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Day 584 April 6, 1941
Before dawn, Germany invades Yugoslavia from Austria, Romania & Bulgaria, while Italian troops cross the border from Albania and Italy. Yugoslavia will be crushed from all sides in a classic blitzkrieg. Luftwaffe destroys most Yugoslav aircraft on the ground and bombs the capital Belgrade from 7-8.30 AM, killing 4,000 civilians. German armoured columns from Bulgaria bypass antiquated Yugoslav mountain defenses and rush down the river valleys almost 100 miles towards Greece, reaching Skopje and Veles in Southern Yugoslavia. Simultaneously, German mountain troops invade Greece from Bulgaria but they are quickly held at the Metaxas Line. 2 forts in the Metaxas Line are destroyed by German bombing. Overnight, Luftwaffe bombs Greek port of Piraeus setting on fire British munitions ship SS Clan Fraser (cargo of TNT explodes destroying the harbour and sinking 11 other freighters).
Libya. British and Australians withdraw in panic from Barce and Derna towards Tobruk, as German advances through the desert South of Green Mountain threaten to cut off their retreat along the coast. By 5 PM, Germans surround British forces at the old desert fort at Mechili but British Brigadier Vaughn refuses German demands for surrender. British commanders, General Neame and General O’Connor, pick a bad day to visit the front. They get lost in the retreat and are captured overnight between Mechili and Derna.
11th African Division advances 120 miles in 2 days to reach the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, but find it unoccupied. The Italians have withdrawn North to mountain strongholds of Gondar and Amba Alagi. General Cunningham’s African force has advanced 1,725 miles from Kenya in 72 days, capturing 22,000 Italian and colonial prisoners.
British armed merchant cruiser HMS Comorin carrying military personnel to Freetown, Sierra Leone, catches fire 450 miles West of Ireland (20 dead). Despite very heavy seas, 405 men are taken off by British SS Glenartney and destroyers HMS Broke & HMS Lincoln (which sinks the wreck next day by shellfire).
German battlecruiser Gneisenau, waiting to have an unexploded bomb removed before entering dry dock at Brest, France, is attacked by RAF bombers and badly damaged with a torpedo.
At 5 PM 100 miles Southwest of Iceland, U-94 sinks Norwegian tanker Lincoln Ellsworth with 2 torpedoes and 121 rounds from the deck gun. All 29 crew abandon ship in 2 lifeboats and are picked up after 2 days by armed merchant cruiser HMS Derbyshire and Icelandic fishing boats.
When our troops crossed the Greek frontier on 6 April, the enemy's dispositions were as follows: Fourteen Greek divisions were facing the Italians in Albania, while only seven-and-a-half Greek divisions were available to cover the frontiers of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Of the latter, three-and-a-half divisions were holding the so-called Metaxas Line between the Struma valley and the Turkish border, two divisions were in position between the Struma and the Vardar, and two divisions were west of the Vardar trying to cover the assembly of British forces along the Aliakmon river. These comprised the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 6th Australian Division, and a British armored brigade, all under command of General Mait-land Wilson.
Maj. Gen F.W. Mellenthin-Panzer Battles
Luftwaffe bombers based in Bulgaria attacked the Greek port of Piraeus and hit the SS Clan Fraser, a freighter loaded with ammunition for the British Expeditionary Force. The huge explosion that followed wrecked the port.
GREEK TRAGEDY
By 05:00 on the morning of 6 April, the men of the 5th Gebirgs Division were poised for the attack (on the Metaxas line). They had strapped rifles across their chests, and wire cutters, flare guns, entrenching tools and hand grenades hung from their belts.
Shortly after 05:00 the gunners began to lay down a heavy preparation.Then flights ofJu87 Stukas approached to pound the ground positions, raising clouds of dust and grit that shrouded the mountaintops. While the bombs were still falling, the troops left the cover of the woods and scrambled up the snowy slopes that the Greeks had cleared of timber to provide their gunners with unrestricted fields of fire. Withering fire fell down on the advancing troops, proof that the large concrete and steel bunkers had largely withstood the barrage. Over the next few hours, in the face of extremely tough resistance from the Greek defenders, the mountain troops began to gouge holes in the line by clearing the trenches that flanked the bunkers.
Will Fowler-The Balkans And North Africa 1941-1942