military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (11/14/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Thursday, 14 November, 1940 The Luftwaffe gathers its forces for operation "Mondlicht Sonate" (Moonlight Sonata). He 111 pathfinders lead a force of 440 aircraft to their targets in Coventry. The city is hit hard - its centre is severely damaged, along with its cathedral - and a dozen vital aircraft component plants are put out of action. Casualties are 568 killed, 863 seriously wounded; only two German planes are lost. The RAF, having been warned of an impending, massive raid, fails in its attempt to forestall the raid by striking at German air bases in France, and likewise fails to intercept the attackers in sufficient strength to deter them. Jamming of German radio signals also fails to produce results. Greek forces, having consolidated their positions and strengthened by fresh reinforcements, launch counteroffensives in the Epirus and Macedonian regions. The Greeks are also aided by the arrival of British troops from Alexandria. French-speaking residents of the Franco-German border province of Lorraine are ordered to leave their homes; they are given the choice of being relocated to other regions of France or Poland. The French government denies that the relocation is in accordance with any treaty. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "We must know how to wait, and how to suffer." - Marshal Henri Philippe Petain