Mr. Amery pointed at the Prime Minister as he uttered them. It was the most dramatic moment in the tumultuous two-day debate on the disastrous Norway campaign.

In the vote at the end the government’s majority was reduced to 81 from a normal figure of over 200. Some 40 Tories, including former cabinet members, voted with the opposition parties against Mr. Chamberlain. A large number of other Tories deliberately abstained from voting.

Most MPs now feel that a change in premiership must be imminent. Ahead of the critical vote, Chamberlain petulantly snapped: "I have got my friends in the House." He soon discovered how many of them deserted him when he faced a vote of no-confidence.

As the shaken Prime Minister left the house, Harold Macmillan and a few other Tory rebels sang the opening bars of ‘Rule Britannia’ while others chanted: "Go, Go, Go!"

There were startling moment before that. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, a Tory MP and hero of the last war, arrived in the House in full uniform with six rows of medal ribbons on his chest. He denounced Mr. Chamberlain and volunteered personally to lead another naval assault on the enemy in Norway.

As First Lord of the Admiralty Mr. Churchill stoutly declared that he took the fullest share of responsibility for the Norwegian campaign. David Lloyd George, Prime Minister in the last war, told him: "Don't allow yourself to be converted into an air-raid shelter to keep the splinters from your colleagues."

Corvettes HMS Godetia and Primrose launched.

GERMANY: Jodl’s Diary: Alarming news from Holland. Cancelling of furloughs, evacuations, roadblocks, other mobilisation methods ... Fuhrer does not want to wait any longer. Göring  wants postponement until the 10th, at least ... Fuhrer is very agitated; the he consents to postponement until May 10, which he says is against his intuition. But not one day longer ...

U-163 laid down.

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN: Mark Horan adds: 

HMS Glorious is anchored at Greenock taking on provisions, ordnance, stores, and supplies. HMS Furious remains in dockyard hands.

HMS Ark Royal is operating well off Narvik in position 70.30N, 17.00E, covering the Allied forces at Harstad and the surrounding areas.  The intent is to maintain a standing Fighter Patrol throughout the day.
Fighter Patrols are flown off at 0540, 0805, 1040, 1305, 1600, and 1810.  The fourth patrol of three Skuas of 803 Squadron (Lt. W. P. Lucy, RN) makes the first contact when Midshipman (A) A. S. Griffith, RN  engages and damages a Ju-88 and then an He-111.  The fifth patrol of three Skuas of 803 Squadron (Lt. L. A. Harris, RM) forces down a Do-26 of KGrzbv 108 in Ofotfjord, but Skua 8M:L2916 takes return fire in its engine and is forced down near Tovik, with a severed oil line.  The crew, Sub-Lieutenant P. N. Charlton, RN (P) and Naval Airman F. Culliford, RN (AG) destroy the aircraft and eventually get to friendly forces.

Other activity sees an 820 Squadron Swordfish fly a photo reconnaissance mission over Bogen at request of Flag Officer Narvik, and a afternoon A/S patrol around the Task Force by two 810 Squadron machines.  On return, Swordfish 2R crashes over the side while landing aboard, seriously injuring the pilot, Although the crew, Acting Sub-Lieutenant(A) Woodrow Gregory Adams, RN (P), Sub-Lieutenant H. E. H. Pain, RN (O) and Leading Airman H. G. Edwards, RN (AG) were all rescued by HMS Maori, Adams was severely injured and died on 5 October 1940.

Flying for the day ceases at 2130 when the last fighter patrol is recovered.

U.S.S.R.: Marshal Semyon K Timoshenko is appointed Commissar for Defence, replacing Voroshilov.

CHINA: Japanese forces seize Tsaoyang, in Hupeh province.

CANADA: Submarine FS Ajax departed Halifax with escort for Convoy HX-41.

London: Churchill writes to Ismay:

"I must have the advice of the Staffs upon the Syrian business available for Cabinet this morning. A supreme effort must be made to prevent the Germans getting a foothold in Syria with small forces and then using Syria as a jumping-off ground for the air domination of Iraq and Persia. ... We ought to help in every way without minding Vichy."

RAF Bomber Command: 359 bombers led the strongest mission yet against Germany. Of these aircraft, 317 attacjed Hamburg and Bremen.

RAF Fighter Command: During the night German forces made simultaneous raids on 20 British airfields.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Silicia mined and sunk off the Humber.

Submarine HMS Sickle laid down.

GERMANY:

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Tiger Convoy comes under air attack, first by the Italian Air Force, then the Luftwaffe. Over the day,  Ark Royal's twelve Fairey Fulmars drove off over fifty aircraft, with the assistance of targeting information from HMS Sheffield's radar and anti-aircraft fire from the escorts. During the initial waves, one Fulmar is lost, killing Flight Lieutenant Rupert Tillard and Lieutenant Mark Somerville, Admiral Somerville's nephew; another is destroyed with the aircrew recovered, while others are damaged.

INDIAN OCEAN: On patrol north of the Seychelles, heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall finds and sinks the raider 'Pinguin'. This is the first raider to be hunted down, having accounted for 28 ships of 136,500 tons.

Alex Gordon adds: 

"Pinguin" (ship 33) under Cmdr. Ernst-Felix Krüder began her war cruise on 15 June 1940. Pinguin sank 12 ships, captured 16 as prizes, whilst another four ships were attributed to her mines. The 136 550 tons referred to, is the aggregate of both sinkings and captures. However, the biggest prize of all was taken when "Pinguin" captured the entire Norwegian Antarctic Whaling fleet, including two factory ships, eleven whalers, and a tanker without firing a shot! After the war ended both of the factory ships were found damaged by Allied bombing in a French Atlantic port.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: USAT Washington arrived in Manila with 39 more fliers. (Marc Small)

AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Warrnambool launched.

CANADA: Training ship HMCS Millicette assigned to HMCS Montcalm.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The war cabinet orders a new offensive in the Libyan desert.

The British Foreign Office issued a statement announcing that the British commanders of the troops who took Madagascar immediately informed the French authorities that Madagascar would remain French and would be restored to French sovereignty after the war.

ASW trawler HMS Whiting commissioned.

FRANCE: Paris: Capitaine Paul Sézille, head of the Gestapo funded Institut des Questions Juives tasked with propagating anti-Semitism, writes to Dannecker complaining that Jewish children in schools, notably in the Lycée Condorcet, "which had always been a Jewish lycée," and in the lycée Jules Ferry, had not yet been separated out. French porters, furthermore, had been observed carrying luggage for Jews.

GERMANY: U-539 laid down.

U.S.S.R.: The German offensive for 1942, Operation Bustard, opens in Russia in the Crimea led by von Manstein's 22nd Panzer Division. They aim to recapture the Kerch peninsula.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The Battle of the Coral Sea continues with the simultaneous sightings by both sides of each other. Attacks are quickly mounted. The USS Lexington sinks and the USS Yorktown is damaged. The IJN Shokaku is damaged.

At approximately 0830 hours local, a search plane from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) locates the Japanese carrier force consisting of the aircraft carriers HIJMS Shohaku and HIJMS Zuikaku south of San Cristobal Island, Solomon Islands. [San Cristobal Island is 38 miles (61.2 km) southeast of Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands.] A carrier strike force is launched by the Americans between 0915 and 0925 hours; the Yorktown Air Group in USS Yorktown (CV-5) launches 30 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, nine Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers and 14 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters while the Lexington Air Group in USS Lexington launches 24 SBDs, 12 TBDs and ten F4Fs. 

At approximately the same time, the two Japanese aircraft carriers launch a strike force against the Americans.

The Yorktown SBDs locate both Japanese carriers at 1032 hours local but orbit the ships awaiting the arrival of the slower TBDs giving the Japanese time to launch Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters, Allied Code Name "Zeke." By the time the TBDs arrive, the HIJMS Zuikaku is hidden by a rain squall and the Americans attack HIJMS Shokaku. The TBDs attack with torpedoes but all miss while the SBD dive bombers score two hits with 1,000-pound (453.6 kg) bombs. TBDs of the Lexington Air Group attack with torpedoes but fail to hit the ship while four Lexington SBDs score one hit on the ship; only four of the 24 Lexington SBDs locate the target. HIJMS Shokaku is heavily damaged and retires; it takes two months to repair her. 

The cost to the USN is nine SBDs, two TBDs and three F4Fs. At 1118 hours local, the Japanese attack force consisting of 18 Nakajima B5N Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers, Allied Code Name "Kate;" 33 Aichi D3A Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers, Allied Code Name "Val;" and 18 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters arrive over the USN's carriers. The "Kates" attack USS Lexington with torpedoes and she is struck by two torpedos on her port side. At the same time, "Vals" put three bombs into her, producing a 7 degree list to port and several raging fires. By 1245 hours damage control parties have brought the fires under control and returned the ship to an even keel; making 25 knots, she begins to recover her air group. Then suddenly at 1247, the ship is shaken by a tremendous explosion, caused by the ignition of gasoline vapors below, and again fire rage out of control.

At 1558 hours, the captain secured salvage operations, and ordered all hands to the flight deck. At 1707 hours, he ordered, "abandon ship!" Lexington blazed on, flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air until a destroyer sinks her with two torpedoes.

The USS Yorktown is also attacked by the Japanese formation and managed to avoid eight torpedoes until a bomb from a "Val" penetrated the flight deck and exploded below decks, killing or seriously injuring 66 men. The fires were brought under control and flight operations continued.

In addition to the damage to HIJMS Shokaku, HIJMS Zuikaku's air group suffers heavy losses estimated at eight "Kates," 15 "Vals," and six "Zekes," preventing the Japanese from using these ships for several months.

The Japanese have won a tactical victory sinking three USN ships (Lexington, the destroyer USS Sims and the oiler USS Neosho) but the Allies have won a strategic victory by forcing the Japanese to abandon the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea thereby keeping the sea lanes between the U.S. and Australia open. The USN also realizes that the number of fighter aircraft on the carriers must be increased to provide adequate protection.

Three U.S. sailors are awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Lieutenant John J. Powers, USN, of Bombing Squadron Five (VB-5) in USS Yorktown is awarded the medal posthumously for his attack on HIJMS Shokaku; Lieutenant (jg) William E. Hall, USNR, of Scouting Squadron Two (VS-2) in USS Lexington is awarded his medal for shooting down three Japanese aircraft while flying an SBD; and Lieutenant Milton  E. Ricketts, USN, a damage control officer in USS Yorktown, is awarded the medal posthumously for fighting the fires aboard the ship. The citations for their awards may be viewed.

Japanese plans for an attack on Port Moresby, New Guinea. This is the first setback for the Japanese offensive. It is also the first carrier vs. carrier battle in history. Neither of the opposing naval forces will see the other side.

With the sinking of USS Lexington her carrier air group is disbanded.

A stochastic analysis of the battle is here.

COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS: A mutiny among Commonwealth troops stationed here, results in a Field General Court Martial at which three servicemen are sentenced to death. This mutiny causes the disbandment of the Coastal Battery RGA and is the subject of a book, The Cocos Islands Mutiny by Noel Crusz. (Daniel Ross)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Matapedia arrived Pictou , Nova Scotia for refit.

U.S.A.: Alvin York is commissioned as Major, USA. York, as Sgt York in WWI received the MOH.

78th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) and its three subordinate units, the 82d, 83d and 84th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor) (USAAF), moves to San Diego Municipal Airport, California and continues to train for combat with P-38's and also provide air defence for the west coast.

The motion picture "In This Our Life" is released in the U.S. Directed by John Huston, this drama stars Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Billie Burke and Hattie McDaniel with a bit part by Walter Huston. Based on the Ellen Glasgow novel, this film about a dysfunctional family has Davis stealing her sister's (de Havilland) husband and then drives him to drink. She returns home and continues to disrupt her sister's life.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Mont Louis (1,905 GRT), Canadian freighter Capt Walter Bowen, Master, torpedoed and sunk off British Guyana in position 08.23N, 058.44W, by U-162, FKpt Jürgen Wattenberg, CO of her crew of 21, 13 were lost. Mont Louis was proceeding independently carrying a load of bauxite ore from Dutch Guyana for transhipment at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The ship was struck by a single torpedo late in the evening and sank in less than two minutes. The survivors, including the master, were rescued by a small Nova Scotian schooner and taken to Georgetown, British Guyana.

At 1812, the unescorted and unarmed Ohioan was torpedoed by U-564 about 10 miles off Boynton Beach, Florida, while steaming on a nonevasive course at 14.5 knots. One torpedo struck on the starboard side at the #4 hold and caused the ship to sink by the stern within three minutes, rolling over from starboard to port. The eight officers and 29 crewmen tried to launch two lifeboats, but the first swamped when it touched the water while the second was cut from its falls but did not float. The suction of the sinking ship caused the majority of the casualties of one officer and 14 crewmen. The survivors rescued themselves on six rafts that had floated free and were rescued by the USCG. They were brought to West Palm Beach, where four had to be hospitalized.

SS Torny sunk by U-507 at 26.40N, 86.40W.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Eisenhower sets D-Day, the date for the Allied invasion of Europe at 5 June.

Submarine HMS Springer laid down.

Submarine FS Doris (ex-HMS Vineyard) launched.

GERMANY: US aircraft attacked Berlin and Brunswick, in north Germany, today. The Luftwaffe threw most of its resources into the battle. Brunswick was attacked by 287 Liberators and 49 Fortresses, and Berlin by 378 Liberators. More than 200 interceptors were reported over Brunswick and another 100 over Berlin. Allied pilots spoke of aircraft in combat from 23,000 feet down to ground level. In this aerial war of attrition, 119 German aircraft are said to have been destroyed, 59 by US fighters and 60 by bomber gunners. Some German pilots are reported to have tried to bring down the heavy US bombers by ramming, a suicidal gesture. The Americans lost 36 bombers and 13 fighters.

The attack on Berlin was the second in two days. In other raids of the last 24 hours, the French and Belgian rail systems have been hit as part of the pre-invasion strategy. In another attack aimed at cutting aviation fuel supplies, RAF planes bombed targets in Romania.

U-2326 laid down.

HUNGARY: Budapest: Adolf Eichmann">Eichmann, the head of the Jewish office of the Gestapo, is holding the Jews of Hungary hostage. Joel Brand, a member of the Hungarian Jewish Assistance and Rescue Committee, is being sent to Turkey. To save the Jews, he must persuade the Allied representatives there to provide Germany with 10,000 heavy trucks. But a first convoy of Hungarian Jews arrived at Auschwitz on 28 April; it is hard to imagine that it will be the last.

U.S.S.R.: Hitler now gives in about allowing a full scale withdrawal from the Crimea.

NORWAY: The carrier HMS FURIOUS and her escort carriers HMS SEARCHER and HMS EMPEROR are conducting an antishipping sweep along the Norwegian coast. The F6F Hellcats of 800 Squadron FAA are escorting a Barracuda strike group when they are attacked by a mixed group of Me 109 and Fw 190s, number not specified in my source, Barrett Tillman's "Hellcat." Tillman says that both German fighter types were faster than the Hellcat "and both could stay with an F6F through most of a long dive. The Grumman's great advantage was a tighter turning radius, and the Emperor's pilots used it as best they could." Two Hellcats, two Me 109s, and one Fw 190 were shot down. (Keith Allen)(254)

ITALY: Nine U.S. Naval Aviators from Cruiser Scouting Squadron Eight (VCS-8) are assigned to the Twelfth Air Force's 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron based at Santa Maria, Italy for flight training and combat operations in the North American F-6 Mustang photographic reconnaissance aircraft. Previous combat experience with the USN's cruiser- and battleship-launched Curtiss SOC Seagull and Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes used in air spotting and reconnaissance missions proved both types were vulnerable to enemy fighters and AA fire. A total of eleven Naval Aviators fly with the USAAF in support of the Italian campaign and the invasion of southern France until 2 September 1944 when they are returned to their ships. During their tour with the USAAF, the sailors flew missions from Italy, Corsica and France.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine USS Snook (SS-279), CO John F. Walling, is listed as missing after today, east of Formosa All hands lost. (Joe Sauder)