Thursday 25 April 1940

Heinkel He 111 over Norway, 1940.

Norway Army Operations: In the Gudbrandsdal leading north from Lillehammer on 25 April 1940, the British 15th Brigade and attached Norwegian units delay the advancing 196th Infantry Division Wehrmacht troops. General Paget's 3000 troops first advance to Kvam, 55 km south of the key intersection of  Dombås. The advancing German 196th Division under General Pellengahr has 8,500 motorized infantry, along with supporting tanks, artillery, and Luftwaffe support. The Neubaufahrzeug heavy tanks go into action and one is put out of action by the British 25 mm anti-tank guns, which also destroy a light tank and an armored car. For the time being, the line at Kvam holds.

To the east, in the Osterdal, the Germans also advance.

At Hegra Fortress, the German shelling and Luftwaffe attacks continue. The Luftwaffe utilizes a seaplane carrying a 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) bomb. The bomb destroys the area surrounding the fortress and sends shrapnel flying literally for kilometers.

Norway Air Operations: The Luftwaffe attacks the new RAF Gloster Gladiator base at Lake Lesjaskog outside Andalsnes throughout the day. In between, they give some support to the British at Kvam.

In the morning, a single Heinkel He 111 of Stab/LG1 drops its bombs and destroys four Gladiators and injures three pilots, including Squadron Leader John William Donaldson (concussion). At 13:05, another bombing attacks destroys four more Gladiators. Two of the Gladiators get airborne and bring down a Heinkel at 14:00 south of Vinstra, near Dombås. They then damage another Heinkel from 6/LG1, wounding two of the crew. The last five useable Gladiators are then withdrawn north to a temporary landing ground at Stetnesmoen, near Åndalsnes. The pilots then shoot down a Heinkel of II/LG1 which had been attacking British shipping near Andalsnes. Another of the Gladiators is destroyed during the evening.

The Luftwaffe attacks and sinks three British armed trawlers at the base at Andalsnes: HMS Bradman, Hammond, and Larwood.

The RAF sends 18 planes to bomb Oslo and Stavanger.

Battle of the Atlantic: British vessel Margam Abbey hits a mine and sinks in the Thames estuary.

RAF bomber command attempts a minelaying operation with 28 aircraft that does not get to its target location. The Luftwaffe night fighter force downs one of the bombers.

Convoy OA 136 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 136 departs from Liverpool.

Finnish/Swedish Relations: Sweden proposes a joint defense of the Aland Islands with Finland. The dominant powers in the Baltic, namely the Germans and Soviets, immediately raise objections.

US Navy: The aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV 7, Captain John W. Reeves, Jr.) is commissioned.

US Government: President Roosevelt issues a proclamation recognizing the state of war between Germany and Norway. He also issues proclamations barring Norwegian submarines from US territorial waters and extending the Neutrality Act to cover the situation.

Palestine: David Ben-Gurion visits for the UK, and thence the United States.

Canada: Canadian troops serving in the BEF hold a ceremony honoring the battle of Vimy Ridge, where they fought the Germans 23 years earlier.

Australia: The nation honors Anzac Day on its 25th anniversary, with Australian troops currently in Egypt.

Australian troops in Egypt honoring Anzac Day, 25 April 1940.

April 1940

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

2019

Friday 19 April 1940

Three rare Neubaufahrzeug panzers arrive in Oslo on 19 April 1940.

Norway Army Operations: As part of Operation Sickle, on 19 April 1940 the British head south from Namsos and reach Verdal. They are still 80 km from Trondheim. Behind them, French mountain troops (French 5th Demi-Brigade de Chasseurs, Chasseurs Alpins (mountain infantry)) replace them at Namsos. In a further example of the poor planning for the operation, they are not accompanied by their skis, mules, trucks and anti-aircraft guns. The skis arrive later, without straps.

The Wehrmacht watches the British troop movements with concern. They land troops near Steinkjer on Trondheim Fjord and prepare to assault the town. This effectively outflanks the British 146th Infantry Brigade (General de Wiart) that has been advancing from Namsos to join the Norwegian forces further south. In addition, the Germans have warships in Trondheim Fjord to support land operations. The British 146th Infantry Brigade also runs into the German 138th Gebirgsjäger Regiment, advancing North from Trondheim and a battle erupts.

At Andalsnes, the British troops (Brigadier Morgan) have two conflicting objectives: move on Trondheim from the south as part of Operation Sickle, and support the Norwegians to their south at Lillehammer. This means moving in opposite directions.

The situation is becoming critical because the advancing German troops of the 196th Infantry Division have captured Hamar and Elverum only 50 miles to the south. As a first step, Morgan sends the 148th Brigade south down the Gudbrandsdal to Lillehammer to protect it. These troops will help General Ruge to block the German troops advancing northward, but it also at the very least delays any British move on Trondheim from the south.

On the most direct road from Oslo to Kristiansund, the Norwegians have blocked the road at Bagn. The Germans are forced to abandon their tanks and proceed on mountain trails to clear the road.

At Hegra Fortress, the fighting settles down after the failed German attacks of the past couple of days. The Germans decide that there is no point in storming the fortress and settle down to a siege, with regular bombardment by artillery and the Luftwaffe.

At Dombås, the Fallschirmjäger force led by Oblt. Herbert Schmidt has been shelled by a 40 mm antiaircraft gun and surrounded by vastly superior Norwegian forces. The Norwegians also have just brought up a rail-mounted howitzer manned by Royal Marines. The howitzer opens fire at 06:00 with an opening barrage of 10 rounds.

At that point, a Junkers Ju 52 arrives overhead. Schmidt radios it and tells it that the Germans are going to surrender, so it leaves without dropping its supplies.

Schmidt then sends out his second-in-command, Leutnant Ernst Mössinger, to see what kind of terms he can get. Norwegian Major Arne Sunde demands unconditional surrender and tells him that they have 10 minutes before he opens fire again. The Germans are to announce their surrender by firing flares. Mössinger returns to the farm, and just before the deadline the Germans fire off the flares.

There are 45 Fallschirmjäger left, of whom 6 are wounded. The captured Germans are transported by train for incarceration at Dombås. The elimination of the Germans at Dombås clears the vital rail line and road junction. It also facilitates the escape route for King Haakon and the rest of the Norwegian government to England via the port of Andalsnes.

Three experimental heavy tanks, Neubaufahrzeug heavy tanks (35 tons, three turrets with 75 mm main and 37 mm secondary gun), arrive by ship in Oslo. They are big and scary looking, but not too imposing as weapons. They are driven around town to impress the locals, then sent to join the forces battling northward.

Norway Air Operations: With the British base at Namsos posing a threat to the German hold on Trondheim, the Luftwaffe sends raids against Namsos. The town suffers tremendous damage.

The RAF continues its daily raids against Stavanger-Sola, sending 9 aircraft to bomb the field.

Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Hickory (Chief Skipper Arthur Pitchers), a minesweeper, is commissioned.

BEF: The British begin moving the 12th Infantry Division to France.

US/Japanese Relations: After recent back and forth between US Secretary of State Cordell Hull and the Japanese Foreign Minister about the possible implications of the European war on the southern Pacific region, the Japanese government officially states that it has no aggressive plans regarding the Dutch East Indies.

Holland: The Dutch government extends the state of siege from just the frontier region to cover the entire country. This creates a form of martial law. The government also reiterates its neutrality.

Yugoslavia: Milan Stojadinović, the former premier, is arrested. The regent prince Paul suspects that he is trying to set himself up as the head of a puppet regime with Axis backing.

German Homefront: With Hitler's birthday on the morrow, Propaganda Minister Goebbels gives a fulsome speech entitled "Our Hitler" in which he states that "We Germans all agree: nothing can separate us from our love, obedience, & confidence in and for the Führer."

British Homefront: "Gone With The Wind" premieres in London four months after its American debut. As a film with an inherently American storyline, it loses something in the translation. About the film, which is now in many Top Ten lists of all time and which still holds the inflation-adjusted box office record, the critics say: "Good, but no masterpiece."

The New York Central’s Lake Shore LTD, sped around a curve at Little Falls, N.Y., jumped the track, and plowed into a rock wall. Thirty persons were killed in this crash on April 19, 1940.

April 1940

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

2019

Monday 1 April 1940

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soap opera "Portia Faces Life" premieres in syndication.

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

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

April 1940

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


2016