April 21st, 1941 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 21 Sqn lose two aircraft on anti-shipping strikes in the North Sea.The Luftwaffe raid Plymouth and continue for the next 8 nights. Decoy fires help to save the dockyards but at the expense of the city.
Corvette HMS Spikenard completed South Shields, Tyne and left for workups.
GERMANY: Students plan to invade Crete from the air is put to Hitler.
FINLAND: Recruitment of Finnish volunteers for Waffen SS begins at Helsinki.
GREECE: Papagos recommends that the Allies leave Greece and permission to evacuate is received from London.
A brief account by NX1755 Cpl. L.J. Irvine of the escape of my party from Greece.
After the 2/2 Bn. was broken up, I, with a few others, found ourselves completely cut off from retreating towards Larissa, so we took to the hills and made for the coast. The battle took place on 18/4/41. We struck the coast at a small village called Koritza on 21/4/41. We rested for a day and then pushed on, making for Volos, crossing the Larissa plain that night. We passed through an enemy tank patrol that had come from Aya to cut off the escaping troops. Next morning the Germans followed our tracks along the beach but we evaded them. Enemy planes patrolled the coast all day and made it difficult to move. We reached a small village near Zogara, called Poiri, 25/4/41, where we learned the whole of Greece was taken. We waited a few days in the hope of getting a boat, eventually setting out on 30/4/41 to walk around Salonika and into Turkey.
Two days later we met a Greek who tried to advise us against our plan, but when he saw we were determined, he asked us to wait a few days and he would get a boat for us, that would take us to one of the islands, where we would be passed on, and eventually reach Turkey. We waited, and he did get us a boat which took us to Skiathos, on the night of 11/5/41.
Skiathos was then occupied, so the people hid us until nightfall, when we were put in a small boat and taken to Skopelos, passing quite close to a German patrol boat on the way. Skopelos also was occupied by Germans but we were hidden by the Greeks. It was impossible to get a boat away for some time, the islands were constantly patrolled, both by sea and air, and benzine and oil was unprocurable, and all the serviceable boats were commandeered to take Germans to Crete.
Eventually we got in touch with a chap who had a letter from the British Consulate in Turkey, we were trying to contact him for some time. He took us to the island of Helonossis on 27/7/41, where we caught a larger boat on 31/7/41, which took us to Skyros, from Skyros to Chesme, 2/8/41, on the Turkish coast, where we were quarantined for 10 days. The Consul got to work in the meantime and arranged for our transportation through Ankara to Syria, and thence to Palestine. We went to Corps H.Q. at Alex, who sent us on here.
My party consisted of: Pte. Murphy, 2/2 Bn.; Pte. Edwards, 2/2 Bn.; Pte. Robb, 21st Bn. N.Z.E.F. (Cpl. NX1755 Irvine, L.J., H.Q.Coy, 2/2 Bn., A.I.F. via Bill Howard)
LIBYA: Battleships Barham, Valiant and Warspite bombard Tripoli, Libya on their return to Alexandria. This action by Admiral Cunningham is done under protest after direct orders from Churchill.
Other ships shell Benghazi harbour.
SINGAPORE: Conference between UK, US, and Dutch. (Air Vice-Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham chaired meeting, US naval representative was Purnell); "ADB" Plan was developed but both US War and Navy Departments recommended it be rejected as they felt it was defeatist and compromised US interests by insisting on defence of trade routes over offensive actions against Japanese. (Marc Small)
AUSTRALIA: Melbourne: Politicians move to oust the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, whom they blame for high Australian casualties in Greece.
U.S.A.: Hyde Park, New York: President Roosevelt and the Canadian Prime Minister, William Mackenzie King, today agreed at the President's family home here on an unprecedented measure of collaboration ultimately aimed at helping the British war effort.
Canada is to sell the US arms, raw material and ships. There are also unconfirmed reports that the US is prepared to take over a role in the defence of Canada to release more Canadian troops for service overseas.
Submarine USS Albacore laid down.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1420, the unescorted Calchas was sunk by two torpedoes from U-107 about 550 miles north of the Cape Verde Islands. The master, 21 crewmembers, one gunner and one of the nine passengers were lost. 33 survivors landed at Sal Maria Island, Cape Verde on 4 May. 23 survivors landed at Boavista Island, Cape Verde and 33 survivors landed at St Louis, Senegal after sailing 650 miles in 16 days in the #5 lifeboat.