The British War Cabinet cancels Operation Hammer — the bombardment and direct invasion of Trondheim — once and for all. The better way to secure the port, they reason, is the Operation Sickle pincer attack from Namsos in the north and Åndalsnes in the south. The British forces at Åndalsnes, though, are also supporting the Norwegians down at Lillehammer, while the British and French troops to the north at Namsos also are the closest Allied forces to Narvik. Thus, the Allied effort is being dispersed in different directions.
London does not tell General de Wiart of the cancellation of Operation Hammer. He disposes of his forces to support the expected landing, which now will not come. His 146th Brigade occupies advanced positions on Trondheimfjord which are only useful and supportable if the expected landings were to occur.
The British 148th Infantry Brigade arrived at Lillehammer by train at 0250 hours and began moving south toward the front lines held by Norwegian troops on both sides of Lake Mjøsa.
At Namsos, Norway, German aircraft destroyed large quantities of British supplies and equipment piled near the docks; the British could do little to fight back as they were short on anti-aircraft weapons; in an attempt to remedy this, the 263 Squadron RAF dispatched 18 Gladiator biplanes to Scapa Flow, where they would be ferried to Norway by HMS Glorious. The port is ruined as a landing place. There is no natural cover from air attacks and, of course, the Germans have complete air superiority. The Luftwaffe is beginning to demonstrate aerial dominance over Norway.
Elements of German 196th Infantry Division capture Elverum the former refuge of the Norwegian government, and push toward Trondheim.
Other elements of German 196th Infantry Division push toward Lillehammer. German forces approach Lillehammer and Rena. At 02:50, Brigadier Morgan moves his 148th Brigade south to Lillehammer by train. The Norwegians are trying to block the Germans advancing up either side of Lake Mjøsa and are giving ground.
Narvik is reinforced by a battalion of German 334th Infantry Regiment and other troops airlifted by Ju52 transports. Otherwise, they are completely cut off from all re-supply and reinforcement, with the exception of any cargo ships that can make it past the British blockade.
The Luftwaffe is starting to support the advancing Wehrmacht ground forces heading north toward Trondheim. Among other places, they attack Dombås, the scene of the recent German paratrooper landings and fighting. Aside from the important rail line, it also is a key road junction at the intersection of long mountain defiles. There are British soldiers there, brought down by the rail line that runs through the town. One of the British, Lt. Rob Winter, notes: “Luftwaffe been strafing us all day, and bombing the little town of Dombas. We left our flak guns in the UK.”
Danish Army demobilized in occupied Denmark.
In the United Kingdom, the British War Cabinet canceled the plans for direct landings at Trondheim, Norway (Operation Hammer) in fear of heavy casualties; a failure in communications meant that the British 146th Brigade remained in precarious positions near Trondheim.
Adolf Hitler authorized the creation of a joint Norwegian-Danish-German SS regiment. On his 51st birthday, Hitler ordered the creation of the first Scandinavian SS unit, named SS-Verfügungstruppe Standarte Nordland.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to attack Stavanger and Kristiansund overnight.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches aircraft to attack Aalborg airfield in Denmark overnight.
At RNAS Hatston, Acting Captain C. L. Howe, RN, again decided to attack shipping in the vicinity of Bergen. An unspecified number of Skuas from both 800 and 801 Squadrons were dispatched. 800 Squadron, FAA dispatched a single Skua on an armed reconnaissance mission to Larvik. Capt. Partridge, RM and his Observer, Lt. Bostock, RN made the crossing at 12,000 feet. Opting to fly a detour around the known Luftwaffe fighter base at Stavanger, they reached Larvik safely, where nothing of importance was sighted. En-route home, they spotted a lone MTB, schnellboote S-22, at speed. Electing to attack her, he releases his single 500 pound SAP bomb but missed by some 50 yards. Shortly thereafter, the pair spotted a U-Boat on the surface. Having no remaining bombs, they had to settle for a strafing run. While approaching the Orkney’s on the return flight, Skua L2999 of 800 Squadron disappears, Midshipman (A) John Richard Crossley, RN (P) and Petty Officer Airman Maurice Hall, DSM, twice Mentioned in Dispatches, RN being missing and presumed killed. This was to be the last Skua operation from RNAS Hatston for some time.
RAF 263 Squadron flies 18 Gloster Gladiators (Squadron Leader John Donaldson) to Scapa Flow, where, they are landed on aircraft carrier HMS Glorious for transport to Norway. The Gladiators are not designed for landings and takeoffs on aircraft carriers, nor are their pilots, so Fleet Air Arm pilots carefully fly them onto the carrier.
The Royal Navy ASW trawler HMS Rutlandshire was bombed and sunk in the Namsenfjorden off Namsos, Norway by Luftwaffe aircraft.
The Kriegsmarine auxiliary ship Schiff 18 was damaged by the Royal Norwegian Navy Gor-class gunboat HNoMS Tyr and beached at Uskedal, near Bergen, Norway.
Later that afternoon, the HNoMS Tyr was captured by a German boarding party from two E-boats and pressed into German service.
The Royal Norwegian Navy auxiliary patrol vessel HNoMS Smart was shelled and sunk at Uskedal by the German (Kriegsmarine) artillery training ship / escort Bremse.
The Royal Norwegian Navy Trygg-class torpedo boat HNoMS Stegg was sunk in Hardangerfjord by the armed German (Kriegsmarine) trawler Schiff 221.
The U.S. freighters Flying Fish and Charles McCormick were reported safe at Norwegian ports. There had been concern expressed over their safety in view of the German invasion of Norway. They had been shifted from Bergen to neighboring, safer places.
It is Hitler’s 51st birthday, and the big day, as usual, is marked with celebrations and speeches.
German High Command issued a secret order to discharge servicemen with mixed Jewish heritage and servicemen who were married to Jewish women.
Germany and Rumania conclude a trade agreement. Germany has agreed to send huge quantities of munitions and squadrons of fighting planes to Rumania in return for Rumanian concessions in an amendment to their trade treaty which was signed at noon today.
A new wave of persecution of Jews by Germans in Poland is reported from Warsaw and other cities in the occupied areas to the Polish Government in Exile here. The persecutions are explained by both Polish and Jewish circles here as a move to hinder American relief work. Relief is granted equally to Poles and Jews without any discrimination on racial or religious grounds. This, it is charged, is used by the Nazis as a pretext to stage anti-Jewish riots.
Premier Paul Reynaud reiterated before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today that France was willing to seek a settlement of her differences with Italy and that she considered a Mediterranean entente with Italy and Spain one of the indispensable bases of peace.
The hand that Premier Paul Reynaud of France stretched out to Italy today is not likely to be accepted. It seems only too probable that Premier Mussolini’s mind has been made up once and for all. Italy is no longer at the crossroads; she has chosen her way and it is not the way of France or Britain.
Italians are always saying that if France had taken another attitude just after the conquest of Ethiopia, it would have been possible for the two countries to have a close and binding understanding. Signor Mussolini, they say, asked for little then, but France chose to go with Britain and remain hostile to Italy. Premier Mussolini is credited by all who know him with having resented the attitude bitterly and never to have forgiven France.
The training of air crews under the Empire Air Training Scheme began. The effort was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The scheme was later renamed the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
Keith Park took command of the 11 Group of the Royal Air Force Fighter Command.
Werner Mölders shot down a French P-36 fighter near Saarbrücken, Germany.
Over the Western Front British RAF Hurricane fighters shot down four and possibly five German aircraft in renewed combat, it was announced in London today. Two enemy planes were known to have crashed in France. One Messerschmitt fighter was shot out of the skies before the engagement between a British patrol and nine single-motor Messerschmitt 109s was really begun, it was reported. The pilot jumped but his parachute failed to open and he was killed. In the ensuing dogfight another Messerschmitt was believed to have been destroyed. Another German victim, a Heinkel 111 reconnaissance bomber, which was intercepted, was chased and finally brought down trying to get back home. The crew of the Heinkel, which crashed near Charny, was captured.
In its first night victory, Luftwaffe fighter shoots down a Fairey Battle of the RAF Advanced Striking Force on a recon mission overnight.
Luftwaffe engagements with RAF and French Air Force continue.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 23 aircraft on minelaying operations off German coast overnight.
HMS Ark Royal, having parted company with destroyers HMS Westcott & Bulldog off Plymouth, is joined by the destroyers HMS Saladin, Juno & Hasty, all arriving in the Clyde at 0145. She then docks at Greenock. HMS Glorious remains in Greenock loading stores and equipment.
The British cargo vessel Mersey struck a mine and sank in The Downs, Kent (51°17’N 1°28’E) with the loss of 14 of her 21 crew.
The British cargo vessel Hawnby struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the north coast of Kent (51°32’N 1°13’E). All 39 crew were rescued by the Royal Navy motor torpedo boat MTB-4.
Convoy OA.133GF departs Southend.
Convoy OB.133 departs Liverpool.
Convoy FN.150 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers HMS Westminster and HMS Wolsey, and Wolsey was machine gunned by German bombers in the area of Smith’s Knoll. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 22nd.
Convoy FN.151 did not sail.
Convoy MT.56 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer HMS Valentine and sloop HMS Weston, and submarine SEAL took passage with them. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.151 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer HMS Valentine and sloop HMS Weston, and arrived at Southend on the 22nd.
The War at Sea, Saturday, 20 April 1940 (naval-history.net)
Anti-submarine trawler RUTLANDSHIRE (458grt, Chief Skipper J. Wilson RNR) of the 23rd Anti-Submarine Group was badly damaged by German bombing at Namsos, and was run aground to prevent sinking, breaking into three sections. The entire crew was rescued. It was long thought that she was salved by German forces and renamed Vp.6116 (trawler UBIER). However, UBIER, later Vp.6116, was a new whaler not completed until 1941. The wreck of RUTLANDSHIRE was located in Namsenfjord in November 2004.
Sloop AUCKLAND was damaged by a near miss in the same bombing attack at Namsos.
Light cruisers SOUTHAMPTON and ENTERPRISE were at Tromso.
Destroyers FAULKNOR, ESCAPADE, and JUPITER conducted anti-submarine operations in Vestfjord screening light cruisers AURORA and EFFINGHAM. At first light on the 20th, JUPITER was relieved for refueling by destroyer GRENADE, and EFFINGHAM was relieved early on the 21st by light cruiser ENTERPRISE.
Destroyers SOMALI (D.6) and TARTAR departed Scapa Flow at 1300 to establish a patrol in Kraakvaagford by dusk on the 21st. They joined destroyers ASHANTI and MOHAWK, already in the area, patrolling the Trondheim Leads, later departing on the 22nd for Scapa Flow for fuel and ammunition, where they arrived at 0900/23rd.
Destroyers BASILISK, BEAGLE, and HESPERUS departed Scapa Flow at 0800 to operate an anti-submarine striking force east of the Orkneys and Fair Island. BEAGLE arrived back at Scapa Flow at 1900 for escort duties, and BASILISK and HESPERUS were ordered at 0535/21st to the Clyde for escort duties. They arrived at 2345/21st.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CARLISLE at Aandalsnes was damaged by a near miss of German bombing, suffering a leak in her starboard condenser.
Tanker BRITISH LADY escorted by destroyers HOTSPUR, PUNJABI, and JUPITER departed Skelfjord during the forenoon for Scapa Flow, arriving at 2200/23rd with tug BRIGAND in attendance.
Destroyers BEAGLE and VOLUNTEER departed Scapa Flow at 2100 with tanker ALDERSDALE for Skelfjord, where they arrived at 0300/24th.
Submarines URSULA arrived at Blyth, and TAKU at Rosyth after patrols.
French submarine CIRCE departed Harwich on patrol, but returned on the 22nd with her after planes out of action.
Light cruiser ARETHUSA embarked RAF personnel and fuel at Rosyth and proceeded unaccompanied to Aandalsnes where the personnel and cargo were landed early on the 22nd.
Liner FRANCONIA (20,175grt) arrived at Harstad escorted by battlecruiser REPULSE and destroyers HAVANT, HAVELOCK, and FAME. Congestion was so great that 1141 men of a labour force were sent back home without ever disembarking. However, wounded and prisoners were taken onboard for transport back to England.
Skuas of 800 and 801 Squadron from Hatston individually attacked Bergen. German motor torpedo boat S.22 was unsuccessfully attacked. Midshipman J R Crossley and Petty Officer M Hall were lost when their Skua of 800 Squadron crashed between Lerwick and the Orkneys in 59-81N, 1-19W.
Steamer WESTERN PRINCE (10,926grt) was heavily machine gunned and damaged by German bombers near Edinburgh Light Vessel.
Anti-submarine yacht MOLLUSC (627grt) attacked a submarine contact in 52-34N, 2-01E. Patrol sloop SHELDRAKE stood by the contact.
In operations by German gunnery training ship BREMSE, naval auxiliary ship Schiff 18, minesweeper M.1 and S-boats in Hardangersfjord, Norwegian torpedo boat STEGG at Heroysund and auxiliary patrol vessel SMART (122grt) at Usekedel were sunk by BREMSE. Norwegian minelayer TYR was sent to assist STEGG, engaged Schiff 18 which was damaged and ran aground at Usekedel, near Bergen, but was captured later by German forces when the Norwegian crew went ashore during daylight hours. She was taken for German use. TYR with minelayer ULLER departed Bergen on the 30th to lay mines at the entrance to Sognefjord, where they were attacked by Norwegian aircraft and ULLER damaged and ran aground. The crew was taken aboard TYR which returned towards Bergen. On 1 May, she was attacked by a Norwegian gunboat and sustained many casualties to the German crew. TYR served no further use to the German forces, but was returned after the war to the Norwegians.
M.1 seized some 40,000 tons of merchant shipping at Haugesand and took them to Stavanger. Included in this haul was German steamer CLARE HUGO STINNES (5294grt) at Kinsarvik, which was seized at the start of the Norwegian campaign, and a number of Norwegian steamers — SAN MIGUEL (2380grt) at Ulvik, BLACK PRINCE (5039grt) and KONG OSCAR II (914grt), and VENUS (5407grt) at Stanghelle, near Bergen.
At 0930, submarine TRIAD sighted a German convoy of three steamers and four escorts in 58-15N, 10-15E, attacked one of the steamers off Arendal and claimed to have sunk her, but no damage was done. At 1318, submarine SWORDFISH fired six torpedoes at the same convoy in Bohus Bay, which she reported as three freighters and four F-type escort ships. One of the torpedoes just missed German steamer SANTOS (5943grt) in 58-48N, 10-19E.
Aircraft carrier FURIOUS intercepted German trawler RHEIN (254grt) at 1604 off North Cape, which was taken in prize and escorted to Harstad by destroyer IMOGEN.
U-61 refueled at Bergen.
After departing Brest on the 18th, French large destroyers ALBATROS (Capitaine de Fregate R.G. Lambert) and VAUTOUR (Capitaine de Vaisseau G.F.J.M. Reboul Hector-Berlioz) of the 7th Large Destroyer Division arrived in the Clyde escorting French troopships DJENNE (8790grt), FLANDRE (8503grt) and PRESIDENT DOUMER (11,898grt). The convoy was met at sea by destroyers FEARLESS, FURY, and VANOC which escorted them into the Clyde.
Destroyer VEGA damaged her asdic dome hitting a submerged object, docked at Chatham on the 22nd and was under repair until mid-May.
Destroyer KEITH completed boiler cleaning at Dover, while destroyer BRILLIANT began hers.
French destroyer L’ADROIT escorted eight Norwegian merchant ships from Dunkirk to the Downs on the Dungeness route.
Convoy FN.150 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers WESTMINSTER and WOLSEY, and WOLSEY was machine gunned by German bombers in the area of Smith’s Knoll. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 22nd. Convoy FN.151 did not sail.
Convoy MT.56 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VALENTINE and sloop WESTON, and submarine SEAL took passage with them. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.151 departed the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VALENTINE and sloop WESTON, and arrived at Southend on the 22nd.
Destroyer VELOX arrived at Gibraltar escorting Norwegian whaling ship KOSMOS II (16966grt). The ship had departed Teneriffe and was captured by French sloop BOUGAINVILLE off Casablanca.
French submarines PHOQUE, DAUPHIN, NARVAL, and ESPADON departed Casablanca on the 19th, passed Gibraltar, escorted by destroyer TRAMONTANE, and were joined by submarine REQUIN which had been exercising at Gibraltar. They arrived at Bizerte on the 21st, along with submarine PROTEE which departed Casablanca on the 18th; she passed Gibraltar with destroyer TROMBE on the 19th.
Sounding an appeal for return of government to the people, Thomas E. Dewey, famed New York City prosecutor and prospective Republican presidential candidate, launched his California campaign yesterday with a 10-minute station platform address before 2,500 persons in San Bernardino. “No single man is smart enough to tell 130,000,000 people how to live,” he declared. Displaying the forceful manner that has brought him renown in the courtroom, Mr. Dewey also condemned bureaucratic control of private enterprise as a means of eliminating abuses practiced by a few individuals.
President Roosevelt issued a thinly veiled rebuke tonight to District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey for his criticism of Administration foreign policies. President Roosevelt urged again tonight that his own party choose a “liberal pair of candidates’” and at the same time waded into the Republican opposition for “seeking to frighten the country” by declaring the present administration “is deliberately trying to put this nation into war.” It was an out-and-out political talk that Mr. Roosevelt made by radio to a series of country-wide dinners of Young Democrats’ clubs. And while it carried an obvious bid to continue the new deal, it offered no tangible clue to the outstanding political question of the day: Will the president seek a third term?
Democrats and Republicans are more closely matched throughout the country today than in any Presidential election in twenty-four years, a preview of party strength in the 1940 campaign, just completed by the American Institute of Public Opinion, shows, according to Dr. George Gallup, the institute’s director. “The Democrats,” he says, “are out in front as the campaign gets under way, the final State-by-State tabulations show, and if the election were today the indications are that the Democratic party would. lead in thirty-one of the forty-eight States. They would capture about 317 out of a total of 531 electoral votes. But the Democratic lead in several States is so slim — notably in New York and Minnesota — that a shift of only 1 percentage point would completely alter the picture. and throw a majority of electoral votes to the G.O.P. Political observers will have to go back to the Wilson-Hughes race of 1916 to find an election where the two parties proved to be so evenly matched in popular strength.”
Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Wisconsin Progressive, charged today that social security old-age pensions are inadequate in wealthier states and “disgracefully low” in the poorer states. LaFollette, a member of a senate finance subcommittee appointed this week to examine the entire structure of old-age provisions of the social security act, said the group probably will be unable to make a formal report until the next session of congress. He commended Senator Sheridan Downey, California Democrat, who demanded a congressional investigation of the pension setup, for stimulating public interest in the question.
Floods gripped the Ohio Valley from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati tonight and turned Southern Ohio into a maze of lakes, isolating entire towns. Thousands of persons had to flee their homes.
The known death toll stood at twenty-seven tonight in the wreck of the Lake Shore Limited of the New York Central, which was derailed while traveling at high speed last night.
RCA publicly demonstrated the first electron microscope in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jacqueline Cochran tonight claimed a new national speed record for 100 kilometers with an official mark of 292.8 miles an hour. The old record was 289.9, set in 1937 by Roscoe Turner. Miss Cochran was clearly disappointed, however, when timers for the National Aeronautical association brought in her flying time. When she landed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she had announced she felt sure she had passed the 300-mlle-an-hour mark. “Well, anyway, I broke it,” she ed. “The engine heated up and I had to throttle back about half down the course.” She flew the same stubby low-winged single-seater in which she set a record of about 324 miles an hour for 2,000 kilometers.
Mrs William K. Vanderbilt Sr., widow of the grandson of the founder of the Vanderbilt dynasty and long a reigning queen in New York society, died late today in New York hospital. She was noted especially for her philanthropies, particularly in behalf of war sufferers, and during the World war was one of the Red Cross’ most active workers.
Reports that Russia has established naval and air bases near the Aleutian Islands, Congressional sources said today, are behind intensified army efforts to strengthen defenses in Alaska.
Captain George J. McMillin relieves Captain James T. Alexander as Governor of Guam and Commandant U.S. Naval Station, Guam.
Major League Baseball:
The Baltimore Afro-American reports that sports editors from 10 colleges in the New York City metro area adopted a resolution calling for the admission of black players into the major leagues. Columbia University led the way in preparing the full text of the resolution, which organized and represented opinions of students. Twenty-five collegiate press representatives met in New York City to endorse the resolution. At the same time, they sought elimination of discrimination against black athletes on college squads.
The Cubs got only seven hits today but the timeliness of their hits, backed by a fine defense and some excellent relief pitching by a rookie, Ken Raffensberger, produced a 4–3 victory over the Cardinals.
St. Louis Cardinals 3, Chicago Cubs 4
Chicago White Sox 1, St. Louis Browns 11
The Laguna Petroleum Company, a Japanese firm, has signed a $3,000,000 contract to purchase Mexican oil, gasoline and kerosene.
Japan asked the United States today to use its influence to prevent a sharp curtailment of Japanese immigration into the Philippine Islands.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 147.67 (+0.87)
Born:
George Andrie, NFL defensive end (NFL Champions, Super Bowl V-Cowboys, 1971; Pro Bowl, 1965-1969; Dallas Cowboys), in Grand Rapids, Michigan (d. 2018).
James Gammon, American actor (“Cool Hand Luke”; “Nash Bridges”), in Newman, Illinois (d. 2010).
Susy Andersen [as Maria Antonietta Golgi], Italian actress (“Thor and the Amazon Women”), in Pola, Istria, Italy (today Pula, Croatia).
Ronald Mundy, American doo-wop tenor vocalist (The Marcels — “Blue Moon”), in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2017).
Tim Drummond, American session and touring bass player and songwriter (Ry Cooder; Neil Young; Graham Nash: J.J. Cale; Bob Dylan), in Canton, Illinois (d. 2015).
Died:
Charles Sumner Tainter, 85, American inventor of sound-recording instruments (graphophone, dictaphone).
Naval Construction:
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IXC U-boat U-68 is laid down by AG Weser, Bremen (werk 987).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvettes HMS Hyacinth (K 84) and HMS Gentian (K 90) are laid down by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland).
The Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette HMCS Kenogami (K 125) is laid down by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. (Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada).
The U.S. Navy seaplane tender USS Curtiss (AV-4), lead ship of her class of 2, is launched by the New York Shipbuilding Corp. (Camden, New Jersey, U.S.A.).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IIB U-boat U-121 is launched by Flender Werke AG, Lübeck (werk 269).
The Royal Navy “U”-class (Second Group) submarine HMS Utmost (N 19) is launched by Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Heartsease (K 15) is launched by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland). She was laid down as the HMS Pansy, before her name was changed during construction. On 3 Apr 1942 she will be transferred to the U.S. Navy under reverse lend-lease and renamed the USS Courage (PG-70) in U.S. Navy service.
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type IIB U-boat U-120 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Bauer.
History Diaries 