April

1940 War Cabinet reshuffle, Churchill to chair committee directing general war policy. Soviets begin massacre of 20,000 Polish officers in Katyn Forest. The United States Congress cuts military spending 10 percent and refuses to fund heavy bombers as “aggressive weapons.” 1941 Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki commits suicide rather than collaborate with Germany. In Iraq, […]

1940 Hitler gives orders that the invasion of Denmark and Norway is to begin on the 9th April 1940. Germans again attack Scapa Flow and North Sea convoys. 1941 The 5th Light Division recaptures Agedabia from the British and fans out into three columns, two of which race across the desert in an attempt to

1940 The United States 1940 Census taken: population 131,669,000, a 7.2% increase since 1930. The British Minister of Food announces Dig for Victory campaign to encourage growing food at home. 1941 General Platt and his ‘Northern Force’ capture Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. A pro-axis coup, led by Raschid Ali seizes power in Iraq. The

1940 Germans announce they have established communication between Trondheim and Oslo. RAF attack Oslo airfield. The Lodz Ghetto in occupied Poland is sealed off from the outside world with 230,000 Jews locked inside. 1941 British air raid casualty figures in April: 6,065 killed, 6,926 injured. Bristol, Coventry, Birmingham, Belfast, London and Portsmouth all badly hit.

1940 King Haakon VII and his government are evacuated from Molde and taken to Tromso in northern Norway, from where they can continue the fight. 1941 British intelligence ‘Ultra’, intercept numerous messages giving a positive indication that the Germans plan to attack Crete. Another Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division lands at Basra, ignoring

1940 Himmler signs the order that initiates construction of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. 1941 German troops cross the Egyptian border and capture the Halfaya Pass, forcing the British to pull back to defensive a line running from Buq Buq on the coast to Sofafi, some 50km in to the desert. The British also begin

1940 The British stun the French and Norwegians by deciding to evacuate southern Norway. 1941 The Italian fortress of Dessie, south of Amba Alagi is captured by South African forces. 1942 The RAF again attacks Rostok, this time with 128 aircraft. The Luftwaffe again raid Bath. Cunningham is forced to order the withdrawal of the

1940 Allied forces withdraw from Lillehammer in central Norway. New evacuation scheme introduced in Britain as a Ministry of Health survey shows that only 8% of eligible children have been registered; 19% of parents refused to do so; 73% did not bother to reply. 1941 Roosevelt announces an indefinite extension of US Atlantic patrols. German

1940 Commons approves trade agreement with Spain, first since Spanish Civil War. French reinforcements arrive at Aandalesnes. British troops forced to withdraw north of Trondheim after sharp fighting. Norwegian troops attack the Germans south of Narvik, but are beaten back. Germans appoint Josef Terboven as Reich Commissar of Norway. 1941 German forces in Greece break

1940 Budget Day raises taxes on beer by 1d, whiskey up 1/9d (9p) and postage up 1d. Estimates of the 1940 war expenditure as £2,000 million criticized by MPs for being too low. 1941 King George II of Greece and his government are flown to Crete by the RAF. The German build up for Operation