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April 19th, 1941 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Labour exchanges across Britain were filled today with 20 and 21 year old women signing up
for war work under the new Employment Order.
Under the order, brought in by the Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin, women with young
children will not be compelled to work for the war effort, but they must all register so
that their cases can be considered. Subsidised childcare is being made available.
The government has also issued an Essential Work Order compelling reluctant companies to
employ women to do war work.
RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: Three aircraft of 18 Sqn. sink a 7,000-ton ship in the North Sea
and a Blenheim of 101 Sqn. sinks a 5,000 tonner.
London:
Tonight London experiences its heaviest air raid since the "Great Fire" of
December 29. The attack lasted until the early hours. 712 aircraft dropped 153, 096
incendiaries, which started a record 1,500 fires followed by a rain of 1,026 tons of high
explosive and parachute mines. These are as large as pillar-boxes and weigh over two tons.
They drift down on the wind, exploding on impact with the surface with the maximum blast
effect. Two can completely obliterate a street. One mine failed to explode and lodged on
the railway bridge leading to Charing Cross, where it was disarmed on the spot by a naval
squad.
Eight London Hospitals including Guy's were hit. Christie's auction rooms, Maples'
furniture store and the Shaftesbury theatre were destroyed, parts of Selfridge's set on
fire, the Speaker's House at Westminster, the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, the Law Courts and
Wellington Barracks badly damaged.
St. Paul's is closed after a 500-pound bomb crashed through the north transept, strewing
the crypt below with wreckage. Fortunately the St Paul's Watch, whose rest room is
beneath, were all on the roof dealing with incendiaries. All the remaining windows were
shattered, but the dome was not shaken by the blast.
Other churches destroyed or burnt out included St Andrew's, Holborn - Wren's largest after
St Paul's - the City Temple, St Clement Danes and Chelsea Old Church.
GREECE:
The Germans take Olympus and Larissa, the SS 'Adolf Hitler' division cutting off the Greek
retreat. General Wavell arrives in Athens to meet
Generals Wilson and Blamey. By dawn all units except parts of battalion in the Pinios Gap
were south of Larisa and the Anzac Corps was deploying in the Thermopylae
positions.
IRAQ: The first Imperial
troops arrive in Iraq when the British 20th
Indian Brigade lands at Basra. Although Rashid Ali's new government
objects, these movements are covered by a 1930 treaty and with no German support
available, the objections are just words.
EGYPT:
Cairo: British Headquarters in Egypt announced: Violent attacks by German armoured formations and infantry units, aimed along the
entire front, have been repulsed. The enemy has suffered heavy losses and we have taken
many prisoners. Despite the heavy attacks, our lines have not been broken at any point.
Our patrols around Tobruk have launched several bold attacks.
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