Adolf Hitler signed the order for Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. In the afternoon, Adolf Hitler issued the directive for the invasion of Denmark and Norway, with the planned launch date to be 9 April 1940. Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was made aware of the invasion for the first time so that his office could help develop excuses for the invasion. Meanwhile, Dutch border guards were placed on full alert due to the detected German deployments.
One of Hitler’s concerns is to prevent the royal houses of the occupied nations from escaping to England. Hitler has had enough of “governments-in-exile” and wants to see no more of them established.
British submarines begin taking up positions on the German route to Norway pursuant to Admiral Horton’s plan. He anticipates major German warships leaving Heligoland Bight, Kiel, Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven, and Swinemünde. HMS Unity departs Blyth sub base in Northumberland today to take up station a the Heligoland Bight, and HMS Sunfish departs Harwich to patrol the Kattegat.
Dutch troops go on full alert along the German border — again.
After a brutal winter, the weather is beginning to turn warmer on the Continent. Author Eugen Weber writes “Paris has never looked more radiant!” However, he also notes that the city is locked down due to the war, with British soldiers everywhere and monuments surrounded by sandbags.
Britain and Denmark signed a trade agreement.
The British discovery that Germany has been buying diamonds for industrial purposes in Belgium and the Netherlands has led Britain to cut off the sale of rough diamonds to Antwerp and Amsterdam, chiefly from South Africa.
British Minister of Food Lord Woolton promises to keep food prices low (albeit via rationing) and encourages everyone to dig Victory Gardens: “Dig for victory!”
The Italian Cabinet this morning approved a bill providing for civil mobilization in war time that will include not only men and women but also children of both sexes from 13 years up.
The Swedish government receives vague reports of troops and ships being concentrated in north German ports.
Rumanian children 7-18, some 4 million of them, to be impressed into farmwork in order to maintain food exports to Germany. There are labor shortages due to recent increases in the military.
Germany made another air raid on Scapa Flow. Luftwaffe aircraft attack the British naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Two to four bombs were dropped near destroyer depot ship HMS Woolwich. There was no damage. On the return flight, the planes attack Duncansby Head and Stroma lighthouses with machine-gun bullets.
Luftwaffe bombers attack convoys in the North Sea. Three Hurricanes tangle with Heinkel He 111s flying at wavetop level.
Luftwaffe engagements with RAF continue over France. RAF fighters engage nine Messerschmitt Bf 109s over the Western front. The Luftwaffe reportedly loses five fighters, two to the French.
Werner Mölders shot down Flight Lieutenant C. D. Palmer’s Hurricane fighter of No. 1 Squadron RAF. On this date, he also received the Iron Cross 1st Class award.
British submarines began to patrol waters that Vice Admiral Max Horton suspected to be routes of German invasion of Norway. For example, HMS Unity patrolled the Heligoland Bight while HMS Sunfish patrolled the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden.
A straggler from Convoy HN.23A, the Finnish steam merchant Signe was torpedoed and sunk by the U-38, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe, in the North Sea (59° 21’N, 1° 12’W) at 0021 hours. U-38 fired one G7e torpedo from a distance of only 300 meters on a steamer at the end of a small convoy in low visibility due to bad weather about 20 miles southeast of Fair Isle and observed how the ship disappeared in a dense cloud of smoke and vapor after a hit on port side amidships. The Signe (Master Bengt Mattsson) was reported missing after falling 5 miles behind convoy HN.23A in the evening of 1 April, presumably due to engine troubles. HMS Sikh (F 82) (Cdr J.A. Giffard, RN), escorting convoy, reported an explosion at the time of the U-boat attack and searched the area behind convoy, but found nothing. On 4 April the body of a crew member was found on a raft by the British trawler Good Shepherd six miles north-northeast of Fair Isle. All of the ship’s complement of 19 died. The 1,540 ton Signe was carrying ballast and was bound for Burntisland, Scotland.
Convoy OA.122 departed Southend escorted by destroyers HMS Vanessa and HMS Antelope from 2 to 4 April. The convoy dispersed on the 5th.
Convoy OA.123 did not sail.
Convoy FN.135 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers HMS Whitley and HMS Westminster. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 4th.
Convoy FS.136 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer HMS Wallace and sloop HMS Flamingo. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 4th.
Convoy HG.25F departed Gibraltar with twenty-three ships. French destroyer Tigre, patrol vessel HMS Vikings and British destroyer HMS Douglas escorted the convoy from 2 April. Vikings was detached that evening, Douglas on the 5th and Tigre on the 8th. Destroyers HMS Witch and HMS Vimy joined HG.25F on the 8th and escorted the convoy until 9 April. Destroyer HMS Viscount and sloop HMS Rochester joined HG.25F on the 8th and escorted the convoy until 11 April when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
Convoy HX.32 departed Halifax, Nova Scotia at 0800 escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS Saguenay and HMCS Restigouche, which detached on the 3rd. Before joining the convoy, the destroyers escorted battleship HMS Royal Sovereign to Halifax from her HX.25 duty. Canadian destroyer HMCS St Laurent escorted battleship HMS Malaya from Halifax. At 1800/3rd, the destroyers turned the convoy over to Malaya, which detached on the 14th. On the 13th, destroyer HMS Vanquisher joined and on the 14th, destroyers HMS Versatile and HMS Wild Swan.
The War at Sea, Tuesday, 2 April 1940 (naval-history.net)
The 1st Destroyer Flotilla was transferred from the Nore to operate with the Home Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Destroyers Home Fleet. On the 2nd, destroyers GREYHOUND and GLOWWORM departed the Nore escorting steamer CYCLOPS (9076grt) to Rosyth. En route, destroyer GLOWWORM was detached to rescue a downed Spitfire pilot who was picked up by trawler SILVER LINING (40grt). Destroyer GREYHOUND and steamer CYCLOPS arrived safely at Rosyth on the 3rd and destroyer GLOWWORM arrived independently later in the day. At 1800/3rd, destroyers GREYHOUND and GLOWWORM departed Rosyth escorting steamer DEVON CITY (4928grt) for Scapa Flow, where they arrived at 1400/4th. On the 3rd, destroyer GRENADE departed Harwich for Rosyth where she arrived on the 4th. On the 4th, destroyer CODRINGTON departed Harwich at 0600 and Polish destroyers ORP GROM, ORP BURZA and ORP BŁYSKAWICA departed Harwich at 1200 for Rosyth. Destroyer CODRINGTON arrived at Rosyth at 0900/5th and the Polish destroyers arrived during the afternoon of 5 April.
Patrol sloop SHELDRAKE on patrol in the English Channel made a submarine contact. An attack was not made as the contact was found to be non-submarine.
Destroyers FORTUNE and one other (unidentified) departed Plymouth at 1300 for the Clyde to participate in Plan R.4, the Norwegian operation. The destroyers attacked a submarine contact in 49-36N, 6-46W on the 3rd. The contact was later found to be a wreck. Both destroyers arrived in the Clyde at 2015/3rd.
Destroyer FAULKNOR departed Scapa Flow at 1800 for the Clyde to participate in Plan R.4, and arrived in the Clyde at 1300/3rd.
Destroyer BEAGLE on North Goodwins patrol made an attack on a submarine contact in 51-19.2N, 0-49.4E. Destroyer BRILLIANT joined to assist and both destroyers remained at the scene through the day. The contact was later determined to be “non-sub”.
Destroyers INGLEFIELD (D.3), IMOGEN, ISIS, and JUPITER departed Scapa Flow at 0100/2nd to search in Moray Firth for a reportedly damaged German submarine. The destroyers made no contact and arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1900 that evening.
At 2101 a report was received of an outbound German submarine in 59-10N, 1-40W at 2025. The Commander in Chief Home Fleet ordered destroyers to 57-23N, 4-55W by 0600/3rd. Destroyer MOHAWK was detached from convoy HN.23A. Destroyer JUPITER departed Scapa Flow at 0330/3rd to join MOHAWK. The destroyers were recalled to Scapa Flow for other duty at 1209/3rd.
Destroyers HARDY, HUNTER, HAVOCK, and HOTSPUR departed Scapa Flow at 1930 and arrived at Sullom Voe at 0700/3rd.
At 2033, German bombers of II/KG30 raided Scapa Flow. Two to four bombs were dropped near destroyer depot ship WOOLWICH. There was no damage.
Destroyer KASHMIR was damaged at Rosyth while coming alongside a tanker. The damage was repaired by 7 April.
Submarine SPEARFISH arrived at Blyth from Scapa Flow.
U-38 sank Finnish steamer SIGNE (1540grt), a straggler from convoy HN.23A, in 60N, 01E (Uboat.net – 58.52N, 01.31W). Destroyer SIKH, escorting HM.23A, reported an explosion at this time, which was probably SIGNE being torpedoing. On the 4th, trawler GOOD SHEPHERD found a raft with one body from SIGNE six miles NNE of Fair Island.
Convoy OA.122 departed Southend escorted by destroyers VANESSA and ANTELOPE from 2 to 4 April. The convoy dispersed on the 5th. Convoy OA.123 did not sail.
Convoy FN.135 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers WHITLEY and WESTMINSTER. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 4th.
Convoy FS.136 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer WALLACE and sloop FLAMINGO. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 4th.
On the 2nd, there was a reorganization of Minesweepers. 2nd Minesweeping Flotilla – ABERDARE, HARROW and modified gunboat COCKCHAFER. 3rd Minesweeping Flotilla – HUNTLEY, ABINGDON, BAGSHOT, FAREHAM, and STOKE. 4th Minesweeping Flotilla – NIGER, SALAMANDER, DUNOON, DUNDALK, FITZROY, SELKIRK, SUTTON, and ELGIN. 5th Minesweeping Flotilla – GOSSAMER, LEDA, ALBURY, KELLET, LYDD, PANGBOURNE, ROSS, and SALTASH. 6th Minesweeping Flotilla – HALCYON, SPEEDWELL, HUSSAR, HARRIER, and SKIPJACK.
The 1st Minesweeping Flotilla operating with the Home Fleet was unaltered.
German auxiliary Schiff 11/HANONIA (steamer ULM, 3071grt) departed Schillig Roads on 31 March disguised as the Norwegian steamer OREGON EXPRESS, and laid a minefield with 90 EMC and 84 contact mines southeast of Smith’s Knoll on the 2nd. Submarine SEALION, which had departed Harwich on patrol on the 1st, pursued Schiff 11 in the North Sea for some time without success.
On 26 April, steamer CREE (4791grt) was damaged in this minefield in 52 53N, 02 19E. (Note: The Luftwaffe claims it was an aerial mine laid by the 9th Air Division).
On 30 April, Minesweeper DUNOON of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla was sunk in the Schiff 11 minefield off Great Yarmouth. (Note: Again the Luftwaffe claims otherwise – aerial mines laid by I or II group of KGR126, 9th Air Division).
Submarine depot ship MEDWAY and submarines PHOENIX, PARTHIAN, and PROTEUS departed Hong Kong. They were at Singapore from 8 to 10 April and Colombo, Ceylon from 14 to 17 April before sailing for Aden. The ships departed Aden on the 26th and arrived at Suez on 1 May, left Port Said on 2 May and joined the Mediterranean Fleet. At the same time, the 8th Submarine Flotilla (ORPHEUS, ODIN, OLYMPUS, and OTUS) was moving from the Indian Ocean. Submarine ORPHEUS departed Diego Suarez on 30 March and arrived at Aden on the 6th. She departed Aden on the 14th, departed Port Said on the 21st. ODIN departed Colombo on 31 March and arrived at Port Said on the 21st in company of ORPHEUS. On 26 April, they arrived at Malta and ODIN immediately commencing refit. Submarines OLYMPUS and OTUS departed Colombo on the 16th and departed Aden on the 26th. They arrived at Suez on 1 May, departing Port Said on 2 May, and arrived at Malta on 7 May. Submarine OLYMPUS immediately commenced refit.
Convoy HG.25F departed Gibraltar with twenty-three ships. French destroyer TIGRE, patrol vessel VIKINGS and British destroyer DOUGLAS escorted the convoy from 2 April. VIKINGS was detached that evening, DOUGLAS on the 5th and TIGRE on the 8th. Destroyers WITCH and VIMY joined HG.25F on the 8th and escorted the convoy until 9 April. Destroyer VISCOUNT and sloop ROCHESTER joined HG.25F on the 8th and escorted the convoy until 11 April when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
Minesweeper LYDD arrived at Gibraltar from Malta. On the 5th, the minesweeper departed for Plymouth.
Convoy HX.32 departed Halifax at 0800 escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS SAGUENAY and HMCS RESTIGOUCHE, which detached on the 3rd. Before joining the convoy, the destroyers escorted battleship ROYAL SOVEREIGN to Halifax from her HX.25 duty. Canadian destroyer HMCS ST LAURENT escorted battleship MALAYA from Halifax. At 1800/3rd, the destroyers turned the convoy over to MALAYA, which detached on the 14th. On the 13th, destroyer VANQUISHER joined and on the 14th, destroyers VERSATILE and WILD SWAN.
VANQUISHER detached on the 15th, VERSATILE on the 16th, and WILD SWAN on the 17th, when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
French battleships DUNKERQUE and STRASBOURG, light cruisers GLOIRE and MONTCALM, destroyers MOGADOR, INDOMPTABLE, TRIOMPHANT, MALIN and TERRIBLE departed Brest. They arrived at Mer el Kebir on the 5th.
French light cruiser EMILE BERTIN and large destroyer MAILLE BREZE departed Toulon on the 1st, then Oran to proceed to Brest for operations off Norway. The destroyer was a replacement for large destroyer VAUQUELIN which departed Brest for repairs at Toulon, where she arrived on the 10th. EMILE BERTIN and MAILLE BREZE arrived at Brest on the 5th.
In Washington today, President Roosevelt conferred with Ambassador Bullitt, Undersecretary of State Welles and Harold D. Smith, Director of the Budget. He answered census questions propounded by William L. Austin, director of the census. He sent to Congress a third reorganization plan creating a Federal fiscal service in the Treasury Department and making other changes in the government structure affecting the Interior, Agricultural and Labor Departments. At his press conference he stated his opposition to further authorizations for flood control.
The Senate considered the resolution to extend the trade treaty program, confirmed Matthew F. McGuire as assistant to the Attorney General, received the Reynolds resolution asking from Ambassador Bullitt and Under-Secretary Welles an explanation of their dealings with foreign governments and recessed at 5:16 PM until noon tomorrow. A Banking and Currency subcommittee heard Commissioner Healey on the Securities and Exchange Commission support the Wagner bill for the regulation of investment trusts.
The House approved a resolution to cite George Powers for contempt for refusal to answer questions of the Dies committee, considered other legislation and adjourned at 3:18 PM until noon tomorrow. The Labor Committee approved two amendments to the National Labor Relations Act and the Dies committee heard testimony involving the activities of William Dudley Pelley.
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull tonight turned down a request of Representative Fish, New York Republican, that William C. Bullitt, ambassador to France, be permitted to remain in the United States for two weeks to answer questions of the congressional committee concerning remarks attributed to him in a German “white paper”. The “white paper,” allegedly seized from Polish files in Warsaw, reported Bullitt as saying that the United States would join Britain and France in fighting Germany.
The United States is maintaining its moral embargo against Russia on the export of airplanes and patented processes for producing aviation gasoline, notwithstanding the termination of the Soviet-Finnish war, Secretary of State Hull said today.
President Roosevelt led Vice President Garner by more than two to one in returns from Wisconsin’s Democratic Presidential preference primary today. In the Republican contest for delegates Thomas E. Dewey held a substantial lead over Senator Vandenberg.
The creation of a fiscal service consolidating the financing and other fiscal functions of the Treasury Department under a single office was proposed by President Roosevelt today in another government reorganization plan affecting four departments and one independent agency.
New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and John L. Lewis, president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, today reached an agreement averting a threatened strike of 27,000 transit workers which would have tied up the city’s principal subway and elevated lines.
The battle over amendment of the National Labor Relations Act moved toward early House action today when Mrs. Mary Norton, chairman of the House Labor Committee, offered a bill to change the act in three particulars.
Census-takers called on President Roosevelt today and on Americans throughout the country but the president didn’t know all the answers. Although he’s “head of the household” at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Roosevelt said there were questions about the servants and other phases of the establishment that he had to refer to an aide. Still other questions, including those for an agricultural census, will be handled at Hyde Park, where the president maintains his legal residence.
A decrease in the nation’s total child population will be recorded for the first time by the 1940 census.
Alleged plans of William Dudley Pelley, leader of the Silver Shirts, to march on Washington and set up a Hitler regime as long ago as 1934 were told today to the Dies Committee. by Miss Dorothy Waring, who won Pelley’s confidence while acting as a secret agent that year for a committee investigating subversive activities under the direction of Representative Dickstein of New York. Miss Waring made a surprise appearance under Mr. Dickstein’s escort, after the latter had made new charges against Pelley in which he linked National Guard officers with other groups, which, he said, were working with Pelley.
Special agents of the Dies committee, accompanied by a squad of city detectives, raided Communist party headquarters and offices of the International Workers Order in Philadelphia today.
The U.S. Fleet departs West Coast for maneuvers in Hawaiian waters. Fleet Problem XXI is the last of the large prewar fleet exercises that mark the culmination of the training year. Conducted in two phases, Parts II and VI of the annual fleet exercises, it takes place in the waters of the Pacific in the vicinity of Hawaii to the westward. Part II exercises two fleets (the augmented Battle Force vs. the augmented Scouting Force) of approximately equal strength, one side concentrated and the other widely dispersed, in scouting, screening, and conducting major fleet engagements. Part VI exercises two fleets of approximately equal strength (the same opponents as in Part II), each dispersed, in scouting, screening, protecting convoys, seizing and defending advanced bases, and conducting major fleet engagements. The worsening world situation will prompt the cancellation of Fleet Problem XXII in 1941.
The Canadian Government purchased the coastal passenger liner Prince Robert from the Canadian National Steamship Lines for conversion to an armed merchant cruiser. Her other two sisters, Prince David and Prince Henry, were purchased on 19 December 1939 and 11 March 1940, respectively.
The Central China Daily News, organ of Wang Ching-wei’s Japanese-supported Nanking regime, replied today to Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s non-recognition declaration with an editorial asserting: “Hull should have realized by this time that the people of the entire world, especially the Chinese, abhor and despise the false utterances of American statesmen.”
Secretary Hull on March 30 declared that the United States would continue to recognize the Chinese Government at Chungking and that the United States considered the setting up of the Nanking regime as further evidence that Japan meant to force her will upon China and to exclude the rights and interests of third powers.
Full resumption of traffic on the French-owned railway between Indo-China and Yunnan Province, China’s most important transport connection with the outside world, will be effected in a few days, authoritative Chinese and French sources here in the Yunnan capital say.
Foreign sources reported today that Japanese military forces were consolidating their positions in South China and strengthening Hainan Island as a naval and air base in preparation for future operations aimed at the domination of the entire South China area. The sources said that 30,000 Japanese troops had recently landed on Hainan Island to suppress guerrilla operations by Chinese and in readiness for an offensive into the interior of South China.
Central News, the official Chinese agency, reported today that Chinese forces had routed 10,000 Japanese troops who had made a four-day counterattack on Wuyuan, in Suiyuan Province, 350 miles northwest of Peiping. It said the Japanese failed despite support of artillery and aircraft. The Chinese also made raids on coal mines at Tsingching, in Hopeh Province, burning to death many Japanese in barracks, the agency reported. The Chinese acknowledged extension of hostilities far to the south, at Shangze, in Kwangsi Province, near the Kwangtung border, but said the Chinese were resisting stoutly. Chinese said they had recaptured two strategic points near Siaoshan, Chekiang Province.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 147.92 (+0.2)
Born:
Penelope Keith, English actress (“The Good Life”, “To the Manor Born”), in Sutton, London, England, United Kingdom.
Don Jackson, Canadian figure skater (World Championship gold medal, men’s singles, 1962; first triple lutz in international competition; Olympics, bronze medal, men’s singles, 1960), in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Mike Hailwood, British motorcycle road racer (World C’ships: 250cc – 1961, 1966, 1967; 350cc – 1966, 1967; 500cc –1962-65; 76 Grand Prix wins), in Great Milton, England, United Kingdom (d. 1981).
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy “Q”-class destroyer HMS Quail (G 45) is ordered from Hawthorn Leslie & Company (Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England).
The Royal Navy “R”-class destroyer HMS Rotherham (H 09) is ordered from John Brown & Company (Clydebank, Scotland).
The Royal Navy Bangor-class (Reciprocating engined) minesweeper HMS Bude (J 116) is laid down by Lobnitz & Co. Ltd. (Renfrew, Scotland).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-502 is laid down by Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg (werk 292).
The U.S. Navy Gar-class submarine USS Grenadier (SS-210) is laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type 1936A destroyer Z26 is launched by AG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen (werk 960).
More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/mark.olivares.71
History Diaries 