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Day 586 of War in Europe.
Overnight, a British air raid destroyed the magnificent German State Opera House one of Fuehrer Adolf Hitler’s favorite theaters and damaged three palaces. DNB (official German news agency) said there were only six deaths in Berlin but the High Command called It the heaviest raid since the war began Emden Bremen and several other vital war centers In Northern Germany also were attacked as well as Bellevue Castle In Berlin guest palace for foreign statesmen the most recent of whom was Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Library Hit Fire bombs struck the Opera and the Prussian State Library Two hospitals also were hit DNB said adding that military objectives had not been struck British losses in the course of the attack were “extraordinarily high” Thirteen planes were shot down by flaks (anti-aircraft batteries) and by night fighters according to an official radio announcement.
The Prussian State Library was a 20th Century building having been started In 1903 and completed In 1914 Founded In 1661 it contained 1777000 volumes and 64000 manuscripts as long ago as 1923 when It was surpassed in size only by Paris London and Washington libraries A dense cloud of smoko hung over the center of Berlin today attracting hundreds of curious spectators but the scene was roped off and hundreds of yards of big fire hoses criss-crossed the broad Unter Den Linden A number of office buildings toward the Brandenburg Gate suffered minor damage from Incendiaries The State Library’s books were not damaged.
In other news – An imminent collision between British Imperial troops and German mechanized advance units in Greece appeared certain today as Greek troops, isolated in Macedonia by the German push to Salonika, fought on with little hope of aid. Jugoslav and Greek forces raced to crush the Italian army in Albania before German help being rushed across southern Yugoslavia could be advanced to effective positions. Across the Greek Peninsula from a point near Salonika on the Aegean to Chimara, Albania, on the Adriatic, the British expeditionary force was reported to have established a defence line along which it awaited the Ger mans. UNTENABLE British and Greek authorities apparently decided days ago that Salonika was untenable against a land offensive launched, as the German one was, by mechanized forces dashing down the last few level miles of the Vardar Valley. The line, therefore, was established a little south of the city, chief Macedonian port, where the country is less even.
And finally – President Roosevelt asked Congress today for broad statutory authority to take over any “foreign vessels lying idle in our ports”. Thls authority, he said in a message to the legislators, Should be subject to the payment of just compensation. Although the Chief Executive had asserted he would recommend legislation to permit the purchase or charter of 39 Danish vessels which have been taken into “protective custody’’ by the Coast Guard the language of his message today was not limited to the Danish ships.
And that’s just a sampling of what happened in the world at war, this April 10th in 1941 as reported by NBC Radio.
