World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Saturday April 6, 1940
Day 219

April 6, 1940: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Mauretania Leaves Honolulu"
(The press sure did keep track of the movements of this ship for the enemy.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph, Derby, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "D.F.C. Hero Killed - Flying Accident In England"


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Newcastle Journal And North Mail, Newcastle, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Five Warships Bombed"
Official documents from the time tell a different story than the one told to the press and public.
In British documents the raid was described as such;

"April 4, Air reconnaissance in unfavourable weather conditions early on the 4th April disclosed the presence in the Jade of two capital ships. Aircraft which were sent to attack these ships observed two large ships at anchor in the roads and one alongside at Wilhelmshaven; five destroyers, many minesweepers and about 60 merchant vessels were seen in Schillig Roads proceeding northwards. The attack achieved a possible hit on a destroyer."

[The German force seen sailing northward was the invasion force for Norway and Denmark.]

The official German documents describe the attack in this way;

"Apr. 4, Enemy bomber flights as far as the estuaries in the morning and afternoon. Bombs were dropped off Brunsbüttel and in the Jade, but fell in the water and did not explode, so it is a possibility that mines or drift mines were dropped."


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at bottom right: "Yugoslavs Driven From Homes"
(About 20,000 people made homeless by floods.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 4: "Girl, 11, Obeys Slaying Order"
(The Chloe Davis case in the Australian press. Now she has been branded as a murderer around the world.)
[For more about the Chloe Davis case see Apr. 5, 1940.]


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Daily News, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline and photo: "Dog Saves Baby Master"
(Podgie the dog saved his 18-month-old master. A good story in a sea of terrible stories.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report in column 7: "Mauretania En Route to Hong Kong Is Belief"
(I am sure the German High Command made note of this report.)
 
Also note the report in column 2: "Eclipse Of Sun Sunday"


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 7: "Typhoid Toll Raised to 3 As Girl Dies"


April 6, 1940: Front page of Haarlem's Dagblad, Haarlem, Netherlands.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Girl's Confession She Slew Two Is Held True"
(The latest in the Chloe Davis case. The headline of this report is a little misleading. The report states that the police now believe that her mother, Lolita Davis, was responsible for the murders. The police also announce that the case was officially terminated because the testimony, that she witnessed the murders, not that she committed them, has been accepted. . The report also states that police Captain Edgar Edwards had been "prepared to accuse Chloe of all the killings," but has now revised his position.)
 
[Links to all reports about the Chloe Davis case can be found under the Bakersfield Californian of Apr. 4, 1940.]


April 6, 1940: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 9: "Police Won Over To Belief in Story"
(The last paragraph states that Dr. Paul de River, who was reported yesterday as having said that Chloe was "the cruelest-blooded, coolest individual I ever met" now claims he never believed the police theory and that he believes the girl's story that the mother killed the children.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Girl's Story of Killing Accepted"


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


April 6, 1940: Page 2 of The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at center: "Mother Dies Because of Slashed Wrists"
(More reporting on the Chloe Davis case.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report in column 1: "Police To Accept Story Of Murder"
(Also note the photo of all four of the Davis children.)
Also note the report at bottom right: "Last Tragic Days Of Trappers End Odd Diary"
(This is the part 3 of a 3 part report which publishes the diary of two trappers, James Ryckman and Lloyd Coombs, who slowly starved to death in the forests of western Vancouver. Fortunately, Combs kept a diary of their tragic adventures. The bodies and the diary were found when the plane that dropped the men off in July returned on the agreed to date to pick them up.)
 
[Part 1 can be found in The Evening Gazette of Apr. 4, 1940.]
[Part 2 can be found in The Evening Gazette of Apr. 5, 1940.]
 
Photo from the above newspaper. From left to right: The Davis children, Mark, Chloe, Daphne, and Deborah Ann.


April 6, 1940: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report at top left: "Housewives: Census Takers Are Having Trouble, And Urge That You Learn More About Husband's Business"


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Teltower Kriesblatt, Teltow, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Die Brandstifter im Norden und Südosten am Werk.
(The arsonists in the north and southeast at work.)


April 6, 1940: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Kriegsausweitung um jeden Preis.
(Expansion of the war at any price.)
2. Truppenlandung in Norwegen?
(Troop landings in Norway?)



   
Page published April 6, 2021