Battle of the Atlantic

• The British steamer Mountpark (4648t) is sunk by German bombing northwest of Ireland with the loss of 4 of her crew.
• U-110 sinks the British steamer Henri Mory (2564t) 330 miles west-northwest of Blaskets with the loss of 28 of her crew. 3 survivors are rescued by the British destroyer Hurricane and 1 more 8 days later by the British steamer Lycaon.

The Blitz

There is a raid on Merseyside.

Greece

The Germans continue to advance in the Peloponnese. German parachute troops capture Corinth. The bridge over the canal is blown up by the British rear guard inflicting heavy casualties to the Germans.

Meanwhile the re-embarkation of the Allied forces continues. The few port facilities and the beaches at Rafina, Nauplia, Monemvasia and Kalamata are all used, as well as other sites. The British Mediterranean Fleet provides a force of 6 cruisers, 20 destroyers and about 30 other ships. The evacuation generally goes very well except for incidents at Nauplia and Kalamata.

This picture shows Australian troops waiting for the embarkation at Kalamata. Some of the troops were from the 2/1st Field Regiment, which had fought well in the waning days of the Greek campaign. The withdrawal had started to go wrong about this time, as the next day, German troops had arrived in Athens. In a few days, by 30 April, some seven to eight thousand troops were captured in Kalamata by the Germans. By then, 43,311 troops had been evacuated, but the lack of coordinated command by the British had allowed the Germans to gain the upper hand and to overrun the defenders trying to hold them back to allow more to withdraw.

Australian Troops Waiting to Embark

Italian East Africa

The Allied forces take Dessie with 8,000 Italian prisoners.

Mediterranean

The British destroyers Diamond and Wryneck are both sunk by German bombing near Nauplia. 263 officers and men are lost from the two ships.

HMS Wryneck

The British destroyer Wryneck is attacked by German Stuka aircraft and sunk off Nauplia, Greece, 27 April 1941(?). She was helping in the evacuation of troops from Greece, and in the process had picked up, with the help of another British destroyer, the Diamond, around 700 troops and crew from the 11,600 ton Dutch liner Slamat now converted as a troopship and under British control, which had been attacked and damaged earlier. The Wryneck and Diamond are both sunk in the attack with the loss of nearly both their crews and all the survivors of the Slamat. The Wryneck lost 7 officers and 98 ratings, the Diamond lost 7 officers and 141 ratings. Of approximately 950 troops and crews of both ships, only 1 officer, 14 naval ratings and 8 soldiers are rescued.

German air attacks sink more Greek ships. Lost are the steamer Maiotis (1712t) in the Aegean, the steamer Maria Stathatou (6303t) at Mylos, and the steamer Zakynthos (960t) at Monemvasia.

North Africa

Gen Friedrich von Paulus, sent by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, arrives at Tobruk to make a personal appreciation. British aircraft have bombed Benghazi during the night, causing some casualties and damage.