C. I. O. STARTS STRIKE AT BETHLEHEM, FIGHTS HARVESTER PLANT REOPENING (3/25/41)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 3/25/41 | A. H. Raskin, Raymond Brock, Craig Thompson, Hugh Byas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
North Africa – Rommel’s First Offensive, 24 March-15 June 1941
Marcks’ Plan, August 5, 1940
Operation Barbarossa (Dir. 21), December 18, 1940
The Mediterranean Basin (Map 33)
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept

[Homer_J_Simpson]

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Violence at Gates – 2-4
The Defense-Strike Situation – 3
Hungary Held Ready for Nazi Occupation – 4
The International Situation – 5
Yugoslavs on Way – 5-6
Calls Hitler Expert in Propaganda Work – 6
Hitler’s Picture Pelted by Yugoslav Children – 6
Unification of Railways in Britain is Forecast – 6
The Timetable of a Surrender; What Happened to Yugoslavia – 7
Bulgaria Expects Territorial Gain – 7-8
R.A.F. Guns Troops of Foe in France – 8-9
Escaped Nazi Prisoners Sent Back to Canada – 9
Stalin Joins Talk with Matsuoka – 10
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 11

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/mar41/f25mar41.htm

Yugoslavia signs Tripartite Pact

Tuesday, March 25, 1941 www.onwar.com

In Vienna... The Yugoslav Prime Minister Cvetkovic and the Foreign Minister Cincar-Markovic sign the Tripartite Pact. The reality of the situation and the influence of German pressure is made only too clear by the cold tone of the occasion. Germany agrees to respect Yugoslav sovereignty and not to demand passage for troops.

In Belgrade... There are disturbances in Belgrade when it becomes known that Yugoslavia has signed the Tripartite Pact.

In East Africa... The 5th Indian Division renews its advance toward the Italian blocking position on the Keren road.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/25.htm

March 25th, 1941

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Operations Order No. 20 Enemy ships carrying iron ore from Norway to Hamburg; oil from Spain past Ushant to France and Germany and convoys from Hamburg carrying stores needed by the occupation forces in Holland, Belgium and France are targeted.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA:Mines are laid by submarine HMS Rorqual west of Sicily.

NORWAY: German merchant raider ATLANTIS sails from Suderpipe disguised as a Norwegian merchant ship. (Alex Gordon)

BALTIC STATES: The resettlement within the Reich of 60,000 Germans from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia has been completed. The migrations were carried out in accordance with a German-Soviet agreement signed on 10 January, and in return Germany has sent 20,000 Lithuanians, Russians and White Russians into the USSR.

Since 1936 the Nazis have planned ways of encouraging - or forcing - ethnic Germans outside the Reich to immigrate. In 1938 a resettlement agency was set up, under the direct authority of Hitler until 1939 when Himmler took over. So far over 400,000 ethnic Germans have been “repatriated”, the largest number 100,000 - in 1939 from the South Tyrol, a part of Austria given to Italy after the last war.

Many of the Reich’s new citizens live in poor conditions in camps in Nazi-occupied eatern Europe, and they have been promised farms and other possessions of deported Jews and Poles.

AUSTRIA: Vienna: in Vienna’s ornate Belvedere Palace today, the Yugoslav premier, Dragisa Cvetkovich, put his signature to the pact which binds his country to Germany and the Axis. He had left behind in Belgrade a government and country deeply divided, with the Serbs passionately pro-British and the Croats equally pro-German.

After the signing, the premier said that his chief aim was peace and security for the Yugoslav people. Von Ribbentrop welcomed Yugosalvia as a “new partner”, and promised that Germany would respect the country’s territorial integrity and not make military demands. Nobody believes him, least of all the Yugoslav premier.

GERMANY: Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:

Your big front-page story today is Yugoslavia’s decision to join the [Axis] tripartite coalition. Besides giving a factual report of the event, you should add commentaries and articles which treat this as yet another significant victory for the concept of a new European order, over the destructive forces of the Anglo-Saxon world.

YUGOSLAVIA: There are disturbances in Belgrade when it becomes known that Yugoslavia has signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany. (Jack McKillop)

MEDITERRANEAN: Increasing Axis activity in the form of air reconnaissance was observed south and west of Greece and Crete and there are daily attempts to observe the harbor at Alexandria, Egypt. It was deduced from this additional interest in the activities and whereabouts of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet that the enemy was planning some form of surface action. Secret intelligence intercepts confirmed that there would be attacks on British convoys but in planning the response it was most important to ensure that the Italians did not get any idea that this was known or suspected. (Jack McKillop)

ETHIOPIA: The 5th Indian Division renews its advance toward the Italian blocking position on the Keren road. (Jack McKillop)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 572 March 25, 1941

Battle of Keren, Eritrea. At 3 AM, British and Indian troops advance along the road through the Dongolaas Gorge, under cover of an artillery barrage on Italian positions in the heights above. By 5.30, they capture 2 small hills (the “Railway Bumps”) overlooking the roadblock, taking 500 Italian prisoners. They achieve complete surprise and work starts at 6.30 on clearing the road which is not guarded by the Italians.

In Vienna, Austria, Yugoslavian Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković signs the Tripartite Pact. Hitler has convinced Prince Paul of Yugoslavia with secret protocols that permit Germany use of Yugoslav railways to bring up troops for the attack on Greece while allowing Yugoslavia to remain neutral in the conflict. The decision is deeply unpopular in Yugoslavia and 4 government Ministers have already resigned during the negotiations. There are demonstrations in Belgrade on the news.

750 miles West of Freetown, Sierra Leone, German armed merchant cruiser Thor sinks British liner Britannia. 203 crew and 281 passengers (mostly RAF and Royal Navy personnel) take to the lifeboats. Thor rescues 1 man but departs after radio transmissions from an approaching British warship (which never arrives). 255 die of exposure, dehydration and shark attacks but 195 are rescued by Spanish freighters SS Bachi & SS Cabo De Hornos and British SS Raranga. 1 lifeboat floats 1,500 miles in 23 days to Sao Luis, Brazil (only 33 alive of the 82 aboard). Thor also sinks Swedish MV Trolleholm, carrying coal from Newcastle, England, to Egypt (all 31 crew taken prisoner).

Mid-Atlantic, halfway between Sierra Leone and Brazil, German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran stops empty Canadian tanker Canadolite with shellfire. Canadolite is sent with a prize crew to Brest, France.

Italian destroyers Crispi and Sella leave the Aegean island of Leros, each carrying three 2-ton motor assault boats loaded with 300kg explosives. At 11.30 PM, the destroyers release the motor boats 10 miles off Suda Bay, Crete.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Homer. Lots going on in today’s news. These are so interesting to read, back in the day when more news was printed than opinion.

[CougarGA7]

No mention by either the British or Germans on Rommel's move into El Agheila. I imagine by next week when some significant movements begin that it will finally become newsworthy. I'm just interested in seeing what the German war communiques say since Rommel is under orders not to go on the offensive.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I imagine by next week when some significant movements begin that it will finally become newsworthy.

You make me curious. Maybe I will exercise my god-like power to review some articles from next week.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Here's the communique from British Army Headquarters in Cairo: "Libya: No change."

Ha! That's what you think.

[CougarGA7]

"Libya: No change."

I definitely got a good chuckle over that one. But on the surface, all Rommel has done so far is take the fort and landing strip of this lightly defended British position. They may just be seeing this as a line correction.

After fighting with my scanner all morning I got this done too. This may serve to supplement your map from the West Point Atlas.

[Larry381]

Canadian Pacific Railway Ship ‘Beaverbrae’ Sunk By Focke-Wulf Condor

[BroJoeK]

headline: "Stalin Joins Talk with Matsuoka – 10"

It almost appears that Nazis and Soviets are competing for Japan's good will.
Wonder why might that be important? ;-)