military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (10/26/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Saturday, 26 October, 1940 The 42,000-ton Canadian liner Empress of Britain is attacked by Focke-Wulf 200 Kondor patrol bombers. Bombing and strafing attacks leave the ship afire and she is taken under tow. Three U-boats are ordered to intercept the crippled vessel. The liner is the tenth largest ship in the world Italy prepares an ultimatum for Greece, charging that country with maintaining a non-neutral status with respect to Italy. The document demands that the Greeks permit Italian troops to occupy their country "as a guarantee of Greek neutrality" for the duration of the war. Italian press also reports an armed clash between Greek and Albanian troops within Albanian territory, and the bombing of an Italian general's headquarters on Albanian soil. Cordell Hull warns Vichy France that collaboration with Germany on their part will result in a U.S. occupation of French possessions in the western hemisphere. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "Wherever Italian troops meet with resistance, it will be crushed by force of arms, and the Greek government will be held responsible for any consequences." - from text of Italian ultimatum to Greece