Posted on 04/25/2010 5:25:18 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
It’s those Nazis again! Who is going to stop them?!
Bevmo?
bump
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/apr40/f25apr40.htm
Allies resist German advance
Thursday, April 25, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Norway... The fighting in the Gudbrandsdal continues. The British 15th Brigade and the Norwegian units put up a fierce resistance but are repeatedly forced back. The Germans advance even more rapidly in the Osterdal. In the north Norwegian forces begin attacks toward Narvik.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/25.htm
April 25th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Bombing - Kjeller, Fornebu and Aalborg airfields
77 Sqn. Six aircraft. One returned U/S, two attacked shipping without result, three attacked airfields.
102 Sqn. Two aircraft to Aalborg. Intense opposition. One FTR.
Destroyer HMS Obdurate laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ÉIRE: Dublin: An IRA landmine kills 6 people.
NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:
Six Blenheims searched Hardanger and neighbouring fjords. and bombed harbour works and a railway station in Granvins Fjord and shipping at Ulvik; a medium sized transport was sunk. Two German flying boats were also encountered, one was sunk and the other seriously damaged. One Blenheim FTR.
RAF Coastal Command: Blenheims shoot down a He-111 and Hudsons make recconnaissance’s of the Norwegian coast.
25 April was expected to be a big day, as the arrival of the two additional carriers, this time carrying fighters, was expected to greatly assist the Army and Navy units operating in Northern Norway.
The big effort was to occur in and around Trondheim (where the Germans
were), and Åndalsnes to the South and Namsos to the North (the British landing sites). At 0300, the two carriers were in position 65.12 N, 8.24 E in an overcast sky a force 2 wind out of the NW and 35 foot swells. The strike planes went in several waves:
Wave 1: At 0310 HMS Ark Royal commenced launching 14 Swordfish, each armed with 4x250 lb GP and 8x20 lb Cooper bombs. At 0330 the attackers took their departure, OC Lt-Cdr. Guy Beauchamp Hodgkinson, RN, leading six of 820 Squadron’s Swordfish heading for the German airfield at Vaernes, while Capt. Nigel Robert Mackie Skene, RM, leading seven of 810 Squadron’s Swordfish (the other, 2K:L2768 crashed on takeoff, thankfully the crew, Lieutenant N. R. Corbet-Milward, RN (P) and Petty Officer J. Black, RN (AG), were rescued by the plane guard destroyer. ) was heading for Jonsvatnet Lake outside of Trondheim, where many German Transport aircraft had been observed the prior evening. They had orders to switch to Vaernes if no enemy aircraft were found. At the same time, HMS Glorious dispatched Lt. W. P. Lucy, RN leading five Skuas of 803 Squadron’s Blue and Red sections, to attack shipping and seaplanes believed to be in Trondheim harbour. From there they were to shift to the Lake and cover the slower Swordfish during their attack
Wave 2: Between 0415 and 0430, Ark Royal dispatched nine Skuas (seven from 801, two from 800) under 801 Squadron’s OC, Lt-Cdr. H. P. Bramwell, RN, while Glorious added the remaining six Skuas of 803 Squadron’s Green and Yellows sections . Each aircraft was armed with a single 250 lb. GP bomb and 8 x 20 lb. Cooper bombs, and the lot had orders to proceed independently to the various fjords surrounding Trondheim harbour and attack any enemy shipping.
Meanwhile, at 0445 and continuing throughout the day, the Sea Gladiator’s of 802 and 804 Squadron’s continue their two-hour standing section patrols over the fleet.
Lucy’s Skuas, being faster than Ark Royal’s Swordfish, arrived over Trondheimfjord at 0440 and commenced their attack on nine twin engine aircraft and six ships sighted in the harbour. They used the 250 lb bombs on the ships and the Cooper bombs on the aircraft. They then linked up with 810 Squadron proceeding to the lake at 0455.
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At 0450 820 Squadron commenced its diving attack on Vaernes from 5,000 feet and in the face of intense AA fire, and the aircraft plaster several facilities. Meanwhile, having discovered no aircraft on the lake, 810 Squadron diverted to Vaernes, and at 0525 they gave the airfield its second plastering in an hour. At the same time, 803 Squadron strafed the aircraft in the harbour. One Skua, 8G, was hit by return fire and force-landed in Sorfjord in shallow water near a village. The crew Lieutenant A. B. Fraser-Harris, RN (P) and Leading Airman G. S. Russell (AG), RN, ultimately made the 69 mile trip to friendly lines and reached HMS Calcutta. Their escape in detail
AA fire also ultimately accounted for three Swordfish as well, 810 Squadron’s 2R:K8879 force-landed near HMS MAORI, which quickly picked up the crew, Captain W. H. N. Martin, RM (P), Lieutenant J. A. Crawford, RN (O), and Leading Airman H. G. Edwards, RN (AG) and 820 Squadron’s 4A force-landed near another destroyer which saved Captain A. C. Newson, RM (P), Lieutenant-Commander G. B. Hodgkinson, RN (O), and Leading Airman R. H. McColl, RN (AG), but the crew of 2G:L2790, which went in a considerable way off, could not be found, although HMS ARK ROYAL received a signal from the crew about their predicament and an aerial search was sent off to lead a destroyer to them; Lt. Arthur Anthony Pardoe, RN (P) and Petty Officer Airman Leslie Melville Lloyd, RN (AG) being lost.
While the lot was retiring, the Skuas of the second wave arrived. Ark Royal’s contingent again worked over the six ships in port, claiming one hit and many near misses, while two Skuas spotted a Ju-88 and a wrecked He-111 on a frozen lake and shot them up for sport. 803 Squadron’s lot piled in right after the Ark Royal’s lot, hitting two oilers. Green section ran into an impenetrable weather front while returning to the ship, and ultimately all three returned to the area of Namsos and made successful force landings. Skua 8A:L2903 (Lieutenant H. E. R. Torin, RN (P) and Midshipman(A) T. A. McKee, RN (O)) came down on shore near Roan, SW of Namsos. 8B:L3048 (Lieutenant G. R. Callingham, RN (P) and Naval Airman first class D. A. Prime, RN (AG)) came down on a beach in front of Namsos, while 8C (Sub-Lieutenant I. Easton, RN (P) and Naval Airman first class A. J. Hayman, RN (AG)) came down at Osen. Fortunately, all three crews quickly linked up with Allied forces, though it would be some time before they got home. The rest returned safely by 0730.
Meanwhile, at 0455 and again at 0555, Ark Royal launched three plane sections from 800 Squadron to provide fighter patrols cover the Allied landing site at Namsos. The first, Red section (Lieutenant G. E. D. Finch-Noyes, RN) ran off an He-111 and a Junkers 89 before returning at 0850, while the other returned at 1015 having made no contact. By that point the weather had closed in and further flying was suspended.
Meanwhile, at 1600, after fuelling in Bygden Fjord and delaying her departure to bring aboard a recovered German torpedo, HMS Furious got underway for the Clyde in company with the destroyers HMS Isis, HMS Ilex, HMS Imogen. At 2230 her screen was reinforced by the destroyers HMS Delight, HMS Diana, and HMS Imperial. (Mark E. Horan)
ASW trawlers HMS Bradman, Hammond and Larwood sunk by German aircraft off Norway. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORWAY: The British 15th Brigade and Norwegian units forces give fierce resistance in the Gudbrondsdal but fall back.
As Pellengahr sets out for Åndalsnes , he meets a new British force, the 15th Brigade, whose 3,800 men had been hurriedly shipped to the aid of Sickleforce. The brigade’s three battalions were regular army. One of them had served in Palestine until 1939 and was experienced in small-unit hill fighting. In fact, the 15th Brigade was trained and fit to fight anywhere - except in the deep snow of Norway.
Maj. Gen. Sir Bernard G. T. Paget commanded and General Ruge had assigned a few Norwegian ski detachments and some trucks for transport, the 15th Brigade moved forward through Dombas, setting up supply dumps in railroad tunnels as it moved. The going was rough; German air attacks on road and rail movements went on through the increasingly long hours of daylight, taking a toll in casualties and frazzled nerves.
Pellangahr’s spearhead made contact with 15 Brigade at Kvam, 35 miles south of Dombas. The brigade’s five French 25mm Hotchkiss antitank guns stopped the first German rush, knocking out two tanks, but the Germans began working around the British left flank. The British held though and at night they reorganize their lines, abandoning two anti-tank guns in the process.
U.S.A.: Aircraft carrier USS Wasp commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 238 April 25, 1940
3000 British troops of General Paget’s 15th Brigade advance to the village of Kvam, 55 km South of Dombås, where they engage General Pellengahr’s 196th Division (8500 motorised infantry with tanks, artillery and dive bomber support) moving up the Gudbrandsdal from Lillehamer. 15th Brigade’s Hotchkiss 25mm anti-tank guns destroy 1 Neubaufahrzeug heavy tank, 1 light tank and an armored car in an initial skirmish. For the first time, a British line holds the German advance.
RAF Gloster Gladiators on Lake Lesjaskogsvatnet are discovered by the Luftwaffe and bombed for 8 hours. 13 Gladiators are destroyed or fall through the broken ice. Several Gladiators get off the ice and provide air cover for Paget’s 15th Brigade at Kvam. Returning, they shoot down 3 Heinkel He111s. 263rd Squadron Leader John Donaldson abandons the undefended lake airstrip and withdraws the remaining 5 Gladiators to Stetnesmoen, near Åndalsnes. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/types/uk/gloster/gladiator/gladiator.htm
Oslo Gate? Who knew?
Did the Nazis bring "plumbers"? ;-)
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