April 24th, 1941 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:London:
Churchill meets with US Admiral Ghormley to discuss joint activities in the Atlantic, and the risk of German bases being set-up in the Canaries or Cape Verde Islands.
Letter to The Times:
Sir, - In case it would interest your readers I enclose extracts from a letter which I have received from my son, who was taken prisoner in British Somaliland last August by the Italians. The letter is dated January 1. He says:
"Christmas under these circumstances was a rather hollow farce, but even this prison atmosphere could not prevent us from capturing some of the good old Christmas spirit. Strange to relate we even got some presents - the Italian Red Cross sent us a case of cakes, biscuits and a few bottles of wine, which was a great luxury. The only other presents we received were from the Italian Air Force, who not only gave us a bottle of beer apiece - only Italian beer, it is true, but nevertheless beer - but a boxload of games, such as chess, draughts, dominoes, etc. The local General commanding the Air Force in this area came down in person on Christmas Eve to wish us a happy Christmas with these presents. We all thoroughly appreciated the kindness and consideration shown by the Air Force, which is difficult to find elsewhere. The local captain of the police, who is our official gaoler, came and had a drink with us in the evening, and the other policemen who are variously responsible for our captivity came and visited us at various other times."
I feel this should comfort relations of our men who have recently become prisoners in Italian hands.
Yours Truly, Eva Trevaskis.
The Rectory, Rusper, Sussex.
Corvette HMS Polyanthus commissioned.
Submarine HMS Sirdar laid down.
GERMANY:
GREECE: As German paratroopers capture the islands of Samothrace, Limnos and Thasos, the Allies
start to evacuate their troops from the mainland. The troops at Thermopylae are withdrawn
and themselves evacuated from Megara, Rafina and Porto Rafti near Athens. To
lift the troops there were 6 cruisers, 24 destroyers and escort vessels, 2
Landing Ships Infantry, 14 troopships and a number of landing craft.
The Germans attacked the Thermopylae line which was held by the 6th NZ
Brigade on the east and the 19th Australian Brigade on the west. German
tanks tried to break through the New Zealanders while mountain troops
attacked the high pass held by the Australians. The New Zealanders destroyed
twelve tanks and together with the Australians held their ground. The 5th NZ
Brigade and 6000 corps and base troops embarked on the night of 24/25 April.
The 19th Australian Brigade embarked from the Peloponnese beaches the
following night. (Anthony Staunton)
BULGARIA: Bulgaria declares a state of war in its occupied areas of Greece and Yugoslavia.
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper
HMAS Wallaroos laid down.
U.S.A. : President Roosevelt orders US naval units
to report the movements of German warships west of Iceland, and move the
Neutrality Patrol to 26.00W longitude.
The motion picture "Penny Serenade" is released in the U.S. Directed by George Stevens, the film stars Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi and Edgar Buchanan. This romantic drama (tearjerker) has a couple (Dunne and Grant) adopting a baby after the wife loses a child. Cary Grant was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award but lost out to Gary Cooper for Sergeant York.