MAY 27 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

MAY 27

1939

MS St. Louis, a German ship docked in Cuba carried 930 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. The refugees had legitimate landing certificates before their departure, but their papers were invalidated by the pro-fascist Cuban government authorities. Only 22 Jewish refugees were allowed entry. Canada and the United States also denied them entry.  The remainder had to return to Europe. Some refugees were taken by Belgium, UK, Netherlands and France, among other nations. Their refuge was only temporary, until the Nazis invaded these countries and began rounding up Jews from all European nations to carry out their "Final Solution" (the systematic extermination of Jews throughout Europe)

1940

Evacuation at Dunkirk continued:  This was the first full day of the evacuation during which only one cruiser, eight destroyers, and 26 other craft were active. British command was desperate for assistance and searched frantically for nearby boats that could ferry British troops from the beaches out to larger craft in the harbour, as well as larger vessels that could load from the docks.  After putting out a call for emergency help, they began receiving volunteers, and by May 31almost four hundred small craft had been put into service for the rescue mission. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe had heavily bombed the town of Dunkirk and its dock installations. With water supply knocked out, fires blazed out of control killing many civilians. About a thousand people lost their lives, and only one third of the town survived. Sixteen squadrons of the British RAF engaged the Luftwaffe in battle and claimed 38 kills, but lost 14 aircraft.  The total number of allied sorties during Operation Dynamo was well over 3,500, and was able to inflict heavy losses on German bombers throughout the week. Regardless of RAF efforts, British soldiers were being bombed and strafed while awaiting transport, and unaware that the RAF was fighting to protect them.  Consequently, the soldiers were embittered towards the RAF and accused them of doing nothing to help them. (Most of the dogfights took place far from the beaches.)

1942

SS leader Heydrich was mortally wounded by members of the Czech Underground during an ambush in Prague. It was carried out by a team of Czech and Slovak soldiers in a British Operation called Operation Anthropoid. Heydrich died from his injuries a week later. Nazi intelligence falsely linked the assassins to the villages of Lidice and Ležáky and subsequently razed both villages to the ground. They shot all the men and boys over the age of 16, and all but a handful of women and children were deported and exterminated in Nazi camps.  Heydrich was a high-ranking Nazi official, and architect of the Holocaust. He chaired chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, which formalised plans for the Final Solution to the Jewish Question—the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe.

MAY 26 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

MAY 26

1940

Emergency Evacuation at Dunkirk: At 9:00 am on May 26, 19410, Churchill ordered Operation Dynamo to officially commence. It called for the evacuation of British soldiers which had found themselves surrounded by German troops, during the Battle of France.  Before the operation even started, 28,000 men had already escaped. The Operation planned for the rescue of 45,000 men from the BEF within a two day period, however, German troops were expected to block further evacuation. Approximately 25,000 men escaped during this period, including 7,669 on the first day.

1941

The last battle of the Bismarck. Following the Battle of Denmark Strait,  Bismarck's fuel tanks were damaged and several machinery compartments, including a boiler room were flooded. She was on her way to reach Brest for repairs. The hunt was on as Allied warships tried to approximate her position using triangulation.  The Polish destroyer, ORP Piorun was sent to join in the hunt and was the first of the destroyers to spot the Bismarck. The Allies proceeded their attack in four phases:  the first phase consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, thereby disabling Bismarck's steering gear and jamming her rudders. This limited her to make only turning maneuvers, and thus prevented her escape. The second phase consisted of shadowing and harassing the Bismarck through the night (May 26/27) by British destroyers. Again, the Polish destroyer, ORP Piorun participated in shadowing the Bismarck, launching torpedoes during the night. Piorun charged at Bismarck by herself, while Maori manoeuvered for position to fire torpedoes. Alone, Piorun exchanged fire with Bismarck for about thirty minutes though neither side scored any hits. According to one report, before firing on the Bismarck, Commander Pławski transmitted the message "I am a Pole". (other sources claim that the signal to commence fire was "Trzy salwy na cześć Polski" (Three salvoes for the Glory of Poland!)  Unfortunately Piorun was not able to use the remaining torpedoes, because of low fuel and at 05:00 was ordered home.  The third phase occurred on the morning of May 27 and culminated in a joint attack by British battleships King George V and Rodney, supported by cruisers. They opened fire at 08:47.  The Bismarck returned fire, but due to her inability to steer and that the battleship listed to port so drastically, her shooting accuracy was greatly compromised.  That and her slow speed of 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h) made her an easy target when she was hit by the big guns of Allied battleships. When Bismarck's guns were put out of action, the Norfolk and Dorsetshire closed in for an attack. The Rodney launched one 16-inch (406 mm) salvo destroying the forward control post, which killed most of the senior officers, while the other salvoes destroyed all four gun turrets. Bismarck was silent, and lower in the water. Rodney then moved in from a position of 3km (1.9m) to fire into the superstructure while King George V fired from further out. (this maneuver enabled the salvos to attain a more vertical angle). With her engines still running, the Bismarck's upper works were destroyed, and her guns silenced. The Bismarck was slowly beginning to settle by the stern due to flooding, and listed 20 degree to port. It was then that the crew abandoned ship and procedures to scuttle her began.  The Bismarck did not give any sign of surrender.  With the Bismarck mostly under water, the Dorsetshire launched three final torpedoes at short range. At least one hit the superstructure, and the Bismarck went under the waves at 10:39 that morning.  British warships rescued 111 survivors from Bismarck before being obliged to withdraw because of an apparent U-boat sighting, leaving several hundred German men to their fate. The following morning, a U-boat and German weathership rescued five more survivors.