This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

28 March 1942

GERMANY: Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop asks Japanese Ambassador to Germany Count Oshima to secure a Japanese attack on Russia simultaneously with Germany's "crushing blow." The Japanese would attack at Vladivostok and Lake Baikal but the Japanese take no action.

During the night of the 28th/29th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 234 aircraft, 146 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 26 Stirlings and 21 Manchesters to attack Lubeck; 204 attack the city. This raid was the first major success for Bomber Command against a German target. The attack was carried out in good visibility, with the help of an almost full moon and, because of the light defenses of this target, from a low level, many crews coming down to 2,000 feet (610 meters). The force is split into three waves, the leading one being composed of experienced crews with Gee-fitted aircraft; although LŸbeck was beyond the range of Gee, the device helped with preliminary navigation. More than 400 tons (363 metric tonnes) of bombs are dropped; two thirds of this tonnage was incendiary; 191 crews claimed successful attacks. German sources show that 1,425 buildings in Lubeck are destroyed, 1,976 are seriously damaged and 8,411 are lightly damaged; these represented 62 per cent of all buildings in Lubeck. The casualties in Lubeck were 312 or 320 people killed (accounts conflict), 136 seriously and 648 slightly injured. The attacking force loses 12 aircraft, seven Wellingtons, three Stirlings, a Hampden and a Manchester. Other targets hit during the night include individual attacks on Emden, Heligoland, Husum and Sylt and two aircraft bomb Kiel.

NORTH AMERICA: Units of the USAAF I Bomber Command engaged in anti-submarine warfare patrols off the East Coast are placed under operational control of Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier, USN.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 28th/29th, 14 RAF Bomber Command aircraft fly leaflet missions, nine over Paris and five over Lens.

During the night of the 28th/29th, individual RAF Bomber Command Blenheims bomb Schipol and Soesterburg Airfields.

St. Nazaire: OPERATION CHARIOT: The "Normandie" dry-dock, the biggest in occupied Europe, vital to enemy warships such as the "TIRPITZ", is a flooded ruin after an extraordinary night in which the destroyer HMS 'Campbeltown', (ex USS Buchanan DD-191) was converted into a delayed action bomb and rammed onto the dock gates at 20 knots. Commandos then swarmed on shore to sabotage other key parts of the dock. One demolition party had just 90 seconds' start on its own charges, placed 40 feet below ground. At 11.30 this morning, about 12 hours after the start of the operation, when over half of the Combined Operations raiders were dead or captive, the destroyer blew up, killing more than 380 Germans exploring the ship. The base is now only usable by submarines, whose facilities remain untouched. The operation was precisely planned and well-executed. But its success was due in a large part to the heroism of the men involved. Some 611 men went into action (345 Royal Navy; 257 Commando; four doctors; three liaison officers and two journalists) of whom 169 were killed -104 from the navy and 200 captured. The naval forces were commanded by Cdr. Robert Edward Dudley "RED" Ryder, RN, while the Army commandoes were led by Lt-Col. Augustus Charles Newman, the Officer Commanding Number 2 Commando, both on board MGB-314. The plan called the RN force to boldly sail up the Loire estuary at night and penetrate into St. Nazaire harbour, at which point HMS 'Campbeltown', modified to carry 9,600 pounds of delayed action high explosives (24 x 400 pound depth charges encased in concrete), and under command of Lt.Cdr. Stephen Halden "Sam" Beattie, RN, would ram the forward caisson of the Normandie dock at high-speed, and scuttle herself. Immediately thereafter the commandos carried on board 'Campbeltown', , the MGB, and 12 of the the motor launches, would land at three separate locations, push ashore, and destroy the various harbour installations used in operating the dock. After this was accomplished, the commandoes would re-embark on the small craft and run for home. A flotilla of 17 motor launches and two other small craft joined the trip up the Loire estuary. Only four would return. Surprise was lost and only one launch would put its men ashore. Some local residents thinking it was a full-scale invasion, joined in the fighting against the Germans. In the event, the wooden hulled, petrol engined motor launches proved to be too entirely too vulnerable to German defensive fire - ten being sunk. Of the 12 troop carrying MLs, only three were able to land their commandoes - of the remainder, four were sunk and the other five forced to retire with their commandoes still aboard. Regardless, nine of the craft that remained were able to remain in the harbour long enough to embark the commandoes that did get ashore. Amazingly, however, the commando parties that did get ashore managed to destroy all of the key objectives, the Normandie pump house, and both caisson winding houses. Realizing that there was to be no return to the UK, the commandoes then attempted, in large, unsuccessfully, to fight their way inland and escape into the French countryside. However, it was not until next morning when the delayed action charges on HMS 'Campbeltown', belatedly exploded, totally destroying seaward facing caisson and opening the dock to the sea that the raid could be judged a resounding success. Admiral Mountbatten, commanding Combined Operations, sought a second destroyer to retrieve the raiders but was overruled. The force was one destroyer HMS 'Campbeltown', ex. USS "Buchanan" (DD-191)] , one Fairmile "C" motor gun boat [MGB-314], one motor torpedo boat [MTB-74], five torpedo equipped and eleven non-torpedo equipped Fairmile "B" motor launches [MLs 156, 160, 177, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270, 298, 306, 307, 341 (aborted), 443, 446, 447, 457] carrying 624 personnel (356 RN, 263 Army, 3 foreign, and 2 civilian). This was supported by one submarine beacon ship HMS 'Sturgeon', and a support force of two Hunt class destroyers HMS 'Atherstone' HMS 'Tynedale'. Besides the ten MLs and MTB lost in the harbour during the attack, on the return voyage one further ML was, after an epic but one-sided fight, sunk in action with the German torpedo boat Jaguar, and subsequently three more, as well as the MGB, were scuttled after having their crews removed to the British covering force destroyers. Casualties included 169 killed (103 RN, 66 Army and 212 prisoners of war (79 RN, 133 Army). Five of the Army commandoes did manage to evade German forces and eventually returned to the UK via Spain. The epic nature of the raid can be easily seen in the awards granted to the participants, which totalled:
5 Victoria Crosses: Ryder; Beattie; AB William Alfred Savage, RN (MGB-314); Newman; Sgt. Thomas Frank Durrant, RE (1 Commando)
AB William Alfred Savage (b.1912) fired his unshielded pom-pom gun aboard Cdr Ryder's motor gun boat with great coolness until he was killed. (Victoria Cross)
Sgt. Thomas Frank Durrant (b.1918 ),Royal Engineers, fired his Lewis gun aboard a launch in spite of wounds from which, in captivity, he died. (Victoria Cross)
Lt-Col. Augustus Charles Newman (1904-72), Essex Regt, led the troops on the raid. Ignoring his own safety, he inspired his men until they were surrounded and captured. (Victoria Cross).
4 Distinguished Service Orders
17 Distinguished Service Crosses
11 Military Crosses
4 Conspicuous Gallantry Medals
5 Distinguished Conduct Medals [DCM viz DSM above]
24 Distinguished Service Medals [DSM correct above]
15 Military Medals
51 Mentioned in Dispatches
The French also awarded 6 Croix de Guerre's (CdeG) and 2 Chevaliers of the Legion d' Honour. (Mark E. Horan)

 

[syscom3]

29 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-160 torpedoes a U.S. steamship about 40 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A. Before the ship is torpedoed a second time, the Armed Guard, who man their gun stations promptly, manages to get 12 rounds off at the U-boat's periscope. A second torpedo sinks the ship, with the Armed Guard leaving only when the bridge is awash.

Whilst escorting convoy PQ13 to Russia, cruiser HMS 'Trinidad' and her accompanying destroyers sink German destroyer Z-26, then 'Trinidad' is sunk by its own torpedo which circles back on itself.

GERMANY: Hitler orders reprisal raids after a RAF air raid on Lubeck. These are known as "Baedeker Raids".

NORTH AFRICA: Luftwaffe aircraft bomb Tobruk.

UNITED KINGDOM: The text of the "Draft Declaration of Discussion, with Indian Leaders," taken to India by Sir Stafford Cripps is published simultaneously in India and Great Britain. The British Government had decided to lay down in clear terms the steps to be taken for the earliest possible realization of self-government in India. "The object is the creation of a new Indian union which shall constitute a Dominion, associated with the United Kingdom and the other Dominions by a common allegiance to the Crown but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate in any aspect of its domestic or external affairs"

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 29th/30th, five RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets on Lille.

During the night of the 29th/30th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 26 aircraft, 18 Hampdens and 8 Manchesters, to lay mines in the Frisians and off Denmark; two Manchesters are lost.

 

[syscom3]

30 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-585 (type VIIC) is sunk in the Barents Sea north of Murmansk about 70.00N 34.00E by a German mine which drifted from the "Bantos A" barrage. All 44 of the U-Boat crew are lost.

U.S. freighter SS 'Effingham', straggling 90 miles astern of Murmansk-bound convoy PQ 13, is torpedoed and set afire by German submarine 'U-435' about 107 miles NNE of Murmansk. The ship explodes and sinks.

NORTH AMERICA: The Inter-American Defense Board holds its first meeting in Washington, D.C. The Board was created to study and recommend measures for the defense of the hemisphere.

The War Production Board bans the production of certain electric appliances, notably toasters, stoves and razors.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 30th/31st, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 34 Halifaxes to attack the German battleship 'Tirpitz' in a fjord near Trondheim but the ship is not located; five aircraft bomb flak positions. A total of six aircraft are lost.

 

[syscom3]

31 March 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-754 sinks two U.S. merchant ships off the U.S. East Coast near Norfolk, Virginia.
(1) Unarmed tug 'Menominee' and the barges that she is towing, Allegheny, Barnegat, and Ontario, are shelled by 'U-754' about 53 miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; the tug and barges Allegheny and Barnegat sink but barge 'Ontario', with its dunnage cargo, remains afloat and provides a life preserver for the three men who had been on board each barge. Only two of the 18-man tug boat crew and the nine men on the barges survive.
(2) Later in the day, the sub torpedoes an unarmed tanker as the ship, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, waits to embark a pilot. One crewman dies in the initial explosion.

An unarmed U.S. tanker en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by Italian submarine 'Pietro Calvi' about 513 miles east northeast of Cayenne, French Guiana; 2 crewmen on the tanker are lost.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day: Shch-210 Black Sea Fleet off Shabler Cape (sunk by German aircraft off Crimea)

GERMANY: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Hampdens and six Wellingtons on a cloud cover raids to Germany; six aircraft find targets to bomb.

During the night of the 31st/1 April, four RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons, with selected crews using Gee, are dispatched to Essen but only one bombs; a second aircraft bombs Hamborn.

NORTH AMERICA: In Washington, Major General Carl Spaatz suggests that the now "task-less HQ 8th Air Force" be shipped to the U.K. to assume operational control of the units assigned to Army Air Forces in Britain (AAFIB).

 

[syscom3]

1 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: As a result of the immense loss in shipping along the U.S.eastern seaboard, since January 1942, the U.S. authorities institute a partial convoying system, known as the "Bucket Brigade.". This meant that ships will sail in convoy as close to the coast as possible during daylight hours and anchor in protected harbors at night. Due to the shortage of escort vessels, continuous convoying is not possible and the "Bucket Brigade"system did not apply to the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico.

Nineteen merchant ships of Convoy PQ 13 set sail for the Soviet Union. They will lose five ships and one of their escorting light cruisers, HMS 'Trinidad', will be crippled by German torpedoes.

EASTERN FRONT: A stalemate exists along the entire line. The Germans of Heeresgruppe Nord are largely concerned during the month with extricating 11 Corps of the 16.Armee from a pocket southeast of Staraya Russa.

GERMANY: During the night of the 1st/2nd, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 35 Wellingtons and 14 Hampdens to carry out low-level attacks on railway targets. Nine aircraft attack the marshalling yard at Hanau but 12 Wellingtons and a Hampden are lost en route. In other attacks, three aircraft attack the city of Darmstadt and one hits Frankfurt-am-Main. No 57 Squadron based at Feltwell, Norfolk, England, lost five of the 12 Wellingtons dispatched while No. 214 Squadron at Stradishall, Suffok, England, lost seven of 14 Wellingtons.

MEDITERRANEAN: Italian light cruiser 'Giovanni Delle Bande Nere' is sunk near Stromboli Island by British submarine HMS 'Urge'.

NORTH AMERICA: The USAAF's Air Corps Proving Ground is redesignated Proving Ground Command, with its main base at Eglin Field, Valpariso, Florida. The command performs operational tests and studies of aircraft and aircraft equipment.

NORTHERN FRONT: Operation Performance kicks off as ten Norwegian merchant ships in the port of Gothenberg try to flee through the Skagerrak (the body of water between Norway and Denmark) to Britain. Five are sunk before they clear the Skagerrak, one is too badly damaged to continue, two turn back, only two reach Britain.

UNITED KINGDOM: Admiral Sir A.B. Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet, is appointed to serve on the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee in Washington, D.C. relinquishing his command in the Mediterranean.

WESTERN FRONT: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons to attack a "Q-ship" at Boulogne; clouds are encountered and the dock area is bombed instead. A Boston is lost. During the night, two targets are hit:
(1) 34 Wellingtons and 22 Hampdens are dispatched to attack the port area at Le Havre; 46 bomb and successful bombing is claimed. One Wellington is lost.
(2) Twenty four Whitleys and 17 Wellingtons are dispatched to bomb the Ford Motor Co. factory in the Paris suburb of Poissy; 34 aircraft attack and crews claim accurate bombing but this is not confirmed by a later photographic flight. A Wellington is lost. Other missions during the night are
(1) 11 aircraft laying mines off Lorient and in the mouth of the River Gironde and
(2) five aircraft dropping leaflets.

 

[syscom3]

2 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two unarmed U.S. merchant ships are shelled by German submarines off the U.S. East Coast:
(1) 'U-123' attacks a tanker about 55 miles southeast of Morehead City, North Carolina; a motor torpedo (PT) boat arrives forcing the sub to leave the area and the ship is towed to Morehead City;
(2) 'U-552' shells a freighter about 30 miles off the coast of Virginia and 60 miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia; only three of the 25 crew aboard the freighter survive.

MEDITERRANEAN: Luftwaffe General Albert Kesselring's Luftflotte 2 commences massive bombing of Malta, to neutralize the British island. The heavy bombing depletes Malta-based bombers and submarines, enabling more supply convoys to reach Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

NORTH AMERICA: The USAAF changes the designation of Observation Aircraft ("O") being delivered to Liaison Aircraft ("L") resulting in the following changes:
Stinson O-49 Vigilant redesignated L-1;
Taylorcraft O-57 Grasshopper redesignated L-2;
Aeronca O-58 Grasshopper redesignated L-3;
Piper O-59 Cub redesignated L-4;
Stinson O-62 Sentinel redesignated L-5;
and Interstate O-63 redesignated L-6.

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives a letter from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stating that his foreign affairs advisor, Harry Hopkins, and General George S. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, will be traveling to London. Roosevelt also says that;

"They will submit to you a plan which I hope will be received with enthusiasm by Russia."

The plan is for a Second Front in Europe. The plan has been prepared by Major General Dwight D Eisenhower.

The USN's Task Force Thirty Nine (TF 39) comprised of the battleship USS 'Washington' (BB 56), the aircraft carrier USS 'Wasp' (CV-7), heavy cruisers USS 'Tuscaloosa' (CA-45) and Wichita and eight destroyers, arrives at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

WESTERN FRONT: RAF Bomber Command flies three missions during the night of the 2nd/3rd:
(1) 40 Wellingtons and ten Stirlings are dispatched to bomb an armaments factory in the Paris suburb of Poissy; 44 aircraft bomb the target and one Wellington is lost:
(2) 26 of 49 aircraft dispatched bomb the port area at Le Havre without loss; and
(3) 23 Hampdens and seven Wellingtons lay mines in Quiberon Bay with the loss on a Hampden and a Wellington.

 

[syscom3]

3 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two U.S. merchant ships are sunk by German submarines:
(1) a freighter, en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., from Takoradi, Gold Coast, is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-754' about 250 miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.A.; and
(2) a freighter en route to Takoradi, Gold Coast, from Marshall, Liberia, is torpedoed by 'U-505' about 240 miles south southwest of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and abandoned.

 

[syscom3]

4 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two U.S. tankers are sunk by German submarines:
(1) 'U-154' torpedoes and sinks the first about 140 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico and
(2) 'U-552' torpedoes and sinks the second about 21 miles east of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.A.; the ship's cargo of 91,500 barrels of crude oil catches fire.

NORTH AMERICA: The U.S. grants recognition to Free French administration in Equatorial Africa and appoints a Consul General to Brazzaville.

SOUTH AFRICA: Americans are granted permission to use the airfield at Point Noire, Congo in exchange for eight Lockheed Hudson bombers.

WESTERN FRONT: During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Bostons and four Wellingtons, escorted by RAF Fighter Command fighters, to attack the St. Omer railroad yards; 12 aircraft attack but their bombs fall in fields near the town.

 

[syscom3]

5 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-154' sinks a U.S. tanker en route from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, to Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A. about 37 miles off the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic.

EASTERN FRONT: Fuhrer Directive 41 is issued and the Wehrmacht has its marching orders for 1942. Leningrad is to finally be captured and contact is to be made with the Finns east of Lake Ladoga, but that is a secondary objective. The big plan is in the South, which involves 2.Armee and 4.Panzerarmee breaking through to Voronezh on the Don River. 6.Armee will break out south of Kharkov and combine with the 4.Panzerarmee to surround the enemy. After that, the 4.Panzerarmee and 6.Armee will drive east under the command of Heeresgruppe B and surround Stalingrad from the North, while Heeresgruppe A's 17.Armee and 1.Panzerarmee will do so from the South. Once Stalingrad is taken, the 6.Armee will hold the flank defense line while Heeresgruppe A drives South into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields and become the northern punch of a grand pincer movement (the southern half being Rommel) to seize Suez, the Nile Delta, the Middle-East and its oilfields. http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/41.html

GERMANY: During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 263 aircraft, 179 Wellingtons, 44 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings and 11 Manchesters, to bomb the Humboldt works in Cologne; 219 bomb the target claiming good results with the use of GEE but the nearest bombing photographs developed were 5 miles from the Humboldt works. The Cologne report lists just one industrial building hit, a mill in the Deutz area, with 90 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and other buildings, including a hospital, hit. Seven people were killed and nine injured in the bombing. There were further casualties among a crowd who were watching a burning bomber which had crashed in the middle of Cologne; the bomb load exploded killing 16 people and injuring 30more. The bomber's crew had been killed in the original crash. Two of the aircraft dispatched bombed Bonn and another bombed Koblenz.

NORTH AMERICA: The port of Port Rupert, British Columbia, is opened to the U.S. for shipment of supplies to the Territory of Alaska, thus avoiding a logistics jam at Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

NORTHERN FRONT: In Oslo, Norway, 654 of the 699 Lutheran ministers resign their civil service positions in protest of the German occupation of their country.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 20 Whitleys to bomb the Gnome Rhone aircraft engine factory in the Paris suburb of Gennevilliers; 14 aircraft bomb but the main target is not hit. Local records show one house destroyed and four damaged, with no casualties. In a second mission, 14 aircraft bomb the port area at Le Havre.

During the night of the 5th/6th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches six Blenheim intruders to attack airfields; individual aircraft hit De Kooy, Leeuwarden, Schipol and Soesterberg Airfields.

 

[syscom3]

6 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine 'U-160' torpedoes an unarmed U.S. bound from Corpus Christi, Texas, to New York City, about 75 miles SE of Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.A. The ship manages to reach Hampton Roads, Virginia.

EASTERN FRONT: The Luftwaffe Transport units at the Demyansk and Kholm pockets flew 360 sorties to and from the Demyansk airfields escorted by elements of JG 51 and JG 53.

GERMANY: During the night of the 6th/7th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 157 aircraft, 110 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings, 18 Hampdens and ten Manchesters, to bomb Essen The crews encountered severe storms and icing and there is complete cloud cover over Essen. Only 50 aircraft claimed to have reached the target area and Essen reports only a few bombs, with light damage; no casualties are recorded. Five aircraft, two Hampdens, a Manchester, a Stirling and a Wellington are lost. Individual aircraft attack Aachen, Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Gladbeck and Koblenz.

MEDITERRANEAN: The British destroyer HMS 'Havock' is wrecked on the coast of Tunisia.

NORTH AFRICA: Axis bombers attack the port of Alexandria.

UNITED KINGDOM: The First Canadian Army formed in the U.K. under the command of Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 6th/7th, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft attacks the port area at Ostend.

During the night of the 6th/7th, one RAF Bomber Command bomber attacks Schipol Airfield.

 

[syscom3]

7 April 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet Army troops force a very narrow corridor to Leningrad, opening a tenuous rail link to the city. Trains run into the city with desperately needed supplies and came out with civilians and the wounded, all under heavy artillery fire from the Germans.

GERMANY: Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, an Evangelist minister in Luebeck, is arrested along with three Catholic priests for criticizing Nazi rule. Stellbrink was executed on 10 November 1943 in Hamburg.

NORTH AMERICA: The War Department officially states that the 8th Air Force will be established in the UK as an intermediate command between US Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI) and the AAF commands. General George C Marshall notifies Major General James E Chaney, Commanding General of USAFBI, of this decision.

NORTHERN FRONT: The Soviet Navy lists submarine 'M-176' Northern Fleet Varangerfjord lost off Norwegian coast, former M-93.

 

[syscom3]

8 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Three unarmed U.S. merchant tankers are torpedoed by German submarines off the East Coast of the U.S.:
(1) 'U-160' attacks a ship bound from Corpus Christi, Texas, to New York City, about 65 miles southeast of Beaufort, South Carolina, but she manages to reach Hampton Roads, Virginia, under her own power. One man of her 33-man crew is lost in the attack.
(2) 'U-123' sinks the second ship, which is en route from Port Arthur, Texas, to Providence, Rhode Island, about 53 miles east of Brunswick, Georgia.
(3) 'U-123' then proceeds to sink the third ship about 85 miles east of Brunswick, Georgia.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Navy lists submarine Shch-421 Northern Fleet off Nordkapp Cape (sunk by K-22 after mine damage, former Shch-325).

GERMANY: During the night of the 8th/9th, 272 RAF Bomber Command bombers (177 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 22 Stirlings, 13 Manchesters, 12 Halifaxes and seven Lancasters) are dispatched to bomb the Blohm and Voss submarine shipyards at Hamburg. Icing and electrical storms are encountered and only 175 bombers hit the targets with the loss of four Wellingtons and a Manchester. Overall, the raid is a failure; 17 people are killed and 119 injured. Other targets bombed are: three bomb Heligoland, two bomb Emden and individual aircraft attack Cruxhaven, Norden and Bremen. Bremen reports a load of incendiaries dropped very accurately on the Vulkan shipyard where four U-boats and several surrounding buildings are damaged by fire

MEDITTERRANEAN: German and Italian a/c bomb Malta in what will be the heaviest raid of the war against this beleaguered outpost in the Mediterranean.

The cruiser, HMS "Penelope" made a dash from Malta to Gibraltar. She was chased and attacked by Axis aircraft most of the way. Although heavily attacked including an attack near Sardina, she made Gibraltar on the 10th.

NORTH AMERICA: The USAAF's V Air Support Command, which was activated on 1 September 1941 to support the Armored Force, is redesignated 9th Air Force with headquarters at New Orleans AAB, Louisiana.

The War Production Board accelerated the transformation of the nation's economy by ordering a halt to all production that was not deemed necessary to the war. The War Production Board's mandate quickly took hold; at the peak of the war, the military utilized nearly half of the nation's production and services. Far from causing fiscal woe, World War II proved to be a great boon to the economy: unemployment, which had climbed up to 14 percent in 1940, all but evaporated, while the gross national product doubled by the close of the war.

UNITED KINGDOM: Harry L Hopkins, Special Assistant to President Franklin D Roosevelt, and General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, arrive in London, England, for talks with British service and supply chiefs concerning the integration of U.S. and British manpower and war production for action in Europe. General Marshall urges an offensive in the west to relieve pressure upon the U.S.S.R. and promises a constant flow of U.S. troops, including many air units, to the U.K.

WESTERN FRONT: During the night of the 8th/9th, seven of 13 RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons dispatched bomb the port area at Le Havre and one bombs the port area at Cherbourg.

Three RAF Bomber Command Blenheims attack Eindhaven, Haamstede, Leeuwarden and Schipol Airfields during the night of the 8th/9th.

Four RAF Bomber Command Bostons fly a sweep off the Dutch coast during the day without loss. A ship is bombed but not hit.

 

[syscom3]

9 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine 'U-123' sinks unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Esparta', en route from Honduras to New York, about 14 miles south of Brunswick, Georgia. Two ships are sunk off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina: 'U-160' sinks the unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Malchace' about 50 miles off the coast while 'U-552' sinks unarmed U.S. tanker SS 'Atlas'. Later the same day, 'U-552' torpedoes the tanker SS 'Tamaulipas'; the tanker, gutted by fires, sinks the following morning. Motor torpedo boat PT-59, on a practice run in upper Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, accidentally torpedoes cargo ship USS 'Capella' (AK-13); tugs are on the scene immediately and anchor the damaged auxiliary in shoal water.

NORTH AMERICA: The 8th Air Force HQ echelon is relocated to Bolling Field, Washington, DC, to prepare the 8th for a move overseas.

 

[Njaco]

10 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The US tanker SS 'Gulfamerica' is sunk by the German submarine 'U-123'. The tanker had been silhouetted by the lights of Jacksonville, Florida making her an easy target. Seventeen of the 41-man crew die along with two of the seven-man Armed Guard detachment. (syscom3)

EASTERN FRONT: Hptm. Karl-Gottfiried Nordmann was made a Major and appointed Geschwaderkommodre of JG 51.

GERMANY: Hptm. Wilhelm 'Wutz' Galland finally reached "ace" status when he shot down his fifth victim, a Spitfire Mk V of RAF No. 340 Sqdn over Etaples.

Essen was bombed again at night. RAF crews were given a forcast of clear skies over Essen but instead found the target covered in cloud. The bombing force of 167 Wellingtons, 43 Hampdens, 18 Stirlings, 10 Manchesters, 8 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters became scattered and suffered from the Ruhr flak defenses and nightfighters. Bomber Command's first 8,000 lb bomb was dropped during this raid by a Halifax from RAF No. 76 Sqdn. Fourteen aircraft were lost, four being claimed by nightfighters. Credit for kills were given to Oblt. Helmut Lent of II./NJG 2, Hptm. Werner Streib of Stab I./NJG 1 who shot down two Wellingtons within eight minutes and Oblt. Reinhold Knacke of 2./NJG 1.

MEDITERRANEAN: Lt. Herman Neuhoff of III./JG 53 was shot down in error by his wingman, Lt. Schow who mistook him for a Hurricane. He bailed out safely, was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

Walther Dahl was appointed Staffelkapitaen of Ergänzungsgruppe./JG 3.

 

[syscom3]

11 April 1942

EASTERN FRONT: Russian landing begin at Eupatoriya, Crimea. The Russians attack the Finnish positions in Aunus (Olonets) north of Lake Ladoga. The offensive is aimed at the dividing line between the Finnish 11th and 17th divisions (which is also the border of the V and VI Corps), and hits a stretch of thinly manned wilderness. After some initial difficulties, the Finnish troops are able to encircle the attacking Russian spearheads, and the last Russian pockets surrender on the 20th April. After the battle, Finns count some 10 000 Russian dead on the battlefield, the Finnish losses are 440 men. (The casualty figures are Finnish and should be used with caution.)

 

[syscom3]

12 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarines sink 4 merchant vessels:
- Armed U.S. freighter SS 'Delvalle', en route from New Orleans, Louisiana to Buenos Aires, Argentina, via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-154' south of Haiti.
- Armed Panamanian motor tanker MT 'Stanvac Melbourne' is torpedoed by 'U-203' about 15 miles (24 km) off Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina.
- Unarmed U.S. tanker SS 'Esso Boston', en route from Venezuela to Nova Scotia, is torpedoed and shelled by 'U-130' northeast of Puerto Rico.
- Unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Leslie' is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-123' approximately 3 miles SE of Hetzel Shoals Gas Buoy, Florida.

GERMANY: Another RAF raid on Essen during the night. 251 aircraft took part in the raid - 171 Wellingtons, 31 Hampdens, 27 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes and 9 Manchesters. Five HP and 200 IBs hit the Krupps factory and a large fire was started. 28 private dwellings were destroyed and 50 seriously damaged. 27 people were killed, 36 injured and 9 missing. Ten aircraft - 7 Wellingtons, 2 Hampdens and one Halifax - were lost with 5 of this number shot down by nightfighters. Confirmed kills were awarded to Lt. Herman Mueller and Oblt. Horst Patuschka of Erg./NJG 2, Oblt. Helmut Lent of II./NJG 2, Oblt. Hans-Dieter Frank of 2./NJG 1 and Oblt. Helmut Woltersdorf of 7./NJG 1. This raid concluded a disappointing series of RAF raids on Essen, which was judged to be the heart of the German armaments industry. Essen's records show that industrial damage was caused on only two ocassions - a fire in the Krupps factory and a few bombs on some nearby rail lines -, that sixty-three civilians were killed and that a modest amount of residential property had been hit. There had been eight heavy raids since the first Gee raid on 8/9 March.

NORTH AMERICA: Lieutenant General Henry H "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, sends air plans for Operation BOLERO, the buildup of US armed forces in the UK for an attack on Europe, to General George C Marshall, Chief of Staff US Army, in London. The plan calls for establishment of the 8th Air Force in the UK.

 

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13 April 1942

GERMANY: The German radio announces the finding of mass graves in Katyn, Poland, filled with the bodies of thousands of Polish officers.

NORTH AMERICA: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates that the minimum program time required of TV stations is cut from 15 hours to four hours a week for the duration of the war.

UNITED KINGDOM: Rear Admiral Lord Mountbatten is appointed Chief of Combined Operations and functions as a member of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. This appointment announced today was effective March 18.

The Luftwaffe conducted a raid on Hull at 00:05 hours and three HBs fell in the Willerby Road, Woodlands Road Springhead Ave. area. Residential damage was reported. Casualties were four killed and five seriously injured.

 

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14 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: USS 'Roper' sinks 'U-85', scoring the first submarine sunk by an American ship. Amplifying the above: 'U-85' was the first U-boat to be sunk off the North American coast after the start of the Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat) on January 13, 1942. On the day that she was sunk, 'U-85' stayed on the surface through the engagement. After repeated hits on the boat, fatally damaging her, the order to abandon ship was given and maybe half of the crew got into the water and then 'U-85' started to sink again fast. USS 'Roper' then dropped 11 depth charges onto the already sinking U-boat and its 2 dozen survivors and in the process killed everyone in the water.

German submarine 'U-203' torpedoes and sinks the British freighter SS 'Empire Thrush' approximately 8 miles north of Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The antisubmarine vessel ("Q-ship") USS 'Asterion' (AK-100), masquerading as the freighter SS Evelyn (her original mercantile name), picks up entire crew (and the captain's dog). The rescued sailors are enjoined not to reveal the fact that they were rescued by a "Q-ship" and to keep secret Asterion's true identity.

The unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Margaret' is sunk by German submarine 'U-571' off the eastern seaboard while bound for New York City from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Although the Germans see the crew lower a boat and put rafts over the side, none of the 29 sailors from Margaret's complement are ever seen again.

EASTERN FRONT: Stalin opens a war loan subscription to raise 10,000 million rubles.

GERMANY: Following a successful RAF attack on Lubeck on the night of 28 March, German public opinion demanded heavy reprisal attacks against British cities. Although few aircraft could be spared from the Russian Front, a small formation was assembled for which the He-111s of Erg. U. Lehr Kdo 100 were to act as pathfinders. The main bomber force, comprising some 80 aircraft were drawn from II and III./KG 2 and II./KG 40 equipped with Do-217s as well as KuFlGr 106, an anti-shipping unit equipped with Ju-88s while I./KG 2 with around 25 Do-217s joined the battle a little later. The attacks were planned to start during the moonlight period at the end of April, and copying the tactics so successfully employed by the RAF against German towns, were to be concentrated and of a short duration in order to minimize British defensive action. The Luftwaffe Operations Staff issued the following order:

"The Fuehrer has ordered that air warfare against England is to be given a more aggressive stamp. Accordingly when targets are being selected, preference is to be given to those where attacks are likely to have the greatest possible effect on civilian life. Besides raids on ports and industry, terror attacks of a retaliatory nature are to be carried out against towns other than London. Minelaying is to be scaled down in favor of these attacks."

The new bombing operation was called the "Baedecker Raids", named after a German Publishing company that printed tourist guidebooks. Hitler announced that the Luftwaffe would destroy every building in Britain to which the guidebooks had awarded three stars of its places of interest.

MEDITERRANEAN: Ultra Intercepts had placed three Axis convoys at sea enroute from Italian ports to Tripoli. The largest convoy, consisting of the German motor vessel 'Reichenfels' (7,744 g.r.t.), and three Italian motor vessels: 'Vettor Pisani' (6,339 g.r.t.), 'Ravello' (6,142 g.r.t.), and 'Reginaldo Giuliani' (6,837 g.r.t.). The Italian Navy had provided a strong escort: five destroyers and two torpedo boats including 'Pegaso'. The recent blitz of Malta having greatly reduced the islands strike capability, the convoy was bolding steaming on a direct course, passing within 100 miles of the island. The Coastal Command's Mediterranean command, 201 Group, had been building up a small force of Beauforts for 39 Squadron. Combining with elements of 22 Squadron, on a delayed passage to Ceylon, a striking force of 10 serviceable Beauforts (three from 22 Squadron, seven from 39 Squadron) as well as four Beaufighters of 272 Squadron is forwarded to the airfield at Bu Amud. As the aircraft do not have the range to strike the convoy and return to their North African base, the plan calls for them to fly on to Malta after the attack, and hope that they can fight their a through to the islands airfields through the ever present patrols of German fighters. Though the convoy is contacted by two Maryland reconnaissance aircraft of 203 Squadron, also operating from Bu Amud, one of 22 Squadron's ASV Beauforts is dispatched 0730 as a contact plane. The main striking force of nine Beauforts and four Beaufighters follows. One Beaufort had to abort early on. The ASV-equipped contact plane found the convoy, transmitted its position, and then headed for Malta. Caught by Bf-109s during the approach to the island, the pilot (FS S. E. Howroyd) was killed, and Beaufort AW-282 crashed short of the runway. While the other three members of the crew survived the crash, the navigator, subsequently died of his wounds in hospital. Unfortunately, Howroyd's position report was never received by the strike leader, FL J. M. Lander DFC (22 Squadron). Flying at sea level, the striking force passed the convoys line of advance without sighting it. Turning Southwest to search for the elusive foe, the escorting Beaufighters of 272 Squadron, led by SL W. Riley, flying about 500 feet higher than their charges, spotted several German Me-110s and Ju-88s providing distant air cover for the convoy. The series of combats bled away their precious combat fuel, and they were forced to turn for Malta. Lander knew the mission was in trouble. The departure of his escort left the Beauforts terribly alone. Several minutes later, when the target was finally sighted, the Beaufort crews were horrified to discover that, besides the strong naval escort, there were some 25 Bf-109s, Bf-110s, and Ju-88s overhead. What followed was reminiscent of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Stripped of their escort, there was little the three sub-flights could do but fling themselves at the convoy and then flee for home. Five of the Beauforts managed to get off good drops, unfortunately without any result (though three hits were claimed). Then began one of the longest air battles of the entire campaign, as the badly outnumbered eight struggled to fight through the 70 miles to safety. Five aircraft, N1100 (PO G. Belfield) of 22 Squadron, N1169 (FL R. G. W. Beveridge), N1186 (FO R. B. Seddon), N1166 (PO B. W. Way), and X8923 (FO D. A. R. Bee), all of 39 Squadron, did not make it, the latter actually lost over the island itself. Of the 20 aircrew, only five (Belfield's crew and FO McGregor of Seddon's crew) were rescued. Of the three that reached Malta, Lander's X8924, whose wing tip had actually hit the sea at one point, would not fly again while N1102 (FO S. W. Gooch) would be under repair for some time. Amazingly, other than sweat from the crew, FL A. T. Leaning's W6505 came through the entire ordeal without so much as a scratch! While the courage and devotion to duty displayed by the Beauforts crews could not have been higher, the aftermath of the mission was to have severe consequences on the campaign against Rommel's supply lines. The combined squadron had operationally, for all intents, been wiped out. Besides the seventeen highly trained aircew lost, only one operational Beaufort remained to return to Egypt. It had taken three months to accumulate 10 operational aircraft prior to this mission. It would take another two to replace them. Until June, the Beaufort Squadron had shot its bolt. There was, however, one other unforseen consequence of the mission. With the loss of Beveridge, 39 Squadron had lost one of the Flight Leaders. The needed replacement had been lingering at Group for several months - one FL Reginald Patrick Mahoney 'Pat' Gibbs, DFC - a man who in the coming months would stamp a huge mark on the course of the war in the Mediterranean.

While flying near the airfield at Luqa, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, Hptm. Karl-Heinz Krahl was shot down by the airfield's flak guns. He had 24 victories in the air. Major Kurt Brandle was made Gruppenkommandeur in his place.

UNITED KINGDOM: Operation Bolero is provisionally accepted by the British as a basis for the American buildup in Britain.

Purchase tax is to be doubled to 66% on nearly all non-essential goods. Beer is up 2d a pint. A bottle of whisky will cost 22/6 instead of 17/10, and cigarettes go up from 1/6 to 2/- for a pack of 20. These hefty increases in indirect taxation were announced in today's "sacrifices for victory" budget, which keeps the standard rate of income tax at 10/- in the pound (50%). The government denied that tobacco supplies to shops are to be cut.

WESTERN FRONT: Laval forms a new government in Vichy, with Marshal Petain as Head of State.

 

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15 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine' U-575' torpedoes and sinks the unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Robin Hood', en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Trinidad, British West Indies, about 300 miles off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

EASTERN FRONT: Sobibor, the new camp set deep in the woods near the river Bug, on a former railway siding, is ready to receive its first transports of Polish Jews and Gypsies. Like Chelmo and Belzec, it is a death camp: there will be no forced labour here, just immediate extermination in the gas chamber. SS Staff Sergeant Paul Grot is one of the staff waiting to greet the first arrival. He is especially proud of his enormous dog Barry, trained to rip off the testicles of his master's chosen victim on the command Jude! [Jew]

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Lord Louis Mountbatten's dazzling progress through the military hierarchy continues apace. Less than six months after being appointed chief of the tri-service Combined Operations, he has been made a vice- admiral of the Royal Navy, a lieutenant-general in the army, an air- marshal of the RAF and a full member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

At yesterday's meeting in London of the Anglo-American Combined Commanders' Group. it was decided that no major Allied assault on the Nazis in western Europe could be launched this year. The decision puts the onus on Mountbatten at Combined Operations to keep the Germans guessing by delivering a succession of hit-and-run raids. One report, unconfirmed, says that he is planning an assault in strength on one of the French Channel ports. Such an operation, it is said, would provide invaluable experience for a full-scale invasion.

There are to be no more frills and fripperies in Britain as from 1 June. A new order issued by the board of trade bans embroidery, applique work and lace on women's and girl's underwear and also introduces stringent rule designed to minimize the work and material put into clothing. Skirts are to have no more than three buttons, six seams, one pocket and two box pleats or four knife pleats. Double-breasted suits are out, and men will also lose pockets on pyjamas.

King George VI writes to the governor of Malta awarding the island the GC "to honour her brave people" and "to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous."

A few German aircraft were engaged in laying mines at the approaches to Tynemouth. Between 22.15 and 01.20 hours some of these machines flew inland and dropped bombs at points in Berwickshire, Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding. At 00.45 hours, four bombs fell in the grounds of residential property in Westoe. The last one fell on the lawn 10 yards from 'Chapel house'. No casualties were reported but considerable damage was done to a large number of homes, including 40 roofs of houses in Horsley Hill road.

One person was killed and two injured when two HBs fell in Hart lane, West Hartlepool where one house was demolished and the A179 was blocked by a crater. Two HBs were dropped near Ship Inn, High Hesledon, one of which failed to explode. There was slight damage to property. The most serious of the night's raids was a Middleborough, Yorkshire. HBs and IBs fell and 26 people were killed and 52 seriously injured. Five babies were among the dead and in one instance the mother as well. 39 houses were made unihabitable and some 1700 suffered less damage. Public utilities wre affected.

 

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16 April 1942

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The unarmed U.S. freighter SS 'Alcoa Guide' is shelled by German submarine 'U-123' (which expended her last torpedo on 12 April) east of North Carolina; 'Alcoa Guide' tries to ram the U-boat without success. 'U-123' pauses to allow the crew to abandon ship and then sinks the freighter with gunfire once the merchant sailors (two of whom die of wounds suffered in action) have gotten away safely.

GERMANY: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the veteran of the invasion of France and the USSR is appointed C-in-C of the Atlantic Wall defences.

MEDITTERANEAN: King George VI awards Malta the George Cross for collective heroism isn the face of the Axis air attacks. Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, read:

"To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history."

Since Hitler ordered that the island be "neutralized" in preparation for invasion four months ago, it has suffered 1,000 air- raids – an average of seven a day. The Maltese people have gone underground, burrowing deep into the soft limestone to build shelters, communications centres and first aid centres, racing for cover when the alert sounds and emerging into the sunlight to carry on a near normal life - given that many Maltese are on desperately short rations - when they hear the "all clear". The capital, Valetta, is devastated beyond recognition; the Grand Harbour, once the home of the British Mediterranean Fleet, is under such constant bombardment that submarines are forced to remain submerged during daylight. The submarines are an essential part of the island's lifeline. They bring fuel for the few Spitfires and Hurricanes available to defend Malta from airfields which are bombed daily, with ground crews working round the clock to service the aircraft, often "cannibalizing" wrecked planes for spares. HMS 'WELSHMAN', one of the fastest ships in the navy, makes regular dashes from Gibraltar, bringing in food and ammunition to help the island resist a bombardment which - the Germans say - has become the "most accurate in the world."

WESTERN FRONT: Under German pressure, Marshal Petain appoints Pierre Laval head of government and himself becomes a ceremonial head of state. Admiral William D. Leahy, USN (Retired), Ambassador to France, receives a cable from Washington with information that his recall "for consultation" will be announced shortly after the formation of a new Vichy government.

School students in France stage a demonstration after their history teacher is arrested.