World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 16 Apr 1941

• The first US Lend-Lease food shipment arrived in Britain. ww2dbase [TH]
• British aircraft carrier Furious, under repair at Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom was damaged by German bombing. ww2dbase [Furious | CPC]
• Yugoslavians negotiated with the Germans for armistice terms in Belgrade, but the first emissary dispatched did not have sufficient authority to sign the surrender document. In Zagreb, Croatian leader Ante Pavelic formally came into power as the head of the Independent State of Croatia. In Greece, German troops attacked the Platamon Pass between Mount Olympus and the Aegean Sea, forcing New Zealand troops to withdraw across the river at the bottom of the Tempe Gorge, a move that greatly alarmed Allied leadership. Meanwhile, German 6th Mountain Division attacked across Mount Olympus using goat paths, taking heavy casualties. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | CPC]
• Troops of the Italian 62nd "Trento" Regiment attacked Tobruk, Libya in the late afternoon; the attack was personally observed by Erwin Rommel. The attack was driven back by heavy artillery fire, and the entire 1st Battalion of the Italian 62nd Regiment, 775 men and 25 officers, was captured. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• German armed merchant cruiser Thor stopped Swedish ship Sir Ernest Cassell with two warning shots 500 miles southwest of Cape Verde Islands. The crew of Sir Ernest Cassell was taken aboard, and the ship was scuttled with demolition charges. ww2dbase [Thor | CPC]
• The German embassy in Moscow, Russia continued to report unexpectedly friendliness from the Soviets toward Germany. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Alessandro Malaspina departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 0820 hours for trials, returning at 1730 hours. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 0800 hours, starting her fifth war patrol. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

• British destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk, aided by Ultra intercepts of German communications, ambushed an Axis convoy on the Tunisian coast after sundown. 4 German troop ships and 1 Italian ammunition ship (carrying German 15th Panzer Division less its tanks) as well as Italian destroyers Luca Tarigo, Baleno, and Lampo were sunk; 1,800 were killed, 1,200 survived. Luca Tarigo was able to fire two torpedoes at HMS Mohawk, which hit and killed 43 men; HMS Mohawk would soon be scuttled in a hurry, leaving behind secret documents outlining Alexandria, Egypt defenses for Italian divers to capture shortly after. ww2dbase [CPC]

• At 0500 hours, the German air raid on Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom which began at 2300 hours on the previous date ended; the 203 tons of high explosive bombs, 80 parachute mines, and 800 incendiary bombs dropped killed 758, wounded 1,500, and destroyed 56,000 homes; 100,000 residents were made homeless. At the end of the day and into the next day, 681 German aircraft bombed London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | TH]
• British destroyer HMS Achates departed Loch Alsh, Scotland, United Kingdom and arrived at Scapa Flow at 2100 hours. ww2dbase [Scapa Flow | Scapa Flow, Scotland | CPC]
• British Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin, announced a National Registration of Women for war work. The first registrations, for women in the age group 20 and 21, was to commence on 19 April 1941. ww2dbase [Ernest Bevin | AC]

16 Apr 1941 Interactive Map