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• Allied aircraft conducted a raid on Baghdad, Iraq. ww2dbase [Campaigns in the Middle East | CPC]
• As the Axis offensive on Tobruk, Libya began to stall, Paulus ordered Rommel to besiege rather than eliminate Tobruk. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• German submarine U-38 sank Swedish ship Japan off the coast of French Guinea at 1915 hours; her deck gun exploded during the attack, injuring the gun crew. The entire crew of 54 of Japan survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• In a speech, Adolf Hitler said Winston Churchill was not a capable leader, both on political and military fronts. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
• HMS Edinburgh supported the raid on Lofoten Islands, Norway. ww2dbase [Edinburgh | CPC]

• 29th Brigade of the Indian 5th Division launched another attack at Amba Alagi, Abyssinia, capturing 3 hills between 0415 and 0730 hours. ww2dbase [Invasion of Italian East Africa | Amba Alagi | CPC]

• German aircraft sank British minesweeper Fermoy in dock at Malta. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• Harold George arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Harold George | CPC]

• The Politburo appointed Joseph Stalin the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, thus taking over as the actual head of the Soviet government, which position was previously held by Vyacheslav Molotov. ww2dbase [Joseph Stalin | Moscow | TH, CPC]

• The German bombing on Liverpool, England, United Kingdom that began on the previous date ended before dawn on this date, killing 850 people and destroying ammunition ship Malakand in the harbor. The rocket shelter at Broad Green in Liverpool received a direct hit from a German bomb during this raid; the shelter was, at the time, packed with people many of whom had come out of a local dance hall looking for shelter as the sirens rang. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Liverpool, England | CPC, AC]

4 May 1941 Interactive Map