Finnish T-28 crewmen in Karhumäki in -40° weather, December 1941 (SA-Kuva).
Battle of the Pacific: On New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, Australian National Airlines (ANA) begins evacuating dependents from the naval base at Rabaul on 28 December 1941. The Japanese already have this key naval base in their sites and are preparing Operation R for early 1942. Plan R is planned to be undertaken by the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitaro Horii once it secures Guam.
Muslims in the Indian Army celebrate Id-ul-Adha at Woking Mosque, 28 December 1941 (Islamic Review, September 1942, 293-294, via Woking Mission).
The Japanese Navy considers Rabaul vital for control of the nearby Caroline Islands, which includes a key Imperial Japanese naval base at Truk. It also is strategically located along Allied convoy routes from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. The Allies also consider Rabaul important as the capital of the Australian-administered Territory of New Guinea and a secure fleet anchorage, but the Australians only first garrisoned it in March 1941. As of 28 December 1941, Rabaul only has about 1400 soldiers there in "Lark Force." The Japanese place much more strategic importance on Rabaul than do the Allies. They are determined to capture New Britain to use Rabaul as a springboard for their ambitions to the west and south.
Destroyer tender USS Melville in a photo taken on 28 December 1941. It services neutrality patrol ships in the North Atlantic at Bermuda and occasionally sails to Europe.
In the Philippines, the Japanese advance in southern Luzon, crossing the Agno River and approaching Cabanatuan. The Filipino 52nd Infantry Regiment retreats to Tiaong, and the Filipino 51st Division receives orders to withdraw into the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese in the area advance along Route 1 and seize Luisiana, forcing the Filipino 1st Infantry Regiment to withdraw. The US Army Air Forces in the region continue to withdraw, with the 17th Bombardment Squadron withdrawing from Cabcaben to Limay, Luzon.
The Florence (South Carolina) Morning News for 28 December 1941 headlines "Undefended Manila Set Afire In Three-Hour Bombing."
Dutch B-10 bombers fly from Singapore to bomb the Japanese at Kuching, Borneo. The Japanese are approaching Singawang while retreating Dutch and British troops head into the jungle toward Sampit and Pangkalanbun. There is a Dutch airfield near there at Kotawaringin which the Allied troops hope to protect and at which supplies can be received.
At Midway Island, which has recently been reinforced with troops and equipment originally destined for Wake Island, the seaplane tender USS Tangier and its accompanying ships depart. They carry with them 850 civilian construction contractors.
The London Margarine Factory (the white building) at Wormerveer Noorddijk, the Netherlands (just northwest of Amsterdam), burns down on 28 December 1941.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Off of the Egyptian coast near Mersa Matruh, U-75 (Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann) torpedoes and sinks 1587-ton British freighter Volo. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kipling, guarding Convoy AT-6, chases down U-75 and sinks it with depth charges. There are 30 survivors and 14 men perish.
With Soviet troops having taken Naro-Fominsk near Moscow, Soviet engineers build a bridge near there on 28 December 1941. Photo: Soviet news agency RIAN.
Eastern Front: The German plan to combat the Red Army landings near Kerch is to eliminate the bridgeheads one at a time. This strategy is forced upon them because of their lack of troops in the Kerch Peninsula. Lieutenant General Kurt Himer, commander of the German 46th Infantry Division in Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck's 42nd Army Corps, uses troops recalled from the port of Feodosiya as part of a renewed effort to eliminate the three main Soviet bridgeheads near Kerch. The 1st and 3rd Infantry battalions of Infantry Regiment 97 attack at dawn. Supported by two 10.5 cm howitzers, six Heinkel He 111 bombers and a handful of Stukas, the German troops wipe out the Soviet bridgehead at Zyuk by noontime. The two battalions take 458 prisoners and count about 300 Red Army troops killed at a cost of only 40 casualties. Another German attack at Cape Khroni by Infantry Regiment 72 also wipes a Red Army bridgehead. These are stunningly successful operations that illustrate the fragility of a bridgehead if attacked quickly. Overall, the two operations take about 1700 prisoners. Sponeck and Himer now turn their attention to the Bulganak Bay bridgehead, where about 1000 Red Army troops are trying to consolidate. Once this is eliminated, it appears the Soviet landings would have been completely repulsed.
Around Moscow, German troop strength is declining fast both due to combat casualties and frostbite. The low temperatures and heavy snow are making aerial reconnaissance impossible, which, as Second Army commander General Rudolf Schmidt reports, leaves his troops "blind." General Ludwig Kuebler at Fourth Army - Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Hans Guenther von Kluge's former command - warns that even his own headquarters now is almost in the front lines. Soviet cavalry is across the Sukhinichi/Kaluga railroad and roaming far to the rear, virtually unimpeded no matter how far west they choose to go.
Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, landing in the Protectorate in the night between 28 and 29 December 1941, carried out the successful assassination of the Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector Reinhard Heydrich.
Special Operations: After extensive training funded by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík parachute into Czechoslovakia (the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) from a Handley Page Halifax on 28 December 1941. This is the start of Operation Anthropoid. There, the two men find a local priest, František Samek, who helps them to go into hiding for several months. Their mission is to assassinate the province's Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, the ruthless SS-Gruppenführer who is a key figure behind the "Final Solution" and who ruthlessly suppresses all dissent. December 28 is remembered every year in the village of Nahvizdy in central Bohemia for the arrival nearby of the two agents.
Australian/US Relations: The first of several Allied conferences takes place at RAAF Base Amberley Field southwest of Brisbane. This is a follow-up to Prime Minister John Curtin's New Year's Message released on 27 December 1941 in which he characterized the United States as his country's chief protector. The Australian and the United States militaries reach some formal agreements for the conduct of the war. These include building bases on a line between Brisbane and Darwin which contain refueling depots at Charleville, Cloncurry, Daly Waters, and Darwin. This is to provide for servicing of routine air traffic. In addition, Royal Australian Air Force pilots will train new US Army Air Force pilots for B-24 crews at Archerfield and for P-40 pilots at Amberley. The prescribed course will teach night flying, dive-bombing, and aerial gunnery. These Amberley Field conferences build a close working relationship between the Royal Australian Air Force and the USAAF throughout the war.
A US military Diamond-T 969A 4 ton Wrecker, built to military specifications. This photo was taken on 28 December 1941.
US Military: Rather than use vulnerable civilian construction workers who now are being captured all across the Pacific Theater, the US Navy decides that it would be best to form a separate construction service. US Navy Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks Vice Admiral Ben Moreell places a formal request with the Bureau of Navigation for such units. This is the birth of the Naval Construction Battalion, more colloquially known as the Seabees for the acronym of its name.
New Zealand Military: The tiny New Zealand military has its 2nd Division fighting in Libya with great distinction. However, it now finds that it has few troops on hand to defend against a potential Japanese attack. There is little war industry in New Zealand and a complete lack of tanks, artillery, and other instruments of modern warfare. However, the time has come to start worrying about the homeland. The military begins raising three battalions and the New Zealand Navy recently has sent minesweeper HMNZS Gale to Fiji. More minesweepers are to be sent to Fiji to form a minesweeping flotilla. These can serve as troop-convoy escorts.
A group photo of No. 2 Platoon, D Company at Burnham Camp in New Zealand. This is the largest military base in New Zealand's South Island.
British Homefront: William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, delivers his typical English-language propaganda broadcast on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment from Hamburg, Germany. This broadcast is recorded and preserved. Joyce urges listeners to "Tell Roosevelt to keep his hands off the Royal Navy."
Igor Sikorsky with the second configuration of the VS-300, just after setting the endurance record for US flights on 15 April 1941.
Operation Marita/Operation 25: The Allied situation in Greece is deteriorating rapidly on 15 April 1941, and Yugoslavian resistance basically is over. The Germans are mushrooming out in all directions from the penetration across the Greek border. The Germans are heading west toward the coast in order to bottle up the Greek Epirus Army that has been fighting the Italians since October; the Germans also are heading south toward Athens, and in addition, the Germans are heading east toward Larissa in order to cut off the retreating British on the Aliakmon Line. Essentially, it is a race to see who can get to the main roads in these areas first and secure them. If the Germans do, the large Allied forces to the north are trapped.
Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell meets with his deputies, and they resolve to begin evacuating from Greece rather than continue Operation Lustre - and there currently are ships loaded with troops and equipment still on their way to Greece. This is an indication of how quickly the situation has fallen apart. Wavell sends his man in Athens, General Henry Maitland Wilson, a message:
We must of course continue to fight in close cooperation with Greeks but from news here it looks as if early further withdrawal necessary.
Australian General Thomas Blamey, commander of the Australian and New Zealand troops in Greece (the ANZAC Corps), all along has assumed that he would have to evacuate his troops. He sets his units in motion to the south, preparing a series of rearguard positions to the Thermopylae/Corinth line. Blamey positions the 16th Australian Brigade at the Pinios Gorge in order to block a German breakout to Larissa - which, as a key crossroads near the east coast, would seal the fate of all Allied units to the north. The British already are putting men on transports at Volos (just south of Larissa) and other nearby ports.
The Wehrmacht has blasted south from western Yugoslavia and brushed aside Allied resistance in several key passes. The Greeks 12th and 20th Divisions are heading south over rough country, as the Germans now control the main roads. The Germans today attack Siatista Pass, and the Greek 12th Division is so worn down that it can only find 1000 men with which to defend itself.
The Italian 9th Army takes Koritsa (Korçë) from the retreating Greeks without a fight. The Axis forces now are sweeping up huge numbers of Greeks forced out of their secure positions in the mountains and attempting to walk south over the mountains.
Having taken Sarajevo, what do you suppose would be a good thing to do right away, with priority? Well, for the Germans, it is removing a plaque erected there in 1930 to commemorate the 28 June 1914 assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip. The plaque is sent to Hitler on his special train in Monichkirchen in time for his 52nd birthday (Serbianna).
The Germans (16th Motorized Division) heading south from Austria for a linkup with the Italians take Sarajevo from the Yugoslav 2nd Army. Many Yugoslavian army units are simply "going to ground" in the mountainous western part of the country.
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH, still brigade-size) attacks toward the Metsovon Pass at Grevena, which is on the main road to Ioannina. Already, the Germans have cut off any escape routes for the Greek forces in Albania, and each mile they advance tightens the noose. The Greek 13th and Cavalry Divisions there are encircled and surrender, opening the road west. Greek leader General Papagos frantically directs more troops in that direction to hold open his Western Macedonian Army's escape route.
Troops at the battle of Platamon, April 1941 (NZ Official History).
The Germans wish to get to Platamon on the east coast south of Thessaloniki. Doing this would cut off large Allied forces to the north, forcing them to fight their way out, evacuate from Thessaloniki, or surrender. The Germans try to gain control quickly of a ridge which dominates the mountain pass which leads to Platamon using motorcycle troops, but the New Zealand 21st Battalion (General Neil Macky) is in place and holds its ground. Later in the day, the Germans try again with a tank battalion, but the New Zealanders once again stand firm. The Germans accumulate forces for another attempt early on the 16th. There is a convenient railway tunnel that runs to the coast there which the New Zealanders desperately try to keep out of the German grasp.
Elements of the German 164th Infantry Division occupy the island of Thasos.
The Regia Aeronautica attacks the RAF base at Paramythia, near the Greek/Albanian border, through which Yugoslavian King Peter II passed just yesterday. They destroy or damage 17 Yugoslavian aircraft, including many Dornier Do17 and Italian SM-79 bombers purchased from the Axis during the reign of former regent Prince Paul.
The Luftwaffe (the II Staffeln, Lehrgeschwader 1) bombs Eleusis Bay at Piraeus. The Germans hit 7765-ton British transport Quiloa and 5314-ton freighter Goalpara. Everyone survives, and the ships are beached.
The Luftwaffe also bombs the RAF airfield at Larissa. They destroy 10 Blenheim bombers on the ground. Another attack on Niamata also destroys some Blenheims.
The RAF attacks the Italian base at Valona (Vlorë), Albania. Fairey Swordfish of No. 815 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm torpedo and sink freighters Luciano and Stampalia. Some accounts place these sinkings on the 14th.
Today marks the final combat between Hellenic Royal Air Force aircraft and the Luftwaffe. Twelve Greek fighters (five Bloch MB 151s, five Gloster Gladiators and two PZL P24s) take off from Vassiliki to challenge Junkers Ju 87 Stukas heading for Trikala. The Bf 109Es escorting the Stukas shoot down five Greek planes, while the Greeks down a Stuka. Luftwaffe pilot Gustav Rödel claims three victories. After this, the Greek Air Force does not challenge the Luftwaffe again.
Bulgaria severs diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia and sends its 5th Army troops across the border to take chunks of Morava and Macedonia.
Adolf Hitler sends Croatian strongman (Poglavnik) Ante Pavelić a congratulatory telegram upon his assumption of power in a new independent state of Croatia. Rome and Bratislava also immediately recognize the new government.
East African Campaign: The Italians remain holed up in western Abyssinia. Today, the Italian colonial forces at Gambela fight Belgian Congolese troops.
European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe, after a pause while it focused on the Balkans, resumes its attacks on Great Britain. Tonight's target is Belfast in Northern Ireland, as 180 bombers focus on the Harland & Wolff shipyards (destroying three ships nearing completion) and York Road railway station. This is known as part of the Belfast Blitz.
William Joyce (known as “Lord Haw-Haw”) had announced in recent radio broadcasts that there would be "Easter eggs for Belfast."
During the afternoon, spectators at a football match at Windsor Park notice a Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane flying over Belfast. It is unclear what this means until the air raid sirens go off at 22:45; the attacks begin around 23:00 and last for six hours. One issue is that the government has not provided nearly enough antiaircraft defenses for the city, with only 16 heavy guns to protect all of Belfast.
The Germans drop bombs on the docks and nearby terrace houses, a working-class district. It is estimated later that bombs destroyed half the houses in the city and left 100,000 people homeless. The Dublin Fire Brigade helps put out the fires, crossing the international boundary twice, but 500 people are killed and 400 badly injured (some estimates are much higher). This assistance by Eire, incidentally, is a violation of neutrality laws, but Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera orders all but one fire crew from Dublin and nearby towns (Dun Laoghaire, Drogheda, and Dundalk) be sent.
The Luftwaffe also attacks Liverpool with about 50 bombers and the Newcastle region with 38 bombers. An additional 11 bombers attack Hull, killing 55 and injuring 20. As occasionally happens, a bomb hits a shelter and kills everyone inside at Ellis Terrace, accounting for roughly half of the deaths.
During the day, RAF Bomber Command targets Borkum with Blenheims of No. 105 Squadron. Bomber Command targets Kiel once again tonight. There are 110 deaths. Another attack with 23 aircraft hits Boulogne, and there are assorted other, smaller attacks up and down the French/Belgian/Dutch coast.
The Admiralty takes over control of RAF Coastal Command. This is very similar to the Kriegsmarine recently arguing for - and getting - control over some Luftwaffe air units.
Charles de Gaulle notes that Frenchmen serving in the RAF are violating French law. He gives them until 25 April to apply to serve in the Free French Air Force. It is a curious requirement and perhaps reflects a bit of empire-building by de Gaulle, whose reputation and prestige have suffered lately due to the disaster at Dakar and some other incidents.
Operating in the Balkans, Luftwaffe ace Lt. Hans-Jacob Arnoldy of II./JG 77 is shot down by a Hurricane and succumbs to his injuries.
Adolf Galland of JG 26 scores his 60th victory. The incident is noteworthy because Galland (with wingman Lt. Westphal) is heading for a birthday party for Theo Osterkamp at Le Touquet but decides to take a detour on the way and fly over England. Galland shoots down a Spitfire, then scoots back to his destination and delivers the lobster and champagne he is carrying for the party.
Kommodore Major Mölders of JG 51 also downs a Hurricane over Boulogne in a brand new Bf 109F. This gives him 63 victories, the most in the world, and keeps him ahead a bit ahead of No. 2 Galland.
Damage in Belfast due to the 15 April 1941 Luftwaffe raid.
Battle of the Atlantic: Royal Navy destroyer HMS Bath collides with an unidentified ship during the night along the east coast of England and has to put into the Tyne for repairs. The repairs will last until 19 May. Navigating at night under blackout conditions, without running lights or radar, is extremely hazardous.
Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli torpedoes and sinks 4733-ton British freighter Aurillac midway between the Azores and Portugal. There is one death among the crew (some accounts say there were no survivors).
The Luftwaffe attacks Hull and bombs and sinks 59-ton British tug Aquila.
A Vichy French flotilla of submarines (Acteon, Fresnel, and Henri Poincare) passes through the Straits of Gibraltar en route from Toulon/Oran to Casablanca.
Convoy OG 59 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 59 departs from Gibraltar bound for Liverpool.
Royal Navy minelayer HMS Abdiel (M 39, Captain Edward Pleydell-Bouverie) and Australian minesweeper HMAS Burnie (J 198, Lt. Commander Lt. George E. Gough) are commissioned.
HMS Abdiel.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies notes in his diary:
Tobruk is holding out and Sollum is recaptured pro tem, but the cutting of supplies to Tripoli is the only hope. The navy must take great risks to do this.
In fact, the British have not recaptured Sollum. This is an indication of how muddy the view of the battle in Libya has become even for people privy to reports directly from the front.
The British attack Forward Detachment Knabe, located near Sollum, at 05:30 with a company supported by artillery. The British climb over a rocky hill without the Germans noticing. The Germans hold their position. This is another probing attack, like the failed German assault on the 14th. In essence, the two sides are settling down already to an extended siege, the First Siege of Tobruk.
The Germans observe steady ship traffic in and out of Tobruk Harbor. Somewhat hopefully, they assume this means that the British are evacuating. In fact, it is simply a normal supply and Royal Navy ship movement.
RAF Hurricanes attack the airfield at Bardia and destroy four Junkers Ju 52 transport planes. The airfield is deemed too vulnerable to make a base for operations. The RAF is active in attacking the Afrika Korps units surrounding Tobruk.
Royal Navy gunboat Ladybird bombards Gazala.
At Malta, there is a large Luftwaffe raid that targets Luqa and Ta Qali airfields and numerous other spots. There are many "duds" among the bombs, which cause their own problems because each has to be disarmed with great skill and care. Separately, Governor Dobbie opens up the labor pool to those over 60 years of age and those under 21 years due to labor shortages. Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt's special envoy to Great Britain, W. Averell Harriman, tells Winston Churchill that England is not acting to create enough support in the United States. This is a very sensitive topic for Churchill that he has pondered before and rejected, feeling that it would be seen as presumptuous. He politely asks Harriman what he thinks the British government should do differently.
US/Soviet Relations: US Ambassador Laurence Steinhardt warns Joseph Stalin that Germany is preparing to invade the USSR. Stalin does not place much credence in these types of warnings but is gradually firming up defenses in the western zone of the Soviet Union anyway. As the Stavka builds up forces in the west, however, they are placing them on the frontier and not further back in more defensible locations. The Soviet theory is that they will quickly counterpunch any German aggression and invade Poland.
Soviet Military: While known details are sketchy, apparently on or about this date a German transport (either a Junkers Ju 52 previously ordered by the Soviets or a civil DC-2) lands in Moscow without detection by the Soviet air defense system. This breeds suspicion within the Politburo that the Red Air Force is engaging in a conspiracy against the state. This incident and a high accident rate within the air force eventually lead to a purge of air force officers in May/June 1941.
US Military: While the Allies are far behind Germany in helicopter development, Igor Sikorsky is determined to catch up and take the lead. Flying his experimental Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 at his factory in Stratford, Connecticut, Sikorsky stays in the air for over an hour. Total flight time - much of it motionless - is 65 minutes and 14.5 seconds. While this is not yet an army project, the helicopter definitely is seen as having military applications once it is developed.
A view of the Flatiron Building from the Worth Monument, NYC, 15 April 1941. The view is largely unchanged today.
US Government: President Roosevelt signs an executive order which provides for servicemen to fight the Japanese in Asia without declaring war. This is approved by the Chinese government. They cannot do this in an official capacity; the workaround is that they will sign contracts with a "private" company, the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO). After fulfilling a one-year contract fighting for CAMCO in Asia (many actually are based in Burma), the soldiers can automatically return to their military careers. This is a key step toward the formation of Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG), which is better known as the Flying Tigers.
The US Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, aka the Truman Committee, holds its first meeting. Harry S. Truman, a senator from Missouri, heads an effort to investigate solutions to problems with US war production. In practice, Truman will crackdown on war profiteering and waste in the procurement system. Personally driving his own Dodge car throughout the eastern half of the country, Truman will see first-hand how government contracts are enriching the few at the expense of the working people. He will work to open up the bidding process so that all regions of the country will benefit from military spending. Truman is not a Roosevelt backer and finds that many of Roosevelt's own programs are wasteful. While not a very sexy topic, procurement reform is vitally important to the development of the war effort and will propel Truman into the national consciousness.
Yugoslavian Government: The Yugoslavian government, headed by King Peter II, reunites in Athens after hurried flights from Belgrade. Peter is the acknowledged leader of the government in exile.
Mexican Homefront: The Colima earthquake hits the State of Michoacán. It is a roughly 7.7 earthquake that kills about 90 people and destroys the Colima cathedral and damages numerous other buildings in the city. Almost a quarter of all homes in the city collapse.
American Homefront: Miners from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) attempt to post a picket line at Fork Ridge mine in Middlesboro, Tennessee. However, when 50 men try to cross the state line from Kentucky to set the lineup, 15-18 armed company guards open fire on them. There is one death of a union worker, and the miners - also armed - take cover and return fire. Over a thousand shots are fired during the day and more men go to the hospital.
It is opening day for baseball season, with a game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field.
The state line about five miles from Middlesboro, where a gunbattle between company men and union workers took place on 15 April 1941 (Appalachian History).
Collier Fermain, sunk today by the Luftwaffe in the English Channel.
Italian/Greek Campaign: The British Operation Lustre has brought over large British Army troop concentrations by 2 April 1941, and more are arriving daily. Major General Sir Bernard Freyberg positions his New Zealand Division on the Aliakmon Line, which follows the river Aliakmon from the Aegean coast around Katerini westwards on the river's south bank. This is as far forward as the British feel may be defensible, but the Greeks prefer a line along the border with Bulgaria.
East African Campaign: The Italians at Massawa know that, with The Indian 5th Infantry Division moving quickly from Asmara toward Massawa, time is short. They send five destroyers (Battisti, Manin, Pantera, Sauro, and Tigre) on a one-way mission to attack Port Sudan and then scuttle themselves. The Royal Navy and RAF both have strong forces in the area, so the Italian destroyers face a daunting task in carrying out their mission.
Around this date, British Major General Lewis Heath, commander of the Indian 5th Infantry Division, gets on the telephone and calls Massawa. Italian commander Rear Admiral Mario Bonetti gets on the line and refuses an ultimatum to surrender. Heath also demands that Bonetti not block the harbor with sunken ships, else the British would not protect Italians from natives after the Italian troops are disarmed (which has become a problem recently for the Italians remaining behind in cities to be occupied by the British). Bonetti also refuses this obvious attempt at extortion.
The RAF bombs and sinks two Italian freighters near Dalac Island off Abyssinia: 7669 ton Giuseppe Mazzini and 7099 ton Urania. The British later will salvage these for their use.
A Gordon bomber over Iraq operating out of RAF Habbaniya, April 1941.
European Air Operations: The RAF continues attacking Axis shipping off the Dutch coast. In addition, the RAF flies Circus and Rhubarb missions over occupied France. The British are aware that the Luftwaffe is sending units east and wants to take advantage of their absence and perhaps force the Germans to bring some back.
RAF Bomber Command conducts one of its most famous missions. It is a propaganda flight over Holland during which it drops 75,000 bags of Dutch East Indies Tea. Each bag contains about 20 grams (10 oz) of high-quality tea. The bags have tags bearing the Dutch flag and the words, “The Netherlands will rise again. Greetings from the Free Netherlands East Indies. Chins Up.” The Dutch East Indies Teaplanters donated the tea for this purpose. The Dutch News Agency reports the event:
“Never have the Dutch people so gratefully received a gift from the Dutch East Indies, Especially as it is almost impossible to get an ounce of tea in the Dutch shops.”
While undoubtedly a propaganda coup, the tea-raid presents a couple of odd contradictions. One, the British love tea, but Lord Woolton has had to ration it due to its short supply - making a showy expenditure of so much fine tea a slap in the face of British tea drinkers. Second, the British have been adamantly opposed to any US humanitarian aid to Occupied Europe - and then they drop perfectly usable tea on it.
A Hawker Hurricane from RAF No. 504 Squadron shoots down a He 111 P-2 from 7./KG 55. The P-2 version of the He 111 medium bomber is specially armored and has various other improvements such as extra defensive armament and extra bomb capacity.
The Detroit Free Press, 2 April 1941. The Ford Motor Company refuses to recognize the United Automobile Workers union, and Ford head of security Harry Bennett has fired eight union workers, causing a walkout.
Battle of the Atlantic: U-boat Command has set up a picket line of 8 U-boats about 500 miles southwest of Iceland and southeast of Greenland. Among the U-boats are U-46 and U-48. As planned, an Allied convoy, in this case, SC-26, appears, and the U-boats go to work.
U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass) torpedoes and sinks 7000-ton British tanker British Reliance southeast of Greenland. Everybody survives.
Operating in roughly the same region as U-46, U-48 (Kptlt. Herbert Schultze) torpedoes and sinks 9957-ton British refrigerated cargo ship Beaverdale. There are 21 deaths.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Tigris (Lt. Cdr. H.F. Bone) attacks and sinks 5486-ton German armed tanker Thorn about 75 miles (110 km) southwest of St. Nazaire in the Bay of Biscay. The attack is distinguished by the huge amount of effort that Bone puts into the attack: no less than seven torpedoes and gunfire. Tankers are always difficult to sink because of their construction, but that is an inordinate amount of munitions for one medium-sized ship.
The Luftwaffe attacks shipping off St. Abb's Head in Berwickshire, Scotland. The planes sink two Royal Navy minesweeping trawlers, 180 ton HMT Cramond Island and 259 ton HMT Fortuna. All 15 men on board the Fortuna perish, while two men perish and three are wounded on Cramond Island.
The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 759-ton British collier Fermain in the English Channel off Boulogne. Everyone survives.
The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 873-ton British tanker Wild Rose about 12 miles (20 km) southeast of Tuskar Light House, County Wexford, Ireland. Towed to Rosslare Harbour and beached, the tanker is later refloated and taken to Dublin for repairs.
British 1908-ton freighter Melrose Abbey hits a mine and sinks north of Aberdeen in the River Ythan. It is later refloated and taken to Aberdeen for repairs.
British coaster Coombe Dingle runs aground at Carnalea, County Down and is written off.
Greek freighter Nestos runs aground in Liverpool Bay and is written off.
German battleship Bismarck is still receiving items for its planned sortie into the Atlantic. Today, it is supplied with two of the four Arado Ar 196 floatplanes that are to be housed in a hangar behind its main superstructure.
Royal Navy minelayer HMS Plover lays minefield ZME 27 in the Irish Sea. It is to lay multiple minefields in the ZME series over the next three weeks.
Convoy OB 305 departs from Liverpool.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Uproar (P 31, Lt. John Kershaw) is commissioned.
WQXR News Commentator Lisa Sergio, April 2, 1941. WQXR broadcasts in FM, which is still somewhat exotic, and Lisa Sergio is a pioneer female radio news commentator (NYWT&S Collection, Library of Congress).
Battle of the Mediterranean: The Afrika Korps maintains its momentum. When the Germans spot the British heading east around noontime, Lieutenant General Rommel at 13:00 orders the 5th Light Division panzers take Agedabia (Ajdabiya). Rommel also sends one column apiece toward Derna and Tobruk. Tellingly, Rommel only issues these orders verbally, knowing that they are contrary to standing orders not to attack.
After putting up a defense in the morning, the British 2nd Armoured Division withdraw under orders to Antelat about 35 miles (56 km) to the northeast. This leaves Benghazi open to attack.
Despite the stunning Afrika Korps advance, perhaps the most interesting thing that happens during the day is Italian Commander General Gariboldi's reaction to it. Gariboldi previously has forbidden further advances until more Wehrmacht and Italian troops arrive. Late in the day, Rommel receives a message from the Commando Supremo:
From messages I have received I take it that your advance continues. This is contrary to what I have ordered. I politely request that you wait for me before you continue the advance.
This rather perfectly encapsulates the state of Italian generalship during World War II.
At sea, Operation Winch begins. This is a resupply of Malta, including a flight of a dozen Hurricanes to be flown off HMS Ark Royal. The Ark Royal is accompanied by battlecruiser Renown and light cruiser Sheffield.
The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy AS 23 in the Aegean off Gavdo Island. The German planes sink 4914-ton Greek freighter Coulouras Xenos and badly damage 5324-ton British freighter Homefield. The Royal Navy escorts later sink the Homefield. Greek 2747 ton freighter also is damaged by near misses, but makes it to port in Crete. The German planes also damage 6054-ton British freighter Devis of Convoy ANF 24 in the same area.
Two Yugoslavian freighters hit mines and sink off Croatian city Šibenik: 1293-ton freighter Karadjordje and 1726-ton freighter Prestolonaslednik Petar (Star). Everybody on both ships survives.
A convoy of five freighters departs from Naples bound for Tripoli.
A 1941 Chrysler Royal 4-Door Sedan. This one survives in Indonesia.
Indian/German Relations: Subhash Chandra Bose, having fled British custody in India, finally reaches Berlin after a circuitous route.
Japanese/Italian/Papal Relations: Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka visits with Mussolini that the US was trying to initiate a conflict. Matsuoka then visits with Pope Pius XII, and Matsuoka reports to Tokyo:
The Pope took an utterly detached attitude, free of any favoritism regarding the European war, and approached the question from the point of view of a general peace throughout the world.
Propaganda: Lord Haw-Haw, the German radio propagandist who speaks in curiously cultured tones, identifies himself on-air as William Joyce.
The Shop Motor Repair building at Fort Ord, California, completed 2 April 1941 (Fort Ord Buildings, Completion Report Pictures.
US Military: Cruiser USS Astoria departs Hawaii for Long Beach, California. It is to be upgraded with quadruple-mount 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 cal anti-aircraft guns and preparations for air-search radar.
German Military: Some sources place the first flight of the Heinkel He 280 jet fighter under its own power today. However, other sources place it on 30 March, where we have put it.
Hungarian Government: Prime Minister Pal Count Teleki de Szek learns that Chief of the General Staff General Werth secretly has agreed to allow Wehrmacht troops into Hungary. Teleki denounces Werth as a traitor and then commits suicide because of his abhorrence of working with Hitler. The new Prime Minister is Foreign Minister Laszlo Bardossy, known to be extremely sympathetic to Germany.
Yugoslavia: The German government basically closes its embassy in Belgrade, reducing it to a skeleton staff and destroying all documents. Its counselor, Gerhard Feine, reports that the Yugoslavs are having second thoughts about opposing Germany and even about the coup itself. Feine is told to warn members of friendly embassies to seek safety elsewhere.
The Yugoslavian military attaché reports to Prime Minister Simovic that the Germans are to invade on the 6th. Simovic continues to refuse to contemplate military coordination with Great Britain.
Iraq: Rashid Ali consolidates power in Baghdad after his successful coup. British ambassador Sir. Kinahan Cornwallis arrives in a situation vastly changed from when he set out from London.
China: The Japanese 11th Army continues its gradual withdrawal to its bases after the Battle of Shanggkao. The Chinese continue to pressure the Japanese and recover Hsishan, Wanshoukung, and Shihchachieh.
American Homefront: Harlan County, Kentucky has been the scene of violent Union confrontations throughout the past decade. Today, it explodes into violence once again. On 1 April, miners went on strike due to the expiration of a Union contract. Union pickets (United Mine Workers Association) enter the Crummies Creek Company Store at 10:00 today and attempt to purchase a Coca-Cola using cash. The store's manager refuses, citing company policy that only company script is accepted there. There are few other places in mining towns to buy supplies, which is a key element of company control. The Union men refuse to leave without their soft drink, and an altercation ensues (with the particulars disputed by both sides). The store has a machine gun hidden under a butcher's apron, mounted on a meat block, and an employee runs to it and opens fire.
There are four dead and four seriously wounded Union workers, along with a wounded African American bystander and a lightly wounded company worker. The Union charges that the company men opened fire "from the bushes." The Company, meanwhile states that the shooting occurred only after the Union men roughed up the store manager and tried to force him to sign Union "check-off" slips. He also alleges that the striking Union men had .45 pistols and "started trouble." There also are reports of various other assaults on journalists and company men. Future History: Barret Eugene Hansen is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Barry, as he becomes known, hangs out with rock band Spirit after earning his master's degree in the '60s, then catches on as an A&R man for Specialty Records. This leads to a radio show for Specialty, which leads to a job with Warner Bros. Records. Barry also writes extensively on the rock scene and does liner notes and other rock-associated tasks. His real love is radio, however, and he develops an on-air persona known as Dr. Demento who plays novelty records. The Dr. Demento Show becomes wildly popular playing offbeat tunes by artists such as Judy Tenuta, Emo Philips. Barnes & Barnes and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Dr. Demento remains on the radio and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November 2009 and the Comedy Hall of Fame in June 2005.
Canadian Railways train 3665, oil-fired with a wood pilot and stack exhaust deflector. Salmon Arm, April 2, 1941 (Bud Laws Collection).
P/O Juliusz "Topola" Topolnicki of No 601 Squadron RAF sits in readiness near Hurricane Mk I UF-N in a revetment at RAF Tangmere. August 1940.
Battle of Britain: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering finally gets serious about the aerial assault on England on 6 August 1940 and calls a conference at his grandiose hunting lodge Carinhall north of Berlin. The subject is Hitler's Fuhrer Directive No. 17. While it has been about three weeks since that directive was issued, the weather in between was poor, so large operations were difficult if not impossible. Now, however, the weather has cleared and there appears to be a long period of fine flying weather approaching. So, time to get down to business and see if the RAF can be broken. The main attendees are:
Inspector General, Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch;
the commander of Luftflotte 5, Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff;
Luftflotte 2's Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring; and
Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle of Luftflotte 3.
The issue is the overall strategy, about which there is no consensus. The basic positions of the main protagonists are:
Goering wishes to destroys RAF airfields, factories, other infrastructure and beat the RAF into submission through direct attacks;
Kesselring, perhaps based on his experiences at Warsaw and Rotterdam, pushes for a massive terror raid on London;
Sperrle advocates attacks on ports to intensify the blockade.
As with virtually all German staff meetings, it doesn't really matter what any subordinates want, though their suggestions often plant the seeds for future orders by the decisionmakers.
Goering orders (it is not a democracy) that the attacks on the RAF and its infrastructure are to commence on a date to be chosen, designated Adler Tag ("Day of Eagles"). The entire operation, which Goering projects to take four weeks in order for Operation Sealion to take place around 15 September, is given the codename Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"). Unlike the others, Goering is privy to plans to attack the Soviet Union in 1941, so he has every reason to try to settle things with England now in an all-out do-or-die series of aerial battles.
Current Luftwaffe forces include about 484 bombers of KG 27, KG 51, 54, KG 55, LG 1, KGr 100, KGr 606, and KGr 806. The Luftwaffe's fighter force outnumbers the RAF by roughly 2-1.
Overall, it is not a bad plan or at least as bad as histories tend to recite. However, it is a campaign of attrition, and as such must be pursued to the end, otherwise it is all for naught. It would be ineffective to switch from, say, Goering's attrition campaign to Kesselring's terror campaign before the RAF is completely neutralized.
Heinkel He 111 A1+BP of 6./KG 53 seen here in "Sandsackbox" camouflage during August 1940 in Vendeville (south of Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) at the height of the Battle of Britain.
The day is clear and windy, with clouds and intermittent sunshine. The Luftwaffe attacks are small and sporadic. For instance, a lone bomber attacks RAF Llandow in South Wales. Shipping attacks few until around 16:30, at which time a large Luftwaffe force bombs a convoy off Clacton without making any hits. The RAF does not make any interceptions of note, perhaps because of the iffy flying conditions, and the only victory of the day on either side is when RAF No. 85 Squadron downs a Dornier Do 17 if III,/KG3 off East Anglia which is stalking a convoy.
The relentless wear and tear on the RAF continue to extort a price, however. A New Zealand pilot of RAF No. 234 Squadron crashes while attempting to land after a night patrol, and a Spitfire of RAF No. 72 Squadron does the same at RAF Acklington. In addition, a Blenheim crashes at Catterick when it hits some barrage balloon cables. Three Spitfires of RAF No. 616 Squadron sustain damage after an unsuccessful interception of a fast Junkers Ju 88 bomber off of Flamborough Head. The Luftwaffe also sustains damage to a Bf 109 of JG 3 upon landing.
For its part, RAF Bomber Command sends only a few small missions to the Continent, attacking Le Bourget airfield at Paris and some other airfields in northwestern Europe.
The history books tend to say that the RAF once again "won the day" with its solo shootdown of the Dornier. However, a closer examination shows that factoring in the non-combat losses, the RAF came off much the worse.
For the general tenor of the time, here is the entry for the day in the operations book of RAF No. 249 Squadron at Fenton:
During the last few days a considerable amount of practice flying has been carried out and much attention paid to beam attacks and dogfighting practice. There seems to be very little activity in the North now, but things are boiling up in the South of England and attacks are being carried out by large numbers of e/a on convoys and South Coast ports. We are all hoping to get a move South.
Southern Rhodesian pilots (SRAF) arrive today to help the RAF defense.
In preparation for Adler Tag, the Luftwaffe accelerates the process of moving fighter formations to forward airfields. Two Gruppen of JG 52 leave Nordholz, Germany and set up operations at Peupelinge on the Pas de Calais. I,/JG 54 moves from Eindhoven, Belgium to Guines-En-Calaisis, while II./JG 54 moves from Harlinghem to Campagne-les-Guines and III,/JG 54 joins them from Soesterberg, Holland. Anyone seeing these moves would realize that something big is in the offing.
Sergeant Rudolf Zíma is posted to No 310 Squadron RAF at RAF Duxford on 6 August 1940.
Battle of the Atlantic: British submarine Sealion attacks a convoy southwest of Stavanger, Norway. After it misses with some torpedoes, the Kriegsmarine escorts spot it. A patrol boat rams it, perhaps inadvertently, causing extensive damage to the conning tower.
British destroyers Express, Esk, Icarus, Impulsive and Intrepid (Destroyer Flotilla 20) lay minefield CBX 4 off the Dutch coast.
British destroyers (HMS Inglefield and Anthony) seize two Dutch patrol boats in the Pentland Firth and send them to Kirkwall for interrogation.
Convoy WS 2 ("Winston Special") departs from the Clyde and Liverpool, bound for the Middle East. These will be semi-regular convoys to reinforce depleted British garrisons in the Indian Ocean and Egypt.
Convoy FN 224 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 132 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 244 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 194 departs from Liverpool, Convoy BN 2A departs from Aden for Suez.
Focke Wulf FW 200 "Condor" long-range bombers begin operating out of France, attacking British convoys in the Atlantic.
A Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor.
Battle of the Mediterranean: There is another Italian raid on Haifa, Palestine which causes little damage, and also one at Sollum.
Some Italian forces cross the border from Libya into Egypt, causing dramatic news announcements on the BBC.
The Italians have been spotting British ships in the Strait of Sicily (between Tunisia and Sicily), so destroyers Pigafetta and Zeno escort minelayers to mine the area near the fortified island of Pantelleria. The strait is about 145 km (90 miles) wide.
Operation Tube, a submarine supply mission to Malta, concludes successfully when HMS Pandora arrives from Gibraltar with equipment for the Hurricanes which arrived via Operation Hurry.
Cairo announces that the new Long Range Patrol Unit (LRP), formed on 3 July 1940 by Major Ralph Bagnold, has been successfully infiltrating Italian Libya. The LRP is composed largely of New Zealand farmers taken from volunteers in the 2nd New Zealand Division. These are the first patrols of the so-called "Desert Rats."
At Malta, the RAF organizes its new Hurricanes into RAF No. 261 Squadron. This formation includes the remaining Gloster Gladiators. The day is very quiet, with only reconnaissance missions by both sides.
British Somaliland: The western of the three Italian columns (Lt. General Bertoldi) is in the port of Zeila, screening French Somaliland and preventing any attacks from that quarter. The central column (Lt. General Carlo De Simone) consolidates at the port of Hargeisa. The easternmost column (Brigadier Bertello) takes Odweina. The light British forces under General Reginald Chater are in full retreat and trying to set up a defensive perimeter in the east at Tug Argan.
The 2nd Black Watch Battalion (73rd Regiment) begins the journey from Palestine to join the forces in British Somaliland.
German/Japanese Relations: The Reich sells 7744-ton freighter Fulda to the Japanese, who rename it Taai Maru.
US Military: US destroyers USS Wake and Wainwright make port at Santos, São Paulo, Brazil as part of the "Show the Flag" effort.
Destroyer USS Madison (DD 425, Lt. Commander Thomas E. Boyce) is commissioned.
US Government: Congress debates the merits of a conscription bill. Senator Claude Pepper calls isolationist Charles Lindbergh a "Fifth Columnist."
Free France: Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque aka "Captain Leclerc" departs from London for Lisbon on the first stage of a journey to French colonies in Africa to promote the Free French cause.
Finland: American refugees from throughout Scandinavia and points further south are concentrated at Petsamo, Finland in the far north. US Army Transport American Legion docks there to transport them to the United States.
Baltic States: Another puppet government ratifies the decision to make the nation the Soviet Socialist Republic of Lithuania.
India: Mahatma Gandhi proposes the use of non-violence against the Germans.
Burma: The government arrests pro-Japanese agitator Ba Maw for questioning the government's tilt toward Great Britain.
Belgian Homefront: The British blockade is not just hurting the German war effort, it also is decreasing civilian food supplies throughout the Low Countries. US Ambassador John Cudahy suggests that the US deliver food supplies, an idea which the British find offensive.
British Homefront: Invasion fears remain high, stoked by German propagandist Lord Haw-Haw with his nightly broadcasts.
William Joyce aka Lord Haw-Haw. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he broadcast German propaganda throughout the war.
