Battle of the Atlantic

The Swedish steamers Albert (1745t) and Tyra Bratt (1301t) are seized by German forces at Stavanger. The Tyra Bratt is detained at Haugesand and her crew returned to Gotenburg. The vessel is renamed Nogat and placed in German service.

Britain, Politics

At first, it seems that Lord Halifax will be the next prime minister. The Conservative majority prefer Halifax, and the Labor minority are also ready to support him. The problem is that he sits in the House of Lords, not the best situation for a national leader. At the meeting of senior Conservatives Halifax's own worries about this leave Churchill as the only alternative. Churchill visits the King and takes office officially on May 10.

Even though he is established as the choice for prime minister he still has to win the confidence of his own party. Suspicious of him are the civil service and the military leaders. By a combination of his oratory, his forceful energy, far surpassing Chamberlain's in all his work, and the soundness of his administrative decisions, he quickly attains an unrivalled position. He will not always be easy to work with and often produces wild, impractical ideas but in the major issues, his handling is essentially very sound. Part of his success is owed to the way he delegates responsibility for home affairs to others, for he is less able in this capacity.

Secret War

The Belgian Embassy in Berlin warns Brussels that the German Foreign Office is preparing an ultimatum to Belgium and that the OKW (German High Command) has just given the order for the invasion.

Soviet Union, Command

Kliment Voroshilov is replaced by Semyon Timoshenko as commissar for defense. New training programs are soon introduced to correct some of the defects which have appeared during the Finnish war.

Western Front

Hitler postpones the Gelb offensive one more time, from May 9 to May 10.