5 Apr 1941
  • At Moscow, Russia, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union entered into a non-aggression treaty. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Axis forces advanced toward Msus and Mechili in Libya. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
  • Before dawn, shortly after midnight, British destroyer HMS Wolverine, corvette HMS Arbutus, and sloop HMS Scarborough, escorting Allied convoy SC-26, forced German submarine U-76 to surface 250 miles south of Iceland. The German crew scuttled the submarine to prevent capture. During the attack on the submarine, 1 German crewman was killed; the 42 survivors were captured by the British. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-105 sank British ship Ena de Larrinaga 800 miles northwest of Natal, Brazil at 0338 hours; 5 were killed, 38 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • The US Congress passed the "Fifth Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act, 1941", which allocated US$14,575,000 for establishing a Marine Corps training ground on the east coast of the United States. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • The German embassy in Moscow, Russia reported that Soviet exports to Germany had dramatically increased in the month of Mar 1941, but the flow of goods from Germany to the Soviet Union had slowed. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • All British, Australian and New Zealand forces in Greece came under command of the veteran Australian, General (later Field Marshal Sir) Thomas Blamey to form the 1st Australian Corps. ww2dbase [Thomas Blamey | AC]
Italian Eritrea
  • Indian 5th Division reached Massawa, Eritrea, Italian East Africa. Italian Admiral Bonetti, the head of the 10,000-strong garrison who had ignored surrender demands previously, asked for surrender terms at 1330 hours. Before the Allies responded, however, his superiors in Rome, Italy ordered him to fight until the last man. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Massawa | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 5 Apr 1941
German 15 cm sFH 37(t) howitzer shelling Metaxas Line fortifications, Greece, early Apr 1941

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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Washington off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States, 29 May 1941




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Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 16 Mar 1945