April 9th, 1941 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Birmingham is attacked by the Luftwaffe with 237 bombers. Belfast was also bombed last night, killing 13 and injuring 81.NETHERLANDS: The government breaks
diplomatic relations with Hungary.
GERMANY: Ernst Heinkel AG are put in control of Hirth Motoren Gmbh in order to
speed up production of their turbojet engines.
YUGOSLAVIA: German forces take Veles and are advancing rapidly towards the Albanian border and junction with Italian forces after taking Tetovo and Prilep. Nish has also been captured and the advance guard of the German forces have crossed the Drava River.
The Wehrmacht High Command announced:
Mobile troops and infantry divisions under the command of Field Marshal List, advancing from Bulgaria, have broken through the Yugoslavian border defences and despite difficult mountain terrain, have penetrated over 60 miles into the Skopje (Ueskub) Basin and crossed the Vardar river, thereby cutting off the Yugoslav forces from their Greek and British allies.
Belgrade: The Yugoslav General Staff announced:
All troop reports which have reached our general staff so far indicate that the situation on the fronts is progressing favourably. We have succeeded in halting all attacks and have in part repulsed them. Our troops are fighting with the greatest determination and have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.
GREECE: The Metaxas Line in Greece collapses.
Salonika: Within three days of crossing into Greece from Bulgaria, German forces have captured the key port of Salonika, and forced the surrender of the whole eastern wing of the Greek army between Salonika and the Turkish border. This brings them within striking distance of the main defence line, which is manned by British, Australian and New Zealand troops.
An announcement from a British military spokesman in Athens indicates though that there
has not yet been any contact between Germans and Commonwealth forces, although a small
patrol was fired upon by New Zealanders when trying to cross the river
Aliakmon.
The danger to the Olympus-Aliakmon line is also an outflanking move from Yugoslavia through the Monastir Gap. Wilson decides to create a blocking force in the Florina valley directly under his command. The 1st Armoured Brigade and the 19th Australian Brigade are detached from Blamey's 1st Australian Corps and placed under command of General Mackay. Mackay's force deployed at Vevi where the Monastir valley narrows to 100 to 500 yards and followed a winding course through a defile flanked by steep rock-strewn hills with few trees. (Anthony Staunton)
The strongest resistance to the Germans has been in the Struma valley, where the frontiers of Yugoslavia, Greece and Bulgaria meet. German military spokesmen admitted that the Greeks were putting up a tough fight. But then the weight a German armour forced the Yugoslavs to withdraw, leaving the Greek flank exposed. the Greeks were brushed aside and the Panzers raced on to Salonika.
In a message to his people, King George of the Hellenes says: "We shall win with the help of God and the benediction of the Holy Virgin. Yes, we shall win! The historians will once again have to write that the country renowned for Marathon and Salamis does not waver, does not submit, does not surrender. Forward, Children of Hellas, for the supreme struggle, for your altars and your hearths."
LIBYA: The Afrika Korps captures Bardia, a
town on the coastal road near the Egyptian border.
U.S.A.:
Washington: United States-Danish agreement relating to defence of Greenland by the
United States is signed. Department of State BULLETIN, April 12, 1941, Vol. IV, pp. 443,
445.
...Another important contribution to the allied war effort was made by the Danish envoy,
Henrik Kauffmann in Washington. He did not recognise the government in Copenhagen during
the war and acting on his own he granted the US basing rights in the Danish controlled
Greenland. This allowed the transfer of short range aircraft to Britain via Greenland and
Iceland... (Erik Juel Anderson)
When Denmark was occupied (9 April 1940) Kauffmann declared himself a free representative, following orders from the government in
Copenhagen under the reservations that the government could be acting under German
pressure. His main objective in the first years of the occupation was to be recognized by
the US government as representative for a free (but non-existing!!) Danish government. In
1941 he got the recognition by signing the Greenland treaty. The Danish government (we
didn't have a government in exile) withdrew his credentials, charged him with high treason
and had his property in Denmark impounded. (Klaus Velschow)(57)
The North Carolina Class battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) is
commissioned at the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York. She is
first new U.S. Navy battleship to enter the fleet since USS West Virginia
(BB-48) was commissioned in 1923.