WWII On This Day: May 21

German troops in northern France during the campaign of 1940. — Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-10A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

May 21, 1940 · 14:00 Battle of France 1940

British and French troops counterattack near Arras

British and French forces counterattacked south of Arras on 21 May, striking elements of 7th Panzer Division and neighbouring German formations with infantry and tanks. British Matilda tanks resisted many standard German anti-tank weapons at useful ranges, forcing German defenders to use heavier artillery and 8.8 cm guns while Luftwaffe support and German reinforcements stabilised the sector. The attack created serious local alarm and reinforced concern over the exposed flanks of the panzer corridor. Its limited size left the road to the Channel intact, while German commands became more attentive…

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Close-up of the driver of a 4th Royal Tank Regiment Matilda tank, named 'Deoch'. Imperial War Museums, F 2141 · Public domain Source

May 21, 1940 · 16:00 Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo

The Allied counterattack Battle Of Arras unsettles the German command

British and French forces attacked south of Arras and temporarily disrupted elements of the German advance. The counterattack was too limited to reopen communications, but it increased German concern about exposed armoured flanks and contributed to later decisions to close up and pause.

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Bismarck in Grimstadfjord near Bergen on 21 May 1941, photographed from Prinz Eugen shortly before the Atlantic breakout. Naval History and Heritage Command · Public domain Source

May 21, 1941 · 12:00 The Bismarck Chase

British reconnaissance confirms Bismarck in Norway

British air reconnaissance photographed Bismarck near Bergen after reports of German heavy ships moving north. The sighting gave the Admiralty enough warning to reinforce patrols of the routes between Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes. The Germans departed Norwegian waters before a British air strike could reach them. From this point the operation became a contest between weather-assisted concealment and British attempts to cover several possible exits at once.

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Ju 52 transports at Maleme during the May 1941 battle. The file is dated only to May 1941 and is used as tight operational evidence for the Maleme air bridge, not as an exact-day photograph. Royal Air Force / British official history photograph · Public domain (UK Government) Source

May 21, 1941 · 16:00 Battle of Crete

Maleme becomes an air bridge

Kurt Student committed the remaining airborne reserves to the Maleme sector after learning that German troops had occupied Hill 107 and expanded across the airfield. The eastern landing groups at Rethymno and Heraklion remained isolated, so the invasion now depended on turning the western foothold into a reinforcement base. Ju 52 transports began landing mountain troops during the afternoon despite artillery fire, wrecked aircraft and damage to the runway. Each successful landing increased the number of intact German infantry on the ground and reduced the relative importance of the losses…

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German paratroops descending over Crete, May 1941. — Bundesarchiv Bild 141-0864 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

May 21, 1941 · 17:00 The Balkans and Crete

The transports come in

Ju 52 transports began landing mountain troops directly on Maleme under artillery fire, crash-landing on the beach and among the wrecks when the strip was blocked. Aircraft were written off by the dozen and the men got out. A counterattack to retake the airfield went in too late and too weak on the night of 21 to 22 May. From that point Germany could reinforce faster than Britain could.

May 21, 1941 · 23:00 The Balkans and Crete

The seaborne convoys are destroyed

Two convoys of requisitioned caiques carrying mountain troops and heavy weapons were intercepted at night by Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers. The first was scattered and largely sunk; the second turned back. Not one German soldier reached Crete by sea while the navy was in the area. The navy then paid for it in daylight, with no air cover, over the following week.

German paratroopers descending on Crete during Operation Merkur in May 1941. — Bundesarchiv Bild 141-0864 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

May 21, 1941 · 23:30 Battle of Crete

The Royal Navy destroys the first seaborne reinforcement convoy

A Royal Navy force intercepted the first German seaborne reinforcement convoy north of Crete during the night. The convoy consisted largely of small Greek caiques carrying troops and equipment under Italian escort, and British cruisers and destroyers scattered or sank many of the vessels they encountered. The interception prevented a substantial reinforcement from reaching the island by sea and contributed to the recall of a second convoy. Cunningham’s fleet had therefore achieved the surface-control mission demanded of it: German troops could not rely on an uncontested sea bridge to Crete.…

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Heavy seas breaking around HMS Sheffield while she escorts Arctic convoy JW 53 toward Russia in February 1943. — Royal Navy official photographer · Imperial War Museums A 14890 · Public domain

May 21, 1942 · 12:00 The Arctic Convoys

PQ 16 shows how concentrated the German attack has become

PQ 16 sailed with thirty-five merchant ships into a route now covered by German aircraft and submarines. Eight merchantmen were sunk during the passage, but the remaining twenty-seven reached Soviet ports despite repeated attacks and further bombing after arrival. The convoy showed both sides what the summer route had become. Continuous daylight helped German reconnaissance keep contact, while the Allied escort had to fight aircraft and submarines without organic fighter cover. The majority of the ships still arrived, which encouraged another large summer sailing even as the surface threat from…

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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

May 21, 1944 · 10:00 The Transportation Plan

CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO attacks the trains themselves

The first major CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO mission sent 763 AEAF fighters across northern France while 500 Eighth Air Force fighters ranged over Germany. During the next two weeks, Allied fighters damaged about 475 locomotives and cut railway lines at roughly 150 points. After 26 May, daylight railway operation was sharply reduced.

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