Posted on 04/18/2010 6:15:42 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/apr40/f18apr40.htm
More Allied troops land in Norway
Thursday, April 18, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Norway... The British 148th Brigade lands at Andalsnes. General Paget is in command. Other British troops land at Molde. During the night part of the 5th Demi-brigade Chasseurs Alpins land at Namsos. There has, however, been a mistake made with the equipment for this force and they lack some of the bindings necessary for their skis.
It seems as though there is a lot of confusion as to the status of Northern Norway, and also with the British troops that are actually there. The press seems insistent that the British are in Narvik, but from what I can find, including in the National Archive (UK) they are only in places around it. This bit on the ski bindings runs right along with Van der Vat’s account of the equipment being loaded in the transports the wrong way leaving the vital items under the nonessential. I wonder how this all would have played out if the British were more organized and the French were involved at all.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/18.htm
April 18th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Bombing - Kjeller and Fornebu airfields; shipping in Trondheimfjord.
10 Sqn. Three aircraft to Kjeller and three to Fornebu. No bombing due to poor weather.
58 Sqn. Three aircraft to Kjeller and Fornebu. No bombing due to poor weather.
77 Sqn. Three aircraft to attack shipping in Trondheimfjord. None sighted. One aircraft ditched.
London: General Sir John Dill, the commander of 1 Corps of the BEF in France, has become the vice-Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Aged 59, Dill is a former director of military operations. Before the war he commanded the army’s Staff College. In France he has earned a considerable reputation as commander of one of three army corps holding ground between two French army groups, an allied wall of men which has the impregnable fortress of the Maginot Line on its right. Dill is a man of mature judgement whom friends describe as “canny” and opponents as irresolute. However, among his admirers is Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, who is not known for his dithering.
Dill, like some French military leaders, has risen to prominence as a classroom warrior who prefers to make his move only after all information is to hand. The German High Command is reputed to have a low opinion of British officers who are averse to taking decisions; but Dill is probably of tougher mettle than his detractors think.
‘Gone With The Wind’, the film colossus famed for costing (GBP) 1 million to make, taking three hours and 40 minutes to see and winning Oscars galore, including one for Vivien Leigh as best actress, had its premiere in no fewer than three West End cinemas tonight. It has broken box office records in America. The critics’ reception in Britain has been warm, but not ecstatic. “Very good indeed but no masterpiece,” declares Campbell Dixon in the Daily Telegraph.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: HMS Ark Royal in company with the destroyers HMS Westcott and HMS Bulldog are enroute to the Clyde. HMS Glorious, now in company with the destroyers HMS Walker and HMS Walpole arrive in the Clyde after nightfall.
NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:Four days after sinking the gunnery training ship Brummer, submarine HMS Sterlet is presumed lost in the Skagerrak to A/S trawlers.
Allied troops disembark at Åndalsnes (100 miles southwest of Trondheim) and Trondheim, and occupy the Faeroe Islands.
The British 148th Brigade lands at Åndalsnes , Norway.
The French 5th Chesseurs Alpines land at Namsos, Norway. They are without legging type bindings for their skis and thus are unable to use them.
(Mark Horan adds): There are no missions on this date. RNAS Hatston is quiet. HMS Furious, after refueling at Tromsø , is transiting the most narrow party of Grotsund fjord when she is surprised by a single FW-200 of I/KG 40 which drops two 250 kg bombs.
One lands very close, badly whipping the hull, and stripping some turbine blades. Although the ship continues operations, this damage will eventually force her home for repairs.
Meanwhile, HMS Glorious arrives in the Clyde, completing her high-speed dash from Alexandria. She immediately disembarks 812 and 823 Squadrons (Swordfish), in preparation for embarking 263 Squadron, RAF, for transport to Norway.
Having taken aboard enough fuel to again steam, HMS Furious sent off three aircraft. One Swordfish was dispatched on a search mission to seaward of “Furious” fjord to ensure that the ship could depart safely. A second was dispatched to the Narvik area with orders to locate Flag Officer Narvik for further communication, while a third was sent to Narvik to photograph the area.
Meanwhile, Furious got underway. At 1350, while transiting the narrowest part of Grotsund fjord in company with the destroyers HMS Isis and HMS Ilex, she was surprised by a single FW-200 of I/KG 40 which dropped two 250 kg. bombs. One landed very close, badly whipping the hull, and stripping some turbine blades. The ship then returned to “Furious” fjord to evaluate the damage, recovering two of her aircraft at 1515. The third, 816’s U4K:P4214 was returning home at low altitude in poor weather after completing the photographic mission when it hit a power line across Kvalsund. In the resulting crash, Lieutenant(A) Frank Whittingham, RN (P) was killed while Lieutenant(A) O. M. Cheeke, RN (O) and Leading Airman F. White, RN (AG) were seriously injured, though quick action on the ground saved both.
Although Furious was to continue operations, the damage to her turbines would ultimately force her home for repairs. (Mark Horan)
GERMANY: Hitler recovers sufficiently from his previous days panic to order Dietl to hold Narvik as long as possible before withdrawing into the interior.
Is this feature posted the same time everyday? Or can I get pinged on it? I don’t want to miss what’s coming up with the low countries and whatnot. Great feature, a place where I can actually enjoy the ny times!
"A joint declaration by the British, French and Polish Governments asserted tonight that reports from Poland show that Germany is 'bent on destroying lives, property and the cultural and religious existence of the defenseless Polish population.'"The declaration said that:
" 'Wholesale executions, deportations in circumstances of most ruthless barbarity of the Polish population... closing of churches and persecution of religion clearly reveal a policy deliberately aiming at destruction of the Polish nation'..."
Once again a clear warning, though the scale of destruction and details are missing.
At this point the Nazis were still getting "warmed up" -- still focused on decapitating Polish leadership, intelligentsia and Catholic clergy.
Nazi focus had not yet fully shifted to the Jews.
In the end, four million Poles will die, half of them Jews the other half almost entirely Catholic Christians. Indeed, more Christians would have died except the Nazis suddenly discovered they needed Poles to help the fight the Russians.
Sorry, I don't what to give away the whole story! ;-)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 231 April 18, 1940
German 181st infantry division begins reinforcing Trondheim, arriving in numerous transport planes, one conventional transport ship and 2 submarines operating as undersea troop transports.
British 148th Brigade under Brigadier Morgan arrives in Åndalsnes overnight with orders to advance 150 miles Northeast to Trondheim. However, Morgan has also received opposite instructions (directly from Chief of the Imperial General Staff General Ironside) to support the Norwegian troops currently to the Southeast defending the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys leading up from Oslo.
German troops moving North out of Oslo are held up by Norwegian forces in the village of Bagn in the district of Valdres, approximately midway between Oslo and Bergen. http://hem.fyristorg.com/robertm/norge/history_section.html
Operation Hammer, the proposed landings at Trondheim, suffers a further setback. Brigadier Berney-Ficklin is put in charge but he is injured when his plane crashes en route to embark at Scapa Flow.
British submarine HMS Sterlet disappears, either sunk by German anti-submarine trawlers UJ-125, UJ-126 and UJ-128 or striking a mine.
It has been a freqent feature since January 1938. I mean 2008. It has been every day since last August 16. It will continue as long as I am not prevented from getting articles and preparing them for posting. That has come perilously close to happening several times over the last month but I am hanging in there.
Or can I get pinged on it?
You are now on the ping lists. I start everyone on the main news list, the movie list and the sports list. The last is a weekly update on the pennant races from now until the World Series and football after that. The movie reviews depend on what is opening during a given week. The next one will be on April 20th. If you don't want to be on any one or any of the three let me know and I will dis-enroll you.
Looking forward to it, and Barbarossa!
Don't worry, it doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out how this war is going. Hitler has a tiger by the tale up in Norway. I don't know how he figures to keep his force reinforced and supplied with the Royal Navy guarding the way. We have seen that, aside from an occasional lucky punch by a U-Boat, the German navy is no match for the British. Just consider the Graf Spee incident in December. The Brits have been a little slow to gain traction on the ground in Norway but today's headlines seem to indicate they are getting it going. The allies can now land a great force there and the Germans have to run a gauntlet of Royal Navy guns to keep up. And where do the German reinforcements come from? How about the Siegfried Line? That is just what the French and the BEF are waiting for. When the German front line is weakened the allies will no doubt fill the vacuum with a massive push that may not stop until it reaches Berlin. Hitler will be bounced out of office and can retire to Nuremberg to write his memoirs. The war could be over by fall. Christmas 1940 will be a much gayer affair in Warsaw and the rest of Europe than that of 1939.
Now you're just spoiling it for everyone who doesn't already know. ;-)
Don't hold your breath. There may be other actions in other theaters before Hitler orders "the Big One." ;-)
Uncle Joe made a similar discovery. He invaded east Poland, assassinated the military officers and sent many of the rest of the military and many civilians to Siberia. http://www.henrypavlovich.com/The-Anders-Army- has an interesting discussion of that bit of history.
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