Posted on 04/25/2011 5:44:13 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/apr41/f25apr41.htm
German advance unhindered by Allies
Friday, April 25, 1941 www.onwar.com
In the Balkans... In Greece, there is little fighting as the Germans advance and the Allies retreat.
From Berlin... Hitler issues Directive 28 giving the order for Operation Merkur, the airborne invasion of Crete.
The Andrew Etherington site is still running a day behind. I will post yesterday’s entry now, in case you want to go back and catch up.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 603 April 25, 1941. ANZAC Day
Greece. Allied rearguard forces from Thermopylae cover 100 miles in 12 hours and reach Athens at noon, met by cheering Greek crowds throwing flowers in gratitude for the Allied effort. However, British Legation and other foreign diplomats prepare to leave by burning confidential papers. Allied evacuation (Operation Demon) continues but only 5500 troops leave from beaches South of Athens after troopship Pennland is bombed and badly damaged (4 crew lost, 347 rescued by destroyer HMS Griffin). Luftwaffe reconnaissance identifies the evacuation beaches but British will change the embarkation points using Ultra intercepts. German bombers again focus on shipping routes, sinking 6 merchant ships and a yacht. 6 Greek destroyers and 5 submarines survive to fight another day, escaping to Alexandria, Egypt. Seeing that mainland Greece is being evacuated, Hitler orders the invasion of Crete (Operation Merkur, Führer Directive 28).
North Africa. Frustrated by the lack of progress at Tobruk, Rommel resumes the offensive along the Libyan/Egyptian border. German troops attack British patrols around Fort Capuzzo. British withdraw to prepared defenses where the desert plain drops towards the coast through Halfaya Pass. With only 13 RAF Hurricanes left to defend Egypt, the last 2 fighters are withdrawn from Tobruk leaving only Westland Lysanders to do artillery spotting. Luftwaffe will control the skies over Tobruk. British submarine HMS Upholder sinks Italian SS Antonietta Lauro off the Tunisian island of Kerkenah.
At 00.38 AM, 200 miles Southwest of Cape Verde islands off the West coast of Africa, U-103 sinks Norwegian SS Polyana (all 25 hands lost). Off the East coast of Africa, North of the Seychelles, German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin shells British SS Empire Light without warning. 70 crew are taken prisoner and Empire Light is scuttled.
The Corinth bridge area was obviously a most vulnerable spot but by now it was guarded by only three tanks and a few Australian infantry. (There was a large number of Greek soldiers there, too, but for them the war was over.)
A few hours after General Wilson and his staff crossed the 150foot- high bridge over the Corinth canal, a heavy air attack knocked out every anti-aircraft gun, and this was immediately followed by low-flying Junkers 52s in groups of three; soon the sky was dotted with coloured parachutes.
Then, while a thousand paratroops dropped, gliders crash-landed near the bridge, men jumped out, overwhelmed the pickets, and raced to clear the explosives.
Moments later the charges exploded, killing them all, and dropping (part of) the bridge neatly into the canal. Controversy still exists as to what caused the explosion. Two British officers were firing their rifles at the charges when they exploded, and they certainly believed that they were responsible, but only wet guncotton was in a position to be hit by a bullet, and experts say that this could not be detonated in such a manner. The Germans believed that either the explosives went off as they were being hurriedly dismantled, or that some TNT was set off by a shell splinter- but there were no guns firing at the time. Unless other evidence comes to light, therefore, the most likely explanation is that the two officers did indeed cause the explosion.
South of the canal, overwhelming numbers soon told, and the few remaining defenders put out of action-but not before they had killed or wounded 285 of II Parachute Regiment. It was nevertheless a brilliant German victory and they drove triumphantly into Corinth on April 26, escorted by a captured tank, where a Greek-speaking German officer relieved the mayor of his responsibilities.
All over Greece similar scenes were taking place: tanks and carriers full of dusty, grimy soldiers clanked into apparently deserted towns. Within two or three hours the soldiers would be clean and smart, and at local shops, with leaflets in Greek, they explained the number of drachmae to a reichsmark, and bought food and souvenirs. Slowly the Greeks came out of the houses and walked up and down, staring at their conquerors. Within a few days everyone knew about reichsmarks, and business was brisk.
It didn't, after all, seem so bad.
The Marshall Cavendish History Of The Second World War -Gallant Failureby Peter Elstob
At this point any new evidence would probably require the use of a time machine.
Bet it was Force 10 from Navarone. :)
First let me say happy ANZAC day to everyone. 26 years ago forces from Australia and New Zealand made their landings at Gallipoli.
On another note, how far away do you think one could spot one of those Lee tanks? And I’m pretty sure that you can get that German vehicle in a Happy Meal.
At this point any new evidence would probably require the use of a time machine.
Now you're talking Homer-the imagination just runs wild if somehow, someway we could travel back in time and speak to the people involved for answers to certain questions; and what if we could go back to 1941 or 1942 and tell the generals or admirals or leaders of countries? Is there anything we would tell them knowing full well that it would probably change history?
Would you say anything to Guderian about Moscow; or Von Paulus about Stalingrad? What about the captains of Hood or Bismark? What about poor Admiral Kimmel in Pearl Harbor?
The guys in the back seat are probably thinking they could get there faster on foot and they wouldn't need a chiropractor when they arrived.
That Chrysler tank looks like something from the Great War.
A New Zealand officer is led into captivity by a German soldier. The large contingent of Australian and New Zealand troops sent to Greece suffered heavy casualties under British command; this caused some ill-feeling among ANZAC troops who believed they were being sacrificed in a hopeless cause.
I think so too. It certainly looks like we are way behind the Europeans in tank design.
I can’t say I blame them. The main Australian force in Greece was the 6th Division which had only been shifted to Greece days before the Germans attacked. Of the men in that unit 39 percent of them would wind up dead, wounded or captured during the Greece campaign. A portion of those evacuated were shifted to Crete to form the “Creforce” which would face attack again by the Germans on May 20th.
Today's lead article provides interesting material for FDR-ologists. The president has front men spread out across the fruited plain laying the foundation for convoying and other acts of belligerance in support of the allies. "The allies" at this point consist of Great Britain and her commonwealth partners. If public opinion won't come around Roosevelt is going to make the public an offer it can't refuse.
The rapid defeat in the Balkans has led to criticism and unrest in the House of Commons. Since Chamberlain’s death and Halifax’s posting to Washington in 1940, Churchill had been in a strong political position. Now his chief critic is the elderly Lloyd George, who has been advocating negotiations with Hitler since 1940.
Thanks for the heads-up.
The President's job is to lead, in this case to lead a seriously reluctant American public closer and closer to war.
So I have no major problem with anything FDR did in this particular regard, and I don't call it a "conspiracy" or illegal.
Indeed, considering Roosevelt's secretive nature, it's not even clear how much was even a conscious "plan" -- and remember, by definition of the word, a "conspiracy" has to be both illegal and a plan.
My major beef is that at the moment of crisis, those poor suckers in Hawaii shoulda and coulda been better warned.
M3 Lee / Grant, 30 tons, 1942:
"Of the 6,258 M3s produced by the U.S., 2,855 M3s were supplied to the British army, and about 1,368 to the Soviet Union.
Consequently, one of the American M3 medium tank's first actions during the war was in 1942, during the North African Campaign.
British Lees and Grants were in action against Rommel's forces at the disastrous Battle of Gazala on 27 May that year.
They continued to serve in North Africa until the end of that campaign.""Overall, the M3 was able to cope with the battlefield of 1942.
Its armor and firepower were the equal or superior to most of the threats it faced.
Long-range, high velocity guns were not yet common on German tanks.
However, the rapid pace of tank development meant that the M3 was very quickly outclassed.
By mid-1943, with the introduction of the German Panthers and Tigers, the up-gunning of the Panzer IV to a long 75-mm gun, and the availability of large numbers of Shermans, the M3 was withdrawn from service in the European Theater."
By contrast, the far better designed M4 Sherman had over 50,000 produced, served throughout WWII and Korea for the US, and in modified versions with allies as late as the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The M4 Sherman design was approved on April 18, 1941, with first prototype completed in September 1941.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/25.htm
April 25th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 18 Sqn. bombs and sinks a 7,000-ton vessel.
Submarine HMS P-311 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Hitler issues Directive No. 28 - Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. Gen Maj Gerhard is made air commander of a force of transport aircraft which is to include 493 Ju 52/3ms and over 80 DFS 230 gliders.
U-413 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORTH AFRICA: The Afrika Korps attacks the Halfaya Pass and drives the British back to Buq Buq.
Wavell admits to Churchill that the decision to let the Armoured Division withdraw gradually from Rommel so as to maintain force until the enemy had been stretched too far and then counterattack, was a mistake. The 3rd Armoured Brigade melted away through mechanical and administrative breakdowns, without much fighting. 2nd Armoured Division’s unpracticed HQ lost control. This was partly due to inexperience of signal personnel...
IRAQ: Baghdad: Germany and Italy undertake to give financial and military aid to Rashid Ali.
Basra: Reuters News Agency reports:
Strong British and Imperial troops have arrived in the area of the Mosul airfields and, with the consent of Iraqi military authorities, have occupied positions of strategic importance. Precautions have been taken against possible military surprise raids, and both land and aerial forces have been considerably strengthened. British troop movements are still continuing.
U.S.A.: Washington: In a statement today, President Roosevelt promises all possible aid will be sent to Greece from the United States.
The motion picture “The Flame of New Orleans” is released in the U.S. Directed by Rene Clair, the film stars Marlene Dietrich, Bruce Cabot, Mischa Auer and Andy Devine. This period comedy set in 1840 New Orleans, has Dietrich trying to convince her fiance that she is two different women while being chased by another man. The film was nominated for one technical Academy Award. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US Navy enforces a new security zone 2,000 miles off the east coast.
Due to major engine difficulty U-553 was forced to return to base.
At 0038, the Polyana was hit near the bridge by one torpedo from U-103, capsized fast and sank within one minute. The ship was last seen when detached from Convoy OG-58 in 44°41N/22°43W and was reported missing when she did not arrive in Freetown on 30 April. The U-boat had missed the freighter with a first torpedo at 2357 on 24 April. All crewmembers, 19 Norwegians, two British, one Danish, one Tunisian, one Spanish and one Maltese were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)
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