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May 1, 1944: 200 Greek communists were executed by Nazi occupation authorities in the Athens suburb of Kaisariani as reprisal for the killing of a German general by Greek Resistance fighters. Typical Nazi reprisal tactics. 100 to 1, or in this case, 200 to one. Killing generals counts for double

May 1, 1943: The International Medical Commission completed its investigation on the Katyn Massacre, concluding that the Soviet Union was responsible for the atrocity. To this day, the Russians have never admitted their guilt and never will. Truth never sees the light of day over there.

May 1, 1942: In Berlin, the German High Command recorded that units on the Eastern Front were currently 308,000 men understrength. This is what happens when you lose your one chance to win, ie., take Moscow in 1941. The elephant in the room keeps getting bigger and bigger

May 1, 1940: The RAF’s BEST fighter pilot, Robert Stanford Tuck, show down his first victim over Dunkerque – an ME-109. Note: I didn’t say he had the most victories. I said best, as in, best pure dog-fighting pilot. I’ll fight anyone who says differently.

May 1, 1940: Swiss intelligence learned of a potential attack on France to be launched soon and informed the French military attaché, who promptly reported this to Paris. Paris promptly did nothing - escalation management of 1940, I suppose

April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in Berlin. He shot himself and she took cyanide. Their bodies were burned near the Chancellery bunker. Thus, ended the era of one of the most evil men and regimes in human history.

April 30, 1945: The frigate, HMS Goodall, became the last ship to be sunk in the war against Germany when she was torpedoed by submarine U-286 in the Barents Sea with heavy loss of life returning from escorting a Russian convoy. Even this late in war, the Arctic convoys continued.

April 30, 1945: Soviets and US First Army linked up near Ellenburg, Germany. My Russian wife's grandfather fought as an infantryman for 4 years and met the US Army in Germany, maybe even here. Small world, huh?

April 30, 1943: Operation Mincemeat was launched. The body of Glyndwr Michael was put into the sea from British submarine HMS Seraph off Huelva, Spain. "Major William Martin" carried false documents intended to mislead the Germans that the Balkans would be invaded next, not Sicily.

April 30, 1941: New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg was appointed commander of Allied forces on Crete, commanding a garrison of poorly armed 29,000 British, Australian, and New Zealand troops and 9,000 Greek troops.

April. 29, 1945: German Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff surrendered Axis forces in northern Italy. Somewhere, General Mark Clark was gnashing his teeth as, since D-Day in France, the Italian front had become a backwater theater.

April 29, 1945: The British 2nd Army captured Lauenburg, just south of Hamburg, in Germany, thus trapping all German forces in Denmark and securing the Baltic Ports. It also prevented the Soviets from occupying Denmark. Can you imagine the Warsaw Pact in Denmark? It could've happened.

April 29, 1945: Eva Braun changed her legal name to Eva Hitler after marrying Adolf Hitler. The ink on her marriage license and name change would hardly be dry before her legal status would be changed to "corpse."

April 29, 1944: Eisenhower his superior in DC, General Marshall, that he was pondering the notion of firing George Patton because "he simply does not keep his mouth shut," Patton would dodge this bullet.

April 29, 1943: An Allied convoy of 42 ships strong with 7 escorts, was attacked by over 40 German U-boats. Over the days, the convoy lost 13 ships totaling 63,000 tons, the escorts had inflicted the loss of 7 U-boats. The turning point of the Battle Of Atlantic was just around the corner.

April 29, 1942: The problem of what to do about Malta was also discussed plans for an invasion that would be codenamed Operation Herkules took shape. Spoiler Alert: Hitler never pulled the trigger, like he did with Operation Sea Lion in 1940. He needed to be bold yet he shrank from it.

April 29, 1941: Allied resistance on mainland Greece ended at 0530 hours when 8,000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek, and Yugoslavian troops surrendered at Kalamata, Greece. Thus endeth another Churchill Balkan fiasco.

April 28, 1944: German E-boats attacked an American landing exercise at Slapton, England, sinking two LSTs and damaging other craft, killing 198 sailors and 551 soldiers. This and the friendly fire incident a few days earlier produced higher casualties than the actual invasion.

April 28, 1943: American submarine USS Gudgeon spotted the 17,526-ton Japanese troop carrier Kamakura Maru and sank it. Unbelievably, the Japanese didn't realize their ship was lost for another week. Over 2,000 Japanese soldiers died, most from exposure and sharks. Crazy

April 28, 1942: A 15-mile strip of the Atlantic coast around New York began conducting nightly blackouts to counter German U-boat activity in the region. Look at the date. The German subs had been operating off the East Coast since late December 1941. Unforgivable.

April 28, 1941: Winston Churchill, without reference to the Chiefs of Staff, issued a directive stating that there is no need at the present time to make provisions for the defense of Malaya and Singapore. Somewhere in Tokyo, Tojo smiled evilly while licking his chops.

April 28, 1941: German ambassador to the Soviet Union Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg tried to convince Hitler that the Soviet Union was generally friendly toward Germany, and the two nations could achieve greater friendship by working closer together. How do you say in German, "fat chance?"

April 27, 1944: American forces conducted a practice amphibious assault at Slapton, England Live artillery fire was used to simulate German defenses; in an episode of friendly fire, an estimated 400 Americans were killed as the shells came down on the men of the second wave. Tragic to die that way

April 27, 1943: Captain Lord Charles Lyell was killed in Tunisia while knocking out a 88mm gun position and two machine gun posts. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

April 27, 1941: German 2nd Panzer Division captured Athens, raising the Nazi German flag above the Acropolis. Surrendered Greek officers were allowed to retire to their homes with their sidearms without being interned as prisoners of war. I wonder how many of them joined the resistance later.

April 26, 1945: US Fifth Army captured Verona, Italy while Italian partisans took over Genoa and started an uprising in Milan. I almost started an uprising in Genoa when I asked a local if they had an Olive Garden restaurant.

April 26, 1945: Hanna Reitsch attempted to convince Magda Goebbels at the Führerbunker in Berlin, Germany to let her take the Goebbels children to safety, but Goebbels refused to yield. Bad choice, Magda. You just lost the Nazi Mother Of The Year award with that choice. Poor kids.

April 26, 1943: The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid was launched from Newport News. This carrier would soon be nicknamed, "The Evil I" because it had a serious of misfortunes in its WW II career. In short, it was the "Anti-Enterprise"

April 26, 1942: US destroyer USS Sturtevant struck a mine and sank off Key West. Luckily, the Conch Republic had not yet be established in Key West, otherwise, this event would have turned into another excuse for a huge drinking binge and throwing food at a mock up German U-Boat

April 26, 1941: British freighters Clan Chattan, Clan Campbell, Clan Lamont, Empire Song, and New Zealand Star, carrying 295 tanks for Egypt, departed from the Clyde in Scotland in Operation Tiger. Allied victory was mostly logistics, Holmes.

April 26, 1940: London began seriously considering a complete withdrawal from Norway. I'm glad they seriously considered a complete withdraw more quickly than I did with my first Russian wife in 1991. It took 2 years for the divorce to be finalized after much serious consideration.

April 25, 1945: The Soviet 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts met near Kietzen. This completed the encirclement of Berlin. The countdown for Hitler eating that bullet officially starts NOW

April 25, 1945: The US 8th Air Force conducted its last heavy bomber raid on Germany. By all rights, they could have ended the raids a week or so earlier. By this time of the war, it was difficult to find anything worth bombing considering most of Germany was already occupied.

April 25, 1944: Patton did NOT commit a faux pas at this club. He said the US, UK, & USSR would together rule the war. A reporter misquoted him that he omitted the Soviet Union. It created a firestorm that wasn't his fault. He made it worse when he started slapping old ladies at the club (joke)

April 25, 1941: An indication that the Germans were considering Crete, Greece as a target for major parachute assault was discovered by the code-breakers Bletchley Park. Unfortunately, they couldn't mass enough force on Crete to take advantage of their intelligence advantage.

April 24, 1945: Patton's 3rd Army reached the Danube River. Must have been galling to him that the US Seventh Army reached the Danube first. No word if he slapped any shell-shocked G.I.s in frustration upon hearing the news. Wow. That was a cheap shot on my part.

April 24, 1943: After repeated failures, Admiral Nimitz discontinued the use of magnetic exploders on torpedoes for his theater of operation. Sucks for the many captains who were demoted for lack of aggressiveness, who dared report the truth that the torpedoes were garbage.

April 24, 1940: In Norway, 18 Gladiator biplanes of the 263 Squadron RAF arrived at the frozen Lake Lesjaskogsvatnet, their base of operations. Due to no AA defense, 13 would be destroyed the next day. Too bad. I'm sure the biplanes would have wreaked havoc on the Germans.

April 23, 1945: After sundown, Albert Speer bid his final farewell to Adolf Hitler. He admitted to Hitler that he had sabotaged Hitler's scorched earth policies, and Hitler forgave him for disobeying the order. Look at Hitler learning forgiveness in the bunker! Practically, a Christian! (sarcasm)

April 23, 1943: Lieutenant Wilwood Sandys-Clarke was left as the only officer still alive after his company was almost wiped out in a counter-attack. Despite head wounds, he rallied him men and captured three German strong-points before being killed. He won the VC for his bravery

April 23, 1942: The Luftwaffe bombed Exeter overnight in the first attack of the Baedeker Raids, which targeted British historical sites listed in the Baedeker tourist guides. Bomber Harris would do something similar later with the Nazi Scumbag Historical Site Raids, or every single German city.

April 23, 1941: King George II of Greece instructed that his wine cellar should be distributed to the Allied troops who fought to defend his country. Nice of him. Give the surrendering troops one last boozer before spending the next 3 years in POW camps.

April 23, 1940: The British 148th Brigade tried to make a stand at the strategic village of Tretten, but was too tired and underequipped to hold back the German onslaught. By the end of the day, the brigade was in full retreat. "tired and under equipped" was the theme of the Brits in Norway.

April 22, 1945: Stalin's son, Vasilii Stalin, wasn't happy that his boss, Aleksandr Nobikov, didn't promote him to general. So, he arrested him. Aleksandr forgot rule number 1 in a totalitarian regime: always promote the nepobabys of the regime. It ends badly for you if you don't, a la Ivanka, etc.

April 22, 1945: Adolf Hitler recognized that the war was lost, and released all non-essential personnel from the Führerbunker. He assured those dismissed that "nobody is now duty-bound to anything." I said something similar to my 1st Russian wife in 1993 when we were getting divorced.

April 22, 1945: Adolf Hitler invited Joseph Goebbels and the Goebbels family to accompany him in Hitler's bunker in Berlin. Don't do it, Magda! Take the children & flee!! It's a trap!. Don't take the magic pills. It will end badly for you and your children. Trust me!!

April 22, 1944: The US Sixth Army landed at Aitape and Hollandia, New Guinea, with little opposition. MacArthur made a living in the SW Pacific bypassing Japanese strongholds, taking fewer casualties and making the Japanese strongholds die on the vine until the end of the war. Smart tactics.

April 22, 1943: On the ground in Tunisia, the final Allied assault began against the remaining Axis forces in North Africa with armored thrusts from Sidi Nsir, Medjez, and Pont du Fahs.

April 22, 1941: In the Plymouth Blitz, the communal air-raid shelter at Portland Square took a direct hit which killed 72 people. Luftwaffe hit Plymouth hard in April and May of 1941.