HISTORY AS IT HAPPENS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 95, 18 April 1941, Page 3

HISTORY AS IT HAPPENS

Thursday, April 3 Staffs of German legations and consulates in Yugoslavia were ordered to leave at once, Following violent fighting the Ford Motor Company and the C.LO. agreed to a temporary tfuce in the dispute at the River Rouge Plant. Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert BrookePopham, commander-in-chief in the Far East, arrived in Manila, Philippine Islands, for conferences with American service chiefs. Count Teleki, Hungarian Prime Minister, committed suicide. Friday, April 4 German military movements were reported in full swing in the Balkans. Fast German tanks reached the Yugoslav border of Rumania, and tanks and lorries entered Hungary. Benghazi was evacuated in the face of a determined advance by strong German and Italian forces in tanks. _ The U.S. demanded the immediate recall of the Italian naval attache in Washington. The Croat leader, Dr. Machek, joined the Yugoslav government as VicePremier, and called on all Croat authorities to co-operate.

Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6 Germany declared war on Yugoslavia and Greece early on Sunday morning, three hours after the announcement from Moscow of a treaty of non-aggression and friendship between WRussia and Yugoslavia. Goebbels in a broadcast said German troops would restore order in Yugoslavia, which was "a reread of bandits and rebels." German troops launched an attack against Thrace. British forces captured Adowa, the scene of a crushing Italian defeat in 1986. Monday, April 7 It was revealed that an Imperial Army including Australians and New Zealanders had been ,concentrated in Greece. There were no reports from Yugoslavia, but the Greeks said the German forces left bodies piled high before the defences. ‘e "aa: | Addis Ababa, capital of Abyssinia, captured by the British forces. Italy announced that Italian forces would participate in the war against Yugoslavia. Tuesday, April 8 It was announced that the R.A.F. had replied to German raids on Belgrade by bombing enemy military concentrations in Sofia. Turkey was still standing aloof from the Balkan conflict, but was expected to call up further reserves within a day or two. The Croatian Quisling, Dr. Otto Pavelic, appealed to Mussolini for help in creating "a free Croatia." Reports from the German frontier stated that factories in the Reich were resorting to the use of smoke screens to escape R.A.F. attacks. Wednesday, April 9 From the Balkan front it was reported that Yugoslav forces had had considerable success in Northern Albania. The Italian bases of Fiume, Zara and Scutari were reported occupied. German forces advancing from Bulgaria were attempting to drive a wedge between Yugoslav and Greek forces, and in western: Thrace the evacuation of the civil population was proceeding methodically. Small Greek advance elements were still holding up the German advance down the Struma Valley.