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WWII On This Day: April 8

What happened on April 8 during World War II? This date brings together 8 events from 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

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

The Royal Navy lays mines along the Norwegian coast

British destroyers laid mines in Norwegian territorial waters under Operation Wilfred on 8 April, aiming to force German iron-ore traffic away from the protected coastal route and into waters where the Royal Navy could intercept it. The action formed part of a broader British-French Scandinavian strategy that also included plans for landings at Norwegian ports. Norwegian authorities protested the violation of their territorial waters. German invasion forces were already at sea when the mines were laid. The two operations therefore met as parallel attempts to control the same strategic coastline.

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Operation Weserübung

Rio de Janeiro survivors reveal German troops at sea

The Polish submarine Orzeł torpedoed the German transport Rio de Janeiro off southern Norway. Norwegian rescuers brought uniformed German soldiers ashore after the sinking. The survivors described a mission connected with Norway, and reports moved through Norwegian military and civil channels during the afternoon. Other warnings were also arriving from ships and diplomatic sources. Norwegian mobilisation measures remained partial as the government tried to interpret a mixture of naval sightings, diplomatic tension and intelligence. The German landing groups reached their objectives before a unified national response could form.

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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

First Panzer Group attacks toward Niš and Belgrade

On 8 April, First Panzer Group attacked from Bulgaria near Pirot, with the 11th Panzer Division leading the drive toward Niš. The formation’s operational objective was Belgrade, reached through the Niš basin and the Morava valley. Yugoslav Fifth Army formations defended the approaches in poor weather and on roads obstructed by demolitions. German artillery, air support and concentrated mobile forces broke through positions that could not be reinforced fast enough from neighbouring sectors. The penetration made Niš the immediate operational hinge. Its loss would open the Morava corridor and allow…

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A reconnaissance detachment of the German 5th Panzer Division entering Athens on 27 April 1941.
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1979-123-32 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
German Invasion of Greece, April 1941

2nd Panzer Division enters Greece from southern Yugoslavia

After moving through Strumica, 2nd Panzer Division crossed toward Greece south of Lake Doiran and overran elements of the Greek 19th Motorised Division. The route carried German armour around the western end of the fortified position facing Bulgaria. The division’s objective was Salonika. Reaching the city would sever the Eastern Macedonia command from the rest of Greece and cut the main northern port and communications system supporting the wider Greek war effort. By late 8 April the armoured spearhead was already close enough to make continued defence of the eastern…

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Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941

The Belgrade-Salonika connection is severed

German mobile troops reached the Prilep area on 8 April after crossing the Vardar system, severing the principal rail and road connection between the Yugoslav interior and Salonika. The southern thrust had been designed to separate Yugoslavia from the Allied position in Greece before the Yugoslav command could coordinate a common front. With Skopje already lost, the cut around Prilep narrowed the routes available to Yugoslav formations in Macedonia and removed the main line through which support from Greece might have moved. German forces could now turn part of their…

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1943
A Tiger tank of the SS panzer corps during the battle of Kursk, July 1943.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-206-35 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of Kursk 1943

Zhukov recommends absorbing Citadel before counterattacking

On 8 April Zhukov advised Stalin that the Red Army should meet the expected German attack around Kursk on prepared ground. He anticipated that Germany would commit its armoured striking force against the salient and argued that Soviet strength should be conserved for the moment when that attack had been worn down. The proposal linked defence and counteroffensive. Central and Voronezh Fronts would organise the salient for a deep defensive battle while Soviet commands prepared offensives against the Orel salient and the Belgorod–Kharkov sector. This decision established the strategic sequence…

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1944
German troops in the ruins of Sevastopol, 1942.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-231-0703-27 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Sevastopol and the Crimea

The Crimean strategic offensive opens

Tolbukhin's 4th Ukrainian Front attacked the northern approaches to Crimea while forces in the Sivash bridgehead pressed into the German-Romanian defence from another axis. The Separate Coastal Army also advanced from the Kerch Peninsula. Seventeenth Army had been held in Crimea through the winter despite repeated German requests to withdraw. Once the northern position began to fail, the problem became whether the army could reach Sevastopol before Soviet mobile forces cut the routes.

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Wrecked rolling stock in the severely damaged marshalling yard at Juvisy-sur-Orge after Allied air attacks in 1944.
Bridge B (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Imperial War Museums, CL 4170 · Public domain · Source
The Transportation Plan

Hasselt shows the medium-bomber method

A force of 163 B-26 Marauders dropped 263 tons on Hasselt while 101 P-47s added 120 250-pound bombs in diving attacks. The Ninth Air Force was refining rail-centre bombing into smaller four- or six-aircraft sections. The change improved accuracy and reduced the danger to civilians around the target.

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