April 12th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
FRANCE: The entire Allied army in France is put on general alert, and all units have to be on six hours notice to move.NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:
(Mark Horan adds): Hipper departed Trondheim prior to the 11 April attack, had joined the battleships. They were discovered off Stavanger by RAF search planes, and some 90 RAF bombers were dispatched to attack them, but the weather was such that not one bomber spotted the trio. However, the Fleet Air Arm was in action elsewhere this day..
After the highly successful attack on Bergen on the 10th, the ACOS Hatston, Acting Captain C. L. Howe, RN decided that another attack on the port was in order. The previous day 801 Squadron had arrived from Evanton, sizably increasing the number of Skuas available for the strike. First, in the largest attack of the war to date, twenty Skua fighter-dive-bombers of 803 (8 - 1 other struck for mechanical failure), 800 (6), and 801 (6) Squadrons departed RNAS Hatston at 1430 to attack shipping at Bergen Harbour. The Squadrons formed three waves, each 15 minutes apart.
The first consisted of seven 803 Squadron aircraft led the OC and strike commander Lt. W. P. Lucy, RN. Next came the six aircraft of 800 Squadron, again led by their OC, Captain R. T. Partridge, RM. Last came the seven 801 Squadron aircraft under their OC, Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Peter Bramwell, RN. Takeoff began at 1405, and the entire force departed at 1430. Each aircraft was armed with a single 500 lb. SAP bomb.
The squadrons approached the target at 5,000 feet, the altitude of the cloud base. 803 Squadron pushed over at 1615, 800 and 801 following at 15 minute intervals. The mean altitude of release was 2,000'. By all accounts the harbour was full of shipping, and the squadrons executed individual sections attacks on various targets. Unfortunately, probably due to the short dives, no practical results were obtained beyond some near misses and a thorough strafing of schnellboote S-24.
One Skua from 803 Squadron, L3037:A8Q was hit by Flak during the withdrawal and forced to land about 150 yards off shore some 10 miles West of Bergen in Kors Fjord. The aircrew, Acting Petty Officer Airman J. A. Gardner RN (P) and Naval Airman first class A. Todd, RN (AG) reached Norwegian Forces, and was ultimately picked up and returned to England by and RAF Coastal Command flying boat on 27 April. The other 19 aircraft returned safely.
Meanwhile, now operating off Narvik, in Vestfjord, where they arrived at 0500, in co-operation with other Royal Navy forces there preparing to attack the German destroyer flotilla in the Fjords. At 1545, with plans well underway for a dive bombing attack on the German warships trapped at Narvik, HMS Furious was detached to join the Battlecruiser squadron stationed further off shore. At 1615, the first range, eight Swordfish of 818 Squadron led by the OC, Lieutenant-Commander P. G. O. Sydney-Turner, RN, began taking off. The nine Swordfish of 816 Squadron, led by OC Lieutenant-Commander G. B. Hodgkinson, RN, followed at 1655. Each aircraft was armed with 4 x 250lb. GP bombs and 8 x 20lb Cooper bombs.
The weather was miserable, with 10/10 cloud at 1,500ft over the ship, though as 818 Squadron approached Narvik, the cloud base suddenly increased to 2,800 feet leaving the aircraft exposed during their approach. The three sub-flights attacked independently in the face of extremely intense and accurate Flak, targeting two of five destroyers sighted as well as the ore quay. Although one Swordfish was unable to release its bombs, the others claimed three 250 lb. and one 20 lb. hits. In the event, Erich Koellner (Z-13) was hit once, Erich Giese (Z-12) received splinter damage, and three small Norwegian craft, including the fishery protection vessel Senja, were sunk. Additionally, in all the confusion, the Dutch steamer Bernisse (951 BRT) scuttled herself. Six of the attacking planes were hit, three seriously. U3L, missing its port wingtip and aileron, half the starboard elevator and the bottom of the rudder, with virtually the entire instrument panel wrecked, and with both aircrew wounded, opted to make a water landing alongside HMS Grenade, which quickly picked up both Sub-Lieutenant(A) S. G. J. Appleby, RN (P) and Leading Airman E. Tapping, RN (AG). Meanwhile, U3A, with its petrol tank holed, managed to make it to the task force before force-landing alongside HMS Punjabi who quickly gathered in all three aircrew, Lieutenant-Commander P. G. O. Sydney-Turner, RN (P), Lieutenant W. B. Kellett, RN (O), and Petty Officer W. H. Dillnutt, RN (AG). The third Swordfish, U3K, having lost its port landing gear, remained aloft until all the other aircraft were down before executing a superb night landing.
Meanwhile, 816 Squadron, took its departure at 1712. At 1808 they passed the returning survivors of 818 Squadron, but immediately afterward a sudden snow squall dropped visibility to virtually nil. By 1827 Hodgkinson gave up and turned for home, arriving at 2205 in pitch darkness. In the ensuing night landings, Swordfish U4L:K6002 missed the arrestor wires, catapulted overboard, and landed upside down in the Arctic waters. In what can only be called a miracle both aircrew, Lieutenant(A) M. D. Donati, RN (P) and Leading Airman F. A. J. Smith, RN (AG) scrambled clear to be rescued by HMS Hero after 45 minutes in the frigid water with only their life vests for support, the raft having gone down with the plane. There were, to say the least, very lucky!
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious, in company with the destroyers HMAS Stuart, HMS Bulldog, HMS Westcott and HMS Wishard are en-route to Gibraltar.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "Johnny Apollo" is released. Directed by Henry Hathaway, this crime drama stars Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour, Edward Arnold and Lloyd Nolan.