Wednesday 28 May 1941

The 9th Cavalry passes in review at its new home at Camp Funston, Ft. Riley, Kansas, 28 May 1941.

Anglo/Iraq War: Things begin heating up in Syria on 28 May 1941, which is on the list of British targets because it is considered the gateway to the ongoing battle in Iraq. The RAF raids Aleppo, a key transit hub for the Axis support of operations in Iraq. During this raid, an RAF Blenheim reconnaissance is shot down by Vichy French pilot Lt. Vuillemin of 7 Squadron, 1st Fighter Group (GCI/7) in a Morane 406. This is the first aerial victory of a Vichy French pilot over the RAF.

The Vichy French also send 28 new Dewoitine D.520s of the 6th Squadron, 3rd Fighter Group (GCIII/6) from Algeria via Athens, which unit arrives on 28 May 1941 at Rayak (two planes failing to make it).

The British continue their concentric attack on Baghdad. The main thrusts are from the south (Indian troops from Basra) and west (Habforce advancing from Fallujah). Today, the 20th Indian Brigade captures Ur after a march of 110 miles.

In Baghdad, rioting and looking take hold as the British approach. Dr. Fritz Grobba, head of the German diplomatic mission, cables Berlin with the warning that the British are approaching with "one hundred tanks." While this is a vast exaggeration, it conveys the key message that the city is about to fall. The Luftwaffe mission, Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck) led by Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Junck, has only two Heinkel He 111s left and only four bombs for them. A force of eleven Italian Fiat CR-42 fighters has arrived but is having little effect.

A London housewife gets her washing up to dry, Monday, May 28, 1941 in London. (AP Photo).

European Air Operations: RAF Fighter Command conducts an anti-shipping sweep off the French coast. RAF Bomber Command sends 14 planes to attack Kiel. This is one of the countless RAF raids throughout the war that targets the remaining German battleship, Tirpitz. The planes make no hits.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill instructs General Ismay to begin setting up "Air Squadrons and also at least a Brigade Group" composed of Yugoslav expatriates. A similar agreement is reached with Norwegian refugees.

Churchill also sends a telegram to William Averell Harriman ("My dear Harriman"), one of President Franklin's "special envoys," thanking him for a recent note promising delivery of six Douglas DC-2 transport planes and fourteen Lockheed transports.

A censored war photo was taken by a press agency photographer on 28 May 1941. © IWM (HU 131478).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-107 (Kptlt. Günther Hessler) continues its lengthy second patrol off of Freetown, Sierra Leone. AT 14:52, it torpedoes and sinks 3748 ton Greek freighter Papalemos. The Papalemos is an independent, and the hit on the stern in the port side destroys the superstructure and a lifeboat. Captain Hessler has his men accelerate the sinking with some target practice with the anti-aircraft gun, then sails over to the two lifeboats. In a rare act of kindness, he gives the survivors some food, cigarettes and other provisions after asking them a few questions.

HMS Edinburgh intercepts German blockade runner Lech about 400 nautical miles (740 km) north of the Azores, at the Bay of Biscay. The Lech's crew scuttles it. Some sources place this as happening on 22 May.

The Luftwaffe is active over the Atlantic searching for Royal Navy ships returning from the interception battleship Bismarck. Many of the Royal Navy ships are low on fuel and traveling slowly and without zig-zagging or other precautions. The German planes attack Canadian destroyer HMCS St Clair (formerly USS Williams (DD-108)) and HMS Mashona about 100 miles west of Galway Bay, Ireland. The handful of German planes (Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 77) sink the Mashona, and St Clair picks up the survivors.

German flak ship (vorpostenboot) V 1610 "Innsbruck" sinks today of uncertain causes, probably RAF bombing.

British freighter City of Rangoon spots and rescues three survivors of Greek freighter Marionga, sunk by U-103 on 24 May, off Freetown. The U-boats have sunk so many ships in the area recently that there are lifeboats and rafts in many places.

Convoy OB 327 departs from Liverpool

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lightning is commissioned, and destroyer Panther, corvette Cowslip, and minesweeping trawler Professor are launched.

Canadian minesweepers HMCS Kelowna launched at Prince Rupert and Guysborough laid down in North Vancouver.

Polish destroyer ORP Krakowiak (formerly HMS Silverton) is commissioned (Tadeusz Gorazdowski).

Free French corvette Roselys (formerly HMS Sundew) is launched.

U-579 and U-580 are launched, U-183 is laid down.

"6-inch howitzers towed by AEC Matador artillery tractors of 79th (The Scottish Horse) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, pass over a bridge near Huntly in Banffshire, 28 May 1941." (Lockeyear W T (Lt), War Office official photographer, Imperial War Museum).

Battle of the Mediterranean: With the British decision to evacuate Crete having been made at the highest levels on the 27th, Commonwealth troops fight rearguard actions as they head south for pickup at Sfakia (Sphakia, south of Canea/Chandia) and other points. Two companies of the Māori Battalion under Captain Rangi Royal in the New Zealand 5th Brigade make a temporary stand at Stylos, beating up the 1st Battalion of the 141st Gebirgsjäger (Mountain) Regiment and 85th Gebirgsjäger Regiment in order to allow the main force to gain ground. Sgt Alfred Clive Hulme (1911-82) of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force wins the Victoria Cross for actions here and elsewhere on Crete throughout the past week. Many other anonymous soldiers also fight valiantly.

However, not all of the Commonwealth troops get away clean. The 800 men of Layforce (so named for commander Colonel Robert Laycock), which landed at Suda Bay on the 26th and 27th, are caught there along with some other units (20th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery). At the end of the day, Laycock's men stage a night retreat to Beritiana, but it is too late - most are killed or captured. In all, only 179 of the 800 Commandos of Layforce make it to Egypt. Laycock himself, along with brigade major Evelyn Waugh (the famous author), escape in one of the unit's three tanks.

The Luftwaffe is active over the ports and airfields on the north coast such as Heraklion, Suda, and Rethymno which the Germans need to bring in more reinforcements. This gives the retreating British time to get to the southern embarkation points - but they have to hurry. The German planes sink 667 ton Greek freighter Georgos at Heraklion (Candia) Harbour and 298 ton Greek freighter Aghia Kyriaki at Cape Kephola.

Fallschirmjager heading back to Major Edgar Stentzler’s temporary field headquarters, near Platanias, Kreta, 28 May 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 1011-166-0508-15).

The Italian relief convoy which set out on the afternoon of 27 May from Rhodes arrives at Sitia at 17:20. They are surprised to encounter no Royal Navy ships at all, which they don't realize are all to the south of the island supporting the evacuation. The Italians bring 13 L3/35 tanks and 3000 men of the 50th Infantry Division. This is the first Axis armor on Crete. The Italians ignore the retreating British and hook up with the German troops at Ierapetra.

The Royal Navy sends Force B, led by light cruisers Ajax, Dido, and Orion, from Alexandria to take men off from Heraklion. They arrive at 23:30 and evacuates 3486 men from Heraklion after dodging Luftwaffe bombs, with Ajax hit and forced to return to base. On the way home, the Luftwaffe bombs and sinks destroyer Hereward, with 71 men killed or missing and 85 taken prisoner.

Royal Navy Force C heads for Sfakia. Consisting of destroyers Kandahar, Kelvin, Napier and Nizam, it takes off 608 men without loss.

President Roosevelt's declaration of a National Emergency during a radio broadcast takes precedence over the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in the Arizona Daily Star, 28 May 1941.

Evacuations from Sfakia generally wait for the 29th. There are 32,000 Commonwealth troops on Crete, which is a manageable number to evacuate, but they are spread out throughout the island and some either can't make it to the south coast or have to fight their way through to get there. Men try to get off every which way they can - motor launch HMML 1030 (Lt W. M. O. Cooksey RNVR)  sinks while trying to escape from Suda Bay.

Greek civilians participate in the attacks on the advancing Wehrmacht. There are snipers, groups of civilians actively participating in the defense of key points, and supply services given to the defending Commonwealth troops. The defense is fiercest around Heraklion. The Germans view such civilian participation as illegal and treacherous, beginning a cycle of hatred between the local inhabitants and the occupying forces.

While the disastrous situation on Crete is being wound up, the British turn to other sectors. Winston Churchill sends Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell with "observations" about the Middle East which Wavell is much more able to judge himself. Churchill opines that "Everything must now be centered upon destroying the German forces in the Western Desert" considering that "you and Freyberg pronounced situation [on Crete] hopeless." He urges Wavell to fight until he has "beaten the life out of General Rommel's army." He hopes that in this way "the loss of Crete will be more than repaired."

Woman reading to children outside, The University of Iowa, May 28, 1941, by The University of Iowa Libraries, via Flickr (photo by Kent, Frederick W. (Frederick Wallace), 1894-1984).

As usual, Churchill cannot resist some covert digs at Wavell. He notes that "We were all very much puzzled" at some of Wavell's appointments of commanders. It is akin to a baseball team owner questioning a manager's lineup. Churchill notes that, while one such appointment to command troops in the western desert, Noel Beresford-Peirse, "is a good Divisional Commander, it is difficult to believe that he can compare with Wilson [sent to Palestine] in military stature, reputation or experience." One can only imagine Wavell's reaction to such second-guessing from afar.

Wavell indeed is planning his next operation on the Libyan frontier. He signals London that this operation, codename "Battleaxe," will include all available armored strength. This includes the "Tiger cub" brought in by the Tiger convoy of which Winston Churchill is so fond. The 7th Armoured Division will lead the advance. Wavell includes in his message some criticism of British armor - he considers the army's armored cars too lightly armored and inadequate to provide protection against either Luftwaffe strafing or Wehrmacht armored cars.

The RAF attacks Italian shipping off Tripoli, damaging Italian freighters Sebastiano Venier and Marco Foscarini. The master of the Foscarini beaches it near Tripoli.

In Malta, soldiers begin wearing their summer uniforms. The government decides to clamp down on a long-standing issue of soldiers selling their uniform equipment such as boots and shirts to civilians by stamping clothing with the soldiers' serial numbers.

Original capture on the back of this photograph: “The motley tribal army listens to Haile Selassie message after the defeat of 30,000 Italians.” 28 May 1941.

Anglo/US Relations: Hamilton Fish, a New York congressman who chairs the naval affairs committee (and who is not a favorite of President Roosevelt), reviews some data about US cooperation with the British. He reveals that the Royal Navy has filed 132 requests with the US government for permission to have damaged warships repaired at US naval yards. This, of course, violates the rules of war for neutrals, but the US is neutral in name only at this point.

Today, the light cruiser HMS Liverpool adds to the list of Royal Navy ships repaired in the US as it departs from Manila bound for repairs in San Francisco due to damage sustained in October 1940.

South Africa: Prime Minister Jan Smuts officially vests as the first South African Field Marshal in the British Army.

Maximilian Kolbe.

Holocaust: Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar and a future saint of the Catholic church, arrives at the German Auschwitz camp from Warsaw.

British Homefront: Minister of Food Lord Woolton introduces egg, fish, and milk rationing. He also announces that successful prosecutions under Food Control Orders now totaled 17,319, a sign that the black market is thriving.

American Homefront: Animation workers vote to go on strike at the Walt Disney studios after Walt Disney fires Union leader Art Babbitt. They are members of the AFL Screen Cartoonists Guild.

Original caption: "Bringing mention of 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Pluto' into the picket line, members of the A.F. of L. Screen Cartoonists Build are shown picketing the Walt Disney Studios on 28 May 1941 after a strike call. Some of the placards they carry show pictures of Disney characters and such slogans as 'Are We Mice or Men?'" This incident is known as The Great Walt Disney Cartoonists Strike of 1941. The photo is dated 28 May 1941, though many accounts state the strike officially begins on 29 May.

May 1941

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

2020

Saturday 19 April 1941

Devastation at Essex Road, Romford (Picture: "Hitler v Havering" by Peter Watt via Romford Recorder)

Operation Marita: With Yugoslavia out of the war now and the British settling into a new line running from Thermopylae to Corinth on 19 April 1941, the focus turns to the Greek Epirus Army in Albania. It has pulled out of some positions in Albania, which the Italians there somewhat tentatively have occupied, but the bulk of the Greek Epirus Army remains in the mountains along the Greece/Albania border.

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still brigade-size at this point in the war) under SS-Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich (Hitlers former chauffeur) once again makes a radical change in its orientation to address this situation. Having moved west into Yugoslavia and then south into Greece, the LSSAH now heads west again into the mountains to confront the Greeks. The Greeks are trying to escape through the Metsovon Pass in the Pindus Mountains, which is at an altitude of 5000 feet, so the LSSAH has a bit of a climb on its hands.

However, the Germans don't even have to do fight the Greeks to defeat them - all they need to do is seize Ioannina, which controls the Greek's supply road. The LSSAH closes up on Ioannina today against light opposition, which is a mystery considering the city's strategic importance. In fact, reports coming out of the mountains, such as by Greek Generals Ioannis Pitsikas and Georgios Bakos, indicate that Greek troop morale has collapsed and they may not have the motivation any longer to continue a hopeless cause.

Elsewhere, the day is spent by the British occupying their new defensive line and the Germans closing upon it. The Germans of the XVIII Mountain Corps take firm control of Larissa, which bottles up any remaining Allied troops in the northeast of Greece and makes their escape route dependent either upon air or naval transport. The Germans find that the British at the airfield left so precipitously that they abandoned sufficient rations and other supplies to supply the German unit's continued move south.

Winston Churchill once again demonstrates the borderline contempt that he feels toward Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell. He sends him a querulous Secret memorandum that can best be characterized as snotty. It reads in part:

So far His Majesty's Government have not received from General Wilson or from you any account of the fighting in Greece, although heavy and prolonged actions have been in progress for several days, and lengthy newspaper reports of a confused character have been telegraphed home. This is not the way His Majesty's Government should be treated. It is also detrimental to the Service.... I wish you to make ... a short daily report of what is happening on the Front ... at least every twenty-four hours.

A clearer slap in Wavell's face is hard to imagine. This is akin to a teacher remonstrating with a student to turn in his homework on time. Wavell's main problem, though, is not Churchill, but that he probably doesn't really have a true picture of the course of the conflict, because it is moving at a rapid pace and his local commanders probably don't have time to submit precise reports of their own locations when they are rolling down the highway toward the next defensive line.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1822 ton Greek freighter Teti Nomikou at Chalkis.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Regent, based in Malta, arrives at Kotor, Yugoslavia to rescue the British Ambassador, Sir Ronald Campbell, and other VIPs. However, the Germans are in possession of the port and bomb the submarine as it approaches, injuring an officer, rake it with machine-gun fire from the shore. The Regent's commanding officer, Lt. Commander H.C. Brown, and a sailor are shot by the machine gun and seriously wounded. The Regent departs without the ambassador or an officer, Lieutenant D. Lambert, who is sent ashore to locate him.

The German 164th Infantry Division sends troops to occupy Samothrace.

Nurses doing what they can in St. Peter’s Hospital, Stepney, East London, to pick up after the bomb damage on April 19, 1941. Four hospitals, some say more, were among the buildings hit during a night of devastation. (AP Photo).

East African Campaign: The Indian 5th Infantry Division marches south from Amara, Abyssinia toward the 1st South African Brigade, which is marching north from Addis Ababa. In between is the 7000-man Italian stronghold Amba Alagi. The South Africans encounter Italian resistance at Dessi, which is about 130 miles (200 km) south of Amba Alagi.

Iraq: The British seized Basra on the 18th with the landing of the Indian 20th Infantry Brigade. Legally, this is proper according to a 1930 treaty. However, the Iraqis see their chance to break free of colonial British rule, don't care about treaties.

The Rashid Ali government, defiantly pro-Axis, steps up its movement of large military forces to the vicinity of RAF Habbaniya, one of two major British airbases in Iraq. This airbase, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Baghdad on the Euphrates, is isolated and vulnerable to many forms of pressure. The Iraqis move an infantry brigade, a separate artillery brigade, a few tanks, a dozen armored cars, and assorted other units to a plateau that overlooks the airbase. The Iraqis demand that all movement to and from the base cease, but the British fly in half a dozen additional Gloster Gladiator fighters to Habbaniyah.

The British strategic problem is that they have large forces in Iraq, but they are widely separated by increasingly hostile territory. The Germans, upon whom Ali has called for aid, have a much bigger strategic problem. They cannot send ships to Iraq, so any presence must be via the Luftwaffe. However, the British control all the Iraqi airfields and the Germans, even if they could find a place to land, would have no logistical support. Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, however, has high hopes of intervening anyway.

Blitz damage to St. Paul's in London. LA Times, 19 April 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe returns to London again after dark with another massive raid. It is even more destructive than the previous raid on 16-17 April. As in 1940, the bombers continue arriving until the first glimmers of dawn. Total sorties (some planes fly multiple missions) equal 712, dropping about 1180 tons of bombs. The Luftwaffe loses only two planes. Casualties are not broken down between the missions, and total casualties are roughly 2300 killed and 3000 seriously wounded. The misery of London dwellers grows, with about 150,000 homes hit between the two raids.

Many important landmarks and public buildings are hit. These include the Speaker's House at Westminster, the Law Courts, Selfridge's, Christie's Auction House, and even St. Paul's, which takes a hit to the north transept and shatters the remaining stained glass windows. Eight London hospitals and many churches - including Christopher Wren's Holborn - are obliterated. London firefighters lose 13 men, the most so far during the war.

The devastation, of course, is worse in some districts than in others. It becomes known locally as "Essex Road Night" because of the damage inflicted upon Romford and Hornchurch. There are 38 dead there alone, mainly women and children. A bomb scores a direct hit on an air-raid shelter at 144 Brentwood Road, killing nine members of one family (the Gills).

RAF Bomber Command continues its patrols of the North Sea and also sends 36 aircraft to bomb coastal targets.

Free French submarine Minerve sights German tanker Tiger being led by auxiliary minesweeper M.1101 along the coast of Norway southwest of Stavanger. The Minerve sinks the minesweeper but misses the tanker.

The Luftwaffe attack on London damages some ships at the quays, including:

• Destroyer HMS Wild Swan, in drydock
• Destroyer HMS Winchester, in drydock

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 351-ton minesweeping trawler Kopanes near Coquet Island in Northumberland. Everyone survives.

British 133-ton dredger Fravis hits a mine and sinks at Langstone Harbour in Hampshire.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sunfish collides with 707-ton net layer HMS Minster. This sends the Sunfish to the repair yard for almost exactly five months.

To man the US coast guard cutters transferred to the Royal Navy, sloop HMS Aberdeen departs Gibraltar bound for Halifax carrying 26 officers and 31 enlisted men to bring them to the UK.

German raider Atlantis transfers the captured passengers from sunk liner Zamzam to supply ships Alsterufer and Dresden, which will take them to Occupied France. Captain Rugge of the Atlantis orders the captives treated well. The Atlantis takes on board three crated Arado Ar-196 seaplanes for reconnaissance.

Convoy SC 29 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.

U-372 (Kapitänleutnant Heinz-Joachim Neumann) is commissioned.

Navy Vought XF4U-1 Corsair parked on a Compass Rose, Bridgeport Airport, on April 19, 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The front around Tobruk is settling down. Both sides are launching occasional patrol, but there is no chance of a breakthrough at this time by either side. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel busies himself with organizational changes such as switching his German and Italian units so that they had the appropriate duties (for instance, he orders that only German troops should occupy Bardia, which has been subject to aggressive British sea bombardments). He also greets the new commander of the 15th Panzer Division, Colonel Freiherr von Esebeck.

While inspecting the troops in the Sollum sector, Rommel observes that the British do not appear to have many troops in this key area. He resolves to continue his offensive into Egypt at this point rather than wait for the conquest of Tobruk. Most German commanders stay in their offices, but making the effort to visit the troops at the front often pays off for Rommel like this.

The British have mounted a series of commando raids of varying success. After dark, they try again. The British use 9919-ton freighter HMS Glengyle to deposit 450 commandos who are part of Layforce (2000 British commandos on call in the Middle East) at Bardia. The problems start even before the men get ashore, as there are difficulties with the landing craft. Then, there is supposed to be a shore party to guide them in, but it is delayed and not there. This probably contributes to the commandos landing on the wrong beaches. They can still complete their mission, but when they get to Bardia, they find it vacant. Searching for something to do, the commandos destroy an Italian supply dump and coastal artillery battery before returning to the beach for pick-up. The raid, though, comes to an unhappy ending for the British when 70 men go to the wrong evacuation beach and are captured, and when a British sentry mistakenly shoots one of his own officers.

The British government put the best face on this fiasco by claiming that it later induces the Germans to over-garrison Sollum - but Rommel was sending German troops there to garrison it anyway. Layforce essentially is disbanded after this and its men used as infantry on various special projects. One of the reasons that the Bardia Raid, as it is called, is remembered at all is that author Evelyn Waugh participates. He records in his diary (as opposed to the triumphant media accounts that soon follow) that the entire affair is an incompetent debacle against no opposition.

The Luftwaffe is getting more aggressive as it receives more units. Today is the first aerial combat over Tobruk involving the Luftwaffe. Fighter unit I,/JG 27, which has arrived after a short detour in the Balkans, make its first patrol and has an immediate impact. It shoots down four Hurricanes of RAF Nos. 73 and 274 Squadrons based at Gerawla which intercept a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka mission against the port. The Germans accomplish this at a cost of one of their own number (force-landed).

Two of the claims go to Oblt. Karl-Heinz Redlich, giving him ten victories. This is Obfw. Hans-Joachim Marseille's unit and he has seven victories at this time. The Luftwaffe has a number of advantages at this time in North Africa:

• The RAF is becoming seriously short of fighters in the western desert, with units transferred to Greece;
• The Luftwaffe has transferred in some top pilots from the Channel Front;
• The RAF pilots are culls of the English fighter force;
• The local RAF is flying Hurricanes and does not have any Spitfires, generally considered the top RAF fighter;
• The Germans are flying their latest model fighter, the Bf 109F, which has been fitted with air filters suitable to the desert.

The Italian Brescia Division shoots down a Blenheim Mk.IV from RAF No. 45 Squadron, killing the crew.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 3257-ton Panamanian freighter Margit at Kalkara Creek, Malta.

The Italian 7th Cruiser Division lays a minefield with 321 mines and 492 explosive floats east of Cape Bon, Tunisia. The field will have a total of 740 mines when it is completed. This operation may be in response to the recent Royal Navy patrol near there that destroyed an Axis supply convoy to Tripoli.

The Luftwaffe bombs Malta, but the bombs fall in open fields and cause no damage.

Convoy ME 7 departs from Malta for Alexandria.

German/Bulgarian Relations: Hitler meets with King Boris III of Bulgaria.

German/Hungarian Relations: Hitler meets with the Hungarian ambassador.

Switzerland: Bertolt Brecht's play "Mother Courage and Her Children" has its world premiere at the Schauspielhaus Zürich in Switzerland.

China: The Japanese launch the Fuzhou Operation. This targets an important administrative center that also has a handy airfield. In addition, the Japanese launch the Zhedong Operation, which is in the eastern part of Zhejiang Province.

British Homefront: Today is the compulsory registration date for women aged 20-12. Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin has exempted certain categories of women, such as those with young children, but even they must register to indicate their status. Only the smallest of children will get a mother out of the queues because the government is providing subsidized childcare. The government also is compelling companies to hire women via an Essential Work Order.

American Homefront: Les Pawson wins the Boston Marathon. He becomes the second man to win the race three times.

Weightlifter Steve Stanko lifts 1000 pounds total at the Mid-Atlantic Championships in York, Pennsylvania. This sets a new world record.

"Snarling Tiger," Emmett Watson, Saturday Evening Post, 19 April 1941.

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