 |
| 01/01/1941 |
Germany begins negotiations
with Bulgaria to allow German troops to use Bulgaria as a springboard
for their attack on Greece. |
| 03/01/1941 |
The Luftwaffe’s X Fliegerkorps
arrives in Italy. |
| 10/01/1941 |
Heavy air attacks begin on Malta. |
| 11/01/1941 |
Hitler confirms in Directive No.22,
his intentions to send military support to the Italians in
Albania. The operation is to be named 'Alpine Violets'. |
| 13/01/1941 |
Hitler demands that Bulgaria joins
the Tripartite pact, but the Bulgarians play for time. |
| 29/01/1941 |
Greek Premier, General. Metaxis dies
aged 70. M. A. Korizis takes over. |
| |
 |
03/02/1941
|
33 Italian Fascist Party
leaders are dispatched to bolster morale on the Albanian front. |
| 08/02/1941 |
The first convoy of the newly formed
Afrika Korps under the command of Lieutenant General Rommel
leaves Naples for Tripoli in Libya. |
| 09/02/1941 |
In a radio broadcast, Churchill warns
Bulgaria against joining the Tripartite pact. |
| 14/02/1941 |
Hitler starts to apply pressure on
Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite pact. |
| 23/02/1941 |
Alexandros Korizis, the Greek premier
formally accepts Britain's offer of troops. |
| 25/02/1941 |
British Commando's land on the Italian
held Island of Castelorizzo in the Dodecanese. |
| 28/02/1941 |
British Commando's, having been left
to hold Castelorizzo without out Naval support or reinforcement,
are forced to evacuate when the Italians land troops on the
Island. |
| |
 |
| 01/03/1941 |
Bulgaria finally joins
the Tripartite pact after the discovery of a planned pro-British
coup. Italian civilian rations are halved in order to allow
food exports to Germany. |
| 02/03/1941 |
The German Twelfth Army moves into
Bulgaria. Great Britain breaks off diplomatic relations with
Bulgaria. |
| 04/03/1941 |
Hitler increases the pressure on Yugoslavia
to join the Tripartite pact by inviting Prince Paul, the regent,
to Berchtesgaden. Hitler demands that he allows German troops
to pass through Yugoslavia for an attack on Greece. In return,
the port of Salonika and part of Macedonia will be ceded to
Yugoslavia. |
| 07/03/1941 |
British and Commonwealth troops begin
to arrive in Greece. |
| 09/03/1941 |
The Italians launch another offensive
against the Greek 1st Army in Albania, but it makes very little
progress. |
| 11/03/1941 |
British diplomats from Bulgaria reach
Istanbul, although 2 people are killed when a bomb in their
luggage explodes. |
| 20/03/1941 |
Four Yugoslav ministers resign rather
than accept German terms. |
| 25/03/1941 |
Under heavy pressure Yugoslavia finally
signs the Tripartite pact. |
| 27/03/1941 |
A coup in Yugoslavia by General Simonic
and other army officers overthrows the pro-German government.
King Peter takes control and a new cabinet is formed. |
| 28/03/1941 |
Anti-Axis demonstrations in Yugoslavia. |
| |
 |
| 06/04/1941 |
German, Italian and Hungarian
forces begin the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. The Luftwaffe
carries out several devastating bombing raids against Belgrade
and all but wipes out the Yugoslav air force on the ground. |
| 07/04/1941 |
German troops capture Skopje in Macedonia
forcing the Yugoslav forces to withdraw in the south of the
country, which exposes the Greek flank. British promise allegiance
to Yugoslavia. Germans pushed towards Salonika. |
| 09/04/1941 |
German forces capture Nis and Monastir
in Yugoslavia. German tanks enter Thessalonika, trapping the
Greek 2nd Army in the Metaxas line, forcing them to surrender. |
| 10/04/1941 |
Germans enter Zagreb, allowing Ante
Pavelic, the Croatian Fascist leader, to return from Italian
exile and proclaim the independent state of Croatia, with him
as Poglavnik (leader). British forces under General Wilson
withdraw from the Aliakmon line. |
| 11/04/1941 |
Italian forces begin their effort
to push down the Yugoslav coast in order to link up with their
forces in Albania. |
| 12/04/1941 |
The Yugoslav capital Belgrade, surrenders.
Greek and British forces fall back to the Mount Olympus line
in Greece. |
| 13/04/1941 |
German forces launch an attack against
the Greek and British positions near Mt. Olympus. The Italian
11th Army in Albania begins to push the Greek Army back. |
| 14/04/1941 |
Germans break through the new Greek
frontline. The Greek Army of Epirus withdraws from Albania. |
| 15/04/1941 |
German troops occupy Sarajevo in
Yugoslavia. |
| 17/04/1941 |
Yugoslavia surrenders, with the Wehrmacht
taking 334, 000 prisoners. King Peter of Yugoslavia is flown
to Athens and then on to London by the RAF. |
| 18/04/1941 |
The German 12th Army forces a crossing
of the river Aliakmon between the Greek First Army and the
British forces. Athens is placed under martial law. Greek Prime
Minister, Alexandros Korizis commits suicide. |
| 19/04/1941 |
The Germans attack south through
Greece on a wide front. The Greek Government agrees that British
forces should be evacuated. General Wilson plans to make a
strong stand at Thermopylae, to cover the withdrawal of his
troops to ports in the Peloponnese. |
| 20/04/1941 |
British forces in Greece retreat
from Mt. Olympus. King George II heads new Greek government. |
| 21/04/1941 |
The Greek Army surrenders to the
1st SS Leibstandarte Division. Its commander, Sepp Dietrich
accepts this, without referring to his superiors. All Greek
soldiers were allowed to return home, while officers were allowed
to retain their side arms. Mussolini, upon hearing of this
is furious and makes the Greeks sign another surrender document
with much harsher terms. |
| 23/04/1941 |
King George II of Greece and his government
are flown to Crete by the RAF. |
| 24/04/1941 |
German forces in Greece break through
British positions at Thermopylae and land paratroops on Greek
islands in the north-eastern Aegean. The British expeditionary
force begins the evacuation of its troops to Egypt and Crete. |
| 25/04/1941 |
German paratroops seize Corinth and
cross the Corinth Canal to the Peloponnese. Hitler issues Directive
No.28, ordering the preparation of plans to capture Crete.
The basic plan is to involve 22,750 paratroops, 650 combat
aircraft and is to be launched on the 18th May 1941, although
this is put back to the 20th May 1941. |
| 27/04/1941 |
German troops occupy Athens. |
| 28/04/1941 |
The British evacuation of Greece is
completed. |
| 29/04/1941 |
British intelligence 'Ultra', intercept
numerous messages giving a positive indication that the Germans
plan to attack Crete. |
| 30/04/1941 |
All of Greece is under German and
Italian occupation. During the campaign, the Greeks lose 15,700
killed and 300,000 prisoners. The British lose 2,000 killed
and 10,000 made prisoner, while the Germans only suffer about
2,000 killed and missing. |
| |
 |
| 05/05/1941 |
Major General Bernard
Freyberg VC, is appointed by General Wavell to command approximately
40,000 British, New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops which
are stationed on Crete. While a strong force on paper, these
troops have virtually no artillery or tanks and are very disorganised
after their hurried evacuation from Greece. |
| 11/05/1941 |
German troops complete the occupation
of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. |
| 15/05/1941 |
The Luftwaffe begin preparatory attacks
against Crete. |
| 16/05/1941 |
Last British reinforcements arrive
in Crete. |
| 18/05/1941 |
Italy annexes the Yugoslavian territory
of Dalmatia. |
| 19/05/1941 |
In order to save life's and aircraft
in the face of total Luftwaffe supremacy, the RAF evacuates
all its aircraft and personnel from Crete to Egypt. |
| 20/05/1941 |
After initial air attacks by dive-bombers
of the VIII Flieger Korps, German paratroops of the 7th Flieger
Division carried in 490 Ju-52 transports of XI Fliegerkorps,
land at Maleme, Canea, Retimo and Heraklion airfields. They
suffer very heavy losses as the British and Commonwealth troops
put up fierce resistance and by nightfall have only secured
Maleme airfield, although it still remains under fire from
the British. However, the capture of Maleme allows the Germans
to begin sending reinforcements by sea during the night. |
| 21/05/1941 |
80 Ju-52s crash land a regiment of
5th Gebirgsjäger Division to support the hard-pressed
paratroopers who are defending Maleme airfield. A British counter-attack
at Maleme airfield is repulsed by the now reinforced paratroopers. |
| 22/05/1941 |
Fierce fighting continues as British
troops begin to pull back from Maleme airfield towards Suda
Bay in order to regroup and protect their main point of supply. |
| 23/05/1941 |
Further German attempts to land troops
by sea on Crete are repulsed as heavy fighting continues around
Canea. |
| 24/05/1941 |
Heavy German bombing of Crete continues
all day. The King of Greece leaves for Cairo. |
| 25/05/1941 |
The Germans decide to go on the offensive
having now received substantial reinforcement through Maleme
airfield. |
| 27/05/1941 |
Germans paratroopers take Canea and
with it the main British supply point of Suda Bay. This convinces
Major General Freyberg VC, that the situation has gone against
the British and that he must withdraw from Crete to save what
he can. |
| 28/05/1941 |
British and Commonwealth forces begin
evacuating Crete through the port of Sphakia on the southern
coast of Crete. The withdrawal is to be covered by two recently
landed Commando Battalions. However the garrisons at Retimo
and Heraklion will be evacuated separately. |
| |
 |
| 01/06/1941 |
The evacuation of Crete
is completed, with 17,000 British, Commonwealth and Greek troops
being rescued, although the Australians lose more than half
their contingent. Final figures for the British are 16,500
killed, wounded or captured, along with a large number of warships
sunk or damaged, while the Germans lose about 6,200 men. |
| 02/06/1941 |
Hitler and Mussolini meet at the
Brenner Pass on the German-Italian border to discuss the progress
of the war. |
| 05/06/1941 |
The Germans say that 15,000 prisoners
were taken on Crete. British later say that 12,970 were unaccounted
for. |
| 09/06/1941 |
Italian casualties for May announced
as 1,948 killed, 5,204 wounded and 27,292 missing. |
| 14/06/1941 |
Croatia joins the Tripartite Pact. |
| 28/06/1941 |
Albania declares war on
the Soviet Union. |
| |
 |
| 08/07/1941 |
Germany and Italy announce
the dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia, with large portions
annexed to Italy. |
| |
 |
| 07/08/1941 |
Mussolini’s second
son Bruno dies in air crash. |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| 02/12/1941 |
Hitler issues Directive
No.38 which tasks Kesselring as C-in-C South, with gaining
air superiority and naval supremacy over the area between southern
Italy and Libya in order to deny British supplies to Malta
and Libya. To assist with this, he was reinforced by Fleiger
Korps II, which was transferred from Russia. |
| 11/12/1941 |
Italy declares war on the U.S.A. |
| 12/12/1941 |
Bulgaria declares war
on both Britain and the USA. |
| 21/12/1941 |
The Axis launch a renewed air offensive
against the Island of Malta. |
