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• The British Cyprus Regiment was established from volunteers from the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus. ww2dbase [AC]

• Seeadler arrived off the Danish coast and provided assistance for the damaged heavy cruiser Lützow. ww2dbase [Seeadler | CPC]

• Luftflotte 5 was formed in Hamburg, Germany under the command of Generaloberst Erhard Milch for operations in Norway. Milch would soon establish his headquarters in Oslo, Norway. ww2dbase [Erhard Milch | Hamburg | CPC]

• Norwegian artillery Major Hans Holtermann and 250 volunteers began reactivating the old fort at Ingstadkleiva near Trondheim, Norway, which would become known as Hegra Fortress for defense against the Germans. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Stjørdal, Nord-Trøndelag | CPC]

• German submarine U-37 sank British ship Stancliffe with one torpedo 45 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0942 hours, killing 21. 16 survivors in one lifeboat would later make a landing at nearby Unst Island. ww2dbase [Shetland Islands, Scotland | CPC]
• Corporal Jack H. Langridge of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, assigned to a Wellington bomber of No. 149 Squadron RAF, became the first of 1,670 New Zealanders to be killed while serving with RAF Bomber Command during the war. The aircraft took off from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, attacked Stavanger Airfield in Norway during daylight, and was shot down around 1610 hours by a Bf 110 fighter just off of the coast southwest of Stavanger. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Mildenhall, England | AC]

12 Apr 1940 Interactive Map