Athens, April 15th, 1943
Draza Mihailovic left, the building hosting the Yugoslav ministry of war, the Greeks had transferred to the Yugoslavs the building of the German embassy in Vasilisis Sophias 2 avenue back in 1941. The new prime minister Slobodan Jovanovic had at least deigned to be present at the meeting only to have Mihailovic dressed down for his inactivity in fighting the occupier. When Mihailovic had, reasonably he believed, pointed that a more active policy would just multiply Bulgarian and Italian reprisals he had been told flatly that general policy demanded the disruption of the supply lines back to central Europe and that his inactivity endangered the support of the Royal government and favoured the communists. The end result was that he was not returning back to Serbia. As a consolation prize he had been handed command of the 2nd Cavalry division. Which supposedly would be converted to armour as soon as the tanks became available. When the tanks would be made available? That was a different question...
Helsinki, April 15th, 1943
Just like the Turks the Finns following the Stalingrad disaster had start sounding the Allies over leaving the war. Just like Turkey, Finland was not ready to accept Allied demands. The negotiations failed.
Corfu channel, April 17th, 1943
Salamis, shrugged off the hit by the 6in Italian coastal gun with barely a dent at its armour, its 14 inches of belt armour had been designed to stand up to far heavier guns. Moments later its own guns thundered sending a salvo of six 16 inch shells in the direction of the Italian coastal battery. Closer to the coast Allied cruisers and destroyers, pounded anything that looked dangerous as three Greek Euzone regiments and the Polish 2nd Wielkolpolska Grenadier regiment stormed the beaches. Further inland men from the 10th Paratrooper regiment, Corfu's own, were already raising hell all over the island since the previous night.
Over Bougainville, April 18th, 1943
US Magic intercepts had revealed the flight path of admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's planned inspection of the Japanese forces in New Guinea and the Solomon islands. Despite misgivings over possibly revealing to the Japanese that their codes were broken the Americans had decided to act upon it. Eighteen P-38G fighters had jumped Yamomoto's flight. The G4M bomber carrying Yamomoto, true to its nickname between Allied pilots of the "flying zippo" had crashed at sea burning after being hit. None aboard had survived.
Corfu town, April 22nd, 1943
The proverbial wooden rooster that would have to crow for the Italians to leave Corfu had crowed for the third and last time as the survivors of the four thousand men of the Italian garrison, had surrendered the previous day, overwhelmed by Allied forces. Now the Poles of the 2nd Wielkolpolska Grenadier regiment were about to parade through the liberated town, but were in for a surprise of their own as the
Philharmonic Society of Corfu received them with the
Marsz Pierwszej Brygady...
Philharmonic Society of Corfu playing First Brigade
Moscow, April 25th, 1943
The Soviet Union severed its diplomatic relations with the Polish government in exile. When the Germans had publicized the finding of mass graves with thousands of killed Polish officers two weeks earlier, the Soviet Union had officially claimed that it had nothing to do with the graves and that the Germans had been the perpetrators of the massacres. The Western Allies had every reason to believe the claim to be false of course. But war necessities trounced such minor inconveniences like the truth thus they had accepted the Soviet claims at face value. It hadn't been that easy for the Poles to do the same and they had not. Thus Stalin had added insult to injury and had severed relations claiming the Poles undermined the war effort by propagating Nazi propaganda.
Over Attica, April 28th, 1943
The German Ju-188 reconnaissance aircraft, turned back north. The ports, from Piraeus to Laurion and Eleusis were teeming with transport ships while large American units appeared to be waiting to embark. It all comforted with the intelligence re[prts fpr a Gallipoli landing...
Skaramanga Navy Yard, Attica, April 30, 1943
HNS Meliti, named after the battle of Malta the previous year, the sixth and last of the Kanaris class destroyers, was launched, clearing the slipways. Despite proposals to follow Kanaris class, a close copy of the British J class with American armament, with locally building Battle class destroyers, Britain's latest design, no more destroyers or submarines were getting laid down for the time being. Meliti and the submarines Nereus and Poseidon already under construction would be completed but the navy had received from Britain 6 destroyers and 2 submarines last year, and more were expected this year. Dedicating local resources to landing ships and submarines made more sense...