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23 Apr 1941
  • German troops attacked westward in Greece from Ioannina. Meanwhile, German paratroopers landed on Aegean Islands. On the same day, German bombers destroyed 13 British Hurricane fighters on the ground at Argoes (forcing the survivors to evacuate to Crete) and sank Greek torpedo boat Kios, minelayer Nestos, hospital ship Policos, battleship Kilkis, battleship Lemnos, 12 freighters, and 1 tanker; damaged Greek torpedo boat Doris was scuttled to prevent capture. King George II of Greece, Crown Prince Paul, Prime Minister Emmanuel Tsouderos and other important figures of the Greek government were evacuated by the RAF to Crete, where an attempt to evacuate personnel from Crete to Egypt had begun; King George II instructed that his wine cellar should be distributed to the Allied troops who fought to defend his country. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
  • An Axis convoy was spotted by British aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea sailing toward Tripoli, Libya. British destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Jaguar, HMS Janus, and HMS Juno failed to intercept. Overnight, however, destroyer HMS Juno was able to find and sink empty Italian troopship Egeo off the Libyan coast. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German Luftwaffe bombers attacked Tobruk habor in Libya, sinking several ships at the cost of 6 German aircraft. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
  • German bombers attacked Plymouth, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
  • At the America First Committee meeting in New York City, New York, United States, Charles Lindbergh publicly called for the United States to stay out of the war. ww2dbase [CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Leonardo da Vinci was informed of a convoy sighted in the Atlantic Ocean; she reached the projected location at 1230 hours, finding nothing, and returned to her patrol area. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]
  • Maggiore Baracca sighted a light in the Atlantic Ocean at 0430 hours, and the crew determined it to be from an anti-submarine vessel. ww2dbase [Maggiore Baracca | CPC]
Germany
  • German armed merchant cruiser Thor arrived at Hamburg, Germany, ending a 322-day raiding mission that covered 57,532 miles which saw the sinking of 11 merchant ships and 1 British armed merchant cruiser. ww2dbase [Thor | Hamburg | CPC]
  • Alexander Löhr was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht daily radio report. ww2dbase [Alexander Löhr | CPC]
Greece
  • Lemnos was beached at Salamis, Greece during a German air raid to prevent sinking. ww2dbase [Lemnos | Salamis | CPC]
Libya
  • Hans-Joachim Marseille scored his 8th kill, a British Hurricane II fighter, over Tobruk, Libya during the morning sortie. In the afternoon sortie, he was shot down and safely landed in German territory. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Tobruk | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 23 Apr 1941
Kilkis under attack, 23 Apr 1941Kilkis Sunk at Salamis, Greece, 23 Apr 1941

23 Apr 1941 Interactive Map

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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"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"

George Patton, 31 May 1944


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