World War II calendar
What happened on April 17 during World War II? This date brings together 5 events from 1941, 1942 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.
Eleven days. The army had been mobilising when the attack came, was divided along national lines, and in Croatia substantial numbers of troops did not fight at all. The country was dismembered: parts to Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria, and a puppet Croatian state under the Ustaše whose campaign against Serbs, Jews and Roma began within weeks. The resistance and the civil war inside it ran for four years and are the reason Yugoslav casualty figures are so contested.
On the evening of 17 April, Yugoslav representatives signed the terms for the unconditional capitulation of the armed forces in Belgrade. Former foreign minister Aleksandar Cincar-Marković and General Radivoje Janković signed for the Yugoslav side; Generaloberst Maximilian von Weichs signed for Germany, with Italy represented in the settlement. The document addressed the military surrender of forces throughout the country while the Yugoslav government and king remained outside Axis custody and continued abroad. The distinction matters for the political history of the state: the army capitulated, while an internationally recognised Yugoslav…
Continue in Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941 →
Twelve Lancasters from Nos. 44 and 97 Squadrons set out at low altitude for the MAN diesel-engine works at Augsburg. The plan relied on surprise, low-level penetration and diversionary attacks over France rather than fighter escort. German fighters intercepted the leading formation soon after it crossed the French coast. Eight Lancasters eventually reached Augsburg and seventeen bombs hit the works, five of them failing to explode. The attack damaged machine-tool and assembly areas, but the official history estimated that only about three per cent of the plant's machine tools were…
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Model's order released noncombatant personnel to surrender once supplies were exhausted. Combat troops were offered the choice of attempting to break out in organised groups or going home without weapons. The second choice was surrender in all but name. The flow of prisoners continued through the day.
Continue in The Ruhr Pocket →
On the second day Soviet attacks narrowed onto the sectors around Seelow and south-east of Wriezen. German armoured reserves arrived late but helped prevent an immediate rupture of the principal line. The defence was already consuming resources it could not replace. Ammunition stocks were limited, reserves were being committed as soon as they arrived, and air attack made movement behind the line increasingly difficult. Farther south Konev continued enlarging his penetration. The Seelow position could still hold locally while the operational situation around Ninth Army worsened elsewhere.
Continue in The Battle of Berlin →
