Posted on 05/01/2010 6:16:46 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
Had to read that a couple times
Isn't there a similar reward on the head of Osama bin Laden, and hasn't it been equally as "effective" as this one?
At this point the Pope is still in discussions with representatives of German General Beck about overthrowing Hitler.
To date the discussions have come to nothing, and time has run out.
The German military is now committed to the invasion of France, and is not about to overthrow Hitler any time soon.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/may40/f01may40.htm
Allied evacuation from Andalsnes complete
Wednesday, May 1, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Norway... The evacuation of Andalsnes is completed. Altogether 4400 men have been taken off but much equipment has been lost. The Norwegians surrender in Lillehammer.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/01.htm
May 1st, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Bombing - Stavanger and Fornebu airfields. 10 Sqn. Six aircraft bombed Stavanger, fires started.
77 Sqn. Three aircraft bombed Fornebu. Severe opposition.
102 Sqn. Three aircraft bombed Fornebu. Severe opposition.
Hampdens raid Aalborg.
ÉIRE: Dublin: In a desperate move to remain out of the war, the Irish government appealed today to the United States to guarantee its neutrality. Eire - the only Commonwealth nation which has not rallied to the Allied cause - chose neutrality when it considered its position shortly before the outbreak of war.
The cool attitude of the Prime Minister, Eamon de Valera, to the British cause and his refusal to allow British convoy escorts to be based in Irish ports, have infuriated many British politicians, so much so that there is genuine fear of a British invasion in Dublin. Equally, the possibility of a German invasion is not being ruled out.
Although Washington is unlikely to offer a formal guarantee, the Irish-American lobby is a powerful political force in a country whose support is vital to Britain.
Britain has appealed to de Valera to join a defence union with Northern Ireland. The former British detainee is unlikely to co-operate. The Irish government is being markedly active against the IRA, however, with Irish Garda cooperating with British police in the hunt for terrorists. Despite de Valera’s views, thousands of his countrymen are crossing the Northern Ireland border to volunteer for the British forces, so Britain is likely to refrain from any hostile moves.
NETHERLANDS: Submarine HNLMS O-25 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Berlin: Germany announces the surrender of 4,000 Norwegian soldiers in the Lillehammer sector.
NORWAY: Blenheims of Bomber Command and Hudsons of Coastal Command raid Stavanger in daylight. No opposition.
As the Germans close in on Åndalnes, the Allies begin to evacuate over 4,000 men from the port.
With daylight the Luftwaffe arrive in force, driving out to sea two WW1 vintage British cruisers converted for AA duty, that had been sent to protect the port. After twilight two more cruisers and five destroyers come in and pick up 1,300 additional men. More troops remained on shore - their number uncounted in the darkness and the confusion.
Mark Horan adds: HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious were with the Home Fleet preparing to support the bombardment of Trondheim Leeds, but it was called off. The weather was miserable over the landing sites, so throughout the day the bulk of the carrier airgroups stood down while the Sea Gladiators of 802 and 804 Squadron on HMS Glorious defended the Fleet. First contact occurred at 0700 when a section of 804 Squadron ran off an intruder.
With the fleet found, the defensive patrols were stepped up with two sections on patrol and a third on deck ready to go. Red section of 804 Squadron (Lt. R. H. P Carver, RN) was vector after an intruder at 1115, but did not catch it. The following patrols continued the boring job until 1540 when 804’s Blue section (Lt. R. M. Smeeton, RN) ran off an He-111K with minor damage, and at 1600 ran off another which jettisoned its bombs. At 1700 804’s Red section (Lt. R. H. P. Carver, RN again) chased off another, then at 1750 damaged an He-115 after a long chase.
By this time it was clear an attack on the Fleet was developing, and fresh aircraft were launched including 802’s Blue Section (CO Lt. J. R. Marmont, RN) which briefly chased an He-115 then returned to the fleet at 1825 in time to intercept a group of 7 Ju87’s approaching. Carver’s Red section almost missed out on the fun having chased the He-115 far off, but managed to engage several attackers as they pulled out. Not to be left out, the Squadron’s the newly launched Yellow Section (CO Lt.Cdr. J. C. Cockburn, RN) got right in the thick of it, damaging several. All the sections noted that the Fleet’s pom-pom fire appeared to be directed mostly at the defending Gladiators in lieu of the attacking Stukas!
While all this was going on, both Ark Royal and Glorious cleared the decks with Skua fighter patrols for the landing area at Namsos. Ark launched the four “borrowed” 803 squadron Skua’s in two sections of two (Lt. W. P. Lucy, RN and S-Lt. G. W. Brokensha, RN), while Glorious contributed all that remained of 803 on board, one section of three (Lt. J. M. Christian, RN) The patrols spotted nothing significant over Namsos, but after returning home near nightfall, the trigger happy Fleet gunners decided the returnees were more attackers, and aptly put the finishing touches on the day when they knocked down Brokensha. Fortunately he was able to make a good water landing and the crew was soon on board HMS Nubian. no worse for their effort, but not speaking too highly of the Fleet’s aerial recognition ability!
HMS Ark Royal’s airgroup had been in action for eight days, during which the limitations of the weather had limited the flying to 127 sorties, including 72 fighter sorties by the Skua Squadrons, during which they had claimed 13 German aircraft destroyed and another 17 damaged. HMS Glorious, with an airgroups composed primarily of fighters, though most were the short legged Sea Gladiators, had contributed another 65-75 sorties, including 26 by 803 Squadron’s Skuas. The lot claimed 7 German aircraft destroyed and 3 damaged, while the ship’s AA batteries claimed an additional destroyed. The two airgroups had lost 4 Swordfish and 9 Skuas to all causes. Taken in light of the force available, and given the limitations of the weather, it had been a creditable performance - but given the virtual air superiority displayed by the Luftwaffe aircraft over land, it was not all the Army had hoped for.
Thereafter, the Home Fleet departed for Scapa Flow, due to arrive on the 3rd.
ITALY: Rome: Roosevelt sends a personal message to Mussolini urging him to stay out of the war; the Duce tells the US ambassador, William Phillips, that Germany cannot be defeated in Europe.
CHINA: Japanese troops advace from Xinyang, thrusting towards the Yangtze River.
U.S.A.: Washington: The US government announces that the US and Greenland, a Danish territory, have agreed to the mutual establishment of consulates “in view of the German occupation of Denmark.”
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German raider ‘Widder’ heads for central Atlantic operations before her return to France in six months time.
On her way into the Indian Ocean, raider ‘Atlantis’ lays mines off South Africa.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 244 May 1, 1940
At 1.15 AM, 15th Brigade’s train from Dombås crashes into a bomb crater (8 dead, 30 wounded). British troops march 17 miles through deep snow, arriving 9 AM at Åndalsnes.
In the evening, Admiral Layton’s flotilla arrives at Åndalsnes to evacuate 148th & 15th Brigade. Destroyers HMS Inglefield, Diana & Delight ferry troops from the dock to cruisers HMS Manchester & Birmingham. They embark 5084 men overnight, leaving for Scapa Flow by 2 AM the following day (May 2) unnoticed by the Lutfwaffe. British leave behind 1301 men killed, missing or captured. Norwegian General Ruge and his staff leave on destroyer HMS Diana to join the King and government at Tromsø. http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-NWE-Norway/UK-NWE-Norway-9.html
Mountbatten’s 4 destroyers arrive at Namsos to evacuate General de Wiart’s 146th Brigade. Overnight fog prevents them all entering Namsenfjord, so only 850 French Chasseurs Alpins are embarked. Anti-submarine trawler St. Goran is dive bombed and sunk.
In the Kattegat, British submarine HMS Narwhal fires six torpedoes at a German merchant convoy carrying parts of 2nd Gebirgsjager Division to Norway. German steamer Buenos Aires sinks (62 men, 240 horses killed) and Bahia Castillo is badly damaged (10 men, 26 horses killed).
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