Thanks Marc. As always an informed and informative response.
On this day during W.W. 2
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April 1, 1941. Libya, North Africa
Rommel has strict orders from Berlin not to advance on Mersa Brega until further reinforcements arrive in the form of 15th Panzer Division at the end of May, however, the need for a fresh water supply from the green mountain (Jebel Akhdar), and the necessity in his opinion of attacking before the British build up their defences, makes him prompt General Johannes Streich to use his 5th Light Division to capture this narrow coastal defile and open the way to Cyrenaica proper.
At first light, German 5th Light Division attacks British 2nd Armoured Division at Mersa Brega while the Luftwaffe provide close air support. British anti-tank guns hold the panzers at bay throughout the day but by 19.00hrs Mersa Brega falls to the Afrika Korps. Under orders not become heavily engaged with German tanks, the British withdraw 30 miles northeast toward Agedabia overnight.
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April 3, 1941. Libya, North Africa
Rommel orders 5th Light Division to cross the desert south of the Green Mountain and slice across the Cyrenaican bulge, while sending a mixed German and Italian force along the coastal road towards Benghazi. Rommel flies from unit to unit in his Fieseler Fi 156C Storch airplane, giving orders and solving problems. When 5th Light Division tanks run low on petrol he orders them to halt for 24 hours and sends back trucks to bring more fuel. Although a risky move he can see the British continue to retreat in confusion. A supply dump at Msus is blown up at the rumour of approaching German tanks and vast amounts of much needed fuel go up in smoke. This error will badly hamper the mobility of British armour in the coming days.
Photo: The Fieseler Storch of General Rommel passes above the German column in desert.
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April 4, 1942. Eastern Front
Siege of Leningrad Day 209. 62 Luftwaffe Stuka dive bombers and 70 other bombers escorted by 59 Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters attack the Soviet fleet at Kronstadt. Battleship October Revolution is hit 4 times, cruiser Maxim Gorky suffers 7 hits while battleship Petropavlovsk, cruiser Kirov and destroyers Silny and Grozyashchi are also damaged.
Siege of Sevastopol Day 108. German shelling finally destroys Soviet destroyer Sovershenny (under repair after being bombed and capsizing on November 12, 1941).
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heh heh the guys musta known they were getting their picture taking. Gunner and pilot both looking at the camera :)
Nice photo. I’m assuming soviets didn’t have much air to intercept ?
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April 6, 1944. Eastern Front
After a march of about 150 miles, the continuously moving but surrounded forces under the command of the German 1st Panzer Army – Hube’s Pocket – establish contact with the German 4th Panzer Army to the south of Tarnopol. Although the German force has lost some heavy equipment and weapons, as well as sustaining casualties, it has also destroyed considerable quantities of Soviet equipment during the fighting withdrawal to the German lines. The escaping troops are able to re-join the line within days. Marshal Zhukov, commanding the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front, is subsequently blamed for the Soviet failure to destroy the encircled German force of about 200,000 troops. There is heavy fighting north of Razdelnaya as a small pocket of German and Romanian forces (elements of German 6th Army) is reduced by forces of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front.
Photo: Soldiers admiring Tigers of sPzAbt 507 in an assembly area near Tarnopol, April 1944.
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@captainwalker nice pic . Bloody awful ground to move in though .
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@Wittmann
yea that car in the middle looks stuck -
Left wing of B-17G LG-W 42-31333 Wee Willie 322nd BS 91st BG falls away after having suffered a direct flak hit over Stendal on April 8 1945. 8 were killed, pilot and 1 crewman survived
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@captainwalker month before the war ended.
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On This Day: April 10th, 1941:
Axis forces under Erwin Rommel begin the 241 day Siege of Tobruk against a garrison of British, Australian, Polish, Czech and Indian soldiers.
The Siege began when Axis forces attempted to take the strategically important port of Tobruk in Libya. The port would grant Axis forces a secure port near their border and most importantly, out of range from RAF bombers.
The days on the North coast of Africa are horrendously hot and the nights extremely cold. Both sides would also have to contend against hot desert winds, mechanical failures and difficult terrain.
The Germans were suprised to find heavily dug defences, accurate artillery fire and anti-tank weapons, as they assumed the garrison would withdraw by sea. As the Germans tanks advanced, The British Royal Horse Artillery engaged them head on, forcing them to change direction, whereupon British cruiser tanks fired upon them from three sides, destroying 16 German tanks.
Relief operations against the Axis were attempted but were ultimately unsuccessful. As both sides invested further in the siege, the allies placed minefields, launched Commando raids, used naval gunfire support and fought off repeated Axis assaults.
By December Erwin Rommel, low on supplies withdrew from the siege. He would succeed in capturing Tobruk in June 1942 after the Battle of Gazala.Picture shown: Colourised photo of a Bren gunner from the 2nd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment at Tobruk.
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April 21, 1945 Battle of Berlin
Soviet infantry reached Berlin. Adolf Hitler ordered an all-out counterattack against the Soviets at Berlin under the command of SS General Felix Steiner.
This counterattack was never to be attempted.
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@captainwalker wish I knew what that open topped tank was. Would have sworn it was German, had it not had that Russian in it. Is probably artillery.
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@Wittmann
It’s an Su-76m -
@Mr-Kell thank you. That is an old one then. I do remember now. My eyes and memory aren’t what they used to be . (I don’t play WW2 computer gamea any more, either.)
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Blimey! They were still making them in 45! I really thought it was early war only.
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@Wittmann
Yeah they made them for a while.
I think they used them for everything except AAA as well. -
@Mr-Kell I remember finding them easy kills in my WW2 computer games. The open top meaning they had a very low defence score.
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75 years ago today was VE-Day
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@CWO-Marc The publicity of the Channel Dash and the embarrassment of the R.N caused the English Channel to become off limits to German Commerce Raiders.The raider Togo was mauled attempting to run the Channel.
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May 23, 1941. Operation Rheinübung
At 0722 hours, German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen are spotted by British cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk in the Denmark Strait. After HMS Norfolk is almost hit by shellfire from Bismarck, both cruisers retire to a safe distance. They shadow the German warships using radar while battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Hood close in from 300 miles to the South.
Photo: HMS Hood steaming toward the Denmark Strait, on or about 23 May 1941.
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