Air Operations, Europe

British bombers carry out a major raid on Hamburg. Bremen is also hit.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-97 sinks the British steamer Ramillies (4553t) southeast of Cape Farewell with the loss of 29 of her crew. 12 survivors are picked up by the British steamer Geddington Court.
• In German air raids on Liverpool, the British steamer Marton (4969t) and the British steamer Trentino (3079t) are sunk. No crew is aboard the Marton at the time and the entire crew of the Trentino are rescued.

The Blitz

British radio counter-measures and decoy fires (code-named 'Starfish') foil an attempted night raid on the Rolls-Royce works at Derby. The German guidance beams or X-Gerät are successfully jammed. Many bombs are wasted on the Peak District, Nottingham and the agricultural Vale of Belvoir. Waddington airfield and village in Lincolnshire are bombed. 200 explosives and hundreds of incendiaries cause considerable damage at Leenside and the city center. In the raid at total of 135 high explosives and 7,000 incendiaries are dropped. 430 people are killed. About 50 people die when bombs make 2 direct hits on air raid shelters below Cooperative Society's Bakery in Meadow Lane. Moot Hall and Lace Market are among buildings hit. 2 churches including St Christopher's are destroyed. Hundreds become homeless as 350 houses are destroyed.

Heinkel He-111P4 2. KG55 shot down 255 Sqn Defiant Yorshire, 8 May 1941.

Air Victory for 255 Squadron

BOCM Eagle Oils Mills in Hull burns on May 8, 1941.

Fire in Hull

Read more at http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/pictures/Hull-Blitz-70th-anniversary-8211-incredible/pictures-12718488-detail/pictures.html#RpkHcy1MoDLJr5CT.99 Hull is hit in a raid for the second night in a row. 120 aircraft drop 167 tons of high explosives and 20,000 incendiaries. There is great devastation especially to riverside buildings. Some of the great grain warehouses are destroyed. Many buildings in the city center are destroyed as a result of the numerous fires. 30,000 houses are destroyed leaving thousands homeless. Over the 2 nights 450 people are killed and a little less than that are injured.

German Raiders

The British heavy cruiser Cornwall finds and sinks the German raider Pinguin near the Seychelles. The Pinguin has sunk 28 ships of 136,550 tons during its cruise. The cruiser rescues 60 of her crew and 22 prisoners, 10 from Clan Buchanan, 1 from Empire Light, and 11 from British Emperor. 341 of the crew are lost along with 200 prisoners, including 97 from Clan Buchanan.

Indian Ocean

The first of the German raiders, converted merchantmen, is sunk. Pinquin is caught by the British cruiser Cornwall whose 8-inch shells explode 130 mines being carried by the raider. Capt Ernst Felix Krüder and 342 crew along with 200 Allied prisoners from captured ships go down with the ship.

Iraq

German planes arrive at the airfield at Mosul in Iraq to being operations against the British. About 50 fighters are based here.

Italian East Africa

The Amba Alagi fighting continues. The Indian forces take the Falagi Pass and 3 small peaks south of Amba Alagi itself.

Mediterranean

• There are air attacks on the eastward and westward bound convoys of Operation TIGER. The carrier with each convoy engages the attacking Italian planes.

  An Italian plane over the TIGER Convoy.

  The TIGER Convoy

• The British submarine Truant intercepts the French steamer Gallium (1775t) en route from Bône to Sete and escorts her toward Gibraltar.

North Africa

There is a strong offensive thrust by the British in an effort to reduce the pressure on Tobruk.