Sunday 4 May 1941

Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House, 4 May 1941. Visible behind him is Hermann Goering, who technically is the leader of the Reichstag.

Anglo-Iraq War: The British on 4 May 1941 continue their successful defense of Habbaniyah Airfield, Basra and their other fortified positions in Iraq. The RAF has complete control of the air. British reinforcements, called "Iraqforce," are now on the march to Iraq from Palestine and Transjordan (Habforce and Kingcol), while men are trickling into Basra from India. The motley group of British ground forces in Habbaniyah already are having some success forcing the Iraqis back toward Baghdad, suggesting they will be able to hold out until the relief arrives.

The RAF raids the Iraqi forces, including Baghdad (where it drops leaflets) and other enemy areas. The Luftwaffe has a small presence at Mosul Airfield for receiving supplies via Vichy Syria, which the RAF also attacks.

There still is Iraqi resistance at Basra, where Iraqi gunboats and merchantmen remain outside of British control. Australian sloop HMAS Yarra arrives there today to help deal with the Iraqi shipping.

A Messerschmitt Bf 110D3 Zerstorer IAF 4.ZG76 in Iraqi markings, Mosul Iraq May 1941.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues bombing Liverpool. The May Blitz is notable for its ferocity and accuracy. The Germans have refined their techniques and finally are targeting port infrastructure and vulnerable shipping in the harbor with great success. The aftereffects of the devastating explosion of 7649-ton ammunition ship Malakand on the 3rd continue to be felt there, and 295-ton ship Pneumatic Elevator No. 11 sinks due to the blast effects, adding to the numerous ships sunk or damaged. Other ships damaged today by the Luftwaffe include:

• 274-ton tug Bison
• 10,254-ton liner Talthybius
• 7005-ton freighter Baron Inchcape
• 201-ton tug Hornby
• 99-ton tug Enid Blanche
• 719-ton hopper barge No. 33
• 209-ton barge Aid
• 67-ton flat John
• 46-ton sailing barge Bongo
• 7801-ton freighter Roxburgh Castle.

Some of the ships are repaired, but others are hit in subsequent raids and destroyed. The port is devastated and in chaos, with many ships on fire, others slowly sinking, and new ships still being docked and unloaded. There are separate attacks by 55 bombers targets Barrow-in-Furness, and 17 bombers on Hartlepool, with a small force hitting Middlesbrough. The Germans lose a couple of Junkers Ju 88s, one to engine failure, another to a night fighter.

Joseph Goebbels and Joachim Ribbentrop give the Hitler Salute at the 4  May 1941 speech by Adolf Hitler at the Kroll Opera House (Federal Archives).

East African Campaign: The 5th Indian Division, which has been advancing from the south, attacks the Italian positions at Amba Alagi. The Italians, though somewhat distracted by a separate attack coming up the Falaga Pass, are dug in and give little ground. The Gold Coast 24th Infantry Brigade attacks Italian positions at Wadara in Galla-Sidamo, while the Indian troops at Amba Alagi do capture a few foothills (Pyramid, Whale Back, and Elephant ). From here the going becomes steeper and more open to Italian fire.

Another British force is heading south toward the city, with a third force, the South Africans, also approaching. The Italians, meanwhile, are hiding out in caves which are very defensible, but also have no access to resupply and scant stores of even the most basic necessities such as food and water.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe), operating out of Lorient on her 9th and most successful patrol, is off of Freetown in the Atlantic when it fires three torpedoes and uses its deck gun to sink 5230-ton Swedish freighter Japan. The entire 55-man crew (and four passengers) makes land and survives, but is captured and interned by the Vichy French. The ship is part of Convoy OB-310. The U-38's deck gun explodes, injuring the gun crew.

The Luftwaffe hits 234-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Ben Gairn with a parachute mine at Waveney Dock, Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no casualties, but the ship is destroyed.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 222-ton British freighter Tregor off Trevose Head. The six-man crew survives.

The Luftwaffe also damages 545-ton Belgian freighter Marie Flore off Trevose Head. Marie Flore tries to make it to port but cannot get there and is beached at Padstow.

The Luftwaffe also damages destroyer HMS Southdown in the North Sea by a near miss. The ship is leaking and temporarily loses steering but makes it to port.

The Luftwaffe damages minesweeper Selkirk and patrol yacht HMY Franc Tireur in the Thames Estuary. Both ships make it back for repairs.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Latona (Captain Stuart L. Bateson) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: German General Paulus, temporarily in command of the Afrika Korps, seen enough of the abortive attack on Tobruk. He orders that no more attacks be made by Rommel's forces unless there are signs of Allied retreat. Paulus already is looking toward his rear and orders that a new defensive line must be built in Gazala. In this sense, he is basically in agreement with the failed Italian strategy which began the campaign, believing in the value of fixed defensive positions in the defensive rather than Rommel's faith in mobile operations. Rommel dutifully begins constructing defensive outposts facing the Tobruk perimeter. From this point forward for the next couple of months, the Germans and Australians will engage in only local actions, with the Germans holding their small three-mile wide incursion into Tobruk's defenses.

The campaign evolves into competing supply buildups between Germany and Great Britain, with both sides holding unique advances in that struggle (the Royal Navy largely controls the sea and can be supplied from India, Australia, and New Zealand in addition to England, while the Axis has a short, though dangerous, supply route from Italy).

Churchill cables his Middle East commander General Archibald Wavell in Cairo. He states that is is "most important not to allow fighting around Tobruk to die down" due to the Germans' over-extension following his "premature audacious advance." He encourages counterattacks "at the earliest possible moment" to prevent the Afrika Korps from being able to "gather supplies and strength for a forward move." Churchill and Paulus, thus, see the North Africa campaign developing the same way, and this is not a coincidence, as the British are reading the German codes via the Ultra decryption program.

Churchill also notes in his cable the "success of Demon." This is a reference to Operation Demon, a daring gamble of running disguised freighters directly through the Mediterranean to Egypt. In fact, one Demon ship already has been sunk, though two have made it through.

New Zealand Major-General Bernard Freyberg, the British leader in Crete, is feeling a bit exposed now that the Germans have had some time to digest the Greek mainland. He asks Wavell for permission to evacuate about 10,000 men who are refugees from the mainland and, by and large, unarmed. He notes that they have "little or no employment other than getting into trouble with the civil population."

The Germans occupy the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios.

Italian torpedo boat Giuseppe La Farina hits a mine and sinks off Kerkennah. The Italians are busy supplying the Afrika Korps in Tripoli and today send a convoy of seven troopships from Naples. The Italians provide a heavy escort three light cruisers and 8 destroyers, with some smaller torpedo boats also involved.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe remains active. Minesweeper HMS Fermoy, which was damaged earlier in the month and under repair, sinks from its damage.

Santa Fe Excursion train, 4 May 1941.

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe damages 7117-ton hospital ship Karapara in Tobruk Harbour. While accidents happen, hospital ships are clearly marked and there have been many incidents involving them. The Karapara makes it to Port Said for repairs. While there may seem little to gain by attacking hospital ships, driving them off or destroying them isolates the Australians holding out in Tobruk.

Anglo/US Relations: Churchill cables President Roosevelt and suggests that the Royal Navy is seriously considering occupying the Canary Islands (which he never actually names) and other Portuguese islands in the Atlantic in order to forestall a Wehrmacht occupation there. The US, he proposes, would serve as the "guarantor" that those islands would be returned to Portugal after the war. He also notes that "We are determined to fight to the last inch and ounce for Egypt, including its outposts of Tobruk and Crete."

Anglo/Portuguese Relations: Perhaps coincidental to Churchill's cable to President Roosevelt (but perhaps not), Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, on his way to New York, calls on Portuguese Prime Minister Dr. Salazar in Lisbon. Salazar, Menzies writes in his diary, is "very sincere and earnest" and tells Menzies that "The Portuguese won't fight." Of course, the Portuguese are in no danger so long as Spain remains neutral, though Hitler still dreams of drawing Franco into his collection of satellites and then occupying Portugal and its Atlantic islands.

German Military: While Adolf Hitler already has set the date for Operation Barbarossa as 22 June 1941, not everyone agrees with the decision. In fact, there is little enthusiasm for it within the uppermost reaches of the German government and military, including by Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering. Admiral Raeder continues to press for his "peripheral strategy," which focuses on cutting off Great Britain's overseas possessions in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. That strategy to date has had great success, but the British remain entrenched in Egypt and at Gibraltar. The vast mass of the Wehrmacht, however, already is positioned in the East, and Hitler sticks with his plan to invade the Soviet Union.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt attends the dedication ceremony for the Home of Woodrow Wilson. Staunton, VA, May 4, 1941. FDR gives a speech on "The Power of Spiritual Force" (Margaret Suckley, FDR Presidential Library and Museum).

US Military: Brig. Gen. Henry B. Clagett, with his chief of staff Col. Harold Huston George, arrive at Manila in the Philippines to command the newly created Philippine Department Air Force. They arrive on a Boeing 314 Clipper (Pan-American Air Lines). Their mission is to expand the air defenses in the Philippines.

Soviet Government: The Politburo replaces Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov with Joseph Stalin as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. This makes Stalin the de jure head of the Soviet government These appointments in the USSR are mere formalities, though, as there is no question that Stalin runs the government and always is the de facto national leader.

Hitler and Goering on 4 May 1941.

German Government: Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag in the Kroll Opera House (the Reichstag building itself has been unusable since the infamous fire several years ago). As often happens during his wartime speeches, Hitler sums up past events rather than giving a specific preview of coming events. In essence, it is a victory speech and covers events from the beginning of the war to date.

Hitler digs deep, delivering a polemic on why Germany is at war that is based on equal parts paranoia, self-delusion, and outright fabrications. He propounds some of his standard themes - that Germany was forced into the war based on decisions taken by others "as early as 1936," that the plot against Germany was formed by "great international Jewish financial interests," and that "this criminal" Winston Churchill (he also terms him a "fool" and a "drunkard") was personally responsible for the blockade and aerial campaign against the Reich.

Hitler also puts forth an economic argument for German policy in the Balkans - which obviously involves a lot of Wehrmacht military activity. He argues that reliance on money, or "worthless democratic money paper" as he puts it, is inherently unfair, and only mutual trade agreements such as those between the Reich and the Balkan states is fair. The wars that Germany has just won were the product of "filthy British politics" which had duped Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece and had forced a defensive campaign by the Wehrmacht to protect its southeast flank.

Hitler summarizes the Greek Campaign (Operation Marita) by claiming that Churchill had committed "one of the greatest strategic blunders of this war" by trying to garrison and defend it. He credits the order to attack Yugoslavia to the coup there. He notes that "the Greek soldiers have fought with the greatest bravery and contempt of death," and that the British force in Greece was there to attack the Reich and thus had to be removed. He gives figures of 57 officers and 1042 noncommissioned officers and men killed, 181 officers and 3571 noncommissioned officers and men wounded, and 13 officers and 372 noncommissioned officers and men wounded. Regarding future operations, he merely states that he views them with "perfect tranquillity and great confidence."

Needless to say, the speech is pure propaganda. Churchill's belated and inadequate military aid to Greece turned out to do nothing but offer Hitler a convenient excuse for why he attacked. No mention is made in the speech, of course, of Hitler's intense preparations for invading Greece long before the first British boot set foot there.

Singapore: Winston Churchill asks General Ismay for a "report on the efficiency of the gunners and personnel" manning air defenses in Singapore.

Romania: Madeleine Cantacuzino (soon to be Madeleine Lipatti) and Dinu Lipatti gave the first Romanian performance of Lipatti’s Symphonie concertante for two pianos and strings.

American Homeland: There is a concert held for the Deutsches Kriegshilfswerk [German war workers] at the California Hall in San Francisco, California. There is a strong German presence in San Francisco, where the Germans maintain a consulate.

Future History: Nickolas Ashford is born in Fairfield, South Carolina. He will become half of the famous singing group Ashford & Simpson. He will pass away in 2011.

Baseball in San Bruno Park, California on May 4, 1941 (Fred Beltramo, San Bruno Public Library).

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

Friday 2 May 1941

British wireless operators at Habbaniyah, Iraq, 2 May 1941 (AP photo).

Iraq War: Today, 2 May 1941, is generally considered the "start" of the Anglo-Iraq war, though the Iraqis have been increasingly hostile for the past week.

The Iraqis continue to shell the British airfield at Habbaniya, west of Baghdad, from a plateau to the south of the airfield. The Iraqis have 28 artillery pieces, but the Royal Air Force has complete control of the air despite the Iraqis having adequate planes. As the day opens, the Iraqis remain in a threatening posture, but British operations are not in any impinged or their forces really threatened - aside from the Iraqis controlling land routes between the isolated British garrisons.

The British decide enough is enough. They give the Iraqis a firm ultimatum to leave the area. The Iraqis refuse, so, before dawn, the British at Habbaniya make a sortie out of the perimeter. Using their lightly armed 80-100 old trainers, Gladiator fighters, and other obsolete aircraft, the RAF pilots support a battalion of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), six companies of Assyrian Levies (Kurds), 18 armored cars and a company of RAF personnel. All told, the British have about 2,200 troops against the nearby Iraqi forces of about a division in size. Since the Iraqi government controls virtually the entire country, its forces potentially vastly outnumber the British - if they can bring them to bear.

The British objective is to give themselves some breathing room around Habbaniya and, if that goes well, restore land communications to their other bases. The air attack, timed to coincide with Muslim morning prayers, goes well, though Iraqi counterfire kills 13 and wounds 29 in Habbaniyah airbase, including civilians. The Iraqis immediately begin to fall back toward Fallujah. In addition to bombing Iraqi positions on the nearby plateau, the RAF raids the Iraqi airfield at Rashid airfield near Baghdad and destroy 22 planes on the ground at a cost of 5 of their own.

Mufti Amin al-Husseini declares jihad against the British "infidels." The Iraqi leader, Rashid el Gailani requests aid from Germany. The generals in Berlin basically shrug their shoulders due to the impossibility of sending help, but Hermann Goering is determined to provide assistance to Germany's allies in Iraq. He, along with the Italians, begins to send some planes that are crudely painted in Iraqi national markings. The Germans have no ground facilities for their aircraft in Iraq, however, as the British occupy all the airfields, and Iraq is far from the nearest Luftwaffe bases. These are daunting logistical issues, but it is the only form of assistance the Axis can send. The Arabs are willing Axis allies, and it is important for Germany to at least make a show of trying to help.

At Basra, the British seize oil installations. The situation in the port is very unsettled, with some guerrilla activity against the British, but so far the British there remain in control. Women and children (including travel writer Freya Stark) continue to seek refuge in the British embassy, many flown out of Habbaniya. In London, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill deliberates about what to do with the extremely important Iraqi oil wells and pipelines. The British continue sending reinforcements from India, with both troops and additional aircraft expected to arrive soon at the southern port of Basra and overland from Palestine.

European Air Operations: The RAF continues its missions against German shipping, today with 25 aircraft. It has some success today, sinking 321-ton German anti-submarine trawler Vp 808 (formerly the Reichsprasident Von Hindenburg) northwest of Borkum, Lower Saxony, and 2000 ton "Channel Stop" off Ostend.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 95 planes against Hamburg and 17 against Emden.

The Luftwaffe also makes some sweeps over the North Sea. At 23:25, the Germans bomb and sink 1414-ton Norwegian collier Trajan (formerly the Doris). All 21 men aboard survive when picked up by destroyer and landed at Harwich, though some are injured. The wreck is located roughly a dozen miles northeast of Blakeneny, Norfolk.

The Luftwaffe continues its campaign against Liverpool after dark with 65 aircraft.

Captured Italian material and equipment. This picture was taken on May 2, 1941, at Agordat, Eritrea. Guns were captured when the British Troops took Agordat.

East African Campaign: The rainy season basically has halted operations for the time being. The Italians remain in their fortifications in the mountains near the Eritrean border under the command of the Duke of Aosta.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-201 comes across the wreck of the 8190-ton British tanker Capulet in the mid-Atlantic and sinks it. The Capulet has been adrift since being torpedoed on 28 April and already has been abandoned.

Royal Navy 286-ton minesweeping trawler HMT Alberic collides with destroyer St. Albans in Pentland Firth and sinks. There are 13 deaths. The St. Albans makes it to Southampton for repairs, which take a month.

Royal Navy 48 ton armed yacht HMY Nyula sinks in the Tyne after colliding with another ship.

Convoy OB 318 departs from Liverpool.

A Chinese sound detector - a forerunner of radar - in use at Chongqing, China, on May 2, 1941. This particular unit is being used to direct 3-inch anti-aircraft guns (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Germans continue their attack at Tobruk in the Wadi Giadia sector. A dust storm seriously hampers operations, preventing General Rommel from making use of his panzers. A stalemate has developed, with the Germans fighting hard to expand their bridgehead (roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) along a 3 mile (4.8 km) front) through the Australian 9th Infantry Division perimeter. They have little success, and the Australians prepare to counterattack. However, the two sides are in a classic "clinch," and the outcome of the battle is far from certain. The Germans have occupied some high ground, but the Italian infantry has had difficulty overcoming surviving Australian garrisons in the rear. General Paulus, who has an overall command for the time being in North Africa, continues to grant General Rommel operational control, but he is growing increasingly leery of chances of success and tells Rommel not to press his attack home.

The Royal Navy has several different ways of resupplying Malta. Sometimes, a direct approach is taken, but at other times more covert operations are used. In the first such clandestine attempt, the 4702-ton British freighter Parracombe, disguised as a Spanish tramp steamer, hits a mine (some sources say it was sunk by Italian aircraft) off Cape Bon while trying to make a run past at night and sinks. This is part of Operation Temple, a convoy to resupply Malta with Hurricane fighters and other supplies. Along with everything else, 21 crated Hurricanes go to the bottom. There are 18 survivors from the 47-man crew, who are rescued by the Vichy French in Tunisia and interned at Bizerte.

The Royal Navy bombards Derna with the gunboat HMS Ladybird.

The Royal Navy begins operations to ferry troops from Mersa Matruh to Tobruk aboard destroyers HMS Decoy and Defender. The 2041-ton Greek steamer Virginia makes it to Tobruk with badly needed supplies. The Luftwaffe attacks, but the steamer quickly makes it in and out of the port without damage.

The Luftwaffe mines Alexandria Harbour, temporarily closing it to traffic. Alexandria is the Royal Navy's irreplaceable port in the eastern Mediterranean. It is reopened by sunset.

Luftwaffe incursions continue at Malta, but they are just fighter sweeps and reconnaissance today. Minesweeper Fermoy is hit while in drydock for maintenance and utterly destroyed.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Jersey is returning from a sweep in search of Axis convoys to the Afrika Korps when it hits a mine dropped by the Luftwaffe at the entrance to Valletta Harbour in Malta and sinks. There are 35 deaths and an additional 48 wounded. The Luftwaffe has been successful in eliminating all Royal Navy minesweepers at Malta, making the waters treacherous. This incident causes the British immediately to transfer three warships (light cruiser Gloucester and destroyers Kashmir and Kipling) from Malta to Gibraltar rather than attempt to enter the harbor, which Jersey now blocks.

Hans-Joachim Marseille, now flying in Libya, is promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier.

The statue to Mathios Potagas in Vytina, Greece.

German/Greek Relations: With Operation Marita successfully completed, the Wehrmacht tightens its control over the Greek mainland and occupies various villages and towns. As in Norway, Hitler authorizes that enemy soldiers be granted amnesty if they will surrender their weapons and go home. This process begins today.

Mathios Potagas, a 17-year-old from the village of Vytina in the Arcadia province of the Peloponnese, spots a Wehrmacht column approaching his village and decides to do something about it. He grabs his father's old hunting musket and opens fire from a ridge while shouting insults. The Germans quickly kill him. Potagas has become a legendary figure in the area, and there is a statue of him in the village square.

Anglo/US Relations: Another US Coast Guard cutter, the fifth, is transferred to the Royal Navy pursuant to Lend Lease. The USCGC Chelan becomes HMS Lulworth, named, as have been the previous transfers, for a Royal Navy coast guard station. The Royal Navy crews her with men from the battleship HMS Resolution, which is in New York for repairs.

All is calm in the States as students gather blankets for a spring blanket party at Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, Kansas, May 2, 1941. Many, if not all of these fine fellows, will soon find their way into the military.

Anglo/Vichy France Relations: The British attitude toward Vichy France's military continues to descend into murkiness. Lord Halifax, in Washington, has complained to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull about humanitarian food shipments that have made their way to France. This attitude was fairly common within the British government around the turn of the year, but now some at Whitehall are having second thoughts. Winston Churchill, in fact, has completely changed his initial attitude against such US aid and now thinks it is a good idea to have the Americans involved a little more closely in European affairs. In fact, apparently, he thinks that the new US Ambassador to France Admiral Leahy may be able to use such aid to wring concessions from Petain, maybe even form a covert alliance with the French. Churchill sends Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden a memo basically telling Eden to tell Halifax to cool it and leave the Americans alone about it.

Anglo/New Zealand Relations: New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser is in Cairo, on his way to London for a visit. Churchill sends him a cable saying that "The successful defense of Crete is one of the most important factors in the defense of Egypt." New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg is in charge of Commonwealth forces there. Churchill notes that "an airborne attack" on Crete is expected "in the near future." Churchill, of course, does not mention that this very prescient intelligence is derived from reading German codes in the Ultra program.

Grand Rapids,  Michigan, 2 May 1941.

US Military: Admiral Ernest J. King takes command of the US Atlantic Fleet. He remains subordinate to CINCPAC.

The US Navy begins an in-depth course in intelligence basics for naval officers. It will last for three weeks.

German Government: Hitler has fixed 22 June 1941 as the date for Operation Barbarossa, and there is extreme confidence within the German government that large swathes of Soviet territory will fall quickly. The real issue at this point is not military operations, but rather an exploitation of the soon-to-be conquered territories in the East. Accordingly, the government forms an Economic Staff to plan and administer this gargantuan task. This is the Oldenburg Plan, and its sole objective is to take out as much from the USSR as possible both to help the German economy and destroy the Soviet one. As the report states, "many millions of people will starve to death in Russia if we take out of the country the things necessary for us." This is not considered a bad thing or even anything of much consequence. This strain of thinking will persist throughout the war.

British Government: Churchill, who is in a foul mood because he has discovered that his wife has been using his honey in her garden, tours Plymouth.

Cyprus: The government begins evacuating civilians from cities to the countryside due to fears of Luftwaffe raids.

Holocaust: In Romania, the government sets up the National Center for Romanianization. This euphemistically titled organization primarily expropriates Jewish property for distribution to ethnic Romanians.

May 2, 1941: "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York. Exhibition hall." (Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner).

British Homefront: According to a poll reported in a Gallup survey printed in the News Chronicle, the British people favor retaliatory air raids on Germany - but only by a fairly close 53 - 38% margin, with 9% uncertain. Somewhat oddly, the people in heavily bombed areas are less likely to support such "vengeance" raids, with 76% supporting such raids in largely untouched North Riding/Cumberland/Westmorland areas, but only 45% in London. The further people are from the bombing, the more they approve of raids on Germany. This somewhat supports a pre-war thesis that terror bombing can destroy the will to resist, though different interpretations can be placed on such data.

American Homefront: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grants 10 stations commercial TV licenses, to take effect 1 July 1941. The television stations are to broadcast 15 hours per week with 525 lines and 30 frames per second. The first license is granted to W2XBS (WNBT), the second to W2XAB (WCBW). The experimental Dumont network already is on the air in New York City, but it is not granted a license in this first crop. These will be the only licenses granted until 2 May 1944 due to the outbreak of war involving the United States.

The original WNBT test pattern.

May 1941

May 1, 1941: British Hold Tobruk

Tuesday 29 April 1941

Soldiers of the DAK (Deutsches Afrika Korps) salute at the graves of 23-year-old gunner Georg Böttiger and 22-year-old PFC Franz Dahmen, both killed near Sollum on 29 April 1941.

Operation Marita: The climax is at hand on the Greek mainland on 29 April 1941, and this is considered the "end" of the British evacuation, Operation Demon. Resistance ceases at 05:30. The New Zealanders continue to form the vital rearguard as the main Allied forces embark at various ports for transport to Crete and North Africa. While the process may seem fairly perfunctory - get the troops to the ships and get them out - the delaying actions involve desperate fighting at times. Today, Sergeant John Daniel Hinton of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force leads a charge that takes a German-held house, a mortar, and three machine guns. Sgt. Hinton receives the Victoria Cross for his pains, which are very real as he is wounded in the action and taken prisoner.

The 5th Panzer Division reaches the south coast of the Peloponnese, joined there by SS troops coming from Pyrgos.

A small force of 33 men is rescued from Kalamata. However, 8000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek and Yugoslavian men are left behind there to surrender.

Major General Bernard Freyberg arrives at Suda Bay to assume command there. Overall, 50,000 troops evacuate today, but 223,000 men are left behind to become POWs. Fortunately for future British operations, only 12,000 of them are Tommies, but the ANZAC forces lose all their heavy equipment. The Germans lose 2,559 men dead in the campaign, 5820 wounded, and 3,169 missing. With the mainland cleared, the only significant part of Greece left to conquer is Crete.

Convoy GA 15 takes off troops from the mainland, under heavy escort. Five destroyers are dispatched to rescue any men stranded on Greek islands. The Luftwaffe attacks the departing convoy and scores a near-miss on destroyer HMS Nubian and sinks 125 ton Greek ship Aetos.

The Luftwaffe also attacks Suda Bay in Crete. They sink Greek freighters 1433 ton Elsi and 3537 ton Konistra. The Germans later raise them and return them to service.

The Italians begin to tighten their hold on Croatia: Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano writes in his diary that "The Croatian situation has moved forward many steps. The crown is offered to a prince of the house of Savoy..."

Meanwhile, Yugoslav Serb General Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović crosses into Serbia to form a resistance. He grandly styles it the "Command of Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army." He heads toward Ravna Gora. Accompanying him are seven officers and 24 others. He does not find much help during his journey.

The victory in Greece does not come a minute too soon for the Germans. They now have their Twelfth Army out of position for Operation Barbarossa, and there is not enough time to redirect it in time for the proposed operations in the East. This will have major implications on the strategic options available to Army Group South.

Short Sunderland Mark I’s of No 228 Squadron RAF (T9048 ‘DQ-N’ in foreground), and No 230 Squadron, RAF (L2160 ‘NM-X’ center), moored in Messinia Bay off Kalamata while evacuating RAF personnel from Greece, 28 or 29 April 1941 (IWM photo).

Iraq War: While there is no real ground fighting in Iraq, the clinch between the two sides - British and Iraqis - intensifies when the latter army surrounds the British airbase at Habbaniya (80 km west of Baghdad). The British are in no imminent danger, as they have unimpeded contact with their other bases by air - but their overland communications are cut. British civilians in Baghdad seek asylum at the US embassy.

The main Iraqi force is on a plateau overlooking the airfield and comprises both infantry and artillery brigades, a dozen armored cars and some tanks. The Iraqis command the British to cease all movement in and out of the base, including by land and air. The British, nonplussed, ask the Iraqis to leave the area. Neither side does what the other wants, and there is a stalemate. The RAF launches some strikes against the encroaching Iraqi forces.

The British in London are kept well-informed of the brewing situation and already have landed troops at the port of Basra, with more on the way. However, those troops are far away, and the strain on British resources is growing just as the Greek situation is falling apart and the East African campaign is reaching its climax. Fortunately for the British, they have extensive resources reasonably close at hand in their colony of India, and the Italians in East Africa are not putting up much of a fight. More troops from the British 10th Indian Division land at Basra today despite Iraq's prohibition.

While there is no possibility of supporting Iraq with ground forces (which is what they really need), the Germans are contemplating support for the Iraqis by air. However, such efforts are hampered by the extreme distances involved from the nearest bases in Greece and North Africa and Allied control over much of the intervening territory. The Germans also have no ground facilities in Iraq. The Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon, however, have offered the use of their airfields, and Hermann Goering is anxious to curry favor with Hitler by showing the reach of his Luftwaffe.

Middle East: The always murky relations between the British and French become murkier today when the British warn the Vichy French - who are not actually British Allies - that they fear a Luftwaffe airborne landing in Syria. Commander in Chief of the Army of the Levant (Armée du Levant) and High Commissioner of the Levant General Henri Dentz replies simply that he intends to repel all aggression - an ambiguous statement that seems to apply as much to the British as the Wehrmacht. Dentz commands 45,000 men and the vital (at the moment) bridge to Iraq. The British, not operating in the best faith, decide to attack Dentz' Vichy airfields and contemplate invading Syria and Lebanon - though that would increase the strain on their Mediterranean resources.

RAF personnel boarding Short Sunderland Mark I, T9048 'DQ-N', of No. 228 Squadron RAF at Kalamata, on or about 29 April 1941.

European Air Operations: RAF 101 Squadron sends three Blenheims to attack shipping off Nieuport, with one Blenheim badly damaged. RAF No. 82 Squadron sends a larger force of 15 Blenheims on a routine patrol off Norway, damaging a freighter but losing two planes. Other operations are launched during the day against shipping off Calais and various other coastal targets, while RAF Bomber Command attacks Rotterdam overnight with 31 aircraft. Another attack is sent overnight against Mannheim with 71 aircraft.

The Luftwaffe raids Devonport, damaging light cruiser HMS Trinidad, under construction. It also raids Plymouth with 162 planes, sinking Lighter C. 293 and sinking 775-ton auxiliary patrol vessel Pessac (later raised and repaired) and British ship Moncousu.

General Draža Mihailovich during World War II. Mihailovich is a controversial figure because he collaborated with the Germans while fighting Josip Broz Tito's communist partisans. On 14 May 2015, Mihailović was rehabilitated after a ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest appellate court in Serbia.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-75 (Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann), on its first patrol, torpedoes and sinks 10,146-ton British freighter City of Nagpur in the mid-Atlantic west of Ireland. There are sixteen deaths, the survivors picked up by destroyer HMS Hurricane.

The Luftwaffe (a Junkers Ju 88 of KGr 506) sinks 722-ton British freighter Kalua in the mouth of the Tyne. Everyone survives.

In the same attack at the Tyne, the Luftwaffe damages 2822-ton British freighter Corglen and 2498-ton Norwegian freighter Askeladden. Both ships return to port in tow.

The German 1st MTB Flotilla sends three boats (S. 26, 27, 29 and 55) against convoy EC 13 off Cromer. Though escorting destroyers HMS Worcester, Eglinton, Whitshed and Wallace disperse the attackers, they sink 1555-ton British freighter Ambrose Fleming (11 deaths).

Chilean passenger ship Chiloe runs aground on Puchoco Point and is lost.

British 207 ton freighter Prowess hits a mine in the Humber. It makes it back to port.

A harbor launch, HMML 278, hits a mine at Portsmouth and blows up. Everyone aboard perishes.

British ship Canadolite, captured by German raider Kormoran, arrives in France.

British ship Advocate, captured by Admiral Scheer near Seychelles in February, also arrives in France at the Gironde.

Convoy SC-30 departs from Halifax bound for Liverpool.
Minesweeper HMS Hildasay is launched.

Canadian corvettes HMCS Brandon and Shediac launch in Quebec, while Pictou is commissioned.

U-84 (Kptlt. Horst Uphoff) is commissioned, and U-514 is laid down.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Erwin Rommel has planned a major attack on British forces in the south of the Tobruk perimeter on 30 April. However, he is no longer the supreme authority in North Africa: recently arrived Major-General Friedrich Paulus a Deputy Chief of the General Staff officially has been sent to "observe" and, informally, put the brakes on Rommel's wild pace of operations. After conferring with Italian leader Gariboldi and studying the situation, Paulus allows the operation to proceed. The German and Italian forces plan to proceed to their take-off spots.

Winston Churchill informs Air Chief Marshal Longmore in the Middle East that the Royal Navy is planning another operation to send "up to 140 Hurricanes" to Malta "by the 25th May."

The RAF attacks Benghazi.

At Malta, six Junkers Ju 88s raid Valletta Harbor at dusk and lose one plane.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks convoy service ship 3081 ton HMS Chakla in Tobruk Harbor. Two men are wounded, none lost.

Anthony R. Basile on 29 April 1941 while working as a truck driver and field lineman for the headquarters, 50th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Army. Basile would participate in the battle of Metz, France in 1944/45, and for his heroism would, on 22 November 2016, receive the  French Legion d’Honneur from Valéry Freland, Consul General of France, in Boston.

Anglo/US Relations: Winston Churchill sends a cable to President Roosevelt which begins "At this moment much hangs in the balance." He makes the following points:

• Turkey is the key to protecting British forces in Egypt and may help the Germans in small ways;
• The Germans are eyeing attacks on Syria, by airborne troops using Rhodes as their jump-off point, and also Crete. He seems much more concerned about Syria than Crete, however;
• Spain is "most critical" and Franco may grant the Germans transit rights;
• The US should force Vichy France to "break with" the Germans.

Churchill concludes the message by saying that "I feel Hitler may quite easily now gain vast advantages very cheaply, and we are so fully engaged that we can do little or nothing to stop him spreading himself."

German Military: Adolf Hitler addresses 9,000 officer candidates in the Berlin Sportpalast. Following his discussion with Count Schulenburg the previous evening, he is more determined than ever to invade the Soviet Union, and he loves to drop hints in his speeches:

If you ask me, ‘Fuhrer, how long will the war last?’ I can only say as long as it takes to emerge victorious! Whatever may come! As a National Socialist during the struggle for power I never knew the word ‘capitulation.’ And there is one word I will never know as leader of the German people and your Supreme Commander, and again it is ‘capitulation’— that is, to submit to the will of another.  Never, never! And you too have to think like that.

It is around this time that he decides to launch Operation Barbarossa on Sunday, 22 June 1941.

Illustrations in New York daily newspaper PM accompanying an article about inventions that would be useful for the military. Pictured on the left is a "traveling controllable land mine" (which the Germans did develop later) and, on the right, "a really good aircraft detector" (which the RAF already had in the form of radar, though that was top secret at the time) (Jack Coggins).

British Military: The Admiralty issues a request for six Liberty Ship hulls to be converted to aircraft carriers (HMS Archer, Avenger, Biter, Dasher, and Tracker).

General Percival in Singapore appoints a new commander of Malaya.

US Military: Charles Lindbergh's letter of resignation from the Army Air Corps Reserve is accepted by the US War Department. President Roosevelt has called Lindbergh unpatriotic for being a leading member of the America First movement.

British Government: Winston Churchill faces some disquiet in the House of Commons. He brusquely dismisses questions that aim to clarify British war and peace aims and a proposal to appoint a supreme War Cabinet composed of ministers with no other responsibilities "as in the last war," and including visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies. The clear implication is that Churchill's one-man show running the entire war effort needs to be reined in a bit.

For his part, Menzies, who has come to be seen as almost a savior by the anti-Churchill faction within the government (and there indeed is one), in fact, is winding up his time in London. This is his second anniversary as Prime Minister of Australia, a fact he proudly notes in his diary. He expresses frustration that he is the only member of the Defence Committee who questions Churchill's decisions.


April 1941

Monday 28 April 1941

Short Sunderland flying boats in Kalamata Harbor to evacuate British troops in Operation Demon, Kalamata, Greece, April 28, 1941.

Operation Marita: Having pocketed Athens without a fight, on 28 April 1941 the Wehrmacht continues to occupy the remaining portions of mainland Greece after collapsing British opposition. The 5th Panzer Division continues its drive across the Peloponnese, pursuing Allied troops that are evacuating as quickly as they can in Operation Demon.

Today, three Royal Navy ships - sloop HMAS Auckland, HMS Hyacinth, and HMS Salvia, take off 750 RAF personnel from Kithera, while another force of ships takes off 4320 men of the New Zealand 6th Infantry Brigade from Monemvasia. An attempt to pick up troops from Kalamata runs into trouble when the port is found to be in German hands, but four destroyers do manage to take aboard 450 Yugoslavians.

The Commonwealth troops literally are fighting for their lives on the docks as the Germans bear down on them. Sergeant Jack Hinton of New Zealand 2nd Division leads a small force to retake the dock at Kalamata. For this, Hinton, who is shot and taken prisoner, will win the Victoria Cross.

Wasting no time, the Germans appoint Günther Altenburg as the Reich Plenipotentiary for Greece.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill telephones Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell from Chequers. He warns of an imminent "heavy airborne attack by German troops and bombers" against Crete. He notes that such an attack "ought to be a fine opportunity for killing the parachute troops." The War Cabinet minutes state that Churchill "felt no regret over the decision to send troops to Greece."

The Greek government convenes at Canea, Crete. Prime Minister of Greece Emmanouil Tsouderos requests reinforcements of the island from the British, who already have sent many troops to the island and are sending the troops evacuated from the mainland there.

The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on Greek shipping, sinking the following ships:

• Torpedo boat Kyzikos at Salamis
•  462-ton freighter Aikaterini at Spetsopoulou
• 797-ton freighter Eleni Canavarioti in the Aegean
• Greek trawler Aixos at Syros.

The Luftwaffe also bombs Royal Navy Landing Craft, Tank HMS LCT-5 off Monemvasia. The crew manages to beach the ship, where it is abandoned.

The Luftwaffe shoots down a Seagull amphibian plane flying off of HMAS Perth near Anti Kyrethia, Greece. The crew survives by swimming to an island and eventually is picked up by HMS Havock.

At Suda Bay, the Royal Navy ceases attempts to repair the heavy cruiser HMS York. The York had been severely damaged by the Luftwaffe in March 1941. This leads to the complete loss of York.

Italian forces begin occupying the Ionian and Aegean Islands. Troops land at Corfu.

A map on the front page of The Michigan Daily showing the geographical possibilities in the Mediterranean following the German conquest of Greece. As the caption points out, the next Hitler conquest is likely to be Crete.

European Air Operations: The British begin their "Channel Stop" campaign. This is an effort to interdict enemy shipping in the English Channel and deprive its use to the Wehrmacht. The Germans have flak ships along the French Channel coast to protect their shipping, so this requires a battle. Today, RAF No. 101 Squadron sends Blenheims against trawlers near Calais, losing a plane to the vicious flak.

RAF Bomber Command, No. 7 Squadron, attacks Emden, Germany during the day and Brest, France after dark. Fighter Command conducts a Roadstead Operation and Rhubarb Operation over France.

The Luftwaffe raids Plymouth with 124 planes and sinks Royal Navy depot ship HMS Moncousu.

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies visits with Air Marshal Lord Trenchard, a hero of World War I. Trenchard, Menzies writes in his diary, is "Against bombing in France, because the bombs that miss kill Frenchmen, whereas the ones that miss in Germany kill Germans."

Iraq War: The Royal Navy dispatches aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and light cruiser Enterprise (not the famous U.S. Navy aircraft carrier) to the Persian Gulf to cover upcoming British landings at Basra. Convoy BP 1 is at sea carrying troops to land there to reinforce British positions in Iraq.

East African Campaign: Free French troops move into pro-Vichy French Somaliland.

Time Magazine, 28 April 1941, showing Sir Percy Noble, Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches, based in Liverpool (Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER).

Battle of the Atlantic: A major battle develops around Convoy HX 121 on the North Atlantic convoy route. Called in by U-123 (Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle), which spots the convoy, U-65 (Kptlt. Joachim Hoppe), U-95 (Kptlt. Gerd Schreiber), U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) and U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp) participate in these attacks.

U-552 starts things off at 04:15 when it torpedoes 8190-ton British tanker Capulet. The tanker is abandoned and eventually sunk by Royal Navy gunfire. There are 9 deaths on the tanker.
A few hours later, at 07:25, U-96 attacks Convoy HX 121 at 19:25 by firing three torpedoes, hitting and sinking three ships:

• 8516-ton British motor tanker Oilfield (47 dead, 8 survivors)
• 9892-ton Norwegian tanker Caledonia (12 dead, 25 survivors)
• 8897-ton British freighter Port Hardy (one dead).

U-96 is damaged during the aftermath of the attack but resumes its patrol. U-65, however, is sunk by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Douglas in a depth charge attack, and all 50 men on board perish.

The Luftwaffe damages 2157-ton British freighter Marie Dawn off Sheringham Buoy and 2824-ton British freighter Empire Strait off Great Yarmouth.

Royal Navy transport/trawler HMT Johanna Caroline hits a mine in the Bristol Channel off Milford Haven and sinks with all hands.

Royal Navy submarine HMS H.31 collides with destroyer Venomous at Londonderry. Both ships require repairs.

Convoy OB 316 departs from Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Calpe, mooring vessel Moorfire, boom defense vessel Baronia and submarine P-36 are launched.

Canadian corvette HMCS Port Arthur is laid down in Port Arthur, Ontario.

US aircraft carrier USS Essex is laid down.

Construction site of the Todd-Bath yard in South Portland where many Liberty ships would be built, 28 April 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Following the devastating outcome of the battle on the Greek mainland, the British are feeling very insecure about their position in Egypt. Prime Minister Winston Churchill asks to see all "plans which had been prepared in certain eventualities for the evacuation of Egypt."

Major-General Friedrich Paulus a Deputy Chief of the General Staff, remains in Tripoli reviewing Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps operations. Italian General Gariboldi, Rommel's nominal superior in the chain of command, arrives in Tripoli to join the deliberations. Paulus has halted Rommel's planned attack on Tripoli scheduled for the 30th for the time being.

On the ground, both sides conduct patrol activity which the D.A.K. War Diary remarks is "lively." At dawn, the Luftwaffe attacks on Tobruk continue, with the Junkers Ju 87 Stukas concentrating on anti-aircraft defenses and fighters conducting strafing missions. Gruppe Herff continues to edge forward southeast of Sollum, with the British forces having retreated on the coastal plain.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy lighter A-15 while on a rescue mission to help another ship, sinking Greek contraband chaser A-3, at Monemvasia. All aboard perish.

The Luftwaffe mounts a large raid on Malta. The German bombs hit destroyer HMS Encounter in drydock, damaging it, along with anti-submarine trawler Coral and minesweeping drifter Trusty Star. The bombs sink minesweeper HMS Fermoy.

The Royal Navy tries a new tactic to supply Malta. Instead of sending convoys, it despatches unescorted freighters that seek safety from stealth rather than defensive escorts. Freighter Parracombe carries 21 cased Hurricane fighters to the island along with other supplies. The Parracombe flies a Spanish flag first, then the French flag. This is Operation Temple. Another convoy, MD 3, departs from Malta to Gibraltar.

Force H returns to Gibraltar after successful Operation Dunlop, a mission to deliver RAF Hurricanes to Malta.

Obfw. Joachim Marseille shoots down an RAF Blenheim bomber near Tobruk for his 8th victory overall and 2nd in North Africa.

In this picture from the 28 April 1941 issue of Life Magazine, steamship SS Cadiliac is caught in the ice while attempting to pass the Mather. This is the "Allouez Express," ships transiting the ice-choked Lake Superior.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin sinks 7266-ton British transport Clan Buchanan in the Arabian Sea east of Sri Lanka. The Pinguin takes on board the entire crew of the Clan Buchanan. Radio signals from the Clan Buchanan alert nearby Royal Navy forces, which set out in search of the raider.

Spy Stuff: Concluding what is widely viewed (at least in hindsight) as a fact-finding mission for the US military, Ernest Hemingway departs from China. His wife, Martha Gellhorn, continues on to Burma.

War Crimes: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a memo to Chief of Staff General Ismay in which he notes that "I see a statement that the Italians shot all the Free French prisoners they took at Tobruk." Churchill writes "you should consider the following proposal":

Hand over 1,000 Italian officers to the Free French in Central Africa as working capital, and announce that for every Free Frenchman shot by the Italians, two (or three (?)) Italian officers would be executed. The question is whether an announcement of this kind might not be advantageous.... On the whole, I think we should give the Italians to de Gaulle and let him say what he likes about it. This is a matter upon which I have reached no final conclusion.

Italians shooting war prisoners out of hand is a war crime (if true); the British turning over Italian prisoners to be shot by the Free French would be a similar war crime (if it were to happen). Churchill does note that the prime consideration weighing against this plan is the fact that "the Huns have 50,000 of our men in their hands" against whom reprisals could be taken.

Remains of a Blenheim bomber (Mk IV F) of RAF No. 203 Squadron shot down near Crete by friendly fire on 28 April 1941. The plane went down less than 2 km off the coast near Rethymno, Crete. The crew survived (ww2wrecks.com).

Anglo/US Relations: In a rare communication with his ambassador to the United States, Lord Halifax, Prime Minister Churchill orders that Halifax and his staff "not discourage the President from posing his questions directly to me." Churchill is eager to cultivate his "personal relations" with Roosevelt, which he notes are "of importance."

In line with an overall British strategy to de-emphasize the Pacific Theater, British Rear Admiral Victor H. Danckwerts respond to a request for advice from Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, the U.S. Navy’s Director of the War Plans Division. Turner had asked whether it would be efficient to transfer US Navy ships from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Danckwerts responds that "the consequential reduction in the strength of the United States Pacific Fleet would not unduly encourage Japan."

German Military: The army high command (OKH) issues a directive that regular army units are to provide assistance to special Schutzstaffel SS units during Operation Barbarossa. The army is to provide logistical support such as food and ammunition to SS units, which are subject to army orders but have unique missions for which they must operate independently. Just how far this cooperation extends remains a subject of debate, as German army veterans often minimize the extent of regular army participation in some of the Einsatzgruppen (special task forces) activities that involve crimes against humanity. The Waffen (fighting) SS units technically are subject to regular operational orders, but this relationship deteriorates with time and they tend to operate either completely independently or subject to their own whims (for instance, SS units tend to attack when they are good and ready, not at the time ordered). This murky relationship between the SS and the regular army chain of command remains a source of tension throughout World War II.

US Military: Admiral Hart in the Philippines establishes Task Force 5 (TF 5). This task force has responsibility for the Singapore area.

Charles Sweeney, the future pilot of the crew that drops the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, joins the US Army Air Corps.

Australian Military: The Royal Australian Navy employs a dozen Women's Emergency Signalling Corps women as telegraphists at Harman wireless station in Canberra. This apparently is the first employment of women in the Australian Navy.

German Government: Having spent the duration of Operation Marita in Austria "overseeing" operations from his command train "Amerika" (something that was completely unnecessary but part of his image-building and also a nostalgic return to his own homeland), Adolf Hitler returns to Berlin in triumph. Hitler meets with his ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, at 17:15. Count Schulenburg - with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop's approval - submits a memorandum arguing against Operation Barbarossa. Schulenburg later recalls that Hitler was upset that Russia had supported the anti-German "putsch" in Yugoslavia and had begun mobilizing its army. Hitler brushes aside Schulenburg's observation that Stalin is desperate to avoid war and eager to supply grain and other raw materials to Germany; Hitler abruptly ends the interview after half an hour to have tea.

Among other things, this incident with Count Schulenburg illustrates that many of Hitler's top lieutenants, including Ribbentrop and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, are opposed to Operation Barbarossa. As happens repeatedly throughout the Hitler regime, top figures in the Reich use surrogates to express their own views that are contrary to Hitler's. These surrogates tend to be intimidated by Hitler to one extent or another and press their case weakly.

Newsweek, 28 April 1941, cover showing an invasion patrol on Dover Cliffs.

British Government: In a War Cabinet Directive, Prime Minister Churchill forecasts that "Japan is unlikely to enter the war unless the Germans make a successful invasion of Great Britain." Accordingly, he directs (through the War Cabinet) that "There is no need at the present time to make any further disposition for the defense of Malaya and Singapore."

In a memo to General Ismay, Churchill writes that it "seems probable" that the next German moves will be:

1. to attack Crete
2. to attack Malta
3. to advance through Spain toward Morocco to take Gibraltar.

He asks for plans to counter this expected German thrust toward Morocco.

Menzies, in his diary, questions Churchill's accuracy regarding Commonwealth casualties in Greece and observes that "W. [Churchill] is a great man, but he is more addicted to wishful thinking every day." He openly disputes Churchill in the War Cabinet, arguing that information being supplied to Australia and the United States is bad "propaganda." As usual, though, Menzies receives little support from Churchill's appointees.

Norwegian Homefront: The German authorities conduct a massive book-burning as part of a crackdown on "degenerate" literature.

Ann-Margret, born on 28 April 1941.

American Homefront: Charles Lindbergh, associated in the public mind as much for his America First speeches as for his famous aerial exploits, resigns his commission as a Colonel in the US Army Air Corps Reserve. Among others, President Roosevelt has questioned Lindbergh's loyalties given his strident efforts to keep the United States out of the European war, particularly a well-publicized speech that Lindbergh gave on 23 April 1941. In his resignation letter to President Roosevelt, Lindbergh takes exception to these "implications." Lindbergh still retains a vast reservoir of positive sentiment in the public, though. Many people, including some highly placed politicians, agree with Lindbergh that the United States should avoid ongoing conflicts.

During the evening, Lindbergh gives a speech at an America First rally in Chicago. The crowd boos any mention of Winston Churchill and cheers when he recites facts about England's "devastated cities."

Resolving a long-standing mineworkers strike, the White House announces that the Southern Coal Operators Wage Conference, a consortium of mine owners, "accept [the Roosevelt Administration's] proposal without equivocation." Roosevelt had proposed on 21 April that the mines be reopened pending continued negotiations over wages. This effectively ends the strike, though negotiations at some mines continue.

The United States Supreme Court issues two significant rulings today:

• In a suit brought by the only African American in Congress, Representative Arthur W. Mitchell (D-Ill.), the court rules that minorities must be furnished comparable accommodations to those of whites for interstate travel. Mitchell brought the suit after he was forced from a Pullman coach to a "Jim Crow" day coach while traveling in Arkansas in 1937;
• The Court upholds the Wagner Act, which prohibits anti-union discrimination in the hiring and firing of workers.

A Gallup poll is released that reinforces Lindbergh's isolationist position. The question is, "If you were asked to vote today on the question of the United States entering the war against Germany and Italy, how would you vote — to go into the war, or to stay out of the war?" The response of 81% of respondents is to stay out, with only a slight 7% decrease from a similar question asked in January. However, as always, the public is split on the issue. Another question posed is, "If it appeared certain that there was no other way to defeat Germany and Italy except for the United States to go to war against them, would you be in favor of the United States going to war?" The answer to this is 68% favoring entering the conflict and 24% saying no, with 8% having no opinion. To some extent, these polls reflect the embryonic state of the polling industry as much as public opinion, with the questions asked to some extent influencing the responses.

Future History: Ann-Margret Olsson is born in Valsjöbyn, Jämtland County, Sweden. She moves with her mother to the United States in November 1946, where they live just outside Chicago. During high school, Olsson joins a group known as the "Suttletones." She begins performing at Chicago nightclubs, and she eventually makes her way to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles. Back in Las Vegas, she drops her last name from her act and becomes known as Ann-Margret. George Burns discovers her, and by the early 1960s, Ann-Margret is recording albums. She appears on television programs such as The Jack Benny Program in 1961, and all this leads to a successful screen test at 20th Century Fox, where she lands a standard seven-year contract. This begins a hugely successful film career with roles in such films as "Pocketful of Miracles," "State Fair," and "Bye Bye Birdie." A long association with Elvis Presley began during this time. Ann-Margret continues to act occasionally, and on 29 August 2010 won an Emmy for an appearance on "SVU."

Congressman Arthur Mitchell (D-Illinois), who won a case in the US Supreme Court on 28 April 1941 which held that African Americans are entitled to equal accommodations on interstate railroad trains.

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

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