military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (05/05/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Monday, 5 May, 1941 The Iraqi siege of Habbaniyah is lifted. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia returns to his capital of Addis Ababa, as more ground is gained at Amba Alagi. British destroyers begin transporting supplies to the Tobruk garrison. Tokyo warns its US Ambassador that it seems certain that the United States is decrypting its encoded messages. General Freyberg is assigned to command the British defense on Crete. His garrison is reinforced with 16 light tanks and 6 armored cars, but the RAF declines to base aircraft there, preferring to operate from safer fields in North Africa. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "If the German soldier already possesses the best weapons in the world, he will receive still better ones this year and next." - Adolf Hitler