Year 1941

Diary for Saturday, May 24, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: HMS Hood sunk by battleship Bismarck in Denmark Strait, East of Greenland – only three survivors out of 1,419. Prince of […]

Diary for Friday, May 23, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean: Destroyers Kashmir and Kelly (Lord Louis Mountbatten) sunk by Ju 87 Stukas off Crete. Me 109E fighter-bombers destroy 5 British MTBs

Diary for Thursday, May 22, 1941: Air War Airborne invasion of Crete: Ju 52s land reinforcements at Maleme. Air War: Kesselring, Commander of Luftflotte 2, moves into his new HQ

Diary for Wednesday, May 21, 1941: Air War Airborne invasion of Crete: German airborne troops storm ‘Hill 107’, overlooking Maleme airfield (Crete). 80 Junkers Ju 52 crash-land on shell-swept airfield,

Diary for Tuesday, May 20, 1941: Air War GERMAN AIRBORNE INVASION OF CRETE (Operation Merkur = ‘Mercury’): 490 Ju 52 transports take off from primitive strips near Athens, towing 100

Diary for Monday, May 19, 1941: Neutrals USA: Mayor La Guardia appointed head of Office of Civilian Defense.

Diary for Sunday, May 18, 1941: Sea War Operation Rheinübung (‘Rhine Crossing’): Battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Gdynia (Baltic) to attack Atlantic convoys. Occupied countries Yugoslavia –

Diary for Saturday, May 17, 1941: Politics Russia concludes agreement with Raschid Ali regime in Iraq.

Diary for Friday, May 16, 1941: North Africa Rommel receives orders from Berlin to concentrate Afrika Korps against British at Sollum, leaving Italians to guard Tobruk siege ring. Air War

Diary for Thursday, May 15, 1941: North Africa First British Offensive against Afrika Korps (Operation Brevity): Halfaya Pass and Sollum recaptured. Air War British Government authorizes counter-measures against German aircraft

Diary for Wednesday, May 14, 1941: Air War Luftwaffe switches attacks from British shipping off Crete to airfields on the island.

Diary for Tuesday, May 13, 1941: Air War RAF receive confirmation that German aircraft are operating over Iraq. Home Fronts Germany: Martin Bormann appointed Nazi Party Chancellor as successor of

Diary for Monday, May 12, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean – Operation Tiger: 240 British tanks delivered to Alexandria. Home Fronts Britain: Charles, Earl of Suffolk and Berks., a volunteer bomb-disposal

Diary for Sunday, May 11, 1941: Balkans Germans complete occupation of Aegean Islands.

Diary for Wednesday, May 10, 1941: Politics HESS FLIES TO BRITAIN: Rudolf Hess, the Deputy Führer of Germany, makes unauthorized solo flight in Me 110 fighter from Augsburg (South Germany)

Diary for Friday, May 9, 1941: Sea War Atlantic: German U-boat U-110, commanded by the ‘ace’ Lt.-Cdr. Lemp, depth-charged by British corvette Aubretia. Crew abandons ship and destroyer HMS Bulldog

Diary for Thursday, May 8, 1941: Air War RAF night raids on Germany by 359 aircraft: main targets, Hamburg and Bremen. British radio counter-measures and decoy fires (code-named ‘Starfish’) foil

Diary for Wednesday, May 7, 1941: North Africa Exchanges of artillery fire along Tobruk front. Air War Britain – First of two consecutive night raids on Hull: 40,000 homeless, food

Diary for Tuesday, May 6, 1941: Middle East British raise Iraqi siege of Habbaniyah.

Diary for Monday, May 5, 1941: Sea War Mediterranean – ‘Tobruk Ferry‘: first of many night supply missions by British and Australian destroyers from Alexandria. East Africa Emperor Haile Selassie