRO) comes into being. It is intended to repair damaged RAF planes using civilian resources.

Australian sloop HMAS Parramatta (Lt. Commander Jefferson H. Walker) is commissioned.

Sweden: The government begins a limited military mobilization.

Future History: John Havlicek is born in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He becomes a legendary player with the Boston Celtics basketball team in the 1960s and 1970s.

Gun camera shot of the remnants of the HMS Glowworm.

April 1940

Saturday, May 21, 2016

April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus

Thursday 4 April 1940

4 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhelmina reviews a military parade of the 3rd Division troops stationed at Noordwijk and Katwijk. Here, she is reviewing bicycle troops of the 1st Squadron stationed at Katwijk.

Operation Weserubung: German transports have set sail for the far reaches of Norway as Operation Weserubung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, begins. The date of the invasion is set for 9 April 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operations remain relatively quiet - too quiet - on 4 April 1940 because the U-boats are aiding Operation Weserubung instead of attacking merchant ships.

The Norwegian passenger liner "Mira" reaches Norway after its 107 passengers and crew have suffered numerous (failed) Luftwaffe attacks during its 6-day crossing.

Convoy OA 123GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 123 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends up bombers to attack German destroyers at the Jade estuary at Wilhelmshaven.

RAF Sunderland flying boats encounter six Stukas (Ju 87) over the North Sea. They shoot one down and force another to crash-land in Norway.

Western Front: It is raining heavily all along the front, so little action.

Royal Navy: Admiral Horton continues sending his submarines to patrol on the likeliest routes from Germany to Norway. HMS Snapper departs today from Harwich to the Skagerrak. Horner also commands allied submarines, so he sends French subs Amazone and Antelope from Harwich to patrol the Frisian Islands and Heligoland.

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill is flummoxed by the French intransigence about cooperating with mining activities in the Rhine (Operation Royal Marine). He flies to Paris and makes a decision: "[Operation] Wilfred should go forward notwithstanding the French refusal of Royal Marine (mining of the Rhine)." The British War Cabinet concurs.

US Military: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, at Buffalo, New York. The cruising speed of the P-40 is 272 miles per hour (438 kilometers per hour) and the maximum speed is 357 miles per hour (575 kilometers per hour) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The Warhawk has a service ceiling of 30,600 feet (9,327 meters) and the absolute ceiling is 31,600 feet (9,632 meters). The range is 950 miles (1,529 kilometers) at 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour). These are all good figures for 1940, and the Air Corps designates the fighter as "pursuit."

German/Italian Relations: Hitler authorizes staff talks between the OKW (military high command) and Italian Commando Supremo.

French Government: The Minister of Marine reports that the French Navy has destroyed 23 U-boats during the conflict. In actual fact, the number is well below a dozen, and none of those were due to the French Navy.

The government sentences 34 French communists to five years in prison. Eighty others receive 4-year suspended sentences. The charge is illegally attempting to reorganize the banned Communist Party. It is now illegal, subject to the death penalty for treason, to read or spread communist or anti-war propaganda.

British Government: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announces that the government has set up a special trading corporation backed by the Treasury to foster economic penetration of the Balkans, which trade Germany dominates.

Soviet Government: The NKVD reports to Molotov: out of the 22,000 Polish officers, 395 are "of value" and thus should be spared. The rest should be liquidated per the Politburo's decision of 5 March 1940. The way to get on the "of value" is to be an informer in one of the camps, or to have some foreign connection that would make their sudden absence noticed abroad.

German Homefront: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering broadcasts an appeal to the nation's young to behave with decency and morality "not only in the light of day but also in the blackout."

British Homefront: Prime Minister Chamberlain takes a little-used expression (first used in George Reid's "My Reminiscences" (1917)) and takes it to the next level. Before an audience of friends, he for once exceeds Winston Churchill's oratorical heights by stating that Hitler has "missed the bus" by running afoul of the British empire and not destroying it when he had the chance. He is now "ten times" as confident of final victory as he had been in September. He states that it is "extraordinary no such attempt was made" to invade during the fall.

By point of fact, of course, the bus, er, boats indeed had set sail - Nazi transports were at that moment on their way to Norway.

Rather oddly, the British newspapers comment upon large concentrations of German troops at Kriegsmarine bases. Nobody in the Allies' military services appears to find this of interest.

China: The Chinese 8th War Area, having recovered Wuyuan and other objectives, changes to the defensive. The Winter Offensive is now for all intents and purposes over. It was a huge success, bringing down the Japanese government and sending Japanese forces reeling.

Summary of the Chinese Winter Offensive:

Japanese military casualties: 50,000;
Chinese military casualties: 150,000;
Chinese civilian casualties: unknown.

4 April 1940: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, on its first flight at Buffalo, New York.

April 1940

Friday, May 20, 2016

April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power

Wednesday 3 April 1940

worldwartwo.filminspector.com RAF Homing pigeons

Homing pigeons being used by the RAF.

Operation Weserubung: Some of the Norwegian ports are several days' sail, so the first Kriegsmarine ships participating in the operation sail today, 3 April 1940. Almost nobody is told the destination, they could be invading England for all the grunts know.

There are 11 task forces for the invasion, each directed at a different major city such as Oslo, Copenhagen and Trondheim. Two pocket battleships, 3 heavy and 4 light cruisers, 14 destroyers and 31 U-boats provide cover at sea, with constant Luftwaffe protection.

Colonel Hans Oster of the Abwehr, a key figure in the resistance, informs contacts in the Vatican and Holland about Operation Weserubung.

On the Allied side, there remains much sentiment for an Allied invasion of Norway. However, the inefficiencies of war by committee surface, as the French and British cannot agree on details or, in fact, a plan at all. Leaks to the British press also have given the public the impression that it is only the British who are interested in invading Norway, whereas there is no hint that the Germans have the same idea and are actually acting on it.

The Times, in one of those later-awkward editorials, proclaims "All Scandinavia breathes easier today" because the threat of Allied or German military intervention "is largely over."

European Air Operations: Six Junkers Ju 88s attack a convoy in the North Sea without doing damage. Sunderland flying boats intercept them and shoot one Junkers down, and forces a second to make a crash-landing in Norway, where the crew is interned.

The first Supermarine Spitfire is lost on home defense duties when it goes down while attacking a Heinkel He 111 off the Yorkshire coast. The Heinkel also crashes.

There are battles along the border in France.

Battle of the Atlantic: With U-boats pulled off normal patrols to support Operation Weserubung, there is little activity in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Polish submarine Orzeł, now part of Royal Navy's 2nd Submarine Flotilla, under the command of Vice-Admiral Max Horton, leaves Rosyth to take up station off Kristiansand.

Convoy OG 24 forms at Gibraltar.

RAF: The RAF turns to an age-old solution to inform base of information from reconnaissance planes without breaking radio silence: homing pigeons. The RAF has a fleet of 500,000 homing pigeons to carry messages back to the UK. The homing pigeons are amazingly reliable and can fly through all sorts of whether and deliver the mail, though at times it takes a few days.

British Government: Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield, who is Minister for Co-ordination of Defense, resigns. A new committee headed by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill will be composed of Service Ministers. This Military Coordinating Committee will replace Chatfield's role. General Sir Hugh Elles is appointed National ARP (civil defense) Controller, while Lord Woolton officially becomes the first Minister of Food. In all, there are 11 ministerial changes.

The principal result of this re-shuffling is that Churchill's power expands to include control over some Army and Royal Air Force operations as well as just the Royal Navy - of which he retains complete control.

War Crimes: Pursuant to the Politburo order of 5 March 1940, the Soviet NKVD begins executing captured Polish officers in the Katyn Forest and other places such as the Kalinin and Kharkiv prisons.

Canada: Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone, replaces the deceased Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan) to become the 16th Governor-General of Canada.

Luxembourg: The government provides all 300,000 residents with an evacuation plan in case of "emergency."

China: The Chinese capture Xishanzui (Hsishantzu) as they pursue the Japanese retreating from Wuyuan, thus ending the Second Battle of Wuyuan.

German Homefront: The Nazis discontinue old-age pensions first established by Bismarck, rationalizing that after final victory, the "plutocrats in Paris and London" will take care of that.

Future History: Some 22,000 victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre will be liquidated by the Soviets. Stalin retaliates against all who question that denial. This remains the status quo until 1990, when the USSR, in its last days, acknowledges the incident and the subsequent cover-up. In 2010, the Russian State Duma approved a declaration stating that Staling and the other members of the Politburo personally ordered the massacre. During the war and for decades afterward, however, it will remain a murky, confused issue full of denials and the assumption by many that only the Nazis committed mass murders during World War II.

A pit where the executed Polish officers were buried, as shown in 1943 after being discovered by the Germans.

April 1940

April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert

Tuesday 2 April 1940

Frederick Marquis, 1st Lord Woolton (1883–1964) demonstrates his "Woolton Pie" at the Savoy Hotel. It is made of commonly available vegetables that were available during the darkest days of World War II. It was concocted by the hotel's Maitre Chef de Cuisine, Francis Latry.

Operation Weserübung: Hitler on 2 April 1940 signs the order authorizing the invasion, to commence at 05:15 on 9 April 1940.

One of Hitler's concerns is to prevent the royal houses of the occupied nations from escaping to England. Hitler has had enough of "governments-in-exile" and wants to see no more of them established.

British submarines begin taking up positions on the German route to Norway pursuant to Admiral Horton's plan. He anticipates major German warships leaving Heligoland Bight, Kiel, Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven & Swinemünde. HMS Unity departs Blyth sub base in Northumberland today to take up station a the Heligoland Bight, and HMS Sunfish departs Harwich to patrol the Kattegat.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe, with Operation Weserubung in the offing, begins to up its attacks on British North Sea infrastructure. It stages a raid on Scapa Flow at dusk, then attacks the lighthouses at Duncansby Head and Stroma Island. Little damage is done.

Luftwaffe bombers attack convoys in the North Sea. Three Hurricanes tangle with Heinkel He 111s flying at wavetop level.

RAF fighters engage nine Messerschmitt Bf 109s over the Western front. The Luftwaffe reportedly loses five fighters, two to the French.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) torpedoes and sinks 1,540 ton Finnish freighter Signe at 00:21. All 19 crew perish. The Signe is a straggler from Convoy HN-23A and close enough for the convoy escort HMS Sikh to hear the explosion, but it can do nothing.

Convoy OA 122 departs Southend, Convoy HG 25F departs Gibraltar, Convoy HX 32 departs Halifax.

The Germans launch destroyer Z26.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Navy holds major maneuvers in Hawaiian waters. It is Fleet Problem XXI, and it posits two fleets of roughly equal size. One fleet is concentrated and the other dispersed. DIfferent types of engagements are practiced, including protecting convoys, seizing bases and fleet actions.

Anglo/Danish Relations: Great Britain and Denmark sign a trade agreement.

Holland: Dutch troops go on full alert along the German border - again.

Romanian Homefront: Children 7-18, some 4 million of them, to be impressed into farmwork in order to maintain food exports to Germany. There are labor shortages due to recent increases in the military.

French Homefront: After a brutal winter, the weather is beginning to turn warmer on the Continent. Author Eugen Weber writes "Paris has never looked more radiant!" However, he also notes that the city is locked down due to the war, with British soldiers everywhere and monuments surrounded by sandbags.

British Homefront: Minister of Food Lord Woolton promises to keep food prices low (albeit via rationing) and encourages everyone to dig Victory Gardens: "Dig for victory!"

FDR completes his census form at the White House, 2 April 1940.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go

Monday 1 April 1940

1 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Neubaufahrzeug tank

A rare Neubaufahrzeug tank. That appears to be an 88mm to the right.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts an armed reconnaissance of the North Sea on 1 April 1940 and attacks enemy patrol boats. One aircraft does not return.

Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bombers attack British ships. One is shot down.

While some of its planes already have gone on operations, today is the official establishment of No. 75 New Zealand Squadron of the RAF.

Battle of the Atlantic: The German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis disguises itself as the 5,114 Soviet fleet auxiliary Kim and, escorted by torpedo boats Leopard and Wolf along with U-37, bolts for the North Atlantic.

Convoy OA 121 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 121 departs from Liverpool.

HMS Rapid, a R class destroyer, is ordered today.

Western Front: There is heavy German artillery fire in the Saar region.

German Military: Hitler gives final approval for Operation Weserübung ("Weser River Exercise") and sets a date of 9 April 1940 - which just happens to be the actual holiday for the Weser River. He authorizes a 6-division operation, including 20 light tanks and 3 experimental heavy Neubaufahrzeug tanks. There also are two divisions which will invade Denmark by land and parachute. The Luftwaffe will make a major effort to provide support.

British Military: Vice-Admiral Max Horton, commander of Royal Navy Home Fleet submarines, anticipates a German invasion of Norway in the near future. He directs a dozen submarines, including two French boats and one Polish boat, to patrol the southern area of the North Sea in the vicinity of Denmark. Their mission is to intercept any German warships. HMS Sealion departs first, from Harwich, and heads to the Kattegat east of Denmark.

French Government: A government decree authorizes construction of a massive navey of 53 warships: 2 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, 3 cruisers, 27 destroyers and 20 submarines. Such a navy typically would take at least a decade or two to complete under favorable conditions.

The French Minister of Information Frossard arrives in London to consult with Sir John Reith, legendary former head of the BBC and Minister of Information in the Chamberlain government.

Norway: The Norwegian government receives a report from its ambassador in Berlin that a German invasion is imminent. The report is filed.

Berlin issues a statement that it will take "suitable countermeasures" if iron ore shipments flowing through Norway are interrupted.

Sweden: The Swedish government makes a presentation in the legislature (the Riksdag) regarding diplomatic steps taken in connection with the Winter War.

South Africa: The South African assembly passes a Jan Smuts War Measures Act 75-55. It provides for white troops to be sent to North Africa, while black troops serve as auxiliaries.

1 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Grumman Skyrocket

Not all planes become legends - some don't go beyond the prototype stage. This is a Grumman F5F Skyrocket (XF5F-1), which had its maiden flight on 1 April 1940. Designed for the US Navy, the Navy passed on it due to its high landing speed and the two engines. Just a what-might-have-been.

British Homefront: The Home Secretary appoints 12 regional advisory committees to review and reconsider the cases of aliens in England due to the war, the treatment of whom has been the subject of public outcry.

In a rare wartime bit of wit by the BBC, it broadcasts an unknown speech by Adolf Hitler. Hitler is shown reciting that Columbus had only discovered America with the use of German technology, and thus part of America belong to Germany. All American citizens of German/Czech/Polish descent are under German overlordship, and thus German dominion rightfully extends over the United States government. Hitler's plans include removing the Statue of Liberty to improve traffic congestion in Manhattan, and to rename the White House the Brown House.

CBS picks up the broadcast and rings the BBC to find out where it got this Hitler speech. The caller is told that it is just an April Fool's Day hoax and that the voice of Hitler had been impersonated by actor Martin Miller.

China: Chinese 8th War Area guerilla forces and cavalry column occupy Wuyuan. The 11th Provisional Division recaptures Wu-pu-lang-kou. The Japanese continue retreating east.

In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 22nd Army retains Nanning while the Chinese regroup.

Holocaust: Germany rejects a Vatican request to send humanitarian aid to Poland and for the placement of observers to oversee conditions there.

1 April 1940 worldwartwo.filminspector.com US census

If one looks closely, you can see that the rate of population increase was unusually low during the 1930s - due to the hardships of the Great Depression. It picked back up in the 1940s and especially the 1950s and has remained high ever since.

American Homefront: The 1940 United States Census is conducted. Privacy laws provide that the personal information contained therein will become available to historians exactly 72 years later, on April 2, 2012 (the 1st is a Sunday). It finds 132.2 million people living in the 48 states.

The historic Ridotto Building in downtown Bay City, Michigan burns down in a fire.

Soap opera "Portia Faces Life" premieres in syndication.

The Franklin Astronomy Institute issues a press release announcing that the world will end at 15:00. The report is picked up on news services and the institute receives hundreds of calls.

On April 1, 1940, 75 years ago today, the elegant landmark Ridotto Building on the corner of Madison and Center avenues in downtown Bay City was consumed by flames. (Photo Courtesy Bay County Historical Society).

World War Two Daily

Pages

Sunday, May 22, 2016

April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes

Thursday 11 April 1940

April 1940

April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper

Monday 8 April 1940

April 1940

Saturday, May 21, 2016

April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus

Thursday 4 April 1940

April 1940

Friday, May 20, 2016

April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power

Wednesday 3 April 1940

April 1940

April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert

Tuesday 2 April 1940

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go

Monday 1 April 1940

April 1940