World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday May 23, 1941
Day 631

May 23, 1941: Front page of the Nottingham Evening Post, Nottingham, England.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the Evening Express, Liverpool, England.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The News, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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Note the report in column 2: "Submarine Ace Missing"
(The German high command finally admits the loss of U-47 and Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien. The last contact with U-47 took place on Mar. 7, 1941. The boat was probably sunk later that day while attacking convoy OB-293 by HMS Camellia K-31 (Lt. Cdr. Alfred Ernest Willmott, RNR) and HMS Arbutus K-86 (Lt. Cdr. Hugh Lloyd-Williams, RNVR.) There were no survivors. Of the top 10 highest scoring U-boat commanders (by tonnage, Prien was #9,) Prien was the only one to lose his life during the war. Wolfgang Lüth, the second highest scoring C.O. was killed days after Germany surrendered, he was shot by a German sentry on May. 13, 1945.)


May 23, 1941: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
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May 23, 1941: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
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1. Luftwaffenerfolage im Mittelmeer erweitert.
(Luftwaffe success in the Mediterranean is expanded.)


May 23, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Vier britische Kreuzer versenkt - Auch Zerstörer vernichtet - Ein Schlachtschiff und zewi weiterer Zerstörer schwer beschädigt.
(Four British cruisers sunk - Destroyers also destroyed - One battleship and two other destroyers badly damaged.)
[This time the propaganda ministry was not far off. Three British cruisers and two destroyers had been sunk between May 21 and 22, all of them during the invasion of Crete. HMS Juno was sunk by Italian aircraft on May 21, HMS Greyhound and HM cruisers Gloucester, Fiji and York were all sunk on May 22. The British suffered further losses on May 23 when HM destroyers Kelly and Kashmir and five Motor Torpedo Boats were lost to German aircraft.]



   
Page published May 23, 2022