Monday 14 April 1941

"The For'ard 14" guns of HMS KING GEORGE V firing during practice." April 1941. © IWM (A 3888).

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The German 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still only brigade-size during the battle for Greece) is through the Klidi and Kleisoura Passes by 14 April 1941. It now is pursuing the retreating British and Greek armies south. The German 9th Panzer Division comes up against the new Allied blocking position at Siatista Pass, but such is the disarray on the Allied side that only one battalion of the 82nd Regiment of the 12th Greek Division is in place to delay them.

The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani in northern Greece, which was the first main objective following the XL Panzer Corps' turn south. In addition, the Germans send some units across the Aliakmon River near Thessaloniki and take Katerini, which is only 6 km from the coastline. The British have pulled back slightly there, but remain in the vicinity to prevent further German advances.

The British strategy right now still is to stop the Germans, not to evacuate. They put forces into three main zones: the Olympus Pass, the Servia Pass, and the Platamon tunnel sector west of Olympus. In effect, the British have abandoned the Aliakmon Line even though they still have scattered units trying to hold it. The British organize "Savige Force" under Brigadier S. G. Savige with 1st Armored Brigade and 17th Australian Brigade to defend their left flank.

The Yugoslavian Zetska Division had been leading the advance to the west against the Italian positions in Albania, but the sudden appearance of German forces on its flank has compelled it to retreat. Today, it sits on the Pronisat River, watched carefully by the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Because of this withdrawal, the Greek forces in Albania are now completely cut off. However, the Italians in Albania are very quiet.

The RAF bombs the Italian port of Valona (Vlore) with Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Squadron. They sink 3329-ton Italian freighter Luciano and 1228 ton Italian freighter Stampalia. The British lose a Swordfish, with one man killed and two becoming prisoners.

King Peter arrives at a secret British airbase in northwest Greece at Paramythia. That is an Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparrowhawk. Peter is fourth from the left facing the camera, bare-headed and in a tweed jacket. (R.J. Dudman via Serbianna).

King Peter II abandons Yugoslavia and flees to Athens. He departs from Kopino Polje airport in Niksic, Montenegro, thence to Paramythia, the site of a top-secret RAF airfield (near the Yugoslav/Albanian border) previously used (in February) by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. Prime Minister (and Yugoslav Chief of Staff) Dusan Simovic and other top military and government leaders also flee separately. The Yugoslav gold reserves also are flown out. Peter flies from here to Athens, then to Alexandria, then to Jerusalem, then to Cairo.

The Yugoslav government is under no illusions. It is considering asking the Germans for a ceasefire. Some accounts state that they request one late today.

British Col. Oakley-Hill, an old Albanian hand, has been trying to organize the Albanian resistance. With the situation rapidly changing, he is recalled. Resistance efforts, however, will continue.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7264-ton transport Clan Cummin at sea, then it hits a mine and sinks in Eleusis Bay northwest of Athens. While 36 men are rescued by the Allies, 77 become German prisoners.

Time Magazine, 14 April 1941 - Adolf Hitler - "Spring is Here."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Dutch power stations with 14 bombers and coastal targets with another 14 bombers during the day. Then, after dark, the RAF sends 94 bombers to attack the French port of Brest, where German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock.

The RAF has a tragic accident when a Halifax bomber crashes at Tollerton, near RAF Linton on Ouse. The engineer apparently shuts off the engines accidentally. Two of the crew are injured.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its 8th and final patrol, torpedoes and sinks 6563-ton Belgian freighter Ville de Liège about 810 miles (1300 km) east of Cape Farewell, off southern Greenland. There are ten survivors. This is U-52's final victory, it will return to port after this and spend its remaining years as a training boat. During its eight patrols, it sank 13 Allied ships.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping at Falmouth and bombs and sinks Free French Naval Forces gunboat Conquérante. Also sunk is French gunboat Suippe, which is later refloated.

German guard ship H 453 Gretchen sinks of unknown causes.

USS Gar (Lieutenant D. McGregor) is commissioned at New London, Connecticut.

The Des Moines Register, 14 April 1941. The big news is yesterday's Russia/Japan nonaggression pact.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies is concerned, and he notes the situation tersely in his diary:

The position in Libya becomes worse, and Egypt is threatened. In Balkans, the Jugo-Slavs are going to collapse, and as the Greeks have not withdrawn their Albanian divisions, the Aliakhmon line will probably be turned and our Greek position rendered untenable.

At the War Cabinet meeting, Menzies disagrees with Churchill's strategy to hold Tobruk as a rallying point. Menzies views the War Cabinet as "deplorable" and Churchill as a "dictator" who cows his ministers into submission. Menzies, who has been planning to leave for several decides, decides to remain for a couple more weeks to participate in "grave decisions" that will be made about his homeland's troops.

Today is the first coordinated German attack on Tobruk, and it is a complete flop. It starts well enough when German sappers cut defensive wires and fill in the Italian-built anti-tank ditch at 02:30. Then, supported by heavy machine-gun fire, they advance. At 04:30/05:20, 38 Afrika Korps tanks break through the first line of fortifications and into the Tobruk perimeter. Supported by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, they make good progress at first. The Australian defenders, though, have been told to let the tanks pass so they can trap the accompanying infantry.

The British have artillery sited on the spot and knock out 17 of his 5th Panzer Regiment tanks of Group Olbrich (General Olbrich). The remaining panzers withdraw at 07:30 into the desert in disarray, but the 8th Machine Gun Battalion which follows them in is trapped. The 8th loses about 900 men to death or capture, leaving it with a strength of only about 300 men (casualty estimates for this action vary widely, but those figures are from the Germans themselves, though they may include some earlier casualties, too). General Rommel is furious at the failure to capitalize on the initial breakthrough and will sack General Streich, commander of the 5th Light Division, as a result.

The German prepare for a siege. They bring up the Italian Trento Division and put it under the command of the Brescia Division. They also put Detachment Schwerin in the line, along with most of the 5th Light Division. A second attack scheduled for 18:00 is canceled, an indication of the depth of the fiasco in the morning. The Afrika Korps also goes over to the defense of Bardia/Sollum/Sidi Oma. The RAF has complete air superiority, and forward Detachment Knabe is bombarded by Royal Navy gunboat HMS Gnat and its accompanying two destroyers in the Bay of Sollum. Royal Navy gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Bardia.

The Luftwaffe is doing what it can. It attacks the Gnat in the Bay of Sollum and badly damages it, killing one sailor. The Gnat makes it to port in Mersa Matruh, then proceeds to Port Said. Lieutenant General Rommel requests control over Luftwaffe operations in Libya by X Fliegerkorps.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2485-ton Turkish freighter Trabzon off Laurium/Lavrio/Lavrium (about 60 km southeast of Athens and north of Cape Sounio).

Royal Navy auxiliary tanker RFA Pericles, which had been damaged during the Luftwaffe bombing of Suda Bay, Crete, sinks (it breaks in half) while en route to Alexandria. Everyone aboard survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku is proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta, along with fellow submarines Torbay and Undaunted, when a torpedo - apparently launched by an Italian submarine - is spotted coming toward it. Taku takes evasive action and avoids the torpedo. Apparently, because of this incident, the Admiralty (CinC Mediterranean) orders Taku and Torbay back to Gibraltar for other missions.

Convoy AN 27 (four British and six Greek ships) departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete. The ships carry reinforcements and supplies for the troops in Greece.

Australian Corporal John Hurst Edmondson earns a posthumous VC when, while badly wounded during a bayonet charge in the morning darkness, he saves the life of his commanding officer.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: British ammunition ship Fort Stikine catches fire and in Bombay Harbor and explodes in a massive fireball. The blast wave destroys the docks, sinks four nearby ships, and damages 11 others. It explodes again half an hour later. A total of 231 men are killed in the explosion, with another 476 men injured, but the devastation is far worse: an estimated 1000 people simply vanish and 2000 are hospitalized. The Fort Stikine was carrying 124 gold bars, of which all but one remain unrecovered.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Marines garrison Palmyra Atoll (due south of the Hawaiian Islands) with the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion. Legally, this is the southernmost point in the United States because it is an incorporated territory. It operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Navy and is the center of the Palmyra Island Naval Defensive Sea Area established by President Roosevelt on 14 February 1941.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D22) towing the damaged hospital ship HMHS Vita 400 miles (650 km) to Tobruk following her bombing. Judge for yourself - do you think that the Vita appears different from other ships? Can you spot the huge red crosses on her side and funnel? Do you think that is sufficient marking for an attacking plane to know enough not to attack it?

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4691-ton British hospital ship HMHS Vita off Tobruk. Reports indicate that 8 German planes attack it and that a bomb deflects off her rear mast (with very high-resolution pictures you can see that it is bent backward slightly) and explodes just off her side, opening her plates and flooding her engine room (thus no damage is visible above water). The Vita, carrying 430 patients, makes it to Tobruk, where it sinks on 22 April 1941. While mistakes happen in war, committed by both sides, hospital ships are clearly marked and off-limits to all attacks. No, these are not especially famous incidents, but if you attack a hospital ship, that's a war crime whether it gets a lot of media attention or not.

German/Egyptian Relations: Today, Farouk sends Hitler a personal note through his ambassador in Tehran. Farouk states that ''he was filled with admiration for the Fuhrer'' and was ''certain that the Germans are coming as liberators" and would "soon liberate Egypt from the British yoke." But Egypt was not the only goal, important as it was. The Grand Mufti also met with Hitler around this time and wished "the elimination of the Jewish national home in Palestine."

Egypt is the cornerstone of the British position in the Mediterranean. It is more important than Gibraltar. The Suez Canal enables them to bring in troops from their dominions in India, Australia, New Zealand and their other holdings in Asia to counter the German and Italian positions in North Africa and the Balkans. It also is a potential British escape route for their massive forces in Greece and North Africa. In fact, seizing Egypt is the fundamental goal of German military policy in the Mediterranean, the heart of Adolf Hitler's "Peripheral Strategy."

Hitler has been cultivating his ties to the Arab world for years. For instance, he gave King Farouk of Egypt a Mercedes Benz 540k sports cabriolet for the king's wedding in 1938. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem also is on close personal ties with Hitler, while Rashid Ali in Iraq is eyeing the British at the Habbaniyah airbase near Baghdad and wishing them to be gone. King Farouk without question is the monarch in position to help further Hitler's war aims in the Mediterranean Basin.

The mere fact that Farouk feels confident enough to send this (top secret) sign of dissatisfaction with British hegemony over his country is telling. It suggests that the British hold on Egypt - and elsewhere in the Arab world - may be weakening.

Life Magazine, April 14, 1941 - New York Harbor.

US/Icelandic Relations: Fresh off its agreement to occupy Greenland, the US begins talking with the Icelandic government to see if a similar arrangement can be made there.

US/Chinese Relations: Author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Martha Gellhorn, ostensibly in Asia as tourists (there's a war on!), meet with Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

Australian/British Relations: Australian delegates to the ABDA Conference being held in Singapore later in the month embark on Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Attending will be representatives of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies.

German Military: Australian soldiers at Tobruk report seeing what almost certainly are German 88-mm antiaircraft ("8.8 cm Flak 41") guns (they call them "long-barrelled guns on strange carriages"). The guns are not used and are there to exploit the expected breakthrough into Tobruk (German 88's, as they are routinely called, also are used as ground artillery and even, in a dire emergency, as anti-tank weapons). General Rommel used the guns in an anti-tank role at Arras in May 1940, so he is well aware of their versatility. They are sort of a halfway ground between tanks and artillery, with many mounted on vehicles. Their chief drawback, however, is that they have no armor protection and are vulnerable not just to artillery and tanks, but even to rifle fire.

April 14, 1941, Old Gold Cigarettes ad.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places an order for 2000 Model 74 (BT-13A) Vultee (Stinson) L-1 Valiant observation planes. These planes will bear the designation O-49 and perform various auxiliary services such as towing, artillery spotting and espionage flights.

Holocaust: The Vichy French undertake a mass arrest of Jews in Paris.

Future History: Peter Edward Rose is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes one of the top baseball players in history, accumulating numerous records which still stand, including but not limited to:

• Most hits (4256)
• Most career winning games played (1972)
• Most career games played (3562)
• At bats (14,053)
• Singles (3215)
• Most Outs (10,328).

Rose stars for the Cincinnati Reds during the prime years of his career, playing from 1963 to 1986. He also manages the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1989, becomes a 17x All-Star, is a member of three World Series championship teams, and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is barred from the Major League Hall of Fame due to allegations that he bet on baseball games while a player-manager of the Reds. Many consider Pete Rose, if not the greatest baseball player of all time, certainly worthy of being on an all-star team composed of the greatest players of all time.

Pete Rose circa 1963.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Monday 7 April 1941

LSSAH (1st SS Panzer Division, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler) motorcycles in Bulgaria on their way to the Yugoslav border at Klistendil, April 7, 1941. The LSSAH is to follow the 9th Panzer Division of XL Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe Georg Stumme) and help exploit its breakthrough.

Operation 25: The Wehrmacht continues grinding forward in Yugoslavia against very light opposition - and often none at all - on 7 April 1941.

The XL Panzer Corps continues skidding across southern Yugoslavia at a lightning pace. Exactly when particular areas fall is difficult to ascertain, as the Germans are simply driving east as fast as they can. Today, the Germans pocket Prilep and the 9th Panzer Division moves on to regional center Skopje in Macedonia. Skopje is a major road junction from the Yugoslav coast to Greece, so this further isolates the bulk of the Yugoslav military and population to the north.

The Yugoslav Army counterattacks against the northern flank of the XL Panzer spearhead but fails to make any progress.

In the north, General Maximillian Baron von Weichs continues moving south with his 2nd Army. The Hungarians occupy territory north of the Danube that was lost in the treaties ending World War I.

Along the coast, the Italian 2nd Army under General Ambrosio makes a lunge south from the Trieste region. The Yugoslav 3rd Army attacks with five infantry divisions (13, 15, 25, 31 and 12 Divisions) in northern Albania west toward Elbasan, apparently to help the Greek Army conquer the Italians. This makes sense in the context of the Yugoslavs having watched the Italian/Greek conflict for months and contemplating how they could help the Greeks, and perhaps was a standing plan for the eventuality of hostilities with Italy. In the abstract, freeing the Greek forces to shift east would help the Allies to form a front there, but it assumes that the Yugoslavs can hold off the Germans while that plan plays out - a very risky bet.

The Luftwaffe continues pounding Belgrade in Operation Punishment. The Luftwaffe has complete command of the skies, but estimates of each side's losses during the battle vary widely and are completely unreliable. This is the climax of the Luftwaffe's attack on the capital. Estimates of Yugoslav casualties in Belgrade also vary widely and are completely unreliable, ranging from 1500 to 17,000, with the official figure 2,271.

Fires from yesterday's raid burn out of control, creating giant plumes of smoke and guiding follow-up raids to the city. The main targets hit today include the main railway station and a pontoon bridge across the Danube east of the city. The rail line is the major means of international communication from Belgrade, and XL Panzer Corps already has cut the mainline to Greece around Prilep. The Stukas also continue their work on the Yugoslav Air Force, which essentially has been missing in action, with many of its planes destroyed on the ground.

The Luftwaffe is having such an easy time that the fighters of 7,/JG 26, flying out of Taranto, return to their previous bases on Sicily. During this very brief operation over the Balkans, commander Oblt. Müncheberg scores a victory, a Yugoslav Fury biplane.

In Budapest, the government claims that the Yugoslav Air Force attacked three of its airfields and that its own forces shot down eight of the bombers. This is unconfirmed.

Croatian exile Ante Pavelic continues his broadcasts from Florence. He calls on Croats, who by and large are sympathetic to Germany, to resist the central government and set up their own state Naturally, Pavelic has some ideas on who might lead such an independent Croatian government.

New York Times, 7 April 1941.

Operation Marita: At this stage of the invasion, Greece remains of secondary importance while the Wehrmacht carves up Yugoslavia. The Wehrmacht has attacked the incomplete Greek Metaxas Line on the Bulgarian/Greek border, with the British positioned further back. The German XVIII and XXX Corps are leading the attack.

A simple glance at the map, however, shows that the panzers at Skopje are perfectly positioned to turn south and head toward Thessalonica (Thessaloniki). This would cut off the Greeks on the Bulgarian frontier and the British expeditionary force on the Aliakmon River line. Strategically, the German 12th Army under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List is best off by just keeping the Allied forces in place while they are enveloped to the west.

However, that does not mean that the Bulgarian/Greece front is quiet, and suggesting that does the men fighting there a huge disservice. Soldiers are fighting and dying there just like they are in Yugoslavia - in fact, given the ease of the German invasion of Yugoslavia, there may be more soldiers dying in Greece at any particular time. The Germans make progress on the western flank.

The people at the port of Piraeus continue picking up from the events of the 6th. Then, the harbor was rocked on the first day of the invasion when ammunition ship Clan Frazer blew up, sinking and damaging over a dozen ships. The dock facilities, which have been used to bring in British troops, are completely wrecked and the Royal Navy withdraws its remaining ships from the port to Suda Bay, Crete.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 1012 Greek freighter Kyrapanagia off the port of Piraeus.

Greece severs diplomatic contact with Bulgaria and Hungary, while Great Britain breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe remains active on the Channel Front despite the fact that numerous formations have been withdrawn to support Operation Marita. There are several different attacks that leave a lasting impression.

The Luftwaffe sends 179 bombers against Glasgow and 43 against Liverpool and Greenock. These attacks begin around 23:05.

A Heinkel He 111 equipped with X-Verfahren direction-finding equipment guides a small group of bombers from KG 54 and 55 to attack Bristol and Avonmouth after 21:00. A Beaufighter of RAF No. 219 Squadron shoots down a Heinkel from 1,/KG 55.

It is the first night of the "Belfast Blitz." This is not the first raid on Belfast, but it apparently is the first intentional bombing of the city. The Germans bomb the docks and also hit nearby residential areas. It is a small attack by half a dozen bombers and causes - by Blitz standards - only light damage, including destroying a factory used to manufacture fuselages for Short Stirling bombers. There are 13 deaths. The Luftwaffe loses a plane, but the pilots are delighted that the air raid defenses are relatively light.

During the day, the RAF conducts standard Rhubarb operations over France.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command, No. 2 Group, attacks the Kiel dock area, Cologne and Bremerhaven. The Kiel attack is the night's centerpiece, involving 229 bombers dropping 40,000 incendiaries and lasting for five hours. Kiel is easily accessible by the RAF bombers and receives poundings with great regularity - so far during the war, it has been attacked three dozen times. Despite that, the port remains fully functional. The RAF attack on Bremerhaven is much lighter, made by only 24 bombers.

East African Campaign: The South Africans consolidate their control over Addis Ababa. The Polizia dell'Africa Italiana (Police of Italian Africa) remain on patrol in the city with their approval. At Massawa, the British once again call on Italian Admiral Bonetti to surrender, but he refuses. The 7th Indian Infantry Brigade Group, 10th Indian Infantry Brigade, and a tank squadron prepare to assault the port on the 8th.

The Royal Navy is standing offshore bombarding Massawa in Operation Atmosphere, but Admiral Bonetti still has naval forces at his disposal. He sends Italian MAS 213 (torpedo boat) out after dark to shoo the British off. The Italians torpedo light South African cruiser HMSAS Capetown, badly damaging its stern and killing four sailors. The Capetown must be towed to Port Sudan, and later to Bombay. The repairs will take until July 1942.

Convoy BN 23 departs from Suez.

Battle of the Atlantic: Invasion fears are mounting. The Admiralty for some reason fears a major Luftwaffe raid on Scapa Flow in northern Scotland, so it orders the Home Fleet to sail. There is no air raid, and the ships return.

U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Whilhelm Schulz) is operating around the Cape Verde Islands thanks to the good Kriegsmarine supply network which has kept it at sea there for the past month. It torpedoes 1746-ton Canadian freighter Portadoc, then surfaces and uses its deck gun to finish it off. The entire crew escapes in two lifeboats. They sail east and, in six days, make it to Benty, French Guinea - where the Vichy French intern them. The Portadoc was sailing as an independent.

German tanker Nordmark replenishes U-105 (Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe) and U-106 (Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten) prior to their heading to Rio de Janeiro to escort a trapped German freighter, 3290-ton Lech, back to France.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy 258-ton minesweeping trawler Roche Bonne (Rochebonne) about eight miles southeast of the Lizard. Captain W.R. Settlefield and his ten sailors perish.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 213-ton British trawler Sylvia southeast of the main Faroe Islands, east of Suðuroy. There is one death.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 3829-ton British freighter Kirnwood east of Clacton on Sea.

British 945-ton freighter Elisabeth hits a mine and sinks five miles (9 km) southeast of Portscatho. There are two deaths.

Convoy OB 307 departs from Liverpool.

Canadian minesweeper HMCS Cowichan (J 146) is commissioned.

Things are heating up in Alexandria, Egypt, but in Alexandria, Louisiana, the 3rd Battalion of the 164th Infantry Division marches for Army Day. 7 April 1941 (Dickinson Library).

Battle of the Mediterranean: In his diary, visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies notes after the War Cabinet meeting, with classic understatement: "Things have gone wrong in Libya."

The Afrika Korps continues its rampage across Libya. The panzers effectively capture Derna, capturing the airfield and block the Via Balbia - the British position there now is hopeless. At Mechili, reached by the Germans on the 6th, the Afrika Korps twice demands that the remnants of the shattered British 2nd Armoured Division surrender, but the British hold out. Rommel orders his panzers forward (Group Olbrich) for an immediate attack. After a difficult march over harsh terrain, Group Olbrich is in position around Mechili as night falls, ready for a final attack on the 8th. General Rommel is upset at the delay, feeling the attack should have been conducted today. General Johannes Streich, the commander of the 5th Light Division (of which Group Olbrich is a part), claims among other things that yesterday's sandstorms clogged his panzers' turrets.

This battle presents a sort of an alternate reality to the majority of World War II. Throughout the conflict, the Allies, via their Ultra decryption service, read many German communications in real-time - in fact, there may be cases when the British read German messages before the intended German recipient does. However, with General Rommel leading from the front and ignoring orders from his supposed Italian commander, the British have very little spy intelligence to work with. On the other hand, the British are retreating in a pell-mell fashion that approaches raw panic. As they go, they are sending radio messages in the clear and on the fly to headquarters identifying their positions - which the Wehrmacht's intelligence service is reading and forwarding to Rommel.

General Erwin Rommel continues flying in his personal Fieseler Storch observation plane above the battlefield. By doing this, he sees not only where the British forces are, but also exactly where his own forces are - which is a lot more than the British commanders know. The Luftwaffe also helps out, reporting that large British forces are concentrating around Gazala, now the westernmost tip of British control. Luftwaffe transport planes work overtime bringing in supplies to the forces investing Mechili. Supply is a major developing problem for the Wehrmacht, with some troops without rations for four days now - a consequence of unexpected success.

The Germans and Italians spirit Generals O'Connor and Neame, captured on the 6th, out of Libya to imprisonment in Italy.

At Malta, supplies continue to tighten. Food rationing is introduced.

William Faulkner's final screenplay of Twentieth Century Fox's "The Bouncer and the Lady," dated 7 April 1941.

Propaganda: Berlin radio reports that Allied shipping losses for March 1941 totaled 718,000 tons. Losses indeed were high for the month, but that is about double the actual amount. The broadcaster also does not mention the 5 U-boats lost during the month. Excessive shipping claims by the Germans become a running joke, especially among Allied POWs who keep running totals and show that, if the claims were remotely true, the entire Allied fleet of vessels would be at the bottom of the sea.

British Military: General Bernard Law Montgomery, aka "Monty," is appointed commander of XII Corps. This is a key command, responsible for the Kent/Sussex sector in southeast England. With invasion fears running wild as spring approaches, this is a key vote of confidence. Montgomery immediately institutes a training program for all ranks and begins sacking officers he believes are incompetent.

The Gloster E.28/39 (Meteor) prototype is delivered to Brockworth airfield for ground (taxiing) tests. This version does not include a fully working jet, the key component of any jet fighter, but the engine provided can power the aircraft sufficiently to make short hops off the ground. A Power Jets W.1 engine is just about ready for delivery to the airfield for full flight tests.

US Military: The US sends a force, TG 7.2, from New York Navy Yard to establish Naval Station Bermuda under the command of Captain Jules James, USN. TG 7.2 includes aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) and heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita, which will stay and make Bermuda their home port. This relatively small force will be greatly augmented by large US naval forces. This is one of the bases ceded by the British to the US pursuant to the destroyers-for-bases deal of September 1940.

Iraq: The British forces at Habbaniyah are growing increasingly worried about the change in government from a pro-British to pro-Axis orientation. Whitehall telegrams Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell asking him what troops he can spare for Iraq. Wavell responds that, given operations in both Libya and Greece, all that he can spare is a battalion.

Newsweek Magazine, 7 April 1941.

China: Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, in an appearance before the Executive Yuan, vows to cooperate with the Communist military - temporarily. He previously has ordered his troops to attack the Communists when they come to close to his own sphere of control, but now changes his tune:

…these border imbroglios are mere secondary questions. We can’t worry too much over such trivialities. As the international situation improves, they will automatically be settled. Let's wait at least until we get a definite assurance from England and the United States before we clamp down on the Communists.

British Government: It is Budget Day. The government raises taxes again, raising the toll by 1s 6d to 10s in the £. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kingsley Wood aims to reduce inflation by increasing taxation and forcing the public to save more. The total tax increase is expected to increase revenues by £250, with a government budget deficit of £2.304 billion. This is a huge increase, made more onerous by the fact that numerous deductions are eliminated. Of course, technically the British government is insolvent given its growing obligations under Lend-Lease, so increases are borne, by and large, with good humor or at least acceptance by many citizens and the media.

American Homefront: The Gallup opinion research firm publishes the results of a poll. The question posed is:

Which of these two things do you think it is more important for the United States to try to do — to keep out of the war ourselves, or to help England win, even at the risk of getting into the war?

Of the respondents, 67% prefer to help England win. This is a 7% increase from a similar question asked in January 1941.

Life Magazine, 7 April 1941, "Spring Showers."

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020