Sunday 27 April 1941

Germans raise the Swastika flag over the Acropolis, 27 April 1941 (Federal Archives).

Operation Marita: In an event of worldwide importance, on 27 April 1941 the Wehrmacht enters and occupies Athens at 09:25. German soldiers immediately climb up to the Acropolis beside ordinary tourists and raise the Swastika flag. The Wehrmacht troops, fueled by vast supplies of oil and related valuable items captured in the capital, continue south, pursuing the retreating Commonwealth troops.

Operation Demon, the British evacuation from mainland Greece, continues. The British take off 4200 troops from Raphina and Raphtis. There is some unhappiness among the Greek troops awaiting evacuation in the Peloponnese, as the British take off their own troops and leave the Greek Cretan 5th Division behind.

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still of brigade-size) completes its crossing of the Gulf of Patras to take the key port of Patras at 17:30. However, it is an empty victory because the British forces have chosen to evacuate from other ports such as Nafplio. In addition, Wehrmacht troops advancing through Athens already have advanced into the Peloponnese and relieved the Fallschirmjäger (German paratroopers) of Operation Hannibal that was holding the Gulf of Corinth. While the rapid LSSAH advance south from Ioannina across the Gulf of Patras was an outstanding technical achievement, in a military sense it becomes essentially superfluous. However, it greatly enhances the reputation of the formation, and plans are made to expand it to division size.

An undated photo of Luftwaffe bombers over Athens.

While the British troops largely escape the Wehrmacht ground forces, they are not quite so lucky with the Luftwaffe. Nine Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 attack a troop convoy fleeing from Nafplio in the Peloponnese. They bomb and sink Dutch troopship Slamat, which is part of a convoy carrying 3,000  British, Australian and New Zealand troops (the Slamat only has a portion of them). Two Royal Navy destroyers, HMS Diamond and Wryneck, pick up as many survivors as they can, but as they head to Suda Bay, Crete, the Luftwaffe Stukas sink them, too. A total of roughly 1,000 British troops perish, with only 8 troop and 11 crew survivors from the Slamat, 20 from the Diamond, and 27 from the Wryneck.

The German 5th Panzer Division advances rapidly south through Athens and down to the Corinth Canal. It throws across a temporary bridge on or about this date and heads south toward the fleeing British.

The Luftwaffe continues its depredations against Greek shipping in the Aegean, sinking:

• 441-ton freighter Evanghelos Georgiou off Kithara
• 1350-ton freighter Astir at Kapsalion
• 333-ton freighter Tassos at Hermione (Ermioni)
• 441-ton freighter Fragiscos in the Greek Archipelago
• 1759-ton freighter Hollandia at Hermione

The Luftwaffe damages other Greek ships, including 2113 ton freighter Danapris at Piraeus, which the Germans later repair.


European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth with 38 bombers.

East African Campaign: Local Abyssinian forces loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie capture Socota from the Italians.

Iraq War: Diplomatic efforts continue to defuse the tensions in Iraq, where the Rashid Ali government refuses to allow additional British troops into the country. The British ambassador informs Ali's government that additional troops are at sea and bound to arrive at Basra any day. Within Iraq, the British troops are secure but unable to travel by land between their bases. However, their airlift capability is unimpeded, so the British airlift elements of the British 1st Battalion of King's Own Royal Regiment from RAF Shaibah to RAF Habbaniya, where Iraqi troops have assembled.


Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its second war patrol, torpedoes and sinks two ships south of Iceland:

• 227-ton British trawler Commander Horton
• 10,160-ton British ship HMS Beacon Grange (two perish)

U-147 (Oblt.z.S. Eberhard Wetjen) torpedoes and sinks independent 1334-ton Norwegian freighter Rimfakse about 240 km northwest of Scotland. There are eight survivors and eight deaths.

U-110 (Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp) torpedoes and sinks 2564-ton British freighter Henri Mory about 610 km northwest of Blasket Islands, Ireland. There are four survivors and 28 perish.

The Luftwaffe sinks 5355-ton Royal Navy auxiliary fighter catapult ship (CAM ship) near Coquet Island. There are about 50 deaths, including the skipper, Commander D.M.B. Baker.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 943-ton British freighter Celte west of the Faroe Islands. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy sloop HMS Rosemary collides with 754-ton British freighter Carrickmacross at Milford Haven. It is under repair at the port until 6 June.

Norwegian freighter Rimac collides with Royal Navy transport HMT Lord Plender off Great Yarmouth. The Rimac sinks, and five of its crew perish while 14 survive. There also are three deaths on the Lord Plender, which rescues the Rimac's survivors.

The shifting Admiralty position on Vichy ships changes again. After ocean boarding vessel HMS Maron intercepts five French freighters escorted by a patrol boat between the Canary Islands and Africa, the Sea Lords direct that the ships be released and allowed to proceed to Dakar.

Convoy OB 315 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL 73 departs from Freetown.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Farndale (Commander Stephen H. Carlill, L 70) is commissioned.

Canadian Royal Navy corvette HMCS Rimouski is commissioned.

Panzers in Athens.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation Dunlop, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sends off 24 Hawker Hurricanes to reinforce the RAF presence on Malta; 23 reach the island.

Despite recent military successes in North Africa, the German high command has become increasingly leery of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's conduct of operations there. Among the concerns is Rommel's decision to stage a major offensive before receiving all of the troops en route to Tripoli - the fact that the offensive was wildly successfully does not enter into this assessment. Rommel repeatedly disregards orders sent by either the OKH and his Italian military superiors. The Germans cannot know this now, but that is one of the keys to Rommel's successes since the British are reading German communications but Rommel just disregards them. When the OKH orders something and then Rommel does something else, the British are caught flat-footed.

To assuage their concerns, the OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres, army high command) sends staff officer Friedrich Paulus, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff, to Tripoli to investigate the situation. Paulus later recalls that he was offered command of the Afrika Korps in place of Rommel, but turned it down. However, Paulus does assume control of operations during his tenure in the theater and cancels a planned offensive against Tobruk pending his later approval.

In the field, the Germans consolidate their recent gains in the south. Gruppe Herff sets up outposts at Sidi Suleiman, about ten miles east of the British lines. Some of its units are sent north through Sollum in preparation for a renewed attack on Tobruk - which depends upon General Paulus' approval.

The Luftwaffe attacks Australian artillery positions in Tobruk in preparation for the planned assault. The Luftwaffe employs level bombers to attract anti-aircraft fire while Junkers Ju 87 Stukas pound the anti-aircraft guns. The attack is successful, with four guns destroyed and 8 killed at a cost of one bomber. The Australian defenders set up dummy gun emplacements and move the artillery.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Usk (Lt. G.P. Darling) hits a mine and sinks near Cape Bon, Tunisia. All 32 men on board perish.

Italian freighter SNA7/2679 hits a mine and sinks off Cape Bon, Tunisia. There also is a theory that HMS Usk, believed lost on this date, sank SNA7/2679 before itself sinking, but this is unconfirmed.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 8672-ton Dutch transport Costa Rica north of Crete. Costa Rica is part of Convoy GA 14, and everybody aboard is rescued.

Convoy GA 14 departs from Suda Bay, Crete to free up space for the transports soon to arrive from the Greek mainland.

Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp, 27 April 1941. These appear to be the infamous steps in which inmates climb with heavy rocks until all perish.

American/Dutch/British/Australian Relations: A military meeting (the "ABDA" conference) in Singapore between the (future) allies ends with an agreement on combined operations in the event of Japanese aggression. The United States, which sent only junior officers led by Captain William R. Purnell to the meeting, takes the plan lightly, with the US War and Navy Departments rejecting the plan. The British, Dutch and Australians, who already are at war with Germany but not yet Japan, take the plan extremely seriously.

German Government: After a brief stop in Maribor/Marburg and a return trip to Graz on the 26th, Adolf Hitler embarks on his command train "Amerika" for the trip back to Berlin.

Captured Allied troops turn in their weapons in Corinth.

British Government: Winston Churchill addresses the nation on the BBC. He has a somber tone, as Churchill knows that Greece is lost and the British have lost their last foothold on the European mainland. He crows about the inability of the Germans to invade Great Britain, noting that

with every week that passes we grow stronger on the sea, in the air and in the number, quality, training and equipment of the great armies that now guard our island.

Of Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, he notes that "we cheered in good days and will back through the bad." He then turns to the Axis leaders and Italian leader Mussolini a "whipped jackal" and Hitler "that bad man" prone to "raving outbursts." He essentially places all of England's hopes on America, concluding with an Arthur Hugh Clough poem that has the last line, "But westward, look, the land is bright."

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies meets with US Ambassador to Great Britain John Gilbert Winant. Menzies writes in his diary that Winant agrees with him that, in terms of the news media, "most stuff going to the USA is of German origin." The AP, for instance, continues to obtain photographs from Germany through its Lisbon contacts. Menzies jots down that "news to America badly handled." Churchill muttered darkly during his BBC broadcast about supposed tensions between Australia and England due to German propaganda, and if Menzies' private thoughts are any indication, such tensions do indeed exist.

Holocaust: Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp. Mauthausen is a Category III camp and perhaps the most brutal in the entire system.

The Croatian Ustashi militia kills an unknown number of civilians in the Serbian town of Gudovac. There is no love lost between the Croats and the Serbs, with the Croats firmly in the German camp while the Serbs back Great Britain.

Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp, 27 April 1941. Note the inmate standing at attention, ignored by Himmler.

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

Saturday 26 April 1941

Hitler in Maribor, 26 April 1941. With him are Martin Bormann and Otto Dietrich (Federal Archive).

Operation Marita: By 26 April 1941, the British are racing for the Greek ports to effect a complete evacuation from the Greek mainland, while the Germans are racing just as fast to stop them. It is another "Dunkirk" situation, and this time the Germans don't want to fail to trap their prey. The British Army stages a minor delaying operation at Thebes during the day as they fall back on Athens. The Germans press on toward Athens during the night.

German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) stage Operation Hannibal (there were other operations of the same name). This is a brilliant military operation, but like many other such efforts during World War II, it achieves less in military terms than its brilliant execution might imply.

The view of the Corinth bridge taken by a Fallschirmjager on the approach to the drop zone, 07:00 on 26 April 1941.

Colonel Sturm leads 52 parachute engineers (Fallschirmpioniere) under Leutnant Häffner in a daring drop in the region of the Corinth Canal on the Peloponnesos. The canal provides a handy place to stop the British retreat toward Patras and other ports on the Peloponnesos, and also a good place to stockpile fuel for the advancing panzers. Supported by the 1st and 2nd Battalions of Fallschirmjager Regiment 2 (FJR 2) under respectively Hauptmann Kroh and Hauptmann Pietzonka, the Fallschirmpioniere embark on 25 April in Plovdiv on 270 Junkers Ju 52s and in gliders. They stop to refuel in Larissa, and in at 05:00 on the 26th they take off for the mission. They drop at 07:00.

They seize the bridge over the Corinth Canal. The British, almost certainly informed of Operation Hannibal by Ultra intercepts, have artillery positioned and registered. The British manage an extremely lucky shot when a shell hits demolition charges that the Germans already have removed from the bridge and placed in a pile - but not actually taken off the bridge yet (a huge "rookie" error). The bridge, already in German hands, collapses into the Corinth Canal, preventing the Germans from bringing panzers across (once they arrive via Athens) until it can be replaced (which is not accomplished until the 28th). The fuel for the panzers, being brought to the Corinth Canal by a tanker, has to be re-routed to Piraeus and laboriously transferred into barrels which can be brought into the Peloponnesos. One British unit, the 4th New Zealand Brigade, is cut off east of the bridge, but it heads to Port Raphti on the Greek east coast for evacuation. The Germans only lose eight engineers in the operation, but the results barely even warrant that.

Fallschirmjäger on the bridge of Corinth, 26 April 1941. Everyone in this picture, including the photographer, perished moments after this shot from British artillery that destroyed the bridge - the camera with the exposed but undamaged film was found in the wreckage ("Time-Life Conquest of the Balkans").

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still at brigade-size at this time) has been at the forefront of the German advance into Greece (Operation Marita), and today it embellishes its reputation as the most aggressive unit in the Wehrmacht. The LSSAH, racing down the west coast of the Greek mainland along the Pindus mountains from Ioannina, reaches the Gulf of Patras. At this point, all that stands between the German troops and cutting off the bulk of the retreating British/Imperial troops in the Gulf, as the key port of Patras lies just to the south.

General Sepp Dietrich orders the LSSAH to cross the gulf by any means necessary, so the LSSAH commandeers every fishing trawler and coaster that it can find and so that it can gains a foothold on the Peloponnesos in conjunction with paratrooper landings at Corinth. This process begins today and continues on the 27th. While this is a fantastic technical accomplishment that enhances the reputation of the "Blitzkrieg," the crossing achieves less than might appear because the LSSAH (and paratroopers) cannot bring panzers, artillery, and other heavy equipment with them. The British, meanwhile, are not dependent upon Patras and the other ports of the Peloponnesos and are evacuating many troops from the east coast of the mainland and points south. Wehrmacht troops advancing south through Athens, in fact, are only a day or two away from the LSSAH foothold.

Other German troops on the mainland reach Missolonghi. During the night, the British continue Operation Demon, the evacuation of mainland Greece. The British Army and Royal Navy stage a furious evacuation from Athens beaches and take off the 16th and 17th Brigades from Kalamata and the 1st Armored Brigade - minus its vehicles. In all, the British take off over 20,000 men during the night:

• 4300 men were evacuated from Nauplia
• 8300 men were evacuated from Raphtis and Raphina
• 8650 men were evacuated from Kalamata.

As part of Operation Demon, Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender evacuates the crown jewels of Yugoslavia from Athens.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4917-ton British freighter Scottish Prince north of Crete. The freighter makes it to Alexandria under escort.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Greek torpedo boat Kydonia at Morea.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1712-ton Greek freighter Maiotis in the Aegean. It is later raised by the Italians and taken to Trieste.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 6303-ton Greek freighter Maria Stathatou at Mylos.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 960-ton Greek freighter Zakynthos off Monemvasia.

The explosion of the bridge over the Corinth Canal, 26 April 1941.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command attacks German shipping near Schiemonikoog and Vlieland with 25 aircraft. RAF Fighter Command stages a sweep over Boulogne. During the night, RAF Bomber Command sends 50 aircraft against Hamburg.

The Luftwaffe (KG 55) attacks Bristol and Liverpool (92 aircraft).

Luftwaffe pilot Wolfgang Falck, Kommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, attends a briefing in Hamburg (ironically bombed during the night). He learns about new airborne radar systems being developed, including the Morgenstern, Flensburg, and SN-2 (Lichtenstein) systems. The Nachtjagdfliegerdienst coincidentally scores its 100th night victory.

Another view of the explosion of the Corinth Bridge.

East African Campaign: The South African 1st Brigade takes Dessie in Abyssinia, East Africa. The South Africans bag 4,000 Italians who spend the rest of the war as POWs. Dessie, 130 miles south of Amba Alagi, is a key blocking position for the Italian holdouts in the mountains. The Indian 29th Infantry Brigade, meanwhile, reaches Amba Alagi today from the north.

Battle of the Atlantic: The US Neutrality Patrol now extends to the latitude line near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This frees up British escorts, who have had to move further and further west as U-boats and Kriegsmarine surface raiders extend their operations in that direction. US Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp embarks from Hampton Roads along with support ships on a neutrality patrol in the Atlantic, the first time the US uses a carrier on Neutrality Patrol.

U-110 (Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp) torpedoes and sinks 2564-ton British freighter Henri Mory in the Atlantic northwest of Achill Head, Ireland. There are 28 deaths and four survivors.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 4648-ton British freighter Mountpark in the Northwest Approaches. There are six deaths.

Finnish 1172-ton freighter Lapponia hits a mine off Aalborg and sinks. It is later raised and repaired.

British 2217-ton collier Murdoch hits a sunken wreck and takes on water. It continues on but eventually sinks in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth at North Scroby Sand. The ship remains a navigation hazard throughout the war, remaining partially above water.

Convoy WS (Winston Special) 8A departs the Clyde. This includes several ships that will be included in the Tiger convoy past Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. The ships intended for Operation Tiger are:

• Clan Chattan
• Clan Campbell
• Clan Lamont
• Empire Song
• New Zealand Star.

Altogether, the ships carry 292 tanks for General Archibald Wavell's Middle East Command.

Convoy OG-60 departs from Liverpool.

Canadian corvettes HMCS Nanaimo (K-101, H. C. C. Daubney) and Rimouski (K-121, Lt. John W. Bonner) are commissioned.

Royal Navy sloop HMS Erne (U-03, Lt. Commander Henry M. Darell-Brown) is commissioned.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze) and U-81 (Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Guggenberger) are commissioned.

Wreckage of the Corinth Bridge in the Corinth Canal. This blocked the canal, which the Germans needed, but they cleared it within days.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel retains a shaky grasp on Tobruk, where the Australians continue to hold out in large numbers. Rommel attempts to solidify his control over the vital port by sending three motorized columns of German and Italian troops from Group Herff from south of Sollum through Halfaya Pass on the border with Egypt. The Axis troops cross the border into Egypt after the British withdraw during the night, but don't advance much further at this time. Holding the pass enables Rommel to focus more on tightening his grip on Tobruk.

At Tobruk itself, the Australians stand firm, repelling German and Italian assaults and taking numerous prisoners. The Australians make some moves to widen their perimeter with tank and infantry advances, but the German artillery and panzers stop them cold. The German defense is aided by a sandstorm which "blew all day."

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a sharp cable to Commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet Admiral Andrew Cunningham. Churchill remarks to Cunningham that "you do not appreciate" British grand strategy in the Mediterranean (which is an odd thing to say to the man most responsible for implementing that strategy). Churchill further states that some of Cunningham's previous comments about strategy are "really not justified." There is a lecturing, churlish tone throughout the message which perhaps reflects the great difficulty the British forces in Greece are facing - an operation that was virtually solely Churchill's responsibility and which he ordered for political reasons against almost unanimous opposition in the military.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks German freighter Arta, which had been badly damaged in a destroyer action on the 16th and grounded on Kerkennah Bank off the coast of Tunisia.

Royal Navy gunboat HMS Ladybird bombards Gazala Airfield during the night, while gunboat HMS Aphis bombards the Italians in Halfaya Pass.

On the right is glider pilot Wilhelm Fulda. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his bravery at Corinth.

German Government: Adolf Hitler has been camped in his command train "Amerika" in Austria throughout Operation Marita. Today, he takes his train from a little station near Graz (Monichkirchen) into Yugoslavia. He disembarks and proceeds by motorcar to Maribor (in German, Marburg). Here, he states:

Make this land German again for me.

After a rapturous reception there (this is a pro-German province), Hitler gets back on his train and heads back to Graz for another happy welcome. Among other things, Hitler visits with his old history teacher, Professor Leopold Poetsch, who Hitler claims in "Mein Kampf" inspired his love of history.

Landing zones for Operation Hannibal. The operation went off without a hitch, with only one tiny flaw - the destruction of the bridge.

British Government: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies lunches with former British Prime Minister Lloyd George at the latter's farm at Churt, Surrey. They agree that the government has numerous command deficiencies, such as that Churchill is "acting as the master strategist, without qualification" and that CIGS General John Dill is "timid as a hare." Basically, they take a dim view of Churchill and his appointments and policies.

One must observe that Menzies blows hot and cold on Churchill, and seems to blow the coldest when furthest away from him. About Hitler, however, Lloyd George is very complimentary, and (according to Menzies' diary) believes that "the Germans in their hearts like us much more than the French ever did." Naturally, this is the sort of attitude at this time that only an elder statesman could get away with, regardless of any merit it may hold.

Dutch Homeland: Potato rationing is instituted. Food supplies in The Netherlands will be stretched throughout the war - this is only the beginning.

The Luftwaffe's view of the Corinth Canal.

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

Friday 25 April 1941

"German Panzer III tanks advance along a railway line in pursuit of retreating British troops in Greece between 25 and 30 April 1941." © IWM (HU 39517).

Operation Marita: Today, 25 April 1941, is Anzac Day, and it marks another failed expedition in the Mediterranean. Allied troops ride south through Athens, having covered 100 miles in 12 hours.

The British evacuation from mainland Greece, Operation Demon, switches into high gear today. Transports from several Greek ports take thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers to Crete and Egypt. Some 10,200 troops depart through the ports of Nafplio and Megara.

Troopships Thurland Castle and Pennland (once White Star Liner Pittsburgh) depart from Megara, escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry and several destroyers. The 16,322-ton Red Star Liner Pennland is attacked by the Luftwaffe and badly damaged near San Giorgio Island. There are four deaths, while roughly 350 men are taken off by escorting destroyer Griffin. The Griffin then scuttles Pennland. Thurland Castle also is damaged. Australian destroyers HMAS Waterhen and Vendetta also take off troops. The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy troopship Pittsburgh in the Gulf of Athens, while troopship Ulster Prince sinks in the Aegean.

The Luftwaffe remains active above Greek waters:

Greek yacht Thraki sunk off Myli
Greek freighter Thraki sunk at Porto Heli
1722-ton Greek freighter Sofia sunk off Megara
128-ton Greek coaster Anna Maria sunk off Vostizza
602-ton Greek freighter Marios sunk off Aigio
1570-ton Greek freighter George A. Dracoulis sunk off Chalkis
982-ton Greek freighter Thraki sunk off Port Kheli
Greek Navy torpedo boat Kyzikos sunk off Salamis
1171-ton Greek freighter Dimitrios Nomikos sunk off Karystos, Euboea (later raised by the Germans and repaired) 

The German 6th Mountain Division (Generalmajor Ferdinand Schörner) and elements of the 5th Panzer Division advance through the pass at Thermopylae, the defending Australian and New Zealand rearguard troops having withdrawn to Thebes.

German troops in Thermopylae Pass, 25 April 1941.

Far to the west, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH, still of brigade-size) races southward toward the Gulf of Patras. The battle in the west has become a race to the ports of the Peloponnesos which the British are using for Operation Demon (also ports in east Attica). The LSSAH moves along the western foothills of the Pindus Mountains, moving from Arta to Missolonghi. British Commonwealth troops are on the way to the Peloponnesos as well. The Germans drop Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) to seize bridges over the Corinth Canal so that the following Wehrmacht ground troops can use them to continue their pursuit, but British artillery destroys the bridge. This places additional pressure on the LSSAH advance toward Patras.

The RAF has been in retreat for the past week, and today it leaves the mainland entirely. Air Commodore John D'Albiac establishes new headquarters on Crete at Heraklion. King George II of Greece also establishes new headquarters on Crete along with the rest of his government.

The Germans know that the Allies are retreating to Crete. General Kurt Student, commander (and founder) of the Fallschirmjäger, previously has suggested an airborne operation to take Crete, which, with the addition of the Operation Demon evacuees is becoming heavily fortified. Today, Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 28, "Operation Mercury," which authorizes an invasion of Crete. The operation "will employ for the purpose, primarily, the airborne forces and the air forces stationed in the Mediterranean area," and is to occupy Crete "As a base for air warfare against Great Britain in the Eastern Mediterranean." Hitler cautions that "transport movements must not entail any delay in the mounting of 'Undertaking Barbarossa,'" seemingly directly addressing historians who will conclude that Operation Marita fatally delayed the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Iraq War: The Germans are bemused by the situation in Iraq.  The Germans and Italy agree to provide financial assistance to Iraq's pro-Axis Rashid Ali government but have no other way of assisting them. The Iraqis have assembled troops around the British enclaves such as Habbaniyah airfield and the port of Basra, but show no signs of attacking. The British have occupied Mosul airfield and taken up defensive positions there.

"Aircraft of Fighter Command displayed at Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, during a visit by Scottish newspaper correspondents. In the foreground is a Hawker Hurricane Mark I of No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron RAF based at Speke, Liverpool; in the background a Bristol Blenheim Mark IF of No. 23 Squadron RAF based at Ford, Sussex, while, overhead, three Supermarine Spitfires, flown by the flying instructors of No. 58 Operational Training Unit based at Grangemouth, prepare to give a flying demonstration." 25 April 1941. © IWM (H 9179).

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids coastal targets during the day with 27 aircraft, and Kiel after dark with 69 bombers. The Luftwaffe raids Sunderland with 57 bombers.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies - who plans on returning to Australia in about a week - visits air raid shelters at King's Cross and Old Street. He writes in his diary:

Indescribably pathetic. Malodorous, or rather stuffy. Bunks of wire arranged in tiers of 2 or 3 along the platforms and in the recesses. Canteen arranged. Little children staggering in beneath bundles of bed-clothes. Old women & men, going down to their nightly burial, for this happens every night, and not just when the alert blows. These people are "deep shelter conscious." They are drab, dreary, and look infinitely sad - standing in the queues for their places, for which they have tickets. Squatting on the metal treads of narrow stairs, there to hunch up asleep all night. Stretched out in a bunk, with electric trains swishing and roaring past every few minutes.

Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler has instructed Konteradmiral Karl Dönitz to avoid all provocations with the US Navy. Doenitz duly communicates this to his subordinates today.

U-103 (Kptlt. Viktor Schütze), on its 4th patrol off the coast of West Africa, torpedoes and sinks 2267 ton Norwegian freighter Polyana about 47 miles (76 km) southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. The ship, which had been part of Convoy OG-58 but was detached, sinks within a minute and there are no survivors of the international crew (19 Norwegians, 2 British, one Danish, one Tunisian, one Spanish, one Maltese). Captain Schütze missed with his first torpedo just before midnight on the 24th but the second does hit the freighter at 00:38 on the 25th.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 10,022-ton Norwegian tanker Polarsol about 180 miles off Myrdals Jokull Light, Iceland. The tanker makes it to Kames Bay in tow.

Royal Navy boarding vessel HMS Maron captures a French fishing boat, Joseph Elise, off Casablanca. The British put on board 15 sailors to take the ship to Gibraltar with the original French crew.

U-553 (Korvette Kpt. Karl Thurmann) has engine trouble and returns to base.

The Royal Navy learns that Spanish liner Marques De Commillas is traveling from New York to Spain carrying the Italian Naval Attache to Washington. The Admiralty sends light cruiser HMS Diomede from Bermuda to intercept it.

Convoy HX 123 departs from Halifax, bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy submarine HMS P-3111 is laid down.

U-413 is laid down.

"This photo of American airmen, all in the rank of leading aircraftman, was taken at RCAF Uplands, near Ottawa, on April 25, 1941. From left to right: J.G. Magee of Washington, D.C.; A.C. Young of Cleveland, Ohio; C.F. Gallicher of Tulsa, Oklahoma; C.G. Johnston of Chicago, Illinois; A.B. Cleaveland of Springfield, Illinois; and O.N. Leatherman of Lima, Ohio. PHOTO: DND Archives, PL-2753." Source: Royal Canadian Air Force. John Magee is the author of the famous poem, "High Flight," which has become the Air Force's official poem. It begins, "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth."

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Germans need some breathing room around Tobruk, and the British are determined not to let them have it. The Allies launch attacks all along the Tobruk perimeter that are repulsed, including one in the south at 03:00, a tank sortie at 12:30, an attack against the Italian Brescia Division at 15:15, and another attack in the south at 22:30. British artillery is proving to be quite effective, directed at times by an artillery spotter Lysander plane and outranges some of the Italian artillery.

The Luftwaffe attacks British armor south of Capuzzo, destroying some armored cars. At noon, Gruppe Herff attacks southeast of Capuzzo to try to give the southern German forces more of a cushion between the two Allied lines. The Germans make some progress through Halfaya Pass to Buq Buq at the cost of 7 dead and 10 wounded. British Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell later claims that he allows his forces to withdraw in hopes of inducing the Afrika Korps to become over-extended.

The RAF bombs Derna airfield and town. The last two remaining Hurricanes operating out of Tobruk fly out to Alexandria, where there are only 13 Hurricane fighters. The only RAF plane remaining in Tobruk is a Lysander for artillery spotting.

Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel has been intending to launch a push all along the Tobruk perimeter. However, the "bad experience of the last days" with Italian troops (some recently have surrendered) forces the Germans to focus their attacks using the 5th Light Division and the 15th Panzer Division. The Luftwaffe Fliegerkorps X in Naples is ordered by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering's headquarters to use air transport to bring 15th Panzer units from Naples to Derna.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Usk disappears on or about this date in the Mediterranean.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and badly damages 5428 ton German/Italian troopship Antoniette Lauro just off Kerkenah, Tunisia. The captain manages to beach the ship in Kerkenah Bay.

The Royal Navy, pursuant to Operations Salient and Dunlop, puts to sea Force H from Gibraltar. Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal carries aircraft to fly off to Malta.

A convoy departs from Naples bound for Tripoli carrying elements of the 8th Panzerregiment in five ships. The convoy has a heavy Italian escort.

The Luftwaffe builds a new runway at Comiso, Sicily.

US Secretary of State Cordell Hull emphasizes the need for US protection of war convoys, 25 April 1941 LA Times.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin scores another success, shelling and sinking 6828-ton British freighter Empire of Light north of the Seychelle Islands. The Germans take 70 prisoners.

Japanese destroyer Tanikaze is commissioned.

Spy Stuff: The British codebreakers at Bletchley Park in Operation Ultra learn about the German plans for Operation Hercules, the airborne assault on Crete from Luftwaffe transmissions. Of the three German services, the Luftwaffe is the newest and has the worst security in its radio transmissions. Throughout the war, Luftwaffe intercepts are a major source of British intelligence information, and that includes switching around evacuation beaches in Greece.

US/Greek Relations: Greek resistance has collapsed too quickly for the United States to send any aid, but today President Roosevelt issues a statement saying that the US still intends to send some. The situation in the Balkans has changed extremely rapidly, and it is difficult to keep track of the course of events.

Anglo/US Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends President Roosevelt a telegram expressing appreciation for the extended Neutrality Patrols ordered in "Navy Western Hemisphere Defence Plan No. 2." He informs the President of the routes of British convoys currently at sea. He also says that he is "not at all discontented with Libya" because Tobruk "is exercising its powerful attractive influence."

A performance attended by 5000 people by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for patients of Bellevue Hospital, New York City, 25 April 1941 (AP via Yorkvilleonthenet).

German/Finnish Relations: The Germans inform General Heinrichs of the Finnish high command about Operation Barbarossa.

Australian Military: The Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) is established.

German Government: Hitler telephones Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and has him come to his command train Amerika near Graz, Austria. Ribbentrop later recalls:

He said that all the military Intelligence reaching him confirmed that the Soviet Union was preparing in a big way along the entire front from the Baltic to the Black Sea.  He was not willing to be taken by surprise once he had recognized a danger.  Moscow’s pact with the Serbian putschist government was a downright provocation to Germany and a clear departure from the German-Russian treaty of friendship.  In this conversation I recommended that he listen first to our ambassador [to Moscow], Count [Werner von der] Schulenburg.... I wanted to try a diplomatic settlement with Moscow first.  But Hitler refused any such attempt and forbade me to discuss the matter with anybody;  no amount of diplomacy could change the Russian attitude, as he now recognized it, but it might cheat him of the important tactical element of surprise when he attacked.  He requested me to put on a show of complete support for his view, and explained that one day the West would understand why he had rejected the Soviet demands and attacked the East.

Hitler also talks to one of his aides, Colonel Walter Scherff, asking him, "What can you, a war historian, tell me about preventative wars?" Scherff recalls later that he tells Hitler:

Only somebody with the deepest sense of responsibility can take such a decision, and then only after looking at it from every possible angle.  Because he will be risking immense dangers in starting such a war.

Scherff recalls that Hitler states:

Britain will just have to climb down, once we have defeated her last ally on the continent.  If she does not, we shall destroy her, with all the means that we shall have when all Europe as far as the Urals is at our feet.

These sentiments echo those expressed by Hungarian leader Admiral Horthy during his visit on the 24th - that defeating the Soviet Union is the way to defeat Great Britain and end the war in the West.

Winston Churchill addressing merchant ship crews in Liverpool, 25 April 1941.

British Government: Churchill visits Liverpool to see bomb damage.

US Government: Reports have been received that the German press has been supportive of Charles Lindbergh's recent America First speech in New York City. President Roosevelt, a firm interventionist, gives an interview about the current domestic controversy over aiding the British in the war against Germany:

There are people in this country ... [who] say out of one side of the mouth, 'No, I don't like it, I don't like dictatorship,' and then out of the other side of the mouth, 'Well, it's going to beat democracy, it's going to defeat democracy, therefore I might just as well accept it.' Now, I don't call that good Americanism ... Well, Vallandigham, as you know, was an appeaser. He wanted to make peace from 1863 on because the North 'couldn't win.' Once upon a time there was a place called Valley Forge and there were an awful lot of appeasers that pleaded with Washington to quit, because he 'couldn't win.' Just because he 'couldn't win.' See what Tom Paine said at that time in favor of Washington keeping on fighting!

The President appears to be comparing supporters of the America First Committee with the Copperheads who opposed the US Civil War. It is a thinly veiled attack on Charles Lindbergh, the leading voice of the America First Committee. Lindbergh reads this and decides to resign his commission in the US Army Air Corps Reserve.

Cambodia: The new king of Cambodia is Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

Spain: There are reports of 2500 German troops prowling the streets of Madrid posing as tourists. This has been a precursor to some German invasions.

Tahiti: The government of Tahiti allies itself with the Free French.

German Homefront: The German government has been critical of alcohol abuse, so German brewers consider making "light beer." The government also is critical of tobacco use, not for health reasons, but for its effect on morale and discipline.

Future History: Bertrand Tavernier is born in Lyon, France. He goes on to become a renowned filmmaker, actor, and director. He will win a BAFTA award in 1990 for "Life and Nothing But." He remains active in the film industry, releasing the documentary "Voyage à travers le cinéma français" in 2016.


April 1941