April

1940 British and German troops engage in heavy fighting at Lillehammer, Norway. First US military casualty of WWII—Army Air Force observer Capt. Robert Losey killed by German bombing at Dombås, Norway. 1941 The Greek Army surrenders to the 1st SS Leibstandarte Division. Its commander, Sepp Dietrich accepts this, without referring to his superiors. All Greek […]

1889 Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator of Germany who led his country into World War II and was responsible for persecuting millions of Jews, was born. 1940 Danish Army demobilized. 1941 British forces in Greece retreat from Mt. Olympus. King George II heads new Greek government. Greek forces in Albania surrender. Luftwaffe launches raid on

1940 ‘State of Siege’ is extended to the whole of Netherlands. The first clash between British and German troops in Norway, at Verdal north of Trondheim 1941 Luftwaffe sends 712 bombers to London, 449 killed, including 34 firemen, the largest single loss of firefighters in British history. British women ages 20-30 are conscripted for war

1940 British submarine Starlet sunk off Norway. Germans advance further north of Oslo. More British troops are landed at Aandalesnes in Norway with the plan of co-operating with the British and French troops already at Namsos to surround and then retake Trondheim. However, the Norwegian commander, General Ruge persuaded the Aandalesnes force, to move south

1940 Royal Navy Heavy cruiser “Suffolk” bombards installations at Stavanger, but on her return is badly damaged by Ju-88 bombers and barely makes Scapa Flow with her stern awash. Admiral Karl Dönitz withdraws U-boats from Norwegian waters to study torpedo failures. 1941 Yugoslavia surrenders, with the Wehrmacht taking 334,000 prisoners. King Peter of Yugoslavia is

1940 British and French troops make landings at Namsos. British troops are landed in the Faeroe Islands. 1941 London suffers through the heaviest blitz of the war. Parliament buildings and St. Paul’s Cathedral suffer damage, and more than 2,250 fires are touched off by incendiary bombs. First US Lend-Lease food arrives in Britain. British destroyers

1940 British unemployment falls to 973,000, lowest figure since 1920. British troops land at Harstad in the Lofoten Islands, opposite Narvik. Quisling government resigns in Oslo and a ‘Administrative Council’ takes control. Germans appoint a council to run the Norwegian government. Off Narvik, British destroyers Brazen and Fearless sink U-49; documents about the Enigma machine float to the surface and

1940 The German Minesweeper M6 sinks Royal Navy submarine Tarpon. British and French troops land at Namsos near Narvik to assist Norwegians against German invasion. 1941 Germans break through the new Greek frontline. The Greek Army of Epirus withdraws from Albania. Yugoslavian government escape to Athens. Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, California lay keel for its

1940 A fierce engagement between German and British naval forces in the second battle of Narvik at Jassing Fjord, which results in the sinking  of 8 German destroyers and a U-Boat whose surviving crews join Gebirgsjager units defending isolated Narvik. 1941 British Naval forces, this time supported by the Battleship HMS Warspite, again engage the