military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (12/18/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Wednesday, 18 December, 1940 The Royal Navy extends its reach to the Albanian coast, as the battleships HMS Warspite and Valiant bombard Italian positions near Valona. The Italian Navy is also present off the coast, shelling Greece and Greek-held Albania. The only conflict between the two fleets, however, results in the sinking of the submarine HMS Triton by an Italian motor torpedo boat. Hitler orders the final preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR. The launch date for the offensive is tentatively scheduled for 15 May, 1941, and the strategic objective is to reach the line Archangel-Ural Mountains-Volga River. Rumors from Belgrade place over 50,000 German soldiers at Trieste and in southern Italy, ready for embarkation to Africa or Albania. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The German Armed Forces must be prepared, even before the conclusion of the war against England, to crush Soviet Russia in a rapid campaign." - Fuehrer Directive No. 21