Today in World War II History—April 9, 1940 & 1945
German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft over Denmark, 9 Apr 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)
85 Years Ago—Apr. 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Invasion of Denmark is the world’s first combined invasion by air, sea & land and the first use of combat paratroopers in history.
Denmark falls in less than six hours, with 16 Danish soldiers killed and 20 German soldiers killed. Read more: “Denmark in World War II.”
In Norway, Germans take Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik.
At the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen, Georg von Hevesy dissolves Nobel medals belonging to Max von Laue & James Franck to protect them from the Germans.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1940 (public domain via Wikipedia)
80 Years Ago—Apr. 9, 1945: Nazis execute German resistance members pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, Hans von Dohnanyi, and Gen. Hans Oster in Flossenbürg concentration camp.
Soviets take Königsberg, Germany, after a long siege.
British Eighth Army opens its final offensive in Italy near Bologna.
US Eighth Army lands unopposed on Jolo in the Philippines.
