London: In a telegram to Air Marshal Longmore in Cairo, Churchill promises to reinforce him "as soon as possible."

Secretary of State for War to Churchill:

"It is important to prevent capture of Crete by the Italians. Hence:-

Navy, army and air staff already on Crete.

Battalion Yorks and Lancs sent by cruiser, should arrive this morning.

Further forces of Brigade HQ, 1 battalion, 1 Heavy AA battery, 1 LAA battery etc with supplies for 45 days ready to embark in Egypt.

20 anti-tank rifles.

1 Sqn. Blenheims, 1 Sqn. of Bombay for transport."

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Low-level raider hits barrack block at RAF Wattisham killing 10 and injuring 19.

The Church Times:

"A Messerschmitt was shot down by an RAF fighter off Folkestone. The Nazi pilot was saved from drowning by a Jewish soldier in the British army, who plunged into the sea, swam three-quarters of a mile, and held up the airman until they were both picked up by a fishing boat."

Corvette HMS Heather commissioned.

FRANCE: General Karl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel is appointed head of the military regime in the occupied zone.

     Marshal of France Henri-Philippe Pétain, Head of the Vichy French Government, reassures U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the disposition of the French fleet stating, "The French Government has declared that the French fleet would never be surrendered and nothing can justify questioning today that solemn undertaking."

GERMANY: U-158, U-252, U-509, U-510 laid down.

ITALY: RAF and Fleet Air Arm aircraft attack targets in Naples and Brindisi on the Italian mainland and Albanian ports.

GREECE: Italian forces reach the river Kalamas, near Epirus.

Italian aircraft bomb Salonika and islands of Corfu and Crete. 300 are killed in bombing attacks on Piraeus.

SINGAPORE:The British host a conference of representatives from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Holland to discuss defence of the Malay Barrier.  The US sends Purnell as an observer.  No direct records remain of the matters covered at this conference.  British and American navies exchange liaison officers, Lt Cdr Wisden, RN, being sent to Manila.and Captain John Creighton, USN, to Singapore. (Marc Small)

PACIFIC OCEAN: The German auxiliary minelayer Passat completes laying a mine barrage off the Australian coast in Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and Tasmania.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The War Department activates the Hawaiian Air Force at Ft. Shafter, Oahu, to provide administrative and operational control of all U.S. Army Air Corps units assigned to the U.S. Army's Hawaiian Department.

U.S.A.: Under the current expansion plans the US Navy today orders 379 Martin PBM-3 Mariner flying boats.

The Hollywood film companies make their studios available to the military for the production of training films.

The Atlantic Squadron of the USN is renamed the Patrol Force. (Keith Allen)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-124 sank SS Empire Bison in Convoy HX-82.

The Norwegian fishery protection vessel Fridtjof Nansen seizes a German ship carrying 50 armed men who plan to seize a weather station in Greenland and supply advance forecasts to the Luftwaffe.