8 Apr 1941
- German bombers conducted a raid on Coventry, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | TH]
- German 2nd Panzer Division crossed from southern Yugoslavia into northern Greece near Dojran Lake. Elsewhere, German 73rd Infantry Division moved into the Monastir Valley and captured Prilep, Yugoslavia and prepared to move south toward Salonika, Greece. German 6th Mountain Division penetrated the Metaxas Line by crossing a 7,000 feet mountain range. Finally, German bombers attacked Belgrade, Yugoslavia. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
- British, Indian, and Free French troops captured hill forts surrounding Massawa, Eritrea, Italian East Africa. RAF aircraft sank Italian minelayer Ostia in the Massawa harbor; avoiding capture, Italian destroyer Orsini and 12 other vessels were scuttled, leaving the harbor nearly unusable with so many wrecks. Shortly after, British General Heath accepted the formal surrender by Italian Admiral Bonetti and his 10,000-strong garrison. Prior to the surrender, ammunition and supply dumps were destroyed. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | CPC]
- Before dawn, some of the British, Australian, and Indian troops fled from Mechili, Libya, which would be captured by Axis troops by the end of the day. Major General John Lavarack assumed the duties of Lieutenant General Philip Neame as the British military governor of Cyrenaica, Libya; Neame was captured by a German patrol on the previous day. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
- German submarine U-107 sank British ship Eskdene with 2 torpedoes and 104 rounds from the deck gun 200 miles south of the Azores at 0742 hours; the entire crew of 39 survived. At 1940 hours, U-107 sank British ship Helena Margareta in the same region; 27 were killed, 9 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
- German submarine U-124 sank British ship Tweed 150 miles off Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 1225 hours; 3 were killed, 22 survived in 2 lifeboats. ww2dbase [CPC]
- The Gloster E.28/39 jet powered prototype made a series of short hops along the Hucclecote airfield runway in Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom before being dismantled and moved by road to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, England where it was felt that the longer runway would be an advantage for flight tests. ww2dbase [Meteor | AC]
- USS Astoria arrived at Long Beach, California, United States. ww2dbase [Astoria (New Orleans-class) | CPC]
- Josias was promoted to the rank of General der Polizei. ww2dbase [Josias | CPC]
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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