Боевые 40-е 1941 6 апреля, воскресенье (II)
April 6
(early) Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of friendship, providing for “amicable relations” in the event of foreign attack.
(0500 hours) The first wave of Stuka bombers cross into Yugoslavia, beginning a three-day bombardment of Belgrade.
(just after dawn) The 12th Army under Field Marshal List crosses from Bulgaria into the Macedonia area of Yugoslavia.
German forces invade Greece.
(night) An ammunition ship in the Greek port of the Piraeus is hit by an air-raid, devastating the town.
German battle cruiser Gneisenau is hit by a torpedo from British Coastal Command aircraft in Brest Roads, sustaining extensive damage.
British forces capture Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Battle of the Metaxas Line
The Germans had to break the Metaxas line, in order to capture Thessaloniki.
The attack started on 6 April with one infantry unit and two divisions of the XVIII Mountain Corps. Due to strong resistance, the first day of the attack yielded little progress in breaking the line. A German report at the end of the first day described how the German 5th Mountain Division “was repulsed in the Rupel Pass despite strongest air support and sustained considerable casualties”. Two German battalions managed to get within 600 ft (180 m) of Fort Rupel on 6 April, but were practically destroyed. Of the 24 forts that made up the Metaxas Line, only two had fallen and only after they had been destroyed.
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War Losses RN Armed Yacht Anna Marie (FY 004), RN Armed Merchant Cruiser Comorin (F 49).
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The troopship Ulster Prince (3791 GRT, built 1930) and the transport Thurland Castle (6372 GRT, built 1929) departed Alexandria for Tobruk. They were escorted by the AA cruiser HMS Calcutta and the destroyers HMS Defender and HMAS Voyager. The destroyers HMAS Waterhen, HMAS Vendetta conducted a sweep ahead of this convoy.
HMS Cape town was torpedoed and damaged off Massawa, Eritrea by the motor torpedo boat MAS 213 and brought into Port Sudan under tow by the sloop HMAS Parramatta only with difficulty. She spent about a year under repair at Bombay, India.
In the morning, the damaged HMS Malaya arrived at New York, where she was to be repaired at the US Navy Yard (Brooklyn Navy Yard).
Sunday, 6 April
Convoy HX.119 departed Halifax Armed merchant cruiser MONTCLARE. Battleship REVENGE joined the convoy at sea. Convoy HX.119A departed Halifax, escorted by armed merchant cruiser AURANIA and corvettes CHAMBLY and ORILLIA. Convoy HX.119 B departed Halifax, escorted by corvettes COBALT and COLLINGWOOD.
Convoy OG.58 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers BURWELL and WATCHMAN, sloops FLEETWOOD and WELLINGTON, corvettes AMARANTHUS, ARABIS, HELIOTROPE, and PRIMULA, special service vessel FIDELITY, and anti-submarine trawlers NORTHERN GEM and NORTHERN SPRAY.
Convoy OB.308 departed Liverpool, escorted by destroyers CALDWELL, RAMSEY, RIPLEY, and VOLUNTEER, and corvettes HYDRANGEA, TULIP, and WALLFLOWER.
On the 6th the convoy OB.305 dispersed.
British Coastal Command aircraft attacked German destroyers STEINBRINCK, IHN, and HEINEMANN off Brest.
The minelaying operation SN.8 was carried out on the 6th.
Force H, with battlecruiser RENOWN, aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, light cruisers FIJI and SHEFFIELD, and destroyers FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, and FORESIGHT departed Gibraltar at 0230 / 6th to operate in Biscay until 16 April to blockade the German battleships at Brest. The ships were joined at sea by destroyers HIGHLANDER and FURY, which had been detached from the escort of battlecruiser REPULSE.
Submarines TIGRIS, L.26, SUNFISH, H.50, TUNA, TAKU, TORBAY, H.34, OBERON, SEALION, H.44, and H.31 and Polish submarine SOKOL were on patrol in Biscay.
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British steamer DUNSTAN (5149grt) was sunk by German bombing 59-09N, 8-22W.
British steamer OLGA S.(2252grt) was sunk by German bombing in 55-48N, 9-45W.
Greek steamer NICOLAOU ZOGRAFIA (7156grt) was sunk by German bombing in 57-10N, 12-30W.
Armed merchant cruiser COMORIN (Captain J. I. Hallet, Rtd.), carrying military personnel for Freetown and escorting steamer GLENARTNEY with military stores for Suez, was escorted by destroyer LINCOLN when she caught fire in the North Atlantic in 54-34N, 21-20W.
Armed yacht TORRENT (336grt, former ANNA MARIE, Cdr. M. W. Noel Rtd.) was sunk by mining off Falmouth, in 50-05N, 4-57W.
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British steamer CLAN FRASER (7529grt) of convoy ANF.24 was damaged by German bombing and set afire in Piraeus. At 0330/7th, the explosion of her TNT cargo sank the steamer and wrecked the harbour.
British steamers CITY OF ROUBAIX (7108grt), CYPRIAN PRINCE (1988grt), and PATRIS (1706grt), Greek steamers ACROPOLIS (1393grt), STYLIANI (3256grt), and EVOIKOS (4792grt), and Greek caique HALCYON were sunk by bombing and the explosion.
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Convoy GA.10 of British steamer CAMERONIA (16,297grt) and Dutch steamer PENNLAND (16,381grt) escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE, destroyers ILEX, NUBIAN, and HEREWARD, arrived at Alexandria on the 6th.
Convoy AG.11 of five British ships, including armed boarding vessel FIONA to be detached en route to Tobruk, departed Alexandria escorted by destroyers MOHAWK and WRYNECK and sloop GRIMSBY.
Convoy AC 3 of troopship ULSTER PRINCE (3791grt) and steamer THURLAND CASTLE (6372grt) departed Alexandria at for Tobruk escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE and destroyers DEFENDER and VOYAGER. Destroyers WATERHEN and VENDETTA sweep ahead of this convoy.
Convoy BN.24 departed Bombay, escorted by light cruiser COLOMBO. The convoy arrived at Aden on the 13th.
Greek steamers MAROUSSIO LOGOTHETI (4669grt) and YIANNIS (4391grt) were seized by Vichy French authorities at Madagascar.
War Diary for Sunday, 6 April 1941
Soviet Union
Agent HMSIS und Abwehr Dora reports to Stalin from Switzerland that Germany will invade SU on 15 June.
. Подобные проколы позволяют предположить, что иноахэньть Дуга було либо ТП, либо пгейпидьслуживало (как и Кембгейджськи шестёгейши) не на ГРУ, а на HMSIS. А то и на сигусраньцю… Жаль, что тов. Сталин весь этот кагал не ухолокостил вовремя, и он его сожрал…
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Operation Punishment: Luftwaffe conducts major attacks against Belgrade.
German 2nd Army attacks Yugoslavia from Greater Germany and Hungary.
XIV Panzer Korps and XI Korps of Field Marshal List’s German 12th Army attack Yugoslavia from Bulgaria.
Greece
Luftwaffe aircraft attack targets in Greece including shipping in Piraeus harbor.
British vessel Clan Fraser, loaded with ammunition, destroyed by Luftwaffe aircraft at Piraeus harbor. Explosion of Clan Fraser heavily damages the harbor and sinks nearby vessels.
British vessels City of Roubaix, Cyprian Prince, Patris, Surf, Viking sunk in explosion of Clan Fraser.
Greek vessels Elpis, Evoikos, Halcyon, Kyrapanagia II, Petalli, Syyliani sunk in explosion of Clan Fraser.
W Force: British 1st Armored Brigade, Australian 16th and 19th Infantry Brigades, NZ 4th, 5th, and 6th Infantry Brigades hold the Aliakmon Line in northern Greece.
US
Yugoslavian military attache urgently requests over 700 aircraft, 100 tanks, and other weapons.
Secretutary of State Cordell Hull denounces German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece.
Ge. Sikorski arrives in the US.
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RAF Bomber Command sends 71 aircraft to attack Kriegsmarine warships at Brest overnight.
Kriegsmarine battlecruiser Gneisenau at Brest heavily damaged by RAF Coastal Command Beaufort torpedo bomber piloted by Flying Officer Campbell. Beaufort lost, entire crew killed, and Campbell subsequently awarded posthumous Victoria Cross.
RAF Bomber Command sends aircraft to attack Calais, Rotterdam and other targets overnight.
RAF Fighter Command Rhubarb operations.
English Channel
RAF Bomber Command sends 14 aircraft to attack coastal targets.
Northwest European Waters
RAF Bomber Command sends 24 aircraft on minelaying operations overnight.
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The main German attack on the first day falls on Greek troops in forward positions. The German 30th Corps attacks the center attacks the center and right of the Metaxas Line.
XXX. Armeekorps (30.)
Anfang April 1941 nahm das Korps am Angriff auf Griechenland teil. Aufgabe des Korps war die Besetzung des nordöstlichen griechischen Territoriums.
A second corps attacks the left of the line but sends more of its force into Yugoslavia toward Strumica. The third corps moves into Yugoslavia farther north heading for Skopje. There is heavy fighting on the Greek border but the Yugoslav frontier is easily crossed by the Germans. During the night there is an important air raid on the port of the Piraeus in which a British ammunition ship blows up, sinking many other vessels and extensively damaging the port installations.
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…Miss Fury, debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941…
The first Black Fury premiered in Fox Feature Syndicate’s Fantastic Comics #17 (April 1941).