April 6th, 1941 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Ijmuiden power station in the Netherlands, is attacked from low level.GERMANY: Berlin:
Von Ribbentrop tells the Yugoslav envoy that "a clique of conspirators" had prevented Yugoslavia from joining the Axis which would have ensured "a happy future for the Yugoslav people."
Hitler addresses his armies:
Soldiers of the southeast front: Since early this morning, the German people are at war with the Belgrade government of intrigue. We shall only lay down arms when this band of ruffians has been definitely and most emphatically eliminated and the last Briton has left this part of the European continent, and these misled people realise that they must thank Britain for this situation.
ITALY: Italy declares war on Yugoslavia and the Italian Second Army occupies some frontier villages in Venezia Giulia, a narrow strip of land west of Trieste.
BALKANS: YUGOSLAVIA: At 0515 hours, the Luftwaffe's Luftlotte 4 (General Lohr) consisting of 210 fighter, 400 bombers and dive bombers and 170 reconnaissance aircraft, launches a heavy attack (Operation CASTIGO) on Belgrade even though it has been declared an open city by the Yugoslav government. The Yugoslav Air Forces has 400 aircraft consisting of 144 fighter, 160 bomber and 40 reconnaissance aircraft. Belgrade is bombed by 150 bombers escorted by fighter flying from bases in Austria and Romania.
The first strike is made in three waves consisting of 484 sorties. The attack was an act of terror resulting in the death of 17,000 civilians----the largest number of civilian casualties in a single day since the start of the war. Making the slaughter all the worse was that nearby towns and villages had emptied out into the capital city to celebrate Palm Sunday. All of the airfields are also bombed and 600 aircraft are destroyed on the ground. Included in the air assaults on Greece and Yugoslavia are I, II and III Staffel of Kampfgeschwader (Bomber Wing) 2 and III/KG 3 equipped with obsolete Dornier Do 17s; three dive bomber wings, I and III Stukageschwader 2 under Oberst (Colonel) Oskar Dinort and I/St.G 3 under Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Heinrich Eppen, fly their Ju 87B Stuka in devastating attacks on the Greeks and Yugoslavs. These units are later joined by St.G 77.
The German 2nd Army under General Maximillian von Weichs advances towards Belgrade from Austria while the Panzer Group Kleist under General Ewald von Kleist advances from Bulgaria towards Nis in the north and Skopje and Monastir in the south to prevent Yugoslav troops with joining up with the Greeks. The Yugoslav Army, which is antiquated and riven by dissent, mutinies and inefficiency, consists of 28 infantry and three cavalry divisions but only five infantry and two cavalry regiments resist the German invasion, due to their national compositions - they were mostly Serb, Montenegrin and Albanian. (Andy Etherington, Eugen Pinak, Steve Stathros and Jack McKillop)
The offensive on Greece begins with an assault by the German 18 Corps on the Greek left flank. This is followed by an attack by the German 30 Corps on the right flank of the Greek Army of Eastern Macedonia under General Bakopoulos.
Wehrmacht units include the 12th Army, with the 2nd Army expected to add support shortly.
In the east, the German Army's 12th Army under General Wilhelm von List moves into Greece from Bulgaria and attacks the Greek Army of Eastern Macedonia (Lieutenant-General Konstantinos Bakopoulos) on the Metaxas Line in Macedonia. The west of the Metaxas Line is attacked by the German XVIII Corps while the east of the line is attacked by the German XXX Corps. The troops of British General Henry Wilson, General Officer Commanding W Force, man the Aliakmon Line consisting of three Greek divisions, the New Zealand Division, the Australian 6th Division and the British 1st Armoured Brigade.
Both lines are supported by seven RAF squadrons. The Luftwaffe launches an air attack against the port of Piraeus located 5 miles (8 kilometres) southwest of Athens from bases in Bulgaria. During the raid, the British ammunition ship SS Clan Fraser is hit and explodes in a massive fireball, wrecking the harbour and port facilities. (Andy Etherington, Eugen Pinak and Jack McKillop)
There are also 15 Greek divisions in Albania, 3 divisions on the Metaxas Line on the Greek-Bulgarian border, in eastern Macedonia and Thrace and the remaining divisions with the British on the Olympus-Aliakmon line in central Macedonia, stretching from Mount Olympus to the Yugoslav border. (Anthony Staunton)
Yugoslavia had 28 infantry and 3 cavalry DIVISIONS. Only 5 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions resisted, not due to geographical location but due to their national compositions - they were mostly Serb, Montenegrin and Albanian. (Eugen Pinak)
LIBYA: Axis troops reoccupy Mechili and Msus.
A German motor-cycle unit captures a staff car containing Lt-General Neame, commander of 13 Corps and General O'Connor, and Brigadier John Combe, until recently CO of the 11th Hussars.
ETHIOPIA: Addis Ababa: British troops capture Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia which had been abandoned by its Italian defenders who are believed to be heading northeast to re-group with other units of the beleaguered Italian East African army. Many Italian women and children are still in Addis Ababa, suggesting that the Italian army's evacuation was a last-minute affair. Two brigades under Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham, Commander in Chief East Africa Command, had, in effect, been racing each other to the Ethiopian capital. The 1st South African Brigade got there first after covering 700 miles (1127 kilometres) in barely a month. Just outside the capital they overtook the 22nd East Africa Brigade commanded by Brigadier Charles Fowkes. Cunningham thought it important that white soldiers enter Addis Ababa first and ordered Fowkes to slow down. Fowkes initially reacted with the Nelson touch. Signals telling him to stop were pronounced garbled in transit; despatch riders were detained by his rear troops. Finally just 10 miles (16 kilometres) from Addis, a plane dropped him a halt order which he could not ignore. From 10 January 1941 to today, the British forces under General Cunningham have covered 1,700 miles (2736 kilometres) without fighting a major battle; their total killed is about 500 while the Italian Army has lost the majority of their arms, equipment and supplies and tens of thousands have been taken prisoner. ((Andy Etherington and Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: HMS Comorin catches fire and finally goes down west of Ireland - the rescue of her crew and passengers in raging seas is an epic in its own right.
The German battle cruiser Gneisenau is badly damaged when a torpedo launched from an RAF Beaufort of 22 Squadron RAF Coastal Command, strikes while on an exercise just outside the port of Brest, France. The Beaufort is piloted by Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell (b. 1917), RAFVR, who is subsequently shot down and killed. (VC)