24 April 1939

UNITED KINGDOM: The RAF relinquishes its control of Fleet Air Arm procurement to the Royal Navy.

Sgt. Sidney Victor Evetts dies when his Hurricane crashes in Essex during a training flight. More...

Corvette HMS Bluebell launched.

Destroyer HMS Cleveland launched.

Oslo: Hitler appoints Josef Terboven, a tough young Nazi Gauleiter (Essen), to be Reich Commissar for Norway.

General von Falkenhorst decides that most of Pellengahr’s division can now be diverted from Trondheim and sent to Åndalsnes to complete the destruction of Morgan’s forces. The relief of Trondheim would be the responsibility of Colonel Hermann Fischer, who was pushing up the Østerdal valley with three infantry battalions, two artillery battalions, an engineer battalion and some tanks and motorised units.

Although weather was still poor, the arrival off Trondheim and Åndalsnes of the
Home Fleet carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious promises a new phase in the
Campaign - one where some level of air support, particularly fighters, will be
available to the Allied forces in Northern Norway. Unfortunately for these
efforts, Admiral Wells elected to keep the carriers well off shore, meaning the
Skuas would have a long flight both to and from the combat areas.

At 0300 and continuing until 2115, Glorious' two Sea Gladiator squadrons begin flying two-hour standing patrols over the task force. The ship puts one section in the air overhead and keeps two more sections on deck in reserve.

Throughout the day the air department on HMS Glorious prepared the RAF Gladiators for takeoff. Finally, at 1600 with the task force in position 65.00 N, 5.24 E, under overcast skies with frequent snow squalls, wind from the NE at force 3 with 25' seas, conditions are barely acceptable to attempt the transfer. Thus, at 1615, HMS Ark Royal dispatched one section three Skuas from each of the two fighter squadrons on board (800 and 801) to patrol over the fleet debarkation site at Åndalsnes. At 1636, Glorious followed with two sections of 803 Squadron (three Skuas each) to conduct fighter patrols over the Romsdalen Valley to directly cover the landing of the RAF Squadron.

Glorious then began preparing the first of two ranges of nine 263 Squadron Gladiators, each with one Skua of 803 Squadron to lead them in. The first range departed at 1715 and the second at 1830. In the event, the operation is a complete success, with all 18 Gladiators arriving safely on the Lake airfield. While patrolling the Romsdalen area, 803 Squadron's Blue (Lieutenant W. P. Lucy, RN) and Red (Lieutenant A. B. Fraser-Harris, RN) sections find themselves engaging several German He-111s of KG 4 between 1755 and 1810, ultimately downing two and damaging another. By the time the Skuas returned to the fleet, however, they were desperately short of fuel and two of Ark's contingent, 6M:L3050 (Midshipman(A) C. Treen, RN (P) and Naval Airman A. E. T. Goble, RN (AG)) and 7K:L2877 (Lt. C. P. Campbell-Horsfall, RN (P) and Petty Officer Airman A. E. Suggett, RN (AG)) ran dry and were forced to make water landings. Fortunately, all four aircrew are rescued by screening vessels.

The day's aerial activity saw the two carriers with 27 Skuas for fighter patrols and 17 Sea Gladiators and 5 Rocs for Fleet defence.

Meanwhile, near Narvik, things take a turn for the worse on HMS Furious when a second turbine sheds some blades, leaving her with only two good engines. After consultations, the Commander in Chief, Home Fleet, Admiral Sir Charles M. Forbes, RN decides that she is to refuel and then return home for repairs.

CANADA: Minesweepers HMCS Cowichan, Malpeque and Ungava laid down North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Churchill meets with US Admiral Ghormley to discuss joint activities in the Atlantic, and the risk of German bases being set-up in the Canaries or Cape Verde Islands.

Sir, - In case it would interest your readers I enclose extracts from a letter which I have received from my son, who was taken prisoner in British Somaliland last August by the Italians. The letter is dated January 1. He says:

"Christmas under these circumstances was a rather hollow farce, but even this prison atmosphere could not prevent us from capturing some of the good old Christmas spirit. Strange to relate we even got some presents - the Italian Red Cross sent us a case of cakes, biscuits and a few bottles of wine, which was a great luxury. The only other presents we received were from the Italian Air Force, who not only gave us a bottle of beer apiece - only Italian beer, it is true, but nevertheless beer - but a boxload of games, such as chess, draughts, dominoes, etc. The local General commanding the Air Force in this area came down in person on Christmas Eve to wish us a happy Christmas with these presents. We all thoroughly appreciated the kindness and consideration shown by the Air Force, which is difficult to find elsewhere. The local captain of the police, who is our official gaoler, came and had a drink with us in the evening, and the other policemen who are variously responsible for our captivity came and visited us at various other times."

I feel this should comfort relations of our men who have recently become prisoners in Italian hands.

U-207, U-504 launched.

U-127, U-567 commissioned.

GREECE: As German paratroopers capture the islands of Samothrace, Limnos and Thasos, the Allies start to evacuate their troops from the mainland. The troops at Thermopylae are withdrawn and themselves evacuated from Megara, Rafina and Porto Rafti near Athens. To lift the troops there were 6 cruisers, 24 destroyers and escort vessels, 2 Landing Ships Infantry, 14 troopships and a number of landing craft.
The Germans attacked the Thermopylae line which was held by the 6th NZ Brigade on the east and the 19th Australian Brigade on the west. German tanks tried to break through the New Zealanders while mountain troops attacked the high pass held by the Australians. The New Zealanders destroyed twelve tanks and together with the Australians held their ground. The 5th NZ Brigade and 6000 corps and base troops embarked on the night of 24/25 April. The 19th Australian Brigade embarked from the Peloponnese beaches the following night. (Anthony Staunton)

BULGARIA: Bulgaria declares a state of war in its occupied areas of Greece and Yugoslavia.

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Wallaroos laid down.

U.S.A. : President Roosevelt orders US naval units to report the movements of German warships west of Iceland, and move the Neutrality Patrol to 26.00W longitude.

The motion picture "Penny Serenade" is released in the U.S. Directed by George Stevens, the film stars Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi and Edgar Buchanan. This romantic drama (tearjerker) has a couple (Dunne and Grant) adopting a baby after the wife loses a child. Cary Grant was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award but lost out to Gary Cooper for Sergeant York.

Woodley, Reading, Berkshire: The Miles Martinet target-tug prototype (LR 241) makes its maiden flight. (22)

GERMANY: Berlin: For as long as many of them can remember, German women have been told that their true vocation is motherhood. No longer is that the case, it seems. Under a new decree by Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel, the plenipotentiary-general for employment, they are obliged to work in industry. This means that many mothers will be working in factories for the first time - and earning some 20% less than men for doing the same jobs. The women are not happy about that - nor about the extra problems of shopping and bringing up their children.

FINLAND: Kenraalimajuri (Major General) K. I. Viljanen, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division, is killed when inspecting the front line near Seesjürvi. Gen. Viljanen and the small party of officers accompanying him get lost and wander into a Finnish minefield. A major steps into a tripwire and is killed instantly, while Gen. Viljanen and two other officers are mortally wounded. Only one officer escapes with lighter wounds.

ARCTIC OCEAN: Soviet submarine "Sch-401" of the Polar fleet and White Sea Flotilla, is accidentally sunk, by torpedoes and depth charges of torpedo-cutters "TKA N13" and "TKA N14", close to Cape Kumagnes Submarine "Sch-411" (uncompleted hull) - sunk by artillery fire at Leningrad (later raised)
(Sergey Anisimov)(69)

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Larceny, Inc." is released in the U.S. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, the film stars Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford, Jack Carson and Anthony Quinn with Jackie Gleason in a bit part as a soda jerk. This comedy has three ex-cons buying a luggage store so they can tunnel into a bank next door but the store prospers and...........

GERMANY: Kptlt Heinz Hirsacker of U-572, who had been condemned to death by military tribunal, committed suicide. He had been charged with "Cowardice in the face of the enemy" - the only U-boat commander to suffer that fate.

U-391 launched.

POLAND: The SS begins full operations against Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Warsaw: SS General Jurgen Stroop told Himmler that he would clear out the Warsaw ghetto in three days. Now he is having second thoughts. On the eve of the feast of Passover, when the Jews celebrate liberation from their oppressors, he sent in tanks, flame-throwers and dynamite squads; they were met by a barrage of small-arms fire, grenades and home-made bombs. The Germans retreated in confusion.

So it has continued, day after day. Stroop, who refers to the Jews as "trash and sub humans" and "cowards by nature", has had to go for total destruction on order to get at the Jews, who are lodged in cellars, bunkers and sewers, from whence they spring out to take the Germans by surprise. A passing woman produces a pistol from her underclothes and fires point-blank at a German.

When the ghetto was set up in 1940 it held 400,000 Jews. Starved and overcrowded, the Jews died, but not fast enough for Himmler. He ordered them to be sent to concentration camps, but because of the war situation transport was lacking, and with 60,000 still in the ghetto. Stroop was drafted in with 2,090 troops.

The Jews had been preparing for a long time; if they had to die they would die fighting. In factories where they worked under the supervision of German officers they secretly made bombs. When they left the ghetto on burial duties they acquired weapons from the Polish resistance fighters.

A pall of black smoke hangs over Warsaw. The Jews stay in the blazing buildings until the last moment, and after they have jumped they strive to crawl into hiding in spite of their broken arms and legs.

Stroop still hopes to get the medal that Himmler promised if the job was done with speed and efficiency. His daily reports to Himmler promise success, in spite of "the cunning fighting methods of the Jews and other bandits."

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: After sinking the Italian freighter Galiola (1917, 1428 BRT) in a convoy, and then breaking surface, off Cape Milazzo, northeast Sicily, submarine HMS Sahib (Lt. J.H. Bromage) is depth charged by Italian torpedo boats Gabbiano, Euterpe and Climene and bombed by a German Ju.88 aircraft. Eventually depth charges blow off the compressor outlet and Sahib begins to flood through a 1,5 inch hole in the pressure hull. With no way of repairing the damage, the order to prepare to abandon ship was given. As the crew left the submarine, Sahib was scuttled in position 38.30N, 15.15E. There are 46 survivors of whom 23 make escapes from POW camps and 12 reach Allied lines. One of the crew was wounded and died on 3 May, 1943. (Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

U.S.A.: San Francisco: A US invasion force sails to take Attu, in the Aleutians.

Minesweeper USS Ransom laid down

Destroyer USS Wren laid down.

Destroyer escort USS Chase launched.

Destroyer USS Sigourney launched.

Destroyer escort USS Sims commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0251, the unescorted Santa Catalina was hit on the starboard side by two stern torpedoes from U-129, while steaming on a zigzag course at 16.5 knots about 370 miles SE of Cape Hatteras. The first torpedo struck at the #1 hold and the second nearly the same spot and blew holes in both sides of the ship. The explosions started a fire in the cargo of gasoline and the vessel soon listed 40° to starboard. The ten officers, 47 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and nine 20mm guns) and ten passengers abandoned ship after 20 minutes in the two starboard lifeboats and four rafts. The ship sank by the bow ten minutes after being hit by a coup de grâce at 0310. The survivors were picked up after twelve hours by Venezia and taken to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

U-710 sunk south of Iceland, in position 61.25N, 19.48W, by depth charges from an RAF 206 Sqn Fortress. 49 dead (all hands lost).

UNITED KINGDOM: The actor and composer Ivor Novello is sentenced to two months imprisonment for offences concerned with petrol rationing.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: Rescue tug HMS Zoder Zee torpedoed and sunk by a German MTB off Dungeness.

GERMANY: A Mosquito VI, piloted by Wg./Cdr. G. L. "Leonard" Cheshire VC, of No. 617 Squadron is used to carry out the first low-level target-marking during a raid on Augsburg. (22)

EGYPT: Alexandria: The remaining striking warships and the First Brigade of the Greek Army surrender, ending a three-week mutiny in the exiled Greek forces under the Allied High Command.

Hailakandi, Assam to Indaw, Burma. Bombed Japanese supply dumps and railroad. Notes: We circled over the lake where we had been the day before. I looked at what was left of the Burmese village. There were dozens of spots of gray. The town was just not there. I wondered what their casualties were? My pilot and friend was on his way to the States and I now flew Barbie III with many different pilots, some good and some not so good; hoping I would also be rotated back to the ZI in the near future. (Chuck Baisden)

Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave arrived Devonport and assigned 32nd Minesweeping flotilla, then 31st Minesweeping Flotilla.

Corvettes HMCS Alberni and Port Arthur departed Halifax for UK.

Tug HMCS Shawville assigned to Gaspe, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Washington: US military strategists agree that to defeat Japan it will be necessary to invade Japan itself.

Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator, leaves San Diego bound for the Pacific theatre as a consultant for the Chance-Vought corporation, to observe various problems being encountered by Corsair pilots. (Marc James Small)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-672 was attacked twice on this day by Allied aircraft, suffering slight damage.

UNITED KINGDOM: The "dim-out" is abolished, except for a coastal belt five miles deep.

Berlin: Hitler orders Göring to be arrested after receiving a telegram from him offering to take over command of the Reich.

The RAF joined in the final battle of Berlin today with fighter-bombers of Bomber Command pouncing on General Wenck's Twelfth Army as it moves east after being switched from the western front to Berlin. The pilots report that the entire eastern half of the city is on fire. On the ground Konev's men are crossing the heavily-defended Tetlow canal on bridges built by assault sappers under fire.

Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton (b.1920), Irish Guards, stopped a German attack single-handed. He died of wounds. (Victoria Cross)

Shortly after liberation from the Berga Elster concentration camp, Norman Fellman of the US 70th Infantry Division, an American Jewish GI, is made to sign a "Security Certificate for Ex-Prisoners of War". This states in its first clause: "Some activities of American prisoners of war within German prison camps must remain secret not only for the duration of the war against the present enemies of the United States, but in peacetime as well." (Personal recollection of William J. Shapiro and Mordecai Hauer, The Lost Soldiers of Stalag IX-B, by Roger Cohen, New York Times, 27 February, 2005)

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: VII Fighter Command, United States' Seventh Air Force bases the 506th Fighter Group flying P-47Ns at North Field.

JAPAN: The Japanese forces on Okinawa begin to pull back to the 2nd section of the Shuri Line.

BORNEO: Two BAT missiles are launched at Balikpapan. The only US use of guided missiles in the war. (Patrick Holscher)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-363 was attacked by a hunter-killer group. During the depth charge attack the periscope was damaged so badly that the boat had to return to base.

USS Frederick C. Davis was participating in the operation Teardrop, a hunt for snorkel-equipped U-boats in the Western Atlantic and was part of the 4th Escort Division, which screened escort carrier USS Bogue in the Southern Surface Barrier. On 24 April 1945, U-546 discovered the USS Bogue about 570 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland and tried to attack on periscope depth, but the USS Frederick C. Davis discovered the U-boat and prepared herself for an attack. At this moment a Gnat struck forward on the portside. The ship broke in two and sank. The crew abandoned ship and were picked up within three hours by the other escort destroyers of the Division, after they had sunk U-546.

At 1414, the unescorted Monmouth Coast was torpedoed and sunk by U-1305 about 80 miles from Sligo. The master, 13 crewmembers and two gunners were lost. Irish fishermen rescued the sole survivor, mess room boy Derek Cragg.