What always amazes me is the mundaneness and normality of long periods during any war. Even during World War II, when millions upon millions died, there were days that can only be described as regular days.
I picked 27 April 1941, because I came across images that illustrate this “normality.” Even the weather that day was normal.
A cold day with an average temperature of 4.9℃ [40.82°F]. It remained dry throughout the day. The maximum temperature reached 8℃ [46.4°F] while the minimum temperature remained at 1.2℃ [34.16°F].
Photo from a photo album from Mr and Mrs Van Leeuwen, living in Schiedam. From their flat, they looked out on the harbours of Rotterdam. Mrs. J. van Leeuwen was a teacher. Together with her husband, she regularly made trips to the Netherlands during the school holidays. Photos from consecutive pages in the album from the period 1939-1945. The photo shows, Schiedam Veterans. Netherlands, Schiedam, 27 April 1941.
Football. Dutch league, season 1940-1941, 2nd decision game for the Championship Western 1st Division, ADO-DHC (result 3-1), stadium De Kuip in Rotterdam, Netherlands 27 April 1941. Photo: The toss, ADO goalkeeper Willem Koek, the referee trio and the captain of DHC follow the drop of the coin. Right border/referee De Nijs.
In the same match, ADO was on the attack, and DHC goalkeeper Van de Broek kicks the ball away.
The threat of violence was always present. The Slamat ship disaster took place on 17 April 1941. The Slamat was a Dutch Lloyd ship that was deployed during Operation Demon to evacuate British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers from Greece. On 24 April 1941, the ship left Alexandria in convoy for the Greek port of Nauplia. The embarkation of evacuees was extremely difficult, after which Captain Tjalling Luidinga decided to stay longer than the deadline in order to take as many people as possible with him. On the way back, the Slamat was hit by airstrikes. The ship sank, and only ten crew members survived the disaster. It was the largest Dutch merchant ship disaster of World War II.
In 1932 Mussert founded the WA (Resilience Department): a paramilitary organization of black-uniformed NSB members (Dutch Nazi party). On Sunday, 27 April 1941, a large open-air meeting took place in Eindhoven, at which the leader addressed his fighters.
sources
https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/thema/Scheepsramp%20Slamat
History of Sorts 