Posted on 04/08/2011 5:34:21 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
Overture for the main event in 6 weeks.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/apr41/f08apr41.htm
Panzers strike Yugoslavia from Bulgaria
Tuesday, April 8, 1941 www.onwar.com
In the Balkans... The German offensive is extended with the start of attacks by Kleist’s 1st Panzer Group. They advance west, into Yugoslavia, over the Bulgarian border and by evening have destroyed the Yugoslav forces on the frontier and have advanced as far as Nis.
In East Africa... Massawa falls to the Allied forces. Seventeen large Axis merchant ships are taken, in the port along with many smaller military and civilian vessels. The 4th Indian Division, which has played a large part in the Allied campaign in Eritrea, is immediately prepared for shipping to Egypt where the Allied forces are under great pressure. The priority in the East African campaign is now to clear the road between Asmara and Addis Ababa. Forces are being sent to this task from both ends of the road.
In North Africa... Mechili falls to the German attacks in the morning and Rommel immediately begins to organize an advance to Tobruk.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/08.htm
April 8th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: No. 21 Sqn attack three ships near the Danish coast and bomb a bridge being built near Ringkobing. 110 Sqn. try unsuccessfully to block the Kiel Canal during the night.
During the night of the 8th/9th, the Luftwaffe attacks Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, killing 13 and injuring 81. The Luftwaffe also bombs Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and the body of Christchurch church built in 1832 as a replacement for the medieval church is gutted by incendiaries. (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN: AMC Rajputana is torpedoed and sunk by U-108 at 64 50N 27 25W whilst operating the Northern Patrol duty. There are 40 casualties, but 277 survivors are rescued by HMS Legion and taken to Iceland. (Alex Gordon)(108)
YUGOSLAVIA: Belgrade: Two nights of German air raids wreak havoc; estimates of dead range from 1,500 to 30,000 people.
The German 1st Panzer Group Kleist under General Ewald von Kleist captures Nis (or Nish) in Serbia and advances along the Morava Valley towards Belgrade. The Yugoslav Army in southern Serbia is retreating under enemy pressure and thereby exposing the left flank of the army (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)
GREECE: Associated Press reports the Greeks holding firm at Rupel Pass, through which another German armoured column was trying to penetrate to the Struma River valley.
German armor advancing through the Dorian Gap pushes back the Greek 19th Division and the British 1st Armoured Brigade is sent to their aid. German units moving down the Axios Valley reach Kilkis late in the evening. The weather on the battlefield is terrible. Snow falls intermittently on the mountains and it is raining in the valleys and sometimes fog envelops the mountains and does not lift until 1000 hours. A force of Australian, British and New Zealand units under Major General Iven Mackay, General Officer Commanding 6th Australian Division, is formed to stop the German advance down the Florina Gap. General Thomas Blamey, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, is ordered to prepare for the defence of the Aliakmon line with the Australian 16th Brigade, Greek 12th Division and the New Zeland Division. (Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)
The 16th Australian Brigade is hurried forward to the Veria Pass where it begins to take up its positions. The brigade is astride a mountain road some 3000 feet above the sea and troops have to carry their gear, ammunition and rations either by hand or on the backs of donkeys. Snow and rain falls on the mountains and for shelter each platoon has a tent-fly which sags under the weight of the snow. (Anthony Staunton)
Athens:
The Greek High Command announced:
The Yugoslavia army in southern Serbia is retreating under enemy pressure and thereby exposing the left flank of our brave army. Nevertheless our soldiers are fighting with an incomparable spirit of sacrifice for every foot of the land of our ancestors.
LIBYA: The Italian Stefani News Agency reported:
Motorised German and Italian troops have recaptured the city of Derna.
Mechili falls to the German attacks in the morning and the Germans immediately begin to organize an advance to Tobruk. (Jack McKillop)
ERITREA: The Italians in the seaport of Massawa, the main Italian naval base in East Africa, surrender to British and French Foreign Legion troops. Of the 13,000 men defending the town, 3,000 have been killed and 5,000 wounded. The last Italian warship in East African waters, the torpedo boat Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, is scuttled by its crew prior to the British entering the town however, the Allies capture 17 large Axis merchant ships in the port along with many smaller military and civilian vessels. The 4th Indian Division, which has played a large part in the Allied campaign in Eritrea, is immediately prepared for shipping to Egypt where the Allied forces are under great pressure. The priority in the East African campaign is now to clear the road between Asmara and Addis Ababa and troops are being sent to this task from both ends of the road.
The Italians had destroyed the workshops and had scuttled all ships in the harbor and the large floating drydock. The British were anxious to restore Massawa to operation as a working dockyard as it was geographically well-suited to support the RN in the Mediterranean, the current support then being conducted from South Africa, and had been a very modern and well-equipped facility. The British, however, lacked the resources to salvage the scuttled ships and to restore the port to operating condition.
The RN asked the USN for support. This was a political hot potato as the US was still at peace and rehabilitating a military base for use by a warring power seemed to be more than a bit of a challenge to the US claims to neutrality. The USN developed a team of salvage personnel to go to Massawa once the White House approved the move but a decision was deferred and was still pending on 7 DEC 1941. Following the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war on the US by Germany and Italy on 10 DEC, White House approval became a moot point but the team originally intended for Massawa was diverted to Pearl Harbor, along with almost all of the USN’s salvage assets. (Andy Etherington, Marc James Small and Jack McKillop)
Before the final scuttling Italian MTB MAS213 torpedoes and damages cruiser HMS Capetown as she escorts a convoy off Massawa.
Four Italian submarines do manage to escape and eventually reach Bordeaux.
U.S.A.: An “Agreement relating to the defence of Greenland” is signed with the Danish minister to the U.S. This agreement includes Greenland in the U .S. system of cooperative hemispheric defence. (Jack McKillop)
The American Institute of Public Opinion (AIPO) asked a cross section of America the following question: “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 into the war?” Yes - 68%, No - 24%, No opinion - 8%. (Will O’Neil) (135)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 586 April 8, 1941
Libya. German 5th Light Division prepares to attack the fort at Mechili. British, Australian and Indian troops realize that reinforcements are not coming and attempt to break out at dawn. A sandstorm confuses the fighting, allowing 300 Allied troops to get away to Tobruk but 2000 are captured including British 2nd Armoured Division commander General Gambier-Parry. Rommel appropriates Gambier-Parry’s plastic goggles and two Dorchester armoured cars (renamed Max and Moritz after characters in a children’s story). Thus is born the image of Rommel in his command vehicle with goggles on his peaked cap. British CIC Middle East General Wavell orders that Tobruk must be held at all costs; Rommel cannot go much further without a port to resupply his armoured columns but if Tobruk falls he can advance all the way to Cairo, Egypt (so weak are the British defenses). The job of holding Tobruk falls to the 9th Australian Division.
Balkans. Germans advance in Southern Yugoslavia towards and into Greece. 2nd Panzer Division traverses a small mountain range and crosses the Greek border at the Dojran Lake. 73rd Infantry Division moves into the Monastir Valley and captures the town of Prilep, on the rail line to Salonika, ready to swarm down the wide, flat valley to the Greek border. Meanwhile, German 6th Mountain Division breaks through Metaxas Line at a point considered impassable by the Greeks, by crossing a 7,000 ft mountain range.
Eritrea. Aided by a drawing of the Massawa defenses discovered in the Italian War Office at Asmara, British & Indian & Free French troops capture hill forts surrounding Massawa. Colonel Ralph Monclar of the French Foreign Legion rushes ahead and captures the Italian admiralty building. British General Heath arrives and accepts the formal the surrender of 10,000 Italian naval personnel and colonial troops from Italian Admiral Bonetti. Ammunition and supply dumps have been destroyed. Italian minelayer Ostia is sunk by RAF while Italian destroyer escort Orsini, 5 torpedo motor boats and 7 freighters are scuttled. The harbour is an unusable mess of partially sunk ships plus dumped cargo, tanks and other vehicles.
200 miles South of the Azores, U-107 sinks British SS Eskdene at 7.42 AM with 2 torpedoes and 104 rounds from the deck gun (all 39 crew are picked up by British SS Penhale and taken to Pernambuco, Brazil) and British SS Helena Margareta at 7.40 PM (27 crew lost, 7 crew members and 2 gunners picked up on April 14 by fleet oiler Cairndale and landed at Gibraltar). Further South, 150 miles off Freetown, Sierra Leone, U-124 sinks British SS Tweed at 12.25 PM (3 crew lost, 22 survivors in 2 lifeboats make land at Conakry, French Guinea).
Throughout April 7 the Nymphae, a fort in western Thrace held out against attacks by German infantry armed with flame-throwers, but gradually the approach defence-works were destroyed by dynamite, dive-bombing, and flame . Repeated infantry assaults finally overcame Greek resistance shortly before midnight. Remnants of the Evros Brigade retreated into Turkey and were disarmed .
The Luftwaffe continued its attacks on army installations behind the Metaxas Line, damaging barracks and railways. All a long the line the forts were under heavy bombardment and many hand- to hand conflicts took place as the Germans strove to drive out the Greek defenders.
Typical of the struggle was the action at Kelkayia fort in the sector held by the Greek 18th Infantry Division. At 0515 hours the Germans began intensive bombing of the fort, using heavy artillery, anti-tank guns, and dive-bombers. Infantry then attacked the outer defences of the fort and a vicious battle was fought, the Greek infantrymen using the bayonet to repulse the invaders.
The attack was still pressed and Greek artillery outside the fort inflicted severe losses on General Bohrne' s troops. Throughout the morning and afternoon the Germans attacked again and again, with skill and ardour. Counterattacks by the Greeks outside the fort were twice successful, and some of the Greek 18th Division heroically manned suicidal positions to enable their comrades in side the fort to rectify damaging situations.
Towards sunset the Greek forces were decimated by a crushing barrage and two of the fort's auxiliary exits blew up, leaving areas of smoking and cratered ground. German ground forces then penetrated in to the fort, but the Greek offensive spirit triumphed over the weariness of the defenders, and the attackers were once again thrown back with heavy losses, the entrances to the fort being carpeted with the dead and injured.
On the following day the Germans brought up special equipment which manufactured thick smoke. This was sent into the fort and an infantry attack was launched in which flame-throwers were used . Inside the fort the atmosphere became suffocating; the defenders were frequently unable to distinguish comrade from foe, and although machine -gunners in positions unaffected by the fumes kept up a withering fire against enemy positions outside the fort, the main Greek resistance came to an end. Towards noon the garrison was compelled to surrender, but it had maintained by its courage the reputation of the Greek armed forces.
Marshall Cavendish-History Of The Second World War-Gallant Failure-Peter Elstob
Through the day, each carefully located nest of fortifications along the line of advance was gradually reduced through a combination of frontal and enveloping attacks, with tactical support from Luftwaffe aircraft. Using these methods the advanced units of the 5th Gebirgs Division, together with the reinforced 125th Infantry Regiment, finally penetrated the Metaxas line on the evening of 7 April, pouring through large gaps in the line out onto the plain to the south.
The savage contest cost the division 160 lives - nine more than the Wehrmacht had lost in the entire campaign in Yugoslavia.
Meanwhile the 6th Gebirgs Division crossed a 7,000-foot snow-covered mountain range and broke through the line at a point that had been considered inaccessible by the Greeks.The division reached the rail line to Salonika east of Lake Dojran on the evening of 7 April, and entered Kherson two days later. After repelling several fierce counterattacks, the 5th Gebirgs Division moved on Neon Petritsi, and with this taken gained access to the important Rupul Gorge from the south.
The 125th Infantry Regiment, which was attacking the gorge from the north, suffered such heavy casualties that it had to be withdrawn from further action after it had reached its objective.
Some of the fortresses in the line held out for days after the German attack divisions had bypassed them, and could not be reduced until heavy guns were brought up. However, in a deft move around the Metaxas line, the 2nd Panzer Division motored west to the Yugoslav town of Strumica on 6 April, encountering little resistance on the way.The panzers then turned south towards the Greek border, brushed aside a Greek motorised infantry division near lake Dojran, and took Salonika without a fight on 9 April.
5th Gebirgsjager Division-Michael Sharpe
Another amazing post.
Though I did spend some time looking for Park & Tilford Whiskey that I saw in one of the ads.
Guess it’s no longer made.
LOL
I just spent 20 minutes to see if anyone had a bottle of it for sale.
Haven’t found one I trust yet but I am still looking.
Today “the withdrawal of our advanced troops to selected areas of concentration is proceeding”, but no longer smoothly.
Does this excerpt draw from two different works? And does the Michael Cavendish history get to this level of detail for the whole war? If so there must be several volumes.
When I toured Greece 10 years ago virtually every village had a monument to those killed in the war and occupation.
I think they have moved from withdrawal, to flee.
YUGOSLAVS CAPTURE SCUTARI IN ALBANIA
There are two things that really stand out to me in this. the first is that it appears that ANYONE can kick the Italian's butt. Second, I think this headline shows how the New York Times of 1940 looks at the issue of the war. Clearly, the Times is anti-Nazi/Fascist which is a good thing, but so much so that despite the fact that a real drubbing is being handed out in the Balkans by the Nazis as we speak, the Times wants to focus on this small victory by the Yugoslav military.
Imagine if the U.S. were directly involved. Do you think the Doolittle raid will get much of a headline, amid bad news from just about every theatre?
90 Proof - whooee.
I don't recall ever seeing that brand on the shelf of my friendly neighborhood liquor store. But then I never liked bourbon, being more of a scotch man back during my boozing days. Jim Beam was the brand of choice for the family member that went for the American stuff.
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