News of the War in Europe, this day in 1941:
Large fires were started by Royal Air Force planes which raided Berlin during the night, the Air Ministry said Many fires were started in industrial buildings at Duesseldorf and in the area at the junction of the Ruhr and the Rhine, Ministry said. Docks at Ostend and St. Naon the Belgian and French Invasion coasts also were bombed. The Ministry said officially that only a small force of planes took part in the Berlin raid and its statement that large fires were started was believed to mean that new long range planes of the type which usually carry bombs of terrific destructive capabilities and a possible turn in the War.
Meanwhile, The German high command reported today that the German navy and air force destroyed 746,000 tons of British merchant shipping space in May. Of this total today’s communique said 479,000 tons were accounted for by submarines, 215,000 tons by the luftwaffe and the remainder by surface craft. War on the English Channel.
And Senior officers who fought in Crete have been asked to report on the new air tactics of the Germans, and their messages are being hastily transmitted to the British High Command. Although the position in Crete was exceptional. the campaign is regarded as a dress rehearsal for Hitler’s ultimate assault on Britain. A message which Reich-Marshal Goering has sent to the German Air Force stating, “You have proved to the world the Fuhrer’s words, ‘There are no unattainable islands’,” may be too boastful, but the experience in Crete certainly emphasizes the closest co-operation between air forces and importance ground troops. This is the bitter and costly lesson which every correspondent is cabling to London after talks with evacuees from Crete. Stories now being told reveal that the entire evacuation of Crete was an almost incredible epic, giving the world a new record of courage and daring.
The odds were heavily against ship reaching Egypt, since, it is alleged, not a single British plane appeared in the sky to help keep off the enemy bombers. An R.A.F. communique issued in Cairo yesterday, however, states that large formations of R.A.F. and South African Air Force fighters all day on Sunday continued protective patrols over the British naval ships and merchantmen evacuating troops from Crete. The Berlin Radio states that the Luftwaffe already has taken the Cretan air bases.
German planes and also ground staffs have arrived at all suitable aerodromes.
And that’s just a little of what went on with the War in Europe this June 3, 1941 as reported by NBC’s News Of The World.
