1940 Chronology: 30 April

In Norway, the German troops advancing from Oslo and Trondheim join up at Dombas.
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Bibliography:
World War II Magazine Day-by-Day Desk Diary, 1989

Quotes: Benito Mussolini

"War is to man what maternity is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace."

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.

Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire". Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.

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"Wars and Why They Start,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.

1940 Chronology: 28 April

In Norway, an attempt by the Allied XV Brigade under GEneral Sir Bernard Paget to advance on Gudbrandsdalen from Trondheim fails. General Paget tells the Norwegian Commander-in-Chief General Otto Ruge that withdrawal from central Norway seems inevitable.

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Bibliography:
World War II Magazine Day-by-Day Desk Diary, 1989

1940 Chronology: 27 April

Hitler tells General Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, and General, Jodl, Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, that he intends to launch his offensive against France in the first week of May.

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Bibliography:
World War II Magazine Day-by-Day Desk Diary, 1989

Deceiving Hitler, by Terry Crowdy

Deceiving Hitler: Double Cross and Deception in World War II, by Terry Crowdy
Osprey Publishing, 2008
305 pages plus Appendices, Acronyms, Endnotes, Index and 16 pages of b&w photos
Library: 940.5486 CRO

Description
In the war against Hitler, the Allies had to use every ounce of cunning and trickery that they possessed. Combining military deceptions with the dounble agent network run by the intelligence services, they were able to send the enemy misleading information about Allied troops, plans and operations.

From moving imaginary armies around the desert to putting a corpse with fake papers floating in the Mediterranean, and from fabricating successful bombing campaigns to the convoluted deceptionsthat kept part of the German forces away from Normandy prior to D-Day, Terry Crowdy explores the deception war that combined the double agent network with ingenious plans to confuse and hoodwink the Fuhrer.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Prologue
1. Snow
2. The Invasion Spies
3. Burning Lies
4. The System
5. Snow Fall
6. The 'Dicky' Period
7. Spanish Intrigues
8. 'A' Force
9. The Controlling Officer
10. El Alamein
11. The Development of Agent Cases
12. Mincemeat
13. London Calling
14. The Fortitude Plan
15. By Special Means
16. Vindication
17. Mediterranean Swan Song
18. The final Deceits
Epilogue
Appendices
A - The Mastermind Memo
B - The Garbo Network
C - Spy Codenames
D - Operations and Plans
E - Acronyms
Sources and Further REading
Endnotes
Index

Ship of Ghosts, by James D. Hornfischer

Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga ofher Survivors, by James D. Hornfischer
Bantam Books, 2006
431 pages, plus Acknowledgments, Bibliography, Notes, Men of the USS Houston and the Lost Battalion, KIA or died in captivity, index. 32 glossy b&w photos
Library: 940.542598 HOR

Description
"Son, we're going to Hell."

The navigator of the USS Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into US naval legend. Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn't a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death.

Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again--until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home.

In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston--a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease and psycological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma-Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will-power, and the undying faith that their country would prevail.

Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postawr Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of Houston survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it's easy to forget that every word is true.

Table of Contents
1. On Asia Station
2. A Bloodstained Sea
3. The Emperor's Guests
4. In the Jungle of the Kwai
5. rendezvous with Freedom

Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Notes
Men of the USS Houston (CA-30) and the Lost Battalion Killed in Action or Died in Captivity (1942-1945)
Photo Credits
Index

1940 Chronology: 24 April

In Norway, the Germans advance on all fronts. The British attempt to reach Trondheim fails.

The French premeir, Paul Reynaud, urges Mussolini to not enter the war.

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Bibliography:
World War II Magazine Day-by-Day Desk Diary, 1989