Spring, 1941
Chapter 8
War for the Balkans
April - June
German Panzer IVs in Yugoslavia (German Federal Archives)
As the year continued, the British suffered a blow in a so far untouched part of the globe, as the Kingdom of Iraq was overthrown, and the new government declared its allegiance to the Axis Powers. Despite this, the situation abroad was still looking good in London. Asmara had fallen, ending major Italian resistance in Eritrea, and an expeditionary force was deploying to Greece, representing the first time a significant British force had been on the European continent since the diastrous summer of 1940. Despite setbacks since the Germans had deployed into North Africa, it was apparent that the fighting in the southern continent woule soon be at an end.
Despite this, the Germans also intended to bring about a major escalation in the Balkan Peninsula. Following the overthrow of the pro-Axis government in Belgrade, the King of Yugoslavia, the young Peter II, had declared his friendliness to the British. Subsequently, the Wehrmacht, already staging in Bulgaria and Romania to intervene in Greece, prepared what was to be known as Operation Vengeance: a general invasion of Yugoslavia.
German and Italian troops meet in Yugoslavia (German Federal Archives)
The Balkans
Despite a backdated treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union, the Germans crossed the border on the fifth of April, as bombers of the Luftwaffe struck Belgrade. Despite a promise from the United States of material support to the Balkan Kingdom, larger panzer forces crossed penetrated the country from Bulgaria days later, and Zagreb fell on the tenth, with the Germans declaring a new “Independent State of Croatia” as a puppet state. Within another 24 hours Italian and Hungarian forces crossed their respective borders, and the advancing Germans took Belgrade on the twelfth. King Peter fled his collapsing country the day before Sarajevo, site of the event that sparked the Great War, fell, and Yugoslavia capitulated on the seventeenth of April.
Yugoslavian King Peter II in Britian
The same day as the Invasion of Yugoslavia, the Germans also invaded Greece from Bulgaria, engaging the strong northern Greek defenses known as the Metaxas Line. These would hold for several days, but within a week it had been overcome, with the Germans breaking through to Thessalonica on the ninth of April. The British forces in Greece would soon be in action, engaging German spearheads on the eleventh, and the reconstituted Allied lines were broken again on three days later.
A captured New Zealand soldier with two German Panzer II tanks in Greece (German Federal Archives)
The Germans reached Mount Olympus, mythical home of the ancient Greek Gods on the eighteenth, as Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis left a heated meeting with Greek King George, and departed to his home, where he shot himself as the Germans advanced on Athens. On the same day, the capital was placed under martial law as the government prepared to evacuate to the island of Crete.
General Georgios Tsolakoglou arrives to sign the surrender of most of the Greek Army
The situation in Greece was becoming untenable, and on April twentieth General Georgios Tsolakoglou surrendered to the Germans in Thessalonica, in a deliberate move the snub the Italians. Within days the government had fled to Crete, and the Greek Navy was devastated as the Luftwaffe struck at its largest base at Salamis with stukas. Meanwhile, the Allied forces remaining active, including parts of the Greek Army that had refused to surrender, staged a fighting retreat toward Thebes.
A German panzer at Thermopylae after the defeat of the Australians there
On April 24th the Germans engaged the Australian and New Zealand forces who had dug in at Thermopylae to delay their advance. The site of the famous battle between King Leonidas’ Spartans and the invading Persians would see the ANZAC forces inflicting significant casualties on the Germans, including the destruction of 15 panzers, before they withdrew toward Thebes as well. The battle would be remembered as a famous stand by the ANZAC forces, as well as a stain on the honor of Greece, who had not been present at such a culturally significant site.
The Germans would take Athens on the 27th, and on the 29th the Germans took the port of Kalamata, ending Allied military resistance in Greece. General Tsolakoglou, who had earlier surrendered his armies to the Germans, was appointed as leader of a new puppet government by the Germans a day later.
German Fallschirmjager land on Crete (German Federal Archives)
The Germans were now, by the end of April, in firm control of the Balkan Peninsula. Hitler addressed the Reichstag in Berlin, extolling yet another rapid victory by the German military. An uprising in Coratia is brutally crushed, and terrible reprisals are made by the Italians after an assassin attempts to kill King Victor Emmanuelle III during a victory tour in Albania. But one remnant of Greece still remained: the island of Crete.
It would take almost a month, but on May 20th the skies over Crete were filled with German JU52 tri-motor transports. A force of German Fallschrimjager (paratroopers) dropped over the island, supported by elite Gebirgsjager (mountain troops), comprising some 22,000 troops. The Germans would promtly engage the mixed Allied forces on the island, as the Luftwaffe stuck hard at Royal Navy ships around the island. On May 23rd, the Greek government evacuated Crete for the safety of British Egypt, and despite halting the German advance on the 27th of May, the British began to evacuate the island the next day. With the Allied headquarters at Heraklion abandoned within days, the end of resistance was in sight. Crete was secured by the Germans on the first of June, although the German casualties were high, Hitler was, despite the success of the campaign, dubious of future airborne attacks, and from here on the Fallschirmjager would fight as light infantry. In addition, the local civilians had been active in resisting the Germans, and the reprisals now that the Allied forces were defeated were severe.
Afrika Korps soldiers fill canteens (German Federal Archives)
North Africa
As the war in the Balkans unfolded into a disaster for the Allies, the situation in North Africa, hitherto one of success, was quickly turning around as well. The German Afrika Korps, under the famous Erwin Rommel, was rapidly pushing the British back across Libya. Benghazi had fallen to the Germans on the fourth of April, and days later the port of Tobruk had been surrounded, with the Australian forces there besieged by the combined German and Italian forces. Efforts by the Italians to break the siege would be frustrated, but so too would Australian attempts to break out of the encirclement at the port.
A captured Italian machine gun in use by the Australians at Tobruk
The advance of the Afrika Korps continued, with Barida, site of the massive victory that began the British drive across Libya, falling to the Germans on the twelfth of April, leaving the Afrika Korps on the border of British Egypt. The Royal Navy would attempt to alleviate the pressure with bombardments on Libyan ports, and the British would also hit the German lines with commando raids intermittently.
British troops captured by the Italians in North Africa
With Egypt once again threatened, now by the powerful German forces as well as the Italians, the British moved to counterattack, jumping off on the fifteenth of May. The action, hoping to catch Rommel off guard, was intended to push the Germans back to relieve the Australians at Tobruk, but the British were severely depleted by the retreat across Italian Libya. The offensive only lasted for 24 hours, and what small gains had been made were quickly retaken by German counterattacks. The most important gain by the British, the closing of Rommel’s supply route at Halfaya Pass, was undone by German attacks on May 26th.
British soldiers take a break during Operation Battleaxe
After the poor showing of the British in their offensive in mid May, the British had been marshalling more powerful forces to drive the Germans from Egypt. With a large force backed by almost 200 tanks (twice those available to the Afrika Korps), the British commenced Operation Battleaxe on June fifteenth. The force attacked in three wings, but the results were disastrous. Tanks were disabled by well laid mines and anti-tank guns, and despite gains in some areas the attack was already collapsing within the first day. The attack was called off in general on June seventeenth, with almost 100 British tanks lost to only 12 Germans. The failure was felt even in London, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill removed General Archibald Wavell from command in North Africa, replacing him with General Claude Auchinleck.
British troops in a position in Iraq near Ramadi
The Middle East
The coup in late March in Iraq had seen the country begin to move against the British and declare loyalty to the Axis. Open hostilities against local British forces began in early May, as Iraqi forces struck at RAF Habbaniya and British forces began to mass near Basra, with troops from British India bound for North Africa being diverted. The Iraqi attack on RAF Habbaniya was broken by May sixth, and the Iraqi Army was besieged by the British at the fortress of Rutbah. German support was limited due to the distance between Iraq and German forces, but some aerial support was made available from Luftwaffe planes based in Mosul after flying in via Vichy French Syria. Despite this assistance, Rutbah fell on the eleventh, and after a brief fight Fallujah was taken on May 21st, leaving the way open for a British march on Baghdad. The government collapsed within days, and on May 31st the Iraqis surrendered to the British, with the pro-British regent reinstated. The last resistance in Iraq ended with the British capture of Mosul in early June.
Australians advance against a Vichy position in Syria
Vichy aggression in support of Iraq could not be ignored, and the British followed up their victory of the Iraqi coup by invading Vichy Syria and Lebanon in early June. In addition to the events in Iraq, the British were now beginning to fear that the Vichy government would allow the Germans to use the region as another avenue to invade Egypt, with the Afrika Korps doing well in North Africa and Greece having fallen. The British crossed the border on the eighth of June, pressing for Beirut. Damascus fell on June 21st, and the Vichy forces continued to defend what remained of their territory into the summer.
South African troops pose with a captured Italian flag in Ethiopia
Africa
The Italians continued to do poorly in Africa. The capital of Italian Eritrea, Asmara, had fallen in early April, and the Ethiopian captital of Addis Ababa had fallen days later. The last holdouts in Eritrea had been reduced by the British shortly afterward, and by the end of the month Free French Forces had invaded Vichy French Somalia.
Emperor Haile Selassie had returned to Addis Ababa on May fifth, and with the defeat of the Italians at the Battle of Kerem the remaining forces of the Regio Esercito withdrew into a handful of fortified towns to make their last stand. The end was in sight in Africa.
U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy
The War at Sea
The Kriegsmarine continued to score small victories with tis commerce raiders on the high seas, although none as significant as the Pinguin’s capture of the Norwegian whaling fleet earlier in the year. The U-boat campaign continued as well, with the German wolfpacks inflicting significant losses on British shipping. A blow would come in early May, as the raider Pinguin was sunk by the Royal Navy, and an even graver defeat was to befall the Germans on the following day, although the Germans would not be aware of it until long after the war.
The U-110, a U-boat operating from Lorient in France, had been attacked by escorting Royal Navy ships during a convoy attack, and damage had forced the cripple submarine to surface amongst the British warships. After a brief action with the British firing on the crew as they abandoned ship (thinking they were attempting to man the deck gun), the British were able to capture the U-110 along with its enigma code machine and code books intact. The sub was towed toward Iceland, but sucumbbed to her wounds and foundered en route, while the crew was sent to Canada to prevent the Germans becoming aware of the events. The captured code machine and books were sent immediately to the top secret British code breakers at Bletchly Park.
The German battleship Bismarck
On May eighteenth, the Germans commenced one of the most famous naval operations of the war: Exercise Rhine. The German’s largest battleship, the brand new Bismarck, sortied into the North Sea before breaking out into the Atlantic via the Denmark Straight on May 24th. Supported by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the Bismarck was met by the Royal Navy’s most famous ship, the battlecruiser HMS Hood and the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales as they transited the straight, and in a brief engagement Hood was completely destroyed and Prince of Wales turned back with serious damage.
These events shook the British Admiralty, and soon every available warship was ordered to hunt down the Bismarck. After eluding pursuit, the German battleship, damaged and leaking fuel, made for occupied France, but was found and attacked by British swordfish torpedo planes, destroying the battleship’s ability to maneuver. Separated from Prinz Eugen by this time, the British closed in, and in a final battle on the morning of May 27th the Bismarck was destroyed by a British fleet. The destruction of their best battleship shook the Kriegsmarine, and Hitler began to rapidly lose faith in the viability of surface warships.
For more information on Exercise Rhine, see the Day-by-Day coverage done in May of 2021 here
The wreck of Rudolf Hess’ BF-110 in Scotland
The Flight of Rudolf Hess
With the war with Britain reaching an effective stalemate, the Germans were now looking toward other goals, much to the consternation of one of the highest placed members of the Nazi government. Rudolf Hess was Deputy Fuhrer, essentially Hitler’s right hand man, but had been increasingly sidelined as the war progressed, and was looking to take drastic measures to get Britain out of the war, as well as to ingratiate himself to Hitler once again. Hess began to take flight lessons, and became convinced that British King George VI was ready to remove Churchill from power.
Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess
With this in mind, Hess took off in a BF-110 fighter on May tenth, and headed for Scotland. being detected by British radar just after sunset. As British interceptors closed in and unable to locate his destination, Hess bailed out and was captured by a local farmer, who turned him in to the Home Guard. His attempts to negotiate peace came to nothing, however, as neither the King nor anyone else in the British of German governments were particularly interested. Hess was interned as a VIP prisoner of war, and the German government disavowed him as insane.
Buildup in the East
The air war over Britain had been slowing as summer approached, as the Germans were indeed planning a major new campaign. In this regard, Luftwaffe units as well as ground forces were redeploying to the Balkans, as well as Poland and East Prussia. The Kriegsmarine likewise had stepped up operations in the Baltic and along the arctic coast north of Norway. Soviet intelligence, the GRU, was coming to beleive, as were various Allied intelligence agencies, that a German attack on the USSR was imminent, but Stalin remained unconvinced, even going to the extent of dismissing the head of the GRU and having him executed for defiance. For the moment, at lease, the Soviet dictator was not willing to accept that his German allies might move against him, nor was he willing to risk provocation.
Timeline
4-1-1941
A pro-German government seizes control of Iraq, and begins to move against British nationals.
4-3-1941
Asmara, capital of Italian Eritrea, falls to the British
Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki commits suicide as German troops enter his country in force
4-4-1941
The British auxiliary cruiser HMS Voltaire is sunk by the German raider Thor in the Atlantic
The German Afrika Korps retakes Benghazi from the British
4-5-1941
The USSR signs a treaty affirming friendship with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
At dawn the Germans cross the border and invade Greece via Bulgaria
The Luftwaffe bombs Belgrade, as German ground forces cross the border
The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, falls to British forces
4-8-1941
With the fall of the port city of Massawa Italian Eritrea has been completely taken by the British
The United States promises material support to Yugoslavia
German panzer forces enter Yugoslavia from Bulgaria
4-9-1941
The Greek defenses of the Metaxas Line are broken by the Germans, as Thessalonica falls
4-10-1941
The United States takes over Greenland as a protectorate
Zagreb falls to the Germans, who install a new Croatian puppet government
The Afrika Korps surrounds and besieges the Australians at Tobruk
4-11-1941
Hungarian and Italian forces invade Yugoslavia
British and Commonwealth troops engage the Germans in Greece
4-12-1941
Belgrade falls to the Germans
The British are defeated at Vevi in Greece by the Germans
The Afrika Korps retake Barida, pushing the British back to the Egyptian border
4-13-1941
The USSR and Japan sign a non-aggression pact
4-14-1941
The Germans break through the new Greek/British line at Kleisoura Pass
King Peter of Yugoslavia flees to Greece as his country collapses
4-15-1941
Sarajevo falls to the Germans
4-16-1941
Yugoslavia opens negotiations with the Germans
An entire Italian division is destroyed trying to defeat the besieged Australians at Tobruk
4-17-1941
Yugoslavia surrenders
4-18-1941
German troops reach Mount Olympus, another lynchpin of the Greek/British line
Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis commits suicide, and the Greek capital of Athens is placed under martial law
4-19-1941
The Germans capture the Greek city of Larissa
British commandos raid Barida
4-20-1941
In a deliberate snub to the Italians, Greek General Georgios Tsolakoglou surrenders the Greek Army to the Germans
4-21-1941
The Royal Navy bombards the harbor of Tripoli
4-23-1941
The Greek government, including the King, flee to Crete
The battleship Kilkis of the Greek Navy is destroyed by the Luftwaffe as it attempts to escape harbor
4-24-1941
New Zealand and Australian forces engage the Germans at Thermopylae, site of the famous ancient battle between the Spartans and the Persians. The action successfully covers the Allied retreat to Thebes
4-27-1941
The Germans enter Athens
4-28-1941
Free French Forces invade Vichy controlled French Somalia
4-29-1941
The last Allied resistance in Greece ends as the Germans take the port of Kalamata
4-30-1941
General Georgios Tsolakoglou is appointed leader of a new German puppet government in Greece
5-1-1941
The Germans commence a concentrated bombing campaign against Liverpool
Due to inclement weather operations in Ethiopia are halted for both sides
5-2-1941
After a coup at the end of March, the new government of Iraq commenced hostilities against the British
5-3-1941
An Australian counterattack at Tobruk is beaten back by the Italians
5-4-1941
British troops occupy Basra in Iraq
Hitler gives a victory speech in the Reichstag after the conquest of the Balkans
5-5-1941
The Ethiopian government and Emperor return to Addis Ababa
5-6-1941
Iraqi troops are repelled from their assault on the RAF base at Habbaniya near Baghdad
A rebellion in Croatia against the new Axis puppet state begins. It will be brutally suppressed
5-8-1941
The German raider Pinguin is engaged and sunk by the British cruiser HMS Cornwall in the Indian Ocean
British forces besiege Iraqi forces at Rutbah
5-9-1941
The U-110 is captured by the British after being forced to surface. The submarines enigma machine and codebooks are taken intact
5-10-1941
Rudolf Hess, Deputy Fuhrer of Germany, flies a BF110 fighter to Scotland with the intent to negotiate peace. He is forced to bail out after running out of fuel and is captured by the British
The Luftwaffe launches a major raid on London
5-11-1941
The British take Rutbah in Iraq
5-12-1941
In an official statement, Hess is declared insane by the Nazi government
Martin Bormann is appointed to replace Hess, now with the title Chief of the Party Chancellery
5-13-1941
The Germans issue a secret order that any invasion of the Soviet Union will be a war of extermination
5-14-1941
Almost 1,400 Jews are arrested in Paris for deportation
5-15-1941
The British launch a limited counterattack along the Egypt/Libya border
5-17-1941
An assassin attempts to kill Italian King Victor Emmanuelle III during a tour of Albania
5-18-1941
The German battleship Bismarck sets out to break into the Atlantic for convoy raiding
5-19-1941
In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh forms the Viet Minh as a resistance against the Japanese occupation and weakened French administration
5-20-1941
German paratroopers commence a large assault on Crete
5-21-1941
Stalin dismisses reports from the GRU (Soviet Intelligence) that a German invasion is imminent. The head of the GRU vocally disagrees with Stalin and is arrested and executed by the NKVD
5-22-1941
Two British cruisers and a destroyer are sunk at Crete by the Luftwaffe
5-23-1941
Two more British destroyers are sunk by the Luftwaffe at Crete
The Greek king evacuates Crete for Egypt
5-24-1941
In the Denmark Straight, the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen meet the British force of HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. The Hood, pride of the Royal Navy, is sunk, and Prince of Wales withdraws damaged as the Germans proceed into the open ocean
5-26-1941
The Bismarck, now alone, is damaged by British torpedo planes
The Afrika Korps counterattack into Egypt to secure the Halfaya Pass
5-27-1941
The damaged Bismarck is cornered and sunk by a British fleet
Allied forces are able to halt the German advance on Crete
5-28-1941
The British begin to evacuate Crete
5-29-1941
The Allied headquarters at Heraklion on Crete is abandoned
5-30-1941
Advancing British troops reach Baghdad
5-31-1941
The pro-German government in Iraq surrenders
6-1-1941
Allied resistance ends on Crete, but German casualties were such that Hitler forbids future airborne operations
6-2-1941
Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass. Mussolini leaves distinctly disgruntled.
German troops massacre civilians on Crete in reprisal for their aiding the Allies during the battle
6-3-1941
German troops on Crete destroy the village of Kandanos in further reprisals
Finland consents to German troops staging in their territory for future operations
Hitler meets with the Japanese ambassador and informs him of the upcoming German offensive
6-4-1941
The British take Mosul in Iraq and set up a new government
The Luftwaffe bombs Alexandria in Egypt
Kaiser Wilhelm II, former Emperor of Germany, dies in the Netherlands. Despite his requests that Nazi regalia not be used Goebbels uses his funeral as a propaganda spectacle
6-5-1941
The United States replaces the British as controller of Iceland
Vichy French aircraft attack the city of Amman in British Transjordan
6-6-1941
Hitler orders that all Soviet political officers captured are to be summarily executed upon capture when the invasion begins
6-8-1941
The British invade Vichy controlled Syria and Lebanon
6-9-1941
Luftwaffe units begin redeploying to bases in Poland and East Prussia
6-11-1941
The British commence a major bombing offensive against the German industrial center in the Ruhr
6-12-1941
The Allies formally agree not to seek individual peace settlements with the Axis
After a conference, Romania agrees to assist in the upcoming German offensive
6-13-1941
12,000 Jews are arrested by order of Petain in France
6-14-1941
The US freezes all German and Italian assets in the country
6-15-1941
The British commence Operation Battleaxe: a major counteroffensive against the Afrika Korps
6-17-1941
Operation Battleaxe is canceled after dismal British failure
Hitler issues final orders that the next major German action will commence at 0300 on June 22
6-18-1941
British forces attack the Syrian capital of Damascus
6-19-1941
The Kriegsmarine begins laying mines in the Baltic
6-20-1941
Finland orders general mobilization
6-21-1941
Damascus falls to the British as the Vichy forces there are defeated
Hitler informs Mussolini of his plans for the following day
Churchill replaces General Archibald Wavell with Claude Auchinleck as British commander in chief in the Middle East