30 April 1939

1937: US General Douglas MacArthur marries Jean Marie Faircloth, in New York City. General MacArthur died in 1964. Jean MacArthur died early in 2000 (Marc Small)

U.S.A.: The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), a subsidiary of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) begins regular television broadcasting with a telecast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt opening the New York World's Fair. Programs are transmitted from the NBC mobile camera trucks to the main transmitter, which is connected to an antenna atop the Empire State Building.

Ten days prior to Roosevelt's speech, David Sarnoff, President of RCA, made the dedication speech for the opening of the RCA Pavilion at the World's Fair. Staging this event prior to the World's Fair opening ceremonies ensured that RCA would capture its share of the newspaper headlines.

The ceremony was televised, and watched by several hundred viewers on TV receivers inside the RCA Pavilion at the fairgrounds, as well as on receivers installed on the 62nd floor of Radio City in Manhattan. Programs of 1939 included operas, cartoons, cooking demonstrations, travelogues, fashion shows, and skaters at Rockefeller Centre. There were also numerous live telecasts relayed from within the fair itself.

The RCA Pavilion was designed by the renowned U.S. modernist architectural firm of Skidmore and Owings. When viewed from the air, it was shaped like a radio tube, attracting much attention since aerial views and models of the fair were immensely popular as they showed visitors the scope of the exhibition. The first sight to be seen inside the entrance of the building was a TRK-12 television set with a special transparent cabinet. People were amazed by the quality of the television pictures on this unit. The great majority of visitors had never seen television before, and the set's transparent cabinet removed any doubts in viewer's minds that magic or trickery was involved in obtaining the pictures.

Exhibits within the RCA Pavilion dramatized the use of television in the home, and documented RCA's experimental breakthroughs. The "Radio Living Room of Tomorrow" was created by Turkish-American industrial designer John Vassos. It was outfitted with contemporary built-ins such as a combination radio/television/record player/record-recording set, a facsimile receiver, and a sound motion picture projector. To illustrate how television could be integrated into existing decor, Vassos designed a "Radio Living Room of Today". This featured period furniture complemented by separate cabinets containing the same electronic components. The RCA "Television Laboratory" exhibit featured a display of Vladimir Zworykin's experimental television camera tubes (such as Iconoscopes) and picture tubes (these tubes were often called Kinescopes). As visitors travelled further into the RCA Pavilion they could enter a "Hall of Television" which contained thirteen of RCA's finest TRK-12 receivers. These were kept operational as much as possible, to better provide visitors with an opportunity to sample the new medium. Also in this room was an experimental projection television receiver, which used a very bright 5-inch (12.7 cm) cathode-ray-tube and a large lens to project television pictures onto a special light-reflective screen. The pictures demonstrated with this unit are believed to have been at least 3-feet (91.4 cm) high by 4-feet (121.9 cm) wide. A large Nipper the Dog statue, that familiar dog listening to "His Master's Voice" on the RCA phonograph logo looked on from a pedestal on the other side of the room.

Visitors crowded together to watch NBC broadcasts or internal closed circuit demonstrations. Frequently, volunteers were escorted outside to the cameras and encouraged to wave at the folks inside. Television was such a novelty at the time that "I was televised" cards were handed out as a souvenir of the experience.

RCA offered four types of television receivers for sale to in 1939, the TRK-12, the TRK-9, the TRK-5, and the TT-5. The TT-5 was an "everyman" vision-only table model introduced last. Their prices, ranging from US$199.50 to $600 (US$2,462 to US$7,407 in year 2000 dollars), were considered high. Advertising was initially aimed at the wealthy; depicting viewers dressed in evening suits and gowns to watch TV. All RCA TV sets at this time were designed by John Vassos, with handcrafted, highly polished wood cabinets taking their cue from the newly popular "streamline" style.

They received channels 1 to 5 (the frequency for channel 1 had not yet been taken over for military use). The RCA sets were offered for sale in Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Wanamaker's department stores in the New York Metropolitan area. Although shoppers were curious, television sales right up until the U.S. entry into World War II were disappointing. Most of the unsold 1939-41 televisions were put into storage and sold after the war.

Manufacturers other than RCA exhibited their television receivers at the 1939 World's Fair. In 1938, Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, established by the inventor and entrepreneur of the same name, had already offered the first electronic TV sets for sale to the public (prior to the Fair) with their 180 model. Westinghouse Electric and General Electric offered competing production lines of consumer televisions in their own pavilions.

These companies also built studios with live cameras for interviews. Even Ford Motor Company got into the act, with television receivers in their executive lounge. Conspicuously missing was Farnsworth Television. Although Philo T. Farnsworth was the first to demonstrate electronic television technology in 1927, his company was not yet manufacturing commercial television receivers. RCA's pioneering television efforts continued at the World's Fair the following year (1940). Exhibition space for the new medium was nearly doubled and the display featured "Television Suites", again designed by Vassos, showcasing the new models in 10 different American home settings. Vassos also contributed to the "America at Home" exhibition. His "Musicorner" featured indirect lighting, soundproofing, 16 mm sound film projector, radio, phonograph, and television receiver all housed in bleached Mahogany modular furniture. Most of the New York World's Fair facilities were demolished in 1940-41 due to a lack of new tenants for the exhibition buildings.

10 Sqn. Six aircraft. Two recalled, four bombed Fornebu starting fires. Opposition fierce.

Clacton: two civilians are killed and 150 injured when a mine-laying Heinkel crashes and explodes, the first civilian deaths of the war on mainland Britain.

Mark Horan adds:
HMS Furious is in the Clyde making preparations for dry docking to repair hull and turbine damage, having arrived the previous morning. At 1415, the French contre-torpilleur, FS Maillé Breeze, which is taking on ammunition at Tail of Bank, accidentally discharges one of her 550 cm (21.7") torpedoes while the tubes are arranged fore and aft. The torpedo crashes into the aft end of the forward superstructure causing a large explosion. Fires and secondary ammunition explosions consume the ship. 47 of the crew are rescued by small boats from HMS Furious, HMS Firedrake, and HMS Barfield. Casualties include 6 dead and 27 missing.

HMS Glorious departs Scapa Flow, escorted by destroyers HMS Acheron, Antelope, Beagle, and Volunteer to fly on aircraft. HMS Volunteer suffers a machinery casualty and returns. The rest set off to rendezvous with Vice-Admiral Carriers in Ark Royal. It had been intended for her to acquire replacement Skuas for the three Squadrons at sea, her own 803
as well as Ark Royal's 800 and 801. However, with 803's CO Lucy detached on Ark Royal, confusion reigned and the Squadron, which had arrived on the 27th with two unserviceable Skuas, is able to fly on three Skuas and a single Roc. She does, however, re-embark 823
Squadron' Swordfish. Her new air group thus comprises:

802 Squadron: 8 x Sea Gladiator
804 Squadron: 9 x Sea Gladiator
803 Squadron: 3 x Skua, 1 x Roc
823 Squadron: 12 x Swordfish

HMS Ark Royal (F-VAdm Wells) is at sea with battleship HMS Valiant, cruiser HMS Berwick, and destroyers HMS Fearless, Hyperion, Fury, Fortune, Encounter, and Escort, preparing for the planned bombardment of Trondheim Leeds.

Sloop HMS Bittern is disabled in an air attack sunk by JU87 dive-bombers off Namsos at 64 28N, 11 30E and has to be scuttled and sunk by HMS Carlisle. There are no casualties.

The minesweeper HMS Dunoon was sunk by a mine off Great Yarmouth at 52 45N 02 23E whilst engaged on routine mine clearance operations. (Alex Gordon)(108)

Six RAF Blenheims attack Stavanger aerodrome and make high level bombing attacks on about 150 enemy aircraft seen on the ground. One defending Bf109 is shot down.

General Rüge leaves Molde on board a British destroyer, destined for Tromsø. Norwegian units left behind at Molde and Åndalsnes scatter through the countryside or are arrested by German units.

Also departing Molde is HMS Glasgow. She is carrying the Norwegian gold reserves. When she arrives in Molde the town is on fire and the jetty ablaze and under attack from German fighters.

French troops and what remains of Brigadier Morgan's 148th Brigade board cruisers in Åndalsnes and Molde. German aircraft attack the evacuation fleet through the day and mount the first night attack of the war. (88) (Alex Gordon)

The 800 Squadron aircrew of Midshipman(A) Gallagher and Naval Airman Halifax stranded at Setnesmoen landing ground awoke to find themselves absolutely alone, the RAF and Royal Marine personnel having pulled back to be evacuated during the night. With the rapidly approaching dawn expected to bring on further German air attacks, and having no way to start their Skua, the pair made ready to salvage everything useful before burning it. While doing so, the pair found several old corroded Coffmann cartridges. Hastily re-packing their gear, they got their Skua started and managed a successful takeoff while under attack by an He-111. Without any maps of the area, Gallagher opted for his "best estimate" course to the Orkneys, and roughly three hours later made a successful landing at RNAS Hatston, none the worse for the experience!

ASW trawler HMS Jardine scuttled after being damaged by German aircraft off Norway the previous day.

ASW trawler HMS Warwickshire sunk by German aircraft off Trondheim, Norway. Raised by the Germans on 1 June 1940 and commissioned by them as NKi09/Alane. She was sunk on 19 July 1943 near Narvik, northern Norway by the Soviet submarine S-56.

GERMANY: Believing that the Scandinavian campaign is over, Hitler orders his generals to make their final preparations for an attack on the west. He told General Jodl and other military commanders to be prepared to launch operations on 5 May or within 24 hours of any later day.

Intelligence reports of an imminent German attack have been received by the Dutch and Belgian governments through the Vatican, which was alerted by German officers opposed to Hitler’s plans. Intercepts of the Vatican messages, decoded by the Germans, have been shown to Hitler. He intends to go ahead notwithstanding.

POLAND: Lodz: SS thugs have established a total reign of terror over Jews in this city. Women have been forced to dance naked at gunpoint, and all Jews are forced to wear armbands with the Star of David. The SS set fire to the synagogue and summoned the fire brigade - to stop the fire spreading to other buildings. Jews have been herded into a ghetto which at midnight tonight will be sealed off.

The ghetto is one of the most run-down areas of the city, comprising 32,000 mainly one-room apartments, only 700 of which have running water. Into these cramped and insanitary conditions the Nazis have kicked, beaten and prodded 160,000 people.

U.S.A.: A group of Pittsburgh residents offers a million dollar reward for the capture of Adolf Hitler alive.

The motion picture "That Hamilton Woman" is released in the U.S. Directed by Alexander Korda, this action adventure film stars Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Alan Mowbray and Gladys Cooper and depicts the ill-fated romance of Lord Admiral Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton. The film was nominated for four technical Academy Awards and won one.

GERMANY: A small Argus pulse-jet of 265lb static thrust flies for the first time suspended beneath a Gotha Go 145 biplane. This is the ancestor of the engine that powers the Fieseler Fi 103 flying bomb.

During the evening and night hours of 29 April, German bombers and dive bombers made a very effective raid on the port of Valetta on the island of Malta. They scored direct hits on a light cruiser and on antiaircraft positions, wharves and fuel tank depots, and set a destroyer on fire. Additional raids were made on the Luqa and Valetta airfields. The enemy lost two Hurricane fighters in aerial combats over the island. There were no German losses. In North Africa German and Italian dive bombers bombed Tobruk harbour, artillery positions at Fort Pilastro, and fortifications south of Via Balbia, with the heaviest calibre bombs.

Munich: Bavarians are outraged by a ban on crucifixes in their schools. The state culture minister, Adolf Wagner, has declared that crucifixes, church decorations and religious pictures "have no place in our schools" and ordered their gradual removal. Bavaria was the breeding ground of Nazism, but it is also intensely Catholic. Farmers have refused to deliver milk in protest, and parents have blocked school entrances or withdrawn their children. Michael von Faulhaber, the cardinal of Munich and Freising, has protested about the Nazis' continued "destruction of Christianity in public life."

ITALY: Count Ciano writes on a meeting with the King on "the Croatian question", "He is very happy, on the other hand, about the bestowal of a crown on a prince of his house. If the Duke of Aosta had been in Italy the King would have designated him without hesitation; as things stand, the only choice is between the Duke of Spoleto and the Duke of Pistoia. The King favours the first, because of his physical appearance and also, up to a certain point, because of his intellectual capacities...The Duce replies to Pavelich's letter, accepting the crown..."

GREECE: The last British, Australian, New Zealand and Polish troops were taken on board ship today from Kalamata in the Peloponnese after a fighting ten-day retreat from Thermopylae. About 7,000 men were captured at Kalamata by a German Panzer force before they could be evacuated.

However, 50,732 men were taken from harbours and beaches in this "second Dunkirk", called Operation Demon, and many have been transported to Crete for the island's defence. There was too little time however, to take off all their heavy weapons, trucks and aircraft. As the Allies left the Germans began occupying islands in the Aegean.

British and Empire forces lost 900 men in battle, 1,200 wounded and 9,000 taken prisoner. The Germans suffered 1,518 dead and 3,360 wounded in Greece, in addition to the 151 dead, 15 missing and 392 wounded in the Yugoslav campaign.

CRETE: Major-General Bernard Freyberg takes command of British and Imperial forces.

NORTH AFRICA: General Paulus allows a further attack against Tobruk. The artillery bombardment is supplemented by Stuka raids. This is the heaviest attack yet. The defence is not to be overcome.

IRAQ: The new pro-German Iraqi government ordered approximately 9,000 troops to march on the RAF station at Habbaniya, a few miles northwest of Baghdad, and to set up their 28 cannon in artillery positions on the surrounding plateau. There are 2,000 British troops and 9,000 civilians sheltering at the airbase.

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Trail commissioned.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "My Gal Sal" is released in the U.S. Directed by Irving Cummings, this musical stars Rita Hayworth, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, James Gleason and Phil Silvers. Gay 90s musical of songwriter Paul Dresser (Mature) in love with singer Hayworth. The film was nominated for two technical Academy Awards and won one.

The first four of the ten Lake-class U.S. Coast Guard cutters are transferred to the Royal Navy. USCGC Pontchartrain (CGC-46) becomes HMS Harland; USCGC Tahoe (CGC-47) becomes HMS Fishguard; USCGC Mendota (CGC-49) becomes HMS Culver; and USCGC Itasca (CGC-50) becomes HMS Gorleston. USCGC Itasca was the ship at Howland Island during the Amelia Earhart flight in 1937.

SS Nerissa sunk by German U-boat, off Ireland, 73 Canadian Army personnel and 6 RCN personnel lost.

At 2155, the Lassell was hit by one torpedo from U-107 and sank about 300 miles SW of the Cape Verde Islands. The ship had been in Convoy OB-309, which was dispersed on 19 April in 50°00N/23°50W. 17 crewmembers were lost. The master, second officer, 22 crewmembers and one passenger were picked up on 9 May by the Benvrackie, which was herself sunk four days later by U-105. 15 survivors from Lassell were lost. The master, nine others and the survivors of Benvrackie were rescued after 13 days in lifeboats by HMHS Oxfordshire and landed at Freetown. The chief officer, W.H. Underhill, four officers, 13 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up on 10 May in 10°57N/29°13W by the British merchantman Egba and landed at Freetown five days later.

UNITED KINGDOM: With renewed bombing attacks, civilian casualties this month went up to 938 killed and 998 injured.

POLAND: Warsaw: This month, 4,432 Jews have died in the ghetto of starvation and typhoid.

BARENTS SEA: The cruiser HMS EDINBURGH, with a cargo of Soviet gold, is torpedoed and badly damaged by U-456. She was then put into tow and was thus helpless when caught by 3 German destroyers and had to be scuttled to prevent possible capture.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day:

Shch-401 Northern Fleet off Fulei Island (sunk by German craft in Tana Fjord, former Shch-313) (Mike Yared)

The bridge at Ava north of the Irrawaddy is destroyed at one minute to midnight, as the British withdraw. The town of Mandalay is doomed. Burmese, Sikhs, Punjabis, Yorkshiremen, Gurkhas and Marines trudge by, carrying each others' wounded, with 900 miles of jungle ahead of them.

AUSTRALIA: Two Consolidated PBY-4 Catalinas of Patrol Squadron One Hundred One (VP-101) based at Perth, Western Australia, fly a circuitous route back to the Philippines and rescue 30 nurses from Corregidor Island.

MICRONESIA: Japanese carriers, Shokaku, Zuikaku and Shoho sail from Truk.
They are part of Operation "MO" (も) an amphibious assault on Port Moresby, New Guinea.

U.S.A.: The 78th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) and its three subordinate units, the 82d, 83d and 84th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), USAAF, are transferred to Muroc Army Air Base, Muroc, California on 30 Apr 42 and began training with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings.

The motion picture "My Gal Sal" is released in the U.S. Directed by Irving Cummings, this musical stars Rita Hayworth, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, James Gleason and Phil Silvers. Gay 90s musical of songwriter Paul Dresser (Mature) in love with singer Hayworth. The film was nominated for two technical Academy Awards and won one.

Destroyer escorts USS Harold C Thomas and Wileman laid down.

Destroyer USS McCook launched.

Submarine USS Peto launched.

Battleship USS Indiana commissioned.

Corvette USS Saucy commissioned.

Destroyer USS Bancroft and Woodworth commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0152, the Athelempress, dispersed from Convoy OS-25 was torpedoed and sunk by gunfire by U-162 180 miles east of Barbados. Two crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master and 18 crewmembers landed at Gros Inlet Bay, St Lucia. The chief officer and 27 crewmembers were picked up by the Norwegian tanker Atlantic and landed at Trinidad.

At 0336, the Ashkhabad was torpedoed by U-402 south of Cape Hatteras and was abandoned. On 3 May 1942, the wreck had to be scuttled with gunfire by a US warship.

The unescorted and unarmed Federal proceeded on a zigzag course at 8 knots for Cuba to obtain a cargo of molasses, when a lookout spotted U-507 three miles away on the horizon. The tanker changed course for land and the U-boat submerged. At 1810, U-507 surfaced about 450 yards away and began shelling the ship about five miles north of Gibara, Cuba. The first shell went through the quarters of the crew, killing the chief cook and wounding the third mate. After approximately 30 rounds at the rate of three to four rounds per minute the crew of eight officers and 25 men abandoned ship in one lifeboat and two rafts. The shellfire had destroyed the #3 and #4 lifeboat and made it impossible to launch the #2 boat. U-507 approached the tanker close to the port side and put more then 100 rounds into her. The wooden bridge was set on fire and three men were killed. The Federal settled on even keel, then listed to port, capsized and sank stern first an hour after the first shot was fired. A US Navy aircraft arrived at the scene one hour after the ship sank followed by a second aircraft 20 minutes later. They unsuccessfully searched for the U-boat and other survivors. At 2115, USAT Yarmouth circled the survivors several times and steamed away, due the danger of being torpedoed. Fishing craft from Gibara two and a half hours after the attack picked up the 15 survivors on the rafts. The 14 survivors in the boat followed the craft to shore. The third mate died from wounds after reaching shore.

SS Taborfjell sunk by sunk by U-576 at 41.52N, 67.43W.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: In an attempt to improve relations with the USSR, the Polish government in exile withdraws its request for a Red Cross inquiry into the Katyn massacre.

More people were killed or injured on the roads last year than the total casualties of the UK armed services in the first two years of war. On the battlefields 145,012 people died in those two years, while road casualties last year alone reached 147,500, despite a drop in the number of private cars on the road from two million in 1939 to a mere 718,000 by this year. Leslie Hore-Belisha, who introduced beacon crossings as a road safety measure when he was minister of transport, gave the figures in a speech at Blenheim.

London: The potential threat of a German long-range rocket offensive on England is now receiving top priority in government circles. On 11 April the war office submitted a report to the chiefs of staff. It concluded that the Germans were developing a rocket 95 feet in length, carrying a 1.25 ton warhead and having a range of 130 miles. The prime minister was told that the RAF's photographic interpretation unit at Medmenham, near Henley-on-Thames, ordered to check all air photographs covering areas within 130 miles of London and Southampton.

On 20 April, Duncan Sandys, Churchill's son-in-law and parliamentary secretary to the ministry of supply, was appointed to head a committee to review all evidence of German long-range rocket development. Mr Sandys thinks that the Nazis must have a special base.

A check of air photographs revealed that Peenemunde, on the Baltic, was a likely spot. Medmenham unearthed photographs taken by a bomber pilot on a raid against Kiel in May 1942, which revealed much building and mysterious earthworks. Some photographic sorties were immediately launched. On 22 April a Mosquito took photographs of the area. One of these revealed an object projecting from the seaward end of a building. In the next frame, taken four seconds later, the object had vanished and in its place was a puff of smoke. The British did not realize it, but the photographs show the 21st experimental firing of an A4 rocket. Nevertheless, the Sandys Committee has concluded that Peenemunde is an experimental station dealing with projectiles and explosives. If rockets are being developed there it will be a while before they are operational. Peenemunde is to be kept under observation and every effort made to establish its role.

EUROPE: Approximately 1.3 million forced labourers from occupied countries are now working as slaves for Germany.

POLAND: An International Medical Commission team drawn from German-occupied countries is today spending its third day in Katyn, compiling a report on the 4,143 bodies so far exhumed from a mass grave for murdered Polish officers. The massacre, which seems likely to be the work of Stalin's agents, has caused turmoil amongst Polish exiles. The Union of Polish Patriots in Moscow has accused the London-based Polish government in exile of co-operating in a Hitlerite provocation.

U.S.S.R.: Doroshich: Hungarian Honved guards herd sick and invalided male Jews into an infirmary, which is then padlocked and torched. Any escapees are shot. Around 800 Labour men are burned alive. (Russell Folsom)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Excited German intelligence chiefs cannot believe their luck. Top-secret British documents indicating the Allies' next move in the invasion of Europe have been found in a briefcase attached to the body of a British officer washed up on a Spanish beach, near the port of Huelva. A letter from Lord Louis Mountbatten to General Eisenhower indicates that Sardinia, not Sicily as assumed, is the area selected for the invasion of Europe.

What the Germans do not know is that they are the victims of an elaborate hoax, gruesomely codenamed 'Operation Mincemeat'. The body of "Major Martin" is believed to be that out of a down-and-out Londoner who died of pneumonia in an East End hospital. He was carried in an insulated canister and put into the sea by submarine HMS SERAPH. The briefcase was handed to the British consul, but not until the Abwehr had finished with it.

To add authenticity, "Major Martin" carried a picture of his girlfriend "Pam", a receipt for an engagement ring, a tailor's bill, theatre ticket stubs and a stiff letter from his bank manager. He will be given a military funeral and a death notice in The Times.

NORTH AFRICA: German Armour leads in retaking Djebel Bou Aoukaz but sustains heavy losses.

INDIA: For two weeks they have been arriving, gaunt figures trickling across the Chindwin river to the safety of British India. They are survivors of the first Chindit expedition behind enemy lines in Japanese-occupied Burma. Just over 2,000 of the original 3,000-strong force had made the return trip by yesterday, although 600 are so emaciated by nearly three months jungle warfare that they may never fight again.

The Chindits are pioneers of what their commander, Brigadier Wingate, calls "long-range penetration". Both the concept and its founder are still controversial within Regular Army ranks. As a plus there have been the Chindits' success in putting the Mandalay/Myitkyina railway out of action for four weeks and the intelligence acquired. Negatively, the Chindits were forced to withdraw and Japan retains control of Burma. Wingate, though, says that the expedition proves that the Allied soldier given training, can take on the Japanese at jungle warfare with success.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Algoma and Calgary returned St. John's from UK with Convoy ON-179, (51-ship convoy from Liverpool to in New York which arrived safely on 6 May 43) and from support of Operation Torch, North African Landings.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Another major sea battle is about to begin over the slow-moving westward bound convoy ONS-5. The Germans spotted the convoy yesterday 500 miles east of the southern tip of Greenland and sank one of the 42 merchant ships. Admiral Dönitz is now assembling a pack of 51 U-boats to strike at it before it reaches St. John's, Newfoundland. He can afford to: the U-boat fleet is now at a record level of 240 operational submarines.

But British code breakers have discovered the German plans, and yesterday five destroyers set off from St. John's to reinforce the convoy's escort. All available Royal Canadian Air Force Catalinas are also being prepared for air support.

The stage is set for a battle royal, and the outcome may well be decided by the weather. Already the gale force winds are making it difficult for the convoy to stay together. And the escort leader, the destroyer HMS Duncan, has used so much fuel that she has had to sail home.

The U.S. Navy turns over responsibility for convoys sailing between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and the UK to the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy.

At 2256, U-515 fired two stern torpedoes at Convoy TS-37 about 130 miles SW of Freetown and observed hits after 58 and 59 seconds. The first ship was seen sinking fast and another broke in two after being hit under the bridge. At 2257, one torpedo was fired, which struck a freighter amidships after 52 seconds. A fourth torpedo fired one minute later struck another freighter amidships, which exploded. At 2259, a fifth torpedo was fired and struck after 1 minute a ship, which immediately sank. A sixth torpedo fired at 2301 hit a freighter after 1 minute 30 seconds, but the sinking could not be observed. Henke claimed five ships of 31,000 tons sunk and another of 6,000 tons probably sunk. However, only four ships were hit and sunk, the Corabella, Bandar Shahpour, Kota Tjandi and Nagina. One passenger from the Bandar Shahpour was lost. The master, 61 crewmembers, eight gunners and seven passengers were picked up by trawler HMS Birdlip and landed at Freetown the next day. Nine crewmembers from Corabella were lost. The master, 30 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by Birdlip and landed at Freetown the next day. The third officer Aarts and five crewmembers from the Kota Tjandi were lost. Two crewmembers from the Nagina were lost. The master, 100 crewmembers and ten gunners were picked up by Birdlip and landed at Freetown.

UNITED KINGDOM: Civilian air raid casualties this month were 146 dead and 226 injured.

In an all-out aerial assault on enemy communications in northern Europe, goods trains, road and rail bridges, radar installations, wireless telegraphy stations and power station transformers within 150 miles of the planned invasion zone are being pounded in day and night attacks. The bombing range, extending from Liege, in Belgium, to Orleans in central France, is calculated to leave the Germans guessing as to the landing area.

About 1,000 locomotives have been knocked out in recent months; one squadron wrecked 34 on two nights under a "Bombers' moon". Trains seeking refuge in tunnels are sealed inside by bombs at each entrance. Some 18,000 labourers from the Todt Organization, allocated to Rommel after his urgent appeals for help in strengthening coastal defences, have had to be put to work repairing railway tracks, some 75% of which have become unusable in northern France.

Allied servicemen assemble in Britain: Southern England is a gigantic armed camp with vast tank, truck and artillery parks, and innumerable arms dumps to, to equip an invasion force of over 3.5 million men, over a million of them Americans.

The initial assault will be carried out by Americans, Britons - with Irish volunteers - and Canadians. But almost every occupied country in Europe will join in the assault on the Germans: the French have Gen Leclerc's 2nd Armoured Division from North Africa; the Poles an armoured division and nine air squadrons; the Belgians a brigade and two squadrons; the Dutch a brigade and two squadrons; the Norwegians four squadrons and the Czechs three. The Australians and New Zealanders have five air squadrons each.

"Prefab" house is built in three days: London: The first pre-fabricated or factory-made house has been erected in three days in London and is now on view. The single-storey house of 600 square feet arrived in parts on Wednesday and was ready for occupation by Saturday afternoon. Mr. Churchill has said that 500,000 will be erected for bombed-out families and demobilised servicemen after the war.

The "pre-fab", made of sheet steel lined with plywood, has two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom, lavatory and bicycle shed. A single wall unit comprises a bath and wash-basin on one side and a cooker, sink and refrigerator on the other. It will cost £550.

FRANCE: Sunday, 30 April, 1944

After an early breakfast, -Generalfeldmarschall- Erwin Rommel and his inspection group board a patrol boat in the port of Royan (north bank of the Gironde River) and travel south-southwest across the estuary. They pass the destroyer -Z-37- and circle her once in salutation.
The crew responds smartly, turning out in parade formation, (they've been told that the Desert Fox is on that little patrol boat) and returning salutes. Rommel is moved.

Their cars are waiting for them, and they leave southward towards Bordeaux. They pass a large section of coast recently ravaged by a forest fire. This fire had detonated or destroyed five percent of the estimated 200,000 mines laid there. On top of that, the areas is too lightly defended.
Rommel holds his tongue. After all, this area is commanded by 1st Army commander Johannes Blaskowitz.
Technically, the 1st is directly subordinate to OB West, Field Marshal von Rundstedt, and it is only a matter of time before the 1st and the 19th are combined to form a new army group.* So there's no need to stir up trouble.

Rommel finally reaches Blaskowitz's headquarters at Bordeaux late in the morning. Admiral Ruge (Rommel's Naval Advisor) and the 1st Army staff go into conference, while Rommel and Blaskowitz talk privately for a short while.

Blaskowitz and Rommel continue talking through lunch, relating their past experiences. Rommel of course talks about North Africa (specifically, El Alamein), and Gen. Blaskowitz tells of his experiences in Poland in `39, briefly going over the atrocities that he had protested
against so vehemently.

By 1 P.M., Rommel and co. are on the road again on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. They finally reach the town of Biarritz.

That evening, they dine in the soldier's mess, being served on priceless Basque china. Rommel finds himself as usual the centre of attention, surrounded by
smiling, adulating men. He beams and, rising to the occasion, he launches into one of his North African stories. This one is about his first retreat, and the
resulting problems that he had experienced with that bombast Italian General Bastico. (1)

When he finally finishes, the men make comments and ask him questions, trying to get him to converse with them, relishing their time with him. He tries
answering them, and listens patiently when here or there someone tells some a short story of his own.

By now, the mess hall is packed. Men have come from near and far to see him and to hear him speak. They prod him for some time, asking him about things like fighting the British in North Africa, the Italians, his hectic flight across France, and of course, the upcoming invasion.

He finally realizes that it is getting late, and that he is keeping these men from their duties. Rising from the table, he thanks everyone sincerely for letting him dine with them. In turn, the officer-in-charge of the mess thanks him profoundly for the esteemed privilege of dining with them. Rommel smiles.

He rises to leave, when suddenly the men impulsively break out into a rousing cheer. They are clapping wildly, some of them in tears. They are applauding him---The Desert Fox. A true German hero. He is moved, and fights to keep his own tears from coming.

They can see now that he wants to say something, so the cheering dies down. Gazing at them, he finds it difficult to speak. With a slight tremor in his voice, he thanks the men sincerely for their warmth and fond sentiment. Then he turns and leaves.

It is a day he will remember for quite a while --- this elegant dinner at Biarritz.
=====

*. Von Rundstedt had proposed it to OKW back in March and had designated that it go to Blaskowitz. OKW had agreed at the beginning of April.

Peter Margaritis

Yes, all that "bombast Italian General Bastico" did was to warn Rommel, during their first meeting, that the British would launch a relief operation before Rommel would be able to mount his own set-piece attack to take Tobruk (the British did, as Bastico predicted, which resulted in Rommel's retreat mentioned above). This immediately got him on the "Desert Fox's" bad side (never mind that it was good advice, and good military analysis, nor the inconvenient fact that Bastico was Rommel's superior and commander-in-chief in the agreed-upon Axis chain of command).

In the days before the British offensive that Bastico correctly predicted (the "Crusader" operation of November-December '41), Bastico and his chief of intelligence, Major Revetria, repeatedly pointed out signs of the British build-up (new airfields and supply dumps, extension of new rail lines toward the frontier, extensive forward movement of vehicles, etc), but Rommel, intent on getting his own attack off first (it was scheduled for three days after the British offensive began) ordered his staff to ignore them. As a result, many of the German units were taken by surprise in the first hours of the British assault, and Rommel arguably had his butt saved by the Italian mechanized units on the southern flank (Ariete armoured and Trieste motorized divisions), which had been alerted, and which engaged and took one-quarter of the British tank strength out of the fight for the first 48 hours of the operation.

Had this powerful force, with 160 tanks before they ran into the Italians, been able to fall on the right flank of the already surprised and disorganized German forces as planned, the battle might have been decided in favour of the British within the first 48 hours. As it was, the Italians knocked out about 50 tanks, and, combined with breakdowns, the British force had its working armour cut in half. The battle would become a prolonged affair of attrition, lasting from November 19 until December 8th. Rommel, recovering quickly as always, had essentially won the battle on "Totensonntag," November 23rd, but then he inexplicably left the field around Tobruk in his ill-conceived "dash to the wire," an improvised invasion of Egypt, which accomplished nothing except to give the British three full days to recover and regroup their still-superior tank strength. When Rommel eventually had to give up the prolonged slugging-match, he predictably blamed the failure of the totally-spent Italian armoured units to cooperate effectively with his panzers in the last few days of the battle for his entire defeat. He then left the Italians (Ariete armoured and Pavia infantry divisions) to cover his retreat, which they did effectively in a series of rear-guard engagements with the British in mid-December.

After this debacle, most of which arguably can be directly laid at Rommel's feet (first of all, for refusing to believe unmistakable signs of the coming British offensive, then for throwing away an apparent victory with his "dash to the wire"), Rommel deliberately kept his superior Bastico waiting for a half hour outside his headquarters, then launched into a tirade blaming the Italians for all his troubles. Bastico, it might be mentioned, was a highly successful field commander himself-- he was senior to Rommel not only in rank but in experience, having commanded corps-sized formations in Ethiopia and Spain, and having won major victories in both places without losing a single battle. He had also been theatre commander in the Aegean prior to coming to North Africa, and was furthermore something of an intellectual as well, an author on the subject of the art of war who had taught military history at the Italian naval academy and edited Italy's most prestigious military journal. In short, Bastico wasn't the type to take that sort of guff, especially from his subordinate (what commanding officer of an entire theatre would?-- could you imagine Monty or MacArthur listening to this from one of their corps commanders?), and this session turned stormy in a hurry. At one point Rommel blurted out that all was lost, and that he would retreat with his troops and try to get himself interned in (Vichy French) Tunisia. So much for the calm and confident "Desert Fox," who never lost his head. This was in December 1941!

It was about this time, or shortly thereafter, that Rommel also ignored warnings from Cavallero, the Chief of the Italian General Staff, that the Allies were reading his radio traffic (Rommel trusted the "unbreakable" Enigma and instead, of course, blamed those notoriously unreliable Italians for "security leaks"). Rommel did call Bastico "Bombastico," and his staff didn't like the Italian much either, but I would suggest that a lot of this had to do with the simple fact that Bastico didn't tolerate the rank insubordination and disrespect with which Rommel was accustomed to treating his Italian allies. Incidentally, Rommel's career included a long string of senior German officers who also felt he was intolerably insubordinate, only obeying the orders he agreed with (part of the reason that by the end of 1942 Kesselring was conniving with the Italians to get rid of him), and regularly going over his commanders' heads, exploiting his close personal ties with Hitler. The 1942 desert battles provided the ultimate example of this rank disregard of all established military procedure and etiquette. Rommel launched his own offensive in January 1942, against orders, and did not even notify Bastico (I emphasize again, his immediate superior and the commander of the theatre) until it was already underway. Bastico then grudgingly supported him, putting the interests of the cause above his personal feelings, and was rewarded by being slagged by Rommel afterwards (see "The Rommel Papers," for instance) for a short delay in releasing the Italian armoured units (his only mobile reserves) to support the unauthorized advance. Later, Rommel violated clear orders from both Cavallero and Kesselring in order to invade Egypt again, an action which resulted in the defeat and virtual destruction of his army within months, again without accomplishing anything beyond scaring the daylights out of the British for a few weeks.

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Navy records 1 submarine loss during the month that is not listed by day:

CAROLINE ISLANDS: Having destroyed the Japanese base at Truk and shot down 93 of Japan's 104 planes, nine US destroyers and eight cruisers shell the Sawatans.

USN Task Force 58 continues air strikes against Japanese installations in especially Truk Atoll. During this two-day attack that began yesterday, only three small ships are found in the harbour that once teemed with ships; all three are sunk. An IJN submarine is also sunk 20 miles (32 km) south of Truk by aircraft and destroyers. In the afternoon, nine heavy cruisers and eight destroyers begin a two-hour bombardment of an airfield on Satawan Island. During this two-day raid, 65 Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground.

ICELAND: U-955 landed espionage agents Ernst Fresenius, Sigurður Juliusson and Hjalti Björnsson.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Liberty Ship SS William S Thayer sunk by U-711 at 73.46N, 19.10E.

Führerbunker: Eva Braun had no appetite for lunch today, so Hitler dined with his two secretaries and his cook. At 3.30 pm having finished his meal, he sent for Eva, his bride of 36 hours, and they retired to his quarters. In the passage, Goebbels and a few other faithful followers waited. A single shot rang out.

After some minutes they opened the door. The body of Adolf Hitler, dripping blood, was slumped on a couch. He had shot himself in the mouth. Beside him was Eva Braun. Two revolvers lay on the floor, but she had not used hers; she had taken poison. Hitler's valet, SS Major Heinz Linge, and a servant carried Hitler's body, wrapped in an army blanket, up to the garden of the Chancellery. Martin Bormann brought Eva Braun's, then handed it to the Führer's chauffeur Erich Kempka.

With Russian shells exploding all around, Linge and Kempka slid the bodies into a shell hole. The bodies were doused with petrol and set alight with a burning rag. Goebbels stood to attention and raised his right hand in the Nazi salute. The propaganda wizard had risen to the heights with Hitler; now he was preparing to follow him in death.

It was Himmler's "treachery" - the SS chief was trying to make a separate peace with the western Allies - that persuaded Hitler that the end had come. But first his mistress's long-cherished desire must be fulfilled. In the early hours of Sunday, a city councillor called Wagner was tracked down fighting with the Volkstürm and brought to the bunker to marry the Führer and Eva, who both swore that they were "of complete Aryan descent". In the space on the marriage form for the name of his father (Schicklgruber) Hitler left a blank. The bride began to write "Eva Braun", stopped, struck out the "B" and wrote "Eva Hitler". The next day a pistol shot put an end to the "Thousand Year Reich" that lasted for little more than twelve years.

Berlin: General Weidling's diary (90) courtesy of Russ Folsom:
It took us nearly an hour to get to the Chancellery through the house-ruins and half-collapsed cellars. In the Chancellery I was taken straight to the Fuhrer's room, where there were Reichsminister Göbbels, Reichsleiter Bormann, and General Krebs. The latter gave me the following information:

- His body had already been cremated in a crater in the garden of the Chancellery.

- The strictest silence must be maintained. I was made personally responsible for keeping the secret pending subsequent developments.

- Of the outside world, only Marshal Stalin had been informed by radio of Hitler's suicide. (5)

- Sector commander Lt.Gen.Seifert had received orders to make contact with the local Russian commanders and to request safe conduct for General Krebs to the Russian High Command.

- General Krebs was to give the Russian High Command the following information: The Fuhrer's suicide, the contents of his will, a request for an armistice, and the government's wish to open negotiations with Russia about the surrender of Germany.

I was deeply shocked...so this was the end. Between 0200 and 0300 hours on May 1st General Krebs was at last successfully passed through our lines. A few hours later, another very regrettable incident took place, which unfortunately did not pass off so easily. When Colonel von Dufving had to return, bringing the telephone cable to establish a direct link with the Chancellery, his Russian escort, walking beside him, was seriously wounded by a sudden burst of fire. There were no longer organised troops defending Berlin, but an armed mob.

Flensburg: The new German "Führer" is to be the commander of the German navy. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. Appalled by Himmler's treachery and Göring's incompetence, Hitler appointed the former U-boat commander as president of the Reich because he was the only man left to trust. In a broadcast tomorrow, Dönitz plans to say that the war will continue: but he must realize that all he can do is delay Germany's inevitable defeat.

AUSTRIA: French forces enter Austria near Lake Constance.

NORWAY: U-2511 set out from Bergen for her first and last patrol. The crew served under very experienced U-boat officers like Oak-Leaves owner Korvkpt. Adalbert Schnee, the former very successful commander of U-201 and then two years one of closest staff members of Dönitz. The destination for that patrol was to be the Caribbean, where the boat had should be tested under all conditions. On 1 May, U-2511 had the first enemy contacts. Three days later, on 4 May 1945 Adalbert Schnee received the ceasefire orders. A few hours later U-2511 made a contact with cruiser HMS Norfolk among some other British warships. The boat approached to within 500 meters of the British warship without any sonar contact from the enemy destroyers. Schnee had here the possibility for an absolute deadly attack against the cruiser, but then he left the scene without attacking and headed back to base. U-2511 reached Bergen on the 5 May 1945. There the commander a few days later had a talk with officers of the HMS Norfolk and they could not believe the fact, that U-2511 was able to get so close without any sonar contact.

JAPAN: Japanese counterattacks and other movements on the Shuri Line are defeated on Okinawa. The Maeda and Kochi Ridge positions are the scenes of heavy fighting. The 1st Marine Division and the 77th Division US Army take over from the 27th and 96th Divisions.

Off Okinawa, the light minelayer USS J. William Ditter (DM-31) is damaged during an air raid while kamikazes damage minelayer USS Terror (CM-5) and the U.S. freighter SS S. Hall Young.

RYUKYU ISLANDS: IE SHIMA: VII Fighter Command, United States' Seventh Air Force bases the 318th Fighter Group flying P-47Ns on this island.

(5) This no doubt refers to the post-suicide Goebbels-Krebs signal attempts to their Soviet counterparts in Berlin that Hitler was dead. There is no proof here that Stalin knew reliably of *Hitler's death* on April 30th, or even by May 1st of 1945. Indeed, considering the multifarious claims in works on the exact circumstances of Adolf Hitler's death published since the war, it is highly improbable that Stalin had any concrete knowledge of the Hitler's actual demise before the SMERSH troops of 79th Rifle Corps had made their preliminary searches of the Reichskanzlei and the Bunker complex proper, on or about May 2nd and 3rd, 1945.