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April 15th, 1939 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Hampden Park, Glasgow: England beat Scotland 2-1, before  a crowd of 149,269 in the British Championship. Jimmy Dougall, the Scottish captain opens the scoring but Albert Lawton and Tommy Lawton score for England. The weather was so bad that both teams changed their shirts at half-time, with England coming out in the shirts of Queen's Park. (The Scottish League team who normally play at Hampden)

 

U.S.A.: President Roosevelt makes an appeal to the world and to the leaders of Germany and Poland with a view to preventing further complications in Europe. More..

Peru accepts seven single-seat NA-50 fighters. This aircraft is the export fighter variant of the USAAC BC-1 (Harvard) trainer. The first three aircraft will be flown to Peru by Peruvian pilots.

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15 April 1940

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April 15th, 1940 (MONDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Bombing - Stavanger Airfield. 102 Sqn. Six aircraft attacked successfully.

2 Group. 110 Sqn( Blenheim ). Two aircraft to Heligoland. Reconnaissance. One aircraft attacked a patrol ship encountering heavy fire and was shot down.

On return 110 Sqn. is ordered north to Lossiemouth in Scotland to join 107 Sqn for attacks on Norway.

RAF Coastal Command: No. 22 Squadron's Bristol Beauforts make their first mine-laying sortie in the mouth of the River Jade.

A single Hudson on patrol off the Norwegian coast is attacked by two Bf110s one of which crashes into a mountain while trying to attack the Hudson. Another Hudson FTR from the same area.

Bletchley Park: British Intelligence deciphers the German Enigma code used in Norway.

 

NORWAY: The Main Body of the British 24th Guards Brigade arrives at Harstad, Norway.

Oslo: The Germans remove Quisling from the government, replacing him with the puppet Ingolf Christensen.

As the Harstad troopships approach the port, escorting destroyers HMS Brazen and HMS Fearless find U-49 and sink her. RAF Bomber Command lays its first mines off the German and Danish coasts.

During an attack on the Vigra radio station mid-way between Bergen and Trondheim a Junkers Ju 87R rams one of the aerials, putting the transmitter out of action.

As the allied landings begin, the commitment of the Luftwaffe to the Norwegian campaign is increased leading to the establishment of Luftlotte 5’s HQ at Hamburg to exercise command over Norway. Milch is the temporary commander of Luftlotte 5.

The main British expeditionary force arrives in the Narvik area. 

HMS Furious was detached from the Home Fleet with three escorting destroyers, HMS Isis, HMS Ilex, and HMS Imogen and proceeded to enter a heretofore unnamed fiord which was immediately dubbed "Furious" fjord. At 1050, three Swordfish were flown off. One was assigned to photograph the German positions in the Narvik area, while the other two were to fly an A/S search of Vaagsfjord. In the event, the camera was unserviceable and no pictures were obtained. However, the observer noted an estimated 11 German transport aircraft on a frozen lake North of Narvik.

At 1726 a striking force of nine Swordfish, six from 816 Squadron, led by the OC, Lieutenant-Commander H. H. Gardner, RN, and three from 818 Squadron, were dispatched to bomb grounded German aircraft. The aircraft each carried 8 x 20 lb. Cooper bombs while the commander's aircraft carried two additional 250 lb. bombs for experimental purposes. The aircraft attacked in clear weather and results were good. Several direct hits were obtained. It was noted that the 250s blew large holes in the ice, and it was felt that the "runways" were made unserviceable. Heavy Flak was encountered. Five aircraft were hit, U4B:P4167 in the petrol tank, necessitating a water-landing near the task force, Sub-Lieutenant(A) J. N. Ball, RN (P), Lieutenant A. S. Marshall, RN (O), and Naval Airman first class R. Pike (AG) being rescued by HMS Zulu. (Mark Horan) 

GIBRALTAR/ATLANTIC OCEAN: HMS Ark Royal remains at Gibraltar. HMS Glorious, in company with the destroyers HMS Velox and HMS Watchman continue towards the Clyde.

EGYPT: Cairo: Wavell discusses the possibility of war with Italy -

..it was obvious that we had little or no knowledge of the general Allied appreciation and plan for war against Italy, naval, military or air. The essential factors were

a. to what extent air action will be taken against objectives in Italy itself, which will influence Italian reinforcement for Libya.

b. plans for French action, by air and land against Tripoli.

c. whether action against Libya or the Dodecanese would be the primary commitment of any forces that become available for offensive action against Italy.

C-in-C Med. considers that the reduction of Libya is of the greatest importance to enable the route through the Mediterranean to be maintained.

 

JAPAN: Tokyo: The Foreign Minister, Mr. Arita, warns that if hostilities spread to the Netherlands and thus to the Dutch East Indies, peaceful co-existence in the Pacific will be damaged.

FRANCE: Anticipating an invasion RAF units are dispersed around France. No. 1 Sqn. moves its Hurricanes to Pontavert alongside Battles of 12 and 45 Sqns and places three aircraft on constant patrol.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Dark Command" is released. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this western about an 1860s renegade stars Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Walter Pidegeon, Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes and Marjorie Main. The film is nominated for best art direction and best music Academy Awards.

Fort Hancock: A Coast Artillery crew starts the service tests of the US Army's first radar system. This is the SCR-268 (Radars were designated as radio equipment for security reasons. SCR = Signal Corps Radio). It was developed as a searchlight control set for coast artillery AAA units. By great efforts the Signal Corps was able to reach a frequency of 205 MHz -- high for the day, but absurdly low for the purpose. Owing to the very long resulting wavelength of 1.46 m, a very large and cumbersome antenna array was necessary in an attempt to achieve reasonable accuracy. It was the first radar to employ lobe-switching to improve elevation and azimuth accuracy. Even so, the practical precision was no better than +- 1 deg, and multipath reflections made the elevation accuracy much worse within about 10 deg above the horizon, except at very favourable sites. However, it was powerful, rugged, and readily movable, and gave good range indication. Because the beam was relatively fat, it was fairly useful for search over limited sectors, and it gave useful height indication for fighter direction. (Will O'Neil)(157,158,159,160,161 and 162)

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15 April 1941

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April 15th, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Ulster: In Belfast heavy air raid kills 758 people and seriously injures 454. Another 15 people were killed in Londonderry and 5 in Bangor. Among the targets hit were the Harland and Wolff shipyard and York Road railway station. Parachute mines devastated working-class areas of north and west Belfast. The government is being criticised for leaving the city defenceless; there were only 16 heavy anti-aircraft guns in Belfast. The Ulster security minister has called Dublin and requested help. In a violation of neutrality laws, (Irish Prime Minister Eamon) de Valera ordered that all but one of the Dublin fire engines plus fire equipment from Dun Laoghaire, Drogheda and Dundalk be sent to Belfast to fight the fires.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Low-level intruder strikes are carried out on Borkum by Blenheims of 105 Sqn. During other anti-shipping strikes two vessels are sunk.

London:

The American United Press News Agency reports:

London officials categorically deny the rumours circulating in Berlin that the British are thinking of withdrawing their troops from Greece.

POLAND: A German reconnaissance plane makes an emergency landing at Rovno, in Soviet-held eastern Poland. It was on a mission in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, but the crew are allowed to return to Germany and the plane followed shortly. While waiting to return to Germany the crew are allowed free movement at the Soviet military airfield.

EGYPT: Cairo: de Gaulle presses Wavell to agree to a Free French plan for entering Syria from northern Palestine and asks for British assistance in the form of air cover, tanks and transport. Wavell refuses as he needs all his forces in other theatres. Wavell and other senior British Middle East commanders meet and decide that the evacuation of all forces from the Greek mainland is unavoidable. 

Cairo: General Wavell's Headquarters' announced:

The Germans are carrying out an offensive in Cyrenaica using heavy and medium tanks supported by large numbers of mobile motorised batteries. The German troops bypassed Tobruk, and later Sollum, which was attacked from the east.

BULGARIA: Bulgaria severs diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia.

GREECE: The government of Yugoslavia moves to Athens. They join King Peter.
Blamey is issued with the order to withdraw the ANZAC Corps to the Thermopylae/Corinth line.
Blamey's orders for the withdrawal provided that the 6th NZ Brigade would occupy a rearguard position astride the roads near Elasson through which the two forward New Zealand Brigades would withdraw; the 16th Australian Brigade would occupy a position west of Larisa through which the 17th Australian Brigade would withdraw and the 19th Australian Brigade would form a final rearguard at Domokos. Meanwhile German divisions were rushing south and west over muddy cratered roads. Blamey ordered Brigadier Allen's 16th Brigade to the Pinios Gorge to halt the German thrust towards the main road at Larisa, a bottle-neck which was the only escape road for the Anzac Corps. (Anthony Staunton)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Brigadier General Edwin “Pa” Watson writes to MacArthur      "> MacArthur that Roosevelt wishes him to remain in “a military capacity” in the Philippines. (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: Harry Hopkins is appointed as President Roosevelt's personal representative over the Lend Lease Program.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order permitting members of the US Army Air Corps, US Marine Corps and US Navy to sign one-year contracts with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) in China. After the one year term, these personnel will be permitted to rejoin their respective branch of the military without loss of rank. This is the first step in forming the American Volunteer Group (AVG), aka, "The Flying Tigers," in China.

The Truman Committee, of the US Senate, holds their first hearing. Appearances include Henry Stimson and General George Marshall. While discussing the problem of seniority in the Army, Marshall insists on the need for selective promotion. "You give a good leader very little and he will succeed, you give a mediocrity a great deal and he will fail." This marks the beginning of a long relationship between Harry Truman and George Marshall. (From David McCullough -- "Truman")

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15 April 1942

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April 15th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: 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."

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, appliqué 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.

POLAND: 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] 

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINE: The last remaining motor torpedo boat, PT-41, her torpedoes expended and lacking gasoline to operate, is transferred to the Army to be moved overland to Lake Lanao where she is slated for service as a machine gun boat. The rapid Japanese advance across Mindanao, however, compels the Army to destroy PT-41 to prevent her capture.

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 (483 km) off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

U.S.A.: US Navy Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 is decommissioned.

Claire Chennault is recalled to active duty in the USAAF as a colonel.

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15 April 1943

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April 15th, 1943 (THURSDAY)

GERMANY: Bomber Command attacked Stuttgart last night, despatching 462 aircraft to deliver what is officially described as "a very heavy attack" on one of Germany's largest armament and industrial centres.

Halifaxes and Stirlings dropped 4,000-pound and 8,000-pound bombs - "factory-smashers" and "blockbusters" - and thousands of incendiaries. Pilots in the rear of the bomber "stream" were guided to their target by the glow of fierce fires. The raid, the heaviest yet against Stuttgart, lasted for 45 minutes. Some of the huge four-engined aircraft, filled to capacity with bombs and petrol, flew very low, with gunners shooting up targets in the bright moonlight. One Stirling collided with an electricity pylon and had to jettison part of its load when the incendiaries caught fire. Some 23 of the Allied aircraft are missing.

At the same time, Russian long-range four-engined bombers made individual attacks on Danzig and Königsberg.

FINLAND:     Finland officially rejects the Soviet terms for peace, stating that they would be impossible to meet. This refers primarily to the Soviet demand for 600 million USD reparations, which the Finnish economic experts think impossible to pay in time without ruining the Finnish economy. As for the other Soviet demands, military experts think the Soviet demand of rapid demobilization together with the inevitable war against the Germans a dangerous combination. Majority of the people also still find it hard to accept the permanent loss of the territories lost after the Winter War, plus Petsamo, esp. as the Finnish lines of defence are still where the Finnish advance was stopped in 1941. Many are still confident that the German situation is not hopeless, although the highest Finnish leadership doesn't share this hope.

     From now on, the Finns see two possibilities. The first is that the Soviets think the Finnish front too unimportant to warrant a major transfer of troops from the most important effort against the Germans. In this case Finland could perhaps secure better terms later. The second is that the Soviets will attack, but that the attack could be repulsed, and after that Finland could have better terms. The latter is essentially what eventually happened, but whether the somewhat lighter terms received in September 1944 were worth the almost 20 000 deaths suffered in the battles of summer 1944 (not to mention the Russian losses), is another matter.

ITALY: RAF bombers attack La Spezia.

RAF Liberators, under operational control of the IX Bomber Command, bomb Naples and Messina.

Northwest African Air Force B-26 Marauders on armed reconnaissance of the Naples area attack a vessel south of Ustica Island.

Sicily: Ninth Air Force B-24s attack Catania and Palermo

Sardinia: Northwest African Air Force Wellingtons bomb Decimomannu, Villacidro, and Elmas Airfields during the night of 14/15 April.

YUGOSLAVIA: Montenegro: After two years of unaided guerrilla warfare, with huge losses on both sides, Tito's Yugoslav partisans seem to have been recognized by the Allies. Until recently, the misinformed British were dropping weapons to the rival band of partisans the pro-royalist Chetniks.

Today, however, Allied liaison officers, Canadians of Yugoslavian birth, were parachuted into Croatia to find Tito's partisans fighting their way to Montenegro after a major Axis crackdown had failed to destroy them. The fourth major offensive involved five German divisions - including a Waffen-SS, a complete infantry regiment, two Italian divisions and their locally raised Ustachi allies.

After savage fighting the outnumbered partisans managed to fight their way out, bringing 4,000 wounded with them. An attempt to trap them failed after a savage series of battles in which no prisoners were taken.

NORTH AFRICA: The Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean have been completely re-organized in both their command structure under the overall command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder.

A North-West Africa Tactical Air Force has been established under the command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham to use the lessons learnt in the desert to give close support to ground forces in Tunisia. Light bombers and tank-busters protected by fighters will blast the enemy's strongpoints. A Strategic Force has also been set up. Composed of USAAF heavy and medium bombers, and RAF medium bombers, it is responsible for long-range attacks on bases, communications and shipping.

In order to cope with the vast area covered by the Allied air forces they have also been divided into three geographical regions: Middle East Command, stretching from India to Tunis; the North African Air Command in Tunisia under Major-General Carl Spaatz, of the USAAF; and the RAF in Malta. The re-organization is to cope with the vast expansion of Allied air power in the region. The creation of the Tactical Air Force reflects planning for the invasion of Europe.

TUNISIA: Ninth Air Force B-25s bomb the airfield and area near a fuel dump at Sainte-Marie du Zit. P-40's fly reconnaissance and sea patrol. 

 Northwest African Air Force fighters attack tanks and trucks at Oum EL Djema and a concentration near Sidi Ahmed, while others fly reconnaissance and patrols during the day.

CHINA: CDR Milton R. ("Mary") Miles negotiates an agreement with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Approved by GEN Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, Supreme American Commander, China; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the President of the United States, the Sino-American Technical Cooperative Agreement provided for the conduct and support of "special measures in the war effort against Japan." Miles, by then a Navy captain, was ordered to cooperate with the designated Chinese authorities "in every way practicable for the prosecution of war measures against the Japanese." CAPT Miles was placed in direct charge of the American participation as set forth in the agreement. Thus the Sino-American Cooperative Agreement was signed, and SACO (pronounced socko, "with the significance of powerful or sudden attack") was born.

BURMA: 10 Tenth Air Force B-25s bomb the Mandalay Marshalling Yard; 9 more bomb the marshalling yard at Ywataung. 8 B-24s hit the Thilawa oil refinery while 7 others hit Prome.

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb the airfield at Lae.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb the airfields at Rabaul and Gasmata on New Britain Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On or about this date, the Royal New Zealand Air Force's No. 15 Squadron equipped with Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk. IAs (P-40Es), arrives on Guadalcanal. This is the first RNZAF fighter unit to operate under Aircraft Solomons (AirSols) command.

NORTH PACIFIC: Submarine USS Seawolf (SS-197) sinks a Japanese transport about 275 miles (443 km) south-southwest of Marcus Island.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Eleventh Air Force aircraft fly reconnaissance over Kiska, Attu, the Semichis, and Agattu but spots no new enemy activities. 

Two bomber missions from Adak and 11 fighter missions from Amchitka, composed of 23 B-24Liberators, 20 B-25 Mitchells, 25 P-38 Lightnings, and 44 P-40s, hit Kiska; an F-5A Lightning takes photos; 85 tons of bombs are dropped. Fires result on North Head and Little Kiska. One B-24 is shot down in flames and 4 bombers receive battle damage.

U.S.A.: US begins preparation for attacks on Attu in the Aleutians with the 7th Division US Army.

USCG Landing ship LST-176 is launched. (Skip Guidry)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two Consolidated PBY-5A Catalinas of the USN's Patrol Squadron Eighty Three (VP-83) based at Natal, Brazil, attack the 913 ton Italian submarine Archimede off the coast of Brazil. The crew of the first PBY drops four depth charges that damages the sub; a few minutes later, the crew of the second aircraft drops four more depth charges from an altitude of 50 feet (15.24 meters). The sub sank six-minutes later after 30 crewmen abandoned ship and boarded three rafts; one raft was found 27 days later by Brazilian fishermen. The raft contained two bodies and one survivor who identified the submarine.

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15 April 1944

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April 15th, 1944 (SATURDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The US Eighth Army Air Force and RAF Bomber Command have switched their attention from the cities and factories of Germany to the railways of France and Belgium to prepare for the Allied invasion.

It is not a move which pleases the commanders of the bomber forces. Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris of the RAF still believes that he can bring Germany to its knees by area bombing: despite the terrible casualties inflicted on his aircrews during the Battle of Berlin. Remembering the slaughter in the trenches of the First World War, he has no confidence in the invasion. But it is his men who are being slaughtered in this war. Lt-Gen Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, who commands the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe agrees with Harris, but for different reasons. Spaatz believes that he can destroy the Germans ability to fight by destroying their oil plants. He also fears that supporting the army will compromise the air force's hard-won independence.

Their resistance forced General Eisenhower to go to his political bosses for a decision. He argued that if the "Transportation Plan" bombing campaign was not carried out, the invasion would fail. He won, and has assumed command of both British and US bombers for the period of the invasion.

FRANCE: Countdown to D-Day:

The German Perspective

Sunday, 15 April, 1944

It is late in the evening of April 15th. A modest rain falls over the château of La Roche-Guyon. Cold sentries shiver miserably as they stand at their posts. Their soaked, camouflaged capes are wrapped tightly around them as they miserably watch the rain come down. Anti-aircraft crews thankfully have received permission to stand down.

A lone army car enters the wrought-iron gates and pulls

up to the château. The right rear door opens, and a single, unknown figure slowly emerges. As he stands up, raindrops began to softly strike his immaculate coat and hat. The sentries see that he is an army general.

Staff members come out to welcome him, get his bags, and escort him inside. He is told that the field marshal is in, having just returned from a number of inspections along the coast. The newcomer's arrival is announced, and he is shown the way to Rommel's study. Calmly, he reports in.

The field marshal stands up and greets him with a tired smile, then looks at the man. He is of medium height, squarish build -- not really overweight. He wears thin-framed spectacles on a lightly-freckled, owlish face. He is 46-years old, and his new rank is that of -General der Infanterie-.His name is Hans Speidel. He is Rommel's new Chief of Staff.

But this man is an old acquaintance as well -- a fellow Swabian. While he is not an aristocrat, he is by all means a stately, well-educated man. Fluid in several languages,  he held a doctorate degree from Tübengen University. He  is cultured in the finer arts and advanced contemporary  literary works. That's why Rommel had picked him as  his next -Chef-.Rommel asks him about his trip, and then as an opening  gambit, mentions that here they are again, back in France.  Speidel is certainly no stranger to the country. He has  fought here in both world wars, has once been the German military attaché in Paris, and was once Chief of Staff  to the Military Governor of France. But when in 1942 the  SS had taken over the judicial side of the military government, he had transferred to the Eastern Front. Now he  s back.

As the two men relax with each other's presence, the  dialogue speeds up. At a certain point, the conversation  shifts gears from high German to Swabian, the southern  German dialect that they had both been raised with.

Speidel tells him about the briefing at OKW, and that  there are no specific instructions. "I am to assume  the duties of Chief of Staff for you."

Regarding policy? "I was told that none were needed.   Basically, if the enemy lands, we must just drive them  back into the sea." That is it. Rommel is probably puzzled at this. It is as if the successful Allied landings at Salerno or Anzio. had never  happened.

They briefly talk over old times. They had met in the  Argonne Forest during World War I, and later, between  wars, their paths had crossed in the 13th Württemberg Infantry Regiment. Rommel remembers him as a rather quiet but sophisticated and very intelligent fellow. Now  he finds himself warming up to the man. Yes, they will  get along quite well.

------

When Speidel had arrived at Berchtesgaden on April 1st as ordered, Jodl had informed of his new appointment  and then had taken him aside and had pleaded for him  to try and cheer the field marshal up. The appointee  agreed to do so.

Contrary to what he had promised Jodl though, and more  along the lines of the conspirators' plans, Speidel does  not try to give Rommel inspiration. On the contrary. He  depresses him. He has to, if he is to have any hope at  all of winning Rommel over to the "Schwartz Kapelle.'.

It is easy to do. Rommel is starved for news, and Speidel  is willing to give it to him. He fills him in on the latest  information about the Eastern Front, from which he had  so recently come, including the latest updates from OKW. He tells him about the massive Soviet March offensive.   About the 1st Panzer Army being trapped. The setbacks  in the centre. Von Kluge and Manstein's dismissal.   About his own army, the Eighth, being trapped and  having to desperately fight its way out.

Speidel paints the already-bleak picture darkly, flavouring  it negatively. He cannot help but present Germany's  hopeless position in the war. He describes in detail  about how the eastern armies are losing hundreds of  thousands of men and countless numbers of vehicles  in the freezing cold, as dozens of divisions get chewed  up. The rumours of atrocities...

He relates briefly how the Crimea is now totally lost, and that the southern army front is in full retreat, while the weak Army Group Centre is moving back steadily. And of course, there is the next round coming up - the Russian  summer offensive starts in a couple of months...

The effect upon the field marshal is immediate and considerable. Rommel shakes his head more and more as  Speidel goes on. By the time his new chief of staff is  finished, his good mood is gone.

Looking at him, Rommel shrugged his shoulders and says, "Well, I don't think we have the slightest chance now of winning the war."*

His diary entry for that day reflects his sour change in  disposition, and how upset he is at Manstein's dismissal. He admires the man.

"What will later historians have to say about these retreats? And what will history say in passing its verdict on me? If I am successful here, then everybody else will claim all the glory -just as they are already claiming the credit for the defences and the beach obstacles that I have erected. But if I fail here, then everybody will be after my blood."

Speidel has done his work well.

 

Pete Margaritis

GERMANY: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 303: 616 fighters are dispatched on strafing sweeps of central and western Germany, airfields being the primary objectives; 132 P-38s claim 7-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 11 P-38s are lost; 262 P-47s claim 20-1-23 aircraft, 7 P-47s are lost; 222 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s claim 30-0-10 aircraft, 15 P-51s are lost.

FINLAND: Finland officially rejects the Soviet terms for peace, stating that they would be impossible to meet. This refers primarily to the Soviet demand for 600 million USD reparations, which the Finnish economic experts think impossible to pay in time without ruining the Finnish economy. As for the other Soviet demands, military experts think the Soviet demand of rapid demobilization together with the inevitable war against the Germans a dangerous combination. Majority of the people also still find it hard to accept the permanent loss of the territories lost after the Winter War, plus Petsamo, esp. as the Finnish lines of defence are still where the Finnish advance was stopped in 1941. Many are still confident that the German situation is not hopeless, although the highest Finnish leadership doesn't share this hope.

From now on, the Finns see two possibilities. The first is that the Soviets think the Finnish front too unimportant to warrant a major transfer of troops from the most important effort against the Germans. In this case Finland could perhaps secure better terms later. The second is that the Soviets will attack, but that the attack could be repulsed, and after that Finland could have better terms. The latter is essentially what eventually happened, but whether the somewhat lighter terms received in September 1944 were worth the almost 20 000 deaths suffered in the battles of summer 1944 (not to mention the Russian losses), is another matter.

U.S.S.R.: The Red Army captures Tarnopol. One of the principal cities of Eastern Galicia, across the former Polish border. Tarnopol, traditionally a part of Poland, then part of the Soviet Union, had become German-occupied territory in the great German offensive eastward in June 1941.

Vilna: 40 Jewish prisoners working as a "Blobel Commando" digging up and incinerating massacre victims buried at Ponar Woods escape; 25 are shot dead.

HUNGARY: With today's round-up of Jews in the German-occupied areas of Ruthenia and Croatia, Hungary is no longer a safe refuge for Jewish people. The Hungarian government has hitherto stood up to German demands for the 767,000 Jews to be deported for "special treatment" in Poland. Miklos Kallay, who was premier until 22 March, refused to take any measures against the Jews, refusing German pressure to institute ghettoes and badges for them.

In April last year, Hitler reproached Hungary's regent, Admiral Miklos Horthy, for his liberal attitude. Horthy said he could not "beat the Jews to death"; the Führer treated him to a lecture, saying that nations which did not rid themselves of Jews perished.

They met again last month. With the Red Army approaching the Hungarian border, Hitler was insistent. Horthy was to replace Kallay with Dome Sjotay, who boasted that he was a "true pioneer of anti-Semitism". It was agreed that a German plenipotentiary, Edmund Veesenmayer, and a security police force under SS Maj-Gen Otto Winkelmann were to supervise Hungary's internal affairs.

On 19 March German troops moved into Hungarian combat zones. At the same time Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann, the head of the Gestapo Jewish office, arrived in Budapest. His painstaking attention to detail has ensured the shipment of millions of European Jews to the extermination camps. He has brought a team of Einsatzkommandos with him to carry out the deportations with their customary brutality.

Meanwhile, at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the guards chuckle that "soon we'll be eating Hungarian salami". Engineers are checking and overhauling the gas chambers and crematoria. They are clearly expecting some big transports to arrive soon.

ROMANIA AND YUGOSLAVIA: Clearing weather again permits Fifteenth Air Force bomber operations. 448 B-17s and B-24s attack marshalling yards; B-17s hit Ploesti, Romania and Nis, Yugoslavia; B-24s hit Bucharest, Romania; 150+ fighters provide escort. 

A special group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Louis A Neveleff, flies from Fifteenth Air Force HQ at Bari, Italy to Medeno Polji, Yugoslavia and from there the group proceeds to Marshall Tito's HQ at Drvar, where Colonel Neveleff confers with Tito and spends several days laying the groundwork for the evacuation of downed US airmen in Yugoslav hands. Also, much information is gathered regarding the military organization and political trend of the partisan movement. The mission returns to Italy on 2 May and 122 men, mostly Fifteenth Air Force airmen, are also evacuated.

ITALY: The French take San Giorgio as the German Gustav Line starts to crumble.

Foggia: A force of 448 B-17s and B-24s of the US 15th Air Force escorted by 150 Mustangs fought its way to the Ploesti oilfields and the Romanian capital, Bucharest, today against packs of German fighters to drop its bombs on railway targets.

The attacks were part of the Allied air assault on Nazi communications with the southern front and has brought US bombers within 140 miles of the Russian spearheads in eastern Romania.

The Germans adopted new tactics by sending rock-firing Do-217 nightfighters against the Liberators attacking Bucharest. The Luftwaffe lost 13 aircraft in the day's  battles, while the Americans lost ten bombers and four fighters.

The raids were followed tonight by RAF Wellingtons which carried 4,000-pound bombs in their first raids on Romania. Their target was Turnu Severin, a railway town on the north bank of the Danube, on the main line to Bucharest from Budapest and Belgrade.

The crews of the last wave of Wellingtons said that they could see the glow from fires 60 miles away. They went in low, machine-gunning flak barges on the Danube and shooting up an airfield before dropping their bombs on the railway yards.

Twelfth Air Force B-25s and B-26s strike a marshalling yard at Leghorn and a tunnel and railroad bridges in central Italy; P-47 Thunderbolts attack rail lines, bridges and ammunition dumps northeast of Rome with good results; other P-47s, P-40s and A-36 Apaches hit numerous targets, including rail lines, motor transport shop, vehicles, tanks and gun positions, in central Italy and in the US Fifth Army battle areas.

INDIA: 12 Tenth Air Force B-24s over the Andaman Islands attack shipping and other targets at Port Blair.

BURMA: 12 Tenth Air Force P-38s hit Heho Airfield destroying several parked airplanes.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s knock out a bridge at Viet Tri and damage another.

JAPAN: During the night of 14/15 April, 3 Eleventh Air Force B-24s on armed reconnaissance mission over Matsuwa and Onnekotan Islands in the Kurile Islands, hit several targets including Matsuwa Airfield; reconnaissance over Paramushiru Island fails due to overcast.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, 24 Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb an ammunition dump on Talili Bay; 11 P-39Airacobras follow with a strike on the same target; 3 P-38s fire the Wunapope supply area; other fighter-bomber strikes on the same area are cancelled by weather.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Seventh Air Force B-25s, based on Tarawa Atoll, bomb Maloelap Atoll, rearm at Majuro Atoll and hit Jaluit and Mille Atolls on the return trip.

NEW GUINEA: 180+ Fifth Air Force B-24s, B-25s and A-20 Havocs bomb landing strips, off-shore islands and the entire coastal area in the vicinity of Aitape; 16 P-40s strafe barges at nearby Seleo Island; 20 P-39s hit villages, supply dumps, trucks and other targets along Hansa Bay and in the Alexishafen area.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: A few Thirteenth Air Force P-38s hit targets in the northeastern part of Bougainville Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese ships are sunk at sea:

- A merchant cargo ship is sunk, probably by a mine laid by submarine USS Steelhead (SS-280), off Honshu, Japan.

- British submarine HMS Storm sinks a minesweeper in the Andaman Islands.

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15 April 1945

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April 15th, 1945 (SUNDAY)

FRANCE: The Eighth Air Force flies Mission 951: 1,348 unescorted bombers are dispatched to visually attack strongpoints on the French Atlantic coast; the first two forces below make the sole operational employment of napalm bomb by the Eighth Air Force against German ground installations (pillboxes, gunpits, tank trenches, and heavy gun emplacements); the results are negligible and HQ recommends its discontinuance against this type of target:

    - 492 B-17s hit four strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss.

    - 341 B-24s hit six strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area without loss.

    - 442 B-17s hit 9 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/Royan, Pointe Grave and Pointe Courbre area without loss.

US bombers drop "napalm" bombs on German troops at Royan, in the Gironde estuary. (Andy Etherington)

NETHERLANDS: Arnhem is taken by Canadian forces and British infantry.

GERMANY: Liberation of BERGEN-BELSEN: The first British troops entered Bergen- Belsen on Sunday, April 15th 1945, at 3 p.m., led by Brigadier H.L. Glyn Hughes, the Chief Medical Officer of the British Second Army (with anti-tank battery of 63 A/Tk Regt, Royal Artillery.) Brigadier Hughes cried when he saw the horrible conditions of the camp. He later mentioned that "Belsen was unique in its vile treatment of human beings. Nothing like it had happened before in the history of mankind. The victims of this infamous behaviour had been reduced to a condition of sub-human existence" The liberators' most urgent concerns included separating the sick from the living, burying the dead, and caring for the sick.

Hospitals were set up in the barracks and doctors fed the prisoners after determining which could be saved and which could not. Mass graves were dug to bury the thousands of dead. Captain Derrick Sington, who was the first British officer to enter Bergen- Belsen, forced Commandant SS-Captain Josef Kramer and other SS officials to assist in the mass burials as well. After the soldiers cleared the camp of people, the camp was set on fire to help combat the spread of disease.

Bergen-Belsen was a concentration camp in Germany, located between the villages of Bergen and Belsen. Built in 1940, it was a prisoner-of-war camp for French and Belgium prisoners. In 1941, it was renamed Stalag 311 and housed about 20,000 Russian prisoners.

The camp changed its name to Bergen-Belsen and was converted into a concentration camp in 1943. Jews with foreign passports were kept there to be exchanged for German nationals imprisoned abroad, although very few exchanges were made. About 200 Jews were allowed to immigrate to Palestine and about 1,500 Hungarian Jews were allowed to immigrate to Switzerland, both took place under the rubric of exchanges for German nationals.

Bergen-Belsen mainly served as a holding camp for the Jewish prisoners. The camp was divided into eight sections, a detention camp, two women's camps, a special camp, neutrals camps, "star" camp (mainly Dutch prisoners who wore a Star of David on their clothing instead of the camp uniform), Hungarian camp and a tent camp. It was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners, however, by the war's end more than 60,000 prisoners were detained there, due to the large numbers of those evacuated from Auschwitz and other camps from the East. Tens of thousands of prisoners from other camps came to Bergen-Belsen after agonizing death marches.

While Bergen-Belsen contained no gas chambers, more than 35,000 people died of starvation, overwork, disease, brutality and sadistic medical experiments. Anne Frank and her sister, Margot, died of typhus in March 1945, along with other prisoners in a typhus epidemic.

In 1946, Belsen served as the largest displaced person (DP) camp for more than 11,000 Jews; it was the only exclusively Jewish camp in the British zone of Germany. (Russ Folsom)

Merkers: A heavily guarded convoy of US Army trucks moves the Reichsbank gold reserve from the potassium mines here back to the vaults of the Reichsbank in the recently captured city of Frankfurt-am-Main. By mid-August the gold will have been quantified and appraised. The gold is valued at $262,213,000 US dollars. The silver at $270,469 US dollars. (Russell Folsom)

258 Ninth Air Force B-26s and A-26 Invaders bomb marshalling yards at Gunzburg and Ulm (primary targets) and several other targets including 3 marshalling yards; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division near Dessau and across the Mulde River near Torten, the 9th Armored Division along the Mulde northwest of Borna, the VIII Corps along Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the XX Corps astride the Mulde NE of Chemnitz (where the 6th Armored Division awaits Red Army forces), and the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg.

FRANCE: US bombers drop "napalm" bombs on German troops at Royan, in the Gironde estuary.

CENTRAL EUROPE: The Fifteenth Air Force dispatches 36 P-38s and 36 P-51s strafe rail communications in the area bounded by Munich, Germany, Salzburg and Linz, Austria, Plzen, Czechoslovakia, and Regensburg, Germany; 12 of the P-38s skip bomb rail targets in the Salzburg-Linz, Austria area, including the Vocklabruck marshalling yard; 8 P-38s furnish top cover for the strafing missions.

ITALY: The Polish II Corps attached to the British 8th Army reaches Sillaro after crossing the River Santerno.

During the night of 14/15 April, Twelfth Air Force A-20s and A-26s concentrate on communications targets in the Po Valley, particularly the Po River crossings; during the day B-25s and B-26s and fighter-bombers concentrate on direct support of the US Fifth and British Eighth Armies drives, hitting troop concentrations, guns, strongpoints, and a variety of targets in areas south of Bologna, around Medicina and Sasso Marconi and at other points in battle areas.

      830 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s and B-24s, in support of the US Fifth Army, blast gun positions, supply dumps, troop concentrations, maintenance installations, and German HQ along highways leading from Bologna; 145 P-38s furnish escort; another force of 312 B-17s and B-24s bomb rail diversion bridges at Nervesa della Battaglia, Ponte di Piave, and Casarsa della Delizia, and an ammunition factory and stores at Ghedi; 191 P-51s provide escort. Today's effort is the largest of World War II by the Fifteenth Air Force (most fighters and bombers dispatched and attacking, and the largest bomb tonnage dropped) during a 24-hour period; 1,142 heavy bombers bomb targets.

CHINA: 3 Fourteenth Air Force B-25s knock out the Pa-Ching pontoon bridge, 7 attack a storage depot at Fang-cheng, 4 bomb Tunganhsien, and 3 hit Paoching; 1 B-24 bombs the Canton docks; almost 200 fighter-bombers ranging over all of southern China and up into the northern China plain hit numerous targets including bridges, river shipping, town areas, trucks, railroad traffic, gun positions, storage areas, and general targets of opportunity; the Paoching, Hengyang, Yungfengshih, and Hsihhsiassuchi areas are especially hard hit.

BURMA: Taungdwingyi falls to the British 20th Indian Division.

62 Tenth Air Force) P-38s and P-47s attack troop concentrations and supply areas at Loi-Mwe, Lawksawk, Thongdan, and near Laihka; 312 transport sorties are flown to forward areas.

JAPAN: Okinawa: The US 6th Marine Division engages in hard fighting for Yae Taku Hill.

US Marine Pfc Harold Gonsalves performs actions that will result in him being awarded the MOH. His citation reads that "....while serving as Acting Scout Sergeant with the 4th Battalion, 15th Marines, 6th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain.

Undaunted by the powerfully organized opposition encountered on Motobu Peninsula during the fierce assault waged by his battalion against the Japanese stronghold at Mount Yaetake, Pfc. Gonsalves repeatedly braved the terrific enemy bombardment to aid his forward observation team in directing well-placed artillery fire. When his commanding officer determined to move into the front lines in order to register a more effective bombardment in the enemy's defensive position, he unhesitatingly advanced uphill with the officer and another Marine despite a slashing barrage of enemy mortar and rifle fire. As they reached the front and a Japanese grenade fell close within the group, instantly Pfc. Gonsalves dived on the deadly missile,  absorbing the exploding charge in his own body and thereby protecting the others from serious and perhaps fatal wounds. Stout-hearted and indomitable, Pfc. Gonsalves readily yielded his own chances of survival that his fellow marines might carry on the relentless battle against a fanatic enemy and his cool decision, prompt action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service. (Drew Halevy)

US Marines on the Motobu peninsula suffer heavy casualties from Japanese artillery fire.

Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage the destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724) and a large support landing ship [LSC(L)] while a Japanese assault demolition boat damages a motor minesweeper (YMS).

Aircraft of fast carrier task force (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) attack airfields and aircraft on the ground in southern Kyushu Island; the strike is repeated on 16 April.

During the night of 15/16 April, the Twentieth Air Force flies two missions: (1)  Mission 68: 194 B-29 Superfortresses bomb the Kawasaki urban area while 8 others hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-29s are lost. (2) Mission 69: 109 B-29s hit the urban area of Tokyo; 1 B-29 is lost.

FORMOSA: Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Toyohara, Shinchiku, and Shinshoshi Airfields and B-25s hit the Shoka rail yards.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: A battalion of the 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, lands on Carabao Island at the entrance to Manila Bay; landing is preceded by cruiser/destroyer and aircraft bombardment.

Far East Air Forces B-24s and fighter-bombers bomb island fortifications in Manila Bay, fighter-bombers hit bivouacs and other targets in northern Luzon and support ground forces east of Manila and on Carabao Island. Fighter bombers and B-24s fly support missions for ground forces on Negros and Cebu Islands. On Mindanao Island, B-24s bomb the Davao area and B-25s join USMC F4U Corsairs and SBD Dauntlesses in hitting highways and vehicles.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Charr (SS-328) lays mines off the Malay Peninsula.
Two Japanese ships are sunk. (1) A guardboat is sunk by U.S. aircraft off Chezhudo, Korea and (2) a mine laid by USAAF B-29 Superfortresses sinks a cargo ship southeast of Hesaki Light, Japan.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-1235 is sunk in the North Atlantic by destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144) and USS Stanton (DE-247). All 57  crewmen on the U-boat are lost.

U.S.A: Top popular hits on the music charts are "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time" by The Pied Pipers; "I'm Beginning to See the Light" by Harry James and his Orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen; "Candy" by Johnny Mercer and Jo Stafford; and "Smoke on the Water" by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.

 

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