Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 2–8 June 1941: The Syria-Lebanon Campaign

Posted on June 2, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 8 June 1941, British, Commonwealth and Free French forces invaded Syria and Lebanon to attack the Vichy-French garrisons. The aim was to prevent the German army and Luftwaffe from developing bases that would threaten the British hold on Egypt. … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 5–11 May 1941: Emperor Haile Selassie returns in triumph to Addis Ababa

Posted on May 5, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie—the man who had addressed the League of Nations to plead for help in the face of the Italian invasion of his country—returned to his Ethiopian capital in triumph. Colonel Orde Wingate—the controversial and highly … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 28 April–4 May 1941: British forces pull out of Greece, leaving Germany victorious

Posted on April 29, 2013 by secondbysecond

Dunkirk, Norway, and finally Greece. On 28 April 1941, the British evacuated their expeditionary force from the Greek mainland, thereby abandoning Britain’s last foothold on continental Europe to the conquering German army. The plight of Greece, that had begun with … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 21–27 April 1941: US aid goes to (Vichy-controlled) French North Africa

Posted on April 22, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 26 April 1941, the Murphy-Weygand Accord came into force. American diplomat, Robert Daniel Murphy, was Roosevelt’s ‘man in Algiers’. French general, Maxime Weygand, was posted to Algiers as the Vichy government’s ‘Delegate-General’ to their … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 14–20 April 1941: Destroyer versus destroyer off the Tunisian coast

Posted on April 13, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy was fought at night between the Italian and British navies near the Kerkennah Banks, off the Tunisian coast. Donald Macintyre’s book The Battle for the Mediterranean (Batsford, 1964) presents … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 7–13 April 1941: The USA moves further along the path to war

Posted on April 8, 2013 by secondbysecond

American involvement in the European conflict deepened, this week in the war, as the USA moved ever further from neutrality. On 10 April 1941, the American destroyer USS Niblack rescued the crew of a Dutch freighter, torpedoed off the coast … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 31 March–6 April 1941: Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece

Posted on April 5, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, on 6 April 1941, German forces invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. Goering’s Luftwaffe launched heavy attacks against Belgrade, despite the Yugoslavian capital having been declared an open city. Further Luftwaffe raids wrecked the Greek port of … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 31 March–6 April 1941: The Afrika Korps is on the move

Posted on April 3, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 31 March 1941, Erwin Rommel’s Italian and German forces attacked the British at Mersa El Brega. The Afrika Korps was on the move. In his book Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, David Fraser tells the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 24–30 March 1941: The Fall of Keren—The Unknown Victory

Posted on March 28, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 27 March 1941, the city of Keren in Eritrea, Italian East Africa, fell to a combined force of British Army, Indian Army and Free French forces, under the command of British general William Platt. Following … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 17–23 March 1941: Aussie PM honoured in Pommie Land

Posted on March 17, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies was touring the British Isles. He was in Plymouth on 21 March 1941, and witnessed a heavy air raid, with the Luftwaffe dropping 20,000 incendiary bombs across the city. Twelve large … Continue reading →

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