Sunday 18 May 1941

A B-17 Fortress (Model 299) Mark I, AN529, on the ground at Ayr/Heathfield, Ayrshire, shortly after arriving from the United States. AN529 later joined No. 90 Squadron RAF and later flew in Liby (© IWM (E(MOS) 276)).

Anglo/Iraq War: Luftwaffe Special Force Junck (Sonderkommando Junck), after only a few days at Mosul, already as of 18 May 1941 has suffered a 30% attrition rate. Luftwaffe Oberst Werner Junck now has 8 Messerschmitt Bf 110s, 4 Heinkel He 111s, and 2 Junkers Ju 52s. Oberst Junck also has few bombs or supplies, so repairing his planes requires cannibalizing others. After his fierce introduction to the theater, Junck begins husbanding his forces and avoids engagements pending further reinforcements - whenever they might arrive.

The British advance on land continues, with a company of King's Own Royal Regiment being transported by air on the road to Baghdad. The RAF pounds Fallujah, which troops of column Kingcol are approaching.  In addition, the British bomb airfields in Syria being used as transit points by the Luftwaffe.

Air Vice-Marshal Harry George Smart, who heroically has been in command at Habbaniya, is relieved of command now that Kingcol has arrived. In a murky incident, Smart suffers some kind of mental breakdown due to the strain of command. He is taken to Basra aboard a DC-2 for transport back to England and is replaced by Air Vice Marshal John Henry D’Albiac in command of the RAF in Iraq.

Ayr airfield, Scotland, 18 May 1941. © Courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland (RAF Air Photographs Collection).

European Air Operations: It is a rare day in the northwest European theater when neither the Luftwaffe nor RAF Bomber Command launches any major operations.

East African Campaign: With surrender to the British agreed to on the 17th, the Duke of Aosta prepares to march out of his fortress of Amba Alagi with his 18,000 troops on the 19th. The Italians will exit in parade formation and temporarily be permitted to keep their rifles. The entire affair is quite cordial, and the Duke lunches with General Mosley Mayne, the British commander of the 5th Indian Division in the Duke's mountain cave. Both sides adhere to the agreement scrupulously, with the Italians leaving their installation intact and the British not molesting their captives.

U-boat Depot Ship Seeburg, involved in a collision today with U-126.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-107 (Kptlt. Günther Hessler) is operating about 130 miles southwest of Freetown when Hessler spots a ship in the evening. It is an independent 8286-ton British refrigerated ship Piako. Hessler pumps one torpedo into the Piako at 22:27, then another at 22:43. The radio operator has enough time to get off distress signals, and the crew gets off in good order. Ten men perish and 65 survive, to be picked up by destroyer HMS Bridgewater.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 483-ton British freighter Begerin about 17 miles south of South Bishops. Everyone survives.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 472-ton British freighter Eskburn off Blythe. The ship is disabled and must be towed to the Tyne for repairs.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 51-ton Free French fishing trawler La Brise about ten miles northwest of Sevenstones Lightship (moored off the Seven Stones Reef, which is almost 15 miles (24 km) to the west-northwest (WNW) of Land's End, Cornwall, and 7 miles (11 km) east-north-east (ENE) of the Isles of Scilly). The trawler manages to limp into Newlyn.

Royal Navy 84-ton naval drifter HMT Jewel hits a mine and sinks in Belfast Lough. There are 14 deaths, including master Lt. H.J. Cresswell.

U-126 (Kptlt. Ernst Bauer) is virtually within sight of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen at Gdynia (Gotenhafen) when it collides with U-boat Depot Ship for the 27th U- Boat Flotilla Seeburg. The U-126 is still working up for its first war patrol, and the damage to both ships is relatively minor.

German battleship Bismarck being outfitted at Seebahnhof dock 4 in Gdynia (Gotenhafen). Photo is taken from the Prinz Eugen, which dates it to between 15-18 May 1941.

Operation Rheinübung ("Rhine Crossing") is set to begin, so battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen make preparations to leave Gdynia (Gotenhafen). Admiral Lutjens, a hero of the invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung) and the daring sortie by heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau earlier in the year (Operation Berlin), and also Commander of Battleships and the third Flottenchef (Fleet Commander) of the Kriegsmarine, is in command of the operation. At 10:00, Lutjens inspects Prinz Eugen's crew, then holds a commanders' conference on Bismarck with Kapitän zur See Harald Netzband (Lütjens Chief of Staff), Generaladmiral Alfred Saalwächter (Commanding Officer, Group West) and the two commanding officers of Bismarck (Lindemann) and Prinz Eugen (Brinkmann). Lutjens briefs them on the mission and informs them that the ships will sail north along the Norwegian coast and refuel from tanker Wesenburg, then proceed through the Denmark Strait to the open Atlantic.

Prinz Eugen leaves port for Operation Rheinübung at 21:00. The Bismarck waits until the morning of the 19th. In Scapa Flow, Admiral Tovey has received reports (possibly through Ultra) of such a sortie, and today he gives cruiser HMS Suffolk, on patrol in the Denmark Strait, orders to keep a close watch for German ships.

A key feature of Operation Rheinübung is the Kriegsmarine's supply network in the Atlantic, so far relatively undisturbed by the Allies. German 9789-ton tanker Egerland relieves tanker Nordmark today, and the latter proceeds to the Bay of Biscay and, ultimately, Hamburg.

Convoy OB 324 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Lightning (Commander Richard G. Stewart) is commissioned.

Canadian corvette HMCS Baddeck (Lt. Alan H. Easton) is commissioned.

Alfred Edward Sephton receives the Victoria's Cross for services rendered today aboard HMS Coventry. Sephton receives an eye wound and perishes on 19 May.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italian High Command in Rome issues a communique stating in part that "Our counteroperations against the Allies in North Africa have been completely successful." This is close to the truth, as the British still retain Halfaya Pass but otherwise have relinquished their recent gains from Operation Brevity. That Rome is announcing this success rather than Berlin is an expression of Hitler's desire to make Mussolini and his military seem more imposing than most think that they are.

The activity on the Operation Brevity front in southeast Libya dies down, and the opposing forces settle down to garrison duty. General Erwin Rommel, in command of the Afrika Korps, begins planning an attack on Halfaya Pass to restore his original lines.

Everyone's attention now shifts to Crete, which the Luftwaffe is preparing to invade with airborne troops and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill knows is next on the German docket of operations through Ultra decrypts. Churchill sends messages full of foreboding to Mediterranean Fleet commander Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and the commander of British forces on Crete, General Freyberg, telling Freyberg that these are "fateful days" and Cunningham that the outcome of the battle will "affect whole world situation. Hitler, meanwhile, has pawned the difficult Operation Mercury off on Hermann Goering and shows very little interest in it. The British codename for the defense of Crete is Operation Scorcher.

The British continue reinforcing Crete, which already is packed with soldiers who basically are refugees from the failed campaign on the mainland. After sunset, 700  Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders arrive at Tymbaki, Crete from Port Said on troopship Glengyle.

The Luftwaffe continues its operations against British installations on Crete in preparation for Operation Mercury. During an attack on Suda Bay, the German planes further damaged heavy cruiser HMS York, which has been disabled since an attack by Italian explosive motorboats on 26 March, and corvette Salvia. The Luftwaffe also damages 12,667 ton Royal Navy tanker RFA Olna during the attack and its master prevents sinking by beaching it.

The Luftwaffe lands planes on mainland Greece, in the north, and in Attica in the south, in preparation for Operation Mercury.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch, on patrol off Benghazi, torpedoes and sinks 2362-ton Italian freighter Giovinezza.

At Malta, it is another quiet day, as the Luftwaffe merely carries one reconnaissance flight without incident. RAF reconnaissance reports that a hospital ship, apparently the Aba which had been attacked by Luftwaffe planes on the 17th, was approaching the island.

German spy Karel Richter, who has been brought back to his landing ground on 18 May 1941 as part of his interrogation, gestures to show what he did in his few hours after landing by parachute in the woods. With Richter from left to right are Major R.W.G. Stephens,  Lt. G.F. Sampson, Lt. R.A.F. Short, Richter, Captain D.B. Stimson, and Lt. E.B. Goodacre. Richter is being held at Camp 020, and these men of military intelligence are from that camp ((Imperial War Museum - HU 66766).

Special Forces: A force of 23 men from the Haganah's maritime section leaves the port of Haifa bound for Tripoli. Their mission is to blow up refineries there and blow them up. The mission is a complete failure and, after landing, the force disappears.

German/Vichy French Relations: While the Germans have reached an agreement with Vichy French Vice Premier Admiral Darlan on several matters, the agreement remains uncertain. Adolf Hitler is unhappy with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and Ambassador Abetz for making too many concessions (release of French prisoners in exchange for transit rights in Syria), and lets loose one of his famous rants at Ribbentrop's expense. Hitler also has mixed feelings about how to treat France, feeling that the Vichy regime is unstable and the entire country will have to be invaded at some point. At this time, however, no changes are made in any agreements with the French. Somewhat tellingly, he is more concerned about the French today than he is about the imminent invasion of Crete.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Winston Churchill responds to a request by General Ismay and Viscount Cranborne for armaments sales to the government of Eire by stating in part:

I do not object to the ten Hector aircraft being given to Southern Ireland, nor to their purchasing the one Hurricane and one Hudson which are interned there. I do not like giving them Vickers guns, or all these demolition materials... because they are much more likely to be used against us if we march down from the North than against German invaders, of whose coming there is very little chance.

He adds that he views the proceeds from any arms sales to Eire as "petty cash."

Soviet Military: Around this time, the Politburo becomes concerned about the high accident rate in the Red Air Force. The members also are perturbed about a mysterious incident in which a German transport manages to fly into Moscow and land without being detected by the Soviet Air Defense. This incident is poorly understood, with few known facts (it may have been a Junkers Ju 52, a Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance plane, or perhaps a DC-2 in German civil service). However, what is known with certainty is that it sends Soviet paranoia about pro-German conspiracies within the Red Air Force skyrocketing.

The investiture of Tomislav I of Croatia, 18 May 1941.

Croatia: The Independent State of Croatia is established. Prince Aimone, the Duke of Spoleto and next in line to be the Duke of Aosta and a cousin of King Victor Emmanuel III, is crowned King Tomislav I of Croatia at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Ante Pavelić, the leader of the fascist Ustaše movement and de facto ruler of Croatia, attends the ceremony. The new principality the prince will rule, carved out of the former state of Yugoslavia, covers most of the later states of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The official communique state:

By virtue of further. agreements entered into with representatives of the so‑called 'Independent State of Croatia' that 'state,' previously established on Yugoslav territory by the military authorities of occupation, has been declared by the Italian Government to be a hereditary monarchy under Italian protection, thus establishing in effect if not in name an annexation of these territories by the Italian Government.

Bulletin, Vol. IV, No. 102, p. 683. Pursuant to the agreement, the Italians get the coastal area of Split and Kotor and a large area around Zara. Italian troops are permitted access to all areas of Croatia. The Germans also maintain a military sphere of their own in Croatia which is unaffected by the Italian/Croatian agreements.

The new king gets off to a bad start by refusing to go to Duvno (Tomislavgrad) in Croatia for the investiture, preferring to remain in Rome. This is probably prudent since within the past few days an assassination attempt on King Victor Emmanuel failed while he was visiting Albania. Prince Aimone never will go to Croatia, preferring to rule from Italy and Hungary. In any event, Prince Aimone is merely a figurehead for Pavelić.

French Homefront: In Paris, the Gestapo arrests prominent French Communist journalist and politician Gabriel Péri (Peri). Peri is a strident anti-fascist, and his arrest (and later execution on 15 December at Fort Mont-Valérien) is a galvanizing moment in the growth of the French Resistance.

Belgian Homefront: The German authorities agree to a wage increase of 8 percent, ending the Belgian "Strike of the 100,00." The strike actually never involved 100,000 workers (more like 70,000), and from now on the occupying force keeps a close eye out for similar disturbances. The Germans also bear a grudge against the Belgian communists who organized the strike, but for the time being, they decide not to act against them to avoid provoking the Soviet Union.

American Homefront: Secretary of State Cordell Hull makes a radio broadcast from Washington, D.C. to commemorate National Foreign-Trade Week. It is a wide-ranging speech that emphasizes the importance of free trade despite foreign "conquest." He enumerates five principles for "world economic reconstruction";

1. Extreme nationalism must not again be permitted to express itself in excessive trade restrictions.
2. Non-discrimination in international commercial relations must be the rule, so that international trade may grow and prosper.
3. Raw-material supplies must be available to all nations without discrimination.
4. International agreements regulating the supply of commodities must be so handled as to protect fully the interests of the consuming countries and their people.
5. The institutions and arrangements of international finance must be so set up that they lend aid to the essential enterprises and the continuous development of all countries, and permit the payment through processes of trade consonant with the welfare of all countries.

These principles will guide the main strains of post-war trade theory for decades.

A strike at the Goodrich rubber plant in Akron, Ohio ends when the CIO workers agree to a $0.06/hour raise. There currently are about 18 other strikes with national defense implications.

Future History: Diane McBain is born in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain goes on to do some child modeling, then, during her senior year at Glendale High School (the family had moved to California), she is spotted by a talent scout. McBain signs with Warner Bros. and goes on to an cting career. McBain is perhaps best known for roles in early '60s television series "Surfside 6" and Elvis Presley's "Spinout" (1966). McBain continues acting into the 21st Century, but after an incident in the 1980s also becomes a rape counselor. Diane McBain is still alive as of this writing.

Diane McBain in the 1960s.

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

Thursday 1 May 1941

General Erwin Rommel with the 15th Panzer Division between Tobruk and Sidi Omar. Rommel sometimes used armored cars but preferred staff cars because they were more mobile and convenient. This would cost him later in the war (National Archives 1941).

Operation Marita: With mainland Greece occupied by the Germans on 1 May 1941, the focus shifts to Crete. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a lengthy cable to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, in which he congratulates the Royal Navy for the way it "succored the Army and brought off four-fifths of the entire force" from the mainland. He also notes:

It is now necessary to fight hard for Crete, which seems soon to be attacked heavily, and for Malta as a base for flotilla actions against the enemy's communications with Libya.

Churchill sends a much briefer cable to his Middle East Commander, General Archibald Wavell, merely appending his cable to Cunningham and noting "Feel sure you are waiting to strike a blow." An old sea dog, Churchill naturally favors the Royal Navy over the army, but it also is clear from his communications that he hates to lavish praise on Wavell (and his subordinates) for what are likely personal reasons.

Italian airborne troops continue occupying the Greek islands of Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zante.

Iraqi War: The Iraqis have demanded that the British at Habbaniya Airfield west of Baghdad surrender. The British do not reply. The ultimatum will expire in the early morning hours of 2 May. The British prepare to sortie out of their airfield fortress against the Iraqis, who have set up 28 artillery pieces on a plateau overlooking the airfield to the south. There are small Iraqi attacks near the airfield at Rutba. Air Vice-Marshal Harry Smart is instructed personally by Churchill to defend his position: "If you have to strike, strike hard. Use all necessary force."

The May Day parade in Kuibyshev on May 1, 1941 (Vladimir Samartsev).

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe begins a major campaign against Liverpool, which is the main port through which Great Britain communicates with the outside world. This will continue for the next seven nights and wound or kill 3000 people. The Germans also accomplish their true goal of strangling tonnage going into the port, at least temporarily.

The Luftwaffe sinks British freighter Europa and ammunition transporter Malakand during the raid on Liverpool.

Churchill's secretary, John Colville, notes in his diary after a tour of the area that "Plymouth has been cruelly laid waste in the last fortnight." The Luftwaffe has attacked Plymouth for five nights running, but at least the attacks had lessened in severity as they continued. Now, it is Liverpool's turn. The War Cabinet minutes note that it is "disturbing" that "the Press had drawn attention to an unofficial nightly exodus from Plymouth into surrounding districts." The same pattern is likely to occur in Liverpool.

The Luftwaffe combines the day and night fighter commands into a unified command structure, but FLAK units remain independently controlled by local air headquarters (Luftgaukommandos). Colonel Josef Kammhuber is in charge of coordinating FLAK, searchlight and radar units and is a genius at creating an organization (though a bit shakier on overall military strategy). Kammhuber is in the process of coordinating Reich air defenses into a unified structure later known as the Kammhuber Line. This works fairly well under the circumstances that prevail during the early part of the war.

RAF Bomber Command conducts a sweep off the Dutch coast with 22 planes, but there are no incidents.

Ofw. Erich Rudorffer of I./JG 2, with nineteen aerial victories, is awarded the Ritterkreuz.

U-34 (right), a training boat, 1 May 1941. If you look very closely, you will see that it's operational emblem is a picture of an elephant stepping on Winston Churchill, probably in reference to Churchill's time as First Lord of the Admiralty.

East African Campaign: While there have been some small attacks recently in western Abyssinia on heavily defended Italian positions, the rainy season begins and halts the most further operations until mid-June. The Duke of Aosta, a favorite of the King of Italy, is trapped in Amba Alaga, Abyssinia with 7000 troops, but has maximized his possibilities with prudent withdrawals into defensible positions. The East African 22nd Infantry Brigade, advances south from Addis Ababa, capturing Mount Fike in Galla-Sidamo.

On 1 May 1941, the Germans confiscate bicycles at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This is done both to help their own troops (many of whom use bicycles rather than walk) and to deprive the Dutch people of this means of mobility (ANP Historisch Archief Community).

Battle of the Atlantic: The 5583-ton British freighter Nerissa, attacked by U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp) yesterday just before midnight, sinks. It takes 83 crew and 124 passengers with it. There are 23 crew and 51 passengers rescued. See also events of 1 May 1941.

U-103 (Viktor Schütze), on its fourth patrol, is off the coast of West Africa when it torpedoes and sinks 1494 ton British freighter Samsø. This is the start of a string of success in the area for U-103. The Samsø sinks slowly, taking 50 minutes, and only one crewman perishes. The rest of the crew makes it to Los Island, French Guinea, on 3 May.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 329-ton minesweeping trawler Jean Frederic off Start Point. There is one death. Another ship, 200-ton balloon barrage vessel Saturnus, is declared a total loss due to damage sustained. Both vessels have Dutch crews.

British 2950-ton freighter Sea Fisher hits a mine and is beached with the assistance of two tugs. The ship is given temporary repairs and eventually makes it to Middlesborough on 5 May.

Royal Navy patrol boat 534-ton Loch Oskaig captures 3317-ton French freighter Cap Cantin near the entrance to the Mediterranean and takes it to Gibraltar.

Royal Navy patrol boat Cavina captures 6466-ton Italian tanker Sangro, a blockade runner, in the same general vicinity as the Loch Oskaig's capture.

Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Corinthian captures 350-ton French three-masted schooner Martin Pecheur. The ship is sent to Gibraltar with a prize crew.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Juno sustains damage when a depth charge explodes prior to launch. One man is killed and 15 others are wounded.

Portugues schooner Santa Quitéra founders off the Grand Banks. All 40 men are rescued.

Royal Navy destroyers HMS Adrias and Haydon are laid down.

USN submarine USS Grenadier is commissioned, and light fleet carrier USS Independence is laid down, along with destroyers Bancroft, Beatty, Endicott, Kendrick, Laub, McCook and Tillman.

U-163 and U-164 are launched, and U-568 is commissioned. At this stage of the war, increases to the U-boat fleet are far outpacing losses.

Maurine Zollman, a John Powers model (photo by John Rawlings).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The German/Italian offensive against Tobruk continues, and makes some progress. The Germans reorient the axis of attack by the panzers from the southeast to the east but run into a minefield and antitank fire. Paulus, nominally in charge, already is ready to give up, but Major General Rommel tries to enlarge his small bridgehead with an attack to the southeast toward Bir el Medauar. The British respond by sending their own tanks to block them, and a major battle takes place. The British lose five tanks, but blunt the German attack, and the Australian infantry counterattacks. This attack also is repulsed, leaving the Germans within the Tobruk perimeter but unable to expand it as the day ends.

The following Italian infantry, meanwhile, which was supposed to follow the panzer in, is still dealing with isolated Australian outposts that have been overrun but still refuse to surrender. Overall, the battle is trending toward the British, but they have lost ground when they have very little to spare. Operations are hampered during the morning by fog. This combat operation, incidentally, is sometimes called the Battle of Ras el Medauar.

The Luftwaffe, of course, fiercely supports the German attack. Hans-Joachim Marseille, escorting German Stuka dive bombers to Tobruk, shoots down his 10th and 11th kills, two British Hurricane fighters.

General Wavell, from his headquarters in Cairo, is quick to put out a press release about the defense of Tobruk which is refreshingly candid for a military communique. He notes:

An extremely violent battle ignited Wednesday night around Tobruk. After a vigorous bombardment lasting several hours, German and Italian infantry attacked the Tobruk fortifications, deploying heavy tanks and flamethrowing tanks simultaneously. Early this morning another attack ensued by large numbers of German Stuka dive bombers which dropped heavy calibre bombs on the defence installations. Until 10:00 A.M. the British garrison succeeded in preventing any breach in the Tobruk defences. After that, a strong panzer force successfully penetrated the outer perimeter along a 2-mile front. British and Australian troops are at this moment engaged in hand-to-hand fighting in the defensive installations outside the city.

The presence of flamethrower tanks at this early stage of the war is a bit unusual, as the Wehrmacht and British did not become enamored with them until later. They apparently are Italian L3 tanks of the Ariete Division, small tanks that tow their flamethrower fuel in a separate armored trailer.

The RAF attacks shipping in the Benghazi harbor and sinks 1533-ton Italian freighter Serdica.

HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks German freighter Arcturus just south of the Kerkennah Islands, Tunisia. This is part of a convoy returning from North Africa to Italy.

HMS Upholder also torpedoes and sinks German freighter Leverkusen in the same vicinity as the Arcturus south of the Kerkennah Islands.

Two Royal Navy submarines go missing in the Mediterranean during this general period of time - HMS Undaunted (operating near Tripoli) and Usk (the Strait of Sicily). Causes of their loss are unknown. Submarine Truant has sustained damage from minelaying and is sent from Malta to Gibraltar.

German 1819-ton freighter Larissa hits a mine and sinks in the Gulf of Volos.

Winston Churchill orders another operation to run an aircraft carrier into the Mediterranean from Gibraltar and fly off some Hawker Hurricanes to Malta. Such operations have had mixed success to date, with losses of several planes that apparently ran out of fuel. This projected operation is tentatively slated for late May at the earliest.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe attacks continue, and the attacks include bombings and minelaying. The Germans sink 1373-ton freighter Polinice, but the ship is later raised for salvage. There is one civilian death. HMS Jersey hits a mine in Valetta Harbor and later sinks during a raid.

The Italian Navy sends a large force, including three light cruisers, to lay mines north of Tripoli.

German Military: Generalleutnant August Krakau takes command of the German 7th Mountain Division, replacing Robert Martinek. Kapitän zur See Friedrich Hüffmeier took command of cruiser Köln.

US Military: Rainbow 5, the plan for US military responses to an attack, is completed by the Joint Army-Navy Board. It calls for a defensive strategy that entails the surrender of the Philippines. Admiral Hart in the Philippines, acting on optimistic advice from the Navy Department, tells his staff that they will have at least two days of warning prior to the outbreak of hostilities. Commander H D Linder, RNethN arrives in Manila to serve as Hart's liaison with the powerful Dutch naval forces in the East Indies (Indonesia).

Admiral Ernest J. King takes command of the Atlantic Fleet.

Lieutenant Colonel William P. T. Hill takes command of the newly built  Marine Barracks of New River, North Carolina.

Japanese Military: Aircraft carrier Kaga is put in drydock in Sasebo for refit, while freighter Kasuga Maru begins conversion to an escort carrier at the same port.

The May Day parade in Moscow, 1 May 1941.

Soviet Military: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin gives a routine May Day speech which reflects growing rumblings beneath the placid peacetime surface. Stalin's remarks probably are not directed at his current ally Germany, but, in retrospect, they seem to fit what he has in store for them:

The Red Army is ready, in the interests of the socialist state, to ward off every blow struck by the imperialists. The international situation is full of unexpected events. In such a situation the Red Army must step up its defensive readiness.

The German military attache in Moscow notes that the Red Army has begun calling up recruits in the lowest age cohort six months earlier than usual. The Soviets also orders that foreign diplomats may no longer travel freely, but must be escorted.

British Military: General Percival leaves Great Britain to take up his new command in Singapore by air. It is a risky passage via Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, and India.

US War Bonds go on sale today.

British Government: There is a major shakeup within the ministries. Lord Brabazon becomes the new Minister of Aircraft Production, and a new Ministry of War Transport is established that combines the old ministries of shipping and transport. Industrialist Frederick Leathers, who gets a peerage for his effort, will preside over the new Transport ministry. Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of State.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies confides in his diary that he is "desperately afraid of the future in Great Britain." Menzies is scheduled to return home on 3 May, but notes that Lord Beaverbrook "thinks [it] absurd that I should go back to Australia!" There is definite sentiment among those opposed to Churchill's conduct of the war that Menzies would be a good replacement for Churchill as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Holocaust: Gross-Rosen concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager Groß-Rosen), set to become one of the largest camps, becomes an independent camp.  It is in Groß-Rosen, Lower Silesia, Germany (later Rogoznica, Poland). Gross-Rosen had been begun in the summer of 1940 as a satellite camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

SS Karsik (formerly the German Soneck), 1 May 1941, a well-traveled 2191 ton ship of World War II (Australian War Memorial, ID Number: 303479)

Partisans: Joseph Broz "Tito" issues a call for armed resistance to the Germans and Italian occupiers. He is an avowed communist. This is partly in response to mass killings being undertaken at this time by the Pavelic Ustashi government.

US Homefront: Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" is released in the US, with its world premiere at the Palace Theater in New York. It will be nominated for nine Academy Awards and win for Best Original Screenplay (Welles and Herman Mankiewicz). The making of "Citizen Kane" is an oft-retold saga all of its own, with William Randolph Hearst repeatedly trying to quash its release to no avail. "Citizen Kane" is widely regarded as one of the best films ever made, and can fairly be said to the high point of Welles' long and inventive career. Audience reception upon its release, however, is muted.

The Esposito Brothers, who stand accused of murder near the Empire State Building, are convicted of two counts of murder after one minute of deliberation. A photographer happened to be nearby and captured stunning images of the incident. The brothers' attempt to plead insanity as their defense fails. However, the case greatly expands the use of the insanity defense.

General Mills introduces its new cereal Cheerioats. The name eventually will become Cheerios, and the cereal remains a steady seller for many decades.

US Defense Savings Bonds and Stamps, better known as war bonds, go on sale.



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