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WWII On This Day: April 10

What happened on April 10 during World War II? This date brings together 7 events from 1940, 1941 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
Ships burning in Narvik harbour during the first naval battle on 10 April 1940.
Ships burning in Narvik harbour during the first naval battle on 10 April 1940. Franz Hollerweger / Arkiv i Nordland · reuse basis per exact Commons file record Source
Operation Weserübung

British destroyers attack at Narvik

Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee led five British destroyers into Ofotfjord at dawn on 10 April and attacked the German ships around Narvik harbour. The British force sank Wilhelm Heidkamp and Anton Schmitt and damaged additional destroyers and merchant vessels. German destroyers positioned farther out in the fjord struck the British force during its withdrawal. HMS Hardy and HMS Hunter were lost, and Warburton-Lee received mortal wounds. The action damaged the German flotilla severely while leaving enough surviving ships for a second naval battle three days later.

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German mountain troops landing in Norway, April 1940.
Photo: Bagn Bygdesamling – Valdres Folkemuseum, Norway · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Operation Weserübung

King Haakon rejects the German political demand

German minister Curt Bräuer met King Haakon and Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht at Elverum on 10 April and pressed for acceptance of a government led by Quisling. The king brought the demand to the cabinet and stated that acceptance would lead him to abdicate. The ministers supported his position and maintained the existing constitutional government. The decision gave Norwegian military resistance a recognised political authority and later gave the government-in-exile a clear constitutional claim to continue the war.

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1941
A German Panzer IV of the 11th Panzer Division advancing into Yugoslavia in April 1941.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-770-0280-20 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941

Second Army launches its main mobile attack

On 10 April, Second Army released its principal mobile formations from the northern bridgeheads. The 14th Panzer Division drove toward Zagreb while the 8th Panzer Division advanced southeast between the Drava and Sava toward the Belgrade axis. The delayed start reflected the improvised nature of Operation 25: northern formations had required additional time to assemble after Hitler’s 27 March decision. By the time they moved, German forces had already taken Skopje and Niš, and Yugoslav command links were deteriorating. The northern attack widened the crisis from a southeastern penetration into…

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Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941

The Independent State of Croatia is proclaimed

In Zagreb on 10 April, Slavko Kvaternik proclaimed the Independent State of Croatia on behalf of the Ustaša movement as German armoured forces approached the city. The proclamation transferred political allegiance away from the Yugoslav government across territory claimed by the new Axis-sponsored state. The Yugoslav command was already struggling to control formations whose mobilisation and ethnic cohesion varied by region. The proclamation accelerated desertion, refusal of orders and the dissolution of parts of the military structure in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while other soldiers continued to fight or withdraw. German…

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Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941

German tanks enter Zagreb

Lead elements of the 14th Panzer Division entered Zagreb on the evening of 10 April after a rapid advance from the Drava bridgeheads. The city had already become the centre of the newly proclaimed Independent State of Croatia. The German division’s immediate task had been to break the northwestern Yugoslav command structure and secure a major road and rail centre. Large numbers of Yugoslav personnel were captured as headquarters and units lost the ability or political willingness to continue coordinated resistance. With Zagreb secured, German mobile forces could turn from…

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1945
Men of the 95th Division, US Ninth Army, patrolling Soest after its capture, 7 April 1945.
Men of the 95th Division patrolling Soest, 7 April 1945 · US Army Signal Corps SC 336817 · NARA · Public domain · Source
The Ruhr Pocket

The industrial cities do not fall the same way

American units entered Essen and Duisburg with little or no fighting, while Hamm required four days to clear and Dortmund continued to resist. There was no single German defensive plan north of the Ruhr. The presence of SS troops, intact flak positions or local orders often determined whether a city fought or displayed white flags.

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The Ruhr Pocket

A literal order slows the new armoured division

Ridgway committed the 13th Armored Division with an instruction to destroy German forces encountered. The wording discouraged bypassing resistance and ran against the rapid armoured role intended for the division. Communications failures, a stream crossing and the literal interpretation of the order slowed the advance. Ridgway changed the instruction on 12 April, but the infantry had already approached the objectives the armour was meant to reach first.

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