April

1940 Inter-Allied Supreme War Council meets in Paris; Poland and Norway represented. 1942 Fuhrer Directive 41 rolls off the mimeograph machines in Rastenberg and the Wehrmacht has its marching orders for 1942. Leningrad is to finally be captured, but that’s a secondary objective. The big plan is in the South, which involves 2nd Army and

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